Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 81 - Dominator of Hueco Mundo

BOOM!

The crash hit without warning, erupting from the throne at the center of Wayne's stronghold as though the sound itself had materialized from nothing. In an instant, every Hollow beast in the vicinity snapped toward it, rushing the throne's direction at full Sonído. Jekain and Nel were among them.

A territorial attack was one thing. But that was the location of Wayne's throne. If Wayne came back and found his throne smashed to rubble, where exactly was Jekain supposed to put his face?

He arrived to find the hall choked with dust and smoke, the stone throne shattered, and Wayne himself embedded in a crater in the floor, surrounded by Hollow Masks scattered across the ground.

"M-My lord?" Nel had sensed Wayne's Reiatsu through the haze, but she had no idea what had caused any of this. "What happened?"

"An accident. Heh — an accident. Don't mind the details."

Several days prior, after following Baraggan back to the core territory, Wayne hadn't stayed long before taking his leave. He was holding over a hundred Hollow Masks, and consuming them could very well push him to the edge of advancement. Breaking through in an unfamiliar place, with so many unknowns in play, wasn't something Wayne considered wise.

Fortunately, he had laid Spatial Marks along the entire route from his stronghold on the way out, so the return trip was far faster. A direct transfer along the marks was all it took.

The problem was the distance. Locking onto the specific mark engraved on his own throne from that far away and covering it in a single jump was genuinely no easy feat.

So Wayne had first teleported to Baraggan's core territory, then made several successive shorter hops, and after a series of adjustments, he finally located the unique solidified mark on his throne back home. He released a large burst of Reiatsu, constructed a spatial framework bridging himself and the mark, and leaped. But this was his first attempt at a spatial jump of that kind of extreme distance, and he hadn't managed his momentum on arrival, he'd cratered straight into the throne, which explained what had just happened.

"M-My king — are you alright?" Jekain didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His own king had just demolished his own throne. What was there to say? He'd have someone come clean it up and ask Mude to forge a replacement.

"I'm fine. I used an ultra-long-distance transfer in a single go and I'm still not used to it." Wayne stood, stubbornly snapped his fractured pinky finger bone back into alignment, then adopted an expression of complete indifference and began collecting the Hollow Masks from the floor.

"My king, these masks..."

"I participated in a Vasto Lorde-level battle. These are the spoils." Wayne answered evenly. "I'll be going into seclusion again soon. I consumed a Vasto-class core a while back — I should be close to the edge of advancement by now."

"Really, my lord~?" Nel looked genuinely thrilled. It had been barely a year since she herself had advanced to peak-stage Adjuchas, and their lord had already touched the threshold of the Vasto Lorde tier. Their forces would become far stronger, and far safer.

"Yes. These masks have been sitting exposed too long. Any longer and they'll dissolve into Reishi. I need to go into seclusion now." Wayne said, his focus already elsewhere. "I don't know how long this one will take. I'll leave external matters to you in the meantime. If anyone from Baraggan's side shows up, don't start a fight. We've reached a temporary cooperative arrangement with Baraggan."

"Understood, my king." Jekain accepted the order.

It was a little frightening, honestly. Their king had only been gone a short while, and he'd already added Baraggan's forces to their alliance roster. And from just a single battle, Wayne was already on the verge of stepping into the Vasto Lorde tier, while Jekain himself still hadn't reached peak-stage Adjuchas.

With his affairs settled, Wayne didn't even pause to check on the results of Timd's technological work before plunging headlong into the training ground beneath the Cliffside. Same as he'd done back in the Forest of Menos, Wayne had always liked having Mude and the others build dedicated spaces for him. There was no technology to speak of in Hueco Mundo, but a space that was his own gave Wayne at least some measure of security.

In the underground training ground, Wayne piled the masks to one side and began feeding them into his mouth one by one, simultaneously refining the Reiatsu within his body. He'd absorbed Rod Folles's Reiatsu in a hurry last time without taking the care to refine it properly. This seclusion was his chance. He began reorganizing every strand of Reiatsu inside himself from the ground up.

It was a complex process, cycling all the Reiatsu through his body, then condensing and compressing it strand by strand, and finally tempering out the impurities that didn't belong.

The same as it had been at the Menos Graveyard. Not every particle of Reishi was pure energy. There was always a small portion carrying foreign impurities of one kind or another. Expelling them would make his Reiatsu far cleaner, and once solidified, its potency would rise substantially. The total volume might drop slightly in the process, but he had close to two hundred Hollow Masks on hand. More than enough to replenish and reinforce.

Just as he'd anticipated: after compressing and adjusting his Reiatsu, Wayne consumed over a hundred and twenty more Hollow Masks, and then felt something shift inside his body.

Like a Gillian advancing to Adjuchas, Wayne on the cusp of breakthrough began radiating a pale golden Reiatsu glow. The surrounding Reishi stirred. Wave after wave of Reiatsu storms surged outward with Wayne at their center. The leftover mask fragments on the ground began crumbling apart one by one, dissolving into streams of Reishi that poured into his body.

Before long, a cocoon of pale golden light had wrapped itself entirely around him. And within that warm, comfortable stillness, Wayne's consciousness gradually let go.

Outside the underground training ground, Jekain stood and felt the change.

"Nel, Lord Wayne's Reiatsu has started to fade."

It wasn't like the instantaneous vanishing when Wayne activated his Concealment, this was slow, gradual, like a flame being smothered down to nothing. If he hadn't been underground and still able to feel that faint Reishi storm, Jekain might well have already been charging inside.

"Perhaps this is what advancement looks like at the Vasto Lorde level?" Nel was carefully tracking the same sensation. "Like when we advanced ourselves — the Adjuchas cocoon wrapped around us too. But it didn't fade like this. It didn't leave us feeling like something was being extinguished."

"As long as our king is still alive, there's nothing to worry about. We protect the territory. That's all." Jekain took one last look toward where Wayne was secluded, arranged the guards at the entrance, and went back to work. He didn't know when Wayne would emerge. But when he did, he would find the stronghold more prosperous than he'd left it.

Meanwhile, once Wayne had fully entered the advancement state, his consciousness grew hazy and adrift. Then, gradually, he felt awareness returning. Cradled in that warm current of spiritual energy, he reclaimed his sense of self. And in that soft, dim radiance, he already knew: before long, he would hear that voice again, the one that had rung in his ears twice before.

"Child, we meet again." The voice of the Forest of Menos came, settling beside him.

"It has been a while." Wayne reached out through his consciousness in greeting. "We're already in Hueco Mundo's inner ring now. I thought we could only speak within the Forest of Menos."

"My child, the Forest of Menos is only a part of me. As long as you remain within Hueco Mundo, you will always receive my blessing."

"I see." Wayne nodded. "Then it seems calling you the Forest of Menos was never quite right. Might I ask — do I have the chance to learn your true name?"

"You may call me Mother. You may continue to call me the Forest of Menos. Or you may use the name the Ancient Hollow Beasts once knew me by, the Dominator of Hueco Mundo."

"The Dominator of Hueco Mundo?" A flicker of surprise crossed Wayne's expression. "An existence even above the Vasto Lordes?"

"If you mean in terms of ability or power, then yes. But the truth is, whether it was the Nine Great King Hollows from thousands of years ago or the Ancient Hollow Beasts sealed and sleeping within Hueco Mundo's Chaos Region, they are all my subjects."

"What about the Soul King? Are you and he on the same level?"

"Yes and no." This time, the Forest of Menos kept nothing back, she laid it all out plainly. "The Soul King can be considered the ruler of the Three Worlds. He governs the balance between them and maintains a perfect cycle. But once we Hollow beasts began consuming human souls and devouring one another, that cycle broke.

To restore the cycle, the Soul King branched off a power of extermination — used to eliminate us Hollow beasts — and the cycle was reestablished. Yet in the process, the upheaval the Soul King underwent created a fundamental rift between him and the rulers of Soul Society. His body was severely damaged and sealed away, most of it dismembered from the whole.

Beyond the World of the Living, both Hueco Mundo and Soul Society have their own apex powers. Most of them originated from fragments of the Soul King's body. And I, too, can be considered a part of the Soul King, except that over tens of thousands of years, I have long since broken free from his constraints and become the supreme being of Hueco Mundo." The Dominator of Hueco Mundo continued.

"Long ago, Hueco Mundo's combat strength surpassed that of Soul Society. But due to the Quincy's intervention and the war with the Seireitei, the Law-based power held by the Nine Great King Hollows was severely depleted. After fighting to the last against the Ancient Hollow Beasts born from the Soul King's body fragments, the King Hollows fell or were sealed to the last, and our combat strength plummeted."

"And you..."

"My body suffered grievous damage as well. What you are speaking with now is the consciousness I preserved within Hueco Mundo before my body shattered. If you ever find fragments of my body in the future, I hope you will find a way to help me recover, and help restore Hueco Mundo to what it once was."

"Why me?"

"Child, I understand your hesitation." The Dominator's voice was gentle. "You are not my only chosen one. Many other exceptional children have also received my blessing. I granted each of you different abilities and let you grow on your own. When you reach the point where you can command a portion of the Law, you will be able to summon the Ancient Hollow Beasts from the Chaos Region, defeat them, and consume them, and you will receive a power capable of a qualitative transformation, enough to stand equal with the King Hollows. At that point, you will be able to become a new King Hollow. Regrettably, many of these children could not endure to the end and lost their lives in the devouring and fighting among themselves."

"But... why me specifically?" Wayne pressed. "I never had any intention of becoming a King Hollow. I only want to survive in this world. And the other Hollow beasts you blessed, where have they all gone? If everything you've said is true, why hasn't Hueco Mundo produced a new King Hollow in thousands of years?"

"Because of the rules." The Dominator's voice was heavy with regret. "Due to the interference of the Soul King and Soul Society, Hueco Mundo's Laws have been shackled. Even now, I cannot fully entrust any single Law to any one child. The only surviving King Hollow — Baraggan Louisenbairn, who once held perfect mastery over the power of time — was also gravely wounded in his battle against the Ancient Hollow Beasts and lost his perfect command of the Law. His Time Law, along with a portion of his memories, was lost. What remains of him now is only the ability of decay and aging. The Law of Time Reversal, forgotten."

"Hiss..." Wayne drew a sharp breath. "No wonder. That Death Force was so utterly domineering, it was a fragment of Law all along."

"So my Spatial power is also a fragment of Law?"

"Yes. What I granted you is the Spatial Law."

"Oh?"

"The growth rule for Hollow beasts is mutual consumption. The reason I reveal Hueco Mundo's survival rules to you at the Gillian stage is so that you understand how this world operates. As the path of your growth grows harder, the more you comprehend, and the greater your command over your abilities becomes. Eventually, when you reach the Adjuchas stage, I evaluate your abilities and talent and decide whether to appear on your evolutionary path."

"So there are eight others in Hueco Mundo who can fight the way I can?"

"No, my child, you are different from them." The Dominator spoke slowly. "You are more outstanding. You are also the fastest-growing one I have ever seen. Since the Nine Great King Hollows, it has been rare for me to encounter a child who grew to Vasto Lorde in under a century. This is perhaps related to your origins."

"My origins?" Wayne caught the word.

"Yes. To be precise, you do not belong to this world, and so your soul is more unique. Beyond your own soul, there is another soul that has merged into your body in a strange and particular way. This is why I was able to grant you the Spatial Law while you simultaneously possess the Concealment ability."

"Two souls?" Wayne was taken aback. Had his soul, upon arriving in this world, occupied the body of a Hollow beast? And was that Hollow's soul still inside him?

"Do not worry, my child. Your consciousness will not be seized by the other soul. The two souls within your body have already fully fused, there will be no backlash. Your consciousness will always govern your body. The other soul is simply a vessel for carrying power. One form, two abilities."

"Is that so?" Learning this about himself, whatever the truth of it, Wayne let out a quiet breath of relief.

"And it is precisely because of this fusion that you grow faster and more exceptionally than the other children. Your path has been filled with hardship, but reaching this point brings me great comfort. I hope that in the future you will go even further, to become an existence equal to the King Hollows. Or even surpass me."

"That's far too distant for me right now." Wayne laughed softly and shook his head. "Surviving the next ten years is already my top priority." What he was referring to, of course, was Aizen's invasion.

"My child, I cannot intervene in your future in any way, I cannot even tell you the names of the other children I have blessed. But you only need to do what you believe is right."

"Understood. I'll work hard to advance." Even knowing everything he now knew, Wayne made no grand promises to the Dominator of Hueco Mundo. He had no ability to carry the weight of her expectations.

"Simply continue as you have been. Time will carry you to that height. When it does, we will meet again." The Dominator was in no hurry. She had already lived through tens of thousands of years.

"Now, you are already capable of bearing more of the Law. I will grant you a greater portion of the Spatial Law's power. And I sense a faint trace of Life Law within your body. It seems you consumed a child who possessed a weak fragment of the Life Law?"

"Rod Folles? And it's only faint?" Wayne's heart lurched. If Rod Folles was considered faint, what did that make Baraggan?

"The Law has already been shattered into far too many pieces. Recovering all of them is extremely difficult for me now. My child, the Life Law within your body has no direct use for you. It has no connection to the Spatial Law, and you cannot draw on it. Would you allow me to take it back?"

"Go ahead." Wayne didn't hesitate. He nodded.

In truth, he had no real choice. In front of the Dominator, what right did he have to refuse? He could only hope she wouldn't end up using him for her own ends.

"Thank you, child. With even this small measure of Life Law power, I can sustain myself a little longer." A stream of golden-red spiritual light flowed out from within Wayne's body and dispersed into the pale golden radiance.

"You... are you dying?" Wayne sensed something he couldn't ignore.

"As long as the Soul King does not perish, I will not fade so easily. But my body has been shattered for too long, and my consciousness has sustained itself for thousands of years. Within the next century, I may have to fall into slumber, and once I sleep, I cannot say how many ages will pass before I wake."

"If sleeping can help you recover, then why not?"

"I am the Dominator of Hueco Mundo. I maintain the balance among the countless Hollow beasts within it. Once I fall into slumber, the Ancient Hollow Beasts I have sealed within the Chaos Region will reemerge. With no new King Hollows having been born, Hueco Mundo will descend into chaos. If Soul Society's strength were sufficient to destroy those Ancient Hollow Beasts, perhaps the balance could still hold. But should those Ancient Hollow Beasts break their seals and make for the World of the Living, humanity would not survive their Reiatsu. The balance of the Three Worlds would shatter in an instant."

"Do we have no ability to destroy them?"

"Being parts of the Soul King as they are, they cannot be so easily killed. They can only be sealed, or absorbed and consumed. That is no longer within my power. After all, they are fragments of the Soul King himself, not Law power."

"I understand. So you chose me hoping I could become a King Hollow and help you recover your body, bring you back."

"No, child. I only wish for Hueco Mundo to remain in balance." The Dominator's voice was still as water. "I have lived too long. Death holds no fear for me. But I need to wait until one of my children has reached that height, someone to help me maintain Hueco Mundo's balance and keep it from being consumed by Soul Society and the Quincy. That is enough.

It is only a pity that beyond offering guidance, I can no longer give you much more. Infusing a portion of the Law into you is already the most I can do."

"Because we're too weak to fully command the Law?" Wayne muttered to himself.

"In any case, the stronger I become, the more useful that is to you and to Hueco Mundo. Is that right?"

"Correct."

"Then, can my companions Nel and Jekain also receive the enhancement of Law power, the same as I have?"

"Every Hollow beast's special ability is a fragment of Law. Your companions have also received extensions of that power. But they do not have a body like yours, capable of bearing more of it. Perhaps someday, when they reach the peak of the Vasto Lorde stage, they will have the chance to meet with me before their final evolution. At that time, I will grant them more."

"So the number of candidates capable of bearing Law power is limited too?"

"There are only nine portions of complete Law power in total." The Dominator answered quietly.

"Can you really not tell me what they all are? It would help me keep an eye out."

"I cannot, child. Too much intervention on my part would trigger the Butterfly Effect and disrupt Hueco Mundo's balance. But you already know of three kinds of Law power, don't you? In the future, when you encounter and consume more, we will meet again."

"Great. I've become a collection depot." Wayne gave a rueful smile.

"Child, I do this to minimize the burden you must carry. My subjects are all free beings, none of them should be bound by the Law. That includes you, and each of the King Hollows. I hope you can understand. Perhaps when you have the power to reach the level of the Soul King, everything I have said will become clear."

"The Soul King." Wayne let out a quiet breath. "Right now I can just barely hold my own against a Captain-class Soul Reaper. The Soul King is still impossibly far. After all..." His words trailed off there.

He was wrestling with it, whether telling the Dominator about Aizen's plans would set off consequences he couldn't predict. No. Even if he told her, it probably wouldn't matter. She couldn't intervene in his affairs regardless.

"In any case, I'll work hard to grow stronger."

"Very well, my child. Let us end things here for now. I hope we will have the chance to meet again." The Dominator moved to send Wayne back out of the consciousness space.

"Wait, wait," Wayne called out quickly. "Last time, did you put something inside my body? What was it? I've never been able to sense it."

"Think of it as a mark I branded on you, to make it easier to find you again."

"That's what you say, but what exactly is it? I can't shake the feeling it isn't that simple."

"There is no need for you to know too much right now, my child, it would heavily intervene in your future." The Dominator offered nothing more. "You don't even need to think about it. It will have no effect on you."

"Hmm..." Wayne thought about it, then let it go. He'd already learned more than enough from her today. Whatever she wasn't willing to say, no amount of asking would change that.

"Then, my child, I hope we meet again." Sensing his questions were spent, the Dominator cast a ray of light across Wayne's body and vanished from his consciousness.

With her departure, Wayne's awareness began to thin. He knew what it meant. This was the final advancement completing itself. When his consciousness returned, he would be a Vasto Lorde.

And that moment was close.

➤ Next: Advancing to Vasto Lorde