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Chapter 149: Conception of the Hueco Mundo Card
🕑 Added 2025-10-02 16:12:08 +0000 UTCThe shelter hummed with the quiet chaos of displaced humanity. Russell leaned against a concrete pillar near the entrance, his Arrogance form finally dissolved, leaving him in his normal clothes that still reeked of smoke and demon blood. Around him, families huddled on thin cots, children cried for toys left behind in ruined homes, and volunteer workers rushed back and forth with blankets and bottled water.
His phone sat heavy in his pocket, waiting for the next support mission alert. But his mind was elsewhere, circling back to Wade like a vulture over carrion.
First step: tell Blake. Russell rubbed his temples, feeling a headache building behind his eyes. His teacher would want to know about tonight's confrontation. Blake Whitmore didn't suffer threats to his students lightly, but would he actually do anything? Wade came from money, from power. The kind of family that had judges on speed dial and could make problems disappear with a few phone calls.
If that doesn't work... His thoughts turned darker, more practical. The Spirit Begging Society existed for exactly this kind of problem. They were expensive as hell, sure, but they got results. Making someone "disappear" was just another service they offered, like ordering takeout but for murder.
Russell snorted at his own analogy. I could do it myself if I had to. The thought came unbidden but not unwelcome. He'd killed before—demons didn't count as people, but the physical act of ending a life? That muscle memory was already there.
The problem was the Society's connections. They had their fingers in everything, including the Federation court. Would they even take a contract on someone like Wade?
"Shit," he muttered under his breath, earning a disapproving look from a nearby mother covering her child's ears.
His mind wandered to Hazel, remembering how she'd looked in the classroom earlier—deadly serious, none of her usual social awkwardness. He'd never seen his senior sister like that before. Usually, she could barely maintain eye contact during conversations, fidgeting with her sleeves and stumbling over words. But put her in a combat situation and she became someone else entirely.
I wonder what happened to—
BOOM!
The explosion shook the entire shelter. The ground lurched beneath Russell's feet like a living thing. Coffee cups crashed to the floor. Children screamed. Adults cursed and grabbed for anything stable. The lights flickered, casting crazy shadows across the walls.
Russell's body moved before his brain caught up, Arrogance flaring back to life around him in a writhing mass of black and red. His enhanced muscles locked him in place while others stumbled and fell. Through the shelter's reinforced windows, he could see it—a massive pillar of white lightning connecting heaven and earth, so bright it turned night into day.
"Holy fucking shit," someone gasped behind him.
The lightning pillar had to be at least a hundred feet wide, crackling with enough magical energy to power the entire city for a year. And there, next to it, barely visible even with his enhanced eyesight, was a tiny figure floating on a white cloud.
Is that... Senior Sister?
Hazel hovered above the battlefield like a goddess of storms, wisps of cloud and mist swirling around her. Her face—he could just make it out—held none of its usual uncertainty. Her eyes were cold, indifferent, looking down at the chaos below like it was merely an inconvenience to be dealt with.
A roar erupted from beneath the lightning, so loud that several shelter windows cracked. People covered their ears, some dropping to their knees from the sheer volume. Then it stood up.
"Oh fuck me," Russell breathed.
The demon was massive—easily three hundred feet tall, maybe more. Its body was covered in chitinous armor that gleamed like oil in the lightning's glare. Four arms, each ending in claws the size of city buses. A head that seemed to be nothing but teeth and rage. This thing made the antelope demon from earlier look like a house pet.
The giant demon pulled itself up from the crater the first lightning strike had created, molten rock dripping from its wounds. It raised all four arms toward Hazel, magical energy gathering in its palms—enough power to level half the district.
Hazel didn't even blink.
She raised one hand, almost lazily, and four more lightning bolts descended from the sky. These weren't like the first one. These were focused, condensed into spears of pure electrical destruction. They moved faster than thought, faster than Russell's enhanced eyes could properly track.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The bolts pierced through each of the demon's limbs simultaneously. The creature's roar cut off into a strangled shriek as it was slammed back into the earth, its arms and legs pinned to the ground like a butterfly on a display board. The bolts had become physical stakes, crystallized lightning that sparked and crackled as they held the thrashing demon in place.
Russell's throat had gone completely dry. He tried to swallow but couldn't. Around him, the shelter had gone dead silent except for the sound of someone praying quietly in the corner.
If Blake and Regent Jin are the strongest cardmakers I know, then Hazel just claimed third place. The thought was both thrilling and terrifying. His awkward senior sister who couldn't order food without rehearsing the conversation three times was this powerful?
"Combine."
Her voice carried across the entire city despite being spoken at normal volume. There was no emotion in it, no anger or satisfaction. Just a statement of fact, like announcing the weather.
The sky opened up.
Russell had thought the previous lightning strikes were impressive. He'd been wrong. Those were gentle taps compared to what fell now. The entire horizon lit up white as hundreds—no, thousands—of lightning bolts rained down in a concentrated storm of divine fury. The thunder was so loud it stopped being sound and became a physical force, pressing against his chest like a giant hand.
People in the shelter had given up trying to stand. They huddled on the floor, hands over their heads, some crying, some praying, all of them certain they were witnessing the end of the world.
The lightning storm continued for what felt like hours but was probably only thirty seconds. When it finally stopped, the afterimages were burned into Russell's retinas. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. Where the giant demon had been, there was now only a massive crater of melted glass and scorched earth.
His phone buzzed.
Russell pulled it out with slightly shaking hands, expecting another support mission. Instead, he got:
[The invasion of the pocket dimension has been properly handled. Thank you to all the cardmakers for your dedication. Now please return home in an orderly manner.]
"It's over?" He scratched his head, looking back toward where the lightning storm had been. The connection was obvious—Hazel had just ended the entire invasion with one massive attack. "What the hell, Senior Sister?"
He shook his head and started walking toward the shelter exit. People were slowly getting back to their feet, looking around with the dazed expressions of survivors who couldn't quite believe they were still alive.
"Forget it. Why think so much?" Russell muttered to himself. "I'll go back and rest first. I just wonder how many points I can get this time."
The thought of points sparked something else in his mind. His next card creation would need materials, and if his next pocket dimension exploration didn't provide what he needed, he'd have to use points to exchange for them. After tonight's invasion, there would definitely be more exploration missions. That demon had clearly come from a new pocket dimension, and the Federation would want it mapped and cleared.
And he already knew what card he wanted to make next.
Neliel. Former 3rd Espada from Bleach.
Russell had been thinking about it since he'd seen that antelope-like demon earlier. The way it had moved, the hollow hole visible in its chest—it had reminded him immediately of the Arrancar. Creating Neliel made sense for multiple reasons.
First, she was part of the Soul Reaper series. Having her would help build toward the ultimate effect of his three field cards: [Spirit King Resurrection]. If I can actually resurrect the Spirit King, he thought while dodging around a family reuniting tearfully, that might give me enough firepower to tell the Spirit Begging Society to fuck off.
The memory of Regent Jin's overwhelming presence still made his skin crawl. He'd originally figured he'd need to reach Master rank before he could safely rebel against the Society. But with the Spirit King? Maybe he could accelerate that timeline.
Second, the Espada had massive variation in power levels. Neliel, as the former 3rd Espada, was strong as hell in her adult form. But she also had her child form—Little Nel—which he could create first as a bronze or silver-tier card. That way, he could upgrade her gradually without limiting her peak strength. Smart cardmaking was about planning your upgrade paths from the beginning.
Plus, Russell thought as he stepped out into the night air, I need to start building my Hueco Mundo collection.
He already had a rough plan. Starrk would definitely be on the list—the Primera Espada was too powerful to pass up. Aizen was another must-have, though that complicated things. Three cards minimum for the Hueco Mundo set. If it worked like [Seireitei], he might need four cards total to trigger the highest-level effect. He wouldn't know for sure until he actually created [Las Noches].
Wait. A thought struck him as he walked down the empty street. Would Aizen get bonuses from [Seireitei]? He was technically the captain of the 5th Division before he betrayed them.
Then he remembered his own story modification and groaned. "Oh, right. I made Yoriichi the 5th Division captain in my version. Goddamn it."
His head was starting to hurt from all the planning. And there was another problem—the Hōgyoku. That thing had fragments of the Spirit King in it, which meant it would probably be diamond-tier at minimum. Could just anyone use it? Would he need to create Aizen at diamond tier just to handle it?
"Fuck it," Russell said to the empty street. "I'll figure it out when I get there."
Besides, there was one reason above all others for choosing Neliel as his next card:
Little Nel was adorable as hell.
After all the violence and death he'd seen tonight, after Wade's bullshit and the constant threat of the Spirit Begging Society hanging over his head, Russell figured he deserved something cute in his life. Even if that something cute could transform into a centaur-like warrior capable of immense destruction.
Later that night, Russell sat on his bed in lotus position, having just finished his meditation. The clock on his nightstand read 8:47 PM. His magical energy hummed pleasantly through his channels, fully restored from the evening's events.
He pulled out his phone and opened the "A Loving Family" group chat. His thumbs hovered over the keyboard for a moment before he started typing.
[Russell]: Teacher, today when I was performing a support mission, I ran into Wade. He was abandoning civilians to save himself. When I showed up, he attacked me without warning, trying to kill me to keep me quiet. I defended myself and got the civilians to safety, but he made it clear this isn't over.
The response was immediate and unexpected.
[Felix]: Senior Brother.
That was it. Just two words. Felix, who usually couldn't shut up in the group chat, who had opinions on everything from card strategies to what everyone should eat for lunch, had gone silent.
Russell frowned at his phone. What the hell? Does Felix know something about Wade?
Six dots. That was Jasper's entire contribution. The eldest senior brother, usually so quick with advice or jokes, apparently had nothing to say.
Okay, now this is weird. Russell shifted uncomfortably on his bed. Both his senior brothers going quiet at the mention of Wade? That couldn't be a coincidence.
His phone buzzed with a new message. Director Blake had finally responded.
[Blake Whitemore]: Wait for me to return.
(End of this chapter)
Comments
Raphael Espinoza Angulo
When creating Aizen, you're playing with fire, both narratively and in the context of his story. Nell isn't bad, but obviously Stark is better. Still, there are plenty of cards that could be created from various animes, but I guess I'll save them for later. Except for the fact that for now, he's poor. XDXDXD
