"Um, who is this Yhwach, and was does it matter if he's on the move?" Twilight asked, because while she and the others knew that there were things about his adventures that Sombra didn't tell them, which were private and they didn't need to know about them, she couldn't recall him telling any of them about this person.
"He's the Father of the Quincy, basically their king if you want to think about it that way," Sombra replied, recalling what he knew about the foe that he had been waiting for, as he had been waiting for the powerful Quincy to regain himself and start whatever plan he had been planning since his defeat, "A thousand years ago, in the time of the version of Earth I was sent to, Yhwach and his forces attacked the Soul Society and engaged in a bloody war with them, one that my predecessor, the first Dios Hueco, joined in since it seemed like the perfect time to take out two enemies at the same time. According to Captain-Commander Yamamoto, who was alive at the time, Yhwach's supposed to be dead and gone, but I've found that most of Soul Society's enemies aren't truly dead, rather they go into hiding to wait for an opening to appear, so hearing the fact that he's on the move means he's preparing for war again. Based on what I know about the Quincy as a whole, most of them despise Hollows and their first target will be Hueco Mundo, so they can obliterate anyone that's living there and claim it as their own territory for the war with soul Society, which means that I need to get home quickly, before his army arrives."
"Hold on, he could have heard about you and might have decided to make peace this time around." Rarity said, as she knew that their mere presence in the various worlds they had been sent to had caused some interesting ripples over what was supposed to happen, or at least that was what Discord told her when he mentioned what happened when Sunset and Starlight had been out on their adventures.
"I'm afraid that it won't be that simple." Uryu stated, causing the group to turn towards him, showing that while some of them were hoping that peace would be the route this time around, to avoid losing so many lives, the others also knew that war was unavoidable at times, "The Quincy that came to recruit me, to join Yhwach's Sternritter, informed me that their Majesty would be waiting for my decision before he commenced with his war, meaning that it doesn't matter if I join him or not, as he's planning on invading Hueco Mundo as soon as I give them my answer. Normally I would jump at the chance to get close to an enemy and lower their guard to the point where someone can take them out, but knowing that he's planning on assaulting Sombra's kingdom, with all of his forces, I decided that it was best to seek him out and inform him of what's coming in the very near future."
"I'm glad you sought me out, since this is what I have been waiting for," Sombra said, though he was interested in the fact that Yhwach tried to recruit Uryu into his army, as he was a powerful Quincy in his own right and he could tell that his friend had gotten stronger since they had last been in the same area, but he had gotten stronger as well, thanks to the new powers he had acquired during the tournament, before he turned towards the portal, "I don't know what his overall plan is, but since he's trying to destroy Hueco Mundo and Soul Society, and possibly the Soul King's Palace as well, I can hazard a guess that whatever he's planning will result in the end of the world, or at least the version of Earth that Hueco Mundo is connected to."
"Then why don't I just take him out, since he's threatening the safety of your world?" Rainbow asked, reminding them that she was now the God of Destruction for their universe and that it was her duty to erase any threats to her universe, regardless if those threats were a single person, a larger group, an entire planet, or even an entire galaxy.
"That won't be necessary," Sombra replied, as he knew that Rainbow wanted to prove herself worthy of the role she had been elevated into, but at the same time he had been planning for this day and he wasn't about to let someone take out the foe he had been waiting for, especially since it was his kingdom that was being threatened first, "Yhwach and his army will soon discover that they don't stand a chance against me, I just have to convince them that surrendering to me is the smart move and the war will be over before you know it, even though Yhwach will be dead, regardless of whether they surrender or attack my kingdom."
Sunset smiled for a moment, because while she was happy to see that Rainbow was trying to settle into her new role as the God of Destruction for this universe, and would try to improve their mortal level, she knew that Sombra would try to save as many people as he could, despite it being clear that he had the feeling the entire army would be dead by the end of the day. Despite that, however, Rainbow insisted that she come along anyway, because if Yhwach really was threatening the planet that Sombra now called home, and maybe even out to destroy it, she had an obligation to destroy him, so if Sombra failed to do the deed she was going to step in and take care of business. This time around Beerus and the others from Universe 7 decided that they were going to head home, as they did need to get started on improving their mortal level and relaxing a little since the tournament had taken a lot out of them, where Rainbow nodded her head in agreement as she stood near the portal Discord had opened. Sunset, while knowing that she needed to get to work on learning what she needed to know so she could run the entire multiverse, decided that another hour or two wasn't going to hurt things and stated that she wanted to see Yhwach for herself, because if Sombra felt that he was a big deal than she might as well see what sort of villain he really was.
In the end it was her, the Grand Priest, Discord, Rainbow, Celestia, Uryu, Yoruichi, and Sombra that entered the portal in front of them, heading to the version of Earth that Sombra had been sent to, while letting everyone else do whatever they wanted before they resumed their usual lives.
When they walked out of the other side of the portal Sunset found that they were near a shrine that was in a small forest, which was near a town of some kind, Karakura Town according to what Sombra told them, which was where Uryu and the rest of Sombra's Human friends lived. Once they were all on this side of the portal Discord closed it, to ensure that no one used it to get to Equus, before inquiring what their first move was, which was the moment that Sombra said that he was going to visit a friend and jumped into the air, heading off in the direction of the town with Yoruichi following after him almost immediately. Sunset and the other followed after the pair as they headed towards the middle of the town, where a small candy shop rested behind some houses, which was where they met a man who wore a dark coat with a dark green shirt and pants under it, and happened to be walking with a cane and an interesting hat, but as he opened his mouth he recognized who was standing before him and noticed that Sombra had brought friends. Sombra introduced them to the man, Urahara Kisuke, before informing him that he needed to get a message to Soul Society, despite the fact that he could have used the communication orb inside his own palace, showing that he didn't want Yhwach to discover that someone knew about his impending attack, which was followed by Urahara bringing out the orb for him to use.
In the following moment Sombra connected to both Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, informing the Captains in Soul Society of the assault that would be taking place and that he was inviting them to come and watch the downfall of the man that Yamamoto thought he had killed, while informing his own followers that he'd be there in a few minutes so he could deal with whoever Yhwach sent to Hueco Mundo. Once that was done Sombra turned to Uryu and informed him that it was time to tell the recruiter that he had come to a decision, and that he was expecting his friend to return to the portal before he returned to his kingdom, to which Uryu nodded and headed out immediately. Yoruichi, on the other hand, had a different task, as she needed to track down Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, and Sora and bring them to the portal to Hueco Mundo as well, even though he intended for them to watch the incoming battle and not participate at all, since he was going to be the only foe that Yhwach and his forces fought. The moment Uryu and Yoruichi were gone Sombra closed the connection to Soul Society and headed outside, where he and the others headed back to the forest, with Urahara following after them once he left a note for his workers to read when they returned to the shop, before they all touched down near the shrine the portal was located in and waited for the others to show up.
The first person to arrive was a young man that clearly went to a high school, even though he was wearing a green shirt and black jeans, with black shoes, though his brown hair covered his left eye, which could be moved out of the way if he wanted to do so, and he had a small goatee on his chin, though Sombra introduced him as Sado Yasutora, or Chad as he preferred to be called by other. The next person to arrive was a lady with a curvaceous figure, especially for a high school student since she had large breasts, and her orange hair framed her face while going by her neck, while she was dressed in a pink shirt and dull gray pants, though beside her stood a young man that was dressed in the attire of an Arrancar, with part of his mask over his eye, meaning that they were Orihime and Sora Inoue. After that a young man touched down near them, wearing the standard black attire of a Shinigami, though unlike the last time Sombra had seen him the person in front of them had interesting markings near his wrists and on either side of his neck, which looked like they could have been bits of armor, and he carried a large trench knife that was different from what he had seen, but that meant he was Ichigo Kurosaki, the man who protected Karakura Town. Once Ichigo had arrived, and glanced at the gods that had accompanied Sombra, Uryu arrived with a newcomer, a middle-aged man that had white hair, was wearing a plain gray suit with a black tie, and had frameless glasses in front of his eyes, though he seemed like he'd rather be back at work or something, instead of being here.
"Ryuken Ishida, what a pleasant surprise." Sombra said, his tone revealing that this was Uryu's father, another Quincy despite hating the fact that he was one, which made him all the more interested as to why he had come here, "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?"
"Uryu informed me that you wish to do war with Yhwach," Ryuken stated, apparently not caring that there might be spies near them, as he had faith that if there were any Sombra would just get rid of them before they reported back to their master, before he pulled out a silver arrowhead and held it out for him to see, "This is Still Silver, which forms in the heart of Yhwach's targets, Quincies to be exact, when he activates his Auswahlen, which is meant to steal the powers of those he targets and should kill them, but sometimes they survive, allowing this to form as blood clot in his victims. He used the technique some years ago to strip the powers of both my wife and Ichigo's mother, allowing one to die to this silver while the other died to a Hollow attack, but I took this from the body of my dead wife and forged it into an arrow, one that, if it makes contact with your foe, will take his powers away for a few seconds. I'm giving the arrow to Uryu, so he can be the one to fire it... just don't miss the opening he provides."
Sombra nodded his head as Uryu took the Still Silver arrowhead and stored it away in his attire, where their foes wouldn't be able to see it, before he turned around and entered the shrine, which was where a gateway made out of quartz surrounded the portal to Hueco Mundo, though that didn't stop him from stepping through it. Sunset and the others followed after him, though when they stepped through to the other side they found what could only be described as a paradise, as the world that Hollows called home looked like an untouched version of Earth to some degree, despite the buildings that made up Las Noches, the center of Sombra's new empire. As they headed out of the building the portal was connected to, and Sombra nodded to the Arrancars that were guarding it, the group discovered that Las Noches had been modified to look like the Crystal Empire, a beautiful one at that, before their attention was pulled to the nearby walls, where a small group of individuals, each wearing white jackets over their black Shinigami attire, waited for Sombra to come and greet them. These were the Captains of Soul Society, thirteen of the greatest Shinigami that Soul Society had produced recently, and while some of them had filled in the vacant positions left by Aizen and his traitors, Gin and Tosen, Sombra was happy to see them as the group came to a stop on the walkway that allowed them to gaze over the wall that protected Las Noches.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto, it's nice to see you again." Sombra said, showing that he was on friendly terms with the ruling body of Soul Society, or at the very least it's enforcers since there was the Zero Division that guarded the Soul King and his palace, and that they must have had their own portal to get here, when Sombra wanted them to get here quickly anyway.
"Likewise, King Sombra." Yamamoto stated, where the pair actually shook hands for a moment, showing the group that the strongest Shinigami in all of Soul Society, the Captain of the 1st Division, trusted him and knew that he wouldn't call them if the situation wasn't serious, before their hands separated and he tapped his cane on the floor, "So, what's this about Yhwach being alive after all these years?"
Sombra started to open his mouth, so he could inform the Captains about what Uryu told him, before one of his citizens, Szayelaporro to be exact, came up and stated that their enemy would be appearing any moment, in the direction of Las Noches' East Gate, which they were standing near, to which Sombra excused himself and jumped over the edge of the wall, allowing him to put some distance between him and his kingdom before landing on the ground. That was when a shadow appeared on the ground and expanded into the shadowy form of the five pointed Quincy cross, the Quincy Zeichan as he remembered Uryu calling it, before a number of beings dressed in white clothing marched out of the portal that had opened, signaling the start of the invasion. The Quincy soldiers formed ranks in front of the portal and stood at attention as they made an opening for their leader, which turned out to be a man that seemed like a high ranking officer in Yhwach's army, based on the attire he was wearing since it was different from the soldiers, and he wore some spectacles over his eyes and a hat on his head, but like all Quincy he carried no weapon, as he could summon his bow at the moment's notice and use that in battle. Interesting enough the portal didn't fade away, meaning that there was a link to the base of his enemy, but Sombra focused on the foes in front of him and stepped forward, noticing that the leader of the group seemed surprised by what was going on at the moment.
The reason behind that thought was because he looked around at the paradise that was around him, because before Sombra took over this world, and turned it into what it was now, Hueco Mundo used to be a barren and nearly lifeless desert, before deciding to focus on Sombra, something that his soldiers replicated.
"Well, this doesn't match the data we were given," the leader stated, showing that Yhwach believed that Hueco Mundo was like this and that they were expecting something different, while at the same time Sombra drew closer to where his foe was standing, "Who are you supposed to be?"
"I am Sombra, better known as the King of Hueco Mundo and the Dios Hueco, or Hollow God," Sombra replied, as it didn't matter if he told the Quincy what he was or that he ruled over this world, because just knowing that he was a Hollow should make him summon his bow and attack him, "And who are you?"
"I am Quilge Opie, Captain of the Jagdarmee, and the Sternritter with the Schrift J," the Quincy answered, causing Sombra to raise his eyebrow for a moment, as he had no idea what he was talking about when he mentioned a 'Schrift' that had the letter J attached to it, before he turned towards his soldiers, "Soldat, take him down and march on the fortress that he's standing in front of."
Sombra had to assume that the term Soldat meant soldiers, as in lesser Quincy that Quilge was free to order around whenever he was followed Yhwach's orders, but instead of wasting time he noticed he foes summoning their bows and starting firing blue reishi arrows at him, where he held his right arm out and summoned his new scythe to his side. The instant the weapon was in his hand he spun it around and cut down the arrows that were coming his way, surprising the Soldat in the process, before he rushed forward and went on the offensive, because now that he knew they were enemies, and didn't have a chance to even attempt making peace with them, the war between them had started. The Soldat continued their attack, focusing on him and not the gate that he was protecting, but what they failed to understand was that none of their attacks were doing anything, not when he carved his way through them with ease and continued to approach the area they were standing in. Sure, he wasn't using his full power and was testing the water, but from what he could determine the Soldat were weak, around the level that Uryu had been by the time the war with Aizen was over, and he was far beyond that level at this point, to which he focused on showing them the error of their ways and swung his scythe, allowing the blade to cut into the clothing of one of the Soldat as he knocked him backwards, but the blood that flew through the air indicated that he had hit his mark.
Quilge raised an eyebrow as the other Soldat stopped, as they were surprised that a mere Hollow, in their minds anyway, was able to overcome their attacks and cut down one of their number, as the soldier Sombra had struck was no longer moving, and it was Sombra's hope that the others would back down before they lost anyone else. What he found out was that none of them were willing to back down as they separated from each other, firing at him from a number of different angles, which only caused Sombra to sigh before he flashed through the air, where he targeted each of them in rapid succession, to make sure he didn't miss any of them. Quilge watched as Sombra moved all over the place, his scythe cutting into each of the Soldat that were firing at him and dropping them to the ground like they were flies, leaving only him and the one soldier that was standing behind him, to keep the portal maintained so he could report his success to his Majesty, before Sombra reappeared near them as the last body hit the ground, not moving like all the others. In the instant the last body hit the ground Quilge decided that it was time to do what his soldiers couldn't, which was why he took a step forward and held his hand at his side, forming a military saber from the reiatsu around them, one that he held at the ready since he knew that the battle between them would start soon enough.
Sombra, despite being a little surprised by the fact that a Quincy would use a blade, since Uryu claimed that they only used arrows and bows for the most part, entered the area in front of Quilge and swung his scythe to parry the incoming attack, which surprised his foe for a moment, showing that he wasn't used to his enemies being able to do anything against his attacks. While he could block an attack with the head of his scythe, like he did a few times in the past, Sombra opted to spin the weapon around and shift where the blade was located, so he could parry the incoming attacks with the handle and jab at his foe with the bottom edge, movements that also surprised his foe, showing that he had no experience against someone that used a scythe as their weapon. After a few moments of that happened Quilge jumped backwards and put some distance between them, where he held his saber out and the ends of a bow formed on either side of it, showing Sombra that his foe was capable of firing arrows as well, before loosing a short burst of them at him, only Sombra remained where he was standing and let the arrows blow up as they came into contact with his aura, shrouding him in smoke for a moment. He then used that to his advantage as he moved to Quilge's left and approached from that side, a tactic that seemed to surprise his foe as he parried the incoming attack, before the Quincy backed away again and loosed a more powerful arrow from his saber at Sombra.
This time around Sombra decided to show his foe the difference in their power, as he held his left hand out and caught the arrow as it reached him, surprising Quilge as he realized that his arrow had been stopped in it's tracks, before he thrust his hand forward and knocked the arrow backwards, sending it flying right into his target and kicked up a decent amount of smoke in the process.
"To think that you would be able to dodge, repel, and throw back a Heilig Pfeil," Quilge commented, though at the same time, as he emerged from the smoke, there were some burn marks on his attire, no doubt from firing a last second arrow into the first one to save himself from a massive amount of damage, and his hat had been knocked clean off his head by the force of the attack, "Clearly you are no ordinary Hollow... who did you say you were again?"
"Like I said earlier, I am Sombra, the King of Hueco Mundo," Sombra replied, where he found that when someone asked him who he was a second time, as a number of foes had done that during the battles he had been in, it meant that they were taking him seriously, or at least more serious than they had been earlier, "and I'm the Dios Hueco, or the Hollow God if you prefer. All Hollows instinctively follow the orders of the Dios Hueco, though while the last one of my kind turned this world in a barren desert, and turned the mass of Hollows into an army to attack Soul Society when your master went to war with them, I'm ruling them as a king would, while restoring the world to what it was before my predecessor turned it into a desert. That means that I am the strongest Hollow in all of Hueco Mundo, where even the Vasto Lorde bow before me and follow whatever orders I give them, and I'm much stronger than any of the Shinigami from Soul Society, so if you don't want to face the wrath of a god, for attacking my domain, turn around and tell your master to stop this war."
Quilge paused for a moment, as if taking Sombra's suggestion seriously, but at the same time Sombra noticed a slight shift in his foe's expression, which he tried to hide by moving his hand in front of his face for a few seconds, before he spotted something interesting, as the parts of Quilge's glasses that rested on his ears had a small point that branched down towards his ear, meaning that he was likely communicating with someone that wasn't in Hueco Mundo right now, who he hoped was Yhwach so the war would be over before it started.
"His Majesty ordered me to 'Defeat you will all my strength' just now." Quilge commented, where he moved his hand and seemed to restore order to his hair, making it neat despite the fact that it wasn't that messed up from their fight, as he focused on Sombra once more, "That means that you'll be dying here, right now. There's no reason for our assault on Hueco Mundo to stop, not with you meeting your end in the next few seconds, but as his Majesty ordered I shall use all of my power to cut you down and destroy your very being. I don't know how much information you have, in regards to us and our abilities, but I will show you the greatest power we have assess to, the..."
"Quincy: Letzt Stil, or Destruction Sage: Final Form." Sombra said, causing Quilge to pause for a moment, as he was sure that he wouldn't have known about this ability, while as his foe started to think about what was going on he beckoned to the fortress with his head, "One of my friends is Uryu Ishida, a Quincy that calls Karakura Town home, and sometime after I took over Hueco Mundo and formed an alliance with Soul Society, he and I sat down and relaxed, where he told me about the various abilities that a Quincy can wield, and of the devastating power you command in your Letzt Stil state."
Instead of saying anything to that, like Sombra thought he would, Quilge pulled the glove off his right hand and let the backside of his hand face Sombra, where he noticed that the Quincy cross was embedded in a black glove that rested over his foe's hand, before it glowed and a pillar of blue reiatsu consumed the Quincy. As that happened Sombra glanced back to Las Noches and gestured with his head, where the Grand Priest understood that he wanted a barrier around the entirety of his kingdom and summoned one that was large enough to fit the entirety of Las Noches inside it, before turning back towards his opponent. Not even a second after he did that the pillar broke apart and Quilge reappeared, though in addition to his usual attire he had gained some 'angelic' accessories, odd shaped wings that almost looked like they were rectangular in appearance, gauntlets around his wrists and not his hands, odd high-heeled boots, a holster of some kind over his chest, and a halo above his head that was in the shape of the Quincy cross, and all of it was made of the same blue reiatsu as the pillar had been. Sombra even noticed that Quilge's right hand had a sword coming out of it, like his hand had been merged with his spirit weapon, and that his eyes seemed to have no pupils while taking on the form of rings, not that it meant anything to him as his foe floated a tiny bit off the ground.
"The Quincy: Letzt Stil is a relic of the past, as we have evolved and developed a new power, the Quincy: Vollstandig," Quilge stated, his tone revealing that he believed that he was far stronger in this form and could overpower Sombra in a matter of seconds, but while the part about his strength increasing was true, based on his reiatsu, it still wasn't enough to justify Sombra drawing on his new power just yet, "The difference in power, between this form and the Letzt Stil, is like the difference between heaven and earth. Here, taste it for yourself!"
In that moment Quilge charged through the air and lashed out at Sombra, using what he believed to be a superior level of speed that would leave any foe speechless and powerless against his new strength, though as that happened Sombra raised his left hand and caught the incoming attack before it could do anything, kicking up smoke and dust in the process, obscuring him for a moment while Quilge grinned.
"Vollstandig, meaning Complete Holy Form... it's power is interesting." Sombra said, where the smoke cleared and revealed that he hadn't taken a single bit of damage from his foe's attack, especially since he caught it before it could make contact with his body, while at the same time noticing the surprise on his foe's face, "However, it's nothing compared to the power that I am wielding at the moment."
Before Quilge even had time to move out of the way Sombra swung his scythe through the air and sliced right through his foe's chest, causing him to stagger backwards as he held the area he was cut in, which was where blood had erupted from his wound, before he stared at Sombra once more.
"Don't you dare... think this will be enough to stop me!" Quilge stated, showing that his pride must have been ruined in some manner, as he seemed annoyed by what had happened and was now glaring at Sombra, or at least that was what he thought his foe was doing since the pattern his eyes had made reading him a tad bit harder, "I'm still a Quincy, and we have the power to draw in the spiritual energy of our surroundings, to mend our bodies in various manners or even empower our attacks to deal more powerful blows to whoever we're fighting, all I need to do is draw in..."
While he had been talking he held his right hand out, no doubt where he intended to gather the reiryoku, or spiritual energy, of the surrounding area and enslave it so he could use it against Sombra, but before he could finish his statement Quilge noticed that something odd was happening, as none of the particles were coming to his aid.
"I told you, Hueco Mundo is my domain, and I can't have you draining the energy from this realm," Sombra replied, as he wasn't like some of the warriors he had seen during the Tournament of Power, who stood there and let their foes either power themselves up or charge up incredible attacks, and since this Quincy was serving someone who wanted to destroy the world, since that was what the destruction of Hueco Mundo, Soul Society, and the Soul King would do, he was fine with denying his foes an incredible source of power, "You're free to use the rest of your abilities against me, but you'll find that trying to take the spiritual energy of this realm won't work... though if this is all the power you have to offer, and you won't surrender to me, then I guess our fight is..."
Before he could finish his statement Quilge removed his left hand from his chest and pointed his palm at Sombra, where he fired off several strands of reishi that rushed towards him, before combining together into a spherical barrier of some kind that was large enough for Sombra to stand in, where a smile appeared on his foe's face.
"Like I said earlier, his Majesty gave me the Schrift 'J', which means Jail, as I am Quilge Opie the Jailer." Quilge said, to which he stood up and stared at Sombra, who was patiently waiting for his foe to stop talking, since this was common trait among the various enemies he had fought since coming to this world and he wasn't about to ruin the moment, "Someone like you will never be able to escape my jail, meaning you will be trapped in this very spot for the rest of your existence, where you can watch as I destroy the fortress you fought so hard to protect, before his Majesty ends your life."
"So the Schrifts are abilities, and your power is to imprison enemies," Sombra commented, though at the same time he swung his scythe and sliced through the jail like it was nothing, causing the bits and pieces of reishi to break apart before disappearing, where he touched the ground once more, before staring at his foe, "It's an interesting power, I'll give you that much, but it's not enough to stand against my power, much less the fraction of it that I've been using the entire time we've been fighting."
Quilge's eyes widened as Sombra said that, where he raised his arm and prepared to lash out at his foe, only for Sombra to appear a few steps behind him, which was followed by him lightly swinging his scythe to get the blood off of it's blade, before Quilge's Vollstandig shattered and he reverted back to his previous form, only for his body to fall to the ground as his head rolled away, and a small blue sphere was devoured by his weapon. He was used to having to kill his enemies, as that was the sort of world this version of Earth had been before he became the Dios Hueco, and he now knew that the Quincies weren't going to stand down, not unless Yhwach told them to, so he had the feeling he was going to have to kill all of them to end this war. He then glanced at the lone Soldat that had survived his assault and glared at him, where the Quincy actually gulped for a moment before he disappeared into the portal that had been used to reach this area, one that closed as soon as the Soldat was gone, which was where Sombra stood where he was and felt the reiatsu in the air, as he was curious as to where his foes would come from, if the invasion was still on. His thoughts were answered a few moments later, showing that Quilge must have had some connection to where his foe was hiding, because a vast number of Quincy portals opened in the area in front of him, where he noticed that they were some distance away from where he was standing, before a vast army of Soldat marched into Hueco Mundo, where some of them were carrying flags with the Quincy cross on them.
When the Soldat came to a stop Sombra noticed that there were a fewer number of special combatants that were wearing white cloaks over their attire, shrouding who they were at the moment, even though he assumed they had to be the rest of the Sternritter, before he found their leader. Yhwach was a tall man with a long face, which had a broad chin and pronounced cheekbones, while having long black hair that reached his lower back, reddish-brown eyes with thin eyebrows, a well-kept mutton chop and a connecting mustache, leaving the rest of his face clean-shaven. He was wearing a white, double-breasted trench coat, which had the symbol of his empire on the middle of it, that also had large buttoned cuffs, in addition to his white trousers and his trench boots, though over that he wore a tattered, ankle-length maroon-black cloak, which has a red ribbon near the neck and is fastened to the left with a single large button. Yhwach's appearance wasn't the only way he was able to tell that he was the leader of the army, as the Soldat and the Sternritter moved out of the way so he could walk forward, separating himself from his followers as he approached Sombra, which could possibly be a mistake, even if he remained still as his foe approached him.
"So, you are the leader of this strange empire that suddenly appeared in Hueco Mundo," Yhwach said, where his tone revealed that he didn't actually care about Sombra, the rest of the Hollows that were in Las Noches, or anything else at the moment, showing that he felt that Hueco Mundo was a stepping stone for invading Soul Society, while at the same time Sombra kept his guard up, "Let us talk of peace."
"You say peace, but you arrive with an army of Soldat and Sternritter, who are ready to destroy Hueco Mundo and the Hollows that call this world home." Sombra replied, as anyone could see that arriving with such a force, where a fair number of them were waiting for the order to be given so the battle could begin, was the opposite of peace, not that his target was bothered by his statement, where he focused on Yhwach as he absently spun his scythe, "No, you came to do war with my forces, decimate Hueco Mundo so there's no one left, and threaten the safety of this world by obliterating Soul Society and killing the Soul King... I'm not wrong, am I?"
"To think you got all that from fighting Quilge, who didn't reveal anything to you," Yhwach stated, though at the same time he turned around and prepared to head back to his army, indicating that Sombra was right in his thoughts that there would be war between them, before he turned his head to look at him for a few more seconds, "however, based on what I can see, you won't let us attack Las Noches without getting by you, so I will let the Sternritter deal with you. Then, when you are dead, we will advance on your kingdom and reduce it to a pile of rubble, before marching on Soul Society to enact the true purpose of my war."
Sombra did nothing as Yhwach walked back to where his army was standing, which was when the Sternrtter stepped forward and put some distance between them and the Soldat that had accompanied them, before a number of them came to a stop as one continued walking forward, one wearing a robe that only two other Sternritter were wearing. He had to assume that these Sternritter were the higher ranking members of Yhwach's forces, the strongest members of his army, and that their Schrifts were the ones that he'd have to keep his guard up around, before the Sternritter that was coming towards him came to a stop. A few moments later the head area of his foe's robes shuddered before enlarging, like his first foe had taken a humanoid form and was now assuming his original state, but, at the same time, he felt the reiatsu in the air and determined that this Sternritter was definitely unlike the other ones, as he felt like a fragment of something greater. That was before the fabric of the robe was torn apart and revealed his foe, which happened to not be a Human, like he was expecting, but rather the head appeared to be the palm of a hand and he had all five fingers that a normal person would have, despite each being chained together thanks to the chains in the fingernails, which meant that everything below the neck, or rather below the wrist, was just an arm... and in the center of the palm rested a large eye of some kind, with two pupils that focused on the area around him.
Not even a moment later the Sternritter pulled his fingers apart and the chains snapped, allowing him to move each of his fingers without them being chained to each other, before his frame enlarged until he towered over Sombra and the others, making him look like a massive hand that was attached to a massive arm.
"Now I understand what you are... the Left Hand of the Soul King." Sombra commented, as he had read, from one of the books that Urahara had let him look at when he was missing his memories, that the Soul King was the linchpin of this world and both of his hands, or arms as people sometimes called them, were out there in the world, and it was rumored that the Right Hand was somewhere in Soul Society, so he guessed it wasn't too hard to consider that the Left Hand had fallen in with Yhwach.
"Left... Hand... Not... Name..." the creature said, how Sombra had no idea, since there was no mouth to the creature that was standing in front of him, but at the same time he wasn't a scientist and didn't care about such things, as he was sure that Captain Mayuri would care about this and would want to research this being in great detail, "Per... nida... Name... Pernida... Parnkgjas."
"Very well then, if you wish to be known as Pernida Parnkgjas, and not as the Left Hand of the Soul King, then I shall call you by that name." Sombra replied, because unlike some people he had encountered he didn't make a big deal about the names of techniques, places, or even his enemies, so if his foe wanted to be known by a specific name, and not as what he really was, he was okay with calling him by the name he had stated, "Now then, I'm curious as to what sort of ability you possess, since it's not going to be like the ones the other Sternritter can use."
"Pernida was given the Schrift 'C', meaning the Compulsory." a voice said, where Sombra turned his head to the side and found that one of the other Sternritter had entered the area near him and Pernida, but was keeping his hood up until the battle was over, like he wanted to keep his identity a secret for some odd reason.
Before Sombra could even consider what sort of power his foe had, since Compulsory could be a number of things, Pernida flexed his hands and black bits of reishi burst outwards in every direction, where they corrected their course and headed straight for him. As that happened Sombra let his aura appear around him for a moment, in a manner that looked like he was protecting himself, before the black reishi reached him, but the moment they came into contact with his aura they recoiled, like someone would do if they reached into a fire and yanked their hand back after a few seconds. When he considered what he had just seen, however, Sombra looked at the black reishi and noticed that they were branching out in the formation of nerves, causing him to wonder if his foe's ability was to use his nerves to do damage to his enemies, by whatever means he had at his disposal, before the black nerves rushed at him again. He had to assume that the deathly nature of his aura, thanks to his new powers, had to be the reason the nerves had backed off the first time, as it must have stung when they came into contact with his aura, but even as that happened Sombra's horn glowed as he grabbed onto the nerves and bundled them together, before yanking his foe through the air and caused him to crash into the ground in front of him.
Pernida, despite being surprised by what Sombra had done, pulled himself up, how Sombra didn't care to find out, and pulled his nerves back to him, so he could redirect them towards his foe in a different manner, only for Sombra to maintain his hold on them and let his opponent pull him towards him. The Sternritter were surprised by his tactic, if their movements were anything to go by, and Pernida barely had time to do anything as Sombra let go of the nerves and gripped his scythe, where he flashed through the space between them and swung his weapon a few times, only to land on the ground directly behind his foe and stood up so he could face the rest of his foes. What happened next was that red lines formed all over Pernida's body as his pupils disappeared, where he crashed into the ground and stopped moving as blood seeped out from where he was laying, and, as that happened, Sombra noticed that the same thing that happened when he took out Quilge happened this time, as his scythe devoured a blue orb of some kind. He had to assume that what he was seeing was that his scythe was devouring the souls of those he killed, for whatever reason he would figure out in the future, once Yhwach was defeated, before he turned his attention to the other Sternritter that was in the area he was standing in, since the others were still a good distance from them.
"You killed Pernida... I'm now worried about my changes," the Sternritter near him said, where Sombra watched at he pulled his hood back and revealed that his foe, who was definitely male, had short black hair with a few white streaks in it, with a strand of hair hanging in front of his right eye, and when he removed the rest of the cloak he revealed that he was wearing a weird set of attire, like he was trying to be futuristic or something, "but his Majesty ordered us to do everything in our power to defeat you, so I can't back out of the fight now."
"You could always surrender and let me move onto the Sternritter that want to blindly follow Yhwach," Sombra stated, because right now it appeared that this foe was split between following his leader's orders and running away to preserve his life, while at the same time he kept his guard up as he faced the Quincy that was in front of him, "So, what sort of power did Yhwach give you?"
"I am Askin Nakk Le Vaar, and I am Sternritter D," the Quincy replied, revealing that there was another way for them to announce what Schrift they had, though instead of saying anything about his abilities, which was the smart move, Askin held his hand out and his bow formed from a device on his wrist.
Sombra decided that it would be best to end the fight before it got serious, since there was still an army to get through before he could reach Yhwach, and disappeared from where he was standing, only to reappear behind Askin as two diagonal lines appeared on his chest with blood bursting out of them, causing him to fall to the ground.
"Since it seems you don't want to die, I dealt enough damage to knock you out, instead of outright killing you." Sombra said, to which he turned towards the rest of the Sternritter, who were watching him from afar with the rest of their army, no doubt looking for weaknesses in his defenses, or anything they could use in the upcoming battles, "Stay there and wait for this war to be over, then I'll mend your wounds and send you back to the World of the Living, where you can do whatever you want without having to listen to Yhwach."
"Sorry, but I'm not done yet." Askin replied, where Sombra turned around and found that Askin had not only avoided being knocked out, but also found the strength to kneel where he had been laying, though the only thing that he was a little surprised by was the fact that he had his right hand close to his wounds and was allowing the blood to pool into his hand, only for him to drink his own blood and return his hand to the wound for a second dose, "When a living creature intakes a certain substance, if the quantity of that substance exceeds a certain limit that individual will die... it's known as 'Lethal Dose'. I won't bore you with the details about what the Lethal Dose is or how much of various substances can kill people, but my Schrift is known as the Deathdealing, meaning I can calculate the Perfect Lethal Dose of a substance that will kill a being one hundred percent of the time, and I can control and modify that quantity freely. Due to the amount of blood that erupted from my body, thanks to your attack just now, all I have to do is consume my own blood and then lower the Lethal Dose of the blood inside your own body, meaning that the more blood you have inside your body the quicker you'll rush to your own death."
"So your ability allows you to poison living creatures and either weaken them or outright kill them," Sombra stated, as that sounded like another interesting ability for someone to have, meaning that Askin could be on the higher ranking members of the Sternritter, despite not having the special cloak that Pernida and two of the Sternritter had, but at the same time there was one thing that Askin overlooked, "tell me, how is your ability supposed to work against someone who can't be poisoned?"
"What are you talking about? Everyone can be poisoned." Askin said, to which he downed another cup of his own blood, as if it would allow him to further decrease the Lethal Dose of Sombra's blood and end his life that much faster, only to pause when he noticed that Sombra was standing there like nothing was wrong, "Damn, I should have already reached the point where you would either have to cut open your neck to avoid having too much blood in your body, or die from all the blood that's inside you... why haven't you fallen over yet?"
"I'm the God of Death, meaning that your power has no effect on me." Sombra replied, as it was time to reveal the one missing piece of information that none of the Sternritter knew about, that his new nature as the God of Death, and the new power he commanded, put him far beyond the abilities and tactics of his new foes, "You can't poison someone that wields the power of a god, no matter how low you set the Lethal Dose."
Askin's eyes widened as he realized that he had messed up, that he should have tried something else, and before he could even activate his Vollstandig, to give him an edge in the fight, Sombra reappeared behind him once more, where the cuts he made earlier deepened and Askin collapsed, this time not moving as his soul was taken by Sombra's scythe, even though Sombra focused on the remaining Sternritter that were getting impatient.
"So, Pernida and Askin failed." a new voice said, where the next Sternritter that wanted to challenge him stepped forward and pulled back their hood, revealing a young girl with straight dark brown hair that was also long, as it reached the middle of her back easily, before she tossed aside the robe and revealed her normal Sternritter attire, complete with a hat on her head, "Then I, Bambietta Basterbine, Sternritter E, shall take you down."
"Come and try." Sombra stated, knowing that some of these foes seemed reckless and that they would attack him with their powers in no time, and he also knew that their defenses would be lowered the moment they discovered their abilities didn't work on him, but he spun his scythe around to indicate that he was ready for her to attack.
Bambietta grinned as she raised her left hand and pointed the palm at Sombra, no doubt unleashing the power of her Schrift on him, but as the seconds ticked by Sombra found that nothing had happened and there was no additional damage to the area around him, all while Bambietta had a look of confusion on her face. Instead of giving up Bambietta continued making hand gestures in Sombra's direction, as if she believed that something would happen if she kept doing them, but as the seconds ticked by the only one that was losing energy was her, since nothing was happening in the area around Sombra and all he was doing was standing in the same spot the battle had started in. Considering the powers of the Sternritter he had defeated so far, and how some of them could have been dangerous in his army had been the ones to fight Yhwach's forces, he was expecting all of them to be of that level, but right now all he was getting was an opponent who was wasting her energy on something that clearly wasn't working, though if she wanted to do that then he guessed he might as well let her burn through whatever energy she had left before ending the fight. After another minute of nothing happening to the area around him, Bambietta lowered her arms and growled, as she clearly had no idea what was going on, since this had to be the first thing something like this had happened, and Sombra could tell that the other Sternritter were confused by what was happening.
"Were any of those 'attacks' supposed to do something?" Sombra asked, because at the rate things were going he was just going to cut Bambietta down and end the fight, as they were wasting time and he had a target to eliminate, even though he knew that Yhwach was going to stick around until they were the only ones left.
"Where's the boom?!" Bambietta exclaimed, showing her frustration over what was going on, confirming Sombra's thoughts that this was the first time her power had failed her in this manner, before she glared at Sombra, no doubt coming to the conclusion that it was his fault her power wasn't working, "There was supposed to be a massive explosion that consumed you, since I imbued your armor with my reishi... but none of my attacks did anything!"
"...boom..." Sombra said, where he raised his left hand and leveled it with Bambietta, which was followed by a small orb of reiatsu appearing in front of his foe, one that exploded the instant she noticed that his attack had breached her defenses, but when the smoke cleared he found that her clothing was burned in some areas and she was glaring at him as she dusted off her attire, "Based on what you've said, your Schrift is the Explode, meaning that you're capable of imbuing things with your reishi and transforming them into bombs, and, based on what happened when you targeted me, your power is also ineffective against me, since it apparently doesn't work on a God of Death."
"That's not funny!" Bambietta snapped, showing that she wasn't amused by what was going on, while at the same time ignoring the fact that Sombra had told her what he really was, not that it would help her win this battle, "I won't have you mock me you... you... unicorn reject!"
"That was, by far, the weakest insult I have ever received." Sombra commented, and that was the truth, as during the time when he was the King of Darkness, a period where he sought to cover Equus in shadows and twist it into his domain, he had reseived a number of names and insults, some of them were pretty good, but this was weak compared to what the past had to offer, "Not that I'm bothered by such a thing. It's like I said, you're power doesn't work on me."
Bambietta growled before a pillar of energy consumed her, showing that she was unleashing the power of her own Vollstandig against him, and when she emerged from it she actually had wings that were shaped more in the style of a demon's wings, with little blue spheres floating near the bottom points, before she took to the skies and looked down at Sombra, as if she believed that she was surperior to him. In the following moments Bambietta flew around the area and started loosing the spheres beneath her wings, which actually detonated when they slammed into the ground, showing that she intended on blowing Sombra into a crater before finishing him off. Eventually she stopped firing bombs down at the ground and floated in the air, watching the smoke settle and disappear so she could see her foe, but what ended up surprising her was the ghostly white barrier that was under the smoke, where Sombra revealed that he had taken no damage from the attack and only the area around him had suffered from the explosions. Bambietta continued to growl as she gathered her reiatsu for a more powerful attack, because if everything she had used so far couldn't hurt her foe, or even force him to move, than she was going to blow the entire area up and drop him into an abyss that he wouldn't be able to return from, so they could move on with their invasion.
Once it was complete she sent the bomb down towards her foe, at a speed that would be impossible for someone to avoid, but in the end Sombra held his left hand a little higher and focused on the bomb, where the barrier removed itself from the area around him and raised into the air... and when it came into contact with Bambietta's attack the bomb fell apart like it was nothing, the energy disappearing in seconds, before Sombra appeared behind her and knocked her out of the air, causing her to crash into the ground as he landed near her.
"What happened to my attack?" Bambietta asked, because now nothing was making sense to her, as some of her attacks should have worked against her foe, and yet everything she tried seemed to be failing in some manner, all while her foe continued to absently spin his scythe while she talked, "And what's so special about that scythe?"
"I told you, I'm the God of Death, and your attack was nothing compared to my deathly aura," Sombra replied, though even as he said that he noticed that his foe still didn't understand what was going on, which was fine because he was going to wrap this fight up and move onto the next foe, "On the topic of my weapon... well, all representations of Death, as in the Grim Reaper, wield a scythe that tells those that see it that their time is up, so it makes sense that I, as a God of Death, would wield such a weapon as well. In fact, based on what I have seen so far, I think that I'll call it Soulrender, since it seems to enjoy devouring the souls of those that I kill... which will soon be your fate as well."
Bambietta opened her wings once more, showing that she was going to flee before she was struck down, but Sombra proved that his speed was much faster than hers was, as he flashed behind her and cut her down, shattering her Vollstandig like it was nothing as her body collapsed on the ground, not moving like the others as her soul joined the others he had taken so far. Sombra sighed for a moment, as he really didn't want to kill the Quincy that were attacking Hueco Mundo, but this just proved that Yhwach was in the wrong and that he needed to be stopped, before he wiped out the entire world, where he steeled himself and prepared for who decided to face him next, which was when the Sternritter who wanted to challenge him next removed their cloak and revealed themself to him. What he found was that all of his foes seemed to be fond of black or dark colored hair, since this one had long black hair, and the major change to this foe's attire was that he, as he was sure that the Sternritter was male, wore a black mask over his lower face, covering his mouth, that had five spikes on it. While all of this happened Sombra felt a slight change in the air, like his new foe was trying to do something before the battle even started, which meant that it was a good thing that he kept his guard up almost all the time, as he knew that his foe would lash out at him if he showed any openings.
"As Nodt, that's my name." the Sternritter stated, confirming that he was definitely male the moment he started talking, while at the same time Sombra determined that he had revealed his name to save them both some time, so he didn't have to ask a pointless question, "I am Sternritter F."
Sombra nodded his head and readied himself, as it was only a matter of time until As Nodt attacked him, and sure enough he spotted a few pellet shaped objects, which looked like thorns, form in the air around his foe, where they burst through the air and raced towards him with some decent speed. In response to that Sombra spun his scythe around and carved his way through the 'arrows' that were flying towards him, since that was what the thorns had to be considering that he was fighting a Quincy, and they broke apart as he sliced through each of them, all while As Nodt seemed pleased by what he was seeing. What he noticed was that some sort of black liquid had been spilled on the blade of his scythe, which had to be tied to the technique his opponent was preparing to use against him, where he shrugged and swung his arm, causing the liquid to fall to the ground as he refocused on his foe. He still wasn't sure what sort of power As Nodt had been given, but so far what he was seeing was that it was another power that didn't effect him, much like the majority of the powers his previous foes had used against him, meaning that the battle would be over soon enough.
"Have you noticed?" As Nodt asked, apparently thinking that his technique was having some effect on Sombra, when it wasn't doing anything at all, but since he was talking Sombra remained still and let him spill the beans on his powers, so he could truly counter it and end the battle quickly, "What you are feeling right now is something that you forgot a long time ago... trace your memories. You evolved from a mere soul and became an Arrancar, you gained the strength you now command and overwhelmed any foe that still before you, and eventually you forgot this feeling entirely. The name of this feeling, which is the most important feeling in any Human's life, is fear."
"So that is your power, the ability to induce fear in those you hit with those thorns," Sombra commented, causing As Nodt to pause for a moment, clearly surprised that he had determined the true nature of his thorns and his ability within a few moments of their battle starting, before Sombra chuckled for a moment as the shadows gathered behind him, as there was something he needed to tell his foe before the battle was finished, "As Nodt, against any other foe your power might have been able to do something and turn the tide of battle in your favor, but against me your power means nothing, though it's not because I'm the God of Death. Before I became an Arrancar, and came to Hueco Mundo the first time, I was a force of darkness that terrified the people of the world I used to call home, but before I could reach that point I had to survive the dangers of the Shadowlands, including overcoming the horrors that called that realm home. In order to become the King of Darkness, one of the greatest villains of Equus' history, I had to experience a level of fear that is far, far beyond the level of fear that your attacks are capable of using against me, and by overcoming that fear I became immune to such things... here, let me show you the Shadowlands."
The moment Sombra stopped talking a large elegant mirror, one formed from the shadows that he had been calling to him once he recognized what sort of power his foe was trying to use against him, appeared in the air behind him and the face of the mirror shimmered, before the Shadowlands, a land of pure terror and fear that used one's own fears against them, appeared for the Sternritter to see. As Nodt's reaction, however, was to actually take a step back as he stared at the mirror, showing that, despite what his power was, he still felt fear and seeing the landscape of the realm that Sombra had conquered definitely terrified him, while at the same time freaking out a number of his remaining foes. What happened next was that As Nodt activated his Vollstandig, transforming himself into a large being that towered over the mirror, one with stiches going along the middle of his body, with blood streams coming from both of his eyes, and more of his fear substance coating both of his arms, while the wings that came with this form seemed to either be hidden or were tied to his halo. To Sombra, however, this was an act of desperation, showing just how terrified As Nodt was of the Shadowlands and the power that he possessed, and, in the instant he finished transforming, Sombra was already in front of him, swinging his scythe upwards in such a way that let him cleave his way through his foe, which caused As Nodt to revert back to his base form before his body was split in half, vertically to be exact, and he let the pieces of the body fall to the ground as he removed the blood from his weapon as it took As Nodt's soul.
Once that was done he banished the mirror that showed the Shadowlands and turned his attention to the rest of the Sternritter, because it appeared that, while they were terrified of what they had seen, Yhwach's presence was forcing them to continue the battle, meaning that it was only a matter of time until the next battle started, and he intended on making sure that each of them were defeated before he ended this foolish war.