Slime Soul (Tensura x Bleach Crossover) (Patreon)

Chapter 13: Overwhelming Force

We didn’t say anything as we split up upon reaching the tower, Ichigo, Uryu, and I flying toward the top, while the others launched attacks at the Hollows swarming below.

At the speed we were going, it only took moments to reach the top. Ichigo swung his sword at the wall, carving an entrance for us.

We landed on a floor of smooth, blue marble and quickly surveyed the scene. Ulquiorra stood only a few steps from Orihime, who looked at us with clear relief in her eyes.

But something was off, her white Arrancar uniform had been torn at the shoulders, exposing a bit more of her chest than it should’ve. The culprits stood beside her, exactly who I expected: Loly Aivirrne and Menoly Mallia, Aizen’s jealous former aides. Just as I remembered, they must’ve attacked Orihime out of spite, enraged by Aizen’s focus on her and decided to risk it now that he was not in Las Noches.

Naturally, seeing Orihime like that pushed Ichigo over the edge.

“Inoue! Get away from her!” he shouted, fury blazing in his eyes as he launched toward them.

But Ulquiorra moved to intercept.

“Are you ignoring me, Kurosaki Ichigo?” he asked coolly, stepping between them. His gaze flicked between Ichigo and me, though he kept most of his attention on Ichigo.

“Bastard! Move!” Ichigo growled, caught in a deadlock against Ulquiorra, who looked completely unfazed.

“I will not.”

“Relax, Ichigo. Did you already forget we’re here, you dumbass?” I said, drawing everyone’s attention again, just in time for them to notice Orihime was now standing beside Uryu and me, safe and unharmed.

Orihime blinked, looking momentarily confused before relaxing as she realized she was no longer in danger.

Ulquiorra’s eyes widened slightly. “…When?”

He sounded genuinely surprised, his blank expression cracking just for a second before smoothing over again.

“Uryu, take care of Inoue. Looks like our other guest finally decided to show himself,” I said, moving my hand off her shoulder. I'd already healed her, and with Raphael’s help, completed a full analysis while I was at it.

Uryu, quick on the uptake, moved to take Orihime farther away to the opposite end of the room.

“Thanks, Caius. I owe you one,” Ichigo said, visibly more relaxed now that Orihime was out of harm’s way.

“Thank me after you win your fight, dumbass,” I replied evenly, knowing full well this would be one of his toughest battles yet. “Just don’t die.”

Then I turned and walked forward, toward the heavy footsteps echoing from the other end of the room. Yammy Llargo slowly making his way to us now looking almost twice as big as normal.

Before he could utter a single word, I appeared in front of him and slammed a roundhouse kick across his face, launching the brute straight out of the tower and into the distant desert.

I paused for just a second to glance back at Ichigo.

“Remember what I said. If you force me to finish your fight for you, I’ll let you have it.”

With that, I took off in Yammy’s direction, fully aware of Ulquiorra’s narrowed eyes watching my back even as he engaged Ichigo.

‘He’s wary of me,’ I thought with a smirk. ‘That’s some good intuition.’

I didn’t have time to dwell on Ulquiorra’s wary stare as I landed a short distance away from a still-downed Yammy, half-buried beneath a mess of rubble.

A moment later, he exploded out of the debris in a blast of sand and rage, bellowing like a pissed-off beast.

“Daaaammnn iiiiittt!! Who the hell did that!?” he roared, swiveling around until his eyes locked onto me. “Who the fuck are you!?”

“That information is useless to someone who’s about to die,” I said calmly, summoning my sword to my hand. In the next instant, I was at his side, blade flashing, and his right arm, the same one Ichigo had taken before, was sent flying through the air.

“Gaaah! My arm! Bastard! I just got that healed!” Yammy howled, his fury growing, and with it, so did his body. Like the meathead he was, his rage fueled his size, muscles swelling grotesquely.

He gripped his Zanpakuto in his remaining hand and snarled out his release: “I’ll kill you! Get pissed off, Ira!”

A massive surge of crimson spiritual pressure erupted around him as he transformed. I raised my sword and smirked.

‘How about we test out some new abilities on this guy, Raphael? He looks like he can take a beating.’

“Ready at your command, Master,” she replied instantly, with just a hint of eagerness.

I chuckled. ‘Still can’t believe you recreated another Sin Series skill just from the Espada I devoured, without even having a True Dragon battery pack backing us up. You’re incredible, Raphael. I honestly feel blessed to have you in this new life. You make all this bearable.’

“…Think nothing of it, Master. It is my duty.” Her voice was slightly softer than usual, almost… shy.

The smile that pulled at my lips grew wider. Her slowly evolving sense of self never failed to make me happy since it proved she was not just a mere skill.

Turning my attention back to Yammy, I watched as his grotesque transformation finished. Standing before me now was a centipede-like monster, massive and hunched, with sixteen legs and a hulking tail dragging behind him.

“Heh. You’re one ugly fucker,” I muttered, infusing my blade with Battlewill. It blazed to life with a brilliant blue glow, and at the same time, I silently activated one of my newest tricks.

Greed.

Thanks to Raphael, I’d recently obtained the unique skill once used by Twilight Valentine, then passed down to Mariabell Rosso when she reincarnated, and finally claimed by Yuuki Kagurazaka after he killed her. Greed, the power to dominate human desire and twist subjects to your own will.

And Yammy? He practically radiated desire. Rage, power, violence. The man ran on raw instinct and emotion, which made him the perfect lab rat.

As I subtly pushed the skill into his mind, I began nudging those desires. Nothing too obvious, just tests for now, to see what I could get away with before he noticed something. Though I was not too worried since Yammy was a fucking idiot all things considered.

And to think this was just one of the new skills I’d gained through evolution.

‘I really should devour or Analyze the rest of the Espada,’ I thought, feeling more and more excited. ‘There’s no telling what Raphael might extract from them.’

“I’m in full agreement, Master,” she chimed in, now all business. “Without a True Dragon like Veldora, it’s on us to carry the load. Let’s use every tool at our disposal. We’re just lucky that this world is very rich in souls.”

‘You got it, partner.’ I thought back using an affectionate tone when I said partner, having noticed that she enjoyed being called like that.

I felt her squirm in the back of my head again.

Yup. She definitely liked that word.

“You’re imagining it.”

Chuckling at her signature catchphrase, I turned my focus back to the battlefield, already preparing to use Yammy as a test subject.

His spiritual pressure flared violently, sending waves of force rippling through the desert as he slammed one of his massive fists into the sand, bloodshot eyes locked on me like a rabid animal.

“I’m gonna crush you like a fucking bug!” he roared.

I hovered midair, calm as ever, letting Greed leak from me like a thin, invisible fog. I wasn’t going to match raw power with raw power. Not when I had something far more interesting to play with.

‘Raphael, let’s test something. Amplify his arrogance, push his need to prove he’s the strongest. Let’s see if we can make him drop his guard.’

“Understood, Master. Targeting his competitive instinct... done.”

Yammy twitched.

“KEHEHE… I DON’T EVEN NEED CERO FOR TRASH LIKE YOU!” he bellowed, the red glow building in his mouth vanishing in an instant. “I’LL SMASH YOU TO PASTE WITH MY BARE HANDS!”

He lunged.

The ground detonated under him as he launched himself like a freight train of hate. His skyscraper-sized fist came crashing down, house-sized and wide open, telegraphed and easy to read.

I vanished with Sonído just before impact.

His blow obliterated the dunes behind me, kicking up a sandstorm.

‘That worked. He’s not even questioning it.’ I smirked midair, hovering just above his wrist.

“He is responding precisely as calculated,” Raphael confirmed. “His desire to assert dominance is overriding logic. Greed’s influence is stable. Do you wish to test deeper manipulation?”

‘Not yet. Let the puppet dance. I want to see just how predictable he gets when he thinks the fight’s already won.’

And just like that, our game—well, I saw it as a game, no idea what the hulking rage monster thought—officially began. With Raphael’s help, I started screwing with him in every way I could think of.

Small things at first. Making him swing at illusions. Trip over his own feet. Temporarily blind him. Paralyze a leg. At one point, I made him punch himself in the face.

For the laughs, of course.

And as Raphael and I ran through our little experiment list, Yammy just kept getting angrier… and angrier… until finally, he snapped. His spiritual pressure exploded, and with a roar of primal rage, he transformed, growing even bigger, his form shifting into something more monstrous.

A towering, gorilla-like behemoth, layered in armor-like muscle, horns erupting from his face and back. He looked like someone had taken “fuck subtlety” and sculpted it into a Hollow.

“STOP FUCKING WITH ME AND FIGHT ME ALREADY!!” he bellowed, shaking the dunes for miles around.

I chuckled, finally dropping my concealment.

With a flicker of Battlewill, refined into a technique not unlike Hakurou’s called Formhide, I fully revealed myself to the beast.

“Fine,” I said, tone flat. “Here I am.”

To be honest, the only reason he was still lucid enough to yell was because I let him have his will back. The game had lost its charm, and more importantly, I’d just felt a massive surge of spiritual pressure from above Las Noches.

Ulquiorra’s second Resurrección.

Which meant I didn’t have time to play anymore. I had a strawberry to save.

“NO MORE RUNNING AWAY!!” Yammy roared as he opened his colossal maw, red energy pooling deep inside.

Cero Oscuras.

“Careful what you wish for.” I said losing all amusement from my face and my expression turning blank.

I raised one hand.

And just as the devastating blast began to form, it was devoured, swallowed whole by Beelzebuth before it could even finish charging.

“Wha—!?”

It was too late however. In the moment it took Yammy to realize that his Cero got neutralized, the fight was already over.

I appeared behind him.

My blade was already extended, a single droplet of blood slipping off its tip.

Yammy froze. His eyes went glassy.

A beat later, his head slid cleanly from his shoulders and thudded into the sand. His body followed soon after, collapsing like a downed tower.

I flicked my blade clean of blood.

“Beelzebuth.”

With another single gesture, I devoured what remained of him, every cell, every trace of energy.

Then I turned toward the distant spiritual clash above Las Noches, my eyes narrowing.

Ichigo’s reiatsu was slowly dwindling as the fight progressed.

“Tsk,” I muttered. “Guess I’ll have to step in after all. Even after the little upgrade I gave him earlier.”

A blue magic circle formed underneath my feet a second later before a flash of teleportation followed.

“You owe me one, Ichigo.”

=====

Top of Las Noches — Ichigo vs Ulquiorra

Reappearing at the top of Las Noches, I immediately spread my senses, scanning the area, just in time to hear Orihime cry out in anguish.

“STOP IT!!”

My gaze snapped upward.

There it was: Ulquiorra in his Segunda Etapa form, holding Ichigo by the neck with his tail. His finger was aimed square at Ichigo’s chest.

A moment later, boom, a flash of black and green. The sound of a Cero.

When the light faded, Ichigo had a new accessory: a donut hole right through his chest.

Ulquiorra noticed me a second later. Without a word, he flung Ichigo’s limp body to the side like garbage. Orihime barely caught him in time with a shield, her powers already trying to work their healing.

The Cuatro Espada used Sonído and appeared before me, silent and composed.

“Uryu!” I called over my shoulder without looking, catching him off guard having not noticed my presence yet. “Protect Inoue. I’ve got this.”

He blinked once, took on a serious expression then nodded. “Right.”

Ulquiorra’s calm gaze never wavered. “So. Yammy is dead, then... if you’re here, Caius Aurelius.”

“That’s right,” I said simply, no emotion in my voice as I summoned my sword into my hand.

“I warned him his arrogance would one day be his undoing.” His tone didn’t change, but I caught the faintest tilt of disappointment. “Still... this presents a good opportunity. Aizen-sama instructed me to assess your strength and until now I have been unable to do it.”

With that, a green reishi spear formed in his hand.

I didn’t bother responding.

Instead, I vanished moving at a speed much greater than I had before.

I reappeared right in front of him and brought my blade down, already crackling with Battlewill. He barely managed to raise his spear to block, the sound of the clash echoing across the rooftop like thunder.

“Sorry,” I said as sparks flew between us, “Unfortunately, I don’t have time for small talk. I’ve got a strawberry to heal... and then beat up again for being an idiot. So why don’t we skip the battle banter and jump to the part where I kill you and devour you.”

I smirked as I brought my knee up hard, slamming it into his stomach and doubling him over.

“Ghuuh!”

Without giving him a second, I followed up with a slash. My blade cleaved through his reishi spear, shattered the unstable energy of the explosion, and devoured it with Beelzebuth before it could explode in my face.

I then kept going in one fluid arc.

Slash—left arm gone. Twist—left leg severed.

To his credit, Ulquiorra escaped at the last second, losing another arm in the process before landing some distance away, standing shakily on one foot.

He stared at me, his face unreadable. “Tsk. It seems Aizen-sama’s concerns about you were well-founded.”

He flexed his spiritual pressure. The air rippled as his limbs regenerated due to his High-Speed Regeneration that while good was nothing to my Infinite Regeneration. A moment later he stood on both legs again looking good as new.

“To not only overpower me in speed and strength, but to nullify my Lanza del Relámpago... and consume its explosion. Just what are you?”

Another green spear formed in his hand. His posture was different now, no more aloof arrogance. This time, he kept his full focus locked on me.

I could tell with that just one look that he was taking me seriously now.

“I said we should skip the talk, but I don’t mind telling you what I am before I kill you,” I said, letting a small smile curl my lips. My grin widened slightly, playful and dark.

“I’m Caius Aurelius, a simple, adorable slime~ at your service.” I gave him a victory sign with my free hand like we were exchanging pleasantries over tea.

Then my grin turned wicked. “By the way... you really shouldn’t have let me touch you.”

Ulquiorra blinked. His mouth opened, likely to ask what I meant, only to cough up a spray of blood, his body lurching as strength drained from him.

“W-What... ‘cough’... did you do to me?” he rasped, dropping to one knee, arms trembling as if gravity had suddenly tripled.

“To put it simply? I poisoned you,” I said, already standing in front of him, my blade just a hair’s breadth from his neck.

He froze.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence between us, him staring at the edge of death, me waiting.

Then he looked up at me. No fear in his eyes, just quiet realization.

“I stood no chance against you,” he murmured, as if reciting his own obituary. “I wanted to teach Kurosaki Ichigo the true meaning of despair… but in the end, I’m the one who learned it.”

He glanced once toward Ichigo, still crumpled on the floor beneath Orihime’s healing shield, and then lowered his head, closing his eyes.

“Finish it.”

“…Farewell, Ulquiorra Cifer.”

I swung.

His head separated cleanly from his shoulders, and in the same motion, I devoured his body with Beelzebuth, leaving no trace behind.

‘It’s done. Now let’s go help Orihime patch up the dumbass.’

But just as I turned to do exactly that, I froze.

My eyes locked onto something I really didn’t want to see.

Ichigo.

Standing.

The hole in his chest still gaping wide. But now his hair was long. His face was covered by a new Hollow mask, sleek and cruel with two horns curling forward like a devil reborn.

‘Tch… Damn it. You just can’t stop giving me headaches, can you, dumbass?’

I stared at the face of Kurosaki Ichigo, now fully transformed into his Vasto Lorde form.