Ch 129: Throne of Domination.

Noah, Ren and Fubuki teleported close to Kisuke Urahara, bringing Yoruichi, Ichigo, Rukia and Renji with them. They were in a deserted street, and Noah could immediately sense of lot of strong auras behind the building obscuring their view.

And they without a doubt could sense him and his companions as well. From what he felt, a few fights that had been underway even ceased, as Shinigami and Arrancars became wary of the unexpected people barging in.

"I forgot to ask you to restrain your auras." bitterly smiled Urahara.

"And I didn't think of it." shrugged Noah. "Not that there is much point in hiding anymore."

Ren and Fubuki were already using hard light footholds to reach the rooftop and survey the situation, searching for suitable targets.

"Yoruichi, your equipment." said Urahara, taking from a large bag several oversized greaves and bracers. The specially made pieces of armor were meant to sharply increase her striking power.

Yoruichi nodded and started putting them on.

"Let's go." said Rukia, focusing some of her reiatsu to the sole of her feet and gaining the ability to walk in the air. Renji and Ichigo followed her.

Noah used Shunpo to reach the rooftop as well.

Things were more or less as he expected. Aizen was standing high in the air, looking arrogantly at Noah and his companions. A step behind him and to his right was Gin, his smug smile permanently plastered on his face.

A few meters below them stood the Espada. Coyote Starrk, with wavy dark brown hairs ending at the base of his neck and blue-gray eyes, looking annoyed at being there.

His Fraccion Lilynette, a thin girl with short pale green hairs and a hollow mask looking like a WW2 helmet with horns, sat by his side on empty air.

To Starrk's right was a large throne of white stone, upon which sat Barragan Louisenbairn, the Vasto Lorde that was without a doubt the King of Hueco Mundo, until Aizen came. He looked like an elderly man with a very fit body, with a thick white mustache and white hair. A few scars showed that is had done his fair share of battles in the past and had lost his right eye along the way. His Hollow mask took the form of a crown, only covering his forehead and temples.

Barragan had six Fraccion, and four of them were the ones attacking the anchor points of the fake city. Noah didn't really care about them. They were little more than cannon fodder at this point, and wouldn't satisfy Fubuki or Ren.

Further to the right of Barragan stood Tier Harribel and the three female Arrancars constituting her Fraccion. Tier had golden blonde hair, contrasting with her olive skin, and green eyes. The lower half of her face, covered by her hollow mask, was hidden by the high collar of her jacket. A jacket so short that the lower part of her large breasts was exposed. She stood immobile, her arms crossed under her breasts, looking at the newcomers in turns.

And some distance away from them was Yammy Liargo, picking his nose as he looked with disdain at Noah and his companions. The giant Arrancar with a tanned skin and ridge-lined skull had his lower jaw covered by his Hollow mask, and the number 10 tattooed on his left shoulder. Noah knew from the fiction that when Yammy used his Resurreccion, the first character disappeared, leaving only 0, and his body grew to titanic proportions.

As far as raw power was concerned, Yammy was the strongest Espada. But just power alone was far from enough in battle, and the other three Espada present could wipe the floor with him.

Noah had been masked when they met, but it was obvious that Aizen recognized him in an instant. The corner of his lip twitched when Noah smiled and nodded at him.

Separated from Aizen and the Arrancar by almost two hundred meters stood the Shinigami. All the captains and Lieutenants were present, aside from those sent to Hueco Mundo, and the five guarding the four anchor points. Rukia, Renji and Ichigo were hurrying to join them.

Noah turned to Genryusai Yamamoto.

"Captain-Commander, thank you for sending reinforcements to Hueco Mundo. We appreciate the gesture."

"Did it go well? You brought back that girl?"

"Yes. We rescued Orihime and dealt with every member of the Espada over there. I also killed Kaname Tosen."

"Good."

Noah felt more presence appearing behind him, and in seconds, Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi jumped out from behind the building. Asuna used Shunpo to stand beside Noah and smiled.

"Che! We did this trip for nothing."  complained Kenpachi.

"Captain-Commander, do you mind if we keep participating? My partners are unsatisfied."

"…Do as you wish."

"Then I'll challenge the one called Starrk. You should be the strongest Espada, am I correct?" declared Ren.

"I am the Primera." confirmed Starrk, removing a white glove to reveal the character 1 on the back of his right hand.

"Hey, that's not fair! If he's the strongest, he's mine! Back off, little girl!" said Kenpachi.

"Little girl?" said Ren, an eyebrow raised. The looked at Kenpachi up and down, and smiled.

"How about we fight it out, then? This 'little girl' hasn't gotten a decent opponent in years."

"Eh? Interesting! You have a good aura, too! Let's do it!"

As if they both possessed some mystical communication method known only to battle junkies, Ren and Kenpachi moved at the same time, flying some distance away from the others, and they started a brawl.

Noah looked at the Captain-Commander, and shrugged apologetically.

Kenpachi's Lieutenant, a little girl named Yachiru, trotted to Noah with a grin. "Who's your friend, Kuro-kun? It looks like she and Ken-chan will be good friends!"

Yachiru was barely a meter tall, with a bob of pink hair and an easy-going character. But she was also the strongest Lieutenant and had her own Bankai.

Noah ginned as he looked at the ongoing fight. Ren was smiling, and Kenpachi was laughing as they exchanged sword blows. "She's Ren Yamashiro, the Commander of the Japanese Anti-Demon Corps, and said to be the strongest human. She and Kenpachi will get along great."

Fubuki looked fondly at the fight, too, then decided on her own opponent. Materializing her Sunset Spear, she pointed it at Yammy.

"The big guy over there. Are you willing to dance with me?"

"Fine. We'll crush you all anyway, but if you're eager for it to happen sooner, I will help you!"

"Follow me to the side, then."

And just like that, Fubuki and Yammy started fighting on another part of the battlefield.

"I'm content with just watching for now." shrugged Asuna.

Noah didn't mind, but one of the Arrancars did.

"You!" angrily said one of two Fraccion behind Barragan's throne. "You're not even a full Shinigami, only a trainee, but you dare show you face in this battlefield? If his Majesty approves, I, Choe Neng Poww, will be your opponent!"

"Approved." said Barragan with a gruff voice.

Asuna focused her attention on the Arrancar in question for an instant. He was almost four meters tall, with a short bob of black hair. His forearms and hands were completely oversized compared to the rest of his body. His fingers were as thick as Asuna's arms, his hands larger than her torso.

"Looks like I'm going to make Hollow sashimi after all." smiled Asuna, flying toward another corner of the fake city.

Noah looked at Barragan for a moment but switched his gaze to Harribel. The Tres Espada wasn't exactly up to his taste, but she was still beautiful in her own way, and her character wasn't an issue. And since he had already decided to add Nell to his harem, he might as well get his hands on her as well.

"Tier Harribel, I challenge you." said Noah, unsheathing Seifuku.

"Hey!" called out the brattiest member of her faction, one named Apache. "If you want to challenge our boss, you must defeat us first!"

Noah raised an eyebrow.

"I'd rather not hurt you. Killing you would bring no benefit to my goal of defeating Aizen. But I will point out that I killed Zommari, Ulquiorra and Tosen. Don't think your Aeon pet would change anything."

Apache's expression twitched, as both anger and fear fought for dominance in her mind. The Aeon he had just referred to, was a special Hollow that the three Fraccion could create, by sacrificing one arm each. Aeon was a huge Hollow with an immense strength and the ability to shoot Ceros from its eyes with no loading time. But it was still far from being comparable to someone like Ulquiorra.

"Apache, Mila-Rose, Sung-Sun. Stay back." decided Harribel, moving to yet another part of the city. Noah followed.

When she was far enough, she stopped and faced him.

"You have my thanks, for being willing to spare my subordinates. What is your name?" asked Harribel.

"Noah. Noah Enfield." said Noah, casting Augment on himself.

She nodded, and drew her Zanpakuto. Its blade was short, but thick, and hollow.

Tier Harribel, Noah knew, could manipulate water, both hot and cold.

"Let's get started, then." said Harribel. She used Sonido to appear near Noah. She was significantly faster than most Espada, about comparable to Ulquiorra in his first Resurreccion form. But still slower than Noah.

He blocked her blow, but saw water gathering inside the empty space in Harribel's blade. Noah stepped to the side to avoid a blast of water.

"Cascada." said Harribel, creating a huge volume of water and throwing it at him. The column of water was easily thirty meters in diameter, and rushed in Noah's direction with the speed of a plane. Noah simply used Shunpo to get out of the way. Harribel could to some extent change the direction of her attack, but not do the point of catching him. Harribel realized it, and stopped her attack, instead using Sonido again to fight him in close range.

Unfortunately for her, close range was Noah's specialty. Deflecting her sword, he seized her wrist her threw her to the nearest building, where she crashed. She immediately got up and jumped toward him, her sword glowing with a bright yellow light. When she was only three meters from him, she slashed out.

It was her Cero. Not the most powerful one among the Espada, but hers had a wide angle, acting similar to a shotgun.

Noah created five layers of shields using Hard light Arsenal, and three of them shattered, but her Cero was stopped.

Harribel stopped moving for a moment, likely thinking about the best way to defeat him, and Noah smiled.

"I guess we could fight back and forth like that for a long time, but I'd rather get a decisive victory quickly."

Noah held his Zanpakuto horizontally in front of him.

"So, Bankai!"

Noah took his hand off Seifuku's hilt, and the sword shone with a black light, quickly expanding.

"Shihai no Oza (Throne of Domination)" said Noah as the black light disappeared.

In front of him was now a throne, facing Harribel, seemingly made of polished black marble. A few precious gems were inlaid along its armrests and the back, but the most unusual feature were the five hourglasses floating just behind it. The first of them turned, and black sand began to fall.

Noah took Eclipse from his inventory.

"Is this really a Bankai?" asked Harribel, watching the throne warily.

"It is. And if I were you, I'd try to defeat me quickly, because your time is running out."

Harribel apparently took him seriously, as waves of water appeared behind her like wings.

"Tiburon (Shark)" she said, as the water wings closed on her. When the water dissipated, Harribel was in her Resurreccion form. The clothes were slightly different, and the jaw-shaped mask covered the lower half of her face had dissipated. The biggest change was her sword. It had fused with her right arm, and become enormous.

Harribel pointed her sword at the throne, and a strong yellow aura emanated from it.

"Ola Azul (blue wave)."

Harribel fired a blast of energy straight at the throne, and… it passed through without even a ripple. As if the Throne was an illusion.

Noah's Bankai wasn't that easy to neutralize. The Throne was a conceptual construct, and only attacks able to destroys concepts would have any effect.

After a futile attempt to slash the Throne with a physical attack, Harribel decided to ignore it and attacked Noah himself. That was the smart thing to do, but Noah was still able to avoid or deflect all of her attacks.

Fifteen seconds avec the first hourglass turned, all the sand in the top half had fallen into the bottom half.

A black chain burst out of the base of the throne. Before Harribel had time to react, the chain connected to her left wrist, forming a black shackle around it.

And the second hourglass turned over.

Harribel stared in shock at her left arm as she tried to move it, but it had become limp and unresponsive. She tried to use her sword to cut off the chain, but it passed through without damaging it.

"That is my Bankai." said Noah. "Every fifteen seconds, you will lose control of one of your limbs, chosen at random. The last chain will form a collar around your neck, and when that happens, your very existence will become bound to the Throne."

"Not if I kill you first!" said Harribel, resuming her attacks.

"Yes, not if you kill me first." smiled Noah. "But you've been trying that already, and how it did it work out for you?"

Harribel, falling to a frantic state of mind as her fear grew, tried everything she could, but Noah was just too slippery, his defense airtight, and none of her attacks connected.

Another black chain bound itself to her right leg, ruining her balance, and the third hourglass turned. She could still stand in the air on her left leg, but became mostly unable to make complex movements, and her use of Sonido became limited to rushing in a straight line in the direction she was leaned toward to, making her movements extremely predictable.

Harribel, seeing that she wasn't going to win in that state, tried to get as far away from the throne as she could, thinking that this Bankai might have a limited range. But when she got past a certain range, the two chains binding her to it became taut, increasingly resisting her efforts like a rubber band.

She opened a rift to Hueco Mundo, quickly entering it. But she found out that the chains prevented the rift from closing behind her, and they jerked her back.

A third chain fastened a shackle around the base of her sword arm, sealing away her last chance of resisting.

"I should have cut my hand off when I had the chance." said Harribel with a heavy sigh.

"Wouldn't have worked." said Noah, shaking his head. "The binding is spiritual, not physical. Had you tried, you would still have found a phantom wrist and hand connected to your arm, still bound by the chain."

The fourth chain wrapped a shackle around her left leg, and she fell on the rooftop of the building beneath her.

"It's not so bad, Harribel." said Noah with sympathy. "You will find out that being bound to my Zanpakuto is much more preferable to death."

"…Are you going to do the same to my subordinates?"

"No. Frankly, I have no interest in them."

The last hourglass finished its cycle, and the fifth chain shot out from its base, forming a black metal collar around Harribel's neck. The other four chains disappeared, and Harribel found her body moving on its own. As she struggled to regain control of it, Harribel found herself kneeling on one knee in front of the Throne, her head lowered in homage, connected to it by the chain and the collar.

Then Harribel and the throne both disappeared. Seifuku floated in the air where the throne had been, and returned to Noah's hand.

Noah focused on Harribel, summoning her, and she reappeared in front of him. She looked free of bonds, but a black tattoo was around her neck, a two centimeters-wide line with a small heart-shaped symbol in front, marking her as a slave.

"Here's your first order, Harribel. Take your subordinates and return to Hueco Mundo. I'll visit you again later."

Harribel nodded, a reluctant expression on her face, and flew toward her three Fraccion.

"Harribel-sama! Is there anything we can do to help you?" asked Apache, worried.

"You can't do anything. Follow me, we're leaving." said Harribel, opening a rift. Deep inside, she felt both relieved that Noah's order was something she didn't mind doing, and scared about the future.

In the few brief seconds she had been inside the Throne, she could still perceive the world outside, and she somehow acquired some knowledge about her situation. Her soul was irrevocably bound to it, for eternity, and there was no one who could undo it. Noah would be able to summon her at will, and even if she died outside, her soul would still be bound to the Throne. All Noah would have to do would be to resummon her.

And she couldn't attack him, or oppose his orders. Her mind was still her own, as far as she could tell, but if she consciously tried to resist one of his orders, her body would start moving by itself to fulfil it.

The three Fraccion hurriedly entered the passage to Hueco Mundo after her, and the rift closed.

Noah looked at the situation.

Aizen and Gin were staring at him silently. He hadn't made a move, likely thinking that the instant he did, the Captain Commander and the eight guests Urahara Kisuke had invited would act as well. Noah could see them using Promise, the four former captains and Lieutenants that Aizen had tried to turn into Hollows a century ago. And Aizen had to know about them lurking nearby.

Asuna was fighting the huge Hollow, keeping her distance and evading as she used various Kido and Hado spells to damage or restrain her opponent. Her shikai was charging, the sword of light floating behind her shoulder already two meters long.

Kenpachi and Ren were done fighting each other. Ren was immaculate, aside from a single cut in her uniform's left sleeve, while Kenpachi had a bunch of shallow cuts and bruises. They were both grinning as they avoided or sliced apart Starrk's wolf-shaped homing Ceros, the Primera Arrancar firing them in quick succession.

Fubuki had forced Yammy to use his Resurreccion, becoming a monstruous fifty meters tall… thing, with a humanoid upper body connected to a long horizontal body, and supported by twelve short and thick legs. She easily avoided his massive fists, using the long reach of her spear to knock his mouth shut whenever he opened it to charge a Cero and causing him gradual wounds.

Barragan had left his throne and had a huge battle axe in his hands. He was fighting Soi Fong, the captain of the second division, and Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's brother. They were both keeping their distance with him, aware of Barragan's nasty power.

Now that Harribel had been secured, Noah chose him as his next target.