Chapter 184: Ren VS Oración Seis
"Who?!"
The sudden intrusion of a foreign, overwhelming magical pressure caused the members of the Oración Seis and the surrounding Dark Guild soldiers to freeze. Every head snapped upward, their gazes locking onto the source of the disturbance.
High above the chaotic battlefield, suspended in the air with an almost ghostly stillness, stood a figure clad in pristine white. His hands were tucked casually into the pockets of his wide, white hakama pants, and his bone-white jacket, featuring a high collar, fluttered gently in the wind. His skin was pale, almost deathly so, and vivid teal lines descended from his eyes like permanent tears. On his chest, positioned slightly to the side, was a hollow circular void.
It was a form that radiated a cold, suffocating nihilism.
"What's the matter?" The figure spoke, his voice cool and indifferent, echoing across the clearing. "Everyone, we just met a few moments ago. Have you forgotten my presence so quickly?"
"Ren!!!"
The collective realization swept through the Oración Seis. Despite the drastic change in appearance—from the blindfolded sorcerer to this pale, demonic entity—the arrogance and the unique magical signature were unmistakable. It was Ren.
They were well aware of his capabilities. Ren possessed Take Over Magic, a rare spatial-transformation ability that allowed him to embody the powers and appearances of legendary figures. This pale, melancholy demon was simply another one of his "souls."
"Angel!" Brain barked, his face twisting with urgency.
Angel, the celestial spirit mage clad in feathers, nodded immediately, understanding her leader's intent without needing explicit instructions. She snatched a golden key from her hip, waving it through the air.
"Open! Gate of the Twins! Gemini!"
Poof!
Two small, floating mascot-like creatures appeared in a puff of smoke—Gemi and Mini.
"Gemini! Scan him! Tell me this guy's information, his weaknesses, everything!" Angel commanded shrilly.
Bang!
The two spirits swirled together and instantly transformed, taking on the shape of a blonde woman—Lucy Heartfilia. Gemini could replicate the memories and knowledge of anyone they had previously touched or copied. Since they had encountered Lucy recently, they accessed her knowledge base regarding their enemy.
"Information retrieving..." the Gemini-Lucy droned in a mechanical voice, eyes scanning the floating figure of Ren. "This is Ren's Murciélago transformation... Error. Insufficient information."
"Insufficient?!" Angel grit her teeth.
"Lucy Heartfilia has only witnessed Ren transform into the entity known as 'Ulquiorra Cifer' once, during the initial encounter," Gemini reported. "She possesses no data on his abilities, limits, or weaknesses. Ren has not utilized Take Over Magic in her presence since."
Brain clicked his tongue in annoyance, glaring up at the sky. "Ren! Why switch forms? Why don't you use that previous power—the one that manipulated space? Are you mocking us?"
Brain was trying to bait him, hoping to glean some insight into why the monster had swapped out an invulnerable defense for this new form.
"I'll take over whoever I want to take over," Ren replied, his tone bored. "Is it any of your business, trash?"
Ren glanced down at his pale hands. Internally, he was running a quick comparative analysis, like a gamer weighing loadouts.
Gojo Satoru is undeniably powerful, Ren mused. The Limitless technique is the ultimate defense, and the Six Eyes provide unparalleled perception. Mechanically, he is broken. However, Gojo's raw stats—specifically his destructive output without charge time—are somewhat lacking compared to this form.
To cast Hollow Purple, Gojo required a complex chant and a significant wind-up time. It was a sniper rifle: precise, deadly, but slow to fire. Furthermore, while Blue and Red were strong, they lacked the sheer, wide-area annihilation capability he needed right now.
Ulquiorra Cifer is different, Ren thought, feeling the dense spiritual pressure of the Espada coursing through his veins. Gojo is about mechanics; Ulquiorra is about raw stats. Speed, durability, and instant, catastrophic firepower.
He looked toward the massive, walking ancient city in the distance—Nirvana.
Nirvana was a colossus. To destroy something of that magnitude with Gojo's kit would require a 200% output Hollow Purple, which would leave him open to interruption. But Ulquiorra? Ulquiorra had the Lanza del Relámpago. It was an instant-cast nuclear warhead that he could spam indefinitely. It was, without a doubt, the most destructive single-target skill in his current arsenal.
I was about to throw a Thunder Lance and send the Oración Seis and Nirvana to the afterlife in one shot, Ren thought with a sigh. But there are allies trapped inside Nirvana's legs. I can't just nuke the map yet.
"Not good! This guy... he wants to destroy Nirvana!!!"
A shout cut through Ren's internal monologue. It was Cobra. The Poison Dragon Slayer was clutching his head, his eyes wide with genuine terror.
"What?!"
The other members of the Oración Seis whipped around to face Cobra, their faces paling.
"Destroy Nirvana?! That's insane!" Angel screamed, laughing nervously. "How is that possible?! It's an ancient super-weapon the size of a city! Cobra, did you mishear his heart?"
"No mistake! I didn't mishear a single syllable!" Cobra yelled, pointing a trembling finger at Ren. "His inner voice is clear. He's calculating the most efficient way to vaporize the entire structure! He's not thinking about fighting us; he's thinking about demolition!"
High in the air, Ren tilted his head slightly, his teal eyes narrowing at Cobra. "Magic that allows you to hear the thoughts of others? Interesting. It reminds me of Warren's Telepathy, but far more invasive."
"Kill him!" Brain roared, slamming his staff into the ground. "Do not let him cast anything! If he destroys Nirvana, our plans—our prayers—are finished! Eliminate him now!"
Cobra was the first to react. Desperation fueled his movements. They had spent years searching for Nirvana; he would not let some pale-faced mage reduce it to dust.
"Go, Cubellios!"
Cobra leapt onto the back of his massive, purple winged serpent. "We're taking him out of the sky!"
The giant snake hissed, its wings beating furiously as it rocketed upward. As they reached Ren's altitude, the serpent whipped its massive tail around, aiming to smash Ren's ribs into powder. The attack carried enough force to shatter boulders.
Ren didn't dodge. He didn't blink. He simply raised his left hand, palm open.
Clang!
The sound wasn't flesh striking flesh. It was the sound of a sledgehammer hitting a solid steel beam.
"Ow!" Cobra flinched, feeling the vibration travel up the snake's body.
The serpent's tail had stopped dead against Ren's forearm. Ren hadn't moved an inch.
Hierro, Ren noted silently. Steel Skin. The condensed spiritual pressure of an Arrancar creates a dermal armor that makes standard physical attacks useless.
"Cubellios, what's wrong with you?!" Cobra shouted, sensing the agonizing pain radiating from his partner. The snake whimpered, its tail throbbing as if it had struck a diamond wall.
Ren's eyes remained dull. "Is that it?"
He closed his fingers around the serpent's tail.
Whoosh!
With a casual flick of his wrist, Ren swung the massive beast—and its rider—through the air like a wet towel. The centrifugal force was immense. Cobra and Cubellios were spun into a blur, their equilibrium shattered.
"Get down."
Ren hurled them toward the ground. They crashed into the forest floor with a meteor-like impact, carving a trench through the earth.
"Liquid Ground!"
A voice boomed from the dust cloud. Hoteye of the Heavenly Eye stood with his arms outstretched. The solid earth beneath Ren's projected landing spot suddenly liquefied, rising up like a massive tidal wave of mud and stone to catch the falling Cobra, softening his impact, before twisting to lash out at Ren.
"Softening magic... annoying," Ren muttered.
Bzzzt!
A sound like static electricity tearing through the air echoed.
"Sonído!"
Ren vanished. He didn't just move fast; he slipped through the sound barrier using a high-speed movement technique unique to Arrancars.
In the fraction of a second it took for Hoteye to blink, Ren was already standing beside him.
"Oh no!" Hoteye's magical eye, capable of seeing through solid objects and great distances, barely registered the movement. "Too fa—"
Thud!
Ren's leg connected with Hoteye's side. It was a clean, brutal roundhouse kick.
"Wuwawawa!"
Hoteye shrieked as his ribs groaned under the pressure. He was launched horizontally, crashing through three thick trees before skidding to a halt in the dirt.
"You bastard!"
"Poison Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Cobra had recovered. Fueled by rage, he lunged out of the dust cloud, his fist enveloped in a swirling miasma of purple toxic energy.
Ren met the charge head-on. He didn't bother with a technique; he simply punched.
BOOM—!
Fist met fist. A shockwave exploded outward, shattering the ground beneath their feet and stripping the bark off nearby trees. Cobra's eyes bulged. He was a Dragon Slayer; his physical strength was superhuman. Yet, punching Ren felt like punching a mountain.
Suddenly, a blur of motion appeared in Ren's peripheral vision.
A figure clad in a skin-tight racing suit capitalized on the deadlock, launching a high-speed kick aimed directly at Ren's temple.
Bang!
The kick connected solidly with the side of Ren's head.
"So hard!"
Ren didn't even grunt. Instead, the attacker cried out, hopping back on one leg and clutching a bruised foot.
Ren turned his head slowly, his expression unchanging, and looked at the attacker. It was Racer.
Racer? Ren's eyes narrowed slightly. I killed him. I severed his brain stem myself. A zombie? No.
He glanced at Angel, who was smirking in the distance. Gemini. The copy ability. It can store two personas. She must have copied Racer before I killed him.
Before Ren could dismantle the clone, a high-pitched mechanical whine filled the air.
"Target Lock. Fire."
Angel's metallic spirit, Caelum the Chisel, had transformed into a cannon mode. A concentrated beam of green energy—a high-output laser—erupted from the barrel.
Whoosh—!
"Boom—!"
The laser struck Ren dead center in the chest, engulfing him in a fiery explosion. Smoke and debris billowed outward, obscuring the white figure.
"Yeah! It hit! I hit him!" Angel squealed, jumping up and down like a schoolgirl. "I killed him! Did you see that? I took down the monster who beat the Wizard Saints! I'm going to be the most famous woman in Ishgar!"
"Hey," a flat voice cut through the celebration. "Don't go deciding someone's death without their permission. It's rude."
Angel's cheer died in her throat. Her smile froze into a rictus of horror.
As the smoke cleared, Ren stood there. He dusted off his white jacket. There wasn't a scratch on him. Not a burn mark. Not even a smudge of soot on his pale skin. The Hierro was absolute.
"Impossible..." Brain whispered, sweat trickling down his temple. "That was a direct hit from Caelum..."
"Darkness Requiem!" Brain roared, panic setting in. He raised his skull-topped staff, channeling his immense dark magic.
The shadows around him writhed and solidified into hundreds of screaming, dark specters. They surged forward like a swarm of hornets, converging on Ren from every angle.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!
The forest shook violently as the barrage detonated. The relentless explosions turned the area where Ren stood into a cratered wasteland.
"Is he dead?!" Cobra hissed, clutching his bruised arm. "He has to be!"
The dust settled slowly, revealing the silhouette within.
Ren stood in the center of the devastation. His hands were still in his pockets. His clothes were slightly ruffled, perhaps a little dirty, but his body remained pristine.
"This monster!" Hoteye gasped, pulling himself up from the ground.
The morale of the Oración Seis began to fracture. They could handle strong opponents. They could handle powerful magic. But this? This was hopelessness. Ren wasn't using a shield or a counter-spell. He was simply ignoring their strongest attacks. It was as if they were throwing pebbles at a god.
Ren sighed, withdrawing one hand from his pocket. He looked at the group with a gaze that made them feel incredibly small.
"As expected of the Oración Seis," Ren said, though his tone lacked any genuine praise. "Trying to deal with all of you at once in this sealed state is becoming... tedious. It seems I'll have to get a little more serious."
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy. The air became thick and viscous, making it hard to breathe. Ren slowly reached to his waist and gripped the hilt of his sword—his Zanpakutō.
He held the blade horizontally in front of him. The spiritual pressure spiked, causing the ground to crack without him even moving.
"Seal it," Ren whispered, his voice resonating with an ancient, dark power.
"Murciélago."
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