As Makoto's words fell, shock flickered in Metalica and Adalbert's eyes.
But seeing him seated unscathed on the chair, with Liestya kneeling broken at his feet, their gazes locked.
They exchanged a glance and acted.
Buzz!
A shockwave erupted around Adalbert, the air itself seemingly 'repelled' from his body, unable to touch him.
His toe tapped the ground.
His massive frame unleashed explosive force, defying its bulk, vanishing with a boom as he charged straight at Makoto.
Simultaneously, Metalica yanked a submachine gun into her hands, its muzzle flaring with blue reishi bursts, unleashing a hail of bullets.
Boom!
Adalbert's fist, large as a sandbag, swept through, 'repelling' everything in its path. Amid a cloud of dust, the stone chair and the floor beneath it shattered, the deafening crash echoing.
Makoto's form blinked out, reappearing elsewhere.
But the barrage of reishi bullets seemed to predict his landing, grazing perilously close to his feet.
He turned, sidestepping, his gaze piercing the dust.
Adalbert, hoisting Liestya over his shoulder like a sack, drifted back to Metalica's side.
"Troublesome guy."
Metalica gripped her gun, her voice low, tense.
Wary as an enemy loomed.
Adalbert, usually silent, shared her caution, his eyes narrowed.
That dodge, even a typical Sternritter candidate would struggle to evade so effortlessly.
Not to mention, he'd slipped through Metalica's gunfire with ease.
"You two must be 'Sternritter' as well, right?"
Makoto raised his head, gripping his scabbard, blade still sheathed, his expression serene as he regarded them, tone gentle:
"Which ones, may I ask?"
At this intelligence, Metalica and Adalbert's eyes sharpened.
Adalbert tossed Liestya aside carelessly.
So, even that information was fully exposed?
Metalica shot the grounded woman a glance, her voice edged with cold disdain:
"Daring to betray His Majesty."
"Traitor."
Adalbert, wordless, drew spiked brass knuckles from his waist, slipping them onto his fists, his voice calm:
"Schrift P, Pick."
"Is that your final word?"
The bear-like man, towering over two meters, spoke in a deep rumble his gaze brimming with silent killing intent: "Not all Quincy are as useless as this one on the ground, Shinigami."
But before he could step forward, Liestya's bloodied lips parted, her mangled mouth struggling to speak:
"Be... careful!"
"You... can't hit him."
Her words deepened Metalica and Adalbert's frowns.
Though they scorned her for likely leaking critical intelligence, they knew her strength as a comrade.
For her to say this...
Metalica and Adalbert studied the neat, smiling young man before them.
"We'll see about that!"
Adalbert, often silent, erupted with explosive fury in combat, roaring as he charged Makoto.
Metalica didn't idle, raising her gun, her golden pupils and muzzle tracking Makoto's form in near-perfect sync.
Whoosh!
Adalbert's bear-like bulk vanished, reappearing before Makoto like a towering wall, his long arms swinging in a blur of speed.
But Metalica, watching from afar, widened her eyes.
This guy... so fast!?
Within that confined space, Makoto's feet barely shifted, dodging every swing with mere upper-body movements.
Each fist grazed him, missing by fractions, unable to touch him.
Metalica's gun wavered, unable to find a gap between Adalbert and Makoto.
Her pupils contracted.
"Adalbert! Move!"
Her shout froze Adalbert's form for a split second, his heavy punch reaching its limit.
In that fleeting moment, Makoto stepped forward.
Crack!
His right foot struck the ground, tiles fracturing in a spiderweb pattern.
Force surged from the earth, through his legs.
Power climbed his spine, compressing muscles, flowing from waist to shoulder.
Until it had to release.
"Ikkotsu!"
Terrifying force exploded, like a roaring mist dragon, unleashing a gale-like sonic boom toward Adalbert.
The stone tiles behind Makoto shattered in a ring, crumbling like broken biscuits under the recoil.
Yet, as his fist grazed Adalbert, a strange glint flashed in Makoto's eyes.
Boom!
The punch carved a straight path dozens of meters long, debris flying.
Adalbert's body hurtled backward.
But before Makoto could savor the odd sensation from his fist, a piercing barrage of explosions rang out, a relentless cacophony.
Metalica advanced two steps, her gun blazing, though Makoto dodged each shot with ease.
Only when Adalbert retreated did she halt.
This exchange gave both sides a measure of their opponent's strength.
But for Metalica and Adalbert, the realization soured their expressions.
"Hey! You okay?" Metalica called, irritation lacing her voice, though she positioned herself before Adalbert.
"I 'Picked' it!"
Adalbert's face lit with relief: "Thought I couldn't 'Pick' that one... that punch."
"If I can 'Pick' it, we're fine!"
Metalica's voice tightened: "Now we just need to figure out how to hit him."
Though he spoke confidently, Adalbert's hand, rubbing his chest, fell away.
Not a wrinkle marred his clothing.
Unscathed.
Hearing them openly strategize in his presence, Makoto's face betrayed a faint certainty, his gaze flicking to the seemingly broken woman on the ground.
Liestya lay still, as if gravely wounded.
This time, she'd spoken the truth.
Before these two arrived, Makoto had already extracted details of their abilities.
Schrift P's ability: 'Pick.'
The power to select anything that contacts him, choosing to exclude what he doesn't want.
In a sense, an absolute defense.
As for the petite blonde girl, Schrift M.
Her ability: Metal.
But due to her limited actions, even Liestya didn't know its full scope, only that she could conjure a metal gun firing bullets.
And her physical prowess was weak.
If that's the case...
Makoto's eyes sharpened, his body leaning forward, inhaling deeply, a thunderous roar erupting.
[You're the one, blonde loli!]
[Let me test your 36-size jailer!]
[I'll lick all ten of your toes clean, yo!!]
The childish, cheeky voice of his Zanpakutō echoed in everyone's ears, startling Adalbert and Metalica.
Makoto nearly stumbled, his charge faltering mid-step.
Fuck you, gremlin!
Adalbert snapped out of his shock, his massive frame unhesitatingly blocking Metalica, meeting Makoto's charge head-on.
A deafening clash resounded, but Adalbert, now adapted, didn't fly back as before.
Instead, having 'Picked' Makoto's attacks, he wielded his repulsion with growing mastery, his long arms swinging like thunder, heedless of Makoto's strikes.
Just as he'd hoped.
This time, Makoto's fists sank like stones into the sea, landing without force.
"Weak, weak, weak, weak!"
Seeing Makoto's futile struggle, Adalbert's voice grew louder, a savage grin breaking across his stoic face.
"Shinigami-san!"
"Is this all you've got?!"
Fists howled, the air boiling.
Adalbert's seemingly relentless barrage of fists struck nothing but air.
Only dull, drum-like thuds echoed.
Makoto, facing Adalbert's brazen taunts, curved his lips into a sudden smile:
"Before you die, at least remember your enemy's name."
The instant his voice fell, Liestya, slumped on the ground, flashed a glint in her eyes.
Her gaze locked onto Metalica, who stood aiming her gun, fixated on the clashing duo.
A blood-streaked hand, unnoticed, pressed into the abyss of intent, drawing a palm-sized dagger.
[Hound's Rite]
A contract that, once sealed, demands 'everything' be offered to another.
Before Metalica and Adalbert arrived, Liestya and Makoto had agreed on a signal to strike.
Boom!
Fists collided, a muffled roar resounding.
But before Adalbert could swing again, Makoto's wrist snaked around his arm, his body leveraging the grip to vault upward, a fierce kick slamming into Adalbert's abdomen with a thud.
Adalbert, unable to fully 'Pick' the force, was lifted slightly off the ground, a faint white shockwave lingering at his gut.
Bloodshot eyes tracked Makoto's movements.
His pupils contracted.
Makoto, somehow, now stood before him.
His right hand rested on the hilt of his Zanpakutō, untouched until now, his lips parting.
'This guy knows Zanjutsu?'
Their earlier bare-knuckle Hakuda clash had led Adalbert to misjudge.
But in the next moment, a lethal danger surged in his chest, undeniable, forcing him to shield himself with both arms.
His 'Pick' ability instantly selected every condition to counter a slash.
Only then did Makoto's voice reach his ears.
"My name is-"
"Makoto Fujimiya."
As his words landed, a dazzling blade gleamed, like a cascading waterfall, carving a radiant arc through the air.
Even Adalbert, so close, couldn't tear his eyes from the mesmerizing light.
Simultaneously, Liestya, seemingly lifeless on the ground, exploded into motion.
Her battered body bore only a few unhealed wounds, the fatal ones patched by Makoto's three-part Kaido, learned from Unohana.
In this fleeting moment, she unleashed the full force of her life's strength.
"It can cut!"
Her resolute Lie burst forth, compelling belief.
The dagger in her grip, blazing with fluorescent light, stabbed unhesitatingly toward Metalica's pale, fragile neck.
Only at the sound did Metalica, frozen with her gun, snap back, turning toward the voice.
Clang!
Two sounds merged into one.
Makoto's blade flowed like water, unimpeded.
Infused with the full force of his will, the edge sliced as effortlessly as a hot knife through butter.
Thud.
An arm, thicker than a normal man's thigh, hit the ground, a dull sound ringing out.
Blood gushed, splattering with a splash staining the tiles crimson.
Adalbert staggered from massive blood loss and the imbalance of his severed arm.
His right hand clamped the stump, stemming the flow.
His face paled.
A deep gash marred his other arm, bleeding slowly.
That strike had been 'Picked.'
But only half.
The cost: his arm.
Makoto calmly flicked his blade, shedding the blood, his demeanor unruffled.
"Impressive ability."
"I thought that swing would take both your arms."
Adalbert gritted his teeth, glaring, his voice hoarse: "What was that... just now?"
Makoto flashed a relaxed smile:
"A little trick."
"Not telling."
"Also, your friend should be..."
His words cut off, his gaze stiffening as it shifted behind.
The petite blonde girl still stood, gripping her all-metal gun.
Liestya froze, her dagger plunged into Metalica's neck.
But the blade had shattered, fragments littering the ground.
At Metalica's neck, a silver sheen spread across her skin, fading like a tattoo, along with the platinum glint in her eyes.
Liestya's face held shock, staring at Metalica, as if to speak, but no words came.
Blood trickled from her lips.
The butt of Metalica's gun had sprouted branch-like spikes, piercing Liestya's abdomen, chest, thighs, and neck, forming an umbrella-like structure.
Her body seemed to crumble.
"Ouch, that stung."
Metalica muttered, rubbing her slender neck.
She turned to Makoto, her tone flat:
"Did you really think..."
"We'd trust this liar just because we're comrades?"
"Too naive, Makoto-san."
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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