Fairy Tail: Shinigami - Chapter 256: Aizen and Adam.

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Right now I’m on chapter 231 in Patreôn

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[Sosuke Aizen. POV.]

A swirling tunnel of pitch darkness and shimmering light surrounded us as we moved through the Garganta I had created. The sensation, the feeling of being in between realms, was nothing new to me. But this journey held a different weight, a different kind of anticipation.

I had always been a patient man, always one to play the long game, it was the best approach to things. But circumstances had forced my hand, making me act sooner than I would have liked.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t had enough time to fuse with the Hogyoku. And given the situation I found myself in, with Adam, The Gotei 13, and Urahara, well, it was a disadvantage, but not one that was insurmountable.

To put it simple, the implications of this early move were twofold.

On one hand, there was the increased risk of my carefully crafted plans coming undone, that much I could admit. Especially if Kisuke decided to make his move now, I was a proud person, but not a fool. If there was one thing I knew was never underestimate that man.

Yet, on the other hand, stood an enticing possibility.

If I managed to defeat Adam before Kisuke made his move, and harness his soul, it could provide the Hogyoku the power it needed to reach its full potential. In short, I wouldn’t need the souls of hundreds of thousands to achieve my goal, for Adam’s soul was unique.

His connection to the Soul King, as a part of the former, and his innate power, would be… should be more than enough to catalyze the Hogyoku’s evolution. And once that was done, there would be no force in existence capable of standing against me.

This presented a peculiar kind of irony.

The Soul Society, in their desperation to stop me, sent their trump card. But if things went as I hoped, their trump card would be the very thing that would seal their fate.

I looked over at Adam, who seemed lost in his own thoughts, perhaps pondering the forthcoming confrontation or maybe even wondering about the outcome. He was powerful, no doubt about it, a worthy adversary, perhaps the first I had truly had in centuries.

He wasn’t just another pawn on the board, now I could see that. He was a strong individual, one that was every bit my equal in terms of power, if his demonstration so far was anything to by. Which is exactly why I needed to use this opportunity, to propel me into becoming something far greater.

A being without shackles, a being of transcendence existence!

The Garganta began to close as we approached our destination, a desolate part of Hueco Mundo, barren and devoid of any distractions.

A perfect battleground.

“Here it is our stage,” I said, turning to see him. His eyes were closed… good, it seems he’s smart enough to know the dangers of falling into my Kyoka Suigetsu.

Not that I intended to use the power of my Shikai against him. After all, if things went south, I needed to ensure I could defeat him, and for me to use that… Well, I needed him to be free of Kyoka Suigetsu’s spell.

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[Adam C. POV.]

The empty desert around us trembled under our spiritual pressure. As I got into position, my focus, my entire being, was zeroed in on the man standing a few meters away.

Closing my eyes was a precautionary measure. Aizen’s Zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu, had a notorious broken ability to manipulate the senses of anyone who saw its release. Keeping my eyes shut was the best safeguard I could think of.

Thankfully, I had learned how to fight without sight under the guidance of the old man and Unohana.

I breathed deeply, drawing in the energy around me. Every rustle of sand, every shift in the breeze, every beat of Aizen’s spiritual pressure; I committed them to memory. These would be my cues, my guidance.

Then, without warning, it began.

A rush of spiritual pressure surged towards me. Instinctively, I dodged to the side, feeling the heat of a Hadō spell just barely grazing my skin.

So, Aizen was starting with Kido. Smart.

It would allow him to test my abilities without actually risking falling into them.

Returning the favor, I uttered a rapid incantation, launching a Bakudo to bind him. But he sidestepped effortlessly with a Flash Step, countering with another Hado.

The explosive force sent me reeling back, but I managed to regain my footing quickly.

The bastard was better than I imagined. His Kido spells had immense force despite the fact he wasn’t even using their incantations.

“Urahara did say you have a penchant for Kido,” I muttered, summoning a barrier to deflect his next spell.

“Did he now?” Aizen’s voice replied, coming from a slightly different direction than I’d anticipated. He was moving so fast; his spiritual pressure was leaving tangible echoes of his person behind.

That would be a problem. At least momentarily, I just needed time to adapt. Once I managed to get his rhythm, it would be easier to react to his attacks.

Using my spatial manipulation abilities, I folded space around me, instantly closing the distance between Aizen and myself. Face to face with him, I swung my blade at him, only to meet thin air at the last moment.

Damn, he was quick!

But then, a powerful kick landed on my side, propelling me meters away. I skidded across the sand, using the momentum to flip myself upright.

He was fast enough to give Yoruichi a run for her money, smart enough to clash with Urahara in a battle of the minds, and strong enough to face me on equal ground.

I grinned, rushing forward. This was getting fun!

Moving across the desert, we clashed again and again, our spiritual pressures colliding, the echoes of our clashes threatening to consume everything around us.

Knowing I would never win in a battle of Kido, I decided to focus on what I could do and was confident in, facing each of his Kido spells with my spatial abilities and brute strength. Each strike, each counter, every move was met with a corresponding force.

I had to admit, in many ways, we were mirrors of each other’s strength.

Before today, I had fought enemies weaker than me, and stronger than me. But never someone who I could consider an equal.

It was… fulfilling.

As we continued clashing, the intensity of our battle continued to create shockwaves that resonated through Hueco Mundo. Each exchange being more deadly than the last. And through it all, I was learning, adapting, and evolving, matching Aizen’s every move faster and faster.

If he saw through the attacks, I would change them. If a technique failed, I would adjust.

The best part of it all was that; neither of us were going all out. We were both testing each other, weighing our individual value as warriors to see if we came up short.

“I have to admit, you have grown remarkably in a very short span of time, Adam,” Aizen remarked, his tone carrying an almost appreciative note. “Your mastery over your powers, the way you wield them… compared to what I saw in the Gotei 13, it’s commendable.”

I took a deep breath, readjusting my thoughts and keeping my defenses up. “You and I know, we have yet to show our full power, we are both holding back, showing restraint if you will.”

His laughter, unexpected and almost haunting, sliced through the stillness. “Restraint? In this battle where the fate of countless souls hangs in the balance? That’s an interesting choice. Especially when facing someone like me.”

“It is what it is,” I replied.

At this, I could feel his gaze grow colder, as the aura around him was replaced by a tone of deadly seriousness. “I suggest, Adam, that you take this battle more seriously. Because as it stands now, if you continue to hold back, you will undoubtedly die in vain. And that… would be such a waste.”

Cocky little bastard.

Here I was enjoying the moment, but you seem to mistake that as a lack of seriousness, very well. If you want this to get deadly, I will oblige.

“Very well then,” I replied, cracking my neck from side to side. “I hope you don’t regret it.”

Aizen chuckled. “By all means,” he spread his arms out invitingly, “Show me your true power, Adam.”

As Aizen’s words settled, a rush of power emanated from within me. My Zanpakuto hummed in response, echoing my determination. And with a deep breath, I decided to unleash the power of my Zanpakuto, feeling the waves of spatial energy thrum through her blade.

Suddenly, the air around us began to ripple and twist as the landscape around us seemed to dance and distort.

Then, with a swift slash in his direction, rips in space began to emerge around him. Each of them acting as a vortex, trying to pull him in from every direction. The very sand beneath our feet began to spiral into these voids, making the ground unstable and treacherous.

Aizen’s spiritual pressure spiked ever so slightly in acknowledgment but, keeping his calm as I expected him to, he swiftly evaded the pulling forces, weaving between the rips as he made his way towards me.

Every now and then, his fingers would flicker, releasing potent Kido, only for his spells to be redirected to the rips, showing he was testing just how much gravitational pull my attack had.

Moving forward, I condensed space around my blade by adding several layers of space around it, creating an attraction field directly in front of Aizen. The force was designed to be irresistible, attempting to pull him straight into the arc of my next swing. Yet, as my blade came down, he managed to release a quick binding Kido to halt its progress for a crucial split-second, allowing him just enough time to narrowly evade most of the attack.

I could feel his blood in my weapon, and his surprise at this.

However, I wasn’t done nor content with the results thus far, so with another swing of my sword, I reversed the effect on the spatial field, turning attraction into repulsion, blasting Aizen back. Fighting against the push, he skidded across the sands, recovering his ground almost immediately.

“Such a versatile ability,” Aizen commented.

Using the malleability of space under the command of my Zanpakuto, I swiftly altered the spatial dimensions around us, momentarily displacing my position and reappearing right behind Aizen. My movements using this technique were so rapid that to an outsider’s view, it might’ve looked as if I’d teleported.

Before Aizen could fully turn to face the new threat, I channeled a concentrated burst of my power and, with a thrust of my blade, a void began to form just inches away from him. The black hole, small yet dense, drew everything into it with a force that was nearly insurmountable. The sand, the ambient reiatsu in the air, everything was getting sucked into its inky depths.

Aizen’s spiritual pressure spiked as he felt the tremendous gravitational pull. His cloak fluttered violently, and for a brief moment, it looked as though he might be consumed by the singularity.

However, with a flash of his own blade and a potent Kidō spell, a barrier of light formed around him, acting as a temporary defense against my attack, allowing him to fight the pull of my technique.

He had managed to react, and block my attack, avoiding what for most would’ve been an instant death, however, the strain on his spiritual pressure was evident; showing that even for someone of his caliber, directly resisting such a force was no small feat.

Void Point, the technique I had used, was the closest thing to a Black Hole I could achieve without using my Bankai. That alongside Spatial Relocation, was a deadly combination, one that I had hoped would have dealt some damage on him.

Both Void Point, and Spatial Relocation required huge amounts of energy, because they were considered burst techniques, so to avoid exerting myself out, I had to limit their uses.

In short, I had to wait a bit before using both techniques in combination.

That being said, I might not need to use them again if I play my cards right. He was still fighting against my technique, meaning I still had a chance to make this attack meaningful.

Channeling even more power into my Zanpakuto, I attempted to expand the Void Point’s radius, its pull growing stronger with each passing second.

Aizen, despite his defenses, was being pushed to his limits. The barrier he had conjured was cracking under the immense pressure.

“Impressive technique, but not without its faults,” Aizen remarked as he released an explosive wave of energy, in a burst of reiatsu, attacking the center of my technique.

The explosion sent us both skidding across the sand, forcing my technique to dissipate with the release of energy.

To think he would manage to assess the weakness of Void Point so fast and under pressure at that… which was the fact that it wasn’t a real Black Hole, meaning the center of it was the result of condensing my spiritual power into a singular point to recreate the effects of a Black Hole.

Making the center of the technique… the weakest link.

Even then… doing what he did was nearly impossible for any other person, because to accomplish what he accomplished, well… it was fucking hard.

Either the individual in question had to be considerably stronger than me, to the point he could overpower my own spiritual energy.

Or in Aizen’s case, perfect control over his spiritual energy.

His control over his spiritual energy was such, he had managed to use the pull of my own technique to destroy it without the slightest difficulty.