Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 336 - Perfect Fusion

BOOM!

In Szayelaporro's underground training chamber, a towering figure rippling with muscle rose to his feet with a thunderous crash.

"Not bad. You've already hit early-stage Vasto Lorde and you're closing in on mid-stage. Compared to captain-level, your Reiatsu is already considerably stronger than an average captain's. I wonder — is Captain Komamura satisfied with where things stand?" Wayne looked at the figure rising from the training floor and smiled.

After roughly ten or more hours, Wayne and Szayelaporro had not only converted Sajin Komamura into an Arrancar but successfully advanced him to Vasto Lorde class. In the process, they had also recovered the Law of Power fragments sealed within his body.

That last part, Wayne had naturally not mentioned to Sajin Komamura. Komamura had sensed that mysterious force inside him gradually fading, but Reishi was being replenished in a steady stream to compensate, so he hadn't raised the issue. Wayne was helping him recover his strength, after all. In Komamura's mind, it was simply a necessary part of the process.

"Although Tenken Myō'ō is gone, the power I now have and the way I can wield it are similar to what Tenken Myō'ō was capable of. That is enough for this old man."

Komamura rolled his shoulders, settling into his Arrancar body and feeling out the face that now closely resembled the one produced by his Humanization Technique. As for this new identity, he had already chosen to accept it. At least for now, he no longer had any desire to take his own life. Whether, after the battle against the Quincy was over, he chose to die before the old man, or leave Soul Society for Hueco Mundo, or simply wander Soul Society on his own, none of that was Wayne's concern anymore. As long as Komamura did not return to Hueco Mundo to hunt Wayne's comrades, Wayne had no interest in tracking where he went.

"In that case, Captain Komamura, I won't keep you any longer. The battle in Soul Society has been going on for a long time, and I still have something very important to do. I won't see you out — please, go ahead." With that, Wayne simply waved his hand and cut a rift in space, letting Komamura depart on his own.

"My thanks once again, Lord Wayne. This old man will not forget your kindness. When the enemy has been driven out, I will come to repay you."

"Just stay by the old man's side and protect him. Consider it my way of settling the debt I owe him." Wayne waved the offer off. He had no intention of accepting Komamura's gratitude. Who could say what the future held between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society? For now they were united against a common enemy, but if it came to blows again down the road, Komamura's Hollow power could bring no small amount of trouble to Hueco Mundo.

"Very well. This old man will take his leave." Komamura pressed both fists together before his chest in a salute, then stepped into the rift. He wanted to get back to Soul Society as quickly as possible. There were still many enemies waiting for him.

"...Done." Wayne watched Komamura disappear into the rift, clapped his hands, and let out a quiet breath.

A string of deception and maneuvering, and he'd finally gotten the Law fragment in hand. Now, with the exception of the Law of Causality, all eight of the remaining great Laws had been gathered. The collection wasn't yet complete, but it was time to attempt the final experiment.

"Let's go. Back to the lab — we don't have much time." Wayne turned to the group. "While I was converting Komamura just now, I got word from Timd that Ichigo Kurosaki has returned from the Soul King's Palace to Soul Society. At the same time, Yhwach has taken the opportunity to ascend to the Soul King's Palace himself. The final battle is about to begin."

"My king, are you truly going to confront the enemy in a final showdown?" Jekain stepped forward. Earlier, because Wayne had needed to bring the Law-bearers along to search for the Law fragments, the task of deploying troops and holding Tsukishiro's defenses had been left to Jekain. Wayne had only retaken command upon returning. The time apart hadn't been particularly long, but in that short window, a quarter of the two hundred Adjuchas-class fighters Wayne had deployed were already dead.

It wasn't that Jekain had commanded poorly. Some of the enemy's abilities were simply that formidable. A successful ambush could drop an isolated Adjuchas in an instant with no way to defend against it. Only after Wayne returned and retook command, and had Yagami China use the power of the Law of Soul to help control the battlefield, did such incidents gradually stop. That was part of why Jekain had spoken up.

"Although you have old ties with some people in Soul Society, the enemy's target is ultimately the Soul Reapers. As Hollows, do we really need to get involved?"

"Not entirely." Wayne patted Jekain on the shoulder. "The enemy's target is the Soul Reapers, yes. But their true objective is the Soul King."

"The Soul King?"

"That's right. That is Yhwach's real purpose." Wayne gave a slight nod. "My guess is that Yhwach most likely intends to kill the Soul King in order to obtain even greater power. If that happens, the source sustaining the three realms disappears — and all three realms risk collapse. That said, my getting involved isn't entirely for Soul Society's sake. I have my own selfish reasons. If things go as I hope, Hueco Mundo can be brought under complete control."

"Then why don't we just throw everything we have at them and wipe out the Quincy in one stroke?" Lilynette cut in from the side.

"Hey." Starrk lightly rapped her on the head, signaling her to stay quiet. What Wayne was laying out might matter to all of them.

"What, I can't even ask a question?" Lilynette rubbed her head and shot Starrk a glare. "We have tens of thousands of Hollow fighters under us. We could grind those Quincy down until there's nothing left. Why aren't we just attacking?"

"Because I'm doing it on purpose." Wayne lightly patted her on the head.

"On purpose?" Lilynette frowned, then brought a small fist down on her palm with a sharp crack, her face lighting up. "Oh! I get it. You're deliberately wearing both sides down so we can swoop in and take advantage, right!"

"Ha. You're right, but that's not all of it." Wayne was amused and went on to explain. "Reaching the Soul King's Palace requires a key. Without one, the only way in is by using the Shiba family's Kukaku Cannon, and you still have to board a specially designated pod. As for Ichigo dropping straight down from the Soul King's Palace, if he weren't wearing clothes made from special materials sourced from the Palace itself, he'd likely be half-dead by the time he hit the barrier between the Soul Shield Membrane and the prohibited zone at the Palace's threshold."

"What does that have to do with whether we attack or not?" Lilynette still wasn't following.

"Ichigo already blew the corridor to the Soul King's Palace open. Yhwach used that window to ascend. Once the corridor closes, getting back down will take him considerable time to arrange. At that point, every Quincy left in Soul Society becomes our prey. That is when we strike. With their leader out of reach, you can cut loose and kill to your hearts' content." Wayne patted her on the head and kept going.

"Yhwach's absence will last at most another hour and a half. After that the corridor closes. Make good use of this time, each of you draw out three tenths of your Law power and channel it into the Hōgyoku. I'm going to attempt fusing the Law power stored within it, and push my power ceiling higher."

"You've already become a King Hollow." Baraggan's expression cooled. "At this point you are an existence unrivaled across all three realms. Why do you still need to..."

"The Soul King." Wayne said it quietly. "We are all Law-bearers, so there's no point hiding it anymore. The Soul King and the Dominator of Hueco Mundo share the same origin. If I rely only on the Laws of Space and Illusion and something truly unexpected happens, an enemy at the Soul King's level could drain my Law power in an instant. My strength would be cut by more than half, and even at King Hollow level I might not walk away from a fight with Squad Zero, who guard the Soul King.

"But once the Hōgyoku is fused, my power can stand on equal footing with the Soul King's. Even if something goes wrong, the Soul King won't be able to finish me in an instant. Of course, as far as I know, the Soul King right now is nothing more than a stone. Still, who knows what it means for the Soul King to encounter those of us carrying Law power."

"Is there truly no way to pursue the Law of Causality any further?" Szayelaporro tilted his head. "Missing one Law ultimately makes a perfect synthesis impossible, much like Aizen, back then."

"There's no way. Not right now." Wayne shook his head. "The amount of the Law of Causality present within the Hōgyoku won't exceed three percent. Part of it is with the Dominator of Hueco Mundo, and the rest..." He glanced toward Soul Society through the monitor. "If my guess is correct, the remaining portion can only be obtained at a specific point in time."

"Then let's begin." Szayelaporro asked nothing further. He had watched Wayne govern Hueco Mundo up to this point, and Wayne had almost never done anything that gave him genuine reason for doubt. If Wayne said it couldn't be obtained right now, then it simply couldn't be resolved in the short term. Given that, following instructions was the sensible choice.

They made their way to the lab. Szayelaporro activated the instruments that recorded data, linked the monitors to the bodies of all the Law-bearers, and set up continuous readings on both the Hōgyoku and each bearer. He also raised the Reiatsu concentration within the room so the bearers wouldn't exhaust themselves while channeling energy.

"Well then, I'm counting on everyone." Wayne nodded to the group and summoned the Hōgyoku into his hand.

The next moment, every Law-bearer except Szayelaporro raised their hands in unison and slowly channeled their Law power into the Hōgyoku, along with their own pure Reiatsu.

The entire lab blazed with seven-colored light. It was breathtaking. Even the Hōgyoku itself lit with a soft, ethereal glow.

The Law power flowed in steadily. Before long the seven-colored radiance dispersed, leaving only the Hōgyoku radiating a captivating luster, the whole room suffused in a shimmering, rippling rose-gold light, as though the walls themselves were breathing it in.

"So this is what the Hōgyoku looks like after Law power has been poured into it?" Nel stared, transfixed. In the barren wastes of Hueco Mundo, she had never seen colors like that.

"The Hōgyoku was fashioned from the Soul King's fingernail. After refinements by both Kisuke Urahara and Sōsuke Aizen it had already been brought close to perfection. Pouring Law power into it now fills the last gap it had. At this point it can be considered a perfect avatar of the Soul King, one with power, but no consciousness. It's a pity that a large portion of the Laws are still absent, but this is the best we can manage right now."

Wayne reached out and took the Hōgyoku from the air. Three tenths each of his Law of Space and Law of Illusion had been drawn away, and the loss left him noticeably weakened. To compensate for the gap left by the elemental Laws, he also channeled the majority of Ryūjin Jakka's power — sealed within his Zanpakuto — into the Hōgyoku, which barely bridged the deficiency. It was a pity there was no time to go searching for the remaining elemental Laws.

Beyond that, the Hōgyoku itself had an upper limit to how much Law power it could hold. It was only the Soul King's fingernail, not the Soul King's true body, and not the Dominator of Hueco Mundo either. That it could bear three tenths of the power was already substantial. More than enough to work with.

"Good. Then, the final step." Speaking as he moved, Wayne pressed the Hōgyoku toward the Hollow Hole in his chest.

In principle, the fusion could be initiated at any part of the body. But after thinking it over, Wayne had decided the Hollow Hole was the most fitting place. When Aizen had fused with the Hōgyoku, he'd had a hole opened in his chest, by Gin Ichimaru, as it happened, though that detail was beside the point.

If Aizen could fuse with a Hōgyoku carrying less than three percent of Law power, then Wayne fusing with thirty percent had every reason to succeed.

The Hōgyoku pulsed with a faint white light at the site of the Hollow Hole. Strand after strand of Reiatsu began weaving into the cavity, filling it in. In less than half a second, the Hollow Hole was completely sealed.

Then the sealed gap collapsed open again. What remained was a hole even larger than the original.

"Ngh." Wayne gritted his teeth and looked down, watching the Hōgyoku work. This was it restructuring his body, remaking him to carry greater power. Compared to the several progressive stages Aizen had gone through, the method was far more violent, but it would take considerably less time, and it would not produce the kind of mutation that came with Hollowfication.

Wayne was already a Hollow, after all.

What followed was cycle after cycle of the same: restructure, then collapse. Restructure, then collapse. It continued until a massive Hollow Hole the size of a watermelon had been torn open in Wayne's chest. Only then did a low, involuntary sound claw its way out of him. Every single cycle had brought with it extreme agony. He had held on through all of it, but this was where his endurance finally gave out.

"This is goddamn agonizing." The curse tore out of him as he watched his own body crumble apart piece by piece.

Then his body hit the threshold. With a sound like a detonation, it shattered completely. All that remained was a single Zanpakuto hanging in the air before the Hōgyoku.

The next instant, a blaze of brilliant light swept through the room, swallowing the Zanpakuto and the space where Wayne had stood. Time seemed to stop. Wayne's consciousness slipped into an illusory realm, and once again he heard that long-unheard voice.

"My child, no. My friend. We meet again."

➤ Next: The Rules of the World