Legacy of the Moon
Arc II: Dawn of Dreams
Chapter 23: Revival of the Espadas II
However, Gyuki started to run away towards them to collide with the Garganta itself while Halibel was trying to close it as soon as possible. Fortunately, the Garganta had closed by the time Gyuki could have reached it. However, its mouth was still present and thus Gyuki was slamming it repeatedly with his powerful strikes to reopen it.
"Who is that creature, Lord Sesshomaru?" Halibel asked him.
"Tia… you shouldn't have come here," Sesshomaru replied her.
"You two can gossip later but for now move away from the portal's mouth as soon as possible," Mayuri said to them in an irritated manner and suddenly he began to use his elongated hands to force-close the portal's mouth.
Within a few seconds, Garganta's mouth completely disappeared and now they were out of the reach of that infernal monster.
Everyone was relieved to know that they were out of Gyuki's reach and now Mayuri Kurotsuchi began to treat Nemu by injecting her with a serum. Within the course of a few minutes, she was looking completely fine.
"His condition is not looking good," Halibel mumbled while sitting beside Zommari as she was observing his condition.
Now Sesshomaru stared at Mayuri upon which he responded, "No, don't look at me… Espadas are not my responsibility."
"You weren't my responsibility either but I let you in," Halibel replied him.
"Ggrrr… alright, Nemu pick him up," Kurotsuchi ordered her with frustration.
As everyone started to move ahead in the Garganta, Sesshomaru asked Halibel, "Tia… why did you come here?"
"I came for you," She responded in a low voice while looking into his eyes.
Now both of them looked at Mayuri Kurotsuchi and they realized that they couldn't talk in front of him. However, after some time Mayuri decided to leave Garganta as he sensed Unohana's spiritual pressure around.
"You can let me out here, I sense a Captain around and I must inform her about that infernal demon Gyuki," Mayuri said and as a response, Halibel opened a portal out that was leading to the daylight portion of Las Noches where Captain Unohana and her squad members were healing the injured.
"The stone of Orkos wants me to head to the west," Sesshomaru muttered.
"I can sense the spiritual pressure of Grimmjow in that direction," She replied.
After Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Nemu left with Zommari, Halibel closed the portal and finally, she was alone with Sesshomaru after so many decades. She was feeling a strong urge to talk about everything which left unsaid the last time they were together. Perhaps, Sesshomaru was feeling the same way because neither was he moving ahead nor saying anything but he was simply looking at her.
After a few moments, Sesshomaru broke the silence by asking "Are you alright?"
She remained silent for a bit longer but a slight smile appeared on her lips before she replied in a soft tone, "Yes, I am… now."
"Hmm…" He responded while carefully looking towards her belly and then her shoulder.
It seemed that both of her critical injuries were almost healed by now but before he could say anything, Halibel spoke to him in a sad and extremely serious tone, "I want to say something to you, Lord Sesshomaru."
He looked towards her while wondering what made her so serious all of a sudden. "Forgive me… for misbehaving with you all this time, for saying all those things to you and for… I have never imagined that I would do something like that to you," She spoke in a low voice while tilting her head down with the guilt upon remembering the time when she slapped him. "I don't know if I am even worthy of apologizing to you or not," she added after a pause.
"Your memories were being manipulated so it's not your mistake… do not blame yourself," Sesshomaru replied in his usual tone.
"I just don't want to be a burden on you anymore," she spoke further.
"You are simply overthinking," he replied in a low voice before he looked towards her face.
Now she slowly lifted her face to look into his eyes while he was looking into hers. It took them a few moments to realize that they were still inside the Garganta and thus Sesshomaru said, "We should move now, Tia"
"Yes… yes, Lord Sesshomaru!" Halibel responded slowly and abruptly upon realizing the situation.
The Feudal Era…
Yang had arrived in the Feudal Era and to her surprise it was looking nothing like it was a few hours back. There were stagnant dark clouds with thundering and lightning in the sky all over the region much like that of Orochi's dimension. The entire land was plunged into absolute chaos with an apocalyptic situation as far as Yang could see and sense. There were clear signs that the land was hit by a series of massive earthquakes. The ground was ruptured in some places and lava was oozing out of the newly formed trenches causing the forest fire. Bizarre structures had appeared all over the place with serpentine designs and lava-filled cracks.
Animals, humans, and even the Yokais were running for their lives while the serpentine demon soldiers were pursuing them. Some of them were being hunted while the rest were captured. Yang heard those serpentine soldiers saying that they were ordered to capture delicious animals, and beautiful young women for the celebrations. But they were not sparing even the warlords, Kings, and powerful Yokais. The infernal demon soldiers were recruiting them into the army and killing them if they were denying.
Yang was so overwhelmed and anxious to see the scenario that she didn't realize when the serpentine soldiers approached her and began to capture her. They surrounded her in a circular formation while pointing their spears towards her.
"No… no wait, my Lord Orkos is working with your Lord, leave me please, we are on the same side," Yang demanded while trying to free herself.
"It doesn't matter anymore. We are ordered to capture the entire land and everyone who could be a potential soldier for our lord while Lord Mizuchi had expressed a special demand to escort you to your sister in the Koshi Castle," the chief soldier replied before they began to drag her along with them.
"This is not looking good. Damn! I can't even go and inform Lord Orkos about it," Yang mumbled anxiously while forcibly going along with them.
Meanwhile in the Battle of Fake Karakura Town, World of the Living…
Komamura roared at Aizen upon getting enraged by the heart-breaking scenario of the sudden burst of Tosen's body but before he could attack him, Ichigo came out of a Garganta and attacked Aizen from behind with multiple waves of immensely powerful Getsuga Tensho. Ichigo's attempt to kill Aizen proved to be futile because a defensive Kido barrier right behind his head blocked and ultimately absorbed all the energy of Getsuga Tensho waves.
However, Ichigo didn't stop there and he further tried to fight against Aizen but the latter easily dodged all of the attacks which shocked and demoralized the former to a great extent. Now he further demoralized Ichigo by revealing that all the incidents in his life including his birth were actually planned. Suddenly Komamura grabbed Ichigo's sword and advised him to stay strong and ignore Aizen's words. Soon enough all the Captains and the Vizards stood in front of Ichigo in order to face Aizen so that they could provide him with an opportunity to hit that villain.
Now Toshiro initiated the fight upon getting provoked by him while soon enough Kyoraku entered the fray as well. In the meantime, Komamura and Love also attacked Aizen with their respective Zanpakutos. Now Rose grabbed Aizen's sword with his Shikai Kinshara and Lisa attacked him with her spear-shaped Shikai at the same time. But to everyone's surprise, the release of Aizen's powerful spiritual pressure not only deflected all the attacks but also shattered Komamura's sword. The next moment, Aizen sliced Komamura's left forearm with a sword-swing which infuriated him to a great extent but another deep cut at his torso silenced him before he fell to the ground.
Now Love and Rose rushed towards Aizen but just as Rose swung his Kinshara at him, he grabbed it with his bare hand, pulled Rose closer, and put a fatal slash at his chest. Afterward, he constrained Love with the Kinshara and cut him down as well. In the meantime, Lisa attacked Aizen from behind but his one sword-swing not only sliced her spear in half but also utterly defeated her.
Upon Lisa's elimination, Soi Fon confronted Aizen while using a technique that created thousands of her illusionary images. Now she swiftly approached him with her Suzumebachi, he tried to attack her with his sword but it got stuck in a thick iceberg generated by Toshiro due to which Soi Fon managed to hit him. However, it didn't affect him even a bit and then Katen Kyokotsu penetrated his torso from behind as Kyoraku appeared out of his shadow. Now Toshiro rushed towards him and stabbed his chest from behind under the influence of Shinji's Shikai's inversion illusion. Soon enough it came out to be Hinamori instead of Aizen which shocked everyone while he cut both Iba and Kira down.
Now Toshiro rushed towards Aizen with burning rage but ended up falling victim to a fatal slash from his Kyoka Suigetsu. Soi Fon also shared the same fate while Shinji was shoved back by the protective shield at the back of Aizen's head. The next moment, Kyoraku was cut down by two strong sword swings and then Shinji was eliminated from the battle by Aizen. Now Ichigo rushed towards him but was interrupted by none other but Genryusai Yamamoto himself. The Head Captain appeared before Aizen and activated the Ennetsu Jigoku technique. Aizen pierced Genryusai's chest with his Zanpakuto but he held his arm while the next moment several gigantic pillars of fire surrounded a large area enveloping both of them.
Las Noches artificial daylight region, Hueco Mundo…
Suddenly a Garganta appeared at the place where Kenpachi Zaraki killed Nnoitra and the next moment both Sesshomaru and Halibel came out of it. It didn't take them long to find the bloodied corpse of the Quinto Espada. Grimmjow was lying unconscious at a distance of some meters away from Nnoitra's corpse. He was critically injured and it was clear from the scenario that he had lost a large amount of blood. Halibel sat down beside him, removed her glove, and checked his breath with her fingers.
"He is still alive," She said to Sesshomaru who was standing right beside her.
"My sword doesn't provide healing. Don't you have any healer among your ranks?" Sesshomaru asked her.
"There is one I can remember, she's Roka Paramia but we will have to find her and probably revive her if she is dead," She answered him.
"Then we will find her next after reviving that fifth Espada," the Daiyokai responded before he walked close to the corpse of Nnoitra.
Now he drew his Tensaiga and as he did, the minions of the Netherworld appeared all around Nnoitra's corpse. With one swing of his Tensaiga, the Daiyokai destroyed all those creatures of the Netherworld, and the next moment, Nnoitra came back to life with all of his injuries healed perfectly. The Quinto Espada was obviously under a huge shock upon getting resurrected all of a sudden. He slowly grabbed his weapon and gazed towards Sesshomaru who was standing right in front of him.
"What is this feeling? What happ… OH! hahahaha haha haha I am alive… I am alive once again… but how?" Nnoitra mumbled and after a pause, he started to laugh once he snapped out of the shock and realized that he was alive.
Sesshomaru didn't give any reaction to his words and he simply started to walk away towards Halibel who was trying to bring Grimmjow to consciousness. Now Nnoitra stopped the Daiyokai by rudely blocking his path with his giant weapon.
"You have resurrected me, haven't you?" Nnoitra asked in a serious tone.
"Is there any doubt?" Sesshomaru counter-questioned.
"What do you want? Speak up!" Nnoitra asked further.
"I have already done what I wanted to," the Daiyokai answered.
"Lord Sesshomaru has provided you with a second life. Besides, though you won't mind it yet let me tell you that Aizen has merely used all of us and he even tried to kill me after all other Espadas died," Halibel spoke to Nnoitra as she came from behind with Grimmjow walking beside her in his injured state.
"Who cares, I have never trusted him in the first place but now I am alive and this is the only thing I should be concerned about," Nnoitra replied in his usual arrogant tone. Now he removed his weapon from Sesshomaru's path and added in his usual cunning manner, "I will let you go for now."
"My gratitude for reviving this bastard back to life, now I will be able to make him pay for what he did to me," Grimmjow said to Sesshomaru.
The Daiyokai observed his injuries and chose not to respond to his words since he didn't seem to be a threat to anyone.
On the other hand, Nnoitra tightened his grasp on his weapons and replied to Grimmjow, "And my apologies for delivering a blow which wasn't fatal enough, I will make sure that you are dead this time."
However, before Nnoitra could swing his blade at Grimmjow, Sesshomaru stopped it by using his energy whip.
"What is the meaning of this?" Nnoitra asked furiously.
"He is an Espada and if you managed to kill him then it would be a waste of my time because then I will have to resurrect him as well," Sesshomaru replied in his usual cold tone.
"You better not interfere in my business, otherwise…" Nnoitra responded with anger.
"Otherwise what, Nnoitra?" Halibel asked him upon getting angry with how he was addressing Sesshomaru.
"Huh! Why didn't you die when Aizen himself tried to kill you… first that brainless Nelliel and now you, I have grown sick of being answerable to women who believe that they are superior to me," Nnoitra replied with intense frustration.
"Have you forgotten your place?" She responded in a serious tone.
"And have you forgotten what I did with the previous woman Espada No. 3?" Nnoitra said with a cunning smile on his face.
"Make sure that your psychotic urges are under your control because one wrong move and you will be back to the dead," Halibel replied in a cold tone while narrowing her eyes at him.
"SHUT UP BITCH! I think you simply enjoy being used, first by Aizen and now by this demon but now I am under nobody's rule so I will do whatever I like, did you get that?" Nnoitra once again spoke to Halibel in an insulting manner.
"One more word and I will slice your filthy tongue off of your mouth, Nnoitra!" Halibel replied while glaring at him.
"Do not stress yourself!" Sesshomaru interrupted Halibel and then he turned towards the Quinto Espada and spoke, "Nnoitra, it's time when you should shut your mouth because if you don't then my blade will lead this conversation from here."
"Aaaaarrrggh… Pray, SANTA TERESA!" the Quinto Espada growled at Sesshomaru before he released his Resurreccion with all six arms.
The next moment he rushed towards the Daiyokai with the help of his Sonido. Sesshomaru pulled his Bakusaiga out and easily countered all of the six blades of Nnoitra by using his demonic speed which amazed him to a great extent. Suddenly he shot a moderate-level Cero towards Sesshomaru while simultaneously attacking him with his blades. Sesshomaru easily parried the Cero attack by summoning his demonic energy but he lost track of his blade swings because of the dust and smoke. Nnoitra took advantage of this opening and he successfully managed to inflict a mild cut on the Daiyokai's chest.
The Quinto Espada continued to swing his blades but this time Sesshomaru pushed him away with an intense swing of his Bakusaiga and before he could react, a powerful punch backed by the power of the poison claw technique shoved him several feet away.
It took him some time to get back to his feet after receiving that punch while a side of his face, neck, and chest seemed to have taken significant damage because of Sesshomaru's poison. However, Nnoitra once again rushed towards Sesshomaru and soon they began to clash their blades with immense power. However, as expected, Nnoitra seemed to be at a clear disadvantage, not only because of the difference in the power of an Espada and a Daiyokai but also because he was already injured. Despite all these odds, the Quinto Espada loped on Sesshomaru with fierce speed while the Daiyokai dodged him and simultaneously attacked him with his claw instead of Bakusaiga, inflicting damage on his torso.
"Now prepare to die!" Nnoitra shouted with terrible anger and the next moment, he started to summon a huge and extremely powerful Cero orb.
"Azure Dragon Wave," Sesshomaru uttered while pointing his sword towards him as he released a powerful wave of white demonic energy that generated on his blade in a dragon-like shape. The Daiyokai's energy wave collided with Nnoitra's Cero and pushed it back to him, which eventually hit him with a lethal momentum and turned into a fiery explosion with the eruptions of energy bolts. Nnoitra immediately reverted to his Base form after taking significant damage and losing consciousness. He was lying on the ground in a wrecked state with multiple bloodied injuries.
Sesshomaru observed him and then muttered to Halibel while putting his Bakusaiga back, "Let's go Tia… to finish our next task."
"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru," She responded before they walked away from there leaving both Grimmjow and Nnoitra behind.
To be continued…