Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 337 - The Rules of the World

Chapter 337, Laws of the World

"I always assumed you only appeared when I was advancing to the next stage. Dominator of Hueco Mundo."

As his consciousness gradually cleared, Wayne sensed the familiar call.

"What you are doing now is no different from advancing." The Dominator of Hueco Mundo's voice was gentle. "I can feel it. The law power within your body is steadily increasing. About thirty percent of the fusion power is repairing and remodeling your body, pushing your strength to gradually surpass the Vasto Lorde — advancing toward a level equal to mine, and to the Soul King's."

"So you've come to reclaim this portion of the law power?" Wayne's tone was flat. He didn't seem to care at all that it could be taken from him right now.

"If this were before, perhaps I would have." The Dominator of Hueco Mundo didn't hide it. "If I reclaimed what you currently hold, along with the law power gathered in the inheritors around you, my strength would likely recover to seventy or eighty percent. At that point, I could appear before you in a true physical form. But now, that is no longer necessary."

"Oh? How so?"

"You already possess the standing to be an equal — to me, and to the Soul King. Do you remember what I once told you? My ideal is the balance of the Three Worlds. For that, I am willing to pay any price. If you, who hold the law-fusion power, can help the Soul King survive this calamity, then whether I recover my Hollow form no longer matters to me."

"I see." Wayne was quiet for a moment, turning that over.

"I came this time to give you the final piece of the Hōgyoku's fusion power." As he spoke, a soft white light descended slowly toward Wayne's conscious form. Wayne didn't need to think. He knew what it was, a portion of the power of the Causality Law, roughly thirty percent. The Dominator of Hueco Mundo was doing this to make the fusion whole.

"I thought I'd have to defeat Yhwach before I could obtain the Causality Law. I didn't expect you to simply give it to me."

"It seems you've already guessed some of the truth about this world's laws." The Dominator of Hueco Mundo's voice was soft.

"I have. After I killed Sajin Komamura and successfully converted him into a Hollow, I started forming some conjectures about the nature of law power." Wayne spoke without hurry. "The law power of Hueco Mundo, the Soul Reapers of Soul Society, the humans of the World of the Living, the Quincy of the Wandenreich — they all share the same origin. All of it flows from the Soul King. Am I right?"

"Yes." The Dominator of Hueco Mundo replied quietly, as if Wayne's deduction didn't surprise him at all.

"Then if we're drawing categories, the Nine Great Laws of Hueco Mundo exist within the power systems of the Soul Reapers, the Quincy, and the Fullbringers as well. The difference is that Hueco Mundo's laws come from you — from the Dominator of Hueco Mundo — while the Soul Reapers, Quincy, and Fullbringers all trace back to the Soul King himself. But because the three systems evolved over such a long time, and because of what happened to the Soul King, those originally unified nine laws were scattered and became their own separate frameworks. That's why when Sajin Komamura became a Hollow, his body could still receive the law power of Hueco Mundo without difficulty."

"Yes." The Dominator of Hueco Mundo said nothing more. He simply listened. That single word carried a quiet note of approval.

"After I absorbed the Old Man's Reiatsu and a portion of Ryūjin Jakka's power, that flame could be converted by the Hōgyoku into part of the Elemental Law. So what I need to confirm now is whether the Quincy's power and the Fullbringers' power share that same characteristic, beyond what the Soul Reapers already proved. If I can get that confirmation from you, there's a great deal I won't need to go and test myself."

"What you've said is essentially correct." The Dominator of Hueco Mundo spoke. "All power in the Three Worlds originates from the Soul King. But the Soul King was sealed. His body was dismembered. Most of his power scattered and dispersed, and he could no longer form a clone the way I did. That is why no explicit law power was ever identified within their systems. Yet when the Soul King integrates their power, it converges once again into law power."

"In other words, the Causality Law you control and the Causality Law Yhwach controls are both incomplete. They simply exist in a quantitative relationship within your respective systems. Is that right?"

"You can understand it that way." The Dominator of Hueco Mundo's voice was certain. "And it isn't only Yhwach and myself. A portion of causal power is also held by Soul Reapers and Fullbringers. The exact quantities, I cannot say."

"It doesn't matter. As long as I defeat Yhwach and the Three Worlds hold their balance, that's enough."

"Thank you, my friend." The words came softly. "Then this portion of the Causality Law is the greatest help I can offer you. After this, I may fall into dormancy for a time, until the day my power recovers somewhat. If all goes well, by then you should have more than enough strength to come find me."

"I will. We agreed to go see other worlds together, didn't we?" Wayne nodded. "Then I'll take this portion of the law power. Everything after this, leave it to me."

"I wish you the fulfillment of your desires. My friend."

The voice faded. Wayne's consciousness drifted back into his newly remade body.

BOOM!

The light cocoon surrounding him detonated outward. Wayne stepped free and stood before the assembled inheritors, his body whole.

"Oh?" Baraggan opened his resting eyes and fixed them on Wayne. "Surprisingly fast."

The Hollow Beasts moved in together, each studying him carefully. His appearance hadn't changed much, pale-gold hair, faint violet eyes. But at the site of his Hollow Hole, a crystal pulsed with a deep, quiet blue, embedded there without quite touching the Hollow Hole itself, while veins of nine-colored Reiatsu threaded outward from it as though fused completely into his flesh and blood.

"His physical appearance is the same, but I can't sense his Reiatsu level anymore." Starrk was the first to try. He had once been able to perceive Wayne's power clearly. Now there was nothing. His senses told him Wayne was just an ordinary person, almost no Hollow aura at all. If not for the Hollow Hole in his chest, Starrk might not have recognized him as a Hollow.

"Lord Wayne, are you alright? Do you feel any discomfort?" Nel's senses came back the same, which was why she asked.

"I'm fine." Wayne flexed his hand, closing it into a fist. His Reiatsu had been drawn completely inward, every last trace of it gathered into the Hōgyoku. Whenever he chose, he could pull it out in an instant, nine laws fused and ready, capable of tearing the world apart. It was a power that had left the Vasto Lorde category behind entirely. He was the apex of this world now.

"How long was I under?"

"Four hours, twenty-two minutes, and fifty-seven seconds." Szayelaporro answered. "Based on the power data, the eight law powers inside the Hōgyoku achieved complete fusion within the final two hours. Upon making contact with you, the ninth power suddenly spiked, and all nine began balancing against each other before converging fully within your body. Was that the final Law we had never been able to locate?"

"Yes." Wayne nodded. "For certain reasons, the law power inside the Hōgyoku has reached equilibrium. My body has been remade. And now I can feel the location of every fragment of law power in Hueco Mundo."

He raised one hand. A projection appeared above the lab, something like a map, and then millions of points of light bloomed across it, large and small, dim and bright. Seven of the largest burned where Wayne and the others stood, and a dense cluster of luminous points marked Wayne's stronghold. With the Nine Great Laws at his fingertips, along with his innate laws of illusion and space, he needed no effort at all.

"Is that... every Hollow in Hueco Mundo with law power?" Nel and the others stared.

"More precisely, that is the distribution of all Hollows." Wayne said. "Law power has been fractured into billions of fragments. Every Hollow with consciousness has the potential to carry some of them. Because the quantities differ, the abilities that emerge are endlessly varied. And now, if I want to, I can use this map to track down any fragment I choose."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" China's eyes lit up. She could travel alongside Wayne again.

"That would mean killing every Hollow we find." Wayne shook his head. "Hueco Mundo needs ecological balance. We have full control of it now, so let's avoid pointless slaughter where we can. When we have time later, we'll deal with the ancient Hollow beasts and give Hueco Mundo an environment worth living in."

"Right, Tsuki-chan can reshape Hueco Mundo however he wants now." China caught up to the thought. Wayne's power rivaled the Soul King's. Reshaping Hueco Mundo was just a matter of time.

"Alright. We still have work to do." Wayne raised his hand and sliced open a spatial rift. "Let's go finish off Yhwach. Give the Three Worlds their peace back."

"Yes, our King!"

Wayne stepped through. The controllers of the various Laws followed one after another. An instant later, they were standing inside the Soul Society.

"Alert! Vasto Lorde-level Reiatsu detected in Combat Zone Three. Total count, seven!" In the Reiatsu monitoring center of the Seireitei's 12th Division, Akon sat at his post with his head wrapped in bandages, refusing to leave.

"They've come already?" Mayuri Kurotsuchi stood at the upper level, studying the seven terrifying Reiatsu readings pulsing on the screen. He narrowed his eyes. "Switch the feed to Head Captain Kyōraku of Squad One. Patch through communications."

"Yes, Captain." Akon worked quickly. Within seconds, two feeds appeared side by side on Mayuri's display, Wayne's location, and where Shunsui Kyōraku stood.

"Communication link establishing. Fifteen seconds to connection... nine... eight... seven..."

Akon counted down. Then Shunsui Kyōraku's image blinked into view on Wayne's end.

"You're back, Wayne-kun." Kyōraku was the first to speak. He tilted his head. "Oh? Wasn't it seven... why are there eight of you?"

"That brat Wayne..." Mayuri's voice carried through the screen to Kyōraku's ear. "The Reiatsu detection equipment can't pick him up. I don't know what's happened to him."

"Head Captain Kyōraku. I've come to make good on my promise, to clear the Quincy from the Soul Society." Wayne glanced at the screen, then turned to Kyōraku.

"Ah. Your help is appreciated. But the most urgent matter right now is the Soul King Palace." Kyōraku pressed two fingers to his brow. "Yhwach has already invaded it. The only ones currently moving to stop him are Ichigo Kurosaki's group. We, "

"One moment." Wayne cut him off. He traced arcs of Reiatsu in the air and they scattered outward, splitting into bands of light that shot across the Soul Society in every direction.

"Every marked position is a surviving Sternritter in the Soul Society. Prioritize taking down the one controlling the zombie soldiers. The rest, ten minutes. No, nine minutes. Bring back the bodies."

"Yes!"

The assembled Vasto Lorde flared their Reiatsu and tore off toward their marks.

"Hah..." Kyōraku let out a long breath. "That's a tremendous help." Yhwach's Auswählen had wiped out a massive chunk of the Quincy forces while he was in the Soul King Palace, but the Soul Society was still crawling with Giselle's zombie soldiers. Fighting through them with current manpower meant heavy casualties on the Soul Reaper side. Locking down the targets and eliminating them directly would cut those losses drastically.

"In any case, Yhwach is already inside the Soul King Palace. Mr. Urahara is building a device to get there, but it takes time. So, Wayne-kun, if you can, please. Use your power to send our people to the Soul King Palace."

"I can do that. You have ten minutes to organize your forces. In ten minutes, the enemies in the Soul Society will be gone, and we'll take everyone to the Soul King Palace together." Wayne gave Kyōraku a nod.

"Speaking of which, did you do something to Aizen?" Kyōraku brought it up almost as an aside. "I visited Muken. He seemed to be trapped in an illusion. No matter what I did, he wouldn't wake. Was that you?"

"An exchange." Wayne nodded. "I pulled him into a very long illusion. As long as I'm alive, it won't break. Barring any accidents, it should last about twenty thousand years."

"I see." Kyōraku let that settle. Aizen was probably enjoying it, or at least not spending twenty thousand years staring at prison walls. That was Wayne's payment for the intelligence on the Hōgyoku.

"Then ten minutes. We meet at the 12th Division."

"Agreed."

➤ Next: The World Collapses