Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 326 - Three Moves

An hour later, the group, now fully prepared, stepped through the spatial rift Wayne had sliced open. In an instant, they arrived at the edge of the Far North.

Before long, the clone Timd had burrowed underground to keep warm crawled back up to the surface and pointed Wayne toward the mountain range where Ulquiorra had taken up residence.

The group of Hollows set off toward their destination and quickly located the mountain range blanketed in dense storm clouds. Once Yagami China opened her soul perception, the group swiftly detected traces of Ulquiorra's Reiatsu at the center of the storm.

"What are you here for." The moment Yagami China sensed Ulquiorra, Ulquiorra naturally sensed her in return, and along with her, the Reiatsu of the assembled Hollows. High above where lightning clashed and thunder rolled, Ulquiorra, transformed into his black-winged demon form, appeared before Wayne and the others at tremendous speed.

"Long time no see." Wayne stepped forward in greeting. "Looks like your understanding of the power of thunder has deepened considerably. You can already use the force of lightning to augment your own speed."

"Baraggan, Starrk, Harribel..." Ulquiorra swept his gaze across the group. Wherever he looked, nearly every face was familiar. "And Nelliel. Have you all already come under this man's command?"

"I wouldn't call it coming under his command, but cooperating with young Wayne is indeed a sound choice." Baraggan was the first to speak. "Young Ulquiorra, come join us. Our circumstances now are far better than they were before."

"Lilynette has taken a liking to this life. There are many companions here who can withstand my strength, so staying isn't out of the question for me." Starrk scratched his head. He wasn't cut out to be a persuader, but he stepped forward all the same. "At least here I can live comfortably, without being alone."

"I am a sinner, and I now atone at the King's side." Harribel spoke. "But if the King intends to keep you here by force, I don't mind being the first to move."

"It seems that Lord Aizen did indeed lose." A dim shadow passed over Ulquiorra's eyes. "You are all masters of the Laws. And now you have gathered together. Ace Wayne — you follow the will of the Sovereign of Hueco Mundo in collecting the fragments of Law's power."

"The power of the Laws holds a special significance for me, and everyone here has already agreed to lend me their strength once the grand unification and balance has been achieved." Wayne spoke. "The mission to collect the Law fragments continues. The glory of the Nine Great King Hollows of the past — I want to see it reborn by my own hands. To that end, Ulquiorra, your power is something I absolutely need."

"Reassembling the Nine Great King Hollows — do you intend to become the new Sovereign of Hueco Mundo?" Ulquiorra's voice was cold. "After parting ways with Lord Aizen, I came here to comprehend the power of thunder. By fortune, at the moment I advanced to a higher tier of Vasto Lorde, I heard the voice of the Sovereign of Hueco Mundo. I, who had lost my faith, seemed to find my direction once more during that conversation with the Sovereign. And now you intend to take my purpose from me yet again?"

"First of all, I have no intention of replacing him." Wayne furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Furthermore, collecting the Law fragments is a task the Sovereign of Hueco Mundo has given to all who hold mastery over them. As for whether one can inherit the throne of the King Hollow — that still remains to be determined, since only nine can ever become King Hollows. However, the elemental Laws are a special case. They may reside across multiple Hollow beasts simultaneously. So I must first bring all those who hold the Laws together, and then decide the final allocation of the elemental Law King Hollow seats. Or perhaps find an entirely different path."

"What matters to me is giving Hueco Mundo the power to stand as a counterbalance to the three realms. Everything I am doing now serves that end. A new enemy has appeared, and their existence threatens our interests, which is why I need your power."

"A new enemy, you mean the Quincy." Although Ulquiorra lived deep in the mountains, his information was not cut off. "A few days ago I was surrounded by several Quincy, but they were too weak."

"Most likely a vanguard force scouting for Arrancar to take as captives." Wayne understood immediately. Still, the fact that the Quincy had tracked down Ulquiorra even in such a remote location was telling. One had to acknowledge that when it came to search and reconnaissance, the Quincy did have a genuine edge over Soul Reaper methods.

"A few days ago, we were also attacked by the Quincy, and very soon we will face them in a final confrontation. Before that happens, I intend to strengthen our forces as much as possible."

"...What rank are you at now." Ulquiorra's eyes were calm as he looked down at Wayne below. "I can no longer see through your Reiatsu level. Have you... already advanced to King Hollow."

"Yes." Wayne did not deny it. "Right now the two greatest threats I face are Yhwach, and the five zero-squad members of the Soul King's palace. And given that I'm currently in a honeymoon phase with Soul Society, the zero squad's attitude toward me is relatively relaxed. But as for Yhwach, once he appears again, he will have to be eliminated. There are also certain things I need to verify from him. I must obtain his corpse."

"It's hard to imagine just how large a game you are playing." Ulquiorra spoke flatly. "But that has nothing to do with me."

"The Quincy have already come to your doorstep, and you still say it has nothing to do with you?" Yagami China, standing nearby, puffed out her cheeks in indignation. "Tsuki-chan has been this candid with you, how can you not recognize a good thing?"

"...A new face I haven't seen before." Ulquiorra took note of the petite female Arrancar at Wayne's side. "A new Arrancar, did you obtain the Hōgyoku?"

Wayne said nothing. He simply turned his hand and let the Hōgyoku appear in his palm, then turned his wrist and it was gone again. "I'm genuinely curious, with a temperament like yours, how on earth did Aizen manage to recruit you back then? I already failed to recruit you in the Forest of Phantoms, and now the same thing is happening again. Are we just naturally at odds with each other?"

"In the Forest of Phantoms, it was you who invaded my territory and disturbed my rest. That is why I acted. And afterward, teaching you how to use the Black Cero, and then teaching you the Segunda Etapa after your fight with Ichigo Kurosaki, both were obligations fulfilled because I lost to you. We owe each other nothing."

"So in other words, I still have to beat you into submission before you'll agree to join us. That's what you mean, isn't it." Wayne scratched his head. "Just say so then. Old rules, if you win, I'm at your disposal. If I win, you come with me. Or... you give me the power of your thunder Law."

"So that's why you brought so many people with you." Ulquiorra said coldly. "Fine. I also want to see just how many Law masters I can handle in my current state."

"You're overthinking it." The corner of Wayne's mouth curved slightly. "To deal with you, three moves. If I can't finish you in three, I lose."

"The same arrogance as always. Since becoming a King Hollow, I'd very much like to test just how much your power has grown." With those words, Ulquiorra, already in his release state, surged his power once more. A rain of ash-green spirit light began to fall through the lightning-laden storm clouds, and Ulquiorra shifted directly into his Segunda Etapa.

"Fine. Same words as before, if I can't take you down in three moves, I lose."

BOOM!

A violent eruption of Reiatsu spread across Wayne's entire body. He drove his power straight to its peak. His Tercera Etapa manifested, and patterns of deep indigo and phantom silver began to spread across his body.

The instant his power was released, the assembled Hollow beasts swiftly fell back, clearing the battlefield for Wayne and Ulquiorra.

In the sky, ash-green Reiatsu fell like rain. On the ground, pale gold Reiatsu began to rise and surge upward, pressing against the heavens, with faint signs that it would evaporate that Reishi rain entirely. Even the massed storm clouds showed traces of dispersing.

"So this is... the power of a King Hollow." Feeling Wayne's vast, overwhelming aura, Ulquiorra was immediately struck by the pressure. Before the fight had even begun, Ulquiorra had already lost a fraction of ground.

Since the match was to be decided in three moves, Wayne had no intention of going easy. He raised his hand and gathered a visibly enormous Cero. If he layered his illusion Laws over it, Ulquiorra might not accept a defeat won by a hidden ambush, better to simply crush him head-on with sheer power.

Likewise, Ulquiorra raised his hand and gathered a deep green Cero at his fingertip. Unlike before, Ulquiorra's Cero now had the power of thunder fused into it. Dark green lightning coiled around the Cero, and the fusion of the Black Cero made its color all the more profound. Wayne could faintly sense that if this Cero underwent one more evolution, it would become Ulquiorra's own unique Gran Rey Cero, though that might require completing Ulquiorra's elemental Law first.

Unfortunately, at this stage, the Cero's power was still not enough.

HUM!

Two Ceros fired simultaneously and collided in midair. Lightning erupted in every direction, space itself fractured, and the invisible shockwave blew the storm clouds apart.

Dark green and pale gold collided, evenly matched at first. But after a few seconds the dark green Cero began to falter, and ten-odd seconds later the pale gold radiance swallowed it entirely. Unable to dodge in time, Ulquiorra was caught in the sweep of Wayne's Cero. By the time he burst free of its range, scorch marks covered his entire body.

"Worthy of a Gran Rey Cero." Ulquiorra's Reiatsu rose around him. The burnt dead skin fell away as new tissue and flesh began to regenerate.

"Thunder Spear."

Ulquiorra slowly spread both arms before him, and a long spear wreathed in lightning appeared in his hands.

It was a spear forged from Ulquiorra's power of thunder, far more formidable than anything assembled from Reiatsu alone.

WHOOSH!

Ulquiorra hurled the spear. It shot toward Wayne at lightning speed.

"Slash." Wayne's voice was unhurried. He drew the Zanpakutō at his hip and sent a blade wave out with a casual swing, straight toward the Thunder Spear.

The blade wave and the spear collided with a deafening thunderclap. The force of thunder scattered dozens of bolts of lightning in every direction, yet not a single one came close to Wayne. Wayne's strike consumed every last ounce of energy in the Thunder Spear, and in the end the two opposing forces exploded in the sky simultaneously, extinguishing each other.

"The power you take such pride in... is this it?" Wayne gave what seemed like a dismissive smile and held his Zanpakutō upright before him. "The last move. I'm getting serious now."

With those words, Wayne's Reiatsu surged skyward once more. The last lingering heaviness the storm clouds had pressed upon the sky vanished entirely. Beneath a still and silent night sky, Wayne's pale gold Reiatsu blazed as brilliantly as a scorching sun.

"Bankai! Cycle of the Hollow World, Reinhart." Wayne spoke the release words, and pale gold radiance flared to its peak. In moments, a pale gold blazing suit of armor wrapped around his body, still covered in spirit-vein markings, and a pale gold cape billowed and danced behind him like living flame.

Having absorbed Genryusai Yamamoto's Reiatsu, this was the first time Wayne had used his enhanced Bankai. It was plain to see that the old man's Reiatsu had brought no small change to it. The armor that had once carried a metallic quality had now transformed to take on the form of flame, bearing a striking resemblance in spirit to the old man's Zanka no Tachi.

Yet unlike the old man's crimson flame, the fire surrounding Wayne was golden. Compared to the scorching intensity of Zanka no Tachi, Wayne's armor radiated something more akin to blinding brilliance, and beneath that brilliance, the temperature it gave off was no less than Ryūjin Jakka's. For now, the portion of Ryūjin Jakka's Bankai power still lay in Yhwach's hands. Wayne believed that once he reclaimed that fragment, this Sun-Radiance War Armor would finally become whole.

Golden flame billowed around him. Wayne swung the Zanpakutō, now transformed into the Sky-Rending Greatsword, in a diagonal arc. The wind and sand at his side were whipped into a massive shockwave that blasted dust hundreds of meters outward.

BOOM!

The ground caved into a massive crater beneath Wayne's charging step. He launched himself like a cannonball straight toward Ulquiorra.

High above, Ulquiorra summoned the Thunder Spear once more and charged toward Wayne in turn.

Two figures breaking the sound barrier streaked across the sky and met in the air. As spear and sword clashed, the Reiatsu shockwaves pulverized every surrounding boulder into grains of sand. Lightning and radiant sun alternated, and centered on the two of them, two entirely opposing fields of color erupted outward.

In less than half a minute, the dark green lightning vanished in an instant, and Ulquiorra was sent flying into the far distance like a kite with its string cut. Across his body, a wound deep enough to expose bone cut through his entire form.

Wayne had come within a hair's breadth of cleaving Ulquiorra in two, and this was still the result after holding back.

"As expected... this man's strength is outrageous." The Ulquiorra sent flying showed no expression of pain. His face was as calm and still as water, as though the agony belonged to someone else entirely.

After a long moment, Ulquiorra crashed to the ground and skidded back dozens of meters. Once he came to a stop, Wayne teleported to his side using his spatial power.

"Three moves are up. Join, or I strip the thunder Law from you myself." Flames still seethed and churned around Wayne's entire body. Just looking at him gave one a sense of scorching heat.

"You..." Ulquiorra lay facing the sky, his eyes turning toward Wayne. "Where is your limit?"

"Who knows." Wayne slowly dispersed his Bankai and withdrew from the Tercera Etapa. "A natural-born powerhouse like you will never understand how much someone like me — who clawed their way up from the very bottom — has sacrificed for something called freedom. The process was brutal, but it was all worth it. Now I can already see a corner of that freedom. Yet to reach it, I still need to keep accumulating strength. I'll ask you one last time, will you come?"

"You are just like that human woman... emotionally complex." Ulquiorra lay on his back, looking up at the sky. The silent night above seemed, in that moment, to grow a shade more peaceful in his eyes.

"I... will join."

➤ Next: Inviting the Moon