Battle of Bamboo Creek Plain (4)

Under the moonlight, lava and water intertwined. Steam burst forth, filling the air with white mist.

Shimizu gripped Daku in both hands, a stream of rapidly spinning water coiling around its blade. Tosaya's lava fist grazed his shoulder, the heat searing his skin, but now he had a way to fight back.

Shimizu slashed, and the water formed several thin blades that attacked Tosaya from different directions. Tosaya scattered them with his fists, but the splashing water landed on his lava armor with a hiss, sending up clouds of white mist.

"Not bad," Tosaya said, looking at him. "You can do this much right after Shikai."

Shimizu didn't answer. He simply charged again.

He knew he was still weak. Having only just established a connection with Daku, he hadn't learned a single move. He could only use the water by instinct and draw on what he had learned over the years in the Fon Clan to contend with Tosaya.

Shimizu turned sideways to dodge a punch, bringing Daku around toward Tosaya's waist. Tosaya blocked with his armored arm, and lava and water collided once more.

This time, Shimizu wasn't driven back.

Gritting his teeth against the heat, he forced the slash down.

Shimizu panted and tightened his grip on Daku. The water still spun around the blade, glimmering faintly in the moonlight.

Tosaya looked at the somewhat battered figure. This persistence was something Tosaya had always admired and appreciated about him, both in the past and now. His gaze grew serious, and the lava covering him burned hotter!

"Shimizu!"

"Tosaya!"

Red and blue collided once more...

Inside the Fon Residence

Hu darted through the group of Completed Forms.

Phantom Blade in his left hand, Jiku'a in his right, he crossed the two blades.

A Completed Form lunged at him from the side. Hu immediately swept Phantom Blade diagonally down from the upper left. Blue sword light flashed like a crescent moon, cutting a deep gash through the Completed Form's armor from shoulder to waist.

He screamed and staggered back, but before he could regain his footing, Hu's second strike came: an upward slash from the lower right that kicked up a whirlwind and sent him flying.

The third strike was a direct thrust.

The blade seemed to pierce the air as it drove precisely through another Completed Form's chest.

A wide spinning slash followed.

A perfect ring of blue light burst outward with Hu at its center, repelling three Completed Forms who were charging at him.

His movements flowed smoothly, showing no signs of fatigue.

"Damn... Is this guy a monster...?" a Completed Form panted.

Hu tightened his grip on Phantom Blade, feeling the Reiatsu flowing along its blade. Kidō danced across the edge: the blue light of Byakurai, the force of Impact, and the binding power of Sai coated it in turn.

He charged again.

This time, he swung horizontal slashes alternately from left and right. The blade whistled rhythmically through the air, each strike precisely hitting a Completed Form's vital point. His steps matched the rhythm of his slashes, as though he were performing a dance of death.

The final strike was a heavy downward chop.

Boom!

The ground cracked, and the Completed Form he struck was driven into the rubble. His armor shattered, exposing the human face beneath.

The light had gone out of the Completed Form's eyes. He was already dead.

Hu brushed the sweat from his forehead and glanced at him. After confirming he was dead, he turned again to meet the next wave of enemies charging at him.

Three more Completed Forms lunged at him.

Hu gripped his sword in reverse and swept it upward in an arc.

The sword tip lifted not only an enemy's body but also a cloud of dust. The first Completed Form was flung into the air, and before he could react, Hu had used Shunpo to move above him.

A three-hit aerial combo.

The first slash struck the chest. The second struck the abdomen. The third struck the throat.

The paths of the three slashes spiraled upward, pinning the man in midair.

Then came a downward chop from above.

Boom!

The man was smashed back into the ground, leaving a deep crater. His armor began to dissipate.

The remaining two Completed Forms exchanged a glance and used Sonído at the same time, attacking from both sides.

Hu didn't panic.

He turned to one side, dragging his sword behind him, its tip scraping a trail of sparks across the ground.

The instant the first Completed Form closed in, Hu swept his blade upward and sent him flying. At the same time, he slashed horizontally with Jiku'a in his left hand, forcing the second Completed Form back.

Before the one he'd sent flying could land, Hu appeared above him again.

An aerial flurry of slashes.

Hu slashed rapidly from side to side in the air, keeping his balance as though stepping on invisible stairs. After three consecutive slashes, he delivered a powerful downward chop, plunging toward the ground with his enemy.

Boom!

Another tremendous crash rang out.

Hu landed on one knee, Phantom Blade planted in the ground to support him.

He gasped for breath.

Completed Forms lay scattered across the ground. Some were still groaning; others had stopped moving. The Completed Forms Hongming had strengthened most heavily were still watching him hungrily from a distance.

Hu rose and tightened his grip on Phantom Blade.

"It's not over yet."

He held his sword horizontally at his side, assuming an iaido starting stance.

Visible blue magic converged on the blade like an electric current. The air began to tremble, giving off a low hum. He lowered his body and center of gravity, becoming like a fully drawn bow.

Charging power—Space Slash.

The Completed Forms in the distance sensed something was wrong and tried to scatter.

But it was already too late.

Hu drew his sword.

It was too fast to see the blade. All that could be seen was a blue line cutting through space.

More terrifying still, several purple dimensional rifts opened out of nowhere along the blade's path. Sword energy erupted from the rifts, striking the scattered Completed Forms at once.

A horizontal slash, a vertical chop, a spinning slash.

Fast, faster, a lightning strike.

On the third slash, Hu poured all his strength into the sword. The range of the strike and the size of the dimensional rifts reached their maximum.

Boom!!!

Purple and blue sword light intertwined. The Completed Forms were all sent flying into a wall, their armor shattering.

Hu put away his sword and slowly straightened.

The light on Phantom Blade flickered faintly, and the lingering traces of Byakurai still danced across its blade.

He watched the surviving Completed Forms slowly get up, red light glowing around their wounds as they rapidly healed. His hand trembled slightly, and he felt his stamina declining.

It wasn't enough.

Hu clenched his fist and thought:

All kinds of Kidō are exploding nonstop over in the courtyard. Shaoling must have run into a powerful enemy. I have to finish this quickly and go help her...

The remaining Completed Forms finally realized that the man facing them was different from the Soul Reapers they had encountered before.

They began communicating through the connection between the Nether Abyss Insects, coordinating closely.

Three melee-type Completed Forms charged at once, while two ranged types gathered Bala behind them.

Hu looked at them, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

This was what he had been waiting for.

When the melee Completed Forms reached him, Hu didn't meet them with Phantom Blade. He swept Jiku'a horizontally in his left hand, forcing the one on the left back, while turning sideways to dodge the claws on the right.

Then he moved.

"Judgment Cut."

He didn't even draw his sword all the way.

Three purple dimensional rifts opened simultaneously in front of and behind the Completed Forms. Invisible blades erupted from the rifts, pinning them in midair.

"W-what?!"

The Completed Forms were immobilized before they could even react.

In the instant the enemies were frozen by Judgment Cut, Hu stepped forward. Phantom Blade's blue blade swept horizontally, striking the rifts that had yet to close with precision.

The strike not only inflicted physical damage, but also detonated the spatial Reishi left behind.

A localized burst of Reishi exploded, and the Completed Forms fell, screaming.

But the fight wasn't over.

The Bala from the two ranged Completed Forms in the distance were already on their way.

Hu didn't dodge.

He raised Phantom Blade, and blue light gathered on its blade to form a shield—a temporary defense constructed using the Kidō "Iron Wall." The Bala struck the shield and exploded, filling the air with smoke.

Inside the smoke, Hu vanished.

The two Completed Forms froze and looked around.

"Above us!"

One Completed Form looked up and saw Hu already above them.

An aerial flurry of slashes.

A three-hit combo sent one of them crashing down.

The other tried to retreat, but Hu had already landed. Phantom Blade struck the ground heavily, and the flying rubble blocked his path.

"Judgment Cut."

A purple rift opened behind him. He could only be torn apart in despair.

The Complete Forms surrounding them saw this and were visibly frightened by Hu's fighting strength, becoming somewhat afraid to attack. But the Nether Abyss Insects planted inside them wouldn't let them retreat, so they had no choice but to surround Hu. Hu's own stamina had also fallen considerably. Once again, the two sides reached a stalemate.

Withered Bamboo Hamlet battlefield.

The situation didn't look good.

The Onmitsukidō's original advantage lay in mobile warfare. They excelled at moving rapidly across the battlefield, creating situations where several could fight one, and defeating enemies one by one.

But now that tactic had stopped working.

The Completed Forms all wore armor after Hollowfication, making them difficult to defeat in the first place. The battle had finally begun to turn around when Sakiro joined with the assault team, but then a red light had radiated from within the Completed Forms. Not only had their physical abilities grown stronger, but their coordination had also gradually improved.

The Onmitsukidō fought with everything they had, but struggled to achieve any substantial results.

"Captain!" an Onmitsukidō member shouted. "We haven't made any gains for several minutes. The enemy's movement patterns have changed!"

Sakiro looked at him, her brow furrowed.

She glanced into the distance. Tessai was locked in combat with a massive Completed Form whose strength far exceeded that of the others. Every attack forced Tessai to retreat and disperse the force.

The Onmitsukidō needed a breakthrough.

She took a deep breath.

"Everyone, change formation!"

The well-trained Onmitsukidō instantly shifted from an offensive formation to a support formation. Some began using Kidō to disrupt the Completed Forms, while others used Shunpo to move around the battlefield and keep the enemy occupied.

"Divide the battlefield for Tessai and me!"

Sakiro's order was brief and forceful.

The Onmitsukidō acted immediately, using their bodies and attacks to draw the Completed Forms away little by little, creating room for the two captains to fight one-on-one.

Sakiro set her sights on a target. He wasn't large, but he was extremely fast, darting around the battlefield and wounding several Onmitsukidō members. A few times, he had even come close to killing her subordinates. If the others hadn't covered them in time, he might already have succeeded several times.

She drew her Zanpakuto, and her Reiatsu began to surge.

"Shadow Crossing, Eternal Darkness, All Things as Weapons—Shadow Crossing!"

As she spoke the release command, her Zanpakuto merged into the shadows.

Her figure vanished from where she stood as well.

She had vanished in the truest sense—merged into the shadows.

While the Completed Form was still racing toward other Onmitsukidō members, a dark purple blade thrust out of the shadow behind him.

He dodged instinctively, but that strike was only a feint. The real killing blow came from the side—another tachi formed from shadows was already slashing toward his waist.

He blocked, but was driven back two steps.

Sakiro stepped out of the shadows, holding a pair of dark purple blades.

"You're fast," she said. "It looks like you've been trying to hunt my subordinates this whole time. Do you dare fight me?"

She vanished again.

Meanwhile, a low chant came from the other end of the battlefield.

Tessai stood atop a pile of rubble, his palms pressed together and Reiatsu surging around him. His Zanpakuto rose slowly before him and turned into specks of golden light under the moonlight, breaking apart into twelve palm-sized prayer beads.

The prayer beads were dark gold throughout, their surfaces densely engraved with scriptures. Each one radiated a soft light. They floated around Tessai, slowly rotating to form a golden ring.

"Firm as bedrock, Vajra!"

Tessai opened his eyes, golden light flickering in them.

The Completed Form opposite him sneered. "Putting on a show!"

The Completed Form was enormous, his hands transformed into claws and his entire body covered in heavy white armor. He lunged at Tessai, his claws whistling through the air.

Tessai neither dodged nor evaded. He simply raised a hand and pointed.

One prayer bead shot out, tracing a streak of golden light through the air before striking the Completed Form squarely in the chest.

Bang!

The impact brought the Completed Form to a halt.

Immediately afterward, crimson light flared on the prayer bead.

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!"

The Kidō sealed inside the prayer bead was released instantly. A crimson fireball exploded against the Completed Form's chest, blasting him backward.

Tessai gave him no chance to catch his breath.

The remaining eleven prayer beads flew out at once like a golden meteor shower, striking the Completed Form from every direction. Each impact was accompanied by the release of a Kidō: Byakurai, Sōkatsui, Raikōhō...

Purple, blue, red, and golden light intertwined, engulfing the Completed Form.

Boom!!!

The aftermath of the explosion faded.

The Completed Form lay sprawled on the ground, his armor cracked and dented, his body covered in wounds. He struggled to his feet. A red light glowed at his wounds, and they healed, while the cracks in his armor filled in.

The prayer beads glimmered with golden light and flew back to Tessai's side.

The Completed Form raised his head and saw Tessai standing a short distance away. He spat and gave a vicious grin. "Again!"

Not far away, the Onmitsukidō had stabilized their formation. Under the suppression of Sakiro's and Tessai's Shikai, the Completed Forms' offensive had been temporarily checked. Meanwhile, at the positions on the outskirts of Withered Bamboo Hamlet...

Cilian stood on a makeshift command platform, his single eye narrowed slightly as he watched the distant battlefield.

Something was wrong.

He had lived for hundreds of years and had an almost instinctive intuition for the battlefield. The change in the Completed Forms had been far too sudden. Cilian turned and strode over to the chief researcher tied to a post.

"What's going on with those Completed Forms?"

The researcher raised his head, his eyes flickering.

"I... I don't know..."

Cilian placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't press hard, but the oppressive feeling made the researcher tremble all over.

"You'd better know."

The researcher swallowed and spoke in a trembling voice.

"It's... it's Tsuchimikado Kōmei. Using the Nether Abyss Insects is his ability. He can use the insects to strengthen other Completed Forms, and he can also use the connections between the insects to build a Communication Network. Those Completed Forms can communicate with each other through the insects. When the level of infestation is high enough, they can even share their Five Senses and Memory Information."

Cilian frowned.

"Where is Tsuchimikado Kōmei now?"

The researcher shook his head.

"I... I don't know. He disappeared this morning and took some of the Completed Forms with him. We... we don't know where he went either."

Cilian's pupils abruptly contracted.

He disappeared this morning?

He remembered the last signal Hu had sent back—the red signal.

Hongming had never intended to act alongside the Completed Forms in Withered Bamboo Hamlet. He had taken the elites somewhere else.

Cilian spun around and looked in the direction of the Fon Clan.

His fists clenched.

"That bastard..."

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

It was already too late to rush back. Hu and the princess were there; they could hold out for a while.

He had to trust them.

Cilian turned his head and looked at the Onmitsukidō members on the battlefield.

He released a Kidō.

"Bakudō #77: Tenteikūra."

His voice was steady and strong.

"Execute Hammerfall Tactics! Take Withered Bamboo Hamlet quickly!"

The Onmitsukidō immediately sprang into action.

Cilian looked up in the direction of the Fon Clan, a trace of complicated emotion flashing through his single eye.

Kid, don't let this old man down.