Nearly exhausted, Rei collapsed to the ground. His Zanpakuto returned to its blade form, and the wounds on his body were no longer serious. Only his left palm had been pierced through, and blood was still pouring from it...
"What did that guy mean? What did he mean, 'your body is mine'?"
Rei was still wondering what Yanis had meant. He waited for over ten minutes without anything unusual happening, and shouts from Soul Reapers sounded in the distance...
"The Cero came from this direction. The enemy is a Menos Grande, so be careful!"
"I'm curious. Who's fighting a Menos Grande?"
"According to the earlier witnesses, a boy with a red greatsword killed five Gillians..."
The first to arrive was once again the Gotei 13's combat unit, the 11th Division. This time, however, they were led by Lieutenant Gosuke. Kuruyashiki Kenpachi had other business and hadn't come.
A weak Rei rested against a large tree. He looked up to see a burly man in a Shihakusho appear. The man had a Western face, a square jaw, and a full beard.
Most importantly, he wore a pennant-shaped lieutenant's armband. The little wooden badge symbolized his identity and strength. Rei couldn't help marveling: another big shot.
Seeing Rei against the tree, the newcomer warily surveyed the surroundings. Finding no trace of a Hollow's Reiatsu, he asked Rei in a booming voice, "What happened to the Hollow that was here? Where did it go?"
Rei, dressed in rags, slowly rose to his feet and answered proudly, "You're too late. I already took out that Adjuchas!"
"T-took it out?"
"How is that possible? That's an intermediate Menos Grande. Even Seated Officers are no match for one."
"He's the one who killed the Gillians. I remember his red sleeves..."
"That's incredible!"
"Can someone who isn't even a Soul Reaper have that kind of power?"
Apart from Lieutenant Gosuke, the dozen or so Soul Reapers present chattered nonstop, going from disbelief to cries of astonishment once their comrades confirmed it.
"If you've got time to chatter here, why don't you go see how many people got eaten?"
For some reason, resentment welled up in Rei's heart, nearly making him draw his sword and cut down the Soul Reapers, but he forced himself to hold back.
His reason told him he definitely couldn't beat them now. Leaning on his Zanpakuto, he slowly made his way down the mountain. Spending the night in the ruined town was better than staying on the mountain.
"Wait. I'm Gosuke, lieutenant of the 11th Division. What's your name?"
After calling Rei to a halt, Lieutenant Gosuke introduced himself and asked his name. He had a feeling Rei was a lot like a boy his captain had described.
"The 11th Division? So you serve under Kuruyashiki Kenpachi! My name's Nangong Ling. Your captain saved me two years ago. I don't know if he still remembers a nobody like me, but sorry for the trouble—please give him my regards when you get back!"
Rei gave him a sunny smile. It seemed he had quite an affinity with the 11th Division; they were always the first to come to the rescue.
Although they hadn't managed to save him this time, they had at least cleared the Ragged Hollows out of town for him. Now he wouldn't have to stay on the mountain, too afraid to sleep in case a Hollow suddenly appeared.
"Mm, I'll be sure to pass that on to the captain..."
Gosuke gave him a gentle smile too, but his heart had jolted when he heard Rei's name. It really is that boy. Two years ago, he could protect his companions amid a horde of Hollows. Only two years have passed, and he can already kill an Adjuchas? I'm not even sure I could beat one...
If Nangong Ling had merely been considered a genius when the captain first mentioned him, now he would rank among the skilled fighters even in the Gotei 13.
Gosuke was very hospitable. Seeing a small wound on Rei's left hand, he went out of his way to find a medic who had come with the group to treat him—a member of the Fourth Division, which specialized in healing within the Gotei 13.
Rei had to thank her properly. His Zanpakuto's ability could only heal his wounds; depleted Reiatsu wasn't so easy to recover. Yet after an hour of treatment from the gentle young lady of the Fourth Division, his Reiatsu had fully recovered...
At night, the town looked as though it had been through the apocalypse. People kept emerging from the ruins, either calling for their families or wailing.
The Pluses who emerged from the ruins were all clever people. When the Hollows attacked, they had hidden in cellars they had prepared beneath their homes long ago, allowing them to survive.
More than half the inn where Rei had stayed had collapsed, but the innkeeper and his wife were alive. The couple came out with their two sons, and when they saw the state of the inn, they began cursing, repeatedly damning the Hollows to suffer in the eightieth level of hell...
After getting a new place, Rei moved in immediately. The main force of Soul Reapers gradually withdrew during the night, leaving only about ten people to guard the town.
Perhaps because he was too tired, Rei fell into a dream. At that moment, a strand of black Reiatsu appeared in his left palm and gradually spread toward his wrist...
The dream world:
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that you're about to become my tool!"
"Heh, how utterly ridiculous. Die!"
"Heh heh, you think you can beat me with your strength?"
The red clouds in the sky had formed Rei's face. Like a god, Rei looked down on a black figure locked in combat with Kurenai on the red earth. Kurenai was the nickname Rei had given Blood Drink's incarnation.
But Rei didn't know who the black figure was. His face and build were identical to Rei's, but his black hair was styled in dreadlocks, and his Reiatsu was somewhat violent. Rei only felt that he was familiar, but couldn't remember who he was.
"Hey, stop fighting! You there, Black Devil, who are you?"
Rei shouted, but Kurenai and the Black Devil seemed unable to hear him and kept fighting.
In the real world, Rei's room was filled with violent Reiatsu, but it remained inside the room and didn't spread elsewhere.
The nearest Soul Reapers were half a kilometer away, so they couldn't possibly notice anything wrong. Even if they had sensed the Reiatsu rampaging unchecked, they wouldn't have come over. It was Rei's Reiatsu, and the Soul Reapers temporarily stationed there all recognized it.
If anyone had been in the room, they would have seen six black markings on Rei's left arm, extending from his palm all the way to his left temple. The violent Reiatsu was being released from that left hand and from his right hand, which was holding his Zanpakuto.
In the dream world, the fight continued, and Rei was still watching.
Is this my inner world? But they can't hear me? Wait, I remember going to sleep, not practicing Zan Zen. Is it because I came in through a dream?
In the dream world, Rei finally realized something was wrong. Then the black figure fired a Cero at Kurenai, who leveled his greatsword and used the move Rei had employed to defeat the Adjuchas to meet the blast head-on.
"Wait, wait, wait... What was the Adjuchas I killed today called again? It was... the Green-Skinned Hollow!"
The Reiatsu generated by the clashing blasts of the Green-Skinned Hollow Yanis and Kurenai shot into the sky, scattering Rei's face formed from red clouds. Rei finally remembered Yanis's nickname and Reiatsu.
In the real world, a small spurt of blood suddenly burst from Rei's left shoulder, jolting him awake.
"Aaaah! You bastard Green-Skinned Hollow, you changed your skin color, took my form, and hid inside me? Get the hell out!"
Rei roared furiously, his fluctuating Reiatsu gradually slipping out of control. Looking at his left hand as it turned black, he finally understood Yanis's last words.
Your body is mine.
Those words were tantamount to saying outright that Yanis intended to possess his body. Rei hadn't realized it at first because his thinking hadn't made that leap.
Hollow abilities came in all kinds of bizarre forms. This "possession" alone was much like what Rei had read about in cultivation novels. He didn't know enough about Hollows to realize at first that Yanis's ability was so overpowered it could even steal a body.
"Damn it, you found me so quickly? Meddlesome Zanpakuto!"
Black Yanis spoke from within Rei's inner world, but Rei could hear his voice clearly.
Rei's left hand was no longer under his control. Its fingers curled, ready to gouge out his right eye. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and clamped it down with his right hand.
"Rei, come in!"
"That Green-Skinned Bastard's controlling my left hand and trying to gouge out my eye! I can't get in..."
Rei heard Kurenai calling too. He was holding down his left hand and didn't dare relax for an instant.
His Zanpakuto's ability healed wounds; it didn't regenerate organs. If he lost an eye, he would be one-eyed, so he had to find a way to stop his left hand.
"Then find a way in. This is your inner world, and you're the key. I can't suppress him for long!"
Kurenai's expression was cold. If his master, Nangong Ling, died, he would have to disappear or become a Hollow's plaything, so he had judged for himself that he needed to stop Yanis's invasion.
"Right, I just have to keep my hand from moving!"
Squish!
With life and death on the line, Rei forcibly dislocated his entire left arm. Feeling that still wasn't enough, he drew his sword with his right hand and severed the tendons!
Severed tendons counted as an injury, not something missing. At worst, once the matter was settled, he could release his Zanpakuto and slash a few bastards a few times. As for failing to settle it and actually having his body stolen, Rei would rather kill himself beforehand than give the Green-Skinned Hollow a chance, even in death.
After severing the tendons, Rei endured the pain and sat cross-legged, laying his Zanpakuto flat across his legs. He was going into his inner world to drive the Green-Skinned Hollow out...