Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 93 - Forest of Illusion

The march from Hueco Mundo's eastern region to the central territory was no short journey. Wayne could spatial-jump, yes, but he had no way to teleport several hundred Adjuchas at once. Not unless he carved out a massive spatial array. And at his current Reiatsu, teleporting a dozen or so Adjuchas at a time already pushed him to his absolute limit. That was without even accounting for the risk of spatial fractures and total teleportation failure.

So Baraggan and Wayne opted to travel via Garganta, marching in stages and setting up temporary camps along the way.

This was nothing like the way Wayne and Nel had traveled before. Baraggan was leading several hundred Adjuchas. If they kept moving through Garganta without stopping to replenish spiritual energy, the horde would grow restless fast. Baraggan's management style, after all, was direct suppression by force.

Wayne's faction currently held fewer than three hundred Adjuchas. Baraggan, by contrast, had amassed close to five hundred over the past year. For this expedition he had brought nearly two hundred of them, losing even a single one would not be worth it. So their pace was delayed again and again.

By the time Wayne's group reached the edge of the central region, more than two months had passed. Fortunately, two months is not so long for a Hollow with an endless lifespan.

Over those two-plus months, Bawabawa successfully awakened from its cocoon of light. Having reached Adjuchas-level Reiatsu, its appearance hadn't changed dramatically — still that deep blue body with a white belly — though two thick bone spines had grown from the Hollow Mask on its head, and the Hierro formed by its skin had grown far stronger than before.

Its abilities had also been enhanced, still revolving around enlarging and shrinking. Now, when Bawabawa enlarged, it could reach sixty or seventy meters in length. When it shrank, it could perch on Nel's shoulder. The contrast genuinely pleased Wayne.

Because in addition to its size-multiplication ability, Bawabawa had also revealed an affinity identical to Nel's.

Consumption.

Unlike Nel's absorption, Bawabawa's consumption ability could swallow an entire Adjuchas-class Hollow whole without leaving any trace of Reiatsu behind. It could not, however, draw Reishi from the white sands the way Nel could, it was limited to Hollow beasts only. And when it consumed a Hollow beast, the spiritual energy would accumulate inside its body. Through a series of experiments, Wayne found that Bawabawa could store spiritual energy from low-tier Adjuchas up to roughly mid-tier, approaching high-tier, but could not increase beyond that point.

This ability reminded Wayne of a mortal enemy.

Yammy Llargo.

His ability was to accumulate Reiatsu infinitely through eating and sleeping, similar to Bawabawa's, yet far more powerful. Wayne couldn't help but wonder: was Yammy's ability simply a higher-order version of Bawabawa's? And could this absurd ability of limitless accumulation be a manifestation of some fundamental Law?

And after he had altered the course of events, Bawabawa had still managed to find Nel. Could that be considered an attraction between two beings who shared the same Law affinity?

It was like a tree representing the Law: if Yammy's ability was the trunk, then Nel's absorption and Bawabawa's ability were the branches. Yet because their own Law-based abilities were too minor, or too far from the main trunk, neither had any affinity-based attraction toward Yammy.

Of course, all of this was pure speculation on Wayne's part. The best way to verify it was to find Yammy somewhere in the vast expanse of Hueco Mundo, cut him down, feed him to Nel and Bawabawa, and see whether their abilities increased afterward.

Over those two months, Nel's Reiatsu had risen considerably as well. Throughout the journey, Baraggan had been expanding aggressively, whenever they encountered a smaller faction, he either absorbed it or annihilated it.

Whenever they encountered a larger faction, Wayne, Baraggan, and Harribel, three Vasto Lorde-class Hollows, would sweep through together, then bring back the spoils.

Unlike Wayne, Baraggan's death aura was an absolute killing technique, the kind that left not even a Hollow Mask behind. So Baraggan's role was primarily to wrap enemies within his Death Sigh and herd them together, while Wayne's Zero Storm and Harribel's Cascada served as the reapers.

As for the spoils, Wayne and Baraggan split them two-to-eight, Wayne took two parts, Baraggan took eight. After all, Baraggan had two hundred Adjuchas behind him to feed, while Wayne's side only had Nel and Bawabawa. After the two of them had eaten their fill, Wayne would pick out some Hollow Masks for Harribel to snack on.

Of course, Harribel was deeply averse to this kind of behavior, it was no different from bullying the weak. So her role in combat was mostly to drive enemies away rather than kill. As for snacking on Masks, that was something she would only do after expending a large amount of Reiatsu. Once a Hollow reached the Vasto Lorde stage, after all, Hollow beasts could slowly increase their spiritual energy on their own within Hueco Mundo.

Regarding Harribel's stance, Wayne didn't particularly care. His original assignment for her had only been to protect his faction anyway. He had brought her along on this trip primarily to build coordination between them, but whether she was enthusiastic about hunting was entirely up to her. With himself and Baraggan present, was he really worried a group of Adjuchas might get away?

So by the time Wayne's group pushed forward to the edge of the central region, Nel and Bawabawa had already eaten their fill. After Baraggan's subordinates finished organizing the camp, Wayne and Baraggan set out southward along with Nel and Harribel, just the four of them.

With only four people, Wayne could carve a spatial matrix with ease. It took just half a day before the three top-tier Hollows had arrived at the border of the southern region.

As for why Wayne didn't simply put all three of them into his Innate Space and carry them along, the Innate Space could not contain living beings whose Reiatsu exceeded his own. Fitting Bawabawa inside already cost Wayne considerable effort, and adding Nel would likely be the absolute limit. Harribel and Baraggan were both Vasto Lorde-class. If he tried to contain them, his Reality Marble would in all likelihood collapse under the overwhelming Reiatsu pressure.

Upon arriving in the southern region, Wayne quickly located a small settlement, and through "reasoned persuasion" obtained the location of the Forest of Delusion. He then led Baraggan and the others toward it. This time, however, Wayne did not open a teleportation gate, instead, they traveled the old-fashioned way using Sonído. His purpose was to survey the terrain and observe the Hollow beasts along the route, checking whether any Vasto Lorde-class Hollows were present besides Ulquiorra.

After roughly three days of travel, Wayne's group arrived at the territory of the Forest of Delusion.

The entire forest sat within a vast basin, stretching for millions of kilometers in all directions and composed of deep green and grey-green woodland.

Patches of open ground and mountain clearings were scattered throughout. But broadly speaking, this single enormous forest was far more expansive than even the Forest of Menos.

Wayne and the others, piecing together clues gathered from Hollow beasts encountered along the road, learned that several tribes made their home here. They fought one another constantly, hunting the resources within the forest.

After more than a hundred years of slaughter, one tribal faction had ultimately seized a vast expanse of the forest's outer territory. These were the very beings who had once driven Ulquiorra's faction out, the most powerful tribe in the entire forest region.

After a brief initial contact, it became clear that this tribe's leader was a peak-stage Adjuchas, not far from Vasto Lorde. Its body was shaped like a tiger, but with four feathered wings, and its skull Hollow Mask resembled that of a pterosaur.

When three Vasto Lorde-class Hollows appeared unannounced, the tribe's leader nearly lost his composure on the spot. What kind of temptation could possibly draw three Vasto Lordes here at the same time? His faction was powerful, but not nearly powerful enough to face three Vasto Lorde-class Hollows. If a fight broke out, his tribe could be decimated in an instant. Moreover, among the three Vasto Lordes, one was the universally recognized King of Hueco Mundo. Even here in the southern reaches, his tribe was, in theory, under Baraggan's rule. So the tribe's leader quickly submitted to Baraggan's authority.

"Your Majesty Baraggan, and honored companions — Tibor Chiyev extends his greetings." The tribe's leader bowed his head humbly, not daring to overstep in the slightest.

"Tibor, is it." Baraggan stepped forward. "We have not come to make trouble for you. However, you will tell us everything you know about the Vasto Lorde lurking in the depths of the Forest of Delusion."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Tibor Chiyev replied with utmost deference. "Regarding the Vasto Lorde in the depths of the Forest of Delusion — in truth, this humble one only knows the matter partially. It traces back over a hundred years ago, when this humble one's faction was not yet any significant force in the outer reaches of this forest. At that time, we were still locked in bitter conflict with nearby factions over the resources within the forest."

"Get to the point."

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty." Tibor Chiyev instinctively swallowed. "At that time, the largest faction in the forest was led by a giant bat, whose leader himself possessed Vasto Lorde-level power. But for reasons unknown, that Vasto Lorde-class Hollow was suddenly killed by some creature. In the two years that followed, his tribe fell apart completely. That collapse gave those of us small factions barely surviving in the forest a glimmer of hope. So we minor powers banded together, and in the end we devoured that crumbling, enormous faction piece by piece.

Later, based on accounts from the Hollow beasts we captured, the reason that faction collapsed was entirely because of that strange Vasto Lorde. That Vasto Lorde was a Hollow from outside the forest, but ever since then, it has remained entrenched at the very heart of the Forest of Delusion. It has never come out again."

"Hmm. That would have to be Ulquiorra, no question." Baraggan's skull head shifted slightly.

"Does that Hollow beast have any known abilities?" Wayne asked.

"That this humble one does not know. Our members have never ventured close to the very center of the forest. All we know is that occasionally, waves of roaring can be heard from the forest's heart, and from time to time one can see streaks of luminous green lightning striking down at the center of the forest. The closest this humble one has ever come was still over a thousand meters from the center. However, this humble one was able to sense that Vasto Lorde's Reiatsu level — it can be said to exceed that of a mid-tier Vasto Lorde. So high it makes one's fur stand on end."

"A high-tier Vasto Lorde?" The gaze beneath Wayne's Hollow Mask sharpened. That shouldn't be right. If that were the case, Ulquiorra should rank second, surpassing both Baraggan and Harribel, so how could he possibly rank fourth?

"Kid, are you planning to head straight in, or wait a while?" Seeing Wayne lost in thought, Baraggan tilted his skull head and spoke up. As far as he was concerned, whatever Vasto Lorde was inside was nothing worth fearing.

"Let's wait a bit, Your Majesty. It's better if we rest up first before going in." Wayne hadn't been able to work out why Ulquiorra, as described by Tibor, seemed so much stronger than expected. This already exceeded Wayne's projections. Although their side now had three Vasto Lordes, if the enemy's combat power was too high, Wayne would have no choice but to abandon his plan to recruit him. After all, once Baraggan and he unleashed their combined technique and drove the Death Sigh into Ulquiorra's interior, Ulquiorra would certainly die. That ran contrary to the whole reason they had come.

Still, given that Ulquiorra was fated to join Aizen's ranks in the future, killing him wasn't entirely a bad idea, but the cost-to-benefit ratio was too poor.

"Your Majesty, based on Tibor's account, Ulquiorra's abilities currently exceed our estimates. If, after making contact, we fail to gain his recognition and a fight breaks out, there is a chance he could die at our hands. Or he might strike one of us with overwhelming speed and deliver a serious blow before we could react."

"I couldn't care less, personally. But you and the shark girl might be a different story." The Skull Emperor reached a skeletal hand up and stroked the underside of his skull thoughtfully.

"My feeling is that this Ulquiorra isn't so simple. There may be secrets about him that we haven't cracked yet." Wayne paid no particular heed to what Baraggan said. Whatever Baraggan was saying, it was still said with Wayne's interests in mind.

"So, Your Majesty, today let's rest here first. Once we've recovered our full strength, it won't be too late to set out into the depths tomorrow. After all, we're not the sort to worry about a little extra time."

"Fine. As you say." The Skull Emperor casually waved a hand and Sonído'd into Tibor Chiyev's territory to rest. Faced with the Skull Emperor, Tibor didn't dare utter a single word of protest. He scrambled off at once to arrange lodgings for Wayne and the others, and with admirable situational awareness also went out to hunt nearby, preparing to make an offering to the great ancestors who had descended upon him.

Several hours later, Wayne, Nel, and Harribel lit a fire in a mountain cave, burning timber brought back from the World of the Living and gathering around its warmth.

"My lord, you seem to place great importance on this Ulquiorra." Beside the fire, Nel had laid out her nest of grass and curled up against Wayne's side.

"It's less importance and more caution," Wayne said. "According to my intelligence network, Ulquiorra's Reiatsu should not be as strong as Baraggan's. Yet the leader here says Ulquiorra's Reiatsu is already a step above mid-tier Baraggan. That's what's puzzling me."

"Perhaps the intelligence was wrong?" Harribel sat on the other side of the fire, looking at Wayne through the flames.

"Perhaps." Wayne didn't elaborate further. There was no point explaining, given that it involved something that crossed dimensional boundaries, how could Harribel possibly believe him?

"In any case, tomorrow, prepare yourselves for a hard fight. Oh, and Nel — you're sitting out tomorrow's battle."

"Huh? Why, my lord?" As a peak-stage Adjuchas, Nel felt that not every Vasto Lorde had spiritual energy as terrifyingly dense and solid as her lord's. No matter the battle, she could at least contribute something. But this time, Wayne flatly refused to let Nel take part. Nel couldn't understand it.

"Based on my intelligence, this Ulquiorra is extremely fast, and he can control lightning. That is also why the leader occasionally saw lightning strikes in the depths of the forest."

"A lightning ability?" Harribel's expression grew grave. Clearly, her own ability was countered by lightning.

"Don't overthink it, Tia," Wayne said reassuringly. "If your ability truly is countered, then you can step back from the battlefield and focus on protecting Nel."

"But..." Harribel instantly felt underestimated. She was a Vasto Lorde, after all.

"Follow the order. If you genuinely feel you can't keep up, just pull back from the combat zone."

"...Yes, my lord."

➤ Next: Ulquiorra Cifer — Face to Face