To my former Patreon supporters:
Please inform me of the last chapter you read before my account got deactivated. I'll continue from there on Kofi while speedrunning things here!!!
Happy New Year everyone!!!!
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Deep in the night, within the underground sanctuary of the Visored warehouse, a tense quiet had settled.
Thanks to Orihime Inoue's diligent care, Ichigo Kurosaki's wounds had fully closed. He now slept heavily, overcome by battle exhaustion. Hirako Shinji and the others, believing the immediate crisis had passed, allowed themselves a moment to breathe.
Above them, in the empty air outside the derelict warehouse, reality tore open with a soundless rip. A Garganta yawned, and from its darkness emerged three figures: Ulquiorra Cifer, Zommari Rureaux, and the hulking, aged form of Barragan Louisenbairn. Their collective gaze fell upon the unassuming building.
"Zommari. Proceed. Locate the human female, Arisawa Tatsuki, by sensing her latent spiritual pressure. Be swift," Ulquiorra commanded.
Zommari clasped his hands in a pious gesture, nodded, and vanished in a blur of Sonído.
"So. I simply unleash my power upon that hovel below, yes?" Barragan grumbled, his voice a gravelly rumble of impatience.
"Not yet. We wait for Zommari's return," Ulquiorra replied, hands tucked in his pockets, his expression unreadable.
The wait was brief. In moments, Zommari reappeared, the unconscious form of Tatsuki Arisawa slung over his shoulder. A small satchel was in his other hand.
"Is the subject unharmed? And the items?"
"She is merely unconscious. The requested identification objects are here." Zommari handed over the bag containing a few of Tatsuki's personal effects—a textbook, a hairpin, a distinctive pen. Props for psychological coercion.
Ulquiorra accepted them. "Take her to Hueco Mundo. Deliver her directly to Aizen-sama. Ensure she is kept unharmed. Her value is conditional."
"Understood." Without another word, Zommari opened a new Garganta and disappeared into the void with his captive.
"Now we begin. Employ your full power from the outset," Ulquiorra said, turning his green eyes to Barragan.
"Hmph." With a sound of disdain, Barragan descended to the cracked asphalt. He raised a bony hand. "Rot, Arrogante."
His form underwent a grotesque transformation. His aged body withered further, becoming a regal, skeletal figure clad in a dark, flowing robe and a gleaming crown. A palpable aura of decay radiated from him—the Segunda Espada, Barragan Louisenbairn, in his Resurrección.
"A mere barrier… rot to nothing." He placed his skeletal hand against the invisible barrier Hachigen had erected around the warehouse. Where his fingers touched, a black, mist-like substance—Respira—bled forth. The barrier hissed and sizzled, dissolving on contact like paper in acid.
…
Underground, Hachigen Ushōda's eyes snapped open. "The outer barrier! It's been destroyed! This is not like Miss Inoue's infiltration—this is a hostile breach!"
The warning snapped everyone to alert. Before they could mobilize to the surface, however, the threat descended to them. A section of the far wall simply… decayed and crumbled away, revealing the cavern entrance. There stood the skeletal Barragan, with Ulquiorra a silent shadow behind him.
The oppressive, vile spiritual pressure emanating from Barragan made the air feel thick and toxic.
"Hey, hey… what is that thing? Is that really an Arrancar?!" Love Aikawa muttered, his usual composure strained.
"It is. And the one behind him is the Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra. I remember him," Hirako Shinji said, his voice low and serious, his hand drifting to the hilt of his Zanpakuto.
Ulquiorra's gaze swept the chamber, noting its single, confined entrance. 'A bottleneck. Ideal for Barragan's power.'
"Barragan Louisenbairn. Maximum output. Now."
"Do not presume to command this king!" Barragan roared, but obeyed. He exhaled, and a vast cloud of the corrosive black mist, Respira, billowed forth, flooding the entrance and beginning to eat into the chamber itself.
"Move! We can't get trapped in here!" Hiyori Sarugaki yelled.
"Wait, Hiyori! That mist isn't normal!" Shinji's instincts screamed danger. He grabbed a metal stool and hurled it into the advancing cloud.
The result was horrifying. The stool didn't melt; it aged millennia in seconds, rusting into brittle flakes that then dissolved into nothingness before they even hit the ground.
"What… what kind of ability is that?!" Shinji felt a cold sweat break out.
In moments, a wall of the insidious black mist filled the front of the chamber. Ulquiorra raised a hand. "Enough."
Barragan ceased with a contemptuous snort.
"Greetings, former Captains and Lieutenants of the Gotei 13," Ulquiorra stated, his voice echoing in the suddenly quiet space.
"Cut the crap, Arrancar. What do you want?" Shinji demanded, his mind racing for a counter to that terrifying decay.
"I have something to show you." At Ulquiorra's nod, Barragan parted the mist just enough to create a narrow channel. Ulquiorra tossed the small satchel forward. It skidded to a stop at Shinji's feet.
Cautiously, Shinji picked it up and examined the contents. "A book… a hairpin… a pen? What's this supposed to be?"
But Orihime, who had been watching from behind the others, froze. Her breath hitched. Her hands flew to her mouth, her face draining of color. She recognized them instantly—Tatsuki's favorite hairpin from middle school, her current textbook, the pen she always used…
"Inoue Orihime. If you see these, you understand. I advise you to come willingly," Ulquiorra said, his gaze locking onto the petrified girl.
"Orihime? So you're after her after all. Sorry, but that's not happening!" Shinji's resolve hardened. Even if it meant revealing their strength, they had to protect her. "Everyone! We're going all out!"
"Are you certain that is wise?" Ulquiorra's tone was chillingly calm. "If you do not comply…"
"Wait! Hirako-kun, please wait!" Orihime's voice, small but desperate, cut through the tension.
"Hey, woman! We said we'd protect you, and we mean it!" Hiyori snapped.
But Orihime's mind was reeling. Those were Tatsuki's things. Her best friend was in their hands. What had they done to her? If she refused…
"Do not misunderstand. Come willingly, and I can guarantee that individual's safety," Ulquiorra added, the offer a thinly veiled threat.
"Orihime, don't! Who is he talking about? You have to trust us!" Shinji pleaded.
Orihime did trust them. But Tatsuki's safety was a weight that crushed that trust. She took a shaky step forward, her head bowed. "I… I'll go with you. But you have to leave this place. Now."
"Orihime, no!" Shinji lunged to grab her, but Barragan exhaled another stream of Respira, creating a swirling, decaying moat that separated Orihime from the Visored.
'Damn it! We don't know enough about that mist! A direct touch is suicide!'
Barragan created a narrow, clear path through the mist toward Ulquiorra. "Step forward, human. You choose correctly."
"Hey! Baldy! They're taking her!" Hiyori shrieked in fury.
"Tch… Fine! We do this the hard way!" Shinji's hand shot to his face. With a tearing motion, his Hollow mask manifested. A sphere of red energy—a Cero—began to condense in his palm. The other Visored followed suit, masks appearing as they prepared to blast their way through the decaying barrier with concentrated Hollow power.
The sudden surge of violent reiatsu finally jarred Ichigo awake. He stumbled to his feet, bleary-eyed. "Shinji?! What's going on?!"
"No time to explain, Ichigo!" Shinji barked, focusing on his Cero. "Kensei! Use your Bankai! See if you can disperse that mist with wind!"
"On it! Bankai! Tekken Tachikaze!" Kensei Muguruma's spiritual pressure exploded. Twin serrated blades appeared in his hands, with heavy treads wrapping around his arms and back. His Bankai manipulated wind and concussive force.
He swung, releasing a torrent of pressurized air. For a moment, it seemed to work—the leading edge of Respira wavered, pushed back. But Barragan's decay was not mere gas; it was an embodiment of entropic law, empowered by his immense spirit energy. With a growl, Barragan reinforced the mist, and it surged forward again, even thicker than before.
Time was running out. Orihime was already halfway to Ulquiorra, tears streaming silently down her face as she walked toward her capture to save her friend.
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Please comment on any errors that you see.
While I'm indeed speedrunning this, I assure that quality is guaranteed. There should only be minimal errors, if any.