Chapter 00: Prologue

 Transcendence 

Prologue: Trapped in the Twisted Hell

He could see it everywhere, madness and destruction, he ran across a floating continent in the nothingness of the void, he could see above him a storm of red and purple lightning, with great kilometre large stones and rocks floating through the abyss, destroying one another in collisions and burning so bright and hot it melted stone. He saw the energies tear apart what little world remained in this twisting hell, all around him he could hear shouts and cries for blood and death, he had seen things that would drive men mad, he was being chased, hunted, by monsters, by demons.

They have been chasing him since he arrived, to wounded and weak to defend himself properly he had no choice but to run, but even so he ran because he did not was to kill them, as evil as they appeared, as monstrous as they be he still wasn’t a person who could take a life. He learnt quickly that those thoughts would serve him little here, in the hell of fire, darkness and insanity, for it he wished to survive and return home to his friends and family he needed to survive and that meant to kill, but even so he could do little of anything other than run.

A green glow caught his eyes and he leaped out of the way of a green fireball that would have burnt him to cinders had it struck, high above him on an overhanging cliff was a little imp laughing at him, cackling at his plight and his misery as another ball of flame formed in the demons hands and was tossed towards him. Leaping away he fell into the patch of a giant sword, looking over his shoulder he saw a large single edged demonic blade descend towards him, his instincts took him only a moment to leap out the way, the blade splitting the ground beneath as it made contact. The young man rolled along the ground, his arm burnt with pain as he pressed against it, he has been unable to use it since his wrist was broken, he looked up to see the demon approaching, gripping his cleaver like sword in hand and charged the foul red skinned beast.

He brought his sword down on the demons blade, the ringing of metal could barely be heard over the sound of city size meteorites crashing and destroying one another, the entire sky was blocked out by the hundreds of now flaming debris that was once one of those meteorites. The demon threw the young humans sword off of his own and retaliated, swinging his sword in a wide arc forward, the human young went to deflect the blade, he was successful but the force was still too great for him to keep his footing. He was knocked a few feet away by the strike, landing on the hard ground and grunting as he landed on his broken right arm again, looking up he saw the fel beast looming over him ready to end his life in one fell swoop. As he looked up into the golden eyes of his killer, he could only think back to the point that had brought him here, how he failed to do what he needed to.

Two Days Ago

Hueco Mundo

''“What’s your name, Shinigami?” asked the tall Espada, in his hand was a giant axe-like weapon bearing two crescent moon-shaped blades fused together at the backs, with a large looped chain connected to the shaft at the end of the handle. On his face was a large arrogant smile that showed off his pearly white teeth, he had long straight black hair that went down past his shoulders and over his left eye was an eye patch that also appeared to be his hollow mask.''

“Kurosaki Ichigo” replied the substitute shinigami, readying his Zanpoktou for the coming fight with the unknown Espada.

“Kurosaki huh” the espada smiled devilishly, before raising his axe over his chest as if it was nothing more than a feather, and releasing a massive burst of Spiritual Pressure “I’ll remember it, for just as long as you stay alive!”

''Ichigo’s eyes widened at the sheer force of Reiatsu being released from this guy, it was huge, even bigger than Grimmjow’s, and then in an instant he swung his massive weapon, like a blur it move faster than the eye could possible perceive, and right towards the tired and injured Shinigami substitute. The ground beneath the orange hair youth split apart and knocked debris and sand into the air, which the young shinigami used to escape from his newest enemy, but no sooner had he escaped the cloud, was he attacked again. Another blur of motion come from his right side, using Sinodo the Espada appeared before him, bringing us his sword as fast as he could be blocked the massive crescent axe from connecting; he could feel the heaviness and force of the weapon press down on his as he tried to keep enough reiatsu in his feet to prevent the weapon from throwing him away.''

''But it proved too strong for him and he was too tired to maintain the constant flow of reiatsu to stay in the air and hold back the weapon, with one final push Ichigo was thrown from the sky and into the dunes of Hueco Mundo, as he hit the ground a massive burst of sand and dirt exploded from the impact point. Settling quickly Ichigo was back on his feet and gazing up at the Espada, and just as he became visible did the axe descend towards him again, raising his sword he blocked the blade with both hands, Ichigo groaned as the force behind the blow weighed down on his weakened body. He didn’t have the strength to withstand him for too long, his attacks were to strong and his speed was something he couldn’t attribute to that massive weapon or that skinny Arrancar, he stepped to the side to allow the weapon to slide against Zengetsu and to the ground.''

“Kurosaki-kun!” screamed Orihime Inoue, she ran to help Ichigo and as soon as she took her first step she was stopped.

“Tesla!” called the Unknown Espada, then from behind Orihime another Arrancar sinodo’ed in, grabbing her around the throat and locking her arm around her back.

“Inoue!” Ichigo screamed, his eye momentarily forced away from his enemy, which was taken advantage of by his opponent.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Whatcha looking at?” he said as we swung his axe towards him, but luckily it only drew back his attention to the man before him, a deep angry scowl etched itself onto Ichigo’s face as he looked at the lanky Espada.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Let her go!” Ichigo screamed to the Arrancar, but all he did was laugh at his demands before retorting.

<p class="MsoNormal">''“Now that’s funny! That’s the kind of thing a guy only says when he thinks he can keep his woman safe and win!” He sneered at the substitute, before a broad smirk appeared on his face and stuck out his long tongue, which had the number 5 tattooed onto it, Ichigo’s eyes widens at the knowledge of that, this was the fifth Espada.''

<p class="MsoNormal">“Now you get it, I am the fifth in Lord Aizen’s army, that scum over there beat the crap out of you before you put him down.” He said, he then pointed to himself and said “And I’m stronger than him” then pointed to Ichigo “and you are dead”

<p class="MsoNormal">As these words left his mouth another wide swing blurred towards Ichigo, who could only stand there in shock knowing that he may not survive this battle.

<p class="MsoNormal">''The battle raged on for only a few minutes, every attack he sent towards the Quinto Espada was blocked or simply bounced off his steel Hierro, and every strike sent to him was barely dodge or deflected and in most cases sent him flying through the air and into the dunes. So many times he fell and rose to his feet to fight again, but it was always met with failure, he was covered in wounds and his body was drained, he had little energy left to fight; now he was dangling by his arm in front of the Quinto. Looking up at the Espada he could see the savage glee in his eyes as he snapped his wrist, a cry of pain escaped Ichigo’s lips as he was held there unable to fight back, in one desperate attempt he swung his sword lazily at the Espada’s unprotected side, only for it to bounce off.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''“I didn’t know what Lord Aizen was so worried about, you are fucking weak, not even worth my time, oh well I guess, might as well do what I was order to do.” Said Nnoitra, dropping the substitute to the ground and then going through his pockets to pull out something, in his hand was a small purple crystal, a specially designed Caja Negación. The Caja Negacion was designed to allow the Espada to punish their Fraccion; during the development process of this little baby they discovered another dimension outside of natural world. With this little device he could throw that Shinigami into that dimension and trap him there with no chance of escaping, not even the Espada could hope to survive indefinitely in such a place, after all one had been sent there in the past and… well that’s history.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''Pouring his reiatsu into the device it activated, throwing it to the side a portal opened a few feet away, he could feel the power of the other dimension washing out through it and could hear the sound of unknown creatures that lurk within, if he wasn’t so sure he couldn’t return he would go in just to see what it was like on the other side. But he knew better than that, grabbing the Shinigami by the collar and lifting him up to his face, he stared into the pained and shocked eyes before him, he smiled at the young substitutes fear, and it was so good to know that he was going to suffer in his last moments.''

<p class="MsoNormal">“I wish I could kill you, but this I know this is going to be even better!” the Quinto crowed as he hoisted him back and threw him as the dark portal.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Ichigo!” screamed Nel and Orihime, the young shinigami watched his friends in a sort of slow motions as he drifted towards the portal, no longer having the energy to fight against the gravity of the dimensional rip, the last thing he saw were the horrified faces of his friends as he was swallowed by the darkness.

<p class="MsoNormal">Twisting Nether

<p class="MsoNormal">''Ichigo woke to the sound of stone being shattered and the ground quaking, he jolted up quickly, his arm burning as the pain of having it broken made itself known to his mind by his body, he looked around and found himself in a twisted version of reality. All around him he could see swirls of energy every colour imaginable and some he could not even hope to name or comprehend, and he could see the massive floating island within the abyss of nothingness, he could see far off past the swirling energy planets and stars. While within he saw hundreds of speeding comets and meteorites barrelling through the unknown abyss he occupied, he could also see massive city size chunks of earth in the distance, mountains and forests could be seen on them. He could see ruins from ancient buildings and statues scattered across the void, this was almost a place where all that is lost is found, he lifted himself to his feet and walked to the edge of the cliff he resided on, and behold a massive landmass below, mountains with razor sharp peaks and edges could be seen, he saw smaller landmasses floating above the continent below.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''“Where the hell…” he started, not to sure how the finish that sentence, he had no idea what this place was or where he was for that matter, but he could feel it, the sense of foreboding in this place, this was a place where he did not want to be. There was something here, maybe something’s, which did not want him here and if they found him, it was likely he would be torn apart just like those islands in the sky were being right now, he looked around and found Zangetsu on the ground just a few feet away. Grabbing his sword with his only good hand left he looked back at the blasted landscape before him, this was a place that existed in chaos, not even Hueco Mundo could compare to the turmoil that exists here, this place would destroy anything that did not belong.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''Just as he picked up his sword a brief flicker of movement caught his attention, turning he saw a blur moving towards his head, quickly he ducked under the attack and listened as the blade cut through the air and took of a few stray hair off the top of his head. Before he could correct himself Ichigo was grabbed by the scruff at the back of his collar and tossed forward, he sailed a few feet forward before hitting the ground and rolling a few more, as he slowly got up he looked up to see his attack skulking towards him. A massive red skinned creature walked forward, in his hand was a large serrated and fanged axe; it wore thick armour over its legs and one arm, leaving its chest and right arm bare, and on its head was a disproportionate helm that covered its even smaller head.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''Raisings its axe high it brought it down low, Ichigo who was on his knees was able to deflect it with a quick swing of his sword, but was unprepared for the boot that connected to his chest, he felt the wind knocked out of him and felt a bruise begin to form on his ribs. He slammed into a nearby stone and watched as the creature charged forward with blinding speed, axe in both hands and above its head, sidestepping the blow, he watched as the weapon cleaved the stone in two and then sunk into the ground that was under it. Ichigo didn’t have time to marvel at the demons strength or the weapon that seemed to be able to cleave through stone, he attacked, swinging his sword at the creature as its axe was stuck deep within the earth, but was shocked when it was blocked by said axe. When the two metals clashed they struggled to overpower one another, the fact that Ichigo was in his Bankai was the only thing keeping that axe from throwing away his sword, but even still he was weak. Then a hands shot forward and wrapped around the substitutes throat, taken by surprise he was forced to the ground, the hand slowly choking the life from him, looking up he saw the demon raise its axe to strike, quickly blocking it with his own he struggled to keep the blade at bay as well as unconsciousness.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''He could feel his eyes darken and his chest burn from the need for oxygen, with what energy he had left he threw of the blade and then twisting the sword in his hand he lopped off the red skinned demons arm, letting out a pained roar the demons retreated away from the young Shinigami. Ichigo who could now breathe lifted himself and took in deep much needed breaths before looking to the now enraged demon, forgoing his weapon decided to punch and kick the young orange haired man to death. Jumping to his feet before jumping out the way, he avoided the creatures mean right hook and was able to sliced Tensa Zangetsu into the creature’s side, another howl of pain escaped it lips, before it back handed Ichigo and knocked him flat on his stomach. Quickly lifting himself up Ichigo was quick enough to didge the incoming greave to his head, rolling to the side he swung at the creature again, forcing it away and allowing him to get to his feet, the two of them stare at each other for a long while.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''Ichigo knew that he couldn’t fight this thing to a standstill for long, he could kill it in one blow but was it right, he had no idea what this thing was, could he honestly kill it without knowing if it was just some normal creature trying to defend its home. He wasn’t a murderer, he couldn’t kill something just because it was convenient, he could kill Hollows, but he knew that they would be purified and their souls would be judged, he was only the guy that made it so, how could he decided this creatures fate. A roar caught his attention and he watched as the beast charged him like a crazed animal, he could see foam forming in its mouth and madness in its eyes, there was no way that he could kill something, but was this thing even deserving of being allowed to live, did it even have a conscious other than to kill. Many conflicting emotions ran through his mind as he decided the fate of the being before him, to kill or to not, he had to make a decision, with sudden burst of Shunpo he was behind the creature, on his knees and panting lightly, the exertion of reiatsu to much on his already tired body. He looked over his shoulder to the demon behind him, he had halted mid-step, not moving a muscle, then along its neck one could see a thin black line, and slowly black blood began to seep from the wound and then the head arched forward and fell to the ground with a dull thud. The body followed after a few seconds, almost in a comical fashion, first falling to its knees and then its hand trying to keep its body from falling and then its went limp on the ground, all the while the Substitute watched as it all happened, he had killed something. ''

<p class="MsoNormal">''He had murdered another for his own life, but what was that life now, he had no idea where he was and how to get back to Hueco Mundo, or if he could from this place, there was no telling if he could even make it through this place before more of those ‘things’ show up. Just as he thought about it he heard pebbles falling from a cliff overhead, looking up he saw something he wished he didn’t, he saw a small army of creatures above him, most were things he would surmise as demons of hell. He saw large orange skin beast with large wings and hooved feet and long snouts, wielding massive sword and axes, then there were smaller grey skinned creatures that had large horns and sinister smiles on their faces, and even woman with tattered wings, tails and horns, he could honestly say that this place was hell. How right he was.''

<p class="MsoNormal">Present

<p class="MsoNormal">A quick shunpo saved him from being cut in two, appearing a few feet away he lifted himself back to his feet; he had been running for the last two days from these things, not getting a single bit of sleep or rest as they hounded him mercilessly. He held his sword in one hand and through clenched teeth waited for him to attack, but before either the Imp or Fel guard could strike, a new adversary made itself known, leaping up from over the side of the floating earth and from the abyss. A creature of light blue, large tattered wings and hooved feet, but its stomach was a giant maw that spewed flames, wielding a massive two handed rune blade struck from his left hand side. Leaping back as quickly as he could he watched as the ground was torn apart from the attack, breaking apart the rock below and forming a small crater, Ichigo surmised the small group before him, he was outmatched, they had something that could take a beating, dish it out and something to keep him on his toes as they close in. He couldn’t fight them, not in his condition anyway, he needed to escape and find somewhere they couldn’t follow, but ever where he went he would run into more of those things and sometimes even different varieties of demons.

<p class="MsoNormal">Turning tail he rushed off to find somewhere to escape, but he knew that the chances would be slim in such a place as this, he had to escape or he would be killed for sure, without rest or treatment he would eventually collapse and be at their mercy, if there is such a thing. He ran as far as he could, dodging anything at came at him, steel, fire, shadow and evil the occasional flirt from a succubus, but even he couldn’t outrun the inevitable, he was tiring and he couldn’t hold out forever, he stopped for a moment to rest and collect his thoughts.

<p class="MsoNormal">‘Alright, you are trapped in some sort of hell dimension, so that means that I’m screwed’ he thought, he looked around to make sure that nothing was coming at him for the moment, he was relieved when he sense and saw nothing. ‘But there has to be some sort of portal or gateway out of here, I mean come on if they can send someone here they can send someone out’

<p class="MsoNormal">As he finished those thoughts he heard something approaching, grabbing his Zanpakuto and moving to the small crevice to hide in he waited as the creature moved over head, he could hear the clattering of boots and sniffing? He dared not look lest he be found, but if they had some sort of hell hounds after him then what hope did he have, hefting his blade up he waited for the time to strike and then run for it, just as he saw some black tendrils creep down over the edge of the wall he drew back his sword.

<p class="MsoNormal">Then he heard one of them speak, their words were in a foreign dialect, speaking in a dark language that made him wince in anxiety at hearing the words, just as they were spoken the black tendrils moved away and he heard their footsteps move off. He didn’t breath for another minute until he was sure they were gone, taking in a deep breath and then exhaling it quickly, he slowly crept out of the hole he was in and looked around and found nothing in sight, another relieved sigh escaped his lips. Ichigo knew better than to stay around in one place for too long, these demons knew this place like the back of their hand, and they would find him eventually if he didn’t move, sadly that also meant that he would likely be caught as he moved as well. It was really a lose-lose situation for him, no matter what he did it would backfire and explode in his face, but he picked up enough about these creatures to at least sense when they were approaching, and from what he could pick up he was at least two hundred metres from the nearest demon.

<p class="MsoNormal">He was always a quick learner, and when it came to saving his life he went into overdrive trying to figure out if he could sense these things, and luckily for him these creatures gave off very weird reiatsu, it was dark and malevolent, which sent a shiver up his spine any time they drew near. He could navigate his way through this hell hole and look for a place to stay without fear of being attacked, and then he would find a way out of her and back to Hueco Mundo to save Orihime and the others. He hoped that his departure wasn’t as bad as he thought, Renji and Rukia were there to help, surely they could fight against the Quinto and beat him and Chad with Ishida he knew would be fine, but what about Nel and Orihime, they were at the Quinto’s mercy now. He shook his head, he couldn’t think about that now, he needed to get out of here and do what needed to be done when he got back home, that is all he had to worry about now, getting back home.

<p class="MsoNormal">He walked to a small overhang and saw the broken land before him, he honestly wondered how far this went on, he had been running for two and a half days and hasn’t even made it across the damn rock yet and there were dozens he could see in the distance that were likely bigger than Las Noches. He could see the mountain off in the distance that likely walled off one side of the island from another, and as he searched along its walls for a route to traverse he noticed a black spot near its base that ran up to another a few metres above it. He didn’t know what it was at first, but since he was going that way why not see what it was, for the next few hours he travelled across the landscape avoiding any demons patrols as he could, but there were many close calls where he was nearly discovered, saved only because of there being a lucky hiding spot for him.

<p class="MsoNormal">As he neared the unknown structure more demons began to appear, he could feel them closing in on him, every few feet he stepped forward the closer they got on all sides, and more would appear, he could also feel something much more powerful than the run of the mill rabble that walks around this place. Something very powerful was inside that structure and from what he could tell he was the head honcho here, and if he was then maybe he could see if whatever this guy was had a portal out of here, and if not he could fight him and see about getting one. Even without his bankai he should be able to fight him one on one with ease, and if not he could always Shunpo out of there and escape, he just hoped that if he did fight he could escape.

<p class="MsoNormal">Soon he was at the base of the mountain, hiding behind a large cluster of rocks, he saw a large temple at the foot of the mountain and from it sprung a large stairwell leading to a tower on the face of the mountain. He couldn’t see any guard, nor could he sense anything other than the thing inside, he was less willing to enter now, this thing could only compare to a captain, and even though he’s fought against one before he probably wouldn’t stand a chance without his Bankai or Hollow Mask. His reiatsu was low and he was still wounded and battered, from his fight with the Quinto Espada and the demons he has been running from the last few days, so whatever is inside he would probably not stand a chance against.

<p class="MsoNormal">As these thoughts came to mind another thought did, ‘Duck!’ acting on his instincts he dropped to his knees and not a second to late, for the massive stone next to him shattered and was blowed away by a massive attack, looking over his shoulder he saw another demon. This one had light blue skin and had a mouth and eyes on his chest and stomach, which were ablaze with fel energy, he cursed himself for not sensing him earlier, in his hand was a large maul that would have pulverised him into nothing had he not ducked when he did. Gripping Zangetsu tightly he pulled it from his back and spun on his heels while pulling his weapon from his back, the white cloth unwrapped itself as he pulled it free, and while he spun he swung his sword at the demon. Cutting a gash into its chest and over its left ‘chest’ eye, but that did only one thing, anger it, it brought back its maul and then swung it down at the substitute, who had only a moment to leap out of the way, as the maul made contact the ground shattered and broke apart. Ichigo lunched forward intending to sever the beast right hand that held the weapon, as he swung down his blade he was caught off guard by what happened next, the hand had disappeared, the demon had let go of its weapon and let the attack carry the young substitute forward from not meeting resistance.

<p class="MsoNormal">Then a hand grasped the back of the youths head and slammed it into the face of what remained of the stone wall, Ichigo blacked out from the attack, he woke up to see himself being dangled in the air by his head while the demon slowly crushed his skull. Screaming as the demons put increasing pressure onto his skull, Ichigo looked to his blade, which now was on the ground several inches below his dangling feet, he could escape the creatures grip and he didn’t have his weapon on him. He watched as a toothy smile came to the demons faces as its victim realised that it was as good as dead, and Ichigo knew this was true, there was no way he could escape this thing, he was as good as dead now that he couldn’t fight back. He had failed, he didn’t save Inoue, he didn’t stop the Espada, he didn’t defeat Aizen, and he was going to die here, he set out to save his friends and in the end he would die in some hellish dimension alone.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hold!” came a powerful voice, it was dark and echoing, it carried on the winds and met his ears, then the pain of his skull flexing involuntarily disappeared as the demons grasp on him diminished, looking down he saw the demon looking off to something. “Bring him to me!”

<p class="MsoNormal">When these words were said a dark growl was heard from the demon in front of him, before he lowered his hand quickly and dragged the substitute along the ground, but not before picking up his blade and sheathing it inside its metal belt. For the next few minutes Ichigo was mercilessly dragged across the charred landscape and into the dark structure he saw earlier, and when he entered he saw a massive temple, inside were statues of unknown creatures and beings, with dark frescos of unknown events and scenes. He saw in the distance creatures standing in the halls like guards, unmoving and uncaring as they passed by, they have long tails, digitigrade legs, horns, and a formidable suit of armor as well as large bastard-swords, obviously whoever owned this place was definitely powerful and respected.

<p class="MsoNormal">As he travelled through the temple he saw more sights, he saw rooms full of unknown object and weapons, as well as demons and other foul creatures, and he couldn’t understand how he didn’t sense them before, was it because he was so close to the place that his sense blocked it out? Soon he was being dragged up the steps, he didn’t utter a single word or protest, lest the guard get carried away and cause more grievous harm to him, and soon he entered the tower at the top of the stairwell.

<p class="MsoNormal">The first thing he saw was a long hallway leading to a larger room, along the walls were statues of demons, many of which he could not recognise or comprehend in design, soon he came to the main room that took up the entire interior of the tower, there was no roof save for the one at the pinnacle. The structure was a massive hollowed out cylindrical room, there were several pillars that likely kept the walls sturdy and there were no windows to allow any light within, but along the pillars were large braziers that burnt a bright blue but the room was still a dark blood red. At the end of the room was a throne of bronze and black, and sitting on it was a large demon that one would think a cross between the devil and a vampire. A pale humanoid creature sat before him, his head bowed as if brooding, he had large horns that extended far out from his forehead, he wore thick dark plated armour and had large tattered wings that folded behind him, and hooved feet. At the base of his throne were two succubi who were caressing his feet and legs and moaning, but none the less the demon paid them no heed, as he watched he was thrown from the demons grasp and onto the floor. Looking back at the demon he Zangetsu still holstered within the demons belt, if he could get it he could possibly escape, but before he could think about doing that the demons voice called to him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“So who is this mortal that invades our realm?” asked the demon, arrogance and malice rolling of his tongue and coating his words, Ichigo looked up at the horned demon and saw black eyes staring into his own. Slowly getting to his feet, Ichigo didn’t take his eyes off the demon before him, for he could sense the power it possessed and knew that if he took his eyes away for even a second then he would likely be killed in a second. “Speak mortal!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I was sent here by an enemy” said Ichigo, buy time to see about getting his sword back from the demon behind him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Is that so?” asked the demon, resting his chin in his hand as he gazed at the substitute before him. “He must have truly hated you to send you to this place to die.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Ichigo didn’t respond to the demons jab, he obviously didn’t know he was a shinigami, but the demon knew that he was powerful enough to be a potential threat, so he could work on that as he thought of something to get his weapon back.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why am I here?” asked Ichigo

<p class="MsoNormal">“Why you said so yourself, you were brought here by an enemy” jested the Dreadlord, making Ichigo scowl at his response, the demon noticed this and when he abruptly stopped his laughing continued on in a much more serious tone.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I was curious as to the creature that invaded my realm; after all you don’t see many humanoids in entering the Twisted Nether now days.” He said amused, so this was what this place was called.

<p class="MsoNormal">“You didn’t answer my question, why am I here?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about before you died” he said before pointing his finger toward him and a bolt of red lightning shot from his hand, Ichigo had only a second to move out of its path, and when he did the bolt past mere inches from his side. He turned and saw the demon moving forward, both hands on its maul, and behind him he saw the amused sneer on the demons face, he charged the demon with his weapon and intended to get it back.

<p class="MsoNormal">He rushed at the demon quickly, using what reiatsu he had in his legs to increase his speed, the demons reared back its hammer and when Ichigo was close he swung, and while this happened the substitute ducked under the attack and reached for his weapon. But the demon pulled back and prevented to young orange haired youth from reclaiming his sword, Ichigo sailed forward a few more metres and stopped, the demon laughed at his attempt to retake his weapon. But to the terrorguard’s surprise and the Dreadlord’s amusement the young man was smirking, looking down the demon looked to see in the shinigami’s hands was a white cloth that extended from him to the Terrorguard, he followed it all the way to the hilt of the sword sheathed in his belt. Then before he could realise what was going on Ichigo pulled the cloth hard, forcing his sword out of the demons belt and towards its rightful owner, the demon was surprised by the tactic, but none so more until what he did next. The young man used the cloth and the sword as a range weapon, he swung the sword around in a wide arc and right back at the demon, the terrorguard looked at the incoming blade and quickly raised his maul to block the attack. He saw the sword and knew it was coming to strike at his head, he watched as it sailed toward him and with his maul in its way there was no way it could hurt him, then the sword extended to the left, no longer in his path but just a metre to the left of where he was standing.

<p class="MsoNormal">Looking back he saw the cloth strike the maul handle and then out of the corner of his eye he saw the blade change direction and veer towards his unprotected neck, his shocked that he had been beaten by such an unorthodox tactic was the last that passed through his mind before he was decapitated. The cloth went around the maul several more times before his sword clanged against the unknown metal, with a quick tug he pulled back his sword and the maul, his sword wrapping unfolding themselves as both weapon flew towards him, he let go of his cloth and then grasped the hammer in one hand. Even with its heaviness he could lift it, and pushing as much reiatsu into his arm he threw it at the demon, and then caught his own blade and charged after the flying maul, ready to strike when the demon made his move to deflect or evade the attack.

<p class="MsoNormal">Lord Hel'nurath was amused by this humanoids antics, he had actually killed the terrorguard in only a few second, that was a testament to his skill and the fact he was only a teenager further showed that he had potential to be so much more. He then looked to the maul that was moving towards his head and with a simple thrust of his palm the hammer was shattered by a bolt of dark green energy, and close behind it was the charging youth with his sword in one hand. He smirked at the human’s folly; to think he could beat him with such a simple tactic, raising his other free hand the dreadlord blocked the attack with his own elongated claws, a surprised look cross the boy’s face. Throwing the child away, he watched as he landed on his feet, and he rose from his throne and approached the boy, he would take care of this himself.

<p class="MsoNormal">Ichigo watched as the eight foot tall demon rose from his throne and skulked towards him, he could feel the dark power washing off of him, he was powerful and the fact he destroyed the hammer with a wave of his hand and blocked him with nothing but his fingernails proved that. The demon then leaped forward, gliding through the air and descending towards him, Ichigo leaped away from the demon as its claws duck into the ground where he stood only a moment ago, then he was forced to lean to the side to avoid another set of claws. Ichigo was forced on the defensive, he had only his one good arm and he could activate his bankai, he was too weak and the demon was relentless in his assault, he didn’t have enough time to counter any attack before he was forced to either dodge or leap out of the way. Ichigo could use the last of his Reiatsu to attack but he needed to make sure that when he did he either killed him or at least wounded him so he could finish the job, and there was only one thing he knew that could do that sort of damage.

<p class="MsoNormal">For the next few minutes the battle raged on, Ichigo blocked and dodged to attacks that he could, from sharp claws to demon magic, all the while waiting for the perfect time to strike, but he hoped it came along soon, his wounds were starting to pile up. He had three long gashes across his side, a deep cut across his shoulder and several on his arms and legs, he was bleeding very badly, from what he could tell he probably wouldn’t survive another hit or makes it through the hour with the wounds he had. Another attack forced him to leap away, the deep dark claws cutting his Shihakusho rather than his flesh, landing several feet from the dreadlord Ichigo sized up the powerful demon before him, he had not been able to land a single blow on the powerful demon. He had no injuries and appeared no worse for wear in his efforts to carve the young substitute apart, which made Ichigo worried that his next move might not be effective enough to wound him, but he had little choice.

<p class="MsoNormal">“What is the matter little human, afraid that you cannot defeat me?” said the Dreadlord, his tone carrying the same arrogant and deep ambience it always has, Ichigo shot back a confident smirk before replying

<p class="MsoNormal">“You kidding, I’m just getting started” he replied, a cocky grin on his face and a tone to match, the dreadlord smirked to at the young boys arrogance, how fun he thought it would be to show him how futile his bravado was. “In fact, I’m just about to finish you off”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Is that so?” said the Dreadlord, spreading his arms wide in welcome, goading the boy into attacking, and that is what he just did. Charging in like a madman, screaming as he did and pulling his sword back in one hand, Hel'nurath could see the attack would do little to him, it was nothing he could stop or dodge, after all the boy was lucky he hasn’t passed out yet from blood loss or exhaustion.

<p class="MsoNormal">As Ichigo drew closer he began to pour his reiatsu into his blade, he could feel it channelling through his arms and into Zangetsu, soon his blade began to glow with blue spiritual pressure and continue to build, he wasn’t going to half ass this, he was going with everything he had. Hel'nurath at first was not worried about the boys attack, but now his amusement had turned to surprise he could feel it, great power coming from the boys blade, he looked down at the simple cleaver and saw its once dazzling black form shrouded in blue energy.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Getsuga…”

<p class="MsoNormal">A massive surge of energy released from his sword, like lightning it shot of the blade and flowed through the air, illuminating the entire tower in a great sapphire hue, Hel'nurath was shocked by this sudden power that he didn’t consider how it was to be used. He thought that the attack would have to be direct, contact with the enemy in order for it to strike, but he was wrong, taking another step forward the young substitute unleashed his shikai’s special ability.

<p class="MsoNormal">“…Tensho!”

<p class="MsoNormal">He swung his sword up and from it the energy shot out in a crescent wave of blue spirit pressure, craving into the stone and creating a massive torrent of wind, the Dreadlord watched in shock as the attack moved closer towards him. He felt the pressure of the wave crush down on his shoulder before it even made contact; it was like it increased the gravity of anything within its vicinity, he raised both his hands as the blue wave crashed into him, trying to stop the power that overwhelmed his senses and his body. Hel'nurath was sliding across the stone floor as his hand, now coated in fel energy tried to step off the unknown attack from the youth, he could feel gravity forcing him down and the forced pushing him away, and no matter how much power he put into his shield the crescent continued to push him away.

<p class="MsoNormal">Soon Hel'nurath back slammed into the wall, and with nowhere else to go the energy pushed against his form, and as it had nowhere else to go as well there was only one thing it could do, exploded on impact, and when it did the entire tire was caught in the shockwave. The walls and pillars began to fall apart and the room shook as the buildings foundation came undone, Ichigo looked to the massive dust cloud that obscured the demon, he could still feel him and that meant he was alive, he could allow him time to get back up. Charging forward Ichigo stabbed his blade forward, and the moment he entered the cloud there was a clang of steel, the attack cleared all obstruction from view to see a wounded dreadlord holding off the blade, that intended to pierce his heart, with one hand, all the while preventing himself from sliding down the wall with the other. Hel'nurath couldn’t believe that this human was able to wound him so severely, the attack had done more damage when it exploded that impact, he was lucky it wasn’t more condensed otherwise it may have cut him in half, and now he was warding off the boys sword.

<p class="MsoNormal">As he looked at the hard brown eyes of the substitute, gauging the strength that did not come naturally for this mortal, he felt power brewing behind him, looking over his shoulder and saw to his shock a transmutation circle etched into the wall. Lord Hel'nurath had placed a transmutation circle in his tower to allow him to transport himself from one place to another with ease, from his private chambers in the Twisted Nether to his homeworld of Xeroth. To use it require a great deal of power as well as concentration on where it would send you, but the circled seemed to have awakened on its own, but how could it, there was nothing for it draw on and it required him specifically to open it. Then it dawned on him, when he crashed into it the circle must have activated and with the energy the boy sent at him it absorb a portion of it, but without a destination it could kill them, he tried to remove himself from the position he was in, the portal would drag him to anywhere in the greater dark.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Get away you fool!” bellowed the demon, but Ichigo pressed his blade all the harder now, its tip slicing into the demons destroy breastplate and prodding against the pale flesh beneath.

<p class="MsoNormal">Then a brilliant flash of green light appeared behind the dreadlord, the circle had activated, and in that moment a place portal appeared, the dreadlord fell back into the black abyss, and with his hand he grabbed hold of the sword and pulled the substitute with him. Ichigo and the demon fell through the portal and into the darkness, they could see nothing but darkness all around them, but they felt their bodies being propelled at speeds they couldn’t believe, they felt like their bodies were going to be torn apart. Pulling in more than one direction at a time, it was like going up, down, backward and forwards, side to side all at the same time, it felt agonising, and in the moment it began it was over, Ichigo felt himself return to real space and then he felt himself hit the ground hard. He couldn’t even lift himself up after what happened; all he remembered before darkness took him was screaming, yelling and an evil roar.

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