Splash!
Liestya's body collapsed into a pool of crimson, her sleek hair matted with blood. Her wide, unblinking eyes fixed on Metalica, refusing to close in death.
Metalica didn't spare her a glance.
The branch-like spikes extending from her submachine gun retracted like liquid mercury, the entire weapon absorbed into her slender arm, leaving it pristine.
The petite blonde girl raised her head, locking eyes with Makoto.
Her white vest slipped from her smooth shoulders as she stepped forward, her gaze cold.
"My name is Metalica, Schrift M."
"My ability is Metal."
"That traitor who betrayed His Majesty Yhwach likely told you all this, didn't she?"
"But..."
"You didn't think I could only craft random tools, did you?"
As she spoke, a mirror-like metallic sheen spread across Metalica's skin, creeping from beneath her clothes, climbing her neck, then her face.
Even her pupils turned platinum, glinting faintly.
The moment her words fell,
Buzz!
Reiatsu surged, the air trembling, everything warping under intense pressure.
Makoto squinted at her.
Metalica pointed at him.
Shink, shink, shink!
Metallic spikes erupted from the ground, row after row thrusting diagonally toward Makoto, their dense tips spreading rapidly. The solid metal shifted between fluid and solid, pulverizing the earth, transforming the palace into a steel forest in a blink.
Makoto's feet shifted, dust rising from the stone tiles. His form vanished.
When he reappeared, he was airborne.
Metalica kept one hand raised, the other extended palm-out toward Makoto.
The steel forest, like a living entity, chased him relentlessly.
The air filled with the screech of twisting, snapping, and regrowing metal, piercing eardrums.
This steel, capable of shredding a body, bent under the petite girl's control, as pliable as water or sand, its speed astonishing.
Makoto tracked the metal's flow, his peripheral vision fixed on the girl commanding it.
To escape this peril, he had to kill the controller.
The thought sparked, and his body moved.
Shunpo pierced the air, the recoil propelling him like a shadow to within inches of Metalica.
His gaze flashed, blade gleaming.
Rip,
The Zanpakutō, infused with unyielding will, tore through steel.
But as the 'Metalica' before him split from head to toe, Makoto's pupils contracted.
The steel figure's interior...
An empty shell.
A trap!
From the severed shell's base, an iron flower bloomed, its petals meticulously crafted, spewing a shimmering mist toward him.
Metal dust.
Simultaneously, countless metal roots surged, centered on the flower, engulfing Makoto's form with a shrill metallic screech.
As the sequence concluded, Metalica's petite figure emerged from another patch of ground, the metallic sheen on her skin fading.
Her gaze, sharper than steel, remained locked on Makoto.
"Idiot Adalbert."
"Bind your arm and don't hold me back."
"Your strength is still useful to His Majesty."
The blonde girl stood before the hulking man, her tone icy.
"Yes."
Faced with this Metalica, Adalbert couldn't muster a shred of defiance, standing silently behind her.
Was Metalica angry?
Adalbert glanced at the metal hemisphere encasing Makoto, his eyelids lowering slightly.
Just as Shinigami captains varied vastly in strength, so did Quincy.
He and Liestya were average among the Sternritter, neither exceptional nor weak.
But Metalica...
"Unlike her usual carefree act."
"When she gets serious, she's on a whole different level."
Adalbert clutched his severed arm, chuckling self-deprecatingly.
This Shinigami was doomed.
Zing!
But before the thought settled, a clear metallic tear rang out.
The metal hemisphere's surface glowed with faint traces.
Then, like collapsing blocks, it crashed to the ground, a series of dull booms.
Makoto stepped through the debris, his Shihakushō spotless, untouched, his gaze on Metalica tinged with intrigue.
"You can do better, can't you?"
His provocative tone made Metalica's brow twitch, her eyes blazing platinum again.
Denser metallic spikes surged, fierce winds lifting her skirt and hair. Her shimmering reiatsu seemed to engulf her, a massive wave of metal flattening the palace, crashing toward Makoto, leaving only a small clear space around her and Adalbert.
No escape.
Huff...
Makoto exhaled, eyeing the metal tide that razed the palace, a thrill curving his lips.
If there was no escape,
He wouldn't try.
Dust swirled behind his stance, poised for Iai, and he advanced.
As countless spikes neared,
He drew!
Zing! Zing! Zing!
His sword arm blurred, steps unrelenting.
The metal spikes, capable of shredding a Shinigami, were fragile before him, like tangled branches, his slashes outpacing their growth.
Cleaving through gold and thorns!
Metalica, at the tide's heart, pursed her lips, feeling the metal's feedback, each tear, each cut, her brow furrowing, her slender hand reaching toward him.
Yet the man carving through the metal jungle was unstoppable!
The sound of steel breaking grew closer.
Adalbert, beside her, rose gravely, his brass knuckles clenched, sweat beading at his temples.
How... how was this possible?!
This was steel!
But before the thought landed, a dazzling blade flashed in his vision.
The metal parted, revealing Makoto, sword raised, his killing intent chilling.
Heart-stopping.
"Raaah!"
Instinct, honed by countless battles, drove Adalbert forward, ignoring the unfamiliar fear, roaring as he swung at Makoto.
His desperate fist struck air.
Adalbert froze.
Metalica, focused on the spikes, didn't react before a black figure appeared behind Adalbert, long hair tied with a grass root still floating.
Makoto's face bore a warm smile.
Metalica stiffened.
Boom!
A firm hand gripped her face, shoving her into the dense metal jungle, the force so great she instinctively coated herself in her hardest metal.
An explosive thrust snapped the palace's steel forest.
They burst through the wall, landing in the outer plaza, carving a deep, jagged trench.
Adalbert chased, unable to match Makoto's speed, frantically activating his Schrift to warn:
"Metalica! Don't block!"
As the warning hit, Makoto's blade fell on her metal-coated neck.
Her brow tightened.
But as the blade touched, the metallic skin melted like water, slipping past his edge.
Even his gripping hand sank into it.
Makoto's brow rose.
Metalica's form dove underground in the brief pause.
His blade swung through air.
Thud.
Metalica emerged elsewhere, a drum-like thud ringing in her ears.
She turned toward the sound.
Her platinum pupils shrank to pinpoints.
The ground where she'd stood was sliced, like a cake cut clean.
The smooth split stretched over a hundred meters, its depth a fathomless black.
Bottomless.
She realized why Adalbert had warned her.
This was the slash that took his arm?
If it had hit her...
Gulp.
She swallowed hard, a chill lingering.
This was an enemy unlike any they'd faced.
Rumble!
The palace behind them collapsed, the tremor revealing the steel forest within.
Makoto stood tall, dust swirling around the metal jungle, his grass-tied hair swaying.
He turned to the two Quincy.
"Mercury, huh?"
"All of you, such cheaters."
"I clearly hit you."
"If that's how it is..."
Makoto, as if recalling something, drew two black pellets from his waist.
"Metalica, watch out!"
"His..."
Adalbert, his severed arm bound with torn cloth, bared his muscled torso, eyes fixed on the Shinigami.
Before he could finish, Makoto extended his left hand.
"Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!"
Blinding thunder swallowed their vision, searing heat and brain-rattling noise stripping their senses.
Adalbert raised his arm, roaring:
"Don't underestimate us! A mere Kidō-"
Thunder engulfed them.
But closer inspection revealed a hair's-breadth gap before Adalbert's arm.
All lightning was 'Picked,' unable to touch them.
Adalbert's lips curled.
But his body shuddered, veins bulging across his face.
His massive frame hurtled backward, crashing into the distant ground.
"Adalbert!"
"How could a Shinigami's Kidō..."
Metalica, stunned, turned to Makoto.
His form, a blur, was already upon her.
So fast!
She met his sinister smile.
A palm thrust struck.
Recalling the earlier slash, she dared not block, her body melting into mercury.
But she noticed a black pellet in his palm.
The moment it touched, the pellet burst like a drop in water.
What was,
Before she could process, a tearing pain ripped through her abdomen.
A terrifying, searing force flooded her body, unstoppable.
Hollow power?!
Shock gripped her.
How could a Shinigami know such classified intel?
Agony pierced her entire being.
Instinctively, to suppress this soul-corrupting power, she unleashed all limits, pushing her Quincy strength to its peak.
Buzz!
A single wing, blazing like fire, stretched skyward.
***
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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