Madman (Two Chapters Combined)

Chapter 14: Madman (Two chapters combined) Please vote!

High in the air, the winged Bat Hollow approached from the distance. However, once it reached the space above the group, it did not descend, instead watching the situation below with extreme vigilance.

This showed just how cautious this Hollow was, though it was hardly surprising; if it weren't this careful, it likely would have been sent to the afterlife by a Soul Reaper long ago. Furthermore, the moment it appeared, the Bat Hollow's primary targets of observation were Kurosaki Ichigo and Rukia.

It clearly recognized their identities, which meant this Hollow had encountered Soul Reapers before, or perhaps... even killed them!

"Hahaha, interesting. So these are the helpers you found, brat!" the Bat Hollow mocked the group below. Despite its words, it showed absolutely no intention of coming down!

The faces of Kurosaki Ichigo and the others sank. Sado, standing to the side, vaguely sensed a fluctuation and followed the others' gazes toward the sky.

"Is it you?" Rukia stepped out from the crowd, staring gloomily at the Bat Hollow in the air. "You tricked Yuichi, telling him that if he hid from your pursuit in the form of a parrot for three months, his mother would be resurrected."

"That's right!" The Bat Hollow didn't bother with pleasantries upon hearing this, admitting it directly. A strange yellow light flashed in its eyes, and a cruel expression etched itself onto that bizarre mask. "Don't you think it's interesting? The brat running for his life in desperation, while I kill every person who tries to protect him—what an amusing game that is!"

"A game!!!"

The expressions of everyone present turned grim. To torture a child like this, and for this Hollow to call it an amusing game?

Behind them, Wu Biao, who had been standing on a stone pier with his head bowed, smoking, slowly ground his cigarette butt against the stone. He stood up unhurriedly and began to walk forward, step by step, without even glancing at the Hollow in the sky.

"Stay back... hold on tight!"

An incredibly calm voice emerged from Wu Biao's mouth, devoid of any emotional fluctuation. It sounded like an echo in a cave, subconsciously making those around him feel the temperature drop.

However, everyone understood Wu Biao's words. The "stay back" was for them, and the "hold on tight" was for Yuichi on his shoulder.

Wu Biao did not let Yuichi leave his shoulder; instead, he intended for this child to watch with his own eyes... how the Bat Hollow that had tormented him for nearly a month would die!

Kurosaki Ichigo and Rukia exchanged a glance and immediately pulled Sado back. Since Wu Biao had issued a warning, it meant the coming battle would inevitably involve others. They could handle themselves, but Sado was also there.

The Bat Hollow in the air was clearly stunned by the scene below, then a flash of mockery and disdain crossed its pupils. Although it didn't know why those two Soul Reapers would obey a human's command to retreat, a mere human could not make it feel wary. Even though this human's aura was strange, it didn't believe a human could pose any threat to it.

"Hahahaha, found a new keeper, have you? This brat looks like he'd be delicious!"

"A keeper... huh?" Wu Biao lowered his head and repeated softly, then turned his head to look at Yuichi, whose eyes were filled with terror on his shoulder. "You never considered this brat a human being, did you?"

"Human?" The Bat Hollow paused, then burst into a fit of wild laughter. "Hahahaha, you're talking about humans? Hahaha, don't be ridiculous. Even if I hadn't stuffed his soul into the body of a parrot, he wouldn't be a human anymore."

"Then what is he?" Wu Biao slowly raised his head. At this moment, his expression was solemn as never before. Though his demeanor was calm, his eyes made anyone who met his gaze feel a chill in their hearts.

Because within those pupils, there was only... killing intent. Pure, unadulterated killing intent, with no other distractions.

"You..."

After being stared at by those pupils, the Bat Hollow subconsciously shuddered, a sense of fear rising in its heart. But then it shook its head—how could this be? It must be an illusion; it couldn't possibly feel fear toward an ordinary human.

So, to steady its mind, the Bat Hollow said in a cold and cruel tone, "He is a tool. A tool to amuse me. Anyone who obtains this tool must die, and you... are next!"

Just as it answered Wu Biao, a faint yellow light flickered in the Bat Hollow's eyes. In the dark corners of the abandoned factory, a large group of small, frog-like monsters suddenly appeared. Using the factory's debris as cover, they silently crept toward Wu Biao.

No one noticed this scene; everyone was looking at the Bat Hollow in the air, listening to the rules of its cruel "game."

"Is that so?" Wu Biao murmured, a curve slowly forming on his lips—a curve of bloodlust and cruelty. "Shibata Parrot, how do you want him to die?"

Yuichi was startled upon hearing this. "Brother Wu Biao..."

"What a boastful human. Although I don't know what capital you have to say such things, it's... too late! Hahaha..." The Bat Hollow laughed, its scheme having succeeded.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Following its laughter, dense black shadows leaped out from every dark corner around Wu Biao, tearing through the space and instantly surrounding him completely.

"Brother Biao!"

Ichigo, seeing this from behind, shouted urgently and instinctively moved to rush forward, but was held back by Rukia. "Don't worry. That man is very strong, and now that he's angry, he is also... very terrifying!!!"

Before Rukia's voice had even faded, a clear, audible explosion rang out. Following the blast, the ground where Wu Biao stood cracked into spiderwebs, and a white afterimage shot out like a cannonball, flashing toward the Bat Hollow with lightning speed.

"What!!!"

The Bat Hollow's pupils instantly constricted. Before it could even process how an ordinary human could possess such terrifying speed, a heart-wrenching pain erupted in its chin.

Splurt--

Blood sprayed out. Its tongue, which had just been extended to detonate the leech bombs inside the frogs, was bitten clean in half by its own closing jaws. However, because its teeth were clenched shut, its scream turned into a muffled groan.

"Since you won't say, I'll decide how you die!" Mid-air, Wu Biao flipped and landed directly on the Bat Hollow's back, grabbing the fleshy wings on its arms with both hands.

The flapping wings stopped instantly. Shock and terror appeared in the Bat Hollow's eyes, for those two hands were like iron pincers; no matter how hard it struggled, the wings remained motionless.

Without the wings to flap, the Bat Hollow's form stalled in the air for a moment before plummeting toward the ground. With a thunderous crash, it slammed into the earth, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Your way of dying is... being torn to shreds!" Wu Biao's cruel and indifferent voice emerged from the dust. The moment his voice fell, a teeth-grinding sound of tearing flesh echoed out.

"ROAR--" A piercing, miserable howl followed. Wu Biao's figure retreated rapidly, his single foot stomping hard on the ground as he spun in place and stood firm.

Drip...

In Wu Biao's hands were two wings that were still dripping blood. After a disgusted glance, he tossed the giant wings away like trash. Wu Biao's body then coiled, like a compressed spring.

As the smoke cleared, the Bat Hollow had already stood up, blood spraying continuously from where its wings had been. But at this moment, it couldn't care about the pain of its torn arms.

Because... in that very instant, Wu Biao's figure had already erupted, the terrifying speed whipping up gusts of wind that made his white lab coat flutter violently. In the blink of an eye, he had already reached the front of the Bat Hollow.

With a forceful stomp of one foot, he halted his momentum right in front of the Bat Hollow. He unleashed a punch carrying terrifying force, driving it directly into the creature.

The Bat Hollow was startled; with no time to think, it threw a punch of its own to meet the attack. However, a subconscious sneer curled its lips—while this human's strength was impressive, it was still just a common human daring to contend with a Hollow.

Setting aside the disparity in power, its arm alone was thicker than the entire body of this human.

But the moment their fists collided, the Bat Hollow's expression shifted. It felt a terrifying, insurmountable force surging up through its fist, followed immediately by excruciating pain.

Bang—

Accompanied by a deafening blast, the massive arm, under the impact of Wu Biao's punch, bulged in the middle like an overinflated balloon before the entire limb instantly exploded into a mist of blood.

This scene left the Bat Hollow's mind blank, and it wasn't the only one; such a bloody and violent display caused even Rukia and Kurosaki Ichigo to swallow hard. They couldn't help but wonder, if that punch had landed on them... their fate would likely be the same as this Hollow's!!!

"Awoooo..." An inhuman shriek followed, but it was choked off in the blink of an eye.

Just as Wu Biao's fist was about to strike the Bat Hollow's skull, he shifted from a fist to a claw, gripping the creature's remaining left arm. He grabbed its neck with his left hand and pulled with all his might in opposite directions.

A terrifying tearing force descended. The instantaneous agony was so intense that the Bat Hollow couldn't even scream; it wished it could simply faint, but the searing pain stimulated its nerves every single second.

Rip—

Starting from the shoulder blade, the Bat Hollow's left arm was torn away in a rain of blood. Wu Biao, standing at point-blank range, was drenched in the gore. Combined with the murderous intent in his eyes and the cruel arc of his lips, the Wu Biao standing there now looked nothing like the chuunibyou patient or the hot-blooded idiot everyone knew.

Instead... he looked like a bloodthirsty maniac!

Wu Biao gripped the neck of the gasping Bat Hollow with one hand. Despite the massive disparity in their sizes, it felt as if Wu Biao was the one looking down from above.

His right hand tightened gradually, and the Bat Hollow's throat emitted a "gurgling" sound, accompanied by a stream of bloody foam.

When his hand finally clamped onto its cervical spine, Wu Biao's eyes sharpened. He channeled his strength, preparing to pull. If he followed through, the Bat Hollow's head, along with its entire spinal column, would be ripped out clean.

But just then, an unexpected turn occurred. At the very moment the Bat Hollow was about to die, an unknown fluctuation emerged, generating a terrifying force within its body that shoved Wu Biao away.

Wu Biao dug his feet into the ground, carving out two trenches nearly ten meters long before he finally came to a stop.

When he looked up at the Hollow, the coldness on his face vanished, replaced by a look of stunned disbelief as he stared at the massive gate that had appeared out of thin air.

"What the hell is this? A portal to another world?"

"The Gates of Hell!" Rukia and the others arrived, and looking at the colossal gate, Rukia explained, "Any Hollow that committed grave sins while alive is dragged into the Gates of Hell before they die!"

Kurosaki Ichigo nodded upon hearing this, but Wu Biao asked from the side, "What kind of place is Hell?"

Rukia frowned. Though she didn't understand why Wu Biao would ask such a thing, she replied, "I don't know. Only Hollows who committed major sins in life can enter. It is said that those who enter are subjected to punishments worse than death!"

"So, they can't die?"

"Yes!" Rukia nodded subconsciously, but her expression suddenly changed as an ominous feeling rose in her heart: "You..." Before she could finish, she felt a small black shadow being tossed toward her.

Looking over, she saw it was the parrot containing the soul of Shibata Yuichi.

By the time she had answered him, Wu Biao was already charging toward the opening Gates of Hell.

"Stop him!!!" Rukia cried out in alarm to Kurosaki Ichigo, who had been stunned by the sudden turn of events.

But even if Kurosaki Ichigo had reacted, it was already too late. By the time she shouted, Wu Biao had reached the open gate, staring at the massive hand reaching out from within, holding a giant spike, ready to impale the Bat Hollow.

"Sorry, but I made a promise to the Shibata Parrot..."

As he spoke, Wu Biao used his left hand to grab the Hollow hole in the Bat Hollow's chest and yanked it aside.

While rotating his body, he threw his right fist out, striking the side of the giant spike and knocking it off course, causing it to graze past his body.

Wu Biao felt a terrifying, extreme force ripple from his fist. Dense, blade-like lacerations instantly appeared all over his arm, and the force tore his white lab coat to shreds.

The next moment, countless cuts appeared all over his body, turning him into a blood-soaked mess in the blink of an eye. The intense pain twisted his expression, and he let out groans of agony, yet he forced a triumphant smirk through the pain.

"...this bastard, I'm going to tear it to pieces!" The words followed right on cue. Ignoring the excruciating pain in his body, he hooked his hands into the Bat Hollow's chest cavity and pulled with all his might!

The already dying Bat Hollow could only let out a faint, muffled grunt before it was completely torn in two. A rain of blood fell from the sky, with Wu Biao standing underneath, taking a shower in it.

This scene made Rukia feel fear toward this human for the first time!!!

Because he was a madman!

A madman who feared nothing in order to keep his promise!!!

With the death of the Bat Hollow, the giant spike reaching out from the Gates of Hell paused in the void for a moment before retracting. However, the gate did not collapse or vanish; the red light in the eye sockets of the skulls on either side of the door flashed violently.

Wu Biao felt an inexplicable lock-on settle upon him, coming directly from the Gates of Hell.

"Cough, cough... I won!" Wu Biao coughed up a mouthful of blood. Far from being afraid, his face was filled with fanaticism and excitement. Clearly, being able to fulfill his promise made him very happy!

Rukia looked at the flashing red eyes of the skulls on the gate and swallowed hard in terror. No one knew what would happen next, because... no one had ever dared to snatch someone away from the Gates of Hell before!!!

The scene fell into silence. The Gates of Hell kept its lock on Wu Biao for nearly half a minute before the red light in the skulls faded. The gate gradually closed, finally shattering and dissolving into spirit particles, leaving no trace behind.

This sight made both Rukia and Kurosaki Ichigo breathe a sigh of relief!

"Lunatic!!!"

Immediately after, Rukia stepped forward, exasperated. "Do you have any idea how dangerous your actions were? Do you realize you could have dragged us into this too?"

"..."

Her words went unanswered. Rukia frowned, stepped forward, and tapped Wu Biao on the shoulder: "I'm talking to..." Before she could finish, Wu Biao collapsed at her touch.

Kurosaki Ichigo, standing nearby, reacted quickly and caught him.

Only then did they realize that Wu Biao had already passed out, yet a smug smile remained on his face, and his vacant eyes seemed to hold the pride of victory!

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(End of chapter)