Chapter 40: The Forsaken
I calmly watched the shocked and betrayed expressions of the Quincy around me as they stared up at the sky, where the blue pillars of Auswählen descended throughout the Seireitei, targeting every Quincy within Soul Society.
It didn't take long before a symphony of screams echoed across the battlefield, only reaffirming everything I had warned them about.
“H-He wasn't kidding?” Candice muttered in disbelief before her expression twisted into one of fury as she immediately turned and tried to flee.
“W-What's the meaning of this, Your Majesty!?” Liltotto shouted toward the heavens in a rare display of emotion, her voice filled with equal parts devastation and rage. “What do you think you're doing!? What the hell were we to you!?”
“W-We have to hide!” Meninas exclaimed worriedly as she hurried after Candice.
“A-Are you fucking with me!? Slime-chan was telling the truth!?” Bambietta yelled in panic as she joined the others in trying to escape.
“Your Majesty... is this your way of doing things!?” Bazz-B roared at the sky, his voice carrying the same anger and disbelief.
The only one who remained silent was Giselle, who simply stared upward in stunned surprise.
“It's finally starting to sink in, huh?” I muttered, drawing everyone's attention before snapping my fingers.
A transparent barrier instantly formed around us, isolating the entire area within a separate dimension and cutting off every possible escape route.
A moment later, Candice, Bambietta, and Meninas crashed face-first into the invisible wall, having failed to notice it until it was too late.
“Oww! What the hell!?” Candice shouted as she rubbed her face before frantically looking around. “We're trapped inside a barrier?”
“Owwie...” Meninas softly rubbed her forehead where she'd collided with the barrier, wearing an adorably confused expression.
“Let me out, damn it!” Bambietta, meanwhile, reacted exactly as expected, bombarding the barrier with explosions in an attempt to blast her way through.
It accomplished absolutely nothing.
“Don't bother,” I said, drawing their attention once more.
A few amused chuckles escaped my lips as several pillars of Auswählen struck the top of the barrier, clearly targeting those inside, only to harmlessly disperse against its surface.
“What did you do?” Liltotto asked cautiously.
Being the sharpest of the Bambies, and someone I admittedly found both likable and rather cute, she kept one eye on me while the other watched the blue pillars repeatedly fail to penetrate the barrier.
“I isolated the space around us inside another dimension,” I answered with a casual shrug as I watched Auswählen continue to fail. “Within this space, I decide who enters and who leaves. Pretty handy, right?”
Rather than reassuring them, my explanation only made them even more wary.
Well, everyone except Meninas.
She merely tilted her head at me curiously.
“…Why would you save us?” Candice finally asked, raising an eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest. “Don't tell me you're still trying to recruit us?”
Her question earned a laugh from me, which only caused her scowl to deepen.
“What's so funny!?” Bambietta demanded with a growl.
“While it's true that I still intend to recruit you,” I said with a teasing grin, “if you remember correctly, I never said I wanted to recruit all of you.”
Everyone except Bazz-B immediately caught on and instinctively looked around for their fellow Bambie, only to freeze when a familiar scream echoed nearby.
Our gazes turned toward the source of the voice.
Just outside the barrier, Giselle desperately pounded against its invisible surface, clearly trying to get inside. Unfortunately for him, he was already engulfed by the light of Auswählen, his body trembling violently as agonized screams escaped his lips.
“H-Help me! B-Bambi-chan! Everyone!” Giselle cried weakly, his voice filled with pain as he repeatedly struck the barrier with his fists.
“Gigi!”
Some of the girls exclaimed in surprise, with Meninas and Bambietta immediately attempting to blast open the barrier.
Just like before, their attacks accomplished absolutely nothing.
Candice and Liltotto merely turned their narrowed gazes toward me, while Bazz-B didn't even spare Giselle a glance. He continued glaring toward the source of the blue light, his face twisted with anger over Yhwach's betrayal.
“What's your deal with Gigi?” Candice asked, sounding surprisingly calm despite the situation. She didn't appear particularly bothered by the fact that her companion was currently dying just outside the barrier.
“…Yeah,” Liltotto added with a slight tilt of her head. “Why do you seem to hate Gigi so much? Does him pretending to be a girl really bother you that much?”
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
“I couldn't care less what he decides to call himself or how he chooses to dress. If you remember, I'm literally a slime. Technically speaking, I'm genderless, so I couldn't give two shits about things like that.”
My expression darkened into one of open disgust.
“What I hate about that disgusting freak is his necrophiliac fetish... and the fact that he's a sexual predator.”
For a brief moment, Candice and Liltotto simply blinked.
Then, almost simultaneously, the hostility disappeared from their expressions. They exchanged a quick glance before turning back toward me.
“That makes sense.”
Both of them nodded in complete understanding.
“Glad you understand,” I replied with an appreciative nod, genuinely relieved that neither of them seemed to hold it against me for refusing to save their companion.
Then again, from my perspective, the Bambies had never really struck me as close friends.
They always felt more like a group brought together by circumstance and shared interests than genuine companionship.
Our attention returned to Giselle.
We silently watched as his screams gradually weakened before disappearing altogether.
Moments later, his body collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.
To be honest, the thought of devouring him had never even crossed my mind.
I simply had no need for his power.
If I ever wanted the ability to raise the dead and command them as my servants, I could always travel to the Solo Leveling world in the future and devour either Ashborn or Sung Jinwoo instead.
Their version of necromancy was both far cooler... and incomparably stronger than Giselle's.
Seeing that it was futile to continue attacking the barrier, Meninas and Bambietta finally stopped and turned toward me, the latter looking absolutely furious, making me raise a curious eyebrow.
It was actually kind of sad.
Out of all the Bambies, Bambietta seemed to be the only one who genuinely considered the others her friends, while the rest didn't appear to care nearly as much about her.
'Heh, if only she knew the fate that awaited her if I wasn't here,' I thought, inwardly rolling my eyes. 'She should be on her knees thanking me for saving her from something like that instead.'
“You bastard!” Bambietta suddenly screamed in rage before launching herself at me at full speed, clearly having lost all reason.
“Bambi, wait!” Liltotto and Candice shouted simultaneously, their eyes widening as they realized what she was doing.
By this point, they knew full well that I had been toying with them from the very beginning.
Meninas merely watched me warily but made no move to follow Bambietta's reckless charge, choosing instead to remain beside Liltotto and Candice.
Just before Bambietta reached me, I let out a small sigh.
Then I loosened some the restraints I had placed on my Demon Lord's Haki.
An explosive wave of pressure burst from my body.
Instantly, everyone inside the barrier was forced to the ground.
Grunts of pain, panic, and fear filled the air as they found themselves crushed onto their hands and knees, unable to even lift their heads beneath the overwhelming pressure.
Being the closest to me, Bambietta received the full force of it.
Her entire body was slammed face-first into the ground as a pained scream escaped her lips under the sheer weight pressing down on her.
“Hah...” I sighed while looking down at her impassively. “For such a beautiful girl, your temper leaves a lot to be desired.”
Bambietta slowly turned her head just enough to look at me from the corner of her eye.
The rage that had filled her expression moments ago was gone.
Only terror remained.
“Now then,” I said, lifting my gaze toward the others. They all looked back at me with varying degrees of fear, suddenly reminded that they were trapped inside an impenetrable barrier with a monster they couldn't hope to fight. “Do I have your word... all of you... that you won't attack me if I release you and simply listen to what I have to say?”
Liltotto, Meninas, and Candice were the first to respond.
Once I allowed them just enough freedom to move, they gave stiff, jerky nods.
I then turned my attention toward Bazz-B.
Although the betrayal was still plainly written across his face, after a brief moment of silence, he reluctantly nodded as well.
That left only one person.
“And you, crazy explosion girl?” I asked calmly as I knelt down on one knee in front of Bambietta and looked directly into her eyes.
The moment our gazes met, her body visibly flinched.
She instinctively tried to crawl away but was unable to move beneath the crushing pressure.
“...Y-Y... Yes...” Bambietta finally managed to stammer out submissively, her voice trembling as she lowered her gaze, unable to look me in the eyes any longer.
“Good,” I said as I stood back up. “Was that really so difficult?”
At the same time, I reined in my Demon Lord's Haki.
The oppressive pressure vanished, and a collective wave of relief swept through the trapped Quincy as they were finally able to breathe normally again.
Once they were back on their feet, I remained silent as Bambietta all but jumped away from me in a panic. In her haste, she even tripped over her own feet and landed on her back before scrambling away on all fours, clearly wanting to put as much distance between us as possible.
It didn’t even register to her that while she was doing that, she was flashing me her black panties the entire time.
It was black lace.
After reaching the other Bambies, she hurriedly climbed back to her feet and immediately positioned herself behind them, almost as if using them as a shield from my gaze. Throughout it all, her eyes never once rose above the ground.
“Tsk, so what did you want?” Bazz-B grunted with a small scowl as he shoved his hands into his pockets and regarded me much more calmly than before.
Seeing that the Bambies were paying close attention as well, I nodded and mirrored his relaxed posture.
“Since you weren't here when I first made the offer, let me reiterate,” I began calmly. “From the very start, I knew Yhwach was going to betray every one of you. Knowing that, I offered them the chance to join me.”
Bazz-B blinked and glanced toward the Bambies, who simply remained silent before he turned his attention back to me.
“As you can clearly see, they refused. A combination of misplaced loyalty and understandable mistrust, I imagine.” I shrugged lightly. “As it turns out, however, I wasn't lying, and here we all find ourselves.”
“Idiots,” Bazz-B sneered, earning several scowls from the Bambies before returning his gaze to me.
“Before anything else, what's your plan? His Majesty and Jugo were surprisingly tight-lipped about you after they came back from Hueco Mundo with their asses thoroughly kicked.”
His question immediately piqued everyone else's interest.
I couldn't really blame them.
Seeing both their Emperor and Grandmaster return battered and injured must have been something none of them had ever imagined possible.
Even Bambietta cautiously looked up at me before immediately lowering her head again the instant our eyes met.
'...Seems I may have overdone it a little with my Haki,' I thought to myself, though I wisely kept that observation to myself.
“Heh, I'm not surprised the mustached bastard didn't tell you anything,” I scoffed with an amused grin. “How could he? The only things he knows about me are what I've personally allowed him to know.”
That earned several curious looks.
“To answer your question, though, my objective is simple.” I spoke as casually as if discussing tomorrow's weather. “I intend to leave this universe together with everyone under my protection.”
I paused for a moment before continuing.
“You see... I'm not actually from this realm of existence.”
I smiled slightly.
“That's the real reason your King is so wary of me and wants to kill me.”
Silence greeted my revelation.
Then—
“What!?”
Every one of them shouted in unison, their eyes widening in complete disbelief.
“…Hard to believe, isn't it?” I asked with a lazy smirk.
“Of course it is!” Candice snapped. “Who the hell would believe something that ridiculous!?”
“Another universe...” Meninas murmured thoughtfully, tilting her head as she rested a finger beneath her lips.
“Hmph. Do you have any proof?” Liltotto asked skeptically, folding her arms across her chest.
“Heh... interesting,” Bazz-B muttered with an intrigued grin, earning strange looks from the others that he completely ignored.
The only one who remained silent was Bambietta.
Although surprise was clearly written across her face, she still refused to lift her gaze above my neck.
“Wahahaha! I suppose that's the obvious question, isn't it?” I laughed, drawing everyone's attention back to me.
My smile slowly widened.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
Nor was it one that could be called particularly human.
Bambietta visibly flinched at the sight of it and instinctively raised her arms in front of her face.
“How about this for proof?” I asked pleasantly.
“You can watch me devour the Soul King... every last one of his body parts... and finally your King himself with your own two eyes.”
Another wave of stunned silence swept over the group.
I simply stood there and patiently waited.
Judging from their expressions, and considering Yhwach had just attempted to sacrifice them as if they were trash, I already had a fairly good idea what their answer was going to be.
'All according to keikaku.'
=====
With Ichigo
Breathing heavily, his clothes ripped and tattered in several places and dried blood staining them from wounds that had already healed thanks to his Hollow regeneration, Ichigo never once took his eyes off the monster standing before him.
Behind him stood Orihime, protected by her orange shield after joining the battle against Yhwach midway through the fight, and Ichigo couldn't have been more grateful for her arrival.
While his Hollow powers granted him ridiculous regeneration, healing still consumed Reiatsu. Having Orihime at his side was a godsend, as she could restore even his most serious injuries within moments, allowing him to conserve his strength for the battle ahead.
Thanks to the months they had spent training together under Caius, she wasn't the least bit afraid of his merged Hollow form. She had seen it countless times already and knew he had complete control over it.
Unfortunately, even that hadn't been enough to defeat the fully empowered King of the Quincy.
After the mysterious light descended from the sky, Yhwach had become several times stronger, forcing Ichigo to release his Bankai just to keep up.
No matter what he tried, however, he simply couldn't land a decisive blow.
Every time he thought he had finally cornered Yhwach or delivered a fatal strike, the Quincy King would somehow avoid it at the last possible moment, as if he had known exactly what was going to happen.
Even if Ichigo was physically stronger and had more Reiatsu, as Yhwach himself had shockingly admitted, it didn't change the fact that The Almighty was simply too overpowered.
At this rate, the battle was unfolding exactly as Caius had predicted months ago, leaving Ichigo increasingly frustrated as he desperately searched for some way to overcome such a broken ability.
At one point, Yhwach had even attempted to absorb his powers by grabbing his arm during one of their clashes.
Ichigo had felt genuine panic in that instant.
Thankfully, nothing happened.
The one who appeared most shocked, however, was Yhwach himself.
The Quincy King had suddenly begun cursing Caius under his breath, looking strangely unsettled as his shadow stretched across the ground.
A moment later, three figures emerged from it.
One was completely covered from head to toe.
Another was a creepy-looking man with long black hair and two tongues.
The last was a slim man with slicked-back black hair and an easygoing expression.
“Pernida Parnkgjas, Nianzol Weizol, Askin Nakk Le Vaar,” Yhwach ordered without hesitation. “Your task is to stall Kurosaki Ichigo. More importantly, do everything in your power to prevent Caius Aurelius from following us.”
His expression hardened.
“Do not fail me.”
Without waiting for a response, Yhwach shot into the sky at his maximum speed, heading straight toward the Royal Palace.
Although confused by the sudden turn of events, Ichigo knew he couldn't waste any more time trying to understand it.
Tightening his grip on his Zanpakutō, he shifted his focus to his three new opponents and readied himself for the next battle knowing he had to finish it as fast as possible before following Yhwach.