The Duke pulled the sword out of its sheath faster than they could see.
"I am Ichika, the 4th Duke of Jigoku, though I guess that was pretty obvious..." He added because of his tattoo. "Come" He said, raising his Reiatsu.
The jade tiled floor of the rooftop trembled due to the sheer pressure created by the elegant Oni.
"What is this Reiatsu?!" Rukia had never felt something so crushing in her whole life.
"Let's go, Rukia!" Renji made her snap with his loud voice.
"Huh? Is he... Not afraid? Does he not feel the pressure of this guy?!" She thought.
"Hey..." He said in a lower voice. "It's not like I'm not scared. This guy is crazy strong, but we can't let that bother us. If you still can't make up enough courage to advance... I'll be the one to do it"
"Renji!" She exclaimed worried.
"Don't worry, I would never die. Not when I have to protect you. I know that I've been a pushover more than once..." He remembered the multiple times he ended up being defeated. "But this time, this time it's going to be different, so... Let's do this... Roar, Zabimaru!"
Renji's Zanpakuto rose with an unprecedented strength. Through the training Yoruichi instructed him, he got to truly know the spirits inside his blade.
"Are you sure you don't want to use Bankai? Please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to brag, but I don't recommend taking me so lightly" Ichika replied.
"I'm sure, you must be one hell of a rival! But, you Demons also have a sword release, don't you? So don't expect me to use Bankai if you haven't shown me that first"
"Very well. You better don't regret this decision" Ichika gave them a defying look with his deep green eyes.
Renji slashed his long sword at him, which he easily evaded. The Shinigami however, thought that such a thing would happen, so he used that slash as a diversion.
Rukia understood the move and released her Zanpakuto. A second later, she advanced towards the Oni while lowering her body temperature, careful not to freeze Renji in the process.
Ichika clashed with Rukia and noticed how his Onibuki was being frozen. As soon as this happened, he took a few steps back to develop a better strategy.
"An ice Zanpakuto... Interesting. You two look promising, so don't disappoint me"
~~~~X~~~~
"*sigh* That was a long rest, but I think I'm fine now" Hiyori said as she got up.
"Are you really alright?" Lisa asked worried about her friend's status.
"Yeah, good enough. How about you?" She asked everyone.
"I can't say that it wasn't tiring, but I can start moving" Love replied.
"As long as you don't go running off... I think I wouldn't have a problem going to the next Palace" Hachigen said, worried that he would have to make a great physical effort.
"I'm good. Though we must be really careful with the next one. Who knows how great the difference in power is with the last one..." Lisa added, remembering a bit of the fight with Hoji with a hint of uneasyness.
"Yeah... But at least we know that they are not unbeatable" Love said with relief.
"Tch... If they were unbeatable we would've never come here in the first place!" Hiyori almost reprimended him for implying such thing.
"Anyways... We'll start moving then?" Hachi asked his friends.
Everyone looked at each other, only to find agreement.
"Let's go!" Lisa said decided.
As they went through this section of the desert, they were surprised to not find more hordes of Demons.
"What happened to those bastards? You think we scared 'em away?" Hiyori asked her friends oblivious of what the cause was.
"I don't know... But I don't think that was the case either" Love replied as he put his hand on his forehead to try amd look further.
Indeed, not a single creature was patrolling the surroundings of the original Palace of the Cuatro Espada.
"Spooky..." Lisa looked around as well. "Look! There is someone there!" She pointed at a shadowy figure that was on its way to the entrance of the same tower they were headed.
"Huh? Do you think that's the Duke?" Hachigen asked.
"I don't think so... And I doubt he's an ally, cause everyone had at least one partner" Lisa replied. "We should hurry and see nevertheless"
"Yeah!" Hiyori replied and ran off.
Everyone followed, though Hachi wasn't content with the idea.
"Hey, wait up! I told you I didn't want to run!"
As they approached the figure, they noticed that it was a tall man wearing white clothes.
"Hey! You!" Hiyori called his attention.
"What the fuck you want?" He impolitely replied, despite she being the only person he had found since he went back to Hueco Mundo, but then again, that was expected of Yammy.
"Oi! That's no way to treat a lady, dumbass!" She insulted back.
The two were about to fight when Love arrived with a more diplomatic approach.
"Hey, by that uniform I assume you are an Espada"
"Pfft... I used to be. That whore of Harribel banished me for being too troublesome or some shit... But, that's why I came back here"
"Huh? Harribel... That's the one we fought on Karakura Town and ended up training alongside us" Lisa reminded Hiyori.
"Ah, that woman!" The image of her appeared on her mind. "She was the third Espada if I'm not mistaken..." The Vizards hadn't interacted much with the Espada, so they couldn't say much.
"Well, for your information I am Yammy Llargo, the Cero Espada, and the strongest of them all!"
"How were you banished then?" Love asked confused.
"W-Well that is... Not important..." Yammy grinded his teeth with frustration. "All that shit doesn't matter now anyway! It wasn't easy but I found Ulquiorra's palace, so now I just have to convince him to let me be part of his forces!" He grinned as he thought of how brilliant that should've sounded, though reality was not like he expected, of course.
"Ulquiorra? You knew about him?" Lisa asked.
"I would never mistake that green Cero... I escaped at first cause shit was seriously fucked up! But now things seem to have gotten calmer so I decided to come back"
"Well, he's definitely not here. That creepy guy must be in the throne room" Hiyori replied. "Also... He's the big boss of these Demons now! How in the hell do you think he would accept a weakling like you? Are you like... Dumb or somethin'?"
"Hey! You don't seem to understand who you're meddling with! I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast!" He spat.
"You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?" Hiyori scoffed at the reply.
It was in that moment that Yami realized the stupidity of his comment.
"No!?" He spat back with a dumb face that suited him perfectly. It was rare that Arrancars even ate in the first place, but whatever.
"What a fucking idiot! Ahahahaha!" Hiyori couldn't contain her laughter.
"You little...!" Yammy was about to go into a rampage.
"Enough! Look, Ulquiorra is not here, but there is one of the Dukes!" Lisa replied.
"Yeah? And what do I care!?" Yammy replied.
"If you killed him, maybe Ulquiorra would consider you joining him. After all... You would be proving your worth" Lisa explained her idea, although it was obviously a lie.
"Hmm... It does make sense. Yeah, I can kill that Demon, Ulquiorra will have no choice but to accept me into his army!" Yammy fell right in the trap.
"Sweet! You're amazing, Lisa!" Hiyori whispered at her friend.
"Shouldn't we help him though?" Love asked. "I doubt he can defeat a Duke on his own"
"We could see how he does and help him if he needs it. Who knows? Maybe he's not as weak as you think" Hachi replied.
"And even if he is... At least we'll be able to see just how powerful this Duke is" Lisa clarified.
The Vizards simply observed Yammy as he entered the white tower that used to be Ulquiorra's Palace.
"Well, well, well... Where are you, Demon? I've come to tell you about your fortune, though I'm afraid that I have to say... ~Mala suerte~" Yammy said as he put a thumbs down on the figure in front of him.
The white being simply stood still though. It showed no reaction whatsoever towards Yammy's threat.
"Wait... What the...? What is this thing?!" Only then, he noticed the strange being that he was about to fight.
The white human-shaped creature tilted its head a bit.
Yammy felt somewhat observed by the black "V" that was on its head. It was the closest thing that thing had to a face after all.
"Well, I don't know what the fuck you are and I don't give a shit! I'll just destroy you and prove myself useful to Ulquiorra!" He said as he started punching the air and throwing a barrage of Bala at the Demon.
The body of the Oni was being mashed by each shot of Reiatsu. It even seemed like the being was being destroyed.
"How do you like that?!" The Arrancar said triumphantly.
The Vizards looked surprised, except for Love.
"Oi, he's actually doing it...?" Hiyori couldn't believe it.
"Don't be fooled" Love replied. "It's impossible that a Duke dies so easily"
And right on cue, from the pieces of body that had fallen from the Oni, more beings that looked almost like it, cause they didn't have the V, rose up and ran frantically towards Yammy as their heads grew.
"W-What?! What the hell is going on?" He said, taken by surprise.
He desperately shot Bala at the heads of the creatures before they reached him, managing to make them explode.
The corrosive fluid that they contained fell all over the place, making Yammy pivot in his place, trying to evade the acid rain.
"Oh shit! It burns, it burns, it burns!" He screamed as his white tunic started dissolving.
The white masses that remained came back to the original body, which showed no change whatsoever.
"Now you've made me angry!" The Arrancar spat as he got his sword out. "Enrage! Ira!"
Yammy's body changed into a titanic sized giant that had two white curvy horns in his head. His feet became like a goat's and his hands grew claws. Of course, this transformation completely destroyed the white tower, although the being didn't seem to care.
"Ha! It seems that fighting so many of you monsters has awoken an Oni in myself! This couldn't be better... I'll show you what a real Demon's power is like!" He said as he started charging a Cero inside his mouth.
The Oni however, simply walked towards him, with not a care in the world.
Yammy stopped charging his Cero just to look at the entity.
"Oi... What are you doing?" He asked confused.
The creature did not reply, but neither did it halt its walk.
"Now seriously... What the fuck are ya doin'?" He was beginning to grow anxious.
Finally, the Demon stopped walking once it was right in front one of Yammy's giant hoofs. It extended one of its arms to touch the foot with a sticky white hand.
"Huh?" Yammy couldn't understand this action. No one could, actually.
The Vizards didn't miss a second of the fight, as this was the weirdest enemy they had encountered in their whole lives.
They did not speak or make a single sound. They just looked at the strange picture.
Yammy's hoof alone was larger than the whole body of the white being, and yet the creature decided to get even closer to him. What could it possibly be planning? Did it even have a mind of its own, or was it driven purely by instinct?
In a matter of seconds, the white hand was embedded inside Yammy's body and it started going up, covering it all with its white being.
Yammy became legitimately scared as this occurred. He didn't know how to react to such an attack. He was a musclehead who relied purely on brute strength, so an enemy that demanded thought and analysis such as this one was completely off his league.
The Demon's body continued filling Yammy's body helplessly, restricting not only his move but also dissolving it in a slow and painful way.
"No! What the hell?! IT HURTS! YYEEAAARRGHHHH!"
A cold feeling of fear ran through the Vizard's bodies as they witnessed the horrible scene. The sole idea of that happening to them gave them uncontrollable shivers.
"I-I don't know about you, guys... But I don't want to fight that thing" Hiyori muttered.
"Y-Yeah, me neither..." Lisa agreed.
"Maybe we should regroup or come up with a strategy before fighting that monstruosity" Hachi added.
Yammy's body had now been entirely engulfed by the Demon at this point. They weren't able to hear Yammy's screams of agony anymore, but it was clear that he was suffering in an unimaginable way before facing his ultimate death.
"Dammit... I don't feel comfortable leaving this thing alone, but we will certainly die if we don't have a plan" Love said.
The giant body of Yammy had dissolved into a white sticky mass that was feeding the Demon. Despite the massive amount of that weird matter though, the Oni's body didn't seem to grow any larger.
The Vizards were starting to retreat, when they noticed that they were actually surrounded by an uncountable army of the Duke's clones.
"Shit! They don't want to let us to go" Hiyori prepared her blade to fight the beings.
"Maybe a devastating form of Kidou can kill most of them" Lisa tried to come up with an idea.
"We have no choice but to try it" Love agreed. "Hachi"
"Yes" Hachigen put his mask on and enclosed the white beings in one of his orange barriers.
By moving his hands in a specific way, he managed to separate the heads of the beings from the bodies with his barrier.
As soon as the heads were cut, they exploded. Hachi cancelled the separating barrier in that very moment to make the acid rain fall in the headless bodies that remained.
"It worked!" Lisa said as the bodies dissolved with the acid.
"That was great, Hachi!" Hiyori praised.
"Yeah, you couldn't have done better" Love gave him a thumbs up.
As soon as those disappeared however, more seemed to emerge from the sand.
"No way! Do these things never end?!" Hiyori complained.
This time the creatures were closer, putting them in a more dangerous situation.
"Everyone, shoot a Cero and disappear!" Lisa commanded.
They all did as she ordered as it was by far the most effective method they had at that point and did their best to erase as many clones as they could with the red Hollow Reiatsu beams.
Most of them were actually destroyed, but it was not enough. There were still more standing, and even more were on their way as they rose from under the sand.
"Damn it! Love, can you do another Bankai?" Lisa asked him."I could try, though I am a bit tired I must say..." He admitted.
But just before the beings enclosed them, they suddenly stopped. Their bodies dissolved and reunited with the original Duke, who had opened a large Kimon.
"What the... Hell?!" Hiyori spat as she had a look at the fearsome world on the other side of the portal.
"Holy..." Love said in amazement as well.
"It seems that thing's going back to where it came from" Lisa added.
"And it's not a pretty place..." Hachi said with fear.
The Oni passed through the portal, not caring about them.
"And it's leaving just like that?!" Hiyori asked in disbelief.
"Guess it has better things to do..." Lisa replied.
"Though that doesn't out me at ease" Love said in reply.
"*sigh* In any case... We should try to help someone else. If this was number V, imagine how rough the others are having it with the smaller numbers..." Hachi proposed.
"But, I doubt there's enough time for us all to come to the aid of a single group..." Hiyori bit her lip with her overgrown fang.
"Then it's obvious, we must divide into pairs. Each pair will go help in one of the next Palaces" Lisa replied.
"Then we should head for the 3rd and 1st Palaces" Love completed the idea. "I think there's no doubt that Ichigo will have no problem, and that Arrancar girl is hella strong as well"
"Nel-san is one of the most complete warriors I've ever seen" Hachigen complimented. "She has mastered a broad selection of skills, possibly making her as dangerous as Yoruichi-san herself"
"Without mentioning the fact that she's an Espada-level Arrancar. She'll be just fine" Lisa concluded. "So... What are we doing?"
"Let's see..." Love started saying, trying to come up with a quick yet effectife solution.
~~~~X~~~~
"Rukia, he's going at you!" Renji shouted in the distance, as he saw Ichika flying at an abnormal speed towards his childhood friend.
They were fighting at the top of Harribel's Palace, soaring through the fake skies Aizen designed at a tremendous speed.
Renji and Rukia had become really powerful in general terms, but the Oni they chose seemed to handle them just fine despite the numerical disadvantage.
"Destructo Spin" He said as he threw his blade spinning, which was attached to a black chain that grew from his palm.
Rukia, just by seeing it, knew that she would be unable to block the attack. Her best chance was evading it and hoping that Renji would stop the Demon before it was too late for her.
"Unless..." She thought for a moment.
Ichika noticed the sudden resolve that appeared in her eyes and decided to raise the speed at which his sword was spinning towards her.
"You bastard...!" Renji frowned as he saw.
Rukia didn't seem to worry though. Instead she kept her ground with a calm attitude and simply sighed.
"No time to doubt..." She thought.
The spinning blade was coming at her with its reckless and relentless speed. It was impossible to stop by conventional means, but the Shinigami girl had realized this long ago.
"-273,15 Celsius..." She thought as the blade froze right in front of her, just by touching her Zanpakutou for an instant.
"What...?" Renji thought as he saw the result. "Did he stop the attack? No, that would make no sense... Then, what the hell did Rukia do?!"
Ichika lost his serious expression and made a small grin.
"I was eager to know what you had up your sleeve... But I have to admit that I never imagined you could go to the extreme of freezing your body at absolute zero. You truly are a worthy opponent" Ichika made a reverence.
"I am flattered" Rukia replied. "But like my friend said, we cannot waste any more time" She said determined as she slowly regained her normal body temperature, which was like coming back to life.
"That's... Right!" Renji said as he tried to attack Ichika while he didn't have his blade, only to be blocked by his bare arm.
His skin was incredibly hard. Renji made sure to use his full stremgth in that swing and all it managed to do was make the arm bleed.
"I understand... You wish to end this quickly, not for pride, but for the sake of your friends' lives. I will reward your noble attitude by using my full strength then..." The Duke replied sensibly, as he got his sword back by contracting the chain. "I'll make a recommendation, though I believe it's a must at this point: use your Bankai"
"O... Okay" Renji couldn't believe that his enemy was actually aiding him. "Though I would like to ask... Are you really evil?"
The Demon chuckled at such a question.
"Am I Evil? Hahaha... How relative. Back when I was a human though... I probably was" He replied, leaving the other two in shock.
"What?!" Renji blinked at that comment. "You were... Human?"
"Some hundreds of years ago... Yeah. You see... My mother was a witch, or at least, she was considered as such. As you might imagine, she was burned alive, by a group of catholics that arrived on our little island back when Japan was nothing but a land of war between the different villages and factions. My mother was our village's high priest and had the powers of a medium. You can imagine how that was received by those ignorant occidental men..."
Rukia and Renji frowned just by thinking about it.
"In order to get my revenge, I started hunting them all down. I went to the mainland as a teenager, purely driven by the hatred I felt towards those people. When I was in my 20s, I had probably killed hundreds of foreign men, though a dozen of them were actually priests.
In the end, one day I got to a dead end. I could either kill myself, or wait for my pursuers to kill me. And... While on the brink of achieving my Harakiri, a light suddenly descended upon me: Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun"
"A... Goddess? A primordial goddess like her?!" Rukia exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yeah... I was probably even more shocked than you right now. She offered me a path to save my soul, and so I decided to become an Angel and serve her and the other Gods in the higher plane of Takemagahara" He said with a smile.
"But then... Why are you a Demon?" Renji asked confused.
"Because my lady ordered me to do so" Ichika said, referring to Amaterasu.
"Wait... What?" The other two were at their limit of mind-blown.
"Please, did you really think that the Oni were the only one who had schemes? Of course, the Gods have never truly trusted Yama, and because of that, they sent a spy, though I believe myself to be more of a scapegoat to be honest" He confessed.
"Scapegoat? Of what?" Rukia asked him, even more curious.
"Sorry, but I've said enough already. If you are destined to know the truth, you will get to know it eventually" He replied.
"But then... Why do you have to go to such lengths to fight us? You fulfilled your mission didn't you? You know what the Oni are planning and I'm sure you informed your Goddess as well. There's no need for you to do this anymore!" Renji wanted to change his heart.
"Sorry, but it's quite the contrary. I must give it my all, cause that's the only way to erase any form of suspicion that Yama may still have. If I die while using the full potential of the power he gave me, I will have succeeded. Regardless of that, if you really plan to defeat the Princes and the King of Jigoku himself, you must be able to at least beat me in my prime"
"B-But...!" Renji still tried to convince him.
"Stop, Renji!" Rukia ordered. "He has made his decision and given us all the reasons... We must respect that"
"Thank you, I'm really sorry that things have to go this way, but let's have a duel that will make my savior proud!" Ichika concluded. "And... I know it may sound hypocritical at this point, but... Please, don't die" He requested tenderly.
Such an attitude moved both Rukia and Renji. An Angel that became a Demon for his Goddess, with an unwavaring heart that was worthy of being admired.
"We won't disappoint you" Rukia replied.
"It's time then... Erase It All, Samael!" Ichika released his sword by doing the traditional Seppuku.
His being was engulfed by a vortex of both light and darkness. It was like his own transformation was a metaphor of his own life.
Once the vortex ceased to exist, a sudden amoun of Reiatsu almost made Rukia and Renji fall from the sky.
Ichika's left side had become a complete Demonic being. His horn grew and was curved, his green eye became a blood red one and the rest of his body grew claws and changed into a grey skin colour. The right side remained the same except for a single change. A giant white angel's wing grew from his back, though the left side showed a demonic black wing of the same size.
"It... Can't... Be..." She thought as she did her best effort to stand her ground.
Renji could only laugh madly at the power he felt. It made his body shiver with adrenaline, endorphine and dopamine.
"BANKAI: So-Oh Zabimaru!" He yelled as he used the real power of his Zanpakuto, revealing a green and red monkey's arm with a skeletal hand that appeared on his side, like a familiar.
"What is that Bankai?" Rukia, who had just managed to remain in the air, was now surprised by her partner, whose true Bankai she had never seen.
"While I was in the Dangai, Yoruichi-san told me to meditate to improve my connection with my Zanpakuto. Only then… Was that I realised that I didn't even know the true name of my Bankai…" He admitted. "It came as a shock to me, like I had been lied to for one hell of a time, but that was also my fault, so it's only fair"
"You seem to understand the threat posed by my full power" Ichika said as he showed them his Onibuki. It had split itself into two swords, one was a broadsword, entirely black with a hole in the center, and the other one was a long entirely white Katana with a black handle.
"Yeah, there is nothing to hold back anymore. Like you said, it's time we prove our worth" Renji replied, bracing himself before clashing with the Duke.
"Let's go... Survive this! Prelude to Obliteration!" Ichika said as he pointed both blades at them.
An explosion of light and darkness was blasted towards them.
Rukia tried to evade it, but didn't manage to escape on time.
"Rukia!" Renji said as he came to her aid and picked her up bridal style to escape the massive wave of power that was after them.
"I... I... I almost died..." She muttered as they got to a safe spot.
"Don't say stupid things like that. I told you, you are not gonna die for as long as I'm by your side"
"Renji..." She looked at him with hopeful eyes. "Thank you"
"Don't mention it. Now, let's get back to business, cause this is a battle I can't win on my own"
"Yes!" She snapped and prepared herself to continue.
Ichika flew at them after he saw that they were composed once again.
The two started to clash with him, each one with a single sword. Renji was attacking the dark blade and Rukia was dealing with the light one.
Each swing from Ichika's swords was a small explosion of Reiatsu. They were only beginning to understand the true danger of his powers.
"There is a reason my Onibuki is called Destroyer by the other Demons. If you're not careful, this will end sooner than any of us expect, so make sure that doesn't happen" Ichika said as he continued fighting them.
"Hihioh!" Renji said as he threw punches with the monkey's arm in an intent to make a three against two.
A couple punches actually hit and damaged Ichika, which made the angelic Demon happy.
"Yeah, that's it..." He thought with a smile. "Nuclear Justice" He said as he stood still.
Suddenly, the air around them started a chain of explosions that neither of the two Shinigami were able to explain.
"What the...?!" Renji said, and Rukia thought the same.
The two had no choice but to disperse as everything turned into a giant mess of destruction, that ended up breaking the complete ceiling of Las Noches above that area.
~~~~X~~~~
"Look at that, Ichigo!" Nel pointed out to the recently destroyed place.
"Damn, it seems like these Demons are getting rough as time progresses" He pressed his teeth.
"We shall end this quickly"
"Yeah, it won't be long if we keep this pace" Ichigo swinged his blade at an enormous horde of both flying and big ground-level Demons.
The blast of black and red Reiatsu erased them all in a single swing.
"You're so strong, Ichi!" Nel clapped her hands in sign of admiration.
"Thanks..." He chuckled. "Let's keep moving, we're almost there"
~~~~X~~~~
"*pant* *pant* Geez..." Renji was at the limit of his physical ability from all the running. "If this keeps up... It won't be good"
"We... Need to... Finish him... In some way..." Rukia panted. "I'm sure... If we both use our strongest attack, he will die.. But we need an opportunity" She bit her lip.
Ichika appeared in front of them once again.
"Is this the extent of your skills?" He asked a bit worried. "If so... I don't think you're going any further, and I can't let you leave here alive either"
"Tch... Orochioh!" Renji attacked with Zabimaru, not willing to give up.
The snake like being wrapped Ichika and constricted him thoroughly.
"Ngh..." The Demon spat a bit of blood. "That's... More like it... But... It's not enough!"
Ichika made the matter around him explode once again, forcing Renji to move away and letting him free of the killer embrace.
He was so close to them this time, that the explosions were actually reaching them, before they could escape.
"Fuck!" Renji spat as he felt his tunic catch fire. In a desperate move he decided to grab Rukia and throw her away. "Live... Rukia" He whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek.
"No... RENJI!!!" She screamed, as his Reiatsu disappeared instantly. She fell from ten thousand feet in the air, and as she fell faster, the thought of him began.
He had always been by her side. Ever since they were children, Renji had been there to protect her. It was true, he wasn't the strongest, and his impetous character often brought trouble upon them, but no one had been as dedicated to her in her entire life. Even Ichigo, who she considered was her best friend, wasn't as close to her in the way Renji was, but that was something she was only beginning to understand.
"Renji..." She muttered with frozen tears in her cheeks, as the giant explosion devoured his shadow.
Halfway through the fall, her body froze, and so did the air around her. She truly never realized how important Renji was in her life, and now that he was gone, she was dead inside.
Ichika looked sadly at the result of his attack.
"I'm sorry, Shinigami, but I also have things I have to protect" He said, showing his respects by bowing.
"What are you so sorry about?" A cocky voice asked. "You said so yourself, we had to be careful or we would die" He said pointing his blade at him.
"Huh?" Rukia looked skyward, just because her heart told her to do so. "Ren...ji? Renji?!" She had spotted him.
"Though I gotta admit..." The red hair started saying. "It would've been my end if I hadn't gotten a little help"
By his side appeared two Vizards.
"You reckless brat! You are lucky that we decided to come here!" Hiyori reprimended him.
"Brat? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?!" Renji spat back.
"Enough. We need to focus on the battle at hand" Hachigen called their attention. "The barrier I made to protect him seems to have worked, which is a good thing. Are all of his attacks like that?"
"Yeah, more or less. He makes everything around him explode with light and dark Reiatsu" Renji explained.
"Okay... So, basically we have to kill him as soon as possible so we're not blown to bits. What a day..." Hiyori sighed.
"If you're gonna complain why did you bother to come, huh?" Renji questioned.
"Shut up! If it wasn't for us, you'd be literally dead!" She pouted.
"That was technically me, but... *sigh*" Hachi started saying, but the two were quarreling again.
"Hiyori-san, Hachi-san!" Rukia called their attention as she rejoined the battle.
"Hmm? I was wondering where you were, Rukia" Hiyori told her. "What's that on your face?" She asked about the frozen tears.
"Eh?" Rukia didn't seem to understand until she touched her face. "Oh, n-nothing! I guess my ice shards got stuck or something!" She cleaned her face.
"Really? Well, whatever. What are we doin' then? Any ideas?" She asked the rest.
"I can protect you three with my barriers. You try to come up with a strategy to fight him while I worry about that" Hachi replied.
"Very well, I can work with that" Renji agreed.
"So... We will do what we had in mind?" Rukia referred to their strongest attacks.
"Yeah. I don't think we have more options. If that doesn't work, well... Fuck" He replied scratching the back of his head.
"Hey! I don't have any idea of what plan you had made before, so spit it out!" Hiyori demanded.
"Oh, sorry" Rukia apologized. "I need an opening to use my Bankai and once he is completely frozen, Renji's gonna end it" She explained.
"I see. Sounds simpler than how it's gonna be in reality, for sure, but I'll see what I can do" She crossed her arms.
"Let's go, then!" Renji exclaimed.
"I guess you're ready" Ichika said as he saw the look in their eyes. "Let's end this"
Hiyori wore her mask and the other two went right at him, all thanks to Hachi's support.
Now, the explosions weren't such a hassle anymore. They still had to be careful at the especially destructive blasts of Ichika, but it was a lot easier.
Renji attacked him head on with both his monkey arm and serpent sword, leaving a space for Hiyori to jump across and slice Ichika whenever she had the chance.
Meanwhile, Rukia was preparing to unleash her Bankai, but for that, both Renji and Hiyori had to be in the clear.
"Very well... Show me whose resolve is stronger, Shinigami!" Ichika told them. "Destroyer of Dreams" He said as he threw both of his swords down.
As soon as they touched the ground, a colossal explosion of light and dark Reiatsu created an expansive wave that rose to the black sky above Las Noches, destroying a whole section of the desert.
Ichika had lead them to an empty space though, worried that no one else would be hurt by his most dangerous attack.
Hiyori grabbed both Renji and Rukia and used a combination of Shunpo and Sonido to get them out of the area.
"Holy... Thanks, Hiyori" Renji told her.
"Thank you for saving us, Hiyori-san" Rukia, still in shock, thanked her.
"We're a team, aren't we? I wouldn't leave you guys to die, don't be ridiculous" She replied. "Now... Let's get that plan of yours moving"
"Yes" The two replied.
As soon as Ichika was in sight, Hiyori blasted a triple Cero to distract him.
As soon as he evaded the attack, Rukia was standing behind him.
"Bankai: Hakka no Togame!"
A pilar of ice rose in all its majesty, with the same height of Ichika's attack. Rukia had put all of her efforts in doing a perfect Bankai, with the image of her brother on her mind.
Ichika was frozen solid before he could even turn around. They knew he was still alive, but Renji was ready for that.
"So-Oh Zabimaru...Zaga Teppo!"
The giant head of Zabimaru bit Ichika's frozen body, shattering him and disintegrating all the shards instantly.
They had killed the Demon.
"We... Did it!" Renji exclaimed.
"He... He was truly the strongest enemy we've ever faced" Rukia said, still not believing that they had really done it.
"That was the same way we felt when we beat the other guy, and there was another Duke that, well, let's just say it escaped, but it was awfully strong as well" Hiyori bitterly admitted.
"What? A Duke escaped?!" Renji asked confused.
"It went back into Jigoku" Hachigen added, joining them.
"It?" Rukia asked.
"It's a bit hard to explain, but what's important is that there are at least three Dukes we don't have to worry about. If we consider that the other guys did well, it would be five down" Hiyori replied, referreing to Uryuu and Chand, as well as Pesche and Dondochakka.
"We are getting close to the end... Where are the other two?" Rukia asked Hiyori.
"We decided to split in order to arrive in time. Love and Lisa went to the 1st Palace. They'll be fine..." She carelessly said in reply.
"They should, though I'm not sure those two are gonna need help" Renji replied, thinking about the two Espada.
"Let's hope that's not the case, but they went to their aid, just in case..." Hachi said.
~~~~X~~~~
"So here we are..." Grimmjow said as they were in front of a castle like Palace. "It's a shame that that lazy ass of Starrk is not here to welcome us"
"He was an outstanding fighter and a level headed Espada as well. It truly is a pity that we don't have him to fight this war" Harribel replied sadly.
"We'll have to do our best then, in his name" Grimmjow rarely said something so honorable, but he did respect Starrk deep in his heart.
"We will. We'll get all of Hueco Mundo back" Harribel said determined, as the two entered the Palace.
~~~~X~~~~
The chapter of this week is ready! Wow, I never imagined so many people reading this. 50 Followers, damn! This is a new record for me... I would love to hear your thoughts on this story, so I encourage you to review the story so far (don't feel obligated to do so though). Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter and I'll head straight to...
Reviews:
Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: I have practically nothing to say here! Especially seeing as this chapter was just SO AWESOME! Keep it up!
Reply: You don't have to feel compromised to write a review in all chapters. As long as you're enjoying it, it's fine for me (:
Mr Marston: Excellent chapter! Always knew Nel's fraccion/brothers can unleash sheer badassery when the situation calls for it. Still they and the others should tread lightly, these demons will no doubt harm Orihime and unleash darkness upon the living world if they get desperate. As usual keep them coming, I'm hooked!
Reply: That was exactly what I wanted to show, I love when foolish-looking characters show a hidden power and leave everyone in silence. The next Demons are sure to display a new level of danger, so be ready sink in next time!
'Til next chapter, Evhron.