If he didn't maintain Blut Vene, he wouldn't be able to withstand Ichigo's speed and sword strikes. But if he didn't use Blut Arterie, his spiritual strength would be completely ineffective against Ichigo!
In this situation, Quilge had no chance of winning against Ichigo.
Ichigo walked toward the kneeling Quilge and asked, "You and that guy Ebern both tried to seal my Bankai. Are you all afraid of it?"
Before Ichigo finished his sentence, Quilge roared and stood up in fury, "Impossible! We of the Wandenreich fear nothing!"
In that exact moment of rage-induced carelessness, Urahara Kisuke launched a blast of Kidō from afar and pierced straight through Quilge's body!
Then, he tossed the Denreishinki to Ichigo. "Ichigo, urgent situation!"
"Hello, is this Fourth Seat Kurosaki Ichigo? The Soul Society is under invasion by the Wandenreich! We need your help!" Akon, the vice-chief of the Department of Research and Development, pleaded urgently.
Ichigo's face turned serious. "Got it. I'm heading there right now."
Hueco Mundo no longer needed him. The only real threat—Quilge—had been taken down. He could leave the rest to Urahara, Orihime, and the others.
Urahara opened a Garganta on the spot, and Ichigo dove into the Dangai without hesitation.
"Great! Report to the captains immediately that Kurosaki Ichigo is on his way to the Soul Society!" Akon shouted to the researchers around him.
"Yes, sir!"
Upon hearing the news, the Shinigami forces regained hope!
Kurosaki Ichigo—the one who had once defeated Aizen Sōsuke—was coming! Surely, the Soul Society could still be saved!
But just as everyone anticipated Ichigo's arrival… his communication with the R&D Bureau was suddenly cut off!
Back in Hueco Mundo…
Quilge, who had been thought defeated, activated a desperate Quincy technique once displayed by Ishida Uryuu—Ransōtengai!
Even if it meant turning himself into a puppet, he would fight to the end.
Using Ransōtengai, Quilge stood once more and activated the final power granted to him by Yhwach—his Schrift: J — Jail!
Dozens of thick bars of Reishi suddenly encased Ichigo, sealing him within the Garganta!
As Quilge turned with a smirk to attack Urahara and the others…
A monstrous spiritual pressure burst into existence behind him!
Before he could react—he was slashed cleanly in half.
Even Ransōtengai was meaningless against such devastation.
Urahara's eyes narrowed. "It's you guys…"
In the Soul Society.
Byakuya Kuchiki, after having his Bankai stolen, was struck by Äs Nödt's Reishi arrow.
He had fallen victim to Nödt's ability—Fear.
His Schrift was F — Fear, a power that awakened the deepest terror hidden within a person's heart. A psychological weapon.
As Äs explained, an average Shinigami hit by his arrow would be consumed by madness, screaming in agony until death claimed them from sheer torment.
Unfortunately for him, he had hit Byakuya.
Even under such mental attack, Byakuya remained calm, slashing at Äs in search of an opening so that Renji, waiting behind him, could land a decisive blow.
But fear is instinctive. Even if Byakuya suppressed it, it didn't disappear.
As time passed, his fear grew more vivid, more invasive.
Fear didn't just cause dread—it gnawed away at confidence.
Byakuya thought of the person he cherished most. If it was to protect her, no fear could stop him.
That person… was his sister, Rukia.
In his mind, Rukia always had a gentle smile. For the sake of protecting that smile, what did he have to fear?
Yet in the moment he mustered his courage, his last shred of peace was shattered.
Rukia's face twisted into a horrifying, decayed skull.
His final mental pillar collapsed. And with it, Byakuya's will broke. He stopped moving.
Äs seized the opportunity and impaled his chest.
Byakuya's mental world was now completely overtaken by fear.
Swarms of flies burrowed into his body, crawling into the depths through his mouth.
The grotesque sound was like a funeral dirge—Byakuya Kuchiki's death knell.
Finally, he abandoned his dignity and pride and screamed a gut-wrenching cry.
Still, he swung Senbonzakura at Äs with all his might.
But—
"Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
Äs activated the stolen Bankai using his Medallion and unleashed a swarm of cherry blossom blades upon Byakuya.
As blood painted the battlefield, the blades formed a pink, circular cloud in the sky.
Äs descended slowly, like a god judging a mortal, looking down upon Byakuya's broken form.
Watching his captain collapse and Senbonzakura suspended in the air, Renji's rage and sorrow overflowed.
"You... someone like you isn't worthy of using Senbonzakura!"
But if even Byakuya couldn't win, what chance did Renji have?
Äs effortlessly caught Zabimaru with his bare hand, then used the Medallion to launch another wave of Senbonzakura, blasting Renji away.
Seeing his lieutenant about to be torn apart by his own Bankai, Byakuya, through sheer pain and will, stood again and lunged.
But before he could reach Äs, the cherry blossom blades ripped through his body!
Blood streamed down Byakuya's face and his tattered uniform.
The same Bankai that once made enemies tremble was now his nightmare.
As Byakuya swayed under the brutal onslaught, Renji could take it no longer. With a roar, he charged again, reckless and desperate.
Even knowing the enemy could steal Bankai, he still tried.
But before he could even shout "Bankai," a massive star-shaped symbol exploded against him.
A hulking man appeared on the battlefield.
He was Mask de Masculine, Sternritter S.
Looking at the fallen Renji, Äs complained, "I finally got him to use Bankai, and you attacked before I could take it."
Mask blinked. "Huh? I thought only captains had Bankai?"
Äs rolled his eyes. "The first Bankai stolen was Sasakibe's. He wasn't a captain."
Elsewhere in Seireitei, Rukia and Senna's faces changed.
They had sensed it—Byakuya and Renji's spiritual pressures were fading!
"No… How could Nii-sama be defeated so easily?" Rukia said, stunned.
Byakuya's body was cold, bleeding endlessly, his consciousness fading.
But he still tried to sense the presence of his comrades.
"Renji… Rukia…"
Before he could finish, his Zanpakutō shattered. His eyes closed.
Meanwhile, in the R&D Bureau.
The team that lost contact with Ichigo was under attack!
The enemy possessed a strange power—to control others.
First, he manipulated Jidanbō to break into the bureau, then made the researchers turn on each other.
Though the transmission had cut off, Ichigo could still hear the voices through the Denreishinki—pleas for help, screams, the sounds of murder…
The sounds of helpless Shinigami dying.
Flooded with pain, Ichigo felt like he was already on the battlefield, though helplessly distant. A sense of unease welled up inside him.
Back in Seireitei.
Haschwalth reported to the one they called Your Majesty—the Quincy King—that Byakuya appeared to be dead.
But the king did not rejoice.
"It took longer than expected. I suppose it's the price of underestimating them, even for the Sternritter."
Before he could say more, a massive spiritual pressure appeared behind them.
Turning around, they saw a muscular, one-eyed man walking slowly forward—dragging the corpses of three Sternritter.
"You the boss of these small fry?" Kenpachi Zaraki asked, grinning.
Haschwalth was taken aback. "Kenpachi Zaraki…?! Q, R, and Y were defeated? What did you do to them?"
"Huh? Nothing special," Kenpachi snorted. "The first one was some giant beast—just made loud noises and charged like a monkey. I split it in two."
"The second guy wouldn't shut up about some nonsense power. Lucky my ears were still ringing from the first guy, so I couldn't hear the crap. So I ripped out his throat."
"Then the third one… turned into me. That was fun. But to beat him, I just had to be better than the fake me."
Even Haschwalth nodded in acknowledgement. "I'd heard you were a monster… I see now."
Before he could finish, Kenpachi roared, charging directly at the Quincy King.
"I didn't come to fight small fry like you—I came for HIM!"
He swung his blade at the smiling Quincy King—who blocked it barehanded.
And then, in just a few short exchanges, Kenpachi was battered, bleeding, and unconscious.
The king grabbed him by the throat and raised him into the air, sneering.
"One of the Special War Powers, Kenpachi Zaraki… this is the best you can do? I've clearly overestimated you."
"Sleep now, Soul Society. There's no saving you."
A few minutes earlier.
Yamamoto Genryūsai had returned to the 11th Division barracks.
Unohana Yachiru rubbed her forehead, troubled by the old man's stubbornness.
"Former Captain-Commander, you shouldn't participate in this battle."
"Hmph! These Quincy came for me. Clearly, exterminating them back then was the right choice!" Yamamoto growled.
Unohana sighed and placed a hand to her head.
"Don't worry. I'm no longer the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13. I'll follow your orders like any regular Shinigami," Yamamoto added.
Of course, Unohana didn't believe him for a second.
Suddenly, a Sternritter appeared before Yamamoto, Unohana, and Squad 1's vice-captain—Kujō Nozomi.
He had just defeated 9th Division's vice-captain Hisagi Shūhei.
Laughing, he said, "What luck! Both the former and current Captain-Commander here!"
"Perfect. I'll use your subordinate's Bankai to claim your old life! How pathetic the Gotei has become—to be led by a woman, and even have a woman as vice-captain!"
He had just earned the hatred of all three.
"I am… Doriske Bellsy!"
(End of Chapter)
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