"Hado #4: Byakurai!" The sound of booming thunder echoed in the sky as a bright azure flash illuminated the area, a snake Hollow that was trying to eat a Plus looking up right as the lightning flew true and stabbed right through its skull.
I grunted as I leapt off of my cane while pulling it to my hand, spinning it in my grasp while a stream of orange flames trailed at the end of the cane and I snuffed it out while staring at the Hollow jumping at me from behind.
"Hado #11: Tsuzuri Raiden." I chanted the moment the beast's head made contact with my cane, yellow electricity sparking around the cane right before I condensed it into the form of a blade that helped slice the Hollow in two.
Dismissing the electricity while looking around, I frowned as I felt nothing but the abundance of Hollow spiritual energy racing all throughout most of the city that I could sense, making me shake my head as I felt myself becoming nauseous from being exposed to so much of it.
'Come on, Don. You just need to find the Gillian, take it out and-!' My thought process stopped as I heard a loud explosion near me, turning to look at the smoke rising before my eyes widened as I felt the familiar and very powerful spiritual energy right next to it.
After all, there are only two humans that have that level of spiritual energy in them and since Ichigo Kurosaki was near the far south side of the city, that mean that energy could only be the one and only Karin Kurosaki.
'Well, I suppose it's time to be the hero I'm supposed to be, huh?'
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Karin Kurosaki was in awe as she watched Chad, her brother's best friend, fall face first onto the dirt with a peaceful smile on his face while watching as the black armour surrounding his right arm shattered and faded away.
Looking at where the body of the monster that had attacked her and her friends slowly crumbled into dust, she fell onto her behind while taking deep breaths to calm her racing heart that was pounding away in her chest.
'Hah…hah…I need to see if I can't get him out of the way.' Karin thought as she stood up, reaching down before gritting her teeth as she tried her best to drag the behemoth of a teenager back to her home where her dad could heal.
However, she barely made it a few steps before freezing in her tracks as she heard a menacing rumble behind her, slowly looking back only to pale considerably at the grinning lion Hollow slowly stalking towards her.
With each step the lion took towards her, she could feel her limbs shaking as the bloodlust of the Hollow radiated over the field and stared at it as it took its time walking towards them.
Looking back at Chad, it was her mistake as the lion Hollow roared while charging towards her, the young girl exclaiming in horror as she ducked down while trying to protect as much of Chad as her tiny body could.
"Hado #1:Sho!" However, before she could feel its fangs sinking into her, her eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice shout and the sound of a deafening explosion behind her, her head snapping around to look only to be shocked at the headless corpse of the Hollow falling onto the ground while a grinning man landed next to her.
While he was only dressed in a pair of dark violet pants, black dress shoes and a long-sleeved purple dress shirt with gold accents, Karin could not mistake Don Kanonji even if she tried as the man knelt in front of her while tilting his glasses down to look at her with amusement and slight concern.
"Hello, little lady~ I assume you and your friend here took care of a Hollow?" Don asked with a smile and Karin snapped from her surprise to give a slow nod, the man nodding back before looking past her at Chad lying out cold in the ground.
"Well, listen here. I'm going to leave you alone because I can feel another intense battle happening in the distance so I'll try and help them and then if you're still here, I'll take you to safety, okay?"
"O-Okay." Karin agreed and the man grinned as he stood up, turning around and looking in the direction of where he felt the large shift of reishi in the atmosphere.
'Hopefully, Ichigo and Uryu have finished off the Gillian before I get here.'
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'I spoke too soon.' I thought with a sigh as I raced out of the forest, watching as the monstrous shape of the Gillian walked around with footsteps that made the ground rumble while arrows made out blue light flew through the air and stabbed into its body.
However, anyone could see that the wounds were shallow as the arrows disintegrated, quickly coming to a stop as I leapt over the wall of a park right in time to see Ichigo being kicked back by the Hollow.
"Hado #31:Shakkaho!" Instead of wasting time introducing myself, I leapt through the air while chanting as I held my cane to its head, watching as a scarlet orb of flames gathered at the end of it right before I shot it out at the Gillian's skull with a grunt.
However, as the orb connected with a powerful explosion that sent me flipping back and through the air, my eyes widened as the Gillian continued marching forward through the smoke, the missing half of its nose being the only sign that I actually attacked it.
I frowned as I saw it glaring down at us, taking a few deep breaths from exhausting a third of my Reiryoku overpowering the spell to be stronger than it was while also thanking my lucky stars that it didn't explode in my face.
"Oi! You're that Don Kabonji guy, right?! What the hell are you doing here?!" Ichigo shouted from where he was standing and I turned to look at him before rolling my eyes as I stood up while using my cane as support.
"A hero arrives not too early or too late, but exactly when one needs him to!"
"…Do you always attract eccentric buffoons to follow your lead, Kurosaki?"
"I could say the same about you since you're the one who broke the Hollow bait, Quincy." I fired back, enjoying the surprised looks on their faces as I smirked while twirling my cane.
"What? Did you expect me to not know of you? I'm an exorcist and a spiritual medium so me knowing of all the other exorcists in the world, both alive and throughout history, should be expected. So, can you two tell me why the hell you thought holding a Hollow hunt inside of a very populated city would be a good idea?"
"Don't blame me. This guy was the one who challenged me to fight him in this. I'm just trying to make sure no one dies!" Ichigo exclaimed while pointing at Uryu, who simply pushed up his glasses with a huff before hissing as I swung and whacked him on the back of the head with my cane.
"Argh! What the hell was that for?!" He shouted before flinching back as I raised my cane with a stern glare.
"That was for not doing about the consequences of your actions! I don't care if you two wish to have an ego competition to see who's the better of you two, but you don't do it by endangering the lives of innocent fucking people around you, understood?! Not to mention, your rash actions brought forth a monster from the Other World that took my strongest spell with just a broken nose to show as proof. I know you felt how much spiritual energy I put into that, right?!" I spoke while staring at Uryu, who didn't say anything while glaring to the side before I turned to Ichigo as he spoke up.
"Fine, we understand we messed up, but how do we fix this?"
"Simple. You start by channelling your spiritual energy into him and you! I want you to create an arrow powerful enough to stab into its mask! Then, when you're done, charge up your strongest attack and launch it at him, understood?!" I ordered while staring at the two, who looked disgruntled at my orders but nodded in agreement before I took a deep breath and turned towards the Gillian with a frown.
"Wait, what the hell are you going to do?" I heard Uryu ask and turned with a smirk as I spun my cane by the handle before answering with a grin.
"Well, someone's gotta be the hero and stall for time, right? It might as well be the hero of heroes himself. Oi, big nose!" I shouted up at the Gillian as I turned around, taking its attention away from Ichigo who was charging up his energy and towards me right as I lifted the butt of my cane at its head.
"Hado #4: Byakurai." The next moment, the area was dyed blue and white for a split second as a bolt of azure lightning sliced through the sky and impacted its broken nose, the Hollow letting out a pained rumble as the blast sent it stumbling backwards.
"Bakudo #21: Sekienton!" I chanted while keeping my cane aimed at it, watching as the underside flashed before a thick cloud of smoke erupted from the cane's butt and blinded the Gillian as it tried to look at us.
"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo #9: Hōrin!" I chanted as I reached out with my free left hand, raising my index and middle fingers towards the legs of the Hollow right as an orange-hued tendril with spiralling yellow patterns shot from my fingers and wrapped around its lower legs.
"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat! Bakudo #9: Geki!" I continued my chant with gritted teeth as I traced the kanji for 'Bind' in the air with my cane before pushing into it, watching as the Hollow's legs were coated in a red light.
A moment later, my strained expression turned into an ecstatic one as the Hollow's legs froze in place, the beast struggling in its attempt to push itself further before I grinned as I ripped my hand back and pulled its legs towards me.
In response, a rumbling roar escaped the Hollow's lips as it stumbled backwards right as my eyes widened when I felt a surge of purifying energy flushing over me, looking back just in time to see Uryu holding back a massive arrow right before he sent it flying forward.
The next second felt like it was moving in slow motion as it sliced through the air, the Hollow looking down at us with scarlet energy charging up at the front of its mask and making me stress at the Cero it was about to fire before I watched in awe as the arrow connected with the Cero in a massive explosion.
"RAAAAHHH!" Ichigo didn't want to be left out as he unleashed a massive slash of energy towards the explosion to amplify it, making my eyes widen as I quickly leapt back just in time for the combined volatile energy to explode in a monstrous explosion.
"The wandering spirits collide! The trembling swan dies! The current moves on! Bakudo #39: Enkōsen!" I did not know the chant for this spell so I just chanted the first thing that came to mind, raising my cane in a blocking formation in front of me right as I leapt in front of the tired Ichigo and Uryu with a determined frown while pulling on the reishi all around me.
The next moment, the world in front of me glowed as a bright yellow shield of light formed between us and the explosion, gritting my teeth as the force of it impacting our shield made my entire body rattle while I strained myself to keep the explosion away before gasping in relief as the explosion finally died down.
"Damn, that's pretty cool, old man." Ichigo spoke up and I looked at his tired grin before rolling my eyes as I stood up, leaving my shield to fall to the floor like shattered glass while walking over to the Hollow's body as it fell to the ground.
While I didn't have time to do this to other Hollows since they were far too weak for me to do it without failure, a Gillian on the other hand would work perfect as I took a deep breath while holding my hands out towards the Hollow.
The next moment, I clenched my fists as I grasped around the reishi around the Hollow, quickly transforming it into a dense, solid form before gritting my teeth as I pulled my fists to each other with a struggle while compressing the spiritual energy of hundreds of souls to its smallest form.
It took me minutes, but when I was finally done, I stared with tired excitement and joy at the glowing sphere in front of me, the powerful Hollow Reiatsu at its centre being surrounded by a glass-like layer that was made from the reishi in the air along with the residue of both Ichigo's and Uryu's attacks.
'Looks like I don't need their Hogyoku any longer.' I thought with a smirk as I gingerly grabbed the orb, marvelling at how such a tiny object was also radiating enough Reiatsu equal to that of Ichigo that was staring at the orb in my grasp.
Don't get me wrong. It was still very very weak compared to either Aizen's or Urahara's, but it was also a very good start for someone that only had a rudimentary idea of what the Hogyoku is supposed to be.
A start that could potentially lead to something far greater.
'Godly status, here I come.'
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I was wrong.
'What I created was not an Hogyoku.' I thought with a sigh as I sat at the desk in my office, my hands folded in front of me as I stared at the small orb sitting atop a pedestal that I had bought for it.
Unfortunately, what I thought was a Hogyoku was nothing more than a large battery of spiritual energy that I could use instead of my own, especially since I found that four Kido spells of Number 33 or higher were enough to exhaust me entirely.
While that was a win for me, it was not what I wanted as I thought that I had finally achieved the one goal I wanted, but I suppose if all goals were that easy, no one would actually strive to achieve them.
I also didn't know how one is supposed to even go about turning it into one, but after I finished analysing the inside of the souls inside the barrier, I found what was wrong.
Apparently, Hollows souls that are hit by a mixture of Quincy and Shinigami energies have the barriers between their souls burned away and while that would be good in fusing the souls together, that also includes the outside barrier that exists between the newly fused spiritual energy and the outer walls of the Hogyoku itself.
At least, that last part was a hypothesis of mine since I could still feel the impure and corrosive Hollow Reiatsu of the Gillian inside of the sphere when I should be feeling nothing but pure spiritual energy as a result of the souls fusing together.
"Urgh, why is there so much thinking in just creating a small orb that can grant my wildest dreams? Is that so much to ask for?"
"I do believe so, sir, or else the world would not be safe." Nakamura spoke up from where he was reading a book in the corner sofa of my office and I looked up to give my smirking assistant a deadpan stare before shaking my head as I went back to staring at my Hollow battery.
'Well, at least, it'll make a good necklace.' I thought with a smirk as I picked up the orb along with the ruby-studded gold necklace besides it, placing the orb inside the glass case pendant part of the necklace before hanging it around my neck.
The next moment, my eyes widened as I felt an absurd rush of power flooding my veins, feeling my breathing growing only slightly heavier as I took deep breaths to calm myself down even when I couldn't help the happy grin that appeared on my face.
"Uh, sir?" I heard Nakamura speak and looked up at him only to be slightly concerned at the nervous look on his face while he stared at me.
"What? Is something happening?" I asked and he simply pointed at the mirror in my office, which I looked at right before my eyes widened as I saw the streaks of purple running across the white parts of my eyes as well as the fact that my pupils were now a bright gold and my irises a dark purple instead of their usual black and brown respectively.
"Hey, Nakamura?" I began as I took in my appearance, turning my head to and fro before turning to my nervously smiling assistant as he cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Y-Yes sir?"
"Find out how much a straw dummy cost…and buy me ten. It's time I try out some things."
A/N: And another chapter done~! If making a Hogyoku was as easy as just mashing souls together, then most people would be able to make it with ease, so I'm making it a bit more unique.
Not too unique, but…unique-esque if that's even a word.
Also, the thing around his neck has more value than he realizes, but the Don will figure it out as he goes along.
Another also, there aren't that many chants for Kido spells so I'm just copying chants from all over the internet as well as making up my own as we go along. Just wanted to make that clear so everyone knows that they won't be perfect.
Next chapter…a stalker & meeting a captain.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next chapter,
Ba-Bye~!