Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 92 - The Vasto Lorde Cero II

The little loach had already transformed into a cocoon of light, and for the time being Nel had no way to play with it anymore. Still, the little loach Bawabawa was perhaps the fastest-advancing Hollow in the entire world right now.

In less than half a day, it had leaped from a low-ranking Hollow all the way to Adjuchas. This was something only Wayne dared to do. Combined with Bawabawa's special ability, it was able to skip most of the digestion process and enter the advancement state directly.

"It might sleep for a very long time. We have no time to waste." Wayne waved his hand, and a spatial rift radiating a rainbow halo of light appeared before Harribel and Nel.

"Let's put it inside my bounded field for now. There's no telling how long it will sleep. We can't let it hold up our progress." With a sweep of his hand, Wayne placed Bawabawa's light cocoon into his spatial bounded field. The bounded field was by now capable of sustaining living creatures for a long period of time. On the road, he could kill a few more Adjuchas-level Hollows and throw their masks inside, so that Bawabawa could continue absorbing Reishi from the outside world even while cocooned.

"Let's go. We'll rendezvous with Baraggan." With Bawabawa's matter settled, Wayne turned to Nel and Harribel. It was time to head out and prepare for the assault on the central territory.

"Yes~ my lord." Nel, having played to her heart's content, naturally understood it was time to get to business.

"..." Harribel said nothing. She appeared to have considerable resistance toward Baraggan. Just the thought of marching alongside him made her unwilling from the bottom of her heart.

"Tia, there's no need to be so tense. This is an expedition, and our relationship with Baraggan is one of cooperation. We are not subordinating ourselves to him, and we will not be imitating his methods. But the march on the central territory matters to me. Whether it's for self-improvement, pacifying the chaos, or reclaiming my followers — on top of that, I have reasons of my own that make going to the central territory necessary. So don't put too much pressure on yourself, and don't let this cost you what matters."

"Yes, my lord." She had ten thousand objections in her heart, but Wayne had spoken. As long as Baraggan's subordinates didn't go out of their way to cause trouble for her, Harribel decided she would endure it — for Apache and the others.

Without Bawabawa, the speed of Wayne's party of three visibly increased. In less than half a day, the three of them had reached the area where Baraggan's forces were marching.

Although Wayne possessed the ability to move through space, he was not in a rush at this point. He simply rode on Nel's back and let her carry him forward, while using the rest to think through the application of his abilities and how to gather the power of laws. He even thought about how to face Aizen and the Ancient Hollow Beasts as formidable enemies in the future.

"Kid, you're back." After half a day's travel, Wayne had already caught up with Baraggan. "I didn't expect you to actually take her in. When Shak came back to report, I almost couldn't believe it." The towering skull of Baraggan turned, his gaze falling on Harribel.

"Hmph..." Harribel gave a scornful snort.

"Well, the fact that you could take her in is a testament to your ability. Since she's one of us now, I won't pursue past grievances any further. Going forward, we still march together for the central territory. Along the way, kid, you'd better keep your people in line."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty. Since Tia has made her decision to follow me, I trust she won't do anything out of line. Of course, I also hope that whatever bad blood exists between her and Your Majesty and the others can be put to rest. Subduing the central territory is our shared goal."

"Mm." The skull of Baraggan drifted slowly, accepting Wayne's words. He then waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to continue the advance, while he himself settled onto his massive throne, carried forward by several Hollow beasts.

"Let's go, Nel." Wayne climbed onto Nel's back again and patted her head.

"Yes, my lord." Nel gave a light snort and carried Wayne forward.

"Tia, keep up."

"Yes... my lord." Harribel watched Wayne moving ahead of her and quietly fell into thought. She had only just become his subordinate — what trust could there be yet? And yet, despite that, despite her being someone of such a peculiar standing, Wayne had dared to openly speak up for her in front of Baraggan.

One had to understand — Baraggan was the undisputed King of Hueco Mundo. And yet for the sake of someone who had only just joined, Wayne dared to address Baraggan like that. In that moment, Harribel's feelings became somewhat complicated.

"By the way, Your Majesty." Nel trotted alongside Baraggan, and from his seat on her back Wayne suddenly spoke up.

"Earlier, regarding what I mentioned to you — the Vasto Lorde Cero..."

"Mm?" Baraggan's skull tilted to the side, those hollow eyes filled with puzzlement. "What, did Harribel not teach you?"

"Oh?" Wayne blinked, then quickly looked over at Harribel beside him. "You know the Vasto Lorde Cero?"

"Yes, my lord." Harribel conjured a current of water beneath her feet as a means of locomotion, walking alongside Wayne as she spoke. "I was born a Vasto Lorde, so the Vasto Lorde Cero is something I can use. But my lord, you..."

"Mm... could you teach me?" Wayne decisively gave up on asking Baraggan to teach him. After all, someone on his own side would certainly be more attentive about it than an outsider. And besides, Baraggan himself had no desire to bother with it.

"That... all right." Harribel was mildly taken aback. Wayne didn't know the Vasto Lorde Cero? That shouldn't be.

"It's... like this. My lord, your Cero... mm, in truth, the Vasto Lorde Cero is simply a matter of mixing your own blood into an ordinary Cero. That's all."

"Mm?" Wayne was startled. "It's that simple?"

"Yes, yes, my lord." Judging by Wayne's reaction, he truly had no idea how to use the Vasto Lorde Cero.

"Show me." Wayne said. He then used spatial teleportation to bring himself, Nel, and Harribel to a location over a thousand meters away. Baraggan followed the direction Wayne had left and looked over.

With his Reiatsu and visual acuity, observing a battle from a thousand meters away was no difficulty at all.

"My lord, please fire an ordinary Cero alongside me first." As she spoke, Harribel leveled the tip of her massive blade toward the distance, and Wayne, seeing this, raised his right hand and pointed his fingertip in the same direction as Harribel's.

Immediately after, a pale golden and a golden Cero erupted simultaneously, streaking toward a distant mountain range.

BOOM!

Two Vasto Lorde-level Ceros blasted a small mountain dozens of li away clean in two. The power of Vasto Lorde-level ability was plain to see.

"Now, my lord, we need to mix our own blood into the Cero and fuse it within." As she spoke, Harribel's fingertip traced across her massive blade, smearing blood onto the sword. Immediately, the blood merged into her Reiatsu, and the golden Cero instantly became distorted. Its ability to absorb surrounding Reishi strengthened rapidly, and then a massive fan-shaped golden Cero, trailing power enough to warp space itself, shot into the distance. The small mountain that had just had its peak blasted off was this time shattered to rubble all the way down to its base.

"Didn't expect it to work like that." Wayne nodded. "But what's the underlying principle?" Wayne began analyzing it on his own. His power originated from Reishi, and a Hollow's body was composed of Reishi, operating spiritual energy also required the body's engagement, meaning a Hollow's body was essentially the vessel through which Reiatsu was channeled. So what role did blood play in all of this? Could it be a catalyst?

Thinking it through, Wayne began condensing a Cero while also slicing open his palm. Drops of blood flowed out and, under Wayne's control, merged into the Cero.

The next second, Wayne felt the blood he had offered begin to boil. The speed at which the Cero condensed instantly accelerated. The volume of Reiatsu grew more and more immense, causing the surrounding air to erupt into turbulence.

Hmmm!

Finally, the Cero in Wayne's hand reached the limit of its condensation. Wayne fired it directly into the distance. The pale golden Cero, dragging scorching air along with it, released a deep, thunderous roar. Unlike Harribel's distortion, Wayne's Cero outright crushed the surrounding space. In Wayne's field of vision, countless shards of space rained down. It was only after the Cero shot out that the shards gradually faded away. The spatial voids in the vicinity persisted for at least several breaths before disappearing. Where the small mountain had stood moments before, there was now only a bottomless crater. The sound of the explosion was deafening. Even the dark night in the surrounding area was lit up by Wayne's Cero.

"This kid..." Baraggan, a thousand li away, had naturally witnessed the devastation Wayne had caused. "Just from the Vasto Lorde Cero alone, the power is this great. If this kid keeps growing at this rate, he'll almost certainly end up as one of the Nine Vasto Lordes."

On the other side, having fired his first Vasto Lorde Cero, Wayne withdrew his hand and carefully sensed the state from moments ago. His own blood had indeed acted as a catalyst, not only instantly boosting the speed at which the Cero condensed, but also increasing its power. Yet the spatial destruction his version had caused was far more terrifying than Harribel's.

Perhaps this was tied to the quality and density of his own spiritual energy. In any case, for his first time using the Vasto Lorde Cero, Wayne found it quite practical, at the very least, its power alone made it worth exploring further. Moreover, regarding blood as the trigger, Wayne also considered it a decent trump card, since getting wounded in battle was easy enough. If he could unleash a Vasto Lorde Cero from a wound, it would make for an excellent killing blow.

Unfortunately, Wayne had just attempted to blend his own ability attributes into it and failed. Perhaps due to the role of the blood catalyst, the Vasto Lorde Cero was a purer form of Cero attack, and ability attributes could not be fused into it very well. Perhaps Wayne's strength was not yet sufficient for control. Perhaps someday in the future Wayne might be able to integrate his own attributes into it, but that day was not now.

"Mm, using it as a surprise attack should be a fine idea." Wayne nodded to himself, though he made no attempt to try it on the spot. After all, this area had just experienced spatial collapse. He would have to find a different location before running any more tests.

He brought Harribel and Nel back to Baraggan's side. Wayne gave Baraggan a slight nod, signaling that he had already learned how to use the Vasto Lorde Cero.

"Kid, you've given me quite a pleasant surprise." The Skull Emperor rested his left hand against his skull, gazing at Wayne with what seemed like appreciation.

"The Vasto Lorde Cero — it has been many years since I was injured that I last used it. I wonder whether, given time, there will ever be an opportunity to use it again."

"Oh?" Wayne only now came to his senses. That made sense, ever since Baraggan had fallen from Vasto Lorde to a mid-tier Adjuchas-level state, he had always moved about in the form of a skeleton. Without blood, how could he fire a Vasto Lorde Cero? That said, Baraggan's means of attack had always been the aging attribute. Compared to a Cero, the Breath of Death was far more useful to him, and a Cero fused with the aging attribute was actually even more powerful than the Vasto Lorde Cero by a few degrees.

"It's fine. Perhaps this time around we'll manage to get something out of it." Wayne spoke obliquely. Baraggan understood what Wayne meant, he was hoping that this campaign might help him recover a portion of his power over time.

And Wayne, too, needed to help the Lord of the Hollow World find the other fragments of the power of laws.

Having learned the Vasto Lorde Cero, Wayne had gained enormous reward from this trip. Going forward, his objectives were straightforward: help Nel advance to Vasto Lorde, and find suitable companions to join him. This would also put the abilities of the Hollow beasts they encountered to the test. If Wayne judged their abilities or character to be lacking, becoming provisions was far more reliable than becoming a comrade.

Along the way, Wayne sat on Nel's back thinking over the direction ahead, while also discussing with Baraggan which Hollow beasts in the surrounding areas were notable presences.

In Hueco Mundo, Vasto Lordes were not plentiful. For the entire realm to have even a hundred of them would be a miracle. Excluding the clusters of Vasto Lorde-level Hollows in the central region, the Hollow beasts across every other territory almost universally maintained their own domains of influence if they reached Vasto Lorde level, or wandered alone, like Starrk.

This meant the division and control of each region was well worth Wayne and his companions' consideration.

Long before this, Wayne had discussed with Baraggan the distribution of Vasto Lorde-level Hollows in the surrounding areas. After bringing Rodfolles and Harribel under his banner, there were no longer any Vasto Lorde-class Hollows remaining within Baraggan's jurisdiction. The nearest ones were the savage Vasto Lordes in the central territory, and then the Phantom Forest to the south.

According to what was known, a strange Vasto Lorde dwelled in the Phantom Forest. At one time, it had also possessed Vasto Lorde-level companions, but because of its extreme strangeness, the other companions viewed it as a monster and drove it out of the group. Yet this strange Hollow beast possessed an innate gift. In the end, it slaughtered a portion of the companions who had looked down on it, and fled alone into the depths of the Phantom Forest, where it secluded itself. As for the group it had left behind, having suffered too many casualties, they ultimately fell apart. Some of them fled elsewhere, and the rest were wiped out by the surrounding factions.

In the end, the outer reaches of the Phantom Forest were seized by other factions. But in its deepest recesses, that strange Vasto Lorde had never been disturbed.

And the name of that Hollow beast was Ulquiorra Cifer.

This time, after Wayne and Baraggan marched on the central territory and established a temporary stronghold there, the plan was to first pay a visit to this Vasto Lorde who had sealed himself away in the depths of the forest.

"Ulquiorra..." Wayne raised his head and gazed at the silver moon hanging in the sky, as though beneath that silver moon he could already see a pair of great bat wings spreading wide.

"So, just what method did Aizen use back then to lure Ulquiorra out of the forest?"

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➤ Next: Forest of Illusion