Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 84 - Eve of the Campaign

Chapter Eighty-Four

Wayne's arrival meant Baraggan could finally move on the territories he had never set foot in. With the eastern lands and their surrounding domains now stable, Baraggan intended to bring Wayne along this time and push into the lawless central region.

There were two reasons Baraggan had never managed to reclaim that land.

First, quite a few Vasto Lorde-class Hollows lived there. Most were only early-stage, but they ran in packs of three and five, and even Baraggan found that troublesome. He possessed a measure of time-law authority, yes, but relying on Respira alone to force those Vasto Lorde into submission would still draw resistance.

And as the Ruler of Hueco Mundo had once told Wayne, the nine great law authorities had shattered into far too many fragments, scattered among far too many Hollow beasts. There was no way to know which Vasto Lorde out there carried a sliver of that power. A sliver wouldn't be enough to destroy Baraggan, but if he ran into one whose abilities rivaled Wayne's spatial power, without Wayne at his side, Baraggan could walk away from that badly.

Rodfolles was proof enough. That Life Law fragment, just a fragment, had been enough to lock Baraggan into a stalemate, the killing blow perpetually out of reach.

Second, the central region was where Baraggan had been gravely wounded long ago. His position as a King Hollow, the bulk of his memories, most of his law authority, all of it had been lost there. If the Ruler of Hueco Mundo had reclaimed that power, fine. But if another Hollow beast had gotten hold of it, or worse, some ancient Hollow beast, then thinking Baraggan could take it back alone was a fool's dream.

With Wayne, though, everything changed. Spatial Law and Time Law together could cut down any Vasto Lorde who lacked law authority, or carried only a fragment of it. And the mask energy of every Vasto Lorde they killed would benefit both of them enormously. Baraggan could no longer advance in rank, but absorbing more law authority was never a bad thing. If any fragments of Time Law turned up along the way, better still.

So the moment Wayne arrived, Baraggan felt something loosen in his chest, like he'd already reclaimed the whole of his Time Law authority.

He could sense Wayne's Reiatsu: surging, dense, tightly coiled. And beneath it, a faint resonance between their two law authorities, flickering like a half-heard note. After the grinding mutual rejection between his own power and Rodfolles's, this was something else entirely.

Time and space. People had always spoken of them in the same breath.

"So you really did master the Spatial Law authority, you little brat."

"I was lucky enough to receive its favor." Wayne didn't go into detail about the Ruler of Hueco Mundo. He had no idea how much Baraggan still remembered about the Ruler, and saw no reason to open that door. Better to leave it alone. "Though honestly, I'm not sure my spatial power has fully matured into a true law authority. Personally speaking, though — it's already more than enough."

"Redirect my Respira. Let's see it."

Baraggan raised a skeletal arm and pointed toward Wayne. A mass of Respira rose like black flame, rolling forward to consume him.

Wayne didn't flinch. He lifted one hand, palm upright, fingers spread. A barrier portal edged in black light opened in the air from nothing, and swallowed every wisp of that black flame whole. Then it opened again, this time beneath Baraggan's feet.

The pitch-black fire rekindled at his heels. The sand grains beneath Baraggan's feet crumbled to dust and vanished.

"Good. An ability like that, turned against me — I'd likely have taken a wound."

Coming from Baraggan, that was something. It meant he'd decided Wayne had earned a degree of trust. It was, in its way, an offering of good faith.

"You're too kind, Emperor." Wayne rolled his shoulders. "Honestly, without your help, I never would have reached Vasto Lorde this fast."

"Spare me the pleasantries." Baraggan turned the double-bladed great axe in his hand. "This Western Expedition — I intend to purge every last creature in that region that refuses my command. The central territory is where I fell, all those years ago. Whether I can recover what I lost there, Sir Wayne — I'll need you for that."

"Of course. Mutual benefit is the whole foundation of our alliance." Wayne was more than willing. He had no need to hunt for sustenance anymore, but Vasto Lorde-level Reiatsu was still something he could use.

"That said, Emperor, let's focus on planning the deployment today. I need some time to prepare on my end as well. I really only came today to check in with you. I'll head back shortly and get things ready."

"You scoundrel. Has your spatial ability already covered the entire Hueco Mundo?"

"Anywhere I've placed a marker." Wayne pointed at a spot on the sand nearby. A thought, and a pale-gold pattern bled into existence on the open ground.

"Spatial ability combined with concealment." Baraggan studied it without restraint. "Without a sound, you could scatter these marks across all of Hueco Mundo. When that day comes, you'll be the most terrifying mobile assassin in this world, killing enemies from a thousand miles away." He wasn't holding back the praise at all. Perhaps that was simply what happened when law authorities resonated rather than clashed.

"The Emperor overpraises me." Wayne smiled. "Actually, speaking of abilities, there is one more thing I'd like to ask about."

"Oh? Go ahead."

"The Flash of the King Hollow."

"Hm?" Baraggan's tone sharpened with surprise. "You haven't mastered the Flash of the King Hollow? That ability exists from the Adjuchas stage onward. It sits a tier below law authority, but against incomplete law power, it still carries real force."

"I've always felt my Cero falls just short of the Flash of the King Hollow. To me, Cero and the Flash of the King Hollow are two entirely different techniques, so if the chance arises, I'd like to learn it properly," Wayne said.

"Releasing the Flash of the King Hollow isn't difficult. I'll teach you on the road. For now, Sir Wayne, go handle what needs handling. I have orders to issue."

"Works for me." Wayne nodded. This was a bonus he hadn't expected. Waiting a few more days was nothing. "Then I'll take my leave. I'll come see the Emperor again tomorrow."

Wayne's body shimmered with Reiatsu, and he was gone.

Baraggan stared at the space where he'd vanished.

"That brat. Just by advancing, he already carries law authority this dense." A low sound, something between thought and judgment, moved through the skull emperor's chest. "Is he really the next vessel of the Spatial Law? Possessing the potential of a King Hollow." He let out a short sound, almost amused. "That Ruler of Hueco Mundo really does have an eye for talent."

He, too, had chosen not to mention the Ruler in Wayne's presence. That kind of thing could set off a chain of cause and effect, good or bad, it wasn't a gamble worth taking. Better that both of them simply knew, and said nothing. See through it, but don't speak it. That was enough.

"Pass the order. The full army enters wartime readiness. All High-Class Adjuchas and above will participate. From the mid-rank Adjuchas, deploy one hundred assault and fifty scout and support-type Hollow beasts. The rest remain on standby in the territory."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The Hollows received their orders and the preparations began in earnest, loud, organized, massive.

Wayne's side was considerably calmer. He only needed one person.

"Eh? Master, you're back already?"

Beside the throne, Nel had been curled up in her grass nest, just settling in to sample the fruit she'd brought back from the World of the Living, when Wayne reappeared and made her jump.

"Came back to go over a few things." Wayne stepped out of the spatial rift and dropped into the throne. "Nel, come with me to Baraggan's side tomorrow."

"Eh? Are we going to fight?" She had an apple half-bitten in her mouth.

"More or less. We're accompanying Baraggan on his campaign. The main goal, aside from growing stronger ourselves, is to see if we can recruit some peak-stage Adjuchas — or even Vasto Lorde-class Hollows — along the way. Relying only on the people we already have has its limits."

That much was true. Even Jekain had been stopped cold by his own potential, pinned at the peak of the Adjuchas stage with nowhere left to climb. Wayne's forces were still thin when it came to Vasto Lorde-level strength. If this campaign gave him a chance to bring some Vasto Lorde-class Hollows into the fold, that would matter enormously. He even had a few names in mind already. Whether they could be subdued easily was another question.

"Mm, whatever Master says~" Nel stuffed the rest of the apple into her mouth and pushed herself up from the grass nest. "Should we bring anyone else?"

"No. This trip might be called a hunt, but what it's really for is helping you find a way to advance, and picking up some new subordinates. Too many people means casualties. Let everyone else stay here. I've left an inherent mark on the throne, whatever happens, I can still come back every day to check."

"Spatial ability really is convenient." Nel tapped her mask lightly with one finger, tilting her head. "Though, Master, doesn't it drain Reiatsu? Crossing distances that large?"

"There's always some cost, but not much. Right now, the only thing that would cause significant drain is crossing all three worlds back to back. Because of, actually, never mind. The point is, if you want to go back to the World of the Living for fruit, we can go whenever."

The gleam that lit up behind Nel's mask at those words made Wayne exhale slowly.

Next time, he thought, he might as well just bring back the soil and the trees along with it. Grow them here for a steady supply. He just didn't know whether soil from the World of the Living could keep a fruit tree alive once it was transplanted to Hueco Mundo.

"I'm going to find Jekain. You go find Timd and pick up the latest communication devices and warning devices."

"Hehe, yes, Master~" The excitement in Nel's voice was hard to miss. It was as though she'd just been told she would never have to worry about fruit again.

Wayne watched her bounce off like an overjoyed deer and shook his head, the corner of his mouth pulling up despite himself. But this was fine. Wasn't it precisely because he appreciated that unguarded, genuine quality in her that the two of them had walked this road together?

A quiet smile. Then he used a spatial flash to drop himself directly into the fortress where Jekain was stationed and got to work.

In truth, during all the time Wayne had been running from one end of Hueco Mundo to the other, Jekain had been there, steady, reliable, keeping every part of the faction running without complaint. Wayne found that genuinely moving. He still remembered that back when he'd been a low-level Hollow, the very first Gillian he'd ever devoured had been brought down together with Jekain, Inola, and the rest of the old crew. If not for them back then, Wayne might have been torn apart by his own Reiatsu before he ever had the chance to refine it.

"Jekain."

"My King." Jekain bowed. For a Hollow with a dragon's head and a human body, his bearing was oddly composed, not strange to look at. And Jekain's spatial-sealing ability, since his meeting with the Ruler of Hueco Mundo, Wayne had started to wonder whether that power might itself be a fragment of law authority. He had no knowledge of what law authorities existed beyond Space, Time, and Life, but something as refined as spatial sealing could plausibly be a sliver of something larger.

Unfortunately, Jekain had hit his ceiling at the peak of Adjuchas and couldn't move past it. Wayne had already let go of the hope of helping him break through. There were other Hollow beasts in the faction who could still evolve, but they weren't what his focus was on.

The original crew, these people were the core of everything he'd built. If he lost them, the question of whether the faction even continued to exist would stop mattering.

He had to remember that the whole reason he'd started building this faction was to oppose Aizen. As for the oversized worm in the Forest of Menos that he'd killed along the way, that had been personal, nothing more. Right now, Aizen was the only enemy that truly counted. Escaping from the reach of Kyokasuigetsu was not a small problem.

He was getting ahead of himself. Wayne closed his eyes briefly, pushed Aizen to the back of his mind, and refocused. Keep growing stronger. That was the only answer that mattered, the only thing that would mean anything when Aizen finally came for Hueco Mundo.

"Jekain. You've worked hard."

"Hm?" Jekain paused, visibly caught off guard. "I... thank the King for saying so. But, my King, why say that now, all of a sudden?"

"No reason." Wayne shook his head. "On another note, is the Garganta between us and the Forest of Menos still up?"

"Always, my King." Jekain nodded. "After Timd's research and modifications to the Garganta technique, we've established a fixed passage at the stronghold. It's maintained continuously by a plant-type aberrant Hollow beast. Its ability is unusual, similar to Lady Nel's, it can draw Reishi directly from the sand. The unfortunate part is that its growth potential stalled at the mid-rank Adjuchas level. Otherwise, with that kind of absorption ability, it could have reached Vasto Lorde someday."

"That's a real shame." The moment Wayne heard it, his first thought was whether Nel's absorption ability might also be a form of law authority, and whether the plant-type Hollow's power was simply a lesser version of the same thing.

He was starting to see law authority in everything. The Ruler of Hueco Mundo had gotten into his head.

"Either way, hold our control over the Forest of Menos. If things go badly for the faction down the line, that's our exit."

"Yes, my King." Jekain bowed. Then he hesitated. "My King, there is something I don't understand."

"Say it."

"Since the faction was established, we have advanced without pause. We have rarely lost. The last true defeat was that skirmish with Baraggan's subordinates, and our record since has been one that fills us with pride. And yet my King has always warned us, if the future changes, we need fallback paths. One, or even several." Jekain's voice was steady, but there was something beneath it. "My King, do you truly have the ability to foresee the future? What is it that we will have to face?"

"...All of this is only speculation on my part." Wayne chose not to lay out the full truth about Aizen. "Do you know anything about King Hollows and the ancient Hollow beasts?"

"I've heard some." Jekain was quiet for a moment. "While you were in slumber, my King, we moved against several factions. From those we defeated, we gathered fragments, rumors about King Hollows and ancient Hollow beasts. Only that their Reiatsu was immense, and that they were exceedingly rare."

"That's right. Both King Hollows and ancient Hollow beasts stand above Vasto Lorde entirely. As our faction grows, the odds that we will eventually face opponents at that level are high. When that time comes, if we can't match them, retreat will be our best option."

"My King..."

"I'm not invincible. I can die. And beyond those powerful Hollow beasts, there are Soul Reapers and Quincy watching Hueco Mundo from outside, waiting." Wayne's voice went quiet. A beat of silence. Then he continued. "A war is coming. One that will decide whether Hollow beasts survive at all. If we win, then good, everyone goes home. But if I fall, Jekain, take our people back to the Forest of Menos. It will be far safer there than anywhere in the inner circle of Hueco Mundo."

"...I shall heed my King's command."

Jekain didn't fully understand what Wayne was describing. But the weight in his King's voice left no room for doubt. Whatever war Wayne was speaking of, it would come.

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