Chapter XCIII: The Revenge Commences
"I felt your reiatsu approaching." Dalton said, opening his eyes. There was a man in front of him floating above the mountain north of the forest.
"I knew you would." The man responded. He had thin, sharp eyes and a goatee and mustache like a yakuza member. His bright red hair was tall and spiky, and fell back like a lion's mane to his shoulders. Two huge, flaming wings sprouted from his back, each at least a meter long. Hits slit-shaped red irises were surrounded by a black sclerae, like a void.
"What is the meaning of this?" Dalton demanded. "How did you come to be?"
"I am not permitted to tell you any of that." He told him. "I am only here to kill you."
"That's what I thought, Jigoku Kara no Hono."
"Don't speak to me in that tone." The zanpakuto said. He drew his sword from a strap that hung around his left shoulder and right hip. It was just a hilt with no blade. Just a black hilt with a maroon guard. A spark came from where the blade should have been. Then, the sword burst into flames and the flames morphed into the shape of a dragon.
Dalton smiled. "This is perfect timing, actually." He muttered. "I was actually just thinking I could use some bankai training. After all of this meditation, I've grown very close with my own Jigoku Kara no Hono." He drew his zanpakuto. "Burn." The blade turned red, hot with flames, and billowed and expanded into a dragon.
The mountain felt more heat than it had ever felt before. Dalton and Jiino's copy of Jigoku Kara no Hono released their reiatsu to its full power. As the flames expanded even further, they moved behind the backs of their respective wielders. The mountain had its own wings of flame.
"Sairyo, I'm fine now." Kasae grumbled. "I've been fine for a while now."
"Stop fighting me." She commanded. "I'll tell you when you're fine. I'm the one who knows how to heal."
He sighed. It wasn't that he minded being around her; it was just that he couldn't stand being cared for in general. He only had slight bruises left over at this point. It was as if she wanted to care for him just to be around him. He didn't understand.
Suddenly, Soriyamo and Shirako climbed out of the underground training room, followed closely by Lisa. Soriyamo looked at Kasae. It was almost strange for him to be around now. He'd been gone since Liomara's death. Sairyo seemed happy to have him around. Everyone else didn't know how to act. He gave them the cold shoulder. He refused to talk to Soriyamo and Shirako. No one really knew what was going on inside his head. Maybe he didn't either.
They walked awkwardly past him into the next room to get some water. Sairyo looked up and smiled at Lisa. "Rari's not with you?" She asked.
"No, he's down training with Kaoren and the others." Lisa responded. "I feel bad for him. He's trying really hard to catch up with Dominick. Training with me wasn't doing the trick, and training with Kaoren isn't either."
"And training with Soriyamo and Shirako would probably get him killed." Sairyo laughed.
"That's what I'm afraid of. The only reason I can train with those two right now is because of my zanpakuto. We're doing reiatsu training right now, but I can also feel my battle power going up as well." Lisa told her.
"That's good." Sairyo said. "I hope that goes well."
"Thanks." As Lisa walked away to follow the other two into the next room, Sairyo gave her a look of pity. She looked fatigued. She was tired. She wasn't giving herself any time to rest.
A couple of seconds passed and she was out of sight. Sairyo went back to Kasae. A sudden urge compelled her to speak. "You know, Kasae, I have-" Her face grew red. What was she saying?
Kasae suddenly stood up. "Wait, hold that thought." He said. "I feel something."
"What?" She asked. "If it's energy, I don't feel anything."
"No, I think...it's reiatsu." He muttered, more to himself than to her. "It started at one point, but is spreading out now...into six different locations. No...two of them are coming here."
"Kasae, you're scaring me."
Soriyamo, Shirako, and Lisa all ran out of the other room. Lisa ran back down into the underground training room immediately. "Shirako. You know what this is, right? These reiatsus...they're ours."
"Yeah. I can feel it." He replied. "I feel mine in the eastern forest."
"Mine is south." Soriyamo scowled. "It's safe to assume we'll need to defeat our own zanpakuto. Let's split up here."
"I agree." Shirako said. Suddenly, they felt a huge burst of energy coming from the eastern forest and a low rumble passed through the ground. "That energy…" Shirako stammered. "That was Martin. I have to hurry." With that, he flew out the front door, made a left, and headed straight into the forest.
Soriyamo turned around. "Kasae. Do you feel yours as well?"
Kasae looked at the number one Saiyan in wonder. How was he talking to him so normally? But he knew this wasn't the time for that. "Yeah, I feel it." He said. "It's heading straight for us."
"I'll leave it to you." Soriyamo told him. "Protect the others. With your life, if you have to."
"You don't have to tell me that." Kasae responded. Soriyamo smiled, then flew south out the front door. Then he turned toward the back door. "I feel you, Kihauya Seigyo." He muttered. "You're coming from the north. I won't even let you enter this house."
He suddenly ran toward the back door. "Kasae, wait!" Sairyo called after him.
"Stay inside." He told her. "This guy should be as strong as me. I don't want you to get hurt. I'd never forgive myself if you did."
She couldn't fight that. She wanted to help him still, but deep down, she was happy to hear him say that.
He stepped outside, and there was already a man outside waiting for him. He was tall and skinny, with hair that drooped just on the outer sides of both eyes. One side was cut flatly at his lower cheek, and the other was allowed to grow out, but only grew just below his eye. It seemed as if he had red triangles painted upside-down just below each eye, and he was dressed in the same white clothes a priest would wear. Surrounding his purple irises were black sclerae.
"What are you here for?" Kasae demanded.
"I carry my creator's will." The zanpakuto responded. "I am here to carry out his revenge, and take your life."
"Your creator. He's only targeting zanpakuto users, isn't he?" Kasae asked.
"That is not up to me to say."
It is likely that you're correct. Kihakuya Seigyo said inside Kasae's head. It was the same for Kagamichi. He was sent to kill his master. The man behind this must have something against the zanpakuto users in Otherworld.
The man in front of Kasae drew a blade that resembled two sickles with a handle connecting them in a parallel fashion. It was Kihakuya Seigyo's blade.
Kasae drew his own blade. "Shoot them down, Kihakuya Seigyo." His blade then turned into the same shape as his opponent's. "You're supposed to be the zanpakuto that reigns over the heavens. The lone zanpakuto that received the blessing of the Holy Mother. It's unbecoming of you to show up before me with these intentions."
"We will decide who is deserving of the blessing of the Holy Mother," the zanpakuto responded, "after the winner of this battle is decided."
"Whoever you're creator is made a huge mistake coming after zanpakuto users that have already achieved bankai." Kasae said. "I have already defeated you once."
"And what of it?" Kihakuya asked. "What makes you think that this battle will be the same?"
"This battle may be under different circumstances, but I swear to you that the results will be the same." Kasae released his energy and transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. "I will defeat you here, then I will defeat your creator."
Waichei held himself vertically upright with only his pinky finger as he brought his face as close to the floor as possible. He was in the forest alone, and he had been for the last month. His hair had completely grown back despite his worries, but the burn marks on his right eye, left jawline, and much of his torso still remained.
"Swearing to never use Super Saiyan again...was not enough. It was never enough to repent." He muttered to himself as he lifted his face back away from the dirt. "Shirako...saved my life...even after what I did in the living world. I have to be strong enough...to return the favor...no matter what...I must repent."
"Repent?" A voice called. "That's something you should talk to Kihakuya Seigyo about."
Waichei immediately hopped to his feet. "Who's there?" He demanded.
A man walked out from behind a tree wearing a dark cloak with no sleeves and no hood. His eyes were very thin and sunken in. His cheeks were sunken as well. His black hair was slicked back and put into a fluffy ponytail, except for two thick strands of hair that fell down and looped behind his ears. He wore a constant smile that drooped almost into a v-shape with the upper lip painted black. His eyes were the scariest, however. Not only were the scleras black, but the irises were replaced with two white slit pupils in each eye. "I am the soul collector." He said softly. "I found your soul to be the most corrupt in this world. I figured I would come cleanse you of your filth."
"Who the hell are you?" Waichei demanded again.
"I told you, I collect souls. I'm called Kaishu Seigyo." He told him. "I apologize for what I said just now. It's not that you're an evil person. Your soul just has a lot of...dirt...from the past."
Waichei scowled. "I can clean that dirt off by myself, thank you very much." That name...isn't it the same as...Soriyamo's…
Kaishu Seigyo moved his hands out from his sides and opened them. Two large scythes materialized in his open hands. "No, allow me. It truly is my specialty." He chuckled. He put the tips of his two scythes together, and a black orb of energy formed in front of them. "Jitaikesu." The black orb swirled and expanded, then shot at Waichei.
He found himself unable to move as it shot toward him, and it was like is soul was being sucked into it. Suddenly, it was sliced in half by a silver blur just under a meter in front of him. Dark hair flowed into his view, along with a sickly green shirt. It was Soriyamo, holding the same two scythes that Kaishu Seigyo was holding.
"Oh, it's you." Kaishu Seigyo muttered. "I was ordered to kill you, so this makes it easy on me."
"What makes you so confident that you can defeat me?" Soriyamo retorted.
"I know how to use this blade perfectly, since it is me. Your relationship with your zanpakuto is still imperfect. That's why I am stronger than you."
"And yet, I still somehow achieved bankai by defeating you." Soriyamo elevated his reiatsu and his energy at the same time. "I don't want to waste time here. You were probably created the same way as the reincarnation of Liomara's zanpakuto was. I want to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."
"And I want to kill you as soon as possible, so I can go collect as many souls as I want." Kaishu Seigyo smiled at him.
Soriyamo transformed into a Super Saiyan 5. He walked closer to his zanpakuto, but then stopped. "Waichei, are you okay?" He suddenly asked.
Waichei was taken aback. This was the first time anyone besides Sairyo had made an effort to connect with him. "I'm fine…" He responded quietly. "Don't worry about me. I still haven't properly repented for my sins of the past."
"Waichei...you saved Sairyo's life, I heard. You were willing to give your own life to protect your comrade." Soriyamo told him. "Liomara let you into our group for a reason. I trust his judgement. Shirako has personal grudges against you, but don't think that speaks for the rest of us. We all trust you now."
"But Soriyamo...it's just...I don't trust myself."
"I figured that." Soriyamo said, still facing away from him. "So take as long as you need to convince yourself. You're one of us." He began walking again.
"You're not going to start out at Super Saiyan 6?" Kaishu Seigyo asked sarcastically.
"I need to warm up first." Soriyamo lunged at his zanpakuto. Their scythes began clashing at an insane speed. Waichei watched in awe. He could hear almost eight clashes every second. Their blades just looked like shiny blurs in the air. More than anything, it excited him, and he hated that. He wanted to fight. Against his will, the corners of his lips tilted up into a smile.
Soriyamo jumped back and put his tips of his two blades together. Kaishu Seigyo did the same. "Jitaikesu!" They yelled in unison. The attacks formed in front of their blades and shot at each other. The two black orbs collided and reacted, creating an explosion of dark energy that blew all three of them backward. Waichei got up first since he was the farthest away from the explosion. Kaishu Seigyo was next, then Soriyamo. It was clear that Soriyamo took more of a beating during their initial exchange than his opponent did.
"What's the matter?" Kaishu Seigyo sneered. "Are you hurting already?"
"No…" Soriyamo muttered. "I'm just finally warm."
Jiino opened his eyes for the first time in three days, then fell onto his back, his face soaked from sweat. "It was a success." He told himself. "They're all fighting their respective targets, now."
He sighed and sat up, resting his elbows just above his knees. It's time. My revenge starts now. He smiled. Everyone here shall know the pain of betrayal. Mutiny. Treason from within yourself. I've faced nothing but that for several decades. There is no greater pain. Then he scowled hand grabbed his head with his hands. I no longer know who to blame. I just know...everyone will pay. Everyone will face the wrath of hangyaku.