Bleach: Awakened — Chapter 115 - The Power of a Quincy

"Your Karakura Town, is it."

Aizen's smile carried something between amusement and condescension.

"Clearly a Transcendent, yet you hole yourself up in one small Karakura Town."

"Ichigo Kurosaki—don't you have even a shred of pride befitting someone strong?"

"Pride befitting someone strong? What's that supposed to mean?"

Ichigo stood up and dug at his ear with his pinky finger, completely unbothered about how it looked.

"My mom and dad taught me from the time I was little—if you can protect the people you want to protect, that's already something worth being proud of."

"I'm perfectly satisfied with the life I have now. You're the one who keeps going on and on about storming the Soul King Palace to do this and that, are you suffering from chunibyo or something?"

"...Heh."

A soft laugh. Aizen said slowly, "It's been a while since we last met. Your mouth has gotten quite a bit sharper, hasn't it."

"Unlike you, who can only see what's right in front of you, my vision reaches above the heavens."

"So it really is chunibyo." Ichigo's mouth twitched. "Or is it because there's no one left at your side?"

"What happened to your two subordinates? Did they both die?"

"...You seem quite concerned about them."

Aizen looked Ichigo up and down.

"What is this look you've got on? Are you planning to fight me like that?"

"Hurry up and enter that so-called Trinity of yours. I'll crush it."

"At your current level, that won't be necessary just yet."

Ichigo looked Aizen up and down in turn.

"You're different too, aren't you. Haven't seen you in a while, how did you end up looking like this?"

Embedded in Aizen's chest was the Hogyoku, its light now dim. He wore a long white robe that seemed sculpted from spiritual pressure itself, and in his hand he gripped a white blade.

Ichigo, meanwhile, wore a long black robe composed of spirit particles, a black blade in his grip. His originally unruly orange hair, left untended for so long, had grown noticeably smoother, hanging just past his eyebrows.

Two Transcendents. One black, one white. Similar in silhouette, alike in structure.

"Perhaps this is what it means for a Transcendent to return to simplicity, that they all end up looking something like this."

Aizen raised his sword.

"Let's find a different location. You can't cut loose here either, can you?"

"Then let's go."

Spiritual pressure gathered beneath his feet. With a single forceful step, Ichigo launched forward as though in flight. Aizen followed close behind. In the distance, Soul Reapers and humans alike rushed to keep up.

"Here will do."

They stopped in a stretch of wilderness, nothing but bare earth and rock as far as the eye could see, not a trace of life, not even the faintest hint of green.

"Show me, Aizen."

A faint, contemptuous smile sat at the corner of Ichigo's mouth. He raised the black blade, and when he spoke, his voice carried the full weight of someone who stood above.

"Let me see what kind of power you've gained, you, who have been dodging a fight with me time and time again."

"Remember: you're the challenger here."

"Heh."

BOOM!

A single empty slash of the blade in his right hand. The rocks at his feet shattered. Aizen's spiritual pressure in this moment was approaching the level Ichigo had reached at Sokyoku Hill, Ichigo in Trinity.

"Your existence is a miracle, I'll grant you that."

Aizen sneered.

"But in the eyes of the one who made that miracle possible, you are nothing more than a monkey clutching a dangerous weapon."

"A miracle, yes, but one destined only to serve as a stepping stone. To become part of something far greater."

"Bold words."

Ichigo rolled his neck.

"I want to see for myself exactly what kind of power the Hogyoku has given you, that you dare speak to me like that."

"Come, Aizen."

"As you wish."

He drove off the ground with sudden force, and in an instant Aizen was right in front of Ichigo. No flourish. No preamble. He raised his sword high and brought it crashing down.

CLANG!

Sparks flew. Ichigo was forced back step after step, the black blade in his hand trembling without cease, ringing with a low and continuous hum, like a lament.

"You're not even using your Soul Reaper powers?"

Aizen held the upper hand, but his expression was dark.

"Don't you think you're being a little too contemptuous, Ichigo Kurosaki!"

"I was only testing your current strength."

The black blade dissolved. Ichigo said calmly:

"At this stage, both your physical durability and your spiritual pressure have come close to where I was in my previous Trinity."

"Very close to an initial-stage Transcendent."

"...What do you mean."

"Wait—don't tell me you thought all Transcendents were at the same level."

His right hand rose. Blue-gold light blazed in his palm, and in that instant, every spirit particle across all of Soul Society froze, then surged irresistibly toward the center of his hand.

The next moment, black light blazed. A blade identical in form to the last materialized. But to a careful observer, the blackness of this one ran deeper. Heavier.

"Not bad."

BOOM!

A casual empty swing to the side. The ground at his feet crumbled to powder. Ichigo nodded, comparing it against Aizen's swing from a moment ago.

"This is... the power of a Quincy..."

Aizen's eyes narrowed slightly. His expression barely changed, but in his perception, Ichigo was now overflowing with golden spiritual pressure. Spiritual pressure that surpassed even his own.

"It seems you've grown considerably stronger as well."

Aizen's voice was even.

"Simply by drawing on the power of a Quincy, you reach what you call an initial-stage Transcendent."

"And what lies at the next stage?"

"You'll find out when you get there."

Ichigo tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"I want to see just how far the Hogyoku can take you down the path of a Transcendent."

"Keep evolving. Otherwise, there's really no fun in this."

Zzzt,

Golden light flickered in Ichigo's hand. Spirit particles in the air converged at speed, and an enormous golden bow materialized overhead.

"Go."

With a sweep of his hand, the great arrow left the string. Its golden radiance blazed, slicing through the air as it streaked toward Aizen.

BOOM!

A violent explosion. Thick white smoke billowed up and swallowed everything inside it.

WHOOSH,

Another casual swing, and the smoke scattered, revealing Aizen within, virtually unscathed. In the instant before the arrow connected, he had struck it down into the ground.

"A golden attack... shouldn't Quincy power be blue?"

Aizen walked forward at a measured pace.

"I didn't expect you to actually use Quincy power against an opponent."

"Blue is the color of spirit particles. Gold is the color of my Quincy spiritual pressure. I'm a multiple-hybrid, after all, of course I'm different from other quincy."

Ichigo raised his hand. The bow overhead grew even more massive. Multiple arrows coalesced, each shaped like an enormous spear, and every single one surpassed the previous attack.

"Sankt Bogen."

He spoke the name from memory. The great spears howled forth all at once. For a moment, Aizen's entire field of vision was consumed by gold.

BOOM!

An even more violent explosion. White smoke billowed and spread, and before it had even begun to clear, Aizen appeared right in front of Ichigo.

"A powerful attack. But too slow."

CLANG!

Sparks scattered. The rock beneath both their feet split apart in every direction. Ferocious force ran rampant as their blades met dozens of times in rapid succession, and even the faintest trace of energy that leaked outward ground the surrounding terrain to dust.

➤ Next: Continuous Evolution