Infinite Anime [312-313] (Patreon)

Chapter 312: Comrades 

While flash-stepping again and again, Gusion weighed his options. Baraggan was toying with him with a gamer's mindset—clearly wanting to slowly drown him in despair. That hollow really did have a vile personality. 

But having Nel or Ulquiorra open a garganta and help him flee to the World of the Living wasn't realistic either. 

Baraggan already loathed him to the bone; he wouldn't let him go so easily. Nel could open a garganta, sure—but setting aside whether Baraggan would even allow an opening, even if they somehow created a tactical window to slip in, Baraggan might just chase them straight through and kill them. 

That would be meaningless. And if they dragged the fight into the World of the Living and caused massive civilian casualties, that wasn't something Gusion wanted to see. 

Hollows in Hueco Mundo aren't stupid about survival either, but you rarely see a hollow—on the path of hunting and evolving—escape a stronger foe by opening a garganta and actually live. 

That's because in a normal fight it's pointless: the hunter will chase the prey. If you can open one, so can they; and for a short time after a garganta opens, anyone can enter. 

And the Dangai isn't absolutely safe, either—other dangers lurk there. So Menos won't use a garganta to flee when fighting their own kind. 

Nel could use a garganta to send Dondochakka and Pesche away because they'd already broken out of the encirclement with no other hollows interfering; and those two are small targets—no hollow would specifically chase them. 

After racing through ideas, Gusion realized the situation was almost hopelessly stacked against him. No wonder the mission brief had warned the upper bound of difficulty was certain death. 

As things stood, without reinforcements, Gusion could only consider a frontal breakthrough. With his brain, these were the only options he could come up with anyway. 

Baraggan was a troublesome opponent—hard to beat head-on. But with extreme speed he could still maneuver and stay alive. What truly made things messy for Gusion was— 

Ever since he ran into the violator, he'd received another End Space task prompt: the holder of a Spirit Seed had entered his current "map." 

If the other party didn't spawn in Hueco Mundo, they likely landed in the Quincy camp. Coming here now could only be to hunt him—Gusion couldn't imagine another reason. 

Besides, the Soul Singer would surely receive the same map prompt upon entering Hueco Mundo, confirming Gusion's presence here. 

Given the magnitude of their fight, the other party might be rushing here at top speed already. Worse, the Soul Singer could already be nearby, merely watching Baraggan press Gusion down and choosing not to act yet. 

"Lowly shinigami—will you only run?" 

Baraggan watched, at ease, as his miasma of decay chased Gusion around. He savored the wine in his golden goblet, intoxicated. 

Yes—this was the posture a shinigami should have before him. Under the aging he commanded, all beings should submit. 

Any who defy him—hollows, humans, or shinigami—should die in disgrace beneath his decay. 

"Keep posturing." 

What truly set Gusion on edge was the Spirit Seed holder, a stage-four special—unknown, Soul Singer—far more worrisome than Baraggan. Yet the unknown stayed silent, while Baraggan yapped on and on. 

Irritated, Gusion chain-flashed, dragging Baraggan's death-mist in a wide loop, then stamped down with such force that the air itself dented. 

He blitzed in; purple mist rippled along the Mazuko, Conqueror's Haki and Ryuo coiling together over it. A dark-red blade arc unspooled; the Tide-Cleaver slash was launched twenty meters short of Baraggan. 

Like a dark-red crescent cleaving black surf, thick decay parted slightly under that strike. The blade force reached Baraggan— 

Crack— 

Baraggan's eye-fire flickered as his goblet snapped in half mid-body. The slash's power had clearly touched him; only his dense reiryoku kept him uninjured. 

"Shinigami, I'll show you what true fear is." 

Baraggan rose in fury. He hadn't expected this lowly shinigami to still have the nerve to attack him. 

It reminded him unpleasantly of another shinigami from years ago, who'd ignored his dignity as King of Hueco Mundo. This one was weaker, but equally irritating. 

"True fear?" 

Gusion slid sideways with shunpo into a pocket of air free of the decay mist. "You mean your aging ability?" 

"All things have a lifespan. Only aging is the eternal truth. I, who command aging, am supreme in this world. Be it Hueco Mundo or Soul Society, you won't find a force nobler than mine." 

Baraggan spoke as if stating a foregone fact. 

He looked down from the sky at Gusion. "You seem to be stalling for those thieves to aid you. But to stall against one who controls aging is like spitting at God." 

"Is that so?" 

Gusion stared blankly at him. "Bakudō #81. Dankū." 

The onrushing death-miasma slammed into an invisible barrier, surging like waves against a cliff. 

A gust ruffled Gusion's hair. "Looks like kidō can block it, too." 

"Block it?" 

Baraggan's voice rang with cutting scorn and a pity reserved for insects. "Does kidō not age?" 

As his words fell, Gusion's Dankū shattered; the flood of decay surged again. 

Gusion flash-stepped away, rolling and weaving in the sky. He'd known kidō couldn't completely block Baraggan's ability—this was only to test how much defense Dankū could offer. 

For an instant, it seemed to hold—but Baraggan's reiryoku was too strong. If he focused, the barrier's effectiveness dropped further. 

As in the original story: aging was essentially a kidō-type ability—not a full-blown rules-level power. 

At Baraggan's level, if the Commander Captain struck, a single Ryūjin Jakka slash would leave nothing. Even as an Arrancar, same result. 

As a domineering kidō-type ability, Baraggan's direct combat power was strong, but his weakness was clear: if confronted by an opponent who excelled at energy-form attacks and possessed overwhelming reiryoku, his decay would become far less effective. 

For example, Starrk's Cero Oscuras barrage—pounded at Baraggan without letup—would scatter his miasma and eventually defeat him. 

Thinking this, Gusion began chanting while moving at high speed. He brought his hands together and faced Baraggan. "Hadō #88. Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" 

With a thunderous roar, the blast seemed to pierce the heavens—yet as it forced through the black mist, it was whittled down, and finally dissipated a few meters short of Baraggan. 

"Useless, shinigami. I said it: kidō has a lifespan too." 

Baraggan's tone was flat. "Struggle—then turn to dust in decay." 

But just as he finished, a streak of green tore the sky—Nel's Lanzador Verde. 

It scattered a portion of the fog and only faded at Baraggan's face. 

Not only that—just as Lanzador Verde spent itself, a green cero erupted from below, widening into a broad beam and hammering the black mist. 

Boom— 

Smoke and dust billowed where Baraggan stood; the Adjuchas below cried, "Your Majesty!" 

"Didn't I tell you to go?" 

Gusion said it, though he wore a smile. 

"Gusion, I won't abandon you. We'll break out together!" 

Nel was still battling among the Adjuchas. She'd taken a moment to hurl her spear when she saw Gusion enveloped by Baraggan's mist, then absorbed an Adjuchas's cero and fired a Cero Doble at Baraggan. 

She wasn't rashly saying they could beat Baraggan. She meant: break out together. She didn't believe they could defeat the King of Hueco Mundo, but her nature wouldn't allow her to leave a comrade to die. 

"Traitors!" 

A furious voice blasted from the smoke; wind born of spiritual pressure swept it clear. Baraggan stood revealed, unscathed—yet even on a skull face, you could see rage. 

Clearly, compared to Gusion's kidō, Nel's cero had more effect, and Baraggan was angrier at Nel—he was the king; any hollow daring to strike him was a traitor. 

He could understand a shinigami being hostile, but Nel firing a cero at him was intolerable. 

Boom— 

Before he finished, a pitch-black cero blasted at him, scattering more of the mist. 

Indeed, cero energy could offset Baraggan's decay better than ordinary kidō. 

A white figure bearing black membrane wings cut across the battlefield to land by Nel—Ulquiorra. That black cero had been his. 

"You didn't leave?" 

Nel was surprised. She hadn't expected this cold wooden block to come back to help. 

"I remembered my observation of Mr. Gusion is not yet complete." 

Ulquiorra's voice was flat. He felt something strange—indescribable. 

He hadn't truly thought that—but some unnameable feeling made him turn back. 

He'd already walked quite a distance away. Yet a novel, inexplicable "irritation" gnawed at him—he couldn't shake it. 

He felt something in the hollow of his chest, a force stirring within his body—uncomfortable. 

Only when he turned back toward the battlefield did it ease. 

He didn't know why. Cold analysis said Gusion and Nel had a 100% chance of dying if they stayed; even with him there, it wouldn't rise to 1%. 

But the thought of Mr. Gusion and Nel dying, never seeing them again, and him wandering Hueco Mundo alone again—aimless, heartless, seeing and thinking only void—left him unwell. 

Even now, he didn't understand what a heart was—but he didn't want to stop chasing it, even if death waited ahead. 

"Arrogant, foolish. With such strength, you won't serve me—and worse, you join a shinigami to challenge the supreme. Pathetic. Lamentable." 

Baraggan emerged once more, voice cold, rage at a third tier. Thick black mist spread from him, heavier and deeper than before—reeking of ultimate death. 

Gusion didn't look at the furious king, but at Ulquiorra and Nel. "Idiots, both of you…" 

He'd told them to run—yet they came back to help. The exact "idiocy" he used to rant about reading manga. 

But now, he didn't hate it. 

"Clear the Menos first—then help me by blasting him with ceros!" 

He issued a new order, then flung a Hadō #31. Shakkahō at Baraggan to draw aggro. 

Baraggan wasn't exactly imperial in temperament; a slight taunt from a shinigami and he'd burn with murderous lust, charging right at him. 

With no one left to protect, Ulquiorra and Nel could go all out—Adjuchas weren't a problem. In minutes, they could clear the field. 

Then let these two near-Vasto Lorde hollows rain ceros on Baraggan—Gusion might even seriously wound or kill him. 

Gusion dodged the mist while diving into the hollow ranks, slicing down a few Adjuchas to replenish soul-source—incensing Baraggan. 

"Shinigami… I'm done playing." 

Baraggan's voice dropped. Gusion's constant evasions had exhausted his patience—especially because he saw no fear or awe in Gusion's eyes. 

There was no cat-and-mouse pleasure. He'd had enough—time to end this insolent shinigami. 

At his word, the mist surged in coverage and speed, racing up to Gusion—and ignoring his own Adjuchas, swallowing them with Gusion. 

"Your Majesty!" 

An Adjuchas cried out in terror. Baraggan didn't hesitate, drowning both shinigami and subordinates alike. 

Just as he thought Gusion was done and turned to deal with the two rebellious Adjuchas, Gusion appeared at his rear flank. Where the decay covered him, only a torn scrap of Gusion's coat remained. 

Chapter 313: The Terrifying Stage-Four Pioneer 

Shihōin clan's secret steps—Utsusemi. 

In the nick of time, Gusion slipped free with high-speed traversal, moving into Baraggan's blind spot. 

Mazuko glowed dark red, his slash scything for Baraggan's nape. 

Boom— 

A surge of black mist erupted, smashing into the blade-force and forcing Gusion back. 

"Brat, you've truly enraged me!" 

Baraggan fumed. Had he not reacted in time, that lowly shinigami might have wounded him. 

"Words of anger and killing intent are a low-grade threat. If you can kill me, show me with strength." 

Gusion said coldly, slicing off a flap of his coat to stop the decay creeping over him. 

Meanwhile, back-to-back, Nel and Ulquiorra carved through Adjuchas. With pressure easing, they gathered ceros to help Gusion against Baraggan. 

But just as the ceros formed, two enormous arrows of light appeared out of nowhere, dropping at extreme speed over their heads. 

The immense force, the razor spiritual pressure, and that destructive feel distinct from shinigami and hollow powers shocked Nel. 

Boom— 

Shrieking detonations. Two arrows struck. Nel looked up, face taut. Blood rained, the stink of scorched flesh rose—and she cried out, "Gusion!" 

"Mr. Gusion!" 

Even Ulquiorra lost some composure—the turn was too sudden. 

Above them, Gusion had flash-stepped in to intercept the arrows' path. In haste, Mazuko's edge caught one arrow; the other punched through his back shoulder blade and out his front ribs. 

"Kh—" 

Gusion spat blood. The arrow's destructive energy chewed his organs, shaved his life-source, even "evaporating" his soul-source. 

The sudden strike left Baraggan momentarily dumbfounded. He peered warily into the void. "Who!? Who stole my prey!?" 

"How disappointing…" 

A figure emerged in the air: a man in a casual blue wool sweater, idly spinning a hat before placing it on his head with elegance. 

Ignoring the king's demand, he looked only at Gusion. "To shield those two hollows—you're a failure." 

The Soul Singer had arrived minutes ago. Confident, but never careless, he didn't strike at once. Out of caution toward the two-Seed holder, he watched Baraggan and Gusion first. By entry order he knew Gusion would be strong—but still lacked world-accumulation compared to him, a Pioneer. 

Being pushed so hard by a pre-Arrancar Baraggan made him lose interest in Gusion. 

To prevent Baraggan from killing Gusion and complicating Seed ownership afterward, he decided to personally end this dull hunt. 

"Cough…" 

Gusion coughed blood. Even with Ryuo protecting his hand as he grabbed the arrow, it sizzled like roasting meat. 

He yanked it free—another gout of blood sprayed. 

"Gusion!" 

Nel rushed to support him. She hadn't expected him to risk his life for them. Without his intervention, she and Ulquiorra would likely have been skewered. 

She could feel it: Quincy power. To die to a Quincy was the worst—true annihilation, no reincarnation. 

Ulquiorra didn't show concern, but he stepped in front of Gusion and Nel. His black membrane wings spread, shielding Gusion. He watched Baraggan and the new, likely Quincy, with wary eyes. 

"I'm fine. I won't die." 

Gusion bloodily healed with kaidō. When he realized his Ryuo and pressure barrier wouldn't stop that arrow, he'd shifted to spare vitals—but the leaking destruction still ravaged his organs. 

In the sky, black mist surged toward the Soul Singer—Baraggan couldn't bear the insult of stolen prey. 

Boom— 

Reishi gathered and burst; a cerulean arrow exploded in the sky, scattering the oncoming mist in an instant. 

The Soul Singer pressed a hand to his hat brim, eyes half-lowered. "King of Hueco Mundo—no offense intended. But as for killing this shinigami—might you allow me the honor of serving you?" 

Humble words, yet Baraggan sensed no fear from the mysterious man—only snorted coldly. "Quincy, you invade Hueco Mundo and steal my prey—that alone merits death a thousand times." 

The Soul Singer ignored him. Having acted, he intended to finish Gusion quickly to avoid complications. 

He strode forward, eyes locking on Gusion. "Don't be so resentful. I prepared quite a lot for this hunt. You can die easy." 

Gusion blinked. So he wasn't the only hunter—the Soul Singer had targeted him from the start. 

Given how many explorers the three spaces deployed, this world wasn't a private playground for those using entry items. Even if he hadn't used an item, End Space might have pulled him in anyway by level and strength. 

And the Soul Singer likely had intel on his Spirit Seeds, entering Bleach deliberately to roll the dice for a meeting. 

So, essentially, the other guy fixed on him first; his getting the item from Lonely Noise merely enabled their rendezvous. 

"Damn Quincy—daring to ignore me!" 

Baraggan couldn't bear it. He drove the decay into a dragon—far denser than the flat mist before. 

The Soul Singer didn't even turn. He stretched his left arm back; a reishi crossbow locked to his forearm. A thick cerulean arrow fired. 

Mid-flight it swelled to a sky-pillar, ramming Baraggan's death-dragon head-on. 

Boom— 

Crushing spiritual pressure collided; the blast shook the world. The cerulean spear pierced the black dragon; the aftershock even made Baraggan stagger back a few steps. 

"You're strong." 

Gusion couldn't help but note: effortlessly beating back Baraggan's decay while keeping the style immaculate—this man understood the essence of fighting in this world. 

"You disappoint me. I was too cautious." 

The Soul Singer raised his hand again; a massive light-arrow formed—to end it. 

He was a level 37 Pioneer—by rights he shouldn't be able to enter this Bleach cycle at all, since the spaces only pull sub-35 explorers or Pioneer Adjudicators. 

Judging by attributes, he was certain Gusion's Mark level was lower—otherwise, as a Seed holder, he was far too weak. 

He enjoyed challenging the strong, but with Spirit Seeds he wasn't stubborn. Secure the prize first. 

As he'd told Blood Rain—Mazuko's luck was just bad. He wouldn't miss the chance meeting and wait for a fair duel later. 

"Gusion!" 

"Mr. Gusion!" 

As the arrow loosed with crushing pressure, Nel and Ulquiorra cried out together, flaring their maximum reiryoku to fire ceros in answer. 

Quincy and hollow powers counter each other; though Quincies truly erase hollows, hollow power is like poison to them too. 

They knew they were outclassed; this Quincy, who had just repelled Baraggan, was absurdly strong. Even so, Ulquiorra didn't retreat, standing before Gusion. 

In that moment, Ulquiorra and Nel showed startling teamwork: Ulquiorra's black cero blasted into Nel; she absorbed it and amplified with Cero Doble, then fired it at the arrow. 

Despair—because even enhanced, the cero couldn't halt the arrow's advance. Destruction loomed. 

Then, behind them, a domineering force erupted, shoving them aside. 

A jet-black blade-light formed a vertical line in heaven and earth, slamming into the oncoming arrow. 

Boom—sand seas rippled away from the impact, carving a trench that sloughed sand down its sides. 

Nel stared—Gusion had pushed them away. The crimson scales on his body had faded, but his skin had an unhealthy red; muscles corded, veins bulged like an overloading steam engine. 

Burst capillaries sprayed blood beads from pores—instantly vaporized by heat into a crimson mist. 

He vented gouts of blood-steam; the recently staunched chest wound piped a fine blood fountain under pressure. He looked like a demon dragged from a blood pool, eyes feral like a cornered beast. 

"Eight Gates Released? Can you open the Death Gate?" 

The Soul Singer sounded mildly surprised. "If you can, that would be interesting." 

Gusion bared white teeth. "Death Gate? If I could open one more, you'd be the one fleeing." 

He had long known his opponent was a tier above him—and likely a Pioneer too. If he had no confidence at all, why would he dare enter Bleach to face him? 

Though the Soul Singer was stronger than expected, it still wasn't enough to take Gusion's life easily. 

He'd misjudged two things in Hueco Mundo. First, Baraggan wasn't as strong as he'd thought; pre-Arrancar Baraggan was merely a stronger Captain-class—just annoyingly capable. 

Second, the Soul Singer was far stronger than expected. Even with Eight Gates open, pushing his composite stats above 91, Gusion still couldn't read him clearly. 

And combat power wasn't just attributes. That ominous destructive aura and a bottomless soul-source pressure weighed heavily. 

"Damn shinigami and Quincy—I'll show you the price of offending the King!" 

Baraggan saw the two ignore him and was livid. Most infuriating of all—Gusion could still erupt with such "reiryoku," yet hadn't used it against him. Was he being looked down on? 

Against the Quincy, Gusion used his best move. Did that not mean he valued the Quincy more than him? 

Insult! 

He deemed it a colossal affront to the king. Shinigami or Quincy, he'd destroy them all! 

Boom— 

As Baraggan's mist surged, Gusion and the Soul Singer moved simultaneously—a blade arc and a light-arrow ripped the miasma apart. 

Gusion's blade shaved a lick of black flame from Baraggan's left side; the arrow punched a hole through the right. 

"Quiet." 

"Noisy." 

They spoke almost together. Their eyes met—each saw the other's fighting will and hunger. 

Seeing Baraggan charge again, Nel and Ulquiorra moved to block him, fearing he'd spoil Gusion's fight with the true threat. 

Gusion and the Soul Singer moved, too—Gusion with shunpo, the Soul Singer with Hirenkyaku. They vanished, then reappeared as they clashed in the upper side of the field. 

Blade and arrow collided; spiritual pressure shook the firmament. Gales drove the sand seas for kilometers, apocalyptic. 

"Is this your peak?" 

After a clash, the Soul Singer sighed. "Don't blame me for bad form." 

His Quincy arrows vanished; a small lyre appeared in his hand—his true weapon. The archery had been a recently learned trick. 

The instant the lyre appeared, Gusion's scalp prickled at the aura it exuded. 

… 

While the battle in Hueco Mundo hit white heat, in the World of the Living, a garganta opened and Pesche and Dondochakka burst out. 

Anxious and worried, they hadn't yet thought how to help Nel when terror seized them. 

Before them stood a man with short brown hair and brown eyes. 

Behind black-rimmed glasses, his sunny, gentle gaze and faint smile sent goosebumps up their arms. 

"Interesting. This garganta seems to connect directly to Hueco Mundo." 

He watched it close, then looked at Pesche. "You were mentioned in the requested report. Tell me—do you know where Gusion-kun is right now?"