Infinite Anime [310-311] (Patreon)

Chapter 310: Your Majesty, save me!

Hearing what the explorer said, Gusion felt an inexplicable urge to snark, but given the gravity of the situation, he focused on planning a flawless rescue.

"Dondochakka!"

Nelliel cried out anxiously at the sight. In her lonely wandering through Hueco Mundo, it was after meeting Dondochakka and Pesche that she found warmth again. Seeing her closest companion tortured like this, her heart naturally ached.

"Damn youa! If you've got guts, let Dondochakka go!"

Pesche immediately spewed filthy hollow curses—who knew where he learned them.

"Heh, Nel—kill the shinigami beside you, and I'll let Dondochakka go."

The chaos-space explorer with the spear sneered. They were reserves for the Desolation Adventurersr Team. They had been guarding Dondochakka so they wouldn't lose track if Nel ran. Who would've thought their captain and the team elites died during the pursuit.

"Impossible."

Nel answered without thinking—but the next moment, the spearhead pushed in deeper, and another green-skinned Adjuchas grabbed Dondochakka's mask and wrenched it hard.

"Think it through before you answer. Every time you refuse me, I'll remove one part from him. At his level, anything he loses will never regenerate."

The spear-wielding explorer said, "Since you won't lay a hand on him, then chop off your own leg to exchange for Dondochakka."

"Despicable!"

Nel cursed angrily, fuming, but with Dondochakka restrained, she didn't dare attack.

She gripped her knight's lance, wavering—her spear slowly lowered.

At that moment, Gusion grabbed the tip of Nel's spear. "Don't listen to him. Even if you kill yourself, they won't release Dondochakka. Can't you tell what kind of hollows they are?"

Conflicted, Nel bit her lip. She wasn't stupid—she understood the logic in Gusion's words. But she couldn't stand by and watch Dondochakka be tormented.

"Leave it to me."

Gusion's voice was steady. He strode toward the cave entrance, ignoring the Adjuchas crawling out of the surrounding sand to encircle them.

You had to admit that Adjuchas near the heart of Hueco Mundo weren't worth much. Counting the forces hidden nearby, there were over forty Adjuchas present, most of them elites.

If they came one by one, Gusion would be ecstatic. That would mean a massive haul of heritage crystals and plenty of evolution fodder for Ulquiorra—maybe enough to push him to Vasto Lorde.

But right now, it was a bit troublesome. These Adjuchas likely served as Barragan's personal guard and were extremely strong. Even if Nel and Ulquiorra teamed up, they wouldn't finish them off quickly.

Add in the explorers' external force and the hidden violator—judging from the setup, Gusion suspected someone among the violators or explorers could influence Barragan's actions to some extent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gathered so many powerful Adjuchas here.

If so, his earlier worries weren't unfounded. Barragan might well leave Las Noches and appear on the battlefield.

"Yo, shinigami—don't move. You don't care if I kill Dondochakka?"

Seeing Gusion approach, the chaos-space explorer blustered, jabbing his spear deeper.

Dondochakka grimaced with pain but stayed tough. "Lady Nel, don't worry about me—I'm fine, da!"

"Doesn't matter. I don't know him. I'm here to kill you."

Gusion said flatly.

Nel grew anxious at his words, but Ulquiorra held her back and murmured, "Woman, trust Mr. Gusion's judgment."

Hearing this, Nel calmed. If Gusion had given his word, he wouldn't go back on it. This had to be a tactic to rattle the enemy.

"Shatter the chains, Mazuko."

Gusion's low voice sounded the release. The chains of Mazuko climbed his arm; violet mist billowed.

The explorers across from him watched his state change. Though puzzled that his stats after Shikai seemed nothing special—and confused how their captain had died—they didn't dare relax.

The captain's death was fact. That meant the shinigami-explorer before them was definitely far more dangerous than he looked.

"Don't come closer! One more step and I'll kill him!"

The explorer shouted. As Gusion advanced, though his stats weren't high, they felt an intangible pressure.

It was hard to describe—like an unseen aura surrounding him, forged in countless battles, indomitable, a killer's presence that made them instinctively feel he was unbeatable.

"If you want to kill him, then kill him. But without a bargaining chip, Nel won't hold back. As for the Adjuchas around us, I can't speak for them. But with your strength, how many seconds do you think I need to kill all of you?"

Gusion's voice was cold. "One second? Or two?"

As his killing intent locked onto them, sweat beading on their brows, Gusion suddenly vanished from their sight.

"Kill—"

The spearman sensed trouble and tried to say "Kill Dondochakka," but found his spear wouldn't budge.

An arm sheathed in dark red Ryuo gripped the lower end of the shaft. No matter how he pushed, it wouldn't advance a millimeter.

He was horrified. His focus assured him Gusion hadn't used shunpo—Gusion had simply appeared beside them out of thin air.

As Gusion bent the spear with a twist, flinging the explorer away, Conqueror's Haki erupted.

The dark-red aura surged. In a heartbeat of intimidation, the explorers hesitated.

Then a pitch-black blade traced a bloody arc, its edge sweeping the nearby foes. In an instant, three explorers were beheaded.

Gusion grabbed Dondochakka's shoulder with his left hand. Shunpo and Lightning Release Chakra Mode flared together—he became a dark-red streak, smashed through the sword, plowing a long furrow in the ground as dust rolled aside.

By the time his figure settled, he had brought Dondochakka back to Nel and Ulquiorra.

He tossed Dondochakka next to Nel. "Look after the ones you care about. The fight's just beginning."

"Lady Nel!"

It all happened too fast. Dondochakka was still dazed when he found himself back at Nel's side. Joy and excitement surged; he lunged to hug Nel and Pesche together.

"As long as you're okay. Don't worry—we'll carve our way out."

Nel refused the reunion hug, her stance guarded. The real fight was about to start.

Though Gusion had unleashed thunder to save Dondochakka, their crisis was far from over. The powerful Adjuchas around them were the real problem.

"Clap, clap, clap—"

A round of applause drew their attention.

A tall, slender man in a white robe stood atop a rocky rise, a white faux-hollow mask on his face. He clapped slowly and said, "Splendid. Spatial kido, is it? Your zanpakuto's ability? Or perhaps you aren't a pure shinigami?"

When Gusion saw him, he checked Hunt Radar and confirmed this was the violator in Hueco Mundo.

His scouting told him the violator's composite stats were about 88. No wonder, knowing Gusion's track record, he still dared show himself—he clearly believed he could survive.

"Brothers, a shinigami has invaded Hueco Mundo and slaughtered countless hollows. This tramples on His Majesty's dignity. As the saying goes, when the lord is insulted, his vassals die. Are we to sit and watch him rampage? If His Majesty blames us afterward, you know the consequences."

Seeing Gusion remain silent, True Bone continued. He gestured a lot as he spoke—he was a born orator, and his tone carried weight.

The Adjuchas hollows below didn't like this him, but they still stirred, releasing reiatsu and entering battle stances.

They didn't take orders from True Bone, but his words reminded them—if they failed to kill this shinigami and news reached His Majesty's ears, every hollow present would be executed by Barragan's terrifying power!

They didn't fear the shinigami before them so much as they feared their king. They didn't believe anything in this world was more terrifying than the Emperor.

Even if they died, they'd rather die to a shinigami than at the hands of the King of Hueco Mundo—it might hurt less.

"So, shinigami, won't you give your name?"

True Bone fixed his gaze on Gusion, certain this was his target. Anticipation for the spirit seed made his blood boil. Thinking he controlled the situation, he maintained elegance, nothing like a lawless thug. "Or shall I verify it after you're dead?"

"So much talking."

Gusion stretched his neck with one hand, joints popping, then looked up at True Bone. "Gusion. As for your name—no need. I don't care to remember the names of dead men."

Feeling the Adjuchas closing in, Gusion gestured to the two beside him. "Ulquiorra, go all out. Kill and devour as you fight—don't waste it."

He said this because the violator's arrogance suggested more tricks. He might try to retreat later. If so, they might not have time to sweep the field and devour corpses—would be a loss.

"Lady Nel, please don't hold back on our account—use all your strength!"

Pesche urged, afraid Nel might get hurt if she restrained herself.

"With these numbers, I might soon understand what a 'heart' is."

Ulquiorra's black wings unfurled. His pitch-black reiatsu surged, making the advancing Adjuchas falter and look at him warily.

"Don't worry. I'm not fighting alone anymore."

Nel's gaze was firm as she gripped her knight's lance. She'd survived in Hueco Mundo for many years, but this was the first time she felt powerful allies at her side while surrounded by strong enemies. It filled her with fighting spirit.

She hurled her spear. "Lanzador Verde."

Her reiatsu erupted in an instant. The lance became a streak of emerald light. The air trembled with its sheer energy. As it split the sky, a thick green pillar blossomed outward.

Boom—

With a roar, the mountain top was flattened by Nel's spear. She didn't know who the man was, but he was clearly orchestrating these events.

Dondochakka was safe now, so to protect her companions, she would hold nothing back.

The white-robed figure burst from the smoke. Reiatsu gathered under his feet as he stood aloft, looking down on Gusion and the others. "Dangerous indeed. But you're underestimating His Majesty's army, aren't you?"

As if on cue, the Adjuchas, cowed by Barragan's terror, charged. Some even gathered Ceros and fired at Gusion's group.

Gusion stepped forward and cleaved. With one slash, he split the sea of sand and the ceros in front. Shunpo launched him skyward toward the violator.

He had no interest in chatter. Whatever the ability was, one cut would tell him.

"Commendable courage."

True Bone saw Gusion rush him and split a mass of green tentacles from his back. Each coiled with a special power, they fell toward Gusion.

He figured Gusion's spirit seed must give high multipliers, but he currently had a stat advantage, and hey—who doesn't have a few funky abilities?

As the tentacles formed entwined and sealed Gusion's advance, he scoffed that putting a spirit seed in a brainless bruiser was such a waste.

He knew his strengths and weaknesses. The tentacles lacked flexibility, but in frontal clashes they could easily shift shape and envelop opponents.

Even spatial hunters couldn't break the cage he'd formed before—only a teleport item saved them. He didn't believe a brute with lower stats could break his formation.

Crack—

Just as a smile crept across his face, the cage formed by tentacles shattered. A figure burst from the red mist like a demon escaping from hell.

Mazuko's blade swung wide and fierce. The slash was stacked with Ryuo and Conqueror's Haki, and Gusion overlaid a razor-edged reiatsu—Mountain-Heaving slash. Buffs piled to the brim, he felt little resistance carving through the violator's cage.

The blade drove on. Invisible pressure preceded it, cutting True Bone's skin. As green blood beaded, his composure vanished.

He hadn't expected his strongest bind to last less than a second. Even before the edge landed, true damage transmitted through the air-blade had already begun to wreck his body.

In panic, he reused his trick—body swap—abandoning his current shell and shifting to another on the flank.

"Shinigami!"

Taking such a heavy loss riled True Bone. He realized taking Gusion head-on would demand too steep a price.

Prioritizing survival, he put the spirit seed second and trumped out his big move. He shouted to the sky, "Your Majesty, save me!"

Chapter 311: King of Hueco Mundo

Hearing True Bone's cry, Gusion felt a stab of dread.

So the guy could really call in the hard-to-please King of Hueco Mundo—a true Vasto Lorde. To rule Hueco Mundo for so long, he wasn't just for show.

Gusion's thoughts raced. He didn't think the king would be the sneaky type hiding in the shadows. Even if he was watching, he'd be far away.

Which meant there was still time between the call for help and the king's arrival.

With that, Gusion decisively shouted, "Ulquiorra, Nel—break out!"

Now wasn't the time to get tied down. If the King of Hueco Mundo arrived, never mind Gusion—Ulquiorra, not yet a Vasto Lorde, and Nel would be killed.

Hollow versus Hollow, their abilities were nearly meaningless against Barragan.

Aizen once said, "A shinigami's battle is a battle of reiatsu." But when the reiatsu gap isn't despair-level, abilities still decide the fight.

Ulquiorra's specialty was high-speed regeneration; Nel's was Cero Doble. Against other hollows, these were advantages—sustain and counter-blasting.

Against Barragan, they did nothing. His power was aging—tyrannical. Touch it and you're as good as dead.

"What about you?"

Nel had carved a path with Pesche and Dondochakka in tow and was linking up with Ulquiorra.

"I'll hold the rear."

Gusion kept it short, then charged True Bone again. The violator had jumped into his face; retreating without cutting him down wasn't his style.

Lightning Release Chakra Mode and shunpo flared. Gusion became a streak of dark-red lightning, carving through incoming ceros as he dashed.

Through the chromatic glare, he burst forth and slashed at True Bone.

Facing this blow, True Bone felt unprecedented pressure—nothing like the hunter who had ambushed him earlier.

That hunter was ghostly and pierced his heart in one strike, but True Bone still used his ability to shift his soul and survive.

The man before him was different—wide-open, straight-ahead combat, but with a blade pressure unlike anything he'd faced. He'd dodged by instinct before and hadn't felt the full brunt, but his instincts screamed: do not get hit.

"Grand Bone!"

True Bone pressed his hands together, soul source flaring as he unleashed his strongest restraint.

His body liquefied into a viscous, ink-green fluid—sticky yet hardening as it spread, like bone.

The exploded mass formed a square prison. Skulls hung at its four corners—grim and eerie.

Oddly, this prison formed from his flesh wasn't where his main consciousness resided. After casting it, a new True Bone crawled out of the sand nearby.

Inside, Gusion felt through Observation Haki: a tyrannical reiatsu was racing toward them. He grew urgent.

He now understood how this violator had survived so long. In terms of fight craft, he wasn't a normal explorer—some arbiters might struggle to take him down quickly.

The prison formed from the man's flesh was extremely tough. Gusion's earlier slash had only left a white mark.

While Gusion hammered the Grand Bone, True Bone chanted rapidly, releasing a spell. "...Crawl in the dark, lurk under light, bloom in the blood pool—wail, tremble—Infernal Blood Lotus!"

At the chant's end, a lotus of bone and blood blossomed inside the prison. A forest of razor bone spines stabbed outward and grew rapidly. In a second, the prison's original shape was obscured. Only a bone-blood lotus hundreds of meters tall remained.

"Mr. Gusion..."

"Gusion!"

Ulquiorra and Nel, cutting a path through the hollow mob, cried out in shock. They hadn't expected such a powerful shinigami to be trapped.

Nel had thought True Bone, as a hollow, wasn't far from her in strength and that Gusion would be fine. Yet he'd been sealed and combo-finished—looked like a checkmate.

Worse, she had heard True Bone yell "Your Majesty." Was Barragan nearby? If he reached them, they'd all die.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

True Bone panted heavily after casting the taboo spell—clearly costly. But he frowned—there was still no mission-complete prompt. The spirit seed hadn't transferred.

Sensing Barragan nearing, he relaxed slightly. He wouldn't need to pay the steepest price. He'd let Barragan cripple Gusion, then steal the kill.

Summoning Barragan was risky. It ensured Gusion's death—but if Gusion couldn't withstand Barragan's aging and died instantly, True Bone would lose out.

If Barragan killed Gusion, the seed, per its nature, would become ownerless, linger in the world, and attach to the strongest nearby being—Barragan.

Then stealing it would require killing Barragan—and that was far harder than killing Gusion.

So even if it angered Barragan, True Bone resolved to strike alongside him at the critical moment and snipe the kill.

Crack—

As he plotted, a hard, splintering crack sounded from within the massive lotus.

"Impossible..."

Under True Bone's disbelieving gaze, his most confident restrain-plus-execute combo exploded apart.

The hollows nearby were drawn by the uproar. The titanic lotus and the Grand Bone shattered, fragments blasted outward by a violent shockwave.

A dark-red, raging reiatsu surged from the center, scouring sand and sky.

The sand sea sank; waves backflowed into a crater; ripples spread outward. Dust and cloud were swept from the sky as a dark-red pillar pierced the heavens.

The crimson reiatsu fell like rain, pressing on every Adjuchas and triggering instinctive fear.

At the heart of the storm stood a man—black clothes billowing, hair whipping, Mangekyo Sharingan turning like storm-wheels, sweeping over every enemy.

Crimson dragon scales surfaced on his skin like armor, climbing to his cheeks and stopping there. The scales clicked like clashing metal, as feral as demons from ancient paintings of hell.

As battle intent and killing will crisscrossed the sky, before the distant darkness arrived, Gusion moved.

Speed like never before. Bloody mist rose; the reishi air sank beneath his stride, concentric vapor rings trailing his charge.

Mazuko cleaved, severing the sky. The blade was so fast True Bone couldn't react.

As they passed each other, True Bone's head was already tumbling skyward.

Gusion flicked the blood from his blade. Watching the corpse fall, he said, "All flash, no substance."

He didn't know if the guy had more tricks. If he did and hadn't used them, that was just being weak—and greedy. Gusion wasn't about to toy with him and give him chances.

With Sage Mode active, his temporary composite stat hit 88.

At parity, True Bone simply didn't measure up. With Lightning Release Chakra Mode layered over shunpo, Gusion's speed likely left him seeing nothing before the one-hit kill.

The body-swap wasn't an advanced safety net in Gusion's eyes. He'd fought similar foes—he knew the flaws. Kill before the cast completes, and the mind can't transfer. A decisive beheading from Mazuko was fatal; stacked damage left no chance to live.

The instant he took the head, Gusion received End Space's prompt—half the hunt complete.

Next, he had to handle the current situation.

Black mist surged over the sky like a tide. The reiatsu was so suffocating even hollows quailed. The Adjuchas shivered.

They were Barragan's subordinates yet rarely saw him this enraged. Death's aura blanketed the heavens—he was truly furious.

A skeletal, humanoid figure sat upon a throne in the sky, crowned with layered diadems, wreathed in black flames—majestic and tyrannical.

"Shinigami, you dared kill my minister. You are prepared to die, yes?"

Barragan stared at True Bone's falling, headless corpse, voice seething. Though the minister had only been at his side a few days, Barragan had been pleased with him—he'd livened the long, dull reign.

To Barragan, Hueco Mundo was his. All hollows must bow. Even a shinigami should kneel upon seeing him.

To see the king and not bow—grievous crime.
To kill his favored minister—unforgivable!

"Gusion, run—that's the King of Hueco Mundo!"

Nel, having just broken through with Ulquiorra, felt Barragan's terrifying presence. She shouted back anxiously.

"Don't mind me. Go."

Gusion didn't turn around. He only watched Barragan, expression grave.

His scouting showed no stats for Barragan—meaning the foe's spirit dwarfed his own. From aura alone, Barragan's reiatsu wasn't in the same league as any hollow he'd met.

That heavy stench of death put every cell on alert. This wasn't someone he could casually challenge above his level.

He wasn't sure whether to call it good or bad luck. Things were heading for the worst. He hadn't planned to face Barragan in Hueco Mundo.

But now that it had come to this, he didn't panic or regret. Instead, he felt a tremor of excitement as fighting spirit surged.

"What are you saying!"

Nel, flustered, hurled Pesche and Dondochakka out through a gap. "Go first—I'm going back to help him!"

But Ulquiorra caught her lance-holding hand. His face was impassive, tone flat. "Mr. Gusion told us to go."

Nel glared at his calm eyes, angry. "You heartless thing! Isn't Gusion your companion? How can you abandon him now!?"

Ulquiorra touched the hollow hole in his chest, still calm, and repeated, "Mr. Gusion told us to go."

Seeing he couldn't be swayed, Nel acted. She tore space open by force, opened a Garganta, and shoved the unwilling Pesche and Dondochakka into it—sending them to the World of the Living to regroup later.

With that done, she immediately turned back toward the fight.

Ulquiorra watched her charge back toward the Adjuchas ring. He simply stood there, staring.

After a few seconds' pause, he turned and walked the other way, obeying Gusion's words.

By now, Barragan had moved. Heavy death flooded the sky. As the aging power descended, even his subordinates dared not approach. The hollows at the center scattered; formations broke.

Seeing their king so enraged, the Adjuchas didn't dare interfere, afraid that stealing his prey would earn a gruesome death afterward.

They withdrew from Barragan's radius and moved to block the returning Nel. Letting Nel and Ulquiorra break out had already been a grave crime. If they let her return and spoil His Majesty's fun, they'd be executed in the cruelest way.

Desperate to save Gusion, and with Pesche and Dondochakka already sent away, Nel unleashed everything. Her reiatsu exploded—one lance throw, three Adjuchas dead.

At the center, the aging death closed in fast, wrapping Gusion.

He first swung Mazuko with a ten-thousand-streams-converge blade intent, trying to churn reishi and divert Barragan's miasma.

He immediately saw the problem. That aging energy was driven by Barragan's reiatsu—and his reiatsu was tyrannical. Stirring the air with blade pressure wasn't enough to alter its path.

As the death aura neared, Gusion stamped shunpo and retreated, flickering to the side.

"Heh heh. Foolish human—scurry in panic and await death."

Barragan lounged on his throne, two Fracción at his sides, even lifting a cup of Hueco Mundo spirit wine with leisure.