Author Notes: The abilities of the Shun Shun Rikka are based on the Samsara cycle of rebirth of Buddhism, which Bleach takes a lot of inspiration from in coming up with its cosmology. Baigon is based on the instinctual Animal Realm, Lily is based on the violently, prideful Asura Realm, Hinagiku is based on the Preta Ream, the realm of the hungry undead- which is known as Hueco Mundo in Bleach, Ayame is based on the Human Realm- who compose of Fullbringers and Humans, Shun'nō is based in the Deva Realm- the angelic Quincy, and Tsubaki is based on the demonic Hell Realm, which correlates to devils and their ilk.
The fight is mainly a large worf-effect to showcase the superiority of the Chevalier Creux over regular Quincy as they buy time for Orihime to acquire her true powers. It served as a sad farewell to them as they are slaughtered left and right.
Chapter 18: Black Angel
Malphas smirked as he looked at the Quincy
"Hirenkyaku (Flying Bamboo-Blind Slide)...What a nonsensical name. It was once called Lichtweg (Light Path). The Soul Reapers truly did bastardize your culture when they decided on clipping your wings.," he remarked.
"Whatcha say?!," Lily said as she pulled her right hand in order to generate crossbow arches on the sides of her other arm.
Tsubaki then glared at her with intense fury.
"We're not here to win. We're here for her sake.," he said as he looked behind her.
Lily then reluctantly nodded.
"We were frightened of her, not you. Your ilk...," the bulgy-yet narrowed avian Diable said as his eyes flashed red.
Suddenly, their bows had vanished to their shock.
"It's like taking candy from a baby. Now, Chevalier Creux dispose of them while we get the whelps that trouble Halthus and Raüm. We don't need to bother checking up on them. Even with the girl seemingly evolving.," he said as the rhino skulled entity nodded in agreement for the command.
"Don't you dare-," Lily shouted before she noticed the eerie silence the armored warrior was making, the chilly breath that made the air cold and desolate.
After a moment, it vanished. The next instance, it had displaced itself to be in-between the six to their shock.
The Diable had already left the room to assist Halthus and Raüm.
"Kirchenhymne Schild des Lichts (Church Hymn: Shield of Light).," Baigon declared as he generated a shield made of Spiritual Particles of the surrounding area, forming into a bluish-white shield that was shaped like the Quincy Cross over his right hand. He rammed the shield into the chest of the Chevalier Creux, propelling him down to the ground. However, the huge Quincy wasn't done yet.
"Kreuzfahrergebet: Stulpen der Erleuchtung (Crusader's Prayer: Gauntlets of Illumination).," he said as a bluish white gauntlet with the Quincy symbol in the center and a piston protrusion emerging from the elbow covered his arms, as the shield transformed into another of the gauntlets.
As the white entity got up, Baigon placed his fists onto its chest as the piston shot into the arms. This released a shockwave in the form of a Quincy cross that projected the Chevalier Creux into the sky.
"Kirchenhymne: Eiserne Jungfrau des Glanzes (Church Hymn: Iron Maiden of Radiance).," he said as
Baigon then summoned a bluish white iron maiden with the Quincy symbol in the center of the object's outer shell as the interior was lined with countless Heilig Pfeil meant to impale the creature. It closed on him, seemingly skewering him from the inside. However, Baigon wasn't done as he gathered Spiritual Power to generate a lance made of bluish white Spiritual Particles with the Quincy cross on the pommel of the lance.
"Kirchenhymne: Eiserne Jungfrau des Glanzes (Crusader's Hymn: Lance of Luminescence).," the huge Quincy declared as he throw the lance like a javelin into the Iron Maiden. The contact made the construct illuminate before it exploded in a flash of light resembling the Quincy cross.
Baigon's closed eyes narrowed as he sensed the creature was not dead. The dust cloud made them suspicious
It was proven true as the cloud parted as the Chevalier Creux propelled downwards to land in front of him with no damage whatsoever.
Baigon then sighed as he began to tug on his mask.
"I would've preferred winning like a normal Quincy...However...," he said as the mask fell off. He then began to sprout antlers on his head, grow brownish fur and his facial features becoming more deer like. His braided hair unraveled to reveal a long mane of hair reaching his upper back.
"I must use my Nara clan techniques in order to stop you. I Baigon Nara will now do battle with you.," he said more intense and foreboding than before, the form bringing out his animalistic nature. His closed eyes opened to reveal an intimidating orange iris.
Ayame shivered as she looked at the sight, which Hinagiku noticed.
"You don't like it do you?," asked the eyepatch wearing Quincy to his colleague with Ayame looking in his direction.
"Hinagiku, he's our comrade-," Lily argued before Hinagiku spoke again.
"It's ok. The Nara clan weren't accepted by the Quincy populace due to their association with the Animal Realm, which turned them into deer. So they had to put on limiters in order to look more acceptable to others. In a way, they're similar to the Komamura clan, but more insecure as they pretend to be human instead of living in isolation.," Hinagiku explained.
"By doing this, he's guaranteed the rebound will occur. And he's ready to face the consequences. All for her sake.," Hinagiku added with a downward glance.
The white entity was silent for a monetnt and a sound was heard, which made Baigon confused at first, not knowing where it originated from. Then he looked at the Chevalier Creux who was vibrating its being.
The sound of a cackle coming from the white knight itself, seemingly to mock the deer Quincy.
"So you find me ugly? The pot calling the kettle black?," he said as he generated Spiritual Particle, large, feathery wings composed of blue light from his upper back as he flew into the sky.
The rhino headed entity then spewed a blackness from its mouth, surrounding the two in a sphere of darkness.
"Wise move for anyone else who couldn't see in the dark. But, as a deer, I can see in the dark.," said Baigon as a bluish white light flashed in the other direction to the purple lit orbs.
"Licht Regen Klavier (Light Rain Piano).," he declared as a volley of light based arrows propelled towards the Chevalier Creux. The entity summoned a purple, illuminating fleur de lis shaped shield to block the barrage.
"Licht Regen Hochwasser (Light Rain Flood)."
The arrows then converged into a wave of bluish-white Spiritual Pressure as it collided with the shield and the extra torrent seeping to the sides in order to pincher the owner of the glowing purple orbs.
The entity leaped upwards, releasing air currents that the ears of the deer Quincy detected.
Baigon then shot an arrow upwards in order to hit it dead on, but the projectile bounced off.
The darkness sphere then began to break apart on its own and Baigon noticed that his back was beginning to hunch into a four legged position.
Time to use my clan's secret technique before I lose my senses entirely., the large Quincy thought, his hands becoming black with red Blut Arterie (Active Blood Dress) veins covering it- the opposing side to the Blut Vene (Calm Blood Dress).
He then used Hirenkyaku to displace himself in front of the Chevalier Creux.
With Lich Untergang (Light Demise), touching a target with this cursed Blut, will break their composition down on the atomic level. Take-, he thought as he began to contact the white armor.
However, the Chevalier turned its upper torso to the right as the shoulder armor, resembling the Hollow mask of Acidwire, shot an acid onto the Deer Quincy to his shock.
Vitriol Shot...How could I have forgotten that her brother...poor brother...was made to create this abomination...Lady Orihime...I apologize for my failure, Baigon thought as his form dissolved into a puddle of goo at a rapid rate.
The Chevalier then rotated back to his original position as it lunged at Lily.
"Damn you!," she shouted as she rose her Spiritual Pressure.
She then generated two additional pairs of arms made of bluish white Spiritual Pressure on her back in addition to flame light wings on her upper back. She then generated automatic crossbows on the wrists of her six arms. Each bow having the properties of fire, water, wind, earth, ice and lightning. All that energy gathered from the Spiritual Particles of the clouds above.
"Take this- Lich-Strudel (Light Maelstrom).," she said as she fired the six arrows, which converged into a vortex of rubble, flame, rain, electricity and snow towards the Chevalier.
The Wald clan was best known for its affinity with nature, but that caused them to become more in line with primordial nature and altered their composition. They became able to absorb the elements in order to use their attacks., thought Hinagiku as he observed from afar.
You'll be shredded, burned, pummeled, drowned and electrocuted by the time this hits you..., Lily thought with confidence before turning to the sphere that contained Orihime.
Maybe, we can talk things out and be friends...even though you don't like us after we did. Maybe we can make things better gradual-, she thought before noticing the white entity doing something entirely unexpected.
The Chevalier generated four additional pairs of arms from its rib area and grabbed the maelstrom with all of its hands. To her shock, it compressed the energy into a ball and blitzed towards her, preparing to impale her as the white being threw the sphere at Hinagiku. It struck the girl, but its hand bounced back when it hit her Blut Vene, but a secondary thrust skewered through her head.
We lost two of our members and you've finally stepping up eh Hinagiku? You sure knew how to hide your sociopathic true colors around Orihime., thought Tsubaki, noting the pointy-eared Quincy's lack of emotional response to his colleagues' deaths.
The bald Quincy swallowed the sphere with no apparent ill effects. He then sighed as he looked at his deceased comrade.
"Both Baigon and Lily died in the service of Lady Orihime. I had wished the others had died before seeing this...or maybe you and I being far enough away before I revealed this.," he said as he removed his eyepatch to reveal a white mask with an eyehole- in the same shade as his horned eyepatch and unbuttoned the button on his neck collar to reveal a Hollow hole on his neck.
Tsubaki, Shun'nō and Ayame's expressions widened in shock.
"Does this surprise you? That an Arrancar was among you? This was something my Clan kept in secret for years. Asguiaro Ebern and Luders Friegen said they were Quincy...You probably never knew them. I didn't know outside of the information Sir Ichigo and Sir Uryū said about their existence being told to Orihime and overhearing their conversation. It wasn't because they had changed sides. It's because because like me...they had managed to Hollowify without undergoing Soul Suicide- at the cost of being unable to learn Resurrección or Vollständig (Holy Form)..., but it does allow for heightened Quincy abilities to gather Spiritual Particles. It's unknown if other Arrancar can breed, but my clan was able to- inheriting this trait from the founder who managed to not die after being infected by a Hollow.," he said as he generated a number of roman numeral-inscribed constructs from the fingers of his right outstretched hand, with several towering columns of Spiritual Particles, shaped like the Quincy Cross, erupted upwards in a circular formation around him, however, the Quincy Crosses had bows with arrows hovering above them.
"Kirchenlied: Sankt Zwinger (Church Hymn: Saint Ward)- Kampfmodus (Battlement Mode). It trades the ability for anyone who steps foot within the confines of this area being immediately rent asunder where they stand by the "light of God", for the ability to fire at the enemy who merely as the intent to oppose the "will of God". These arrows will fire the moment they see your intention to kill. This is the Smith Clan's finest technique. There's no way that you can-," he said as the arrows began to propel themselves at the Chevalier Creux.
However, Hinagiku noticed that the Chevalier had rotated its body to the left to reveal its shoulder armor, a vertically long and narrow Hollow Skull, with thick and exposed teeth framed by black, flame-like markings, a skull-like nose, a large and circular chin, and a forehead with a half-circle indent at the top, which opened to reveal a long, uniquely-shaped tongue split into two ends that form a circle. Small entities appeared from the mouth of the other mask before vanishing from sight.
Hinagiku then noticed odd creatures that somehow appeared on his body out of nowhere. These green, Hollow-mask like faced toads with brown spots on their bodies and elongated skulls, pinned Hinagiku to the ground, disabling the fortification and proceeding to fire purplish-red leeches onto the bald man.
The Chevalier's other mask proceeded to vibrate his tongue, causing the horrified Hinagiku to die of an explosion.
So that's what his other mask can do...I leave the rest to you...Protect Lady Orihime..., Hinagiku's final thoughts rang through the duo's thoughts via an unspecified telepathy.
Ayame and Shun'nō floated downwards as they saw the charred spot where their colleague had died.
You were at least helpful in finding out more about its powers. For that I am grateful., Shun'nō thought as he opened his eyes with four pupils arranged to leave a white cross-shape.
Ayane then placed her hand in the air as she summoned a katana with a fuchsia guard, a cross shaped tsuba and an intertwining rope resembling an infinity symbol. She then rotated her sword like a reversed clock pendulum.
"The clock ticks in the opposing flow, reversing the pain suffered from agony. Negate- Fukushia Unmei Ken'o Furiko (Fuchsia Destiny Aversion Pendulum).," she declared as the sword took the form of a long fuchsia handle with a golden, round sphere on the end and a silver clock in place. The handle proceeded to gather the surrounding Spiritual Power into the sphere and orb.
As the Chevalier Creux attempted to move, the pendulum rotated to the right and Shun'nō's eyes flashed a golden color. This somehow made caused the entity to remain in place.
"Ayame was of the Kimura clan, a clan of Quincy that mated with Soul Reapers and became hybrids. In her case, she can reverse, limit, and negate the negative effects of fate while Shun'nō's Almighty, a rare mutation born from his Okada clan's heritage that branched off the ancestors of the Soul king, can alter the future. The two powers are the basis of the Sōten Kisshun, just as Baigon, Hinagiku and Lily's defensive abilities were the basis of the Santen Kisshun. They can buy time as I use what all Quincy consider heresy...," Tsubaki said as he gathered black Spiritual Pressure that engulfed him.
Just as he did so, the Chevalier Creux turned monochrome as it unnaturally moved forward in spite of the powers supposedly being able to keep him in check.
Anything the Diable create are an aberration to the laws of the world. Of course they can defy laws..., Ayame thought with dread.
"Bankai: Mukō-ka Tokodai Adamantin Jikan Tokei (Adamantine Hour Clock of Nullification and Antiquity).," Ayame declared as her weapon turned into a grandfather clock with the kanji for time labelled on the sides of the object and the face of the clock having the visage of an old, bearded man.
This pendulum within the clock moved backwards, releasing a powerful wave of fuchsia colored Spiritual Pressure onto the Chevalier..., but it then lunged at Ayame, who proceeded to destroy the clock with ease. Shun'nō then summoned from the Spiritual Particles of the air, a golden sun like object that hovered over his head in preparation to defend his comrade.
"Fukushū-Kami Taiyō (Divine Sun of Refulgence).," he declared as the sphere fired emissions of light towards the white, bulking creature.
However, both noticed the wings of the creature had vanished.
Both looked up just before they were flattened by mallets composed of the same black material covered in purple starlights as the wings.
So the wings can change form...Tsubaki...be careful...protect Lady Orihime..., thought Ayame before she died.
Tsubaki...you may not have treated Lady Orihime well..., but please protect her...even we don't deserve it..., thought Shun'nō as he died.
The Chevalier looked up as the black Spiritual Pressure cleared, revealing crimson red skin with stone-like texture, multiple curved black markings across his face and two long horns on his forehead. He now wore a tattered, flowing, tight outfit seemingly of pure darkness. His eyes were now white with no visible irises or pupils. His expression looked deranged and feral. A pair of demonic wings of dark red grew from his shoulder-blades.
"Gargouille...Gardien...de Sang...Cramoisi (Gargoyle Guardian of Crimson Blood).," he said in noticeably long pauses before he flew downwards and slashed at the Chevalier while still being a distance away.
The slash generated a red set of long energy slash blades that hurled at the enemy, sending the brute to the side of the school building, leaving a large crater.
Tsubaki then laughed like a demonic madman, completely unaware of sanity.
Orihime's sphere began to crack.
Meanwhile with Ichigo- Unknown Location
Ichigo, still black haired and in pain, was tossed into a black cell by Genjō Sanzō. His eyes widened as he realized-
Why am I sensing Shrieker? I thought I sent him to Hell?! What's going on?!, thought the man as the cell closed behind him.
He then slammed his fist against the ground until it bled, which aggravated the pain even further.
Damnit...Why can't I do anything?!, Ichigo thought as a pair of red iris eyes and the outline of a wold appeared.
Unknown Location
The pseudo Ichigo landed at the entrance of a white citadel of smooth building that looked highly advanced. The gates, towering and overwhelming in size, opened as if expecting his arrival.
He smirked as he went inside as he thought-
Time to do something that Ichigo would disapprove of., thought the imposter as he entered into the gate.
Next Chapter: The Vainglorious