"The Final Getsugatenshou is me becoming Getsuga itself." I stated. "If I use this technique, I will lose all of my Shinigami powers. That's what makes it 'final'."
"That's not possible! It's absolutely absurd!" Aizen's enraged voice thundered through the empty canyon. "There is no way for a mere human to surpass me! That can't be!"
I opened my right hand, forming a thin black line of black spiritual pressure. Aizen's jaw dropped even further as I slowly lifted my arm up.
Mugetsu.
I brought my arm down, and the entire world was painted black. As my final attack washed over Aizen's body, Zangetsu's words echoed in my mind.
'If you use this technique, you will lose all of your Shinigami powers. Farewell, Ichigo.'
Zangetsu...I'm sorry.
I could feel my consciousness slowly fade away. But surprisingly, I felt calm. With my final strike, all of the fighting, all of the pain, all of the suffering caused by Aizen was finally going to end. Though I still couldn't shake the image of Zangetsu crying as he ran his blade through me. All he had wanted to do was to protect me, and by using Mugetsu, I was going to lose that connection with him. It nearly made me use hesitate to use Mugetsu, but I had no other choice.
As I felt my body float through the empty murkiness, I couldn't move my body. Was Mugetsu supposed to make me fall unconscious? It had the word 'Final' in it after all. But this was starting to take too long. What happened to Aizen? I clearly remember seeing his body being obliterated by my attack. And Urahara? Youruichi? Dad? Were my friends alright?
"Don't worry. Your friends are all fine and well."
"Wah!"
My eyes jolted open and I hurriedly sat up. The first thing that greeted me was the side of a skyscraper. I immediately knew I was in my inner world. No other place I could think of included an inverted world like this.
But if I was in my inner world, why couldn't I feel Zangetsu's presence? And the voice that woke me up wasn't anyone I knew.
"Oh! You're finally awake!" the cheerful female voice said. "I was starting to get bored waiting for you to wake up!"
My head spun to the source of the voice to see a...magical girl?
I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things, and sure enough, there was an actual magical girl standing just a few feet away from me. Though she looked a bit old to be a magical girl. Her frilly pink outfit contrasted heavily with her long black hair which was tied into two pigtails. Her blue eyes made her entire outfit seem even more out of place.
"Who are you!?" I demanded angrily. My arm instinctively reached behind me, and to my surprise, my hand wrapped around Zangetsu's hilt. But that couldn't be. I lost all of my shinigami powers the moment I used Mugetsu. So why was my weapon back at my side?
To top it all off, I finally noticed I was still wearing my black shihakusho. My mind began to spin in confusion, but I had more pressing matters to deal with. Mainly that magical girl in front of me had an aura that seemed more demonic than angelic.
"I asked you a damn question! Who are you, and where is Zangetsu!?" I yelled again.
Despite my angry demeanor, the girl-no. Thing simply smiled in response. She calmly strode across the skyscraper until she was just a few feet from me. Her blue eyes carefully studied me, and I felt my body freeze. I had fought many people and beings that were far from human. Beings that seemed liek haven and earth compared to tir power and mine. But this thing standing before me somehow seemed even more inhuman. She may be wearing a colorful magical girl outfit and sported a carefree smile, but I knew better than to let my guard down around someone like her.
"My name is Serafall Leviathan. But you can just call me Sera!" Sera replied with a wink and a smile.
"Answer my damn-"
"Ah, those spirits in your soul? Don't worry. They're still around," Serafall said with a wave of her hand. "We're just in a separate manifestation of your soul. It's something I made after taking a little peek inside of you. I figured that talking to you in a place you were already familiar with was going to be more comforting to you."
"A manifestation?" I mumbled. So I wasn't really in my own inner world. That was why I couldn't sense the Old Man or the hollow. "But who are you? And why did you bring me in here?"
"I brought you in here because your soul nearly disintegrated." Serafall simply stated.
"What!?" I yelled out. "Are you saying I died after using Mugetsu!?"
"Well, almost!" Serafall replied with another smile. "You would've vanished if I hadn't shown up. I've seen a lot of things over countless millennia, but that technique of yours was seriously on another level. It really scared me, and I was watching from really far away!"
"If you saved me from dying, thanks...I guess," I mumbled as I let go of Zangetsu's handle. "But you still haven't explained one thing. Why me?"
"Because…" Serafall skipped over until her body was extremely close to mine. "I finally found you. My hero."
"Your...hero?" I asked confusedly. I never once considered myself a hero. I only got these powers to protect the ones closest to me. Sure, if I ended up helping someone out along the way, that was even better. But I don't think anyone ever called me a hero until now.
"Yup! So, as a Demon Lord, I wanna make a deal with you. Since I saved your soul, it's only natural for you to pay me back!"
"Pay you back?" I asked. Sure, I was grateful that this Demon Lord in front of me saved my life at the last second. But making a deal, especially with a demon, surely had no easy price. I was sure that I wasn't going to like whatever price she named.
"Yup! I want your soul!"
"...Hah?"
"You heard me! You give me your soul, and we can call it even!" Serafall further explained. "Sounds like a good deal, no?"
"Like hell it is!" I roared. "What kinda offer is that!? I'm just gonna become some sort of slave to you!"
"Fine, then let me rephrase my offer," Serafall offered in a more calmer tone. "By accepting my offer, you'll keep the powers you've honed to protect the ones you cherish. Not only that, but you will grow even stronger. I only ask that you use that power for my sake only."
"That's a helluva tall order…" I groaned. Still, there was no way I was gonna turn down her offer. I had to repay her for saving my life, even if the price I had to pay was outrageous.
And the people I cared about? Orihime? Uryu? Chad? Karin and Yuzu? By accepting her offer, I was going to leave my friends and family behind. Just the thought of my sisters grieving over my possible death caused my chest to ache uncontrollably.
But this girl, this thing had saved my life and promised that I would be able to keep the power that I gained to protect the ones I cared about. She could've easily just let me disappear after I used the Final Getsuga Teshou. But she didn't. She reached out and dragged me out of the abyss when she didn't have to. There was no way I could just refuse her offer after she had already done so much for me.
Sorry, Karin. Yuzu. It seems like your useless older brother is going to be away for a while.
"Screw it. I accept." I groaned. I held my hand out to Serafall. "My name's Ichigo Kurosaki."
Serafall beamed like a little child and instead of shaking my hand like an ordinary person, she leaped forward and nearly tackled me to the ground with her hug. She began to laugh cheerfully like she just met a long lost friend that she hadn't seen in years.
Why was she so happy to meet me, who'd never met her before this exact moment?
"I'm so happy, Ichigo! And remember to call me Sera from now on!"
And that was how I became a Demon Lord's servant.
"Come on! We gotta tell everyone about my new Queen!" Sera giggled as she continued to pull me along the spacious and seemingly never-ending corridor.
"Give me a break! We only formed this contract a few days ago!" I yelled tiredly.
Sera was moving along so fast that I tripped over the carpeted floor. But despite this, she marched on while dragging my body along. My body just felt too tired to actually stand back up.
"Here we are!" Sera exclaimed as she stopped in front of a white door. "This is where I'm gonna announce to the whole world about you!"
"Wait, announce?" I asked just as I picked myself up from the ground.
Before I could ask anything else, Sera burst through the door with me right behind her. I was immediately greeted by the flashing lights of several cameras. I squinted my eyes so that I could see through the flashed. It seemed like Sera and I were in some sort of conference hall. Why did a place like Hell even have modern equipment like cameras?
"Hey everyone!" Sera greeted with a twirl and a wink. "I'm here to announce that I've added someone to my peerage! Meet my Queen, Ichigo Kurosaki!"
"Uh…" I mumbled.
The entire conference hall erupted with several demons getting out of their seats and rushing towards Sera with their mikes and cameras. They hounded her with so many questions that it all sounded like a jumbled mess to me. Some even tried to approach me even while I attempted to swat the mics away from me.
"Well, that's all I wanted to say! And be sure to tune in to Miracle Levia-tan every night!" Sera concluded.
And just like that, Sera ran out of the conference room with me right behind her, laughing as we ran down the carpeted hallway.
"The hell was that!? And did you just self-promote your show at the end there!?" I demanded as I ran along.
"Heehee!" Sera giggled.
After running from the camera-wielding demons for a few minutes, Sera ran into a side room and shut the door behind me as I entered. The sound of thundering footsteps passing by was enough indication that we lost them for now at least.
"Couldn't you have done this in a more quiet way?" I asked in between breaths.
"Ichigo, look!" Sera said as she put what looked like a smartphone screen to my face. "The entire Underworld is talking about you already!"
"Are you even listening to me!?"
"Hm…'Leviathan finally added someone to her Peerage!' 'Is her Queen's hair color natural or dyed?'"
The more Sera read the articles from her phone, the more annoyed she seemed to get. "Ha!? Those stupid old coots! They're already doubting your strength, Ichigo! They've already released statements thinking that I just plucked some random human off the streets to shut everyone up! Grr!"
"Is how strong I am really that much of a big deal?" I asked. I couldn't care less whether or not a bunch of old devils thought I was strong or not. I never got this power to boast or show off my strength. And I only accepted to be Sera's 'Queen' to settle my debt with her, whatever being a 'Queen' entailed.
"Of course it is! Since you're my only Queen and the only member of my Peerage, you basically represent me!" Sera pouted. "And I've seen what you can do. No one talks down on my Ichigo like this!"
After pondering on something for a few seconds, Sera's eyes lit up as if she thought of something. "I know! What better way to prove yourself than to fight Sirzechs-chan in front of everyone?"
"Who?" I asked.
"He was the guy with the long red hair and armor in that conference room we were just in." Sera explained.
"Don't recall seeing him." I said. Everything happened so fast that I barely had time to notice someone like that.
"He's basically the leader of the Underworld." Sera added. "I think humans also call him Lucifer or Satan?"
"He's what!?" I exclaimed. "You want me to fight the ruler of Hell just to satisfy a bunch of old guys?! I did not sign up for this!"
"But you did agree to become my sword." Sera giggled.
"Grr…"
"Now, let's go back to that conference hall to tell everyone about your match!"
Sera grabbed onto my wrist once again and ran in the general direction of said conference room. This time, I was prepared so that I wouldn't trip and fall again. We reached the conference room in no time flat and Sera burst through once more. By the time I entered, I could see the aforementioned Sirzechs sitting behind a booth. He had the look and aura of an experienced and confident leader. The long red hair he had immediately stood out to me, along with the heavy-looking set of armor he wore. His eyes had a hint of surprise when he saw me and Sera come back again.
"Oh, and another thing!" Sera said. She pointed at one camera before continuing. "I've seen all the posts on social media making a mockery of my Queen. Well, I say what better way to test his worth than fighting against Sirzechs-chan himself?"
After a lot of yelling and even more questions, the match between me and this Sirzechs person was finally arranged. Before I knew it, I found myself standing in the middle of an enormous arena surrounded by hundreds-no, thousands of demons. If I had to guess, this stadium was even bigger than the Japan National Stadium, and that thing can house more that eighty thousand people if I'm remembering correctly.
And having thousands of pairs of eyes all looking at me and judging me made me suddenly feel extremely self-conscious. I found myself making sure my shihakusho was on properly or checking to see if Zangetsu was on my back properly.
The stadium suddenly roared with cheers and applause as I saw my opponent enter the arena across from me. Sirzechs calmly but confidently strolled out until he was within earshot.
Even though this was my first time actually meeting the supposed ruler of the Underworld, I could tell that the being in front of me was incredibly strong. The sheer amount of magic that felt like spiritual pressure rivalled or even exceeded all of the Captains I knew back in my own world. He was easily as strong, if not more powerful than the Espadas I faced before coming here.
"So you are Ichigo Kurosaki, right?" Sirzechs suddenly asked. "I can see in your eyes that you are quite the warrior. This is going to be a match I am most looking forward to."
I didn't say anything as I drew Zangetsu, its cloth unfurling to reveal its edge. Several murmurs rang out as they took in my Zanpakuto.
"Let's just get this over with." I said tiredly.
"Hm...you don't seem that interested in fighting me." Sirzechs noted.
"Then why agree to this match?" I asked. "You're not my enemy, and I'm not yours. I'm only doing this because Sera dragged me into this mess. I don't care about proving my strength in front of you all."
"Then, perhaps I should give you a reason to fight with everything you have?"
The armor that Sirzechs was wearing was thrown off, and the entire air became heavier.
"Kh!" I growled. I could feel my knees buckle slightly under the weight of his power. That bastard Sirzechs was now just flexing his enormous amount of magical power to affect the entire stadium. I've felt this kind of pressure only a handful of times. As much as I hated to admit it, just my Shikai wasn't going to cut Sirzechs.
"If you do not fight seriously, I am afraid I am going to hurt you quite badly. And besides…" Sirzech's eyes wandered to an area of the stadium where Sera was sitting. My eyes followed his to see Sera simply smiling as she gazed at me.
"...If you do not try, your master over there may face some serious consequences. And both you and I do not wish to see Sera getting punished over our duel, no?"
"Shut up!" I yelled. I aimed Zangetsu's point at Sirzechs and fired up my own spiritual pressure. The entire stadium only continued to shake as both the power from Sirzech's magic and my spiritual pressure continued to grow and grow.
"Marvelous! To think that you harbor so much strength!" Sirzechs laughed out. "This battle will surely be engraved into my mind until the end of time!"
The sound of a bell ringing out signaled the start of the match, though I only barely managed to hear it. Placing my left hand onto my right arm, I spoke the only word needed to start this fight.
Bankai!
For many years, Sona had grown used to her fellow demons constantly calling her older sister insane. And while that comment had admittedly miffed her because of how ill her sister was treated, she was now inclined to believe that maybe her sister really was insane. Not only had she gotten herself a Queen out of nowhere, but she had arranged a match between her Queen and Sirzechs himself!
For a brief moment, she considered asking her sister to stop the match immediately. She had to do something before her elder sister's Queen got killed off so effortlessly in front of the who supernatural world. She felt a moral obligation to save the newly minted demon before her before it was too late.
That was until that orange-haired boy drew his weapon and flared his power in response to Sirzech's. The air became so suffocating and heavy that she nearly collapsed onto the ground. It was as if someone had placed several weights on top of her shoulders.
"This...doesn't feel like magic!" Sona groaned from the pressure. "It's much more suffocating and heavy! What is this!?"
"Heehee. Just watch." Sera giggled with a wink.
"Bankai!" the boy shouted.
A colossal torrent of black energy tinged with red erupted from within the stadium, completely engulfing Sera's Queen. The intensity she felt from the tornado was so large that all she could was stare in awe. Whatever she was feeling, it felt much more potent than magical energy and for a brief second, its power even seemed to succeed Sirzechs' own output of magical energy. Even though the barrier to protect her and the other spectators was placed, she could feel her skin tingle and itch from the orange-haired teen's power.
After the tornado of black energy eventually dissipated, the winds kicked up by it still raged and roared. The dust storm subsequently kicked up by the winds made it even harder for Sona to see her elder sister's Queen or even Sirzechs for that matter.
And then the violent winds were suddenly broken apart by an unknown force sweeping them to the side as if they were nothing. Sona could finally see the arena clearly, but she couldn't comprehend what she was seeing.
Sirzechs was still standing in the same spot he was in before, but the most alarming change happened to the blond teenager himself. The black kimono he was wearing before was now replaced by a flowing black robe with a white undershirt underneath it. His once enormous cleaver was replaced by an ordinary-sized black katana with a chain hanging off at the base of its hilt.
"Tensa Zangetsu." the teen calmly stated.
"Heaven Chain Slaying Moon…" Sona barely whispered. She slowly turned to Sera only to see her sister's grin only growing. "That's no Sacred Gear. What...is that?"
"Just watch." Sera instructed.
Ichigo's form suddenly disappeared. Sona nearly gasped when she lost sight of the teen. He then suddenly re-appeared in front of Sirzechs and swung his katana at the Demon Lord. Despite Sirzechs blocking the black katana, he was being continuously pushed back due to Ichigo continuously flying forward.
The stalemate was eventually broken when Sirzechs punched forward, forcing Ichigo to guard himself with Tensa Zangetsu. Several red orbs flew out of Sirzechs' hand and flew towards Ichigo. The teen's body disappeared and then reappeared to dodge the first few volleys before he jumped up and avoided the shots by moving his body around at the last second. But it was all a futile endeavor as Ichigo soon found himself surrounded by Sirzechs' magic shots.
In a simple movement of closing his fist, all of the projectiles rocketed towards Ichigo.
"So it's over with that?" Sona mumbled to herself. She did admit that whatever power the teen showed before was impressive, but a freshly minted demon could only go so far against the ruler of the Underworld himself. The match was over before it even began.
"It's far from over."
"Huh?" Sona gasped. She turned to see that Sera was still grinning as if everything was fine.
"It's gonna take a lot more than that to take down my hero!" Sera exclaimed triumphantly.
"Hraaaaah!"
Ichigo's yell quickly diverted Sona's attention back to the arena. Instead of dodging or even taking Sirzech's blows, Ichigo was cutting through each magic projectile by swinging his sword around so fast that she saw after-images of the black blade. In less than a second, Ichigo disappeared again and then appeared behind Sirzechs. Then he was in front of him. Then to his right. It finally dawned on Sona that Ichigo was moving so fast that he was creating after-images of himself.
"Impossible! Only Demon Lords should be capable of that kind of speed!" Sona gasped.
"What's the matter? Can't keep up?" Ichigo taunted as he continued to race around the ruler of the Underworld. "I can go even faster!"
"Amazing…" Sirzechs mumbled. "That transformation of yours isn't just a Balance Breaker. It has made you so strong that I am having trouble keeping up with your speed. But…!"
The red-haired demon crossed his arms across his chest and took a deep breath. Red lighting crackled around his body before shooting his arms out to the side. A surge of red lightning erupted from within his body and raced out in all directions.
"Shit!" Ichigo growled. The volume of Sirzechs' attack forced Ichigo to stop flash-stepping around his opponent and guard himself. But no matter how much Ichigo tried to fight back against the raging lightning, the red energy's strength didn't wane.
"Getsuga…"
Black spiritual pressure oozed out of Tensa Zangetsu's blade as Ichigo poured his spiritual pressure into his blade. It soon erupted out like a volcano as Ichigo brought his arm down as hard as he could.
"Tenshou!"
The massive crescent-shaped projectile shattered through Sirzechs' attack and roared towards the Demon Lord. Sirzechs' eyes widened as he held both arms out to catch the Getsuga. He managed to successfully block it with both hands, but his body was pushed back several feet before it detonated right in front of him.
"Had enough?" Ichigo asked as he waited for the cloud of dust to settle. He could see his opponent's form slowly become visible as the dust settled, and the Demon Lord looked like he had seen better days. The gray dress shirt that he wore under his armor was now completely gone. Both arms were terribly burned but intact. And his long red hair which had constantly flown elegantly throughout the battle was now burning at the edge, marred with tiny embers and ash.
"Against you? Hardly," Sirzechs laughed out. "It has been too long since I have faced an opponent as strong as you, Ichigo. Serafall has made the wise choice to make you her Queen, and I expected no less."
"Then is our duel over?"
"This match was only arranged to test your worth, and you have certainly proven yourself. But…"
Sirzechs tore off the remainder of his shirt and flared his magical power, causing the stadium to shake even more.
Ichigo gasped as Sirzechs' power continued to grow and grow. It got to the point where the ground underneath their feet began to break and pieces of it floated up before disintegrating entirely.
"...You have much more strength in you, right?" Sirzechs asked hopefully. "Your eyes do not just tell me that you are a strong warrior. Your instincts hunger for more battle. You don't feel satisfied by just ending things here. Am I wrong?"
"I-" Ichigo's mouth clamped shut. He was right. Every word of it. Sure, he was annoyed at the prospect of fighting someone just to prove himself. But after exchanging blows with the demon known as the Ruler of the Underworld, he wanted to let loose. He wanted to see just how far he can go against the deity in front of him.
And he wanted to shut Sirzechs up for repeating the same words as his inner hollow.
Sirzechs couldn't help but laugh out in glee as the orange-haired teen was once again covered in the strange black energy. This could be bad. Any further and not only would both of them completely destroy the protective barrier protecting the audience, but they could potentially affect the Underworld and even the world above.
"Amazing. We've come this far and your power still grows!"
Ichigo reached up with his left hand and covered his face with his hand. "Yeah. And it'll continue to grow!"
In a ripping motion, a blob of black spiritual pressure formed over his face to create a white mask. The moment the mask was formed, Sirzechs couldn't help but gasp out in amazement at what he was witnessing.
Covering the teen's face was a white mask in a vague shape of a skull. Two black stripes ran down each half of the mask past the eyeholes. And Ichigo's eyes had even changed color. His irises had turned yellow and his sclera was black.
"This energy...I've never felt such potent demonic energy before! Your strange powers, and that mask! You just continue to surprise me again and again, Ichigo!
Pulsating red energy began to surround Sirzechs' body until it covered the entirety of his body. Despite all of that energy being condensed into a human form, parts of it still shot out dangerously and slammed into the protective barrier protecting the audience. Any normal demon who was still conscious in the audience felt their bodies being forced to the ground by Sirzechs' intense pressure.
"This is my true form. By covering myself in the Power of Destruction and condensing it, I can fight at my maximum potential!" Sirzechs declared. "It is difficult to control though!"
"Hmph. Sorry, but I can only use one technique that Zangetsu has taught me," Ichigo replied. Grabbing onto Tensa Zangetsu's hilt with both hands, a mountain of spiritual pressure cascaded out. "So the most I can do right now is to put everything I have into this one swing!"
"Come!" Sirzechs roared. "Let us settle this before we both destroy the Underworld! Against you, I want to go all out!"
And so the two forces of nature, one of pure destruction and one of raw power, raced towards one another both with the intent to kill. Their match was decided in one swing.
"Is...it over?" Sona whimpered. She slowly got up from her hiding spot behind her elder sister.
The arena was in absolute ruins. She could see that the powerful protective spells that shielded the audience finally flicker away after receiving so much punishment. What had protected the audience from millennia of Rating Game battles fought by powerful demons without fail had finally been broken by the two monsters who were just fighting.
"I don't see them…" Sona continued as she scanned the arena. The debris still falling out of the sky as well as the dust prevented even her eyes from picking up either Sirzechs or Ichigo.
"L-look! I can see them!" one demon shouted.
Sure enough, the dust soon began to settle to allow the spectators to finally see the two combatants. And what they saw even made even the eldest demons' jaws fall to the ground out of sheer shock.
Sirzechs was missing his left arm. Blood was flooding out of the stump and his chopped-off arm was nowhere to be seen. And Ichigo was in an even poorer state. A massive chunk of his right side was completely gone, as evident by Sirzechs' arm which was currently impaling him.
The skull mask that Ichigo was wearing shattered completely, its pieces seemingly evaporating into the air. His eyes returned to normal and the teen coughed out a mouthful of blood.
"Sorry...Sera…" Ichigo groaned. Sirzechs pulled his arm out of Ichigo and the teen collapsed onto the ground. His blood continued to seep out under his body and Sirzechs remained standing over Ichigo.
"Ha...what are you apologizing for?" Sirzechs mumbled. His chest suddenly erupted out like a fountain of blood. The Demon Lord's body wobbled for a bit before he crashed down onto one knee.
"You managed to bring me down to one knee. That is more than enough to prove yourself as Serafall's Queen, Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Wakey wakey!"
"Ah!" My body moved on its own as I jumped out of my bed and swung my arm out to smack the hell out of whoever woke me up. But all I ended up hitting was air.
"Good morning, Ichigo!" Sera greeted, twirling around as she did so. "Did you have a nice dream?"
"Did you wake me up?" I asked as I finally calmed down upon realizing that I wasn't going to get drop-kicked by my old man.
"Yup! Though I was a bit hesitant to do so, since your sleeping face was so cute, I couldn't help but poke your cheek~" Sera explained.
"Next time, don't wake me up by touching me cuz I might accidentally hit you," I sighed out. As I began to dust off my clothes, I realized that I wasn't wearing my Bankai's shihakusho. I was wearing a plain white t-shirt and gray sweatpants. And not only that, but the wounds I got from my duel was gone.
"Surprised?" Sera asked as she watched me check my body for any wounds. "You took a really bad beating back there. Thank goodness I had some Phoenix Tears on me when I did or else you would've been in real trouble."
"And whose fault do you think that is?" I asked rhetorically.
"Eeeeh? But you went ahead and went at Sirzechs-chan with everything you had!" Sera pouted, though it was clear that she wasn't bothered by my attitude one bit. She was just amused.
"That's because if I didn't use everything I had, then you would've gotten into some serious trouble!" I rebuked.
Sera blinked in surprise and stared at me, dropping her earlier façade. "Wait, you went that far...just for me?"
Dammit.
I turned away from Sera because I could feel my face heating up. "That red-haired guy told me. That if I didn't prove myself, then you would've had to face some serious consequences, seeing as how I'm the only one in your Peerage after who knows how long. So I had an obligation to protect you, since you saved my life."
"Ichigo!" Sera wailed. The demonic magical girl leaped across the bed I was on and wrapped me in a hug no ordinary girl would be capable of. I heard my bones audibly crack as I tried to fight back against Sera's hug.
"I love you! I love you!" Sera exclaimed as she continued to crush me. "I knew you were my hero! No other man could possibly compare to you!"
"Sera...crushing...can't breathe…"
"Ah! Whoopsie!" Sera finally let go of me. "You really live up to your name. 'He who protects'. It's so cool and awesome!"
"Wait...you know what my name means?" I asked.
Almost everybody I met always thought my name meant 'strawberry', always leading to a few instances of name-calling here and there. In fact, I didn't even know the real meaning of my name until my old man told me about it. Sera deducing my name's meaning in the first try was definitely a first.
"Of course. You are my Queen. I know everything about you," Sera said slyly. "Though is it okay if I call you Berry-kun instead?"
"Do it and I'll burn all of your magical girl outfits." I threatened.
"Kyaa! Ichigo, you pervert!" Sera cried out much to my annoyance. She hugged herself in an attempt to cover her body, but a mischievous and smug grin formed on her face. "Though, if it's for you, I'll gladly lay out bare for you. I'll even give you my first~"
"You're the damn pervert, not me!" I roared in anger.
"Anyways, now that you're all healed up, it's time to get down to business!" Sera sang as she pranced around me.
"Business?" I asked confusedly.
"You've successfully proved to the whole supernatural world that you're strong enough to be a Demon Lord's Queen and now you know you can use your powers again. But now what?" Sera shrugged her shoulders before pointing at me. "No one but you and I know that you're from another world. This world is very different from yours. You need to know about the various factions that operate, the different kinds of races there are, and why we do the things we do. Right now, you're just a clueless teenager who knows nothing."
"When you put it that way, you do have a point." I admitted. Suddenly being told that I was going to be living in a version of Hell that was completely foreign to the one in my world was a big enough whiplash. But everything that could only exist in the world of supernatural fiction in my world was reality in this messed up world.
"So! I'm gonna drill this world's knowledge into you until you can recite everything I teach you word for word!"
"...Huh?"
With a wave of her pink wand, a mountain of textbook appeared out of thin air. I just barely managed to jump back before the books could crush my toes.
"Hey! Watch it!" I demanded. The books were easily taller than me, and each one were thicker than my arms. I gulped nervously as I took in the pile in front of me.
"Prepare yourself, Ichigo Kurosaki! I'm prepared to beat this knowledge into you if I have to!" Sera finished with a wink.
"You damn devil!"
"Well, I am a Demon Lord~"
And here's the first chapter of this BleachxHigh School DxD story. I wrote this first chapter because I'm kinda on a Bleach high right now. With the anime coming back and the recent one-shot that announced a Hell Arc, how could I not write this story?
For this story, I'm using the Ichigo during the whole Aizen arc. So, before the Fullbring and TYBW arcs. I chose this version of Ichigo because I rarely see it being used in other stories, and I feel like that this Ichigo combined with the world of DxD would allow me more flexibility and creative freedom in writing this story.
Before anyone says it, I know that the beginning of this story may seem very similar to "A Demon Lord's Hero" by Fahad09, and all credits go to him. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. But I am only taking inspiration from the beginning of that story. I just couldn't see Ichigo go through the same beginning as Issei such as joining Rias' Peerage, having him killed by Raynare, etc. Plus, I'm dead-set on not copying his story. If I did copy it, would kill my dignity as an amateur writer. Unlike "A Demon Lord's Hero", this story isn't going to be a complete AU. The characters and plot points are going to be similar to the anime/light novel in the beginning just to get everyone who has seen both forms of media more familiar with this story. But like my past stories, I am going to change things up here and there to make things more interesting. I even have a new form of Ichigo that that I'm planning on using, but that's something for the later chapters.
Some of you may have noticed that unlike my past stories, this one's rating is "M". Don't worry though! Although DxD is known for fanservice and whatnot, I'm not going to saturate this story with that kinda stuff, though it might be sprinkled in here and there. The rating is mostly what it is because it gives me more freedom in terms of storytelling. The Bleach anime was heavily censored compared to the manga, and I want to do the manga some kind of justice by not holding back on the violence during the battles. DxD and Bleach are fascinating universes, and I want to write the best story I can.
As for my other stories, I am currently working on them. But to be honest, I am feeling a little burnt out writing them. Shield Hero Season 2 got recently delayed, and there is no further information on RWBY Volume 9 as of writing this AN. I am still working on them, but the progress is a lot slower than usual. I know this is a very selfish request, but to the readers waiting for a new chapter on both stories, please be patient.
Well, that's all for now. Please tell me what you guys think of this story. Comment/criticisms are welcome because I read every single one.