Chapter 291: Hollow

Chapter 291: Hollow

(A/N Quick author note here. There won't be any chapters for the next 2 weeks. Family matter and I won't have computer. Just a heads up.)

(3rd's pov)

Ryoto, in his Hollowfied form, looked at all the Quincies in his sight. He didn't immediately pounce on the other of his targets. He may follow his instincts, but he wasn't stupid.

Suddenly, Cang Du and Meninas McAllon rushed at Ryoto from two sides at the same time. The male Quincy attacked with his claws while Meninas attempted to punch.

Ryoto swiftly raised his leg to stomp on Cang Du's weapon, pulling him down, and grabbed Meninas' arm while dodging her punch to throw her away at other Quincies, stopping them from attacking him. Focusing on Cang, Ryoto stomped his back, causing the ground under the man to shatter, but there wasn't time to rest as he was attacked right away.

"I got you now!" Bambietta yelled as she created and shot many balls of Reishi.

"GGGGRAGGHHH!!!!" Ryoto roared back as he opened his mouth widely. A ball of Red energy started forming there, and it grew larger than Ryoto's head until it shot a ray beam out of it. Ryoto's Cero and Bambi's multiple Reishi balls met halfway through and created a large explosion. None of Bambietta's projectiles reached Ryoto. It created, however, a diversion.

The Holy Bells rang as the enormous crosses appeared where Quincies stood, and as they broke down, they revealed all of Ryoto's opponents in their new forms.

Quincy Vollständig was Quincies' ultimate form that was vastly superior to the outdated Letzt Stil that allows the user of this technique to enhance all of their abilities plus allowed them to fly.

"Now you are dead asshole. You may look cool in this form, but this is your end! Burner Finger 1!!!"

Bazz-B pointed his index finger at Ryoto and fired off a beam of fire at Hollowfied Ryoto, who in return narrowed his eyes dangerously but didn't move until the last moment when he sidestepped and started directing the fire with his free hand as he turned around and shot back the fire back to the attacker who widened his eyes at the impossibility of this event.

"What the fu-!!!"

Bazz-B desperately tried to defend himself as he shot Burner Finger 2 to block the incoming fire beam, and he somehow succeeded, but he was close enough to the clash of the two attacks to sustain some damage.

What no one noticed was that when Ryoto seemingly used fire bending, a small shining spot appeared under his skin where Isamu's cross would be seen if he had not Hollowfied.

It looked like even Hollowfied Ryoto was surprised by this development, but he just smiled cruelty at the new revelation. Earlier, he moved on instinct... more than usual, but now he knew that he had more options.

Ryoto's good mood and unexpected development caused him to let guard slightly, and he paid for it as he ignored Cang Du, who used his chance to cut off Ryoto's arm. The Hollowfied Shinigami roared in agony, but it didn't last long. Instantly, Ryoto threw his Zanpakuto in the air and caught the arm that was slowly falling by the cut end, swung it towards the Quincy who caused this injury, slammed the palm of the served arm at the head of Cang Du, and finally dug his finger into a detached limb, with great force, in a way that made detached hand close with force enough to squash the head in its way.

"...Fucking brutal, hard-core and all the other things. That was totally badass." Bazz-B couldn't help but comment, but Ryoto didn't pay him any mind and reattached his arm to its rightful place. When the quick process of regeneration ended, Ryoto flexed his arm a few times to test it.

That was the last freebie the Quincies were going to get. Be it on purpose or otherwise. And that was a good thing because a golden bracelet was thrown and landed under Ryoto. From it, a wave of Reishi exploded and solidified in the shape of the massive bear trap, which closed quickly. Ryoto grinned with his mouth open and tongue out and snapped his clawed fingers, switching places with Giselle Gewelle. The bear trap created by Liltotto closed down and crashed her ally's neck.

Throughout the entire process, the light under Ryoto's Hierro prevailed.

The Quincies were not rookie fighters, and some realized what happened in an instant. Candice was not one of them. She was just lucky enough to have Giselle in her sight when Ryoto switched places. Candice, however, had amazing reflexes, so she reacted immediately at the sight of her enemy. She took out her short bow out of a heart-shaped container and prepared a shot.

"Bastard, I got you now!!! Galvano Blast!!!"

The green-haired woman fired off a 5-gigajoule blast of electricity at the Hollow-Shinigami hybrid.

That was a mistake. Ryoto outstretched two of his fingers of the hand that held Tensa Zangetsu, and the moment electricity touched Ryoto's fingers, he started redirecting the energy through his entire arm to his stomach and fired it back with his opposite hand at the attacker string, surprised Quincy.

The moment Ryoto finished his move he was immediately attacked by pink haired Quincy.

"You shouldn't let your guard down, you know~." Meninas lightly scolded Ryoto as she was sure that she managed to get a clean hit on the Shinigami, as the force of the punch created a cloud of dust that obscured her sight. She felt hitting something, but she realized it too late when she felt something holding her fist. Next, she saw three blue lights appearing for a moment, only for two of them to disappear just as quickly. They were Ryoto's eyes that momentarily transformed to their natural color but turned back black just as fast. Meninas tried to free herself from the clawed hand holding her fist, but she couldn't. She didn't have a chance to try again as her whole body was thrown over Ryoto's head, slammed to the ground, and shot a stream of blue fire at her as she was down, and he would continue to attack until her life would slowly diminish, but...

"Got you now!!!" Bambietta yelled as she was ready to send yet another wave of attack.

Quincies didn't seem to learn their lesson, and the lesson is, 'You don't take Ryoto by surprise, not anymore.' That's why Ryoto had already locked eyes with her before she sent her attack, but it was already too late to stop it. Not to mention, Bambi's pride wouldn't allow her to cower before a single enemy, so the balls that would turn everything into a bomb the moment they touched something flew at incredible speed at Ryoto and her fallen comrade, but she didn't seem to worry about her fellow Quincy.

Ryoto didn't seem to be worried in the slightest. Despite his wild appearance, he could even seem relaxed. It wouldn't be strange as he had already neutralized Bambietta's attack before with his own Cero, but this time, he just smiled sadistically at her as he raised his hand. Bambietta realized what he was planning instantly, and she paled. She didn't have time to fret over her fate because as soon as Ryoto snapped his fingers, Bambi took his place and was at the mercy of her own attack.

*BOOOOM!!!*

Ryoto was satisfied with the results, but he couldn't bathe in his glory as a large, stretched mouth rushed at him. The Hollowfied Shinigami dodged swiftly, grabbed that stretched piece of the body, and bit into it.

The blonde Quincy let out a muffled scream. She would let out a terrifying scream, but her mouth was forcibly closed by Ryoto. The Shinigami then spit the piece of meat that he tore off and glared at the short woman with a mocking undertone as if saying, 'I can bite too, and I do that better.'.

That left only 2 Quincies that were able to fight. Giselle was hiding somewhere, waiting for a good moment to attack. Bazz-B, on the other hand, was already on the move.

"Burner Finger 4!!!"

Bazz-B pointed all of his fingers except his thumb forward, created a large blade of fire, and attempted to slash Ryoto with it. The aftermentioned Shinigami just pointed a finger at his foe, and instead of the usual red energy, it was black with a dark blue hint at the edges.

"Ġ̷̻̮̮̻̠̑͜r̶̢̭͇̙̞͙̤̭̮͛̾͘͜A̵̡̧̰̪͉̯͋̾̇̈́̌̚ń̶̲̤͙͔̥̪͍̍̉ ̸̱̬͚͔̠̟̖̹̈́̔͜͠Ř̸̬̬͚͈͆̿̊̅̏̋̓̊̚̚̕e̶̱͖̻̣̪̟̗̮̠̽͘Y̷̢̨̛̩͉̥͇͇͖̞̯̤̋̅̊̀̕ͅ ̶̨̨̭̮̫̱̬̣̊̚͝ͅc̸͚̹̒͋͂ͅE̵̪̝̞̲̹̩̱͍͑̃̋͗̽̈́̇̐͒͂̅̄r̴̙̓͗̈́̀̄͑͐̇̎O̵̢̻̝̯̫̖̻͖̟̺̬̩̓͘."

A monstrous voice coming from Ryoto announced an attack and not any attack. One of the strongest Cero available to a Hollow. Its power comes not only from the user Reiatsu but also from his/her blood mixed with it.

Determination filled me. I will survive even if it costs me an arm and a leg.

I opened my eyes and took a battle-ready stance. I activated my Observation Haki and Prediction Calculation simultaneously. I tensed my muscles and was ready to fight the group around me.

I'm going to survive.

(Gin's pov)

That's... alarming. Ryoto should have returned. I know that he should. I can operate this machine to know that it should have worked.

Something must have happened after Ryoto sent a signal for help, but what can I do?

I clenched my hand into a fist.

It's frustrating to be powerless. It's just like when Rangiku was attacked back then.

Should I teleport myself there to help Ryoto?

No. That would be too impulsive. I would be stuck there with Ryoto without any way back, which would be foolish. I alone can't do anything, but I know who can. Akio. Ryoto and Isane's child. He is the creator of this machine, and he was the one who discovered this other dimension.

I need to hurry.

---

Arriving at Study Chamber, as everyone calls it. I still think it's a stupid name for this space, but I digress.

I quickly appeared near the group using Shunpo. I didn't have time to waste. I needed to help Ryoto. No matter what I do, I may never repay what he did for me. Not only did he give Rangiku a good place to live and an opportunity for a better life, but he stopped me from becoming a complete snake. That day, when I saw Rangiku hurt, I vowed to kill that man. Ryoto didn't stop me from trying, but he gave me the chance to live with Rangiku while also training with me occasionally.

Ryoto gave me a life I thought I would never have. A life I was ready to give up, but Ryoto didn't let me, and I could never be more thankful for that. I promised to never let anyone make Rangiku cry, and Ryoto dying would definitely make her shed tears for him.

Seeing me, Rin, Yoruichi, and Isane realized immediately that something was wrong. Not having Ryoto with me helped form this opinion.

"Tell us what happened." Rin took charge of the group. Surprisingly, she was the calmest of everyone. I believed that she was the one who was the most attached to Ryoto and would be panicking. Looks like I'll need to work on reading people a bit more.

I then explained everything I knew about the situation, and with every sentence, the pressure got stronger and stronger as Rin's eyes narrowed dangerously. I knew that look very well. She was ready to kill someone.

"Rin, calm down. We have patients here." Isane warned Rin. I rarely heard her using this tone of voice. Sometimes, I forget that while weakest of all of Ryoto's partners, she is still to be feared. Unsurprisingly, it worked, and the pressure vanished without a trace.

"I am calm."

She wasn't, but no one wanted to point that out. It wasn't time for that. In the meantime, I took a glance at Akio. He was still unconscious, so he won't be any help. I clicked my tongue without realizing it. Rin did the same but then turned to me. I almost flinched when I met her eyes. This reminded me why she was a Captain and had this title rightfully.

"Yoruichi, we are going to help Ryoto. Gin, take us there. We may not have a way out at the moment, but Ryoto is resourceful. He will find a way back, just like he did when he was stuck in Hueco Mundo. This time won't be any different, but he won't get a chance if he dies, and if he sent a signal for help, the chances of it happening are higher than usual."

"Wait, let me help!"

The orange-haired kid said quite loudly, I may add.

"No." And Rin quickly shot him down.

"Bu-!"

"No buts. You are simply too weak. You may be as strong as an ordinary Lieutenant, but if Ryoto needs help, you would be only a hindrance." Rin made a logical statement, but the hot-headed kid didn't take no for an answer.

"I can he-!"

Rin lost her patience as she instantly got behind him, chopped his neck, and caught him as he was falling.

"Take care of him. He should wake up in a bit. We don't have time to humor his hero complex." She again used Shunpo to get him to the orange-haired girl. "Now, let's not waste any more time."

And so we returned to the lab. There, I didn't need to explain too much. The plan was simple. I teleport both Yoruichi and Rin to help Ryoto, and they either destroy the cause of this anomaly so I can bring them back or find a way back by themselves.

Simple enough, but of course, nothing can go according to plan, and the moment I tried to use the machine, everything made it seem as if it worked, but nothing happened. I tried again, but we were met with a failure once more.

I stepped back from Rin, ready for an outburst. I wouldn't even blame her for that. I was frustrated as well, but nothing happened. All I heard was the sound of a drop of water hitting the ground and the quiet voice of Rin saying, "Why do you always leave me behind?" while gently rubbing her black ring on her finger. Once again, I drew parallels between Ryoto and me and what me leaving Rangiku could lead to.

---

END

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