Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 305 - Arumaan Ithifillit
Chapter 305, Arumaan Ithifillit
The ancient Hollow beast's death decided the distant battle the instant it happened. The moment its presence vanished from the field, the Hollows on its side simply lost the plot.
They'd been fighting on the front line for less than an hour, and their home base was already gone? From the enemy's Reiatsu erupting in the rear to the battle ending, how long had that actually taken?
Every Hollow on that side lost the will to fight at once. They all wanted out, wanted to run. Nel and the others, though, felt Wayne's victory come through and their morale surged, they fought even harder. Apart from a handful of Vasto Lorde-class enemies that refused to go down clean, nearly every Hollow on that side ended up dead or badly wounded.
The Hollows in the King Hollow's faction had sensed the disturbance at the canyon behind their own lines too. Even while locked in combat against Wayne's faction, their leader, the high-class Vasto Lorde at the head of their forces, unleashed a full-power strike that sent Baraggan stumbling back, then turned and flew toward the King Hollow's ruins to check the situation. Baraggan and Szayelaporro didn't bother giving chase. This high-class Hollow was plainly far weaker than Wayne, and now that Wayne had won at the ancient beast's seal site, whether or not he absorbed that massive creature's power, this high-class Vasto Lorde wouldn't stand a chance against him. That left Baraggan free to act without restraint and sweep up the now-leaderless remnants in one clean pass.
On the other side, after cutting down the ancient Hollow beast, Wayne stored its corpse in his private space. He broke off only a small fragment of its Hollow Mask to recover his Reiatsu, then maintained his triple-Resurrección plus Bankai state and flash-stepped to the vicinity of the King Hollow's seal site.
A few more flash-steps pinned down the exact location. Wayne arrived at speed.
Three mid-class Vasto Lorde were waiting for him, already wound to maximum alert, clustered together, all staring in his direction. Their fluctuating Reiatsu told Wayne everything he needed to know. All three were barely holding it together. They hadn't witnessed what happened at the ancient beast's canyon with their own eyes, but the Reiatsu that had bled out from the fighting was more than enough to tell them what kind of battle had just torn through the other end of that canyon.
"Your... Your Excellency." One of the mid-class Vasto Lorde stared at Wayne bearing down on them and swallowed hard, then stepped forward on unsteady feet. "What brings Your Excellency here?"
"What brings me here?" Wayne swallowed the Hollow Mask fragment, dusted off his palms, and summoned the Sky-Rending Greatsword. "What do you think?"
"Your Excellency, you have slain that monster, and for that we are grateful. Our mission has reached its end this day." The humanoid Vasto Lorde spoke carefully. "We have no desire to oppose Your Excellency. If it is possible, we hope..."
"I'm here to hunt." Wayne's mouth curved at the corner. He swung the greatsword toward the mid-class Vasto Lorde standing before him. "And you're all my prey."
"Your Excellency, isn't that getting a bit ahead of yourself." The eyes beneath the Vasto Lorde's Hollow Mask narrowed. "I reiterate, we have no wish to be your enemy. We hope Your Excellency will not..."
"Enough, Gredian. Stand down. You're no match for him."
The words cut the Hollow off mid-sentence. From somewhere inside the crumbled structure behind them, a soft woman's voice drifted out. It hit straight at the soul. Wayne's nerves snapped taut on instinct.
"But, my Lady, "
"It's all right. Stand down."
"Yes." The mid-class Vasto Lorde bowed respectfully toward the ruins, then left with a Sonído.
"Now then, mighty one, I'd like to speak with you. I am, well... the lord of this place, I suppose." That soft voice struck at Wayne's soul again.
"The wielder of Soul Law." Wayne tilted the greatsword slightly, the angle of someone ready to move. "The previous King Hollow."
"You... are Chaos Espacio's successor. I can feel his spatial fluctuations. Hmm?" A brief pause. "How strange, you also carry the power of that Hermes Loki. Are you the inheritor of the Hollow World's Sovereign?"
"..." Wayne said nothing. He was weighing it, lie or not. If he earned this King Hollow's trust through deception, the gains could be considerable. But if the lie failed, he might lose everything.
"Don't bother trying to deceive me. My true body is still in slumber, but through the power of these retainers I can already use a portion of Soul Law to perceive your state." The woman's voice came again. "Regardless, you do indeed carry two distinct Law powers within you. Apart from the Hollow World's Sovereign, I have never seen two different Law powers in a single Hollow."
"You've said quite a bit." Wayne smoothly pressed down the thoughts churning inside him. "Are you not going to introduce yourself first?"
He wasn't going to make the first move. Not yet. He needed to confirm whether the spatial Law power inside him would provoke this former King Hollow's hostility.
"Me? Right, I haven't introduced myself yet." A soft sigh. Then a gleaming white radiance lit up at the center of the ruins, and very quickly a humanoid form condensed from shimmering white Reishi stepped out from the rubble, walking toward Wayne one step at a time.
"Forgive me for only being able to meet you in this form. I am Arumaan Ithifillit, controller of Soul Law, and the previous King Hollow."
The King Hollow's Reishi form stood roughly the same height as Wayne. Her long hair was the same gleaming white as the Reishi that composed her. In one hand she held something about two meters long that looked like a wooden staff. Her figure was alluring, her build slender. Were it not for the elf-like Hollow Mask on her face, visible through the Reishi manifestation, Wayne would have taken her for a human.
"You carry two distinct Law powers within you." She walked up before him. "I trust you already know a fair amount about King Hollows and the Laws."
"Mn." Wayne lowered the greatsword for now and nodded. "A little, through the Hollow World's Sovereign."
"As I suspected. You are the heir to the next King Hollow." Ithifillit's Reishi form gently swept the strands of hair at her temple. "And in your current state, you should already have the qualifications to become one. What remains is most likely the Reiatsu. No, you just eliminated that ancient Hollow beast. If you absorb its power, you could step directly into the King Hollow's domain." She tilted her head slightly. "Though possessing both Chaos Espacio's and Hermes Loki's power at once, I find myself wondering what manner of King Hollow's throne you will ultimately inherit."
"As far as I know, you and Hermes Loki were acquainted." Wayne didn't acknowledge the observation. He cut straight to the point.
"That was several hundred years ago." Ithifillit didn't seem particularly moved by the question, only a note of regret in her voice. "That year, a conflict broke out between us over the sealing of an ancient Hollow beast. We had been partners. In the end we parted on bad terms. Having lost each other's support, he was surrounded by ancient Hollow beasts and killed, and I was left as you see me now, forced to sacrifice myself to seal the beast away." A quiet sigh. "...Let's not speak of it."
"I see." Wayne's guard eased slightly. As long as things weren't still at a kill-or-be-killed impasse like back then, he could work with this. "But weren't you in deep slumber? Why have you appeared here in this form?"
"That year, after I exhausted my power sealing the ancient Hollow beast in the canyon across the way, I fell into slumber. But as the controller of Soul Law, I left several openings in the ruins where my sleeping self lay. When weaker Hollows triggered the energy leaking from me, they would come under my influence. Gradually, using my ability — partly through direct control, partly through indirect influence — I shaped a sphere of power here. My goal was to find a way to repair and reinforce the seal on the ancient Hollow beast."
"Because of that black power of destruction?"
"Correct." Ithifillit gave a slight nod. "That destructive force slowly eroded the seal. The corrosion was minuscule, but over these long ages, it was enough. Eventually the creature found a gap, broke open one corner of the seal, and let its power leak out. After that, its power did as mine had done — it influenced a group of Hollows — and that is how conflict erupted between our two sides. As time went on, things became what you see today." She turned her gaze toward Wayne. "But thankfully you are here. You have slain that creature. I can rest easy now."
"Will you return to slumber?" Wayne turned the greatsword idly in his grip.
"The ancient Hollow beast is dead. My mission is complete. Going forward, I wish to keep sleeping — accumulating power, waiting until I have enough strength to awaken fully, and when that day comes, I can go out seeking ancient Hollow beasts to battle once more." Ithifillit took two steps back. "To encounter Hermes Loki's successor... I consider myself fortunate. At the very least, before I sleep again, I can witness the birth of a King Hollow. If you don't mind, carry out your advancement near my ruins. I can offer you some guidance as well."
"Mn. All right." Wayne nodded. "But my companions are still on the battlefield. Have all your subordinates stand down. Since we're friends rather than enemies, there's no need to keep killing each other."
"Very well." Ithifillit nodded. "Seibel should be returning soon."
"Seibel?"
"The first group of subordinates I influenced, and the leader here." Ithifillit finished speaking, and a powerful Reiatsu signature entered Wayne's perception network. About two minutes later, a humanoid Hollow dressed in knight's armor appeared in his field of vision.
"My Lady!" The high-class Vasto Lorde came in fast and landed not far from Wayne, but didn't dare close the distance. That terrifying Reiatsu was something she could feel clearly even from here. Up close would be another thing entirely.
"It's all right, Seibel." Ithifillit's Reishi form shook her head. "This is the successor of my old dear friend. He will be undergoing an advancement here for a time. Have everyone withdraw from the battlefield, we are about to receive a guest."
"This... yes." Seibel's expression stiffened. But she nodded.
"Actually, have her stay." Wayne spoke up. "I'll go call for the ceasefire myself. She's too slow flying back, no telling how many more will die in the meantime."
"Seibel has inherited some of my abilities. The Thousand-Mile Transmission is something she can handle. It will simply take a little time. Let her use her ability here to end the battle over there, and you come with me." Ithifillit's voice remained even. "The power needed to advance to King Hollow is enormous. I can set up a Ritual Array that accelerates Reishi absorption for you. With this array, beyond the ancient Hollow beast's spiritual power, the Reishi in the surrounding environment will also rapidly converge on you. And I would like to know a few things about the current state of the world. During my slumber I learned a great deal about Hueco Mundo's affairs through my subordinates, but beyond a certain range, even they can only do so much."
"All right." Wayne didn't refuse. He simply walked over to Seibel. "Tell my people: Tsukishiro Hinamori's order, full ceasefire."
"Understood." Seibel said nothing more. She knew every second wasted now could mean another comrade dead on the battlefield.
"Then let's go." Wayne turned and walked toward Ithifillit.
"Mn. Come to my ruins, I will construct the array nearby." Ithifillit's Reishi form floated back toward the crumbled structure. Wayne followed at a steady pace.
Outside the ruins, Seibel cast one last anxious glance back at the rubble. Then she sat cross-legged on the ground, Reishi light surging in her hands, and a pillar of orange light shot into the sky. At a certain height it tilted, curved, and streamed out toward the distant battlefield.
Before long, the orange-yellow pillar descended around the battlefield and dissolved into countless particles of light scattered across the sky. At that moment, every Hollow still fighting heard Seibel's voice inside their head.
"By order of Lady Ithifillit: the one who entered our rear is the successor of her dear friend. All forces are to withdraw immediately. Additionally, relay this to the relevant party: Tsukishiro Hinamori's order. Full ceasefire."
"Hmm?" Baraggan had just raised his hand and rotted an Adjuchas to dust. He looked up at the light particles drifting across the sky, the ghost-fire in his skeletal eyes flickering. "What did you just say?"
"Relaying Tsukishiro Hinamori's order, full ceasefire! Our lord is an old acquaintance of his. All parties are requested to stand down immediately and minimize casualties!"
This time, everyone heard it.
"Your Majesty." Nel Sonído'd to Baraggan's side.
"Girl, you catch that?" Baraggan glanced over at her.
"Ah, every word." The corner of Nel's mouth curved upward. "If it's Tsukishiro Hinamori's order, we comply."
"Mn... all right." The ghost-fire in Baraggan's eyes seemed to swell. "In that case, temporary ceasefire with the King Hollow's faction! Everyone redirect full force toward wiping out what's left of the ancient Hollow beast's side first."
"Yes!"
➤ Next: The Trap