"The flowery winds become disturbed, the god of flowers sings, the heavenly winds become disturbed, the devil of heaven sneers."
"Katen Kyōkotsu."
Amid swirling gales, crescent-shaped wind blades slashed downward, effortlessly cleaving the rampaging Hollow horde below into halves, severed limbs flying.
A handful of stationed Shinigami, surrounded and despairing, saw this and erupted in joy.
"It's… it's Vice-Captain Kyōraku from the Third Division!"
"We're saved!"
One recognized the youthful yet weathered figure, shouting uncontrollably.
Shunsui had no time to acknowledge them, leading a small team straight toward the next Hollow gathering.
Shinigami were too few.
Even in Soul Society, the world of the dead, Reiatsu aptitude was a rare gift, forcing each Shinigami to oversee vast regions.
Thus, the Living World, under full Hollow invasion, was like a tattered net, leaking everywhere.
But more troubling to Shunsui…
They still hadn't located the Hollow energy signature matching their mission brief.
Are they hiding?
The thought flickered through his mind.
The longer this dragged, the heavier his unease grew.
Something told him the enemy was plotting something deeper.
"Yuki."
"Here, Vice-Captain Kyōraku."
A burly man stepped forward from behind.
Shunsui eyed the eerily quiet wilderness, brow raised:
"Seems like too few stationed Shinigami around here, no?"
As his words landed, Yuki, the seated officer, froze, not yet processing.
Then, dozens of Hollows, long lurking in spatial depths, burst from rippling curtains, roaring as they charged the group.
Without hesitation, Shunsui, who'd sensed the anomaly, drew his twin blades. Blazing wind blades spun like tops, slashing toward the Hollows in arcing trails.
"Bushōgoma!" (Lazy Spinning Top)
His lithe form surged forward with his drawn blades, targeting the lead giant Hollow.
Against its seven-meter frame, Shunsui looked like a delicate doll, yet he didn't falter, plunging straight into its chest.
His blades tore through flanking Hollows with ease, their tips crossing toward the mask inches away.
"ROAR-"
A deafening bellow pierced the air, and massive ape-like arms, dwarfing Shunsui, swung inward to crush him.
But in a fleeting sidestep, those seemingly unstoppable arms were diced into seven pieces, crumbling into fragments.
A flash of shock crossed the giant Hollow's crimson eyes.
Then its vision split into quarters.
Shunsui landed behind it, the colossal body crashing with a dull thud.
Before he could rush to his squad, he snapped his head to the side.
BOOM!
An earth-shaking roar trembled the ground. A massive hammer, its single head taller than a man, smashed downward, pounding a muscle-bulging, four-armed Hollow into the earth.
The ground fractured into sprawling web-like cracks, debris flying like bullets.
A fresh force cut into the Hollow ranks like a blade, led by a woman wielding the hammer, scattering the horde. Their bloodthirsty roars turned to wails.
"What, it's just you?"
Seeing Shunsui amid the Hollows, the tall woman with the hammer paused, exhaling with faint annoyance.
"Don't be like that, Airi-chan."
Young yet oozing seasoned charm, Shunsui grinned playfully. "I thought you came to save me! I was touched."
The woman, Airi, had shoulder-length, sharp hair and a toned physique. Her loose Shihakushō couldn't hide her taut muscles or perfectly proportioned curves. Her open collar boldly displayed a deep cleavage, and she stood nearly as tall as Shunsui's 1.92 meters.
But her look at him dripped with disdain.
Sasaki Airi, current Sixth Division Vice-Captain.
"Sure, sure."
"And I didn't say you could use my name."
Brushing off his teasing, Sasaki glanced at her squad, asking casually, "Weren't you covering the Edo line? Why're you south?"
"Must be fate."
Shunsui, ever flippant with women, kept his eyes on the squad's status. "Who'd guess chasing spatial signals would lead me right to you, Airi?"
"They're all converging here?"
Sasaki froze, stunned.
Clearly, she'd followed spatial signals here too.
"Hm?!"
Shunsui, just bantering, turned to her sharply, his gaze hardening, eyes narrowing.
"Wait… you mean?"
Seeing his sudden seriousness, Sasaki blinked, about to clarify.
But a piercing wail cut through.
"Agh-"
A Shinigami, fresh from slaying a lesser Hollow, was impaled through the calf and thigh by a spike shooting from the ground before he could step forward.
Pinned, he couldn't move, blood spurting from the wound.
It wasn't just him.
The wail was like a starting gun.
Instantly, spikes erupted from the earth, threading precisely through gaps in the Shinigami-Hollow melee, striking legs or vitals with uncanny angles, skewering them like candied fruit.
If a brave soul hacked a spike and fought on, two, three, or more would pierce them next.
"All units, abandon targets!"
"Regroup in the air!"
Ever-vigilant, Shunsui barked orders, his blades slicing the relentless spikes while aiding his squad to disengage from Hollows.
Sasaki's Zanpakutō, ill-suited for small, agile foes, forced her to retreat skyward, rallying the scattered Shinigami.
The tranquil forest ran red with blood, wails unending.
Even a fool like Sasaki could see they'd been ambushed.
Someone had lured them here.
But…
Dodging spikes, she swung her hammer, pulverizing lesser Hollows into gore and bone, her mind racing.
If it's just this level of enemy, what's the point of trapping us?
As the thought hit, Shunsui below locked eyes with her, wide-eyed.
"Behind you!!"
Instinctively, Sasaki spun her hammer, swinging fiercely backward.
But it hit nothing.
In that brief gap, her mind blanked.
No one?
But in Shunsui's sight, a wiry monster flipped from her back to her head like an acrobat.
Too late to warn, he charged the creature's shadow on the ground.
"Kageoni!" (Shadow Demon)
His blade stabbed the shadow.
Simultaneously, the monster's body was pierced by a matching blade.
Sasaki, now spotting the creature, tensed, swinging her hammer at the monster atop her head.
"Gansuiyama!!"
The hammer's massive head glowed with clear light.
But...
Pop!
Be it Shunsui's Kageoni or Sasaki's Gansuiyama, their strikes sank into the monster's body like knives into clay, eliciting no reaction.
Instead...
"Hm?!"
Sasaki tugged her hammer, only to find its head stuck in the creature's body.
It wouldn't budge.
The wiry monster loomed down at her.
Beneath its mask-covered, grotesque face, a faint smile tugged.
"Hee-"
A chill of dread surged through Sasaki Airi.
In the next instant, a slender, spike-like tail rose silently from behind her.
Its tip swelled into a massive, gaping maw.
Whoosh!
It engulfed Sasaki from head to chest.
"Sasaki!"
Shunsui's Kageoni, Sasaki's Gansuiyama, and the tail's strike all happened in a single breath.
By the time he looked up, half of Sasaki Airi's body was swallowed.
Her lithe, powerful frame thrashed desperately, but her movements were like punching inside a sack, confined to a tiny range.
The tail, made of some unknown structure, seemed tougher than a Menos' steel skin.
With Shunsui's keen eyes, he could even see Sasaki's facial features pressed against the tail's slick surface, its slimy interior sucking her in completely.
Until, with a muffled pop.
In that moment, fear didn't even have time to rise in Shunsui's heart. His feet moved first, charging toward the higher sky.
"Takaoni!" (Mountain Demon)
A cascade of slashes rained downward, unrelenting, toward the devouring Hollow.
But its speed was staggering.
With a single step and a twist, it nimbly dodged Shunsui's strikes, its bone mask emitting piercing, mocking laughter.
"Vice-Captain Kyōraku!"
As his blood surged, hurling himself recklessly at the devouring Hollow, another familiar wail rose from below.
His heated mind was doused with ice, and he whipped his head back.
Before the Shinigami regrouped in the air, a humanoid Hollow appeared, its back bristling with spines like a porcupine.
Compared to this creature, resembling the fabled "Vasto Lorde," ordinary Shinigami stood no chance. The battlefield became a one-sided slaughter.
The Shinigami who'd called his name was his seated officer, Fushima Yuki.
But as his voice rang out, dozens of spines pierced his body, skewering him like a gourd.
Watching this, a bone-deep chill gripped Shunsui.
The devouring Hollow's mocking laughter and his subordinates' wails were like ice crystals seeping into his marrow.
At this rate… total annihilation!
Grip.
Shunsui tightened his hold on his sword hilts.
He wasn't the only one facing trouble.
…
"Kuchiki-sama!"
"We found heavy combat traces here, but still no bodies."
"It's got to be that guy."
Vice-Captain of the Seventh Division Kasumioji Genshi stood, rubbing blood from his fingertips.
As the current Kasumioji head, though stripped of noble status, his "genius" honed by a million years of noble lineage earned him his rank through sheer skill.
Paired with a century of battle-honed experience and knowledge, a single glance told him the fight here occurred within six hours.
Ginrei frowned slightly. "No clothes either?"
"None."
Kasumioji shook his head. "But after Senjumaru-sama's modifications, Shihakushō now have spiritual particle components."
"If something altered them, the enemy might've consumed those too."
"Hmph."
"Imprecise intel."
Ginrei snorted, saying no more.
Though he'd built the Seventh Division as a noble faction's cornerstone, staffing it with loyalists, some lower Shinigami and seated officers still leaned toward Seireitei.
He couldn't say too much.
Kasumioji, ever tactful, lowered his head, pretending he heard nothing.
As the silence settled, he looked up, voice low:
"By the way, Captain Kuchiki-"
Before he finished, Ginrei sensed something, his Asauchi flashing from its sheath toward the sound of the wind.
Clang!
A crisp metallic ring echoed.
Ginrei's expression tightened.
"Evacuate the forest!"
But as he spoke, he realized Kasumioji, mere meters away, hadn't moved.
Turning, he saw Kasumioji's upper skull, from the bridge of his nose, sliced clean off.
Instantly, alarm bells screamed in Ginrei's mind.
"Soar, Kazesenpu!"
With the release command, white threads scattered across dozens of meters, enveloping his squad.
As a captain, failing to protect his men would make him no better than his forefathers.
What talk of noble revival?
His sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, the threads dancing in the air.
Faintly, a tall, thin silhouette took shape.
The moment he sensed it, Ginrei's reflexes peaked, his hand shooting toward it.
Fingers clenched!
"Thread Slash!"
The threads, once floating like dandelion seeds, hardened into razor-sharp wires, forming a lethal net.
The figure sensed his killing intent, darting back swiftly.
Only to collide with the woven trap behind.
But Ginrei's confident smirk froze.
Clang!
The figure struck the thread net, sparking another metallic ring.
Sparks splashed like water in the air.
As if realizing this, a muffled chuckle came from the void.
A lanky, silver-glinting figure stepped from invisibility.
It no longer bothered hiding against such feeble attacks.
Ginrei narrowed his eyes.
The figure stood tall, its arms curving like scimitars.
A long, halberd-like tail swayed restlessly.
The Shinigami behind drew their blades.
"Stand down."
Ginrei's cold command stopped them.
Stepping forward, he faced the scimitar Hollow, addressing his men:
"I didn't bring you here to face such foes."
"Besides, a creature of this level…"
He glanced at the faint marks on its blades, his lips curling into a proud, disdainful smile.
But sensing his contempt, the scimitar Hollow raised an arm.
From the jungle behind, several distinct figures emerged.
One, two, three…
Five.
Grotesque Menos stood silently, forming a loose encirclement around Ginrei's squad.
From the start, they intended to spare none.
Ginrei's expression turned icy.
"Think numbers are enough?"
"Fools."
"Let me show you."
"The might of a warrior bearing a million years of legacy."
…
"Oh?"
"It's started over there?"
Makoto turned his gaze from the horizon, muttering lazily to himself, a touch distracted: "To summon so many at once."
"Where'd that guy find so many Vasto Lordes?"
Hearing his murmurs, Saitō, storming ahead in a huff, spun around, her twin purple ponytails snapping up, seething:
"You know others are fighting, so get lost already!"
"Because of you, I haven't even seen a Hollow this whole time!!"
"It's all your fault, Makoto!"
Saitō's captain-grade fury was palpable.
Watching others fight while she, stuck with an overpowered companion, got nothing was torture worse than any punishment.
Makoto widened his eyes, feigning innocence: "I came alone! My squad's with Ryoma. How's this my fault?"
[Yeah, yeah!]
[We've just been admiring Saitō-chan's fine rear this whole time.]
[Haven't done a thing otherwise!]
Even his Zanpakutō chimed in to defend him.
Though it might've been better if it hadn't.
"Shut up!"
Makoto smacked the sheath irritably.
Saitō froze, blushing as she clutched her backside, hissing like a cornered cat:
"No looking!"
"I didn't look much."
Makoto turned his face away, too guilty to meet her eyes.
His obvious reaction gave him away, infuriating Saitō. She wanted to kick him but feared he'd grab her and "taste the sweetness," encouraging the fool.
For a moment, the girl stood frozen, unsure how to move.
"Y-You walk ahead!"
After a long pause, her brain sparked an idea.
"Huh?!"
"What's 'huh'?" Saitō snapped. "Because you're dawdling, that idiot Sasaki thinks we're on a… a date!"
"This is mission time!"
"I know."
"I've been diligently hunting prey this whole time."
Makoto replied lazily, unfazed by her outburst.
But the next second, he sharpened, pointing into the forest.
"Tsukishiro."
His knuckles thudded into the air, emitting a muffled boom.
An eye-like orb of sand, perched on a treetop, burst with a pop.
Without a word, Makoto's form blurred, shooting toward the rising Reiatsu.
Saitō, watching him vanish, paused her grumbling:
"Hey!"
"Who said you could run off that far?"
***
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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