Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 331 - Entering the Fray

"A teleportation ability?" Haschwalth's heart tightened. Although he had already faced Wayne directly, truth be told, judging from the current situation, even if he unleashed his full power, he could not withstand Wayne at full strength. He had considered using The Balance to transfer misfortune onto Wayne. But no matter how strong or weak luck was, it could not bridge the vast gap in combat power and Reiatsu levels.

"It has been a long time, King of Hueco Mundo, Lord Ace Wayne." Haschwalth remained perfectly composed, giving Wayne a knight's salute. A respectful attitude, at the very least, would keep Wayne from being irritated enough to instantly annihilate him. To avoid provoking Wayne's will to fight, he had not even summoned his Reishi spirit sword or his shield.

"It's only been a few days." Wayne's tone was flat. "Is this a full-scale assault? Don't run away again this time."

"His Majesty has already arrived in person. Before long, all enemies on this land will be completely annihilated." Haschwalth spoke as if the people of Soul Society did not exist, addressing Wayne alone. "His Majesty has mentioned you repeatedly these past few days. If Lord Ace Wayne is willing to set aside past grievances and cooperate to annex Soul Society, His Majesty is willing to share the future rule of Soul Society with you."

"Those don't sound like words Yhwach would ever say." Wayne picked at his ear dismissively. In his view, this was nothing more than a flimsy speech from Haschwalth. "To amass that many soldiers for another offensive — you used that zombie ability, didn't you?"

"It seems Your Lordship is also quite well-informed about our intelligence." Haschwalth was not surprised. Every faction had its own intelligence network, after all. And the man before him was especially resourceful, there was no way he wouldn't know about some of their capabilities. Of course, in Haschwalth's view, certain core powers could not possibly be known to the other side.

"So, has Your Lordship come today intending to declare full-scale war against us Quincy?"

"Yes and no." Wayne shrugged. At those words, Shunsui Kyōraku showed no reaction, but Nanao Ise immediately tensed up. In her understanding, the faction Wayne belonged to was still neither confirmed ally nor enemy. He was only here because of personal ties. As for whether Wayne would truly mobilize the upper echelons of Hueco Mundo to join the battle, that was something Nanao Ise simply could not gauge.

"This is a war between you and Soul Society. I have no reason to participate. The only reason I destroyed your base and soldiers is because you laid hands on my people first. Destroying your base was merely returning the courtesy. By the way, how effective were the bombs and poison I left in the ruins?"

"There are members within the Sternritter who wield poison and bomb abilities as well. Your Lordship need not concern yourself." Haschwalth's perpetually calm expression finally hardened a fraction. When they had rushed back to the Wandenreich, the already depleted soldiers had been struck again by poison and bomb attacks, nearly wiped out entirely. Without Giselle's zombie ability, the Wandenreich might have had no soldiers left to use.

"That's truly a pity. I was hoping to annihilate all your grunts so I wouldn't have to mobilize my own army. Looks like I'll still have to fight."

"Is Your Lordship formally declaring war, then?"

"You injured my subordinates first, and then gravely wounded my little brother..." Wayne stopped mid-sentence, suddenly sensing that Shiro-chan's Reiatsu in the distance had dropped sharply. He must have been injured in battle. "...and then gravely wounded my little brother afterward — and you did it twice. There's no way I'm not settling this score." With that, Wayne drew his Zanpakuto and pointed it directly at Haschwalth.

"When two armies face each other, envoys are not to be killed. Go back and tell Yhwach: if he wants me to stay out of this war, hand over Ryujinjakka's Bankai, sever one of his own arms, crawl back to your Wandenreich, and come out again a thousand years from now."

"Isn't Your Lordship's demand a bit too arrogant?" Haschwalth's face turned to ice. Clearly, Wayne's words had provoked him.

"You plan to conquer the world in nine days, and that's not arrogant?" Wayne sneered. "We're all thousand-year foxes here — who are you trying to fool with fairy tales?"

"...Though I do not understand what Your Lordship means by 'fairy tales,' I am certain it is no compliment." Haschwalth's Reiatsu began to subtly fluctuate. "However, how does Your Lordship know our Quincy hymn?"

"I planted a mole in your knight order," Wayne said casually.

"Lord Ace Wayne, please do not jest." Haschwalth scoffed. "Every soldier of the Wandenreich is one hundred percent loyal to His Majesty. This I can affirm."

"Then your affirmation is wrong." Wayne shook his head slightly and continued to provoke. "But I won't argue with you. When that day comes, you'll understand what I said."

"..."

"Enough. Go back and deliver the message to Yhwach. Tell him: in nine seconds, I will enter the battlefield. In nine minutes, I will lead Hueco Mundo into full-scale war. In nine hours, I will annihilate every last one of you Quincy zombie grunts. In nine days, it will be the day of your Quincy extinction."

"I understand Your Lordship's intent." Haschwalth did not grow angry. Instead, he once again gave Wayne a knight's salute. "With this, our conversation ends. From this point on, we are mortal enemies."

"Mm. Now scram." As the words fell, Wayne waved a hand, and a spatial rift opened behind Haschwalth. At the same time, Wayne swung his blade, and a brilliant azure slash directly pierced through Nanao Ise's Kidō barrier, hurtling toward Haschwalth. Haschwalth immediately drew his Reishi light sword to block the slash, but the sheer force of it sent him reeling backward, forcibly hurling him into the spatial rift.

"It... actually pierced straight through the White Break Binding Wall?" Watching the enemy vanish into the rift, Nanao Ise marveled that the defensive barrier she had erected was, to Wayne, as good as nonexistent.

"No need to be surprised, Little Nanao." Shunsui Kyōraku pressed down the brim of his hat. "Wayne-kun's power is spatial in nature to begin with. And besides... his Reiatsu level has already surpassed yours by far too much."

"Alright, I'm off to support the battlefield." Wayne waved to Kyōraku. "The two Kenpachis have been rescued. From here on, it's up to you how you fight. I'll take down a few Sternritter members, and once I'm done, I'll leave the rest to you temporarily. I still have other matters to attend to." As soon as he finished speaking, Wayne instantly vanished. In less than ten seconds, Wayne's pale-gold Reiatsu erupted from the very battlefield where Shiro-chan had just been.

"It seems Wayne-kun has already gotten what he wanted from Aizen." Shunsui Kyōraku gazed gravely toward the distant place where the pale-gold Reiatsu had burst forth. "By that measure, his strength is about to rise yet again. Perhaps... that fellow will become the first to surpass the old man's power. Mm... well, I suppose he still counts as a Hollow."

"Captain?" Seeing Kyōraku muttering to himself, Nanao Ise asked instinctively. "What do you mean by 'surpass Captain-Commander Yamamoto'...?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Kyōraku lifted his hat and looked toward the place where Wayne's Reiatsu blazed in the distance. "Let us hope he is never an enemy of Soul Society."

On the other side, Shiro-chan was darting across the battlefield, searching for an opening to turn the tide. At this moment, he was being hunted by Sternritter "H," The Heat, Bazz-B. And the place where Wayne's Reiatsu had erupted was precisely where Shiro-chan was.

Though Wayne had killed Cang Du and allowed Shiro-chan to reclaim his Bankai, against Bazz-B Black, who wielded the power of scorching heat, Shiro-chan's ice was still insufficient to contend.

In other words, Shiro-chan's power was still not fully mature, he was still young, after all. But facing Bazz-B, who had already unleashed four fingers of his Burning Full Fingers, Shiro-chan's performance at this moment was already enough to satisfy Wayne.

BOOM!

Reiatsu exploded outward, and Wayne appeared before Shiro-chan in a posture of overwhelming dominance. Before he had arrived, Shiro-chan had already sustained heavy injuries. At this moment, the right side of Shiro-chan's chest was encased in two clusters of ice crystals, his own temporary emergency treatment. And Wayne's appearance just happened to block Bazz-B's pursuit of Shiro-chan.

"Who goes there!" Sensing the extraordinarily high Reiatsu nearby, Bazz-B immediately halted his chase and assumed a defensive stance.

"Shiro-chan, how the hell did you get beaten and chased all over the place yet again?" Ignoring Bazz-B's words entirely, Wayne immediately switched to taunting mode toward Shiro-chan. "Did you forget everything I taught you?"

"Big Brother..." Seeing that his own big brother had arrived, Shiro-chan let out a breath of relief. "This guy's ability is a bit of a counter to mine."

"Break the surface with a point, break the surface with a point." Wayne surveyed the nearby terrain, which was already covered in ice shards and white mist. It was obvious that Shiro-chan had just created a massive amount of ice in this area to block Bazz-B's attacks.

"His flames are launched by concentrating power into a single point. Why can't your ice do the same? The ice dragon Hyorinmaru creates is a line — you just need to strengthen..."

"Hey! You're looking down on people way too much!" Bazz-B roared from nearby, and a blade of flame wreathed in searing heat slashed toward Wayne and Shiro-chan. This was the very scorching blade that could cleave Shiro-chan's ice dragon in two with a single strike.

Yet, the flame blade wrapped in blistering heat had barely reached the top of Wayne's head before Wayne casually waved a hand, instantly shattering it into a sky full of sparks.

"What?!" Watching his attack be so effortlessly scattered by the opponent, Bazz-B immediately retreated at full speed. At the same time, the halo and wings of light representing his Vollständig unfurled. In that instant, Bazz-B recalled the identity of the man before him.

The King of Hueco Mundo, Ace Wayne. The one who had replaced Ichigo Kurosaki as a Special War Potential, leaping to become the most feared enemy whispered about among the Quincy. Their king, Yhwach, had specifically instructed: if you encounter Ace Wayne on the battlefield, aside from a select few, the rest need not think twice, flee immediately and find an opportunity to report Wayne's position.

"He ran pretty fast." The corner of Wayne's mouth twitched. He had expected a hothead like Bazz-B to clash with him head-on, but he hadn't expected the man to bolt so quickly. By now, Wayne had guessed that the enemy must have issued an order: the moment you see Wayne, run immediately.

"I'll send you to the Fourth Division." With the enemy retreating, Wayne walked over to Shiro-chan.

"No need." Shiro-chan shook his head. "Compared to treatment, there are still many squad members who need to be saved. I can still hold on."

"Only when you've recovered can you save more people." Wayne furrowed his brow slightly. "Alright, don't argue with me. Let's go. I still have a lot of things to do after this." As soon as he finished speaking, ignoring Shiro-chan's struggles, Wayne directly teleported him to the Fourth Division and kicked him toward the squad's emergency medical team.

"Hi... Hinamori Captain!" Seeing Wayne descend, those squad members who had once crossed paths with him recognized him immediately.

"Treat him." Wayne gave a slight nod to his former comrades, dropped that single line, and vanished instantly.

Because in just these few short minutes, Soifon's side had already escalated to the point of beating brains into dog brains.

BOOM!

Another sky-rocketing explosion rang out. Soifon, who had just gained some advantage using Shunkō, had a momentary opening seized by the enemy and was dealt a direct, devastating blow.

"That bad, huh? Captain Soifon."

By the time Wayne arrived, Soifon was already cradled in Ōmaeda's arms, collapsed atop a tall building, while the enemy stood on the opposite building, a Gatling gun braced on his right arm, aiming at Soifon.

"Is that... Hinamori?" Soifon endured the pain and turned her head to look at the newcomer. In her view, Wayne must have heard the explosions here and rushed over.

"Truly disgraceful... and in front of you, no less." Soifon looked deeply embarrassed. Back when Wayne had not yet become a captain, she had maintained a semi-neutral stance, she hadn't given Wayne any particularly useful support, but she hadn't ostracized him either. Yet now, in the several battles Soul Society had faced, Wayne had resolved every crisis with overwhelming force. As a captain of the Gotei 13, Soifon had always felt this was a deeply humiliating matter.

"Just a small favor, nothing more." Wayne glanced at Soifon's combat attire. His brow twitched slightly.

Mm... sure enough, when using Shunkō, she wasn't wearing anything underneath.

Having confirmed what he wanted to confirm, Wayne turned his head toward the enemy on the opposite building. A member of the Sternritter, "K," BG9.

"The King of Hueco Mundo, Ace Wayne, is it?"

When BG9 saw Wayne appear, surprisingly, this Quincy wearing an axe-shaped helmet did not flee like Bazz-B had earlier.

"How fortunate — to actually be able to draw you here."

"Oh?" Wayne grew interested. "I thought you Sternritter members were supposed to flee at the sight of me like I was your natural predator."

"Indeed, His Majesty did issue such an order. However, among the Sternritter, there are five members capable of standing against you until His Majesty arrives."

"You think you have the ability to stall me?" Wayne tilted his head, looking at BG9.

"No. I am a special case." With that, BG9 pulled open his white combat suit, revealing a body that was entirely mechanical within.

"My purpose is to analyze your abilities. Even if it costs me my life." As he spoke, dozens of cable-tubes, sharp as blades, suddenly shot out from BG9's body.

"The King of Hueco Mundo, Ace Wayne. Possesses a Reiatsu level higher than that of a Vasto Lorde. Specializes in spatial abilities, illusion abilities, and concealment abilities. Has mastered three or more methods of using Cero, with his maximum-power Cero capable of even piercing through Soul Society. Additionally wields Soul Reaper powers, with strength on par with Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Possesses a three-stage Resurrección — meaning his power can be amplified three times. This is the existing intelligence I have gathered."

The cable-tubes on BG9's body writhed, all of their needle-like tips aimed directly at Wayne.

"And what I must do is analyze your truest combat data and feed it back to His Majesty. In this way, my life will have had value!"

➤ Next: The Last Wish