Chapter 13: Jūryoku no Megami!

Grayson and the others stood frozen in fear as they faced the huge Hollow that stood before them, giving off a powerful roar that blasted the air around them away.

"S-So strong..." Izumi said as the spiritual pressure that the Hollow was giving off made it hard for her to move.

Grayson could see that everyone was affected by the pressure except for him, reasoning that it must have been due to the difference in their levels.

Grayson suddenly realised how far he outclassed the others, looking closely at their levels for the first time in a while. Quickly Grayson looked over to Izumi who was standing next to him, checking her stats.

Name: Izumi

Level 7.

Class: Student of the Shinōreijutsuin.

Health: 130/130

Stamina: 90/120

Reiatsu: 100/140

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 1/10.

Strength: 40/100 (0/10)

Speed: 40/100 (0/10)

Intelligence: 50/100 (0/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 2/10 (0/10)

Hakuda: 1/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 2/10 (0/10)

"Only level 7? No way..." Grayson said, quickly glancing at the others while he had the chance.

Name: Kimiko

Level 7.

Class: Student of the Shinōreijutsuin.

Health: 120/130

Stamina: 80/130

Reiatsu: 100/130

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 1/10.

Strength: 45/100 (0/10)

Speed: 40/100 (0/10)

Intelligence: 40/100 (0/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 2/10 (0/10)

Hakuda: 2/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 3/10 (0/10)

Name: Jaku

Level 8.

Class: Student of the Shinōreijutsuin.

Health: 90/140

Stamina: 80/140

Reiatsu: 100/130

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 1/10.

Strength: 60/100 (0/10)

Speed: 45/100 (0/10)

Intelligence: 40/100 (0/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 3/10 (0/10)

Hakuda: 2/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 1/10 (0/10)

Name: Rocko

Level 7.

Class: Student of the Shinōreijutsuin.

Health: 40/170

Stamina: 40/150

Reiatsu: 50/100

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 1/10.

Strength: 90/100 (0/10)

Speed: 35/100 (0/10)

Intelligence: 30/100 (0/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 2/10 (0/10)

Hakuda: 3/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 1/10 (0/10)

"I didn't realise their levels were so low..." Grayson said, realizing how little he had bothered to observe them, only focusing on his own growth.

Of course, he had always known that he was much, much stronger than them, however, he had failed to realise that he was improving at such a fast rate that he had completely left them in the dust.

The Hollow stepped closer to them, causing the others to flinch as it got closer, and causing Grayson to snap out of his thoughts.

"We need to do something!" Jaku shouted, holding his blade tight in both hands as he tried to regain his composure.

"Kimiko, use Hadō 31 with me!" He suddenly shouted, getting a quick response from her, deciding that a ranged attack would be their best bet.

Both of them extended their hands, finishing the incantation as they charged their Reiatsu into the attack.

"Hadō 31 Shakkahō!!!" They both shouted, launching their attacks at the Hollow, watching as they made contact, exploding into a large puff of smoke.

"We did it!" Kimiko yelled.

"No, look out!" Grayson suddenly yelled, diving towards Kimiko as he barged her out of the way from a sudden swipe of the Hollow's blade.

"It didn't even scratch it!" Jaku said, feeling his legs shake as the Hollow turned its attention towards Grayson and Kimiko who were lead on the ground under it.

The Hollow roared and lifted its arm blade into the air, bringing it down with force in an attempt to crush Grayson.

"Look out!" Izumi and Jaku yelled, jumping into action as they both raised their swords to try and block the attack.

Grayson did the same, putting as much strength and Reiatsu into it to try and overcome the huge difference in their stats.

The three of them had somehow managed to stop the monster's attack, only just holding it back as all three of them struggled under the weight of its blade, feeling it almost crush them.

-Howl-

The Hollow roared as it swung its other arm towards them, ripping through the ground from the force of its swing.

Grayson and the others quickly jumped back and avoided the attack, feeling the pressure from the air as they landed back on the ground.

"It's so strong... What kind of Hollow is this thing?" Jaku asked.

"Our only chance is to attack at the same time!" Izumi yelled as she regrouped with the others, holding her sword in one hand across her body.

"No... It's too strong. You all need to get out of here before it kills you!" Grayson suddenly said.

It was the first time that the others had seen him lose his cool, knowing that if he was worried then they should be too.

"I won't leave you to face it alone," Izumi said, shaking a little as she said it.

"M-Me neither!" Jaku said, refusing to give up.

"Look out!" Kimiko shouted as the Hollow jumped into the air, unleashing blasts of concentrated Reiatsu towards them, taking everyone off guard.

Grayson and the others tried to jump out of the way, however, Kimiko and Izumi were too slow, getting caught in the blast, resulting in them being sent flying across the ground and hurt badly.

"Kimiko!" Jaku yelled, looking down at her from the sky, taking his eyes off of the Hollow as it appeared behind him.

Jaku's eyes opened wide in fear, knowing that death was standing behind him with nothing that could be done about it.

"JAKU!!!" Grayson yelled as the Hollow ripped through him, cutting Jaku in half with a swift swipe of its arm.

Izumi slowly opened her eyes, watching slowly as Jaku's body hit the ground, stiff and unmoving with no life left in his eyes.

"No... Jaku." She said, feeling weak from the blast she had been hit with as she passed out from the pain.

Grayson was horrified at the sight of Jakus's mutilated corpse, getting flashbacks to when the Hollow had killed stump and the others.

Rocko, Izumi and Kimiko were all out of it, being too injured to fight anymore, leaving only himself to face the Hollow now.

"You bastard..." Grayson said, opening his stat screen, knowing he had to do everything he could if he wanted to survive and try to save the others.

Name: Grayson.

Level 22. (200/6000).

Class: Student of the Shinōreijutsuin.

Health: 200/215

Stamina: 150/215

Reiatsu: 110/215

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 2/10.

Flash step 1/10

Strength: 25/100 (1/10)

Speed: 15/100 (1/10)

Intelligence: 15/100 (1/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 8/10 (0/10)

Hakuda: 5/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 3/10 (0/10)

Skill points available: 4.

Grayson placed three of his skill points into his Zanjutsu, hitting the level ten mark and reaching the next rank. (1/10 (1/10))

"One point left..." He then said, deciding to place it into his Intelligence skill, also raising his reiatsu by ten points.

The Hollow watched Grayson, seeming to focus on his sword as it took another step forwards, seeming to saviour its gaze upon him.

"You son of a bitch..." Grayson said, gripping the hilt of his blade with both hands as he held it in front of him, taking a ready stance.

The knowledge of more sword fighting skills entered his mind, along with his understanding of them increasing thanks to the small increase in his intelligence. However, he knew that it wouldn't be enough to defeat this monster.

"Can you finally hear me..." A soft voice said, seeming to take Grayson off guard.

"What in the?" He thought, pricking his ears to see if he was hearing things.

"System did you say something?" He asked, trying to listen for it again.

"No..." The system replied, keeping quiet as the Hollow took another step towards Grayson.

"Are you ready to listen... Or can you still not hear me?" The voice said again, this time causing Grayson to reply.

"Who said that?" He asked, having a strange feeling as he looked down at his sword.

The Hollow was done wasting time now as it raised its arm, preparing to attack Grayson, putting all of its power into its attack and taking Grayson off guard as he had become distracted due to the voice inside his head.

Grayson watched the attack come towards him in slow motion, knowing he couldn't move fast enough to do anything.

"It's all over..." He thought, feeling his body freeze on the spot as he closed his eyes in fear at what he knew was about to happen.

However, time seemed to stretch on a little too long, causing him to slowly open his eyes in question as to why he wasn't dead yet.

"Where am I?" He asked, seeing that the Hollow was nowhere to be seen, instead surrounded by a thin mist, being able to make out concrete pillars in a dark place with some floating in the air and others radiating a black form of energy into a dark sky.

"What in the hell is this place?" Grayson asked, taking a look around and taking in his surroundings.

"So... You can hear me." The voice said, causing Grayson's eyes to open wide as he turned to face the direction of it.

Grayson looked over to see a small distortion in the air before a female shadow seemed to ripple out of the darkness, swirling around what looked like a small black hole before taking her form and taking the darkness into the palm of her hand.

"Who are you?" Grayson asked, not sure what was happening right now, however, feeling no fear as he watched the figure carefully.

"What is this place?"

The dark figure slowly closed its hand, making a fist as the orb it held disappeared.

"It would seem you can still not see me yet..." The figure said, seeing itself through Grayson's eyes.

Grayson raised an eyebrow as he looked it up and down.

"But I can see you..." He said, confused.

"Tell me, Grayson. Do you wish to grow stronger?" It asked, seeming to ignore his questions.

Grayson grew serious all of a sudden, nodding his head after a moment.

"I do." He said, having a feeling that whatever this thing was, it was going to help him.

"If you wish to become stronger, then you must listen to me carefully and do one thing." The being said as it floated in the air, seeming to appear weightless as its hair floated around its figure.

Grayson nodded his head, waiting for it to tell him what to do, seeming to understand what was going on here a little better.

Slowly he looked down at his sword, lifting it up so he could get a better look at it.

"You... You are my zanpakuto..." He then said, seeming to connect the dots.

"Quest complete, enter your inner world." The system suddenly said inside of his head.

"You have been awarded 2000 exp."

Grayson ignored his system's voice and instead concentred on the dark female figure before him, slowly lowering his sword to his side.

"If you want to become stronger, then you must speak my name..." It said, whispering the next part softly for him to hear.

Grayson opened his eyes, coming back into the real world as he gripped the hilt of his sword tight in his hands.

"I see..." He said, watching as the Hollow swung its blade down towards him, seeing that no time had passed in the real world.

"Distort... Jūryoku no Megami!!!"

Suddenly Grayson's sword burst to life, becoming covered with a black reiatsu that was outlined with a purple tint, surrounding the blade before it transformed in his hands, taking its new form.

The Hollow was shocked as its arm blade connected with something hard, seeming to stop it in its tracks before forcing it back with a sudden burst of power.

The smoke between Grayson and the Hollow cleared, revealing Grayson stood holding his new sword in his right hand, seeming to have been given a boost to his power.

"Quest complete! Achieve ShiKai! You have been awarded 5000 exp and one skill point!"

"You have levelled up!"

Grayson looked at his new sword, having never seen anything like it before, admiring the blade as he took in the details.

The hilt of the blade had completely changed form, having a glowing red orb in the middle and a smaller one on the left side, while having a small blade on the right side. The handle had become wrapped in a purple sash with an eight-sided metal base with four rings through as a pommel while the blade had become much larger, sprouting a jagged outline on the top and bottom of the edge, giving it a menacing appearance.

(See comment here for a picture of the sword design!)

The Hollow stumbled back as it regained its balance, seeming to grow more enraged as it had been denied its kill, howling as it charged back towards Grayson ready to attack him again.

Izumi had regained consciousness managing to open her eyes enough to see what was going on as the sounds of battle continued in the distance.

"Grayson..." She said, seeing that his sword had changed, watching as he stood with a new power around his body.

The Hollow roared as it slashed forwards with its right arm, only to be stopped dead in its tracks by Grayson as he blocked the attack with minimal effort, repelling the attack as if it was nothing.

The Hollow swung its left arm with another attack, attempting to crush him with all of its strength, however, Grayson did the same thing again, repelling its attack with his sword as if it was nothing, confusing the Hollow as to what was happening.

"I see... So, this is the power of Jūryoku no Megami" Grayson said as he watched the Hollow, taking more time to further understand the powers his sword held.

Grayson let his Reiatsu burst to life, as he pointed his sword at the Hollow, causing the red orb in the middle of his hilt to glow a bright red.

Suddenly the Hollow felt a powerful crushing force upon it, driving it down to its knees as if its body had become too heavy for it to stand.

The Hollow howled with all of its might as it forced itself to stand up and charge at Grayson, slashing with both arms in a desperate attack.

Grayson was quick to dash out of the way, seeming to move faster than he had before, floating into the air as he watched the Hollow.

The Hollow quickly jumped towards him, spinning at a rapid rate using both of its arms like scythes, spinning so fast that its attacks would surely cut Grayson to ribbons.

"G-Grayson!" Kimiko yelled, having also regained consciousness as she climbed onto her knees, holding her shoulder that was injured while she watched the ongoing battle.

Grayson gripped his sword with both hands and held it in front of him, blocking a number of attacks as sparks flew from his blade until he stopped the Hollow in its tracks.

"My turn!" He yelled, suddenly lifting his blade into the air before he smashed it down against the Hollow, only giving it enough time to cross both of its arms in an attempt to block his attack.

However, the weight behind Grayson's attack was so powerful that it sent the Hollow flying before it crashed into the ground, shattering the earth beneath it.

Grayson floated in the air as he watched the Hollow slowly climb out of the hole it had made when it collided with the ground, relishing in his new abilities.

"This is the end..." Grayson said, taking another look at his sword as he noticed the red orb in the middle of the hilt spinning rapidly.

"HOWL!!!" The Hollow roared in pure rage, seeming to charge a blast of reiatsu from its mouth before firing it towards Grayson.

Grayson smiled, pointing his sword at the oncoming blast as he prepared to finish the fight once and for all.

But to his horror, his sword suddenly burst into the black reiatsu with a purple outline and reverted back into his original sword, leaving him powerless as the blast of reiatsu smashed into him, knocking him from the sky where he crashed into the ground.

"Grayson!!!" Izumi and Kimiko yelled, watching what had happened from the distance.

"What happened!" Kimiko yelled, not understanding.

"He was winning!" She then said as tears flowed down her face.

Izumi also had tears welling up in her eyes as she didn't know if Grayson had survived the Hollow's direct attack, feeling helpless as she watched.

"P-Please... Please somebody help us!!!" Izumi yelled, crying out to the heavens for someone to save them.

The Hollow roared in victory as it marched over towards where Grayson had fallen, standing over him as it snarled in victory.

Grayson could just about open his eyes even though his whole body felt like a wreck, having taken a direct blast of concentrated reiatsu.

"W-what happened..." He thought, seeing that the Hollow was going to finish him.

"It would seem that you ran out of reiatsu... Causing your Shikai to revert at the last second." The system answered.

"Fuck..." Grayson said, knowing he should have kept a better eye on it, knowing it was a risk using his new abilities for the first time without knowing his limits.

"Looks like I really messed up this time..." He said as the Hollow snatched him from the ground, feeling its burning breath on his face as it opened its jaws wide.

"I had a good run... Even if it was short." Grayson thought, knowing there was nothing else to be done now.

...

"Bakudō, 61. Rikujōkōrō." (Six Rods Prison of Light)

Suddenly six beams of light struck the Hollow in the middle of its body, holding it in place and rendering it unable to move as it held Grayson not a meter away from its mouth.

Both Izumi and Kimiko watched in amazement as a man with long black hair, with intricate white headpieces, three on top of his head and another two on the right side, along with his white scarf and captain's cloak stepped forwards, becoming the centre of attention.

"It would seem that I got here just in time." He said, drawing his sword ever so slowly as he fixed his attention onto the Hollow and Grayson who it was holding.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura..." He said, allowing his sword to turn into what looked like cherry blossom petals, allowing them to scatter into the wind, making their way towards the Hollow.

The Hollow was frozen in place but tried with all of its might to break free from the Bakudō spell, even gaining a small bit of movement, which did not go unnoticed by the captain.

Suddenly the flower petals danced around the Hollow, causing it to roar out in pain as they cut its body to ribbons, causing it to drop Grayson to the ground.

However, just as his sword was about to finish the monster off, a sudden burst of light engulfed it, coming from the sky as a crack seemed to rip it open from above, revealing a huge black monster known as a Menos.

Izumi and Kimiko were horrified to see what was happening as the light seemed to protect the Hollow from even the captain's attack, slowly lifting it into the air and out of harm's way.

"Captain!" Another voice shouted, rushing towards the battlefield with a full squad of soul reapers.

"Quickly, tend to the injured and look for any survivors!" The voice said, causing Grayson to smile with the last of his strength.

"We made it... Looks like this isn't the end after all..." He said softly before he gave way to exhaustion and passed out, leaving his world black.

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Alright! Thats the end of this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading.