章節 41: Chapter 41
Darkness and Light.
Good and Evil.
Inconsistencies existed everywhere and not all things appeared as they seemed, similar to the blurriness of turbid water over a still lake. When rippled, only the tiniest glitters of light could be seen reflected off of the surface, and even then, within the darkest of waters on a tranquil night the moon's reflection existed.
No matter which side one allied themselves with amidst the battle, all participants had their reasons to fight, and Shirou knew his clearly.
There was both a goal and an answer waiting for him above in a place that no ordinary soul could go. However, this was all the more reason for him to continue striving.
It was in search of a reason for his existence in this world.
The hollow shell that he called his life as a Hollow would have no other meaning otherwise.
He did not strive for power.
He did not strive for ambition or a greater purpose.
The inner part of himself already knew that this was the consequence of burying the ideals that had truly made him who he was, and in retrospect, he still had his doubts. Was it worth it? Was it necessary? Nevertheless, such questions didn't matter anymore simply because his actions had saved millions of already tormented souls.
They were called Hollows, souls that had fallen into despair and preyed on the innocent. Shinigami were said to purify them, to bring them back to the process of reincarnation and back to the cycle of life and death through Konso, but did that process fill the void?
Souls only became Hollows due to lingering feelings of despair and attachments. Simply sending them to the Soul Society as done by the Shinigami did not mean that they were saved. It only meant that they were placed back into the balanced cycle of the spiritual world.
The best example was the poor conditions of the Rukongai which surrounded the lands outside the walls of the Seireitei. There were no laws there, and the souls were left to fend for themselves in poverty. Those with higher spiritual energy would starve on the streets and be forced to make a living. Rather than salvation, Shinigami Konso was more akin to delaying the problem and putting it off.
Worse, souls could die within the Rukongai before the process of reincarnation.
Hollows were already tormented souls.
Reducing them back into a state of weakness and them leaving them to fend for themselves within the streets of the Rukongai was not saving anything.
Hollows were still souls.
Just because they were different from other souls, didn't mean that they were necessarily evil. The stronger a hollow, the more intellectual it became, as if the soul was no longer controlled by base primal instincts to feed. This was the reason why no Adjuchas level Hollow or greater ever ventured to the Human World even after Hueco Mundo's creation.
Hollows were always considered enemies to Shinigami, Humans, and Quincy.
If some aspect of good still remained within Hollows, then who would save those souls?
Images of the scenes that Shirou had seen in his memories flashed across his mind one at a time. Coyote, the Hollows, the fear, the hiding, and most of all, the emotions that were slowly regained, none of it denoted the actions of a monster.
From animal shaped hollows, to human forms; the very evolution of Hollows revealed what was truly happening.
Animals?
Beasts?
So why then did they look and feel so utterly human?
Shirou closed his eyes, recalling the very convictions that allowed him to reason with the actions he had taken back then.
He had remembered who he was.
His name was Shirou Emiya. The boy who lived through a cursed flame whose heat deprived him of his mind and soul, leaving nothing left but a hollow body.
What purpose did he have in ending up in a world far different from his own in the quiet town of Fuyuki?
It was enough.
Even if he did not know what it was that he'd find at the end of his path, right now, he knew what wanted to do.
No longer was he just fighting for himself, but for the Hollows who fought along with him for his sake.
He would not let them die.
What Shirou didn't know was what purpose his presence in Heuco Mundo had been serving. A void existed within every Hollow representing the feelings and sentiments that they had lost in their hollowfication. Slowly but surely, that void had been closing the longer that they spent in the Vasto of White's lands and near Shirou himself.
The stronger they became, the smaller the individual voices, and the smaller the void.
He had to work harder.
Just a little more.
He already had a rough estimate of how much power was required to shatter the transportation Kido before him. The only problem was that he became the target of all the Shinigami's attacks.
He stood at the center while projecting his swords up into the air.
Baraggan was near him and continuing to send a steady supply of his purple miasma despite Shunsui's interference.
"Go, it's enough," he spoke to Baraggan while directing the entirety of his focus on his projections. The power exuding from the transportation Kido was palpable. It wasn't enough to threaten Shirou, but he was far more concerned about everyone else.
Therefore, he would destroy it.
Destroy the Kido so thoroughly that there would be nothing left.
Baraggan eyed him for a moment, before wordlessly inclining his head and chasing after Shunsui.
Meanwhile, Shirou took a deep breath.
Just a little bit more time.
"Stop him!"
Scorching flames that burned with the fire of an inferno raced towards Shirou followed by hundreds upon hundreds of attacks. Lightning, Ice, wind, swords, the Shinigami spared no expense while spurned on by Yamamoto's order. No matter if the Shinigami were facing an enemy before them or not, they aimed their attacks in only a single direction.
Shirou's expression remained neutral.
He could endure it.
The extent of damage that he'd sustain from the Shinigami's attacks weren't enough to put him down. Although injury was possible, when he compared the value of himself over the value of all of those that he cared about, then it was a small price to pay.
Still, Shirou didn't understand it yet, but he was already a pillar from the perspective of the Hollows who followed him.
He was their leader.
Their Vasto of White.
The Hollows in the Lands of the Vasto of White would not stay idle.
Everywhere, gazes shifted no matter on which part of the battlefield.
Harribel pulled away from a group of Shinigami attacking her.
Apacci, Mila Rose, Sung Sun forced back the seated-officers around them.
"Kaien!"
Aaroniero, stopped avoiding the persistent woman chasing after him since the beginning of the battle.
Grimmjow grunted while swinging fresh blood off of his sword.
No matter where, Hollows were staring up at the sky and at the attacks that the Captains and Shinigami had launched towards Shirou with bloodshot eyes.
"ESPADA!"
A rallying cry sounded through the air. When the Hollows in the land of the Vasto of White had first transformed into Arrancar, several had not been simple Adjuchas, but on another level entirely fostered by the spiritual energy of innumerable swords.
The Greatest form of Hollow.
Vasto Lordes.
It didn't matter where they were on the battlefield. The strongest of the Army of the Vasto of White paused and concentrated towards the sky. They understood what was being called upon them with clarity.
In the entirety of the spiritual world, it was not the Shinigami nor Quincy who were known to possess the most devastating of abilities.
That title and achievement belonged only to Hollows, the most corrupt and destructive of spiritual life forms.
Nails ripped into the flesh of hardened skin and drew blood.
It was a meshing of spiritual energy and the blood of a Soul.
The power of a Grand King, spiraling in the form of lightning upon formation.
A deep buzzing noise reverberated throughout the entire dimension, suffocating in the sheer pressure exuded. Bursts of light varying in colour erupted in pillars that reached towards the heavens. Red, blue, cyan, azure, emerald, it was the sound of whirring power reminiscent to the thrum of accelerating photons, lasers.
They who were Kings.
They who had the right to look down upon the Hollows of Hueco Mundo as Greater Hollows.
Take this blast, and make it whole.
A consolidation of the ferocity of a Hollow's spiritual energy, and the control of a Shinigami's refined reiatsu made from the merging of the two powers.
Fingers bent; palms pointed upwards.
Spiritual energy gathered into distorted spheres.
Reduce all to Zero.
It was a power that bordered on sheer annihilation using the gathered and condensed malice of a Hollow.
The means of a King.
A Doom Blast greater than any other using the lifeblood of a hollow's spiritual essence itself.
"G-Get away!" The Shinigami gave their warnings to those nearest to Harribel and the rest, but by then there was nothing left to be done.
It happened simultaneously.
Arms pointed upwards, blinding light flashed throughout the dimension in response to the attacks that the Shinigami had launched prior.
Like the ebbing of a tide of ocean water, the waves drew back, and then returned forth with the strength of an even greater tide.
"GRAN RAY CERO!" The Grand King's Zero.
It was an attack that could level the entirety of Los Nochas in Hueco Mundo in a single blow, and yet this time, it was performed by the hands of many.
The world was shaking
The energies impacted together all at once, intercepting the path to Shirou.
The numerous attacks that the Shinigami had sent collided with the power of the Grand King's Zeroes in a battle of dominance. One side pushed heavily against the others until in the end, both energies dissipated into particles of spiritual energy. Fragments of swords and weapons that the Shinigami had willed to attack, scattered everywhere and raining down like hail.
"Fuck," Karen covered her face with her arms from where she stood in the section of the battlefield that Ichigo alone had rendered inactive.
The pressure from the clash of energies was too strong to be easily contained, and the shockwave had travelled faster than anyone could have had been able to react to.
Fractures were forming over the four towers stabilizing the fake dimension of Karakura Town, causing the Lieutenants guarding the towers to inwardly panic and grimace. If the dimension shattered and the battle was brought directly into the Human World, then the damage would be catastrophic.
Meanwhile, the resulting clash of energies caused wind to whip violently in the air, forcing back several Shinigami and Arrancar.
For Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, it was different.
She didn't even bat an eye as the winds assailed her, rather she continued to weakly lift her arm up. Out of all the other Vasto Lorde-Class Hollows that had become Arrancar, it was only her that had been too fatigued to contribute an attack.
Even now, a pink sphere was uselessly trying to form over her palm while fading in and out.
Damn it.
She pursed her lips to prevent herself from swaying, her vision somewhat blurred until she shook her head. It was no use on forming a strong enough Cero. Instead, there was a greater and more pressing issue at hand.
She could see it.
Even though the Shinigami's attacks had been stopped, someone of Nel's capabilities quickly picked up on the fact that Yamamoto was quickly dashing towards Shirou with his sword raised.
Of course, Nel wasn't the only one to notice.
Harribel, Grimmjow, and the rest all saw it and moved to intervene, but mere seconds later, they were instantly intercepted by Captain-Class Shinigami.
Nel's expression darkened as she looked over the battlefield.
Shirou was still up there charging an attack to destroy the teleportation Kido before him.
Sajin Komamura still lay on the ground unmoving from when Ichigo had dealt with him, making Nel's area the only place with no Captain around to block her advance.
Still, she wasn't exactly in the best condition. Unlike Ulquiorra, she did not maintain her high-speed regeneration after becoming an Arrancar and was therefore left in a wounded state after her prolonged clash against Sajin and the other Shinigami with him. She did maintain certain healing abilities, but she'd never resort to using such methods in public.
Help him. I have to help him.
She didn't believe that Shirou had the ability to block Yamamoto while managing his sword abilities.
Move.
She bit down on her lips and drew from the near empty well of spiritual energy that she had left within her. In mere seconds she was soaring upwards.
Wind whipped across her face, but she didn't so much as flinch.
Her position was optimal.
Out of all the Espada, she was the closest to Shirou, making it possible for her to intercept Yamamoto. As for surviving such an encounter against the head Commander of the Seireitei, she wasn't even thinking about it.
Shirou was different. If it was for him, then surely, he could lead the Hollows to something greater than just Evil spirits.
Don't you dare touch him.
Her eyes were like daggers as she focused in on Yamamoto, and yet, there was an obstacle barring her way.
Ichigo.
From the moment that he had defeated Sajin, all that Ichigo had done was stay in place and only attacked those that attacked others. It was almost as if he was acting like some human world machine.
In this case, he was staring directly at her as if in warning.
Her speed faltered. Moreover, given her amount of reserves, did she even have enough to reach Yamamoto in time?
Her expression darkened into a grimace, but she couldn't just give up.
She looked to herself, and then to Ichigo and knew that she stood no chance ow winning right now.
Alternatively, she could feel it. Ichigo's need to protect.
She stared hard at Ichigo, already knowing that the man that she knew had already lost himself to base instinct after his sudden boost in power. An animal. A Beast.
She recalled her time training alongside Ichigo.
This was not how a proud Hollow should be.
Vasto Lorde fought on their instincts, but it wasn't their instincts that controlled them.
She resolved herself while maintaining eye contact with Ichigo.
She didn't have enough power to stop Yamamoto. She knew this.
But if it was Ichigo?
Prove that you're different.
It was faith.
Something that a Shinigami would never associate with a Hollow.
She believed and trusted in the student that she trained.
"Lady Nel, don't!" An Arrancar shouted out from behind her in warning. Many in the area had experienced first hand the kind of power that Ichigo had.
She directly ignored the warning and moved towards Ichigo.
Ichigo's gaze shifted towards her sharply. He currently wasn't himself, but she believed that he was still in there somewhere within all of the power.
She needed his help, and therefore, she approached him and stopped right in front of him.
The area around her became silent, time seemingly coming to a crawl in the second that they spent staring at each other.
Suddenly, Ichigo's hand clasped around her neck. The blood-lust and violence held within the golden coloured sclera in front of her was unable to be mistaken. And yet, such a killing machine only acted to protect those around it?
This further proved that Ichigo was still there.
She just needed to get though to him if only for a moment. Make him understand something.
If Shirou dies, then there would be no peace.
She would not have it.
Harribel would not have it.
And most certainly not Brans and the other Hollows who were nurtured by Shirou to become strong from day one.
"I need your help," her voice came out in a low whisper.
Ichigo's countenance hardly shifted if at all.
Her eyes remained unflinching despite the hand tightening around her throat.
You're not this kind of person.
From one hollow to another.
They who could understand themselves the best and whose mental strength was the strongest.
She was choking from his grip, but rather than struggle, she placed a hand over Ichigo's face and forced him to level his attention entirely on her. If Ichigo's current form could not understand words, then she wouldn't use words any longer.
Her mouth opened, and she let out a low and guttural roar.
It was the most basic act of communication a Hollow knew.
Wake up. Control the rage.
That was what it meant to be a Hollow and not an animal.
Howl.
Roar up at the sky along with the others because you are not alone.
Why did Hollows howl?
Once in the past, it had been a question worth debating. Howling only attracted attention and in a time where Hollows had been hunted, why did they still howl?
Behind Ichigo's terrifying masked visage, something began to shift. His grasp around her neck lightened, and she dropped limp while still continuing to roar.
It was like a plague in the ears of the Shinigami. What started with one, suddenly became many, producing a feeling of unity not felt in ages.
Indeed, if Hollows were called animals, then surely, they were not meant to be alone.
Howl.
Howling.
The call of Hollows.
A shudder travelled down the Shinigami's backs.
One moment Ichigo was in front of Nel, and in the next he was gone.
Up in the air, Yamamoto's sword suddenly shook while held fast within the grasp of another.
Yamamoto's eyes widened in disbelief. Ichigo was gripping his sword.
What could be seen within those golden eyes was a moment of clarity before another overbearing Howl resounded.
The sizzling noise of flesh burning resounded in Yamamoto's ears from where Ichigo's hand was making contact with his blade. When looked closely, it wasn't that Ichigo's hand wasn't burning, it was just that the rate of his high-speed regeneration was equal if not greater to the damage that he was sustaining.
No matter how much strength Yamamoto put into his arms, Ryujin Jakka would not budge. In the midst of his struggle, Ichigo deftly pushed and forced Yamamoto back.
Standing in place, Ichigo did not move to pursue, but it was clear that he would attack any that attempted to get passed him.
Nel sighed in relief while seeing this. She'd been able to convey what her words had not been able to say.
Yamamoto would not give up so easily though, but he was forced to dodge from the side as several rapid beams of blue cero shot towards him courtesy of a gunner down below.
In the meantime, Shirou looked like had completed his preparations.
Rings of energy seemed to pulsate outwards from each Noble Phantasm that Shirou had traced in the air.
Up in the sky, Shirou took a breath while concentrating.
Aged by Baraggan's power, the Noble Phantasms that he had traced carried unimaginable strength. A single Low-Ranked Noble Phantasm now had the ability of two to three grades higher.
The time to attack had come.
Synchronization complete.
Analysing the base structures, completed.
All projections, stand by.
His eyes narrowed over the teleportation Kido in front of him. The energy coming off of it had grown to a point that indicated that whoever was using it was moments away from arriving.
Instinct warned him that the newest enemies would be able to harm him. In comparison to Yamamoto, they were several leagues stronger. Worse, he was weaker from how he'd been in the past. The only way that he could deal with such people was either to prevent them from coming, or leading them to a place he called his own.
Right now, he didn't wish to fight more than he had to.
He raised a hand, and each Noble Phantasm in the air pointed in a single direction.
All projections,
"NO!" A desperate cry rang out.
Successive Fire!
A deep rumbling overpowered all other noise as the Noble Phantasms shot forth in rapid fire. They were like stars, glittering in the explosions that they produced.
With each sword that struck the transportation Kido, the symbol of the Winter Daphne began to dim until it was non-existent.
Under the constant bombardment of attacks, the transportation Kido shattered under the eyes of all of the Shinigami.
Yamamoto's complexion whitened while the other Shinigami fell into hushed silence. The Shinigami's morale was plummeting at a staggering rate. Baraggan alone was terrifying enough, but now that they knew that reinforcements weren't coming, a majority of the weaker Shinigami became severely disheartened.
If nothing else, Shirou hoped that Yamamoto would give up at this point.
Further conflict was not worth taking anymore lives.
Shirou's eyes suddenly narrowed.
He could feel that something was different.
Smoke and lingering spiritual energy covered the area, making it difficult to see or sense anything, and yet, he was growing weary.
Something was wrong.
As the smoke gradually cleared, Shirou's eyes dilated as he gradually looked down towards his chest.
Three blades had pierced through him.
Moments before Shirou had unleashed his attack, Starrk sighed in exasperation before shifting his gaze to Lilynette carried in his arms. She hadn't been the same annoying brat that he was used to knowing in the previous days and it was clear that she had begun brooding.
"He needs help," he said softly while dodging the attacks of nearby Shinigami.
Lilynette didn't respond.
It wasn't as if he couldn't understand Lilynette's feelings, but avoiding the problem didn't mean that it wasn't there. Hard as it was to admit, the familiarity both Starrk and Lilynette felt in Shirou's spiritual energy made it feel as if something was hammering from inside of them.
He's back!
That's him!
Words whose meaning they couldn't understand would constantly fill their minds at his presence, making them unable to think nor approach Shirou lightly.
"We need to help him," Starrk reasoned.
Lilynette glanced up at Shirou in the sky and bit down on her lips. "But we haven't figured out what's going on with us yet. What if we became a burden on Shirou?"
Starrk sighed.
"We wouldn't have consulted with Aizen if we didn't want to return to our peak state and stand by Shirou's side. Moreover," Starrk's eyes narrowed murderously at Yamamoto. "That man pisses me off."
Lilynette readily agreed.
From the moment the war began, Starrk and Lilynette's attention either remained fixated on Shirou or Yamamoto, and disregarded everything else. It was for this reason that no Captain-Class Shinigami attempted to attack them in the least.
Starrk was controlling his spiritual output, making him seem far weaker in comparison to Harribel and the others. In this way, the low and mid-ranked Shinigami that attempted to attack him were unable to even touch his or Lilynette's clothes. Starrk's level of strength was too high for them to even fathom let alone defeat.
Seeing the wave of attacks that the Shinigami were sending towards Shirou, both Starrk and Lilynette finally grew serious.
"Starrk," Lilynette's tone was firm. "Let's do this."
Starrk nodded listlessly while observing Harribel and the others launching their attacks in response to the Shinigami.
"Kick about: Los Lobos."
Starrk immediately released his Resurrección.
He could be lazy at all other times, but for some reason, when it involved Shirou's well being, the urge to take action was utterly overwhelming. He became serious in seconds.
Family.
That word echoed in both Starrk and Lilynette's mind at this moment.
Lilynette's body shifted into particles of spiritual energy which took on the form of a pair of western fashioned pistols as a familiar grey and white coat appeared over Starrk's shoulders.
Starrk's spiritual energy swelled, scaring away all the low and mid class Shinigami that dared to attack him.
"Starrk, that bastard's moving," Lilynette's voice sounded out from one of the guns.
"I know," Starrk eyed Yamamoto's figure.
In wake of the Gran Ray Cero that Harribel and the others had fired, Yamamoto was now taking action to strike at Shirou who couldn't properly defend himself.
'It's his fault. It's all this bastard's fault.'
A voice rang in both Starrk and Lilynette's souls.
'He took away my only family. I, I was alone again.'
Anger, regret, misery, the emotions were so acute that it hurt.
Loneliness.
The despair found in solitary silence.
And then suddenly, Starrk and Lilynette stiffened.
They could hear it echoing first with Nel and then to the rest.
The howls.
Images of a bright moon continually flashed within their minds along with a sole figure staring up into a starless night while leaning her back by the entrance of a cold mountainside cave.
A Lone Wolf, uncaring, and unphased, holding undisputed power.
The bench mark of what was first known as the Highest Great Hollow.
Starrk flinched, his left hand pressing itself over his face as a numbing pain assailed him. He stumbled on his feet, Lilynette feeling no different and releasing a groan from her mouth.
The Shinigami around Starrk and Lilynette thought that they saw a chance and attacked.
They thought wrong.
A gun leveled itself in their direction, and an azure blast stronger than any attack Starrk had ever launched before annihilated them.
In their released form, spiritual energy was violently coursing through their bodies. It was almost instinctual.
'I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't protect my family.'
Starrk and Liliynette's eyes became blood shot as they fought their dizziness and looked up at Yamamoto.
'I woke up, and then he was gone.'
Starrk felt a massive surge of spiritual energy building up at the tip of his gun, suffused with a combination of a light green aura and a deep blue.
Starrk and Lilynette's anger felt irrational, but from the moment that they noticed Ichigo repel Yamamoto's advance, they fired without hesitation almost vindictively.
Yamamoto was forced back, giving Shirou the time that he needed to complete whatever attack he had been preparing.
Starrk felt the impulse to keep firing, but his aim was deteriorating, forcing him to hold his fire.
Memoires kept appearing in his mind one by one. Each new addition had both him and Lilynette struggling to process everything.
Their minds blanked, and by the time that they composed themselves and looked back up to assess the situation, they saw three figures stabbing swords through Shirou's chest.
Starrk and Lillynette froze.
Something seemed to snap inside of them.
'No. NO. Not again, Please not again.'
It hurt. The loneliness within them became utterly unbearable.
The howling from earlier had yet to die down, the sound ringing clearly in their ears
It was almost as if things had returned to the way that they had been in a distant past.
'Will you just stand there and watch?'
The voice within them sounded urgent now, stronger.
Family.
Family.
A shuddering breath was released.
Los Lobos. The Wolves.
Above all, all wolves valued companionship.
They hunted in packs.
They lived in packs.
Bite one, you incur the wrath of the whole.
The first time that a Lone Wolf howled at the moon, it was in the company of another who it cherished dearly. A treasured companion, for the Lone Wolf was no longer alone.
Starrk.
Lilynette.
The meaning of those names were the two most important people that a single Lone Wolf cherished in the final episodes of her lifetime.
'No more. I won't lose anything else anymore.'
Unimaginable power swelled around Starrk and Lilynette to the point that all combatants on the battlefield stopped. To Yamamoto it was a familiar presence, for the rest, all of their mouths suddenly dried.
The force was crushing.
This power, it killed and killed even without the user's intentions.
Right now, that power was needed. For if it could save only one while forsaking the rest, then the rest didn't matter.
Family.
That word rung again within Starrk and Lilynette's minds.
An urge exploded out from within them, carrying a will and desire greater than any other.
The aspect of Solitude, and the desperation to no longer drown within it.
'You are me and I am you, so as before, Howl.'
It was a signal.
Just as he had done for her, and her for him.
Them against the world.
Howl.
Howl at the bright moon.
"Resurrección: Segunda Etapa."
Lobo llorando. Crying Wolf.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票