Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 85 - First Stop

"My lord, I'm ready."

Wayne had spent an entire day issuing orders to Jekain and his other subordinates. By the time he finished, Nel had arrived at the meeting hall with Timd in tow.

The original plan had been for Nel to return alone with the latest communications device. But Timd apparently had new matters to report, so Nel brought him along.

"My King, here are the communications devices you requested." Timd presented two white jade disc-shaped communicators.

"These don't actually function as communicators. After learning of your spatial teleportation ability from Lady Nel, I designed them specifically for that purpose."

"Oh? Let's hear it." Wayne turned one of the jade discs over in his hand. Judging by the material, it appeared to be the glazed jade Mude worked with, with his rising Reiatsu, Mude had further refined his ability to shape and manipulate sand and stone. Combined with a fire-controlling Hollow beast and Timd's technical knowledge, firing objects into glazed material was no longer out of reach.

"This jade disc is a signal device. Stored within it is a fragment of my clone's Reiatsu along with some special materials. When you're occupied and can't get away, you can crush it and speak into it. My clone on this end will receive the signal. Voice communication lasts roughly thirty seconds. Unfortunately, the device only transmits in one direction — there's no way to reply through that sliver of Reiatsu. On the other hand, if an emergency arises on our end, the disc will grow warm and cycle through different colors to pass on the information."

As he spoke, Timd raised his Reiatsu slightly. The jade disc in Wayne's hand responded with a gentle warmth, its color shifting from white to green, then yellow, then red.

"Three colors, each representing a different alert level. After deliberating with the rest of our management, we settled on green for routine matters — territorial expansion, the movement of unverified personnel, things that need to be reported to you for resolution. Yellow for urgent matters — typically when we've come under attack and can't handle it ourselves, so we're calling for your help. Red for a crisis. I'll only send the red signal if we're facing slaughter or sudden annihilation. You can decide how to respond based on your situation at the time."

"This suits me perfectly." Wayne tossed the disc lightly in his palm. A signal tool like this might as well have been designed for him. In all of Hueco Mundo, very few Hollow beasts could cross the entire expanse in any meaningful span of time. "In the future, this becomes our dedicated signal system."

"Then, my King, I have nothing further to report." Timd bowed and stepped back. "May my King ride out to victory."

"Mm." Wayne nodded, satisfied. "Then we move out. Jekain, I leave things here to you."

"Yes, my King. Please set your mind at ease." Jekain bowed. "May you return victorious."

"Mm." Without another word, Wayne placed one hand around Nel's waist and activated his spatial teleportation. The next moment, the two of them arrived within Baraggan's territory. As Wayne's Reiatsu spread through the domain, Baraggan emerged from the great hall.

"Lord Wayne, you've come. And this is?"

"Nel. My companion. Your Majesty can call her that."

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Nel gave Baraggan a small nod. She hadn't reached Vasto Lorde level yet, but she showed no deference standing before him. She owed loyalty to Wayne alone, she was not one of Baraggan's subordinates, and she carried herself accordingly.

"Mm. Still a young girl." Baraggan's jawbone shifted slightly. "This reminds me, not far from my core territory, there is a female Vasto Lorde. Though compared to this young girl, that female is far less agreeable."

"Oh?" Wayne's interest sharpened. "I've actually heard something of this. One of Your Majesty's subordinates once mentioned that to the east of the core territory, there's a female lower-tier Vasto Lorde who has persistently refused to submit. Someone called... Harribel, I believe."

"Harribel Tia. A shark-type humanoid lower-tier Vasto Lorde." Not far from Baraggan's side, a male Adjuchas with a flat hammerhead skull cut in. His words drew Baraggan's hollow-eyed skull around toward him, and an invisible pressure instantly flattened him to the ground.

"When this king speaks, since when is it your turn to open your mouth, you piece of trash!" As Baraggan's words fell, a layer of black Death Flame began to rise slowly around him.

"Y-Your Majesty. I was wrong..." The Adjuchas pinned to the ground had no power to resist.

"Your Majesty, there's no need for anger." Wayne stepped forward, shielding Nel, and spoke up. "I happen to be quite interested in this lower-tier Vasto Lorde myself. To be honest, I intend to try recruiting some forces while accompanying you on this campaign. If Your Majesty permits, I could make contact with this lower-tier Vasto Lorde first. If I can't recruit her, consuming her wouldn't be a bad outcome either, consider it helping Your Majesty pull out a thorn."

"Hmph. Do as you like." Baraggan was still simmering from his subordinate's insolence. "Since you're interested in trying your hand with that rebel, we'll make her our first stop. As the starting point of the Eastern Campaign, it's only right to deal with what's on our own doorstep first. She may be a minor nail, but pulling her out will spare this king a persistent itch."

"Good. That works." Wayne nodded, then beckoned to the Adjuchas still on the ground. "You seem to have a grudge against Harribel?"

"My lord... we were originally Hollow beasts of the same kind. Before I came to know His Majesty, I once sought to join her." The flat-headed shark Hollow struggled to his feet and addressed Wayne respectfully. "But that one, for some reason, is deeply hostile toward male Adjuchas. She ignored my appeal entirely and drove me out of her territory. So I..."

"Is that so." Wayne nodded, thoughtful. "Then you'll lead the way. We go meet her."

"Yes, my lord." The shark-headed Adjuchas glanced immediately toward Baraggan. Seeing no fluctuation in Baraggan's Reiatsu, he gave a nod of assent.

"Your Majesty — myself and this..." Wayne paused. "What was your name again?"

"Shak Kashdaman."

"Right. Shak Kashdaman and I will head to Harribel's territory first. You advance with your forces directly. If she still hasn't been persuaded by the time you arrive, we'll eliminate her together."

"Oh? It will only take us three or four days to reach Harribel's territory, are you certain?" Baraggan's skull tilted slightly to one side, as though expressing doubt. He understood well enough that Wayne could teleport directly, so he set aside any concern about Wayne's travel time.

"If three or four days aren't enough to persuade her to surrender, then no amount of time after that will help either." Wayne spread his hands. "Besides, we can't let a single lower-tier Vasto Lorde hold up the entire campaign, can we?"

"Mm..." Baraggan's skull dipped, as though weighing the timeline. He glanced at Nel standing beside Wayne, then answered. "Fair enough. She's only a lower-tier, if you can't bring her down, then eat her."

"Then, Your Majesty, deploy your forces at your leisure. Wayne moves ahead." As the words left his mouth, Wayne grabbed Nel's wrist with one hand and seized Shak by the fish-head with the other. All three vanished instantly from before Baraggan.

"He can bring multiple people at once?" Baraggan stared at the empty space where Wayne had been, the ghostly flame deep in his hollow eye sockets flickering softly. "It seems for now he needs physical contact as the medium. But if this boy's Law-based power advances further — if he can form a domain that transports entire armies — then there will be no one left in all of Hueco Mundo who can stop him. This boy..."

Wayne didn't hear any of it. He had already teleported with Nel and Shak to a location outside Baraggan's core territory. After a series of confirmations with Shak Kashdaman, Wayne activated his spatial teleportation again. Several jumps and orientation checks later, in under twenty minutes, they arrived at the outer boundary of Harribel's territory.

The place was a depression enclosed by sheer cliffs on all sides. At its center stood a solitary mountain, and at the base of that mountain was a cave entrance. This was Harribel's dwelling.

"My lord, that's the place." Shak pointed toward the cave below. "Harribel has three mid-tier Adjuchas subordinates: the lion-type Hollow beast Mila Rose, the deer-type Hollow beast Apache, and the snake-type Hollow Sun-Sun. Beyond those three, I don't know whether she has any others."

"Doesn't matter." Wayne was unconcerned. "A single Vasto Lorde is no challenge for me, let alone mid-tier Adjuchas. You wait here. I'll go take a look."

He Void Flashed directly to the cave entrance. No concealment, no caution, he simply stood at the mouth of the cave and let his Reiatsu bleed out at a slow, unhurried pace.

It didn't take long. Three distinct Adjuchas-level Reiatsu signatures surged from within the cave, and the lion-deer-snake trio appeared before him.

"This Reiatsu..." Mila Rose, the lion Hollow at the front, spoke first. "It's on the same level as Lady Harribel, maybe even higher!"

"I smell that detestable Reiatsu of Shak Kashdaman." Apache turned toward one end of the cliffside, precisely where Nel and Shak were standing. "Did he bring you here as backup?"

"Regardless, Lady Harribel isn't in the territory right now." At the back, Sun-Sun raised herself upright, her forked tongue flickering in and out, her expression anything but friendly. "We can't let an enemy raid our home, engage!"

"Are you Harribel's subordinates?" Wayne looked entirely at ease. The future Three Beast Gods' Reiatsu didn't press on him in the slightest, as far as he was concerned, they were mid-tier Adjuchas and nothing more.

"I've come to find Harribel. Do me the favor of passing that along."

"You damned male." Apache's Reiatsu began to climb. It didn't matter how much she raised it, she couldn't touch Wayne. "You've come to make trouble for Lady Harribel after all, haven't you?"

"Don't misunderstand. I'm only here to discuss something with her."

"You show up alongside that fool Shak, you must be one of Baraggan's people." Sun-Sun swayed her serpentine tail. "Come to try and get us to fall under Baraggan again? Don't bother. No matter how many times you show up, the answer doesn't change. We won't agree."

"No, it's not about joining Baraggan." Wayne shook his head. "It's about joining my faction."

"What?!" Mila Rose's golden lion mask opened and closed. She clearly didn't believe what she'd just heard.

"Do you know what you're saying?" Apache's deer-head was full of contempt. "If someone at Baraggan's level might give us pause, then who exactly are you?"

"Wayne. Ace Wayne. My faction is in the far west. I came here specifically because I hope Harribel will join us. As for Shak, he's just our guide."

"He's one of Baraggan's subordinates. How is it that you're running around with him?" Sun-Sun's snake eyes narrowed.

"We've reached a strategic cooperation with Baraggan."

"So in the end you're still here dealing with Baraggan's people." Mila Rose raised her lion head and glanced toward the distant cliffside, where Shak was gazing down. "In that case, please leave. Lady Harribel will not be joining any faction."

"Unless your faction is willing to offer Lady Harribel the position of supreme ruler." Apache's expression turned into a smirk.

"It seems you three aren't in a position to make decisions for Harribel." Wayne's tone cooled. He had been more than patient, and these three had still managed to irritate him. "Call her out."

In truth, in the original manga's storyline, Apache, the deer god of the Three Beast Gods, had joined the group later. But Apache was already here now, which seemed to indicate that it wouldn't be long before Aizen made his way from Soul Society to Hueco Mundo. His trips to Hueco Mundo hadn't started when he broke with Soul Society, he had already been making unauthorized visits during the era when Shinji Hirako and the others were still captains. His purposes were twofold: first, to seek out high-level combatants in Hueco Mundo; and second, to make preparations for perfecting the Hōgyoku.

Apache's presence meant Wayne was running out of time. It was possible he'd come face to face with Aizen very soon.

"Ha? Who do you think you are?" Apache's Reiatsu was inferior to Wayne's, but her spirit wasn't yielding an inch. "You think you can just demand to see Lady Harribel whenever you feel like it?"

"If you want to see Lady Harribel, you'll have to get through the three of us first!"

"Alas." Wayne let out a quiet sigh and shook his head. "All this talking and it still comes down to fighting. The bigger fist really is the only thing that counts in Hueco Mundo. Fine then, I won't hold back."

His Reiatsu began to rise.

Then, in a single instant, his pale gold Reiatsu erupted straight toward the sky, a pillar of light punching through the heavens, pressing down on all three of them so completely that none of them could move.

"This is..." Mila Rose strained to lift her head, staring up at the towering column of pale gold light. "What terrifying Reiatsu. The pressure is even higher than Lady Harribel's. Was he hiding his true strength this whole time?"

"We've kicked a hornet's nest." Apache dropped to one knee, her front legs straining to rise and failing.

"This isn't good." Sun-Sun's entire body was flattened to the ground, unable even to lift her head. "This time, we've really gotten ourselves into trouble."

"It seems you've grasped the gravity of the situation." Wayne summoned the Sky-Rending Greatsword in his left hand and walked slowly toward the three of them. "In any case, let me cut one of you first. Maybe then Harribel will be willing to come out."

He raised his hand. A pale gold sword beam slashed outward, razor-sharp, unwavering, and flew straight for Mila Rose at the front.

"Look out!" Apache screamed, but her body wouldn't move.

"Mila!" Sun-Sun wrenched her head up with everything she had. It wasn't enough. Pinned under that Reiatsu, there was nothing she could do.

"Is this the end?"

Mila Rose felt the sword beam bearing down on her. She shut her eyes.

The pale gold edge drew closer. She could feel the sharpness of it reflecting against her face, cold, precise, final.

Lady Harribel. I'm sorry. I won't be able to fight by your side anymore.

CLANG!

The pain never came.

Instead, a tremendous crash of metal rang out across the cliffside.

Mila Rose opened her eyes.

Standing before her was someone who had shattered the sword beam bare-handed, who had placed their body between her and death, whose absolute power pressed back against Wayne's like a wall that did not move.

The one she would spend a lifetime following.

Tia Harribel.

➤ Next: Tia Harribel