Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 73 - Suppression

Peak Adjuchas. After a full year, Wayne had finally broken through to the peak of the Adjuchas class.

Wayne had always been a massive consumer of resources, so his evolution took far longer than that of an ordinary Hollow. That was also why, despite over a year of concentrated resource investment, he was still only at peak Adjuchas, not yet a Vasto Lorde.

Had those same resources gone to any other ordinary Adjuchas with sufficient potential, they might have already touched the threshold of the Vasto Lorde class by now.

But what Wayne gained from this seclusion wasn't just an increase in Reiatsu. He had also sharpened his mastery over his innate abilities. All things considered, he found the long closed-door cultivation fairly satisfactory.

"You lot are Baraggan Louisenbairn's subordinates?"

After pulling Nel out of danger, Wayne led his Hollows back to the high platform of their stronghold. Over the past year, he had not ended up waiting for Grimmjow. He had ended up waiting for Baraggan's people instead. That struck him as somewhat intriguing. He hadn't wanted to make contact with Vasto Lorde-class powerhouses this early, but judging by how things were going, once his abilities and forces crossed a certain threshold, some things simply fell outside his control.

"Insolence! How dare you address His Majesty by name! We — AHH!"

One of the Hollows standing opposite him, a mid-tier Adjuchas, stepped forward to rebuke Wayne for the disrespect. In the very next instant, the world spun. His entire field of vision rotated, snapping still on a single image: his own group of Hollows, and his own headless body, still spurting blood. Only then, in sheer terror, did he lose consciousness.

"I was asking a question. I didn't ask for anything else."

Wayne had moved fast. At his current stage, he could deploy his Concealment Domain and Spatial Nodes at the same time. The moment that Hollow opened his mouth, Wayne had already set a spatial coordinate near the Hollow's head, masked the spatial fluctuation, and Void Flashed behind him in an instant. One sword stroke. Decapitated. He returned to his original position before the body hit the ground.

"Sir, you already knew we serve His Majesty Baraggan — and you still dare slaughter us so freely. Are you not afraid of His Majesty's punishment?!" Stablek pressed a hand over his cracked Hollow Mask, doing his best to hold back his leaking Reiatsu.

"If you hadn't attacked Nel. If you hadn't harmed my comrades-in-arms." Wayne's greatsword dissolved from his grip. He raised his hand, aiming it at the group. "Perhaps I would have been willing to talk."

"But now — you pay the price for your recklessness and arrogance."

Pale golden light flared in Wayne's eyes. The next moment, countless spatial fissures closed in around the Hollow group like a cage. Then came the sounds, a rapid series of muffled detonations.

Limbs. Torsos. Spines. Skulls. Invisible forces tore through the Hollows one after another.

Not just tore. Shredded.

Wayne had fired Bala: Silent Kill, but he had imbued each shot with spatial distortion. The moment they detonated, they generated spatial misalignment, forcibly twisting the blast zones, crushing them into Alternate Space. That was what caused the layered indentations and warped impact points blooming across every body.

Wayne had a name for this new variant.

Bala: Strangle.

"Break out of this area!" Stablek caught on quickly. He ordered a full retreat the moment he identified the pattern.

Wayne didn't give them the chance. As the battered, bleeding Hollows scrambled to escape the Bala blockade, Wayne stepped forward on a burst of Sonído and charged in.

Pale golden Reiatsu erupted outward with him at the center, whipping up a sky-wide storm of lightning. And within the storm, bolt after bolt tore open space itself. Spatial fragments rained down in sheets, sweeping through the Hollow group.

Zero Storm, evolved form.

Collapse Storm.

The night sky, already dark, deepened under Collapse Storm into something abyssal and vast. Spatial fragments laced with lightning and warping force raked across the group. Hollows too slow to dodge were caught by the bolts, and then the crossing spatial tears finished them, splitting them apart.

"Impossible. This is impossible! A mere Adjuchas — how does he have power like this?!" Stablek poured out his full Reiatsu, straining every ability he had just to keep the spatial distortion from crushing him, all while clawing his way toward the distance. He had thought about counterattacking. But no matter what he threw at Wayne, nothing connected.

Because while Collapse Storm raged, Wayne was also using his spatial and Concealment abilities to swap his body's position in space, a continuous void displacement. From the outside, it didn't look like Wayne was unhittable. It looked like every strike was simply going slightly off target. Because it was.

"Anyone can run." Wayne Void Flashed forward. "But not you."

Four Sonído afterimages materialized around Stablek in an instant, boxing him in from every angle. Real body or copy, impossible to tell.

"You had your moment. Now die."

All four drew their swords at once. Four slashing arcs, indistinguishable in timing, bore down on Stablek.

Shadow Waltz.

Wayne had layered his Concealment Domain over Shadow Flash. Countless slash trajectories vanished from perception around Stablek, leaving him nothing to read, only the Reiatsu pressure of whatever was already cutting into him.

There was no proper defense. He could only endure.

SQUELCH!

Shadow Waltz's full damage landed. Each wound simultaneously erupted with spatial distortion, wrenching the shallow cuts deeper and longer in a single heartbeat. Stablek was torn apart.

"NO!"

He felt his life draining and roared against it, one last sound of refusal. But if he hadn't been so arrogant, it might not have ended like this.

Wayne's sword came down one final time and split the already cracked Hollow Mask cleanly in two.

Stablek was gone.

"Leave two alive. Kill the rest." Wayne swept his gaze across the battlefield. A dozen or so Adjuchas, dead, wounded, none of them worth his personal attention anymore. He gave the order and stepped back.

"Yes, sir!" His Hollows moved immediately. They picked out two who still looked like they'd survive. Every other Hollow on the field had their mask ripped off and was cut down on the spot.

Wayne turned back toward Nel.

"Nel, how much longer until you hit peak Adjuchas?"

"Still a little while. But judging by the expansion of my Reiatsu internally, it shouldn't be too long." Over the past year, Wayne had been living off the fruits of Nel's hunting runs. That consistent supply had let his Reiatsu climb past Nel's in under a year. But Nel's pace wasn't slow either, a bit more time, and she'd break through to peak on her own.

"I'm taking half the harvest. I just broke through to peak and I need to replenish my Reiatsu to stabilize the realm. You absorb the rest yourself. We need to push our top-tier combat strength up as fast as possible." Each word was measured and deliberate.

"Yes, my lord." Nel nodded and went with the others to collect the masks. Then she got to work, using her absorption technique to draw every trace of Reiatsu from the physical remains.

"Jekain. Take these two mid-tier ones back to the stronghold. Go check on that Adjuchas scout we had tied up underground."

"Yes, my King." Jekain accepted the order without hesitation. He agreed with Wayne completely on the need to build up their top-end strength, especially after today. The battle had made one thing painfully clear: the gap between his forces and the real powers of Hueco Mundo was still enormous. It left him quietly frustrated.

If Wayne hadn't arrived today, Nel might not have made it out. And then what would Jekain have said to his King?

Top-tier combat strength. It was no longer optional. Even without a Vasto Lorde showing up, they needed more peak Adjuchas just to hold their ground in Las Noches.

"My King — Baraggan's influence has already reached our territory. And now we've killed a significant number of his subordinates. The next time they come, it will be stronger." Jekain let his concern show. "Stablek was able to sense the Reiatsu of the scout we had imprisoned, and he tracked us down with precision after a full year's journey from the distant east. That proves they have a way to monitor their subordinates' Reiatsu. Now that we've killed their people, the next time..."

"We're roughly a year's travel from them." Wayne thought for a moment. "Sitting and waiting for them to come isn't an option. We take the initiative. How has our scouting of the surrounding area progressed over this past year?"

"In terms of range, we can detect enemy movement within about half a month's travel. But with our current manpower and communication limitations, by the time our scouts return, the intelligence is only reliable within a single day's travel." Jekain lowered his head. Failing to develop their intelligence network was on him.

"That's not far enough." Wayne felt it too. The problem was technology. Across the distances of Hueco Mundo, there was no way to set up a proper communications system with what they had. If he could find the time, a trip to the World of the Living was in order. Barring any surprises, the World of the Living should be technologically advanced by now, after all, when Timd died, there were already figurines. Communications infrastructure had to have developed significantly since then. Getting some equipment, or even just blueprints, would go a long way.

"Jekain — next time you head back to the Forest of Menos, bring Timd up with you. We need to establish a communications department inside Las Noches. Something that makes sure we're never caught off guard again."

"Yes, my King. But... what exactly is a communications department?"

"Think of it as a division dedicated entirely to information and intelligence, gathering it, relaying it, protecting it." Wayne kept his explanation patient. Timd was the only former-human Hollow he'd met so far. "If we can get it running, we'll be able to monitor a far wider area. Early warning. Preemptive relocation. We stop reacting and start anticipating."

"I... roughly follow." Jekain wasn't entirely sure he understood, but he nodded.

"That's fine. For the next stretch, your job is to keep the stronghold secure. Nel and I are making a trip to the World of the Living to retrieve what we need. When we get back, I'll bring you some books, human knowledge. You can organize a research group from some of the lower-combat-strength Hollows. It won't happen overnight. But we don't need to be perfect, we just need to be more advanced than every other base of operations out there."

"This... as my King commands." Jekain was well past following the full picture, but two things were clear: guard the stronghold, go get Timd. And his King was headed to the World of the Living.

"Speaking of which, my King, how many of us should go with you? Last I heard from Timd, there are a lot of Soul Reapers in the World of the Living. Will you be safe?"

"Ordinary Soul Reapers I can crush without effort. Captain-class and above might take a bit of time. But as long as I'm not surrounded, I can get away. And the area we're heading to isn't going to just happen to have several Captain-class Soul Reapers holding a tea party." Wayne wasn't especially concerned. "There are very few Hollows in the World of the Living. Ordinary squad members can handle most of them, so it won't be dangerous. Not in the short term."

"Just Nel and I this time. The stronghold is yours for the next year. I'll be back before then, if Baraggan sends another wave before I return, we won't be in a good position to deal with it. During this year: be careful with hunting. Las Noches is far more dangerous than we've given it credit for."

"Yes, my King. I'll be careful." Jekain bowed his head. "When do you intend to leave?"

"Now. I leave it to you." Wayne reached out and tore open a Garganta. He waited for Nel to finish her meal, and then the two of them slipped inside, setting out toward the World of the Living, a place Wayne had wanted to see for himself for a long time.

"My lord, are we really going?" Inside the Garganta, Nel's voice was full of anticipation. Back when they were still lower-tier Hollows, Wayne had painted her a picture of the World of the Living. He'd made a promise back then, that they'd go together someday. To see the colors. The busy streets. The sweeping mountains and rivers. The humans who, despite having soul power so thin it was barely worth measuring, had used their own minds to build a vast and extraordinary world. Had even broken free of their planet and reached into the cosmos, chasing mysteries that had no end.

"Yeah. We're going now." Wayne said. "Remember that promise I made when we were still lower Hollows? Today I finally get to keep it."

"Woohoo~! Yes!" Nel jumped, fully shifting into her little antelope self, bounding and hopping her way through the passage.

"Journey first. The distance from Hueco Mundo to the World of the Living is significant, just the travel is close to a month at normal pace. We need to push." As he spoke, pale golden light shimmered across Wayne's body. He drew Nel in close, looping an arm around her neck, and readied himself to use Void Flash inside the Garganta.

"My lord?" Nel looked uncertain. The Garganta was already an alternate space, using Sonído here could easily attract the Kōtotsu with all the spatial disturbance.

"It's fine. My grasp of spatial abilities is solid enough. At this level of fluctuation, I can use Dual-Coordinate Spatial Marks to create a decoy and pull the Kōtotsu off course." The words had barely left his mouth before he pulled Nel along and flashed, not a normal Void Flash, but something different. With his abilities deliberately adjusted, each flash covered dozens of times the usual distance. Less a flash and more a short-range spatial jump. Their overall travel speed was more than ten times faster than normal. The Reiatsu burn, naturally, scaled up to match.

Inside the Garganta, Wayne could create spatial faults at will, enough to ensure that any other Hollow sharing the passage would never find him. After mastering spatial manipulation, the Garganta had effectively become his second domain. He couldn't wield it with complete flexibility yet, but using it to obstruct, to separate, to cut off, that was well within reach.

The Kōtotsu was the one complication. Without it, Wayne could have maintained those spatial faults permanently throughout the passage.

Someday, when his Reiatsu climbed high enough, when he evolved into a Vasto Lorde, or beyond that, to King Hollow, the spatial domain would form on its own. He would be able to carve out a piece of space that was entirely his. Not unlike the void-body displacement he had used in battle today.

Two or three days in, Wayne felt his Reiatsu dip noticeably. A significant drop. He needed rest, though he was careful to keep a reserve set aside for emergencies.

While he recovered, Nel's Super Acceleration Sonído took over. Not as fast as Wayne's jump-style bursts, but considerably quicker than standard Sonído. Enough.

The two of them pushed hard the entire way. What should have been a month-long trip was compressed to under a month before Wayne felt the entrance to the World of the Living within reach.

"...Finally." He let out a slow breath inside the Garganta. With Nel's company, the long haul hadn't been as tedious as it could have been.

"Lord Wayne, should we rest before we go out?"

"Yes. We get back to full Reiatsu first. We don't know how many Soul Reapers are waiting on the other side." Wayne settled cross-legged. "When I open the Garganta, the Reiatsu of the spatial rupture will reach them. There's no way to shield that with Concealment, the moment we step out, if any Soul Reapers have locked onto us, we're immediately at a disadvantage." He spoke carefully, weighing each point.

"But once we're outside, I'll deploy the Concealment Domain and hide us both. Unless Soul Society has some absurdly sensitive tracking equipment, we won't be found. We just have to survive the window when the Garganta opens. And if — worst case — we step out and find multiple Captain-class Soul Reapers already on top of us, escaping still costs a massive amount of Reiatsu. So. Full recovery first."

"Yes, my lord." Nel didn't argue. In her mind, Wayne's instructions came before everything else.

Two to three days later, both of them were back at peak condition. Only then did Wayne raise his hand and open the Garganta.

A black fissure tore slowly across the World of the Living, and a wave of Reiatsu rolled out with it. For the first time in what felt like their entire existence, Wayne and Nel saw colors that weren't murky yellow and darkness.

The sky.

Blue. A vast, clear, impossible blue.

The moment they stepped out of the Garganta, Nel stopped completely. She couldn't look away. Above her, white clouds drifted on a slow wind. In the east, the sun burned bright and warm. Beneath all of it, open green fields stretched as far as she could see, wide and quiet and alive. A stream ran through the grass, clear all the way to the bottom. A few kilometers out, a dense forest rose thick and verdant against the sky.

"M-my lord..." She could barely get the words out. Wayne could feel it, behind her mask, her eyes were bright and glistening. "My lord, is this the World of the Living? It's... it's so beautiful."

"It is." Wayne exhaled. Decades. It had been decades since he had seen the real world. Blue sky, white clouds, green hills, clear water. He breathed in deep, and caught the smell of grass and earth, even through Reishi this thin. It didn't matter. He could still smell it.

"What do you think, Nel? Think you could fall in love with a place like this?" He reached over and ruffled her green hair while she was still turning her head in every direction, taking in everything at once. His voice was easy, warm. "If we get the chance someday, I'll bring you back here to stay for a while."

"Really?" She turned to look at him, eyes wide with hope. "We could actually live here?"

"Of course." He nodded. "Our strength just isn't there yet. Here, we could still run into something we can't beat. So until we're strong enough, we stay close to Hueco Mundo. That's our territory. Here, the Soul Reapers have abilities we haven't mapped out yet. One mistake, and we might not make it back."

"Yeah." Nel nodded quietly. She knew it was true. Stablek's Shadow Domain had nearly killed her, and that was just one of Baraggan's mid-level people. If Wayne hadn't shown up when he did, she would never have seen any of this.

"I understand, Lord Wayne. We finish our business here, then we go back to Hueco Mundo and get stronger. When we're strong enough, we come back."

"Good." Wayne felt something settle in his chest. He was about to say more when he felt it, multiple Reiatsu signatures converging on their position. "Looks like we've already been noticed. Nel, carry me. We need to move toward the human settlements. I'll keep the Concealment Domain active on both of us the whole way."

"Yes, my lord." Nel let him climb onto her back, waited for him to pick a direction, then broke into a run.

About twenty minutes later, several figures in black kimono with katana at their hips appeared at the exact spot Wayne and Nel had left behind.

"This is the place." The white-haired man at the front crouched in midair, fingers tracing through the air where the Garganta had opened. "No mistake. Two Adjuchas-class Reiatsu signatures appeared right here, and then vanished."

"Two Adjuchas suddenly showing up in the World of the Living." The man with long golden hair scanned the surroundings, on edge. "What for?"

"No idea." The white-haired man stood and looked out toward the distance. "But arriving in Adjuchas form and then disappearing without a trace, I don't buy that they stepped out, took one look, decided the Reishi was too thin, and turned around."

"So what you're saying is, two Adjuchas have a way to conceal their Reiatsu. And they've just slipped into the World of the Living." The golden-haired man looked skeptical.

"I don't know." The white-haired man shook his head again. "Either way, we step up patrols around every human settlement. If those two decide to go wild, at least half a city takes the damage."

"Right." The golden-haired man nodded. "I'll send scouts. And we should contact Soul Society, get them ready to authorize Reiatsu Limiter Release ahead of time. Two Adjuchas-class Menos, and we're still under the limiter seal? We might not be able to handle that."

"Yeah. Let's do that."

➤ Next: The Living World