Candice whipped around at the sound behind her—only to see Instructor Lucas striding through the lightning field she had just unleashed, completely unscathed.
"I remember your name now. Candice Catnipp, right? You took first place in the recruit training camp." Lucas smiled pleasantly. "You've progressed fast. You didn't display lightning control back then."
"I'm still looking for one more student. I could help you unlock that potential."
She was talented. And still a recruit. The idea of mentoring her stirred his interest.
"No thanks. I already have a teacher," Candice said, shaking her head.
"You do? Someone from the Military Police, maybe? You've got real talent, kid. Don't waste it on some third-rate hack. With me, your growth would skyrocket." Lucas frowned. It was a shame, but he wasn't ready to give up just yet.
"My teacher's amazing. I don't need—wait!" Candice's expression lit up as she raised her voice. "Teacher!"
Lucas perked up. Was she calling to him?
But then a voice behind him cut in cold and sharp:
"I don't remember giving you permission to steal my student."
Lucas's expression changed instantly. He spun and leapt back without hesitation.
'How did I not sense her…?'
Lucas narrowed his eyes.
He hadn't been focusing on sensing spiritual presence, but even so—this level of stealth wasn't something just anyone could pull off.
"You're unfamiliar… Just got back from the World of the Living?"
His eyes dropped to the stranger's wristband—deep red, almost black.
She had more points than him.
"Teacher! You racked up so many points!" Candice ran to Nanatsuki's side, staring in awe at the score bracelet's almost-black glow.
"I entered from a bit farther out," Nanatsuki replied with a soft smile. "Took care of some Menos on the way."
"Just like that?" Candice's eyes sparkled, imagining the effortless destruction. "That's amazing… My bracelet isn't even close to that color!"
Meninas flew in, panting as she arrived.
Nanatsuki had obviously held back for her sake—her speed couldn't match his.
Still, that gave him time to casually eliminate every Hollow he encountered en route.
"Meninas made it too!" Candice grinned.
"Finally—caught—up!" Meninas gasped, hunched over, hands on her knees, practically collapsing. "Teacher's way too fast!"
She had sprinted all the way, pouring everything into the chase.
"I'm being completely ignored here," Lucas muttered, his face darkening.
Still, Nanatsuki's silent approach had shaken him. He didn't dare act recklessly.
He started backing away, inching toward safety.
Nanatsuki raised a hand.
"Friendly reminder—move again, and you die."
With a flick of his finger, a piercing Reishi beam erupted forward.
BOOM—The sky split as the shot tore toward Lucas.
Lucas's expression shifted. He could feel the pressure behind it.
He raised his saber, gathering Reishi into a massive Heilig Pfeil nearly a meter long.
It fired instantly—colliding midair with Nanatsuki's beam.
CRACK—The beam ripped through the arrow and kept going.
Lucas's eyes widened as he twisted aside, but not fast enough.
The beam punched through his shoulder, leaving a gaping hole.
"W-What?!"
Sweat poured down his face.
His Blut Vene was torn apart like paper.
Had it hit center mass, he'd be dead.
"Hss—!"
A growl behind him made him turn in alarm.
A massive spiderlike Adjuchas loomed behind him, half its face already blasted away.
It had crept up without a sound, stalking Lucas as prey.
"I said don't move."
Nanatsuki's tone was calm, almost disappointed.
The beam wasn't meant for Lucas at all—it was aimed at the Adjuchas behind him.
"She didn't even use a spirit weapon… and still broke through his Blut Vene!" Candice's eyes went wide.
Her own lightning field couldn't even slow Lucas down, yet her teacher's bare-fingered shot blew right through his defense.
"SHHHAAA!!"
Enraged, the Adjuchas lunged—but Nanatsuki met it with a volley of beams.
Now unimpeded, every shot struck home.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Each blast pierced its thick hide, punching deep holes through its body.
"Incredible firepower!" Candice whispered. It was her first time seeing an Adjuchas in person. In class, they'd been painted as unstoppable terrors. Yet here—it couldn't even touch her teacher.
The creature staggered, still alive thanks to its sheer size, but clearly rattled. It turned to flee.
Too late.
Nanatsuki's next volley hit it dead-on. One beam speared through its head.
It collapsed, motionless.
Level 95 Reishi Clusters didn't just look ordinary—they punched through hardened Hollow armor like it was air.
Reishi beams weren't precise against moving targets—but Nanatsuki simply overwhelmed with numbers.
'My basic Quincy abilities… probably rank mid-to-upper tier in the Sternritter.'
"Ma'am…" Lucas flew over, trembling slightly, and offered his score bracelet. "I… apologize for earlier. Thank you for saving me from that Hollow."
Nanatsuki didn't even glance at him.
"Those rules are for the weak," he said flatly. "I'm not here to follow them."
He looked up. "And I didn't see any rule against destroying the hunting ground."
The silver ring on his finger unfolded into a bow.
"W-What are you doing?" Lucas flinched—then realized Nanatsuki wasn't aiming at him.
"Just clearing the board."
He smiled. Reishi flooded the air, swirling around him.
His recent investigations had all pointed to one conclusion: Yhwach was harvesting Quincy souls. The more who died, the faster he returned.
To delay that resurrection, he needed to limit casualties.
But even if he saved everyone here, more would be sent in.
So he'd destroy the hunting ground itself.
From outside, his shadow vantage point had shown him Soken Ishida fighting Gerard Valkyrie.
The Sternritter weren't as united as they seemed.
He needed to move—fast.
Reishi formed into a massive Heilig Pfeil.
He nocked it, vortexes of air spiraling around the arrow, tearing open a vacuum in front of him.
'If I use shadow embodiment to boost the Pfeil's power…'
The arrow turned from brilliant blue to shadowy black.
Draw. Release—
It vanished.
A moment later—
BOOOOOOM!!
A black sun bloomed at the edge of the arena.
The Reishi barrier was swallowed instantly.
Stone forests were flattened by the shockwave.
Quincy and Hollows inside fled in a panic.
Those too slow were torn to pieces.
CRASH—CRASH—The quake shattered half the hunting zone. Stone pillars—the supports for the second level—crumbled.
The second level began to collapse.
"This place is falling apart. Time to go," Nanatsuki said, turning to the others.
Lucas, Candice, and Meninas were still frozen in shock.
Even Nanatsuki hadn't expected that much power from one shot.
'This hit almost as hard as my full-force strikes as a Shinigami…'
'It's just… draining. First time I've felt a real limit to shadow power.'
He realized: shadow embodiment didn't consume his own reiatsu or ambient Reishi.
But it still depleted something—something recoverable, but finite.
Maybe this… was how the Soul King's power expressed itself.
'Maybe I'm already walking the path of the Transcendent… I just haven't figured out how to unify it all yet.'
He was now something entirely different from ordinary Shinigami or Quincy.
"A Quincy… can do this?" Candice and Meninas murmured, eyes wide.
They were still rookies. Their textbooks had never described anything like this.
"This is what a stronger Heilig Pfeil looks like. Enough gawking—this place is coming down!"
Nanatsuki snapped them out of it, grabbing them both and flying off.
"R-Right!"
They snapped back to reality and followed.
Lucas, stunned by falling rubble, scrambled to escape as well.
'I actually raised my sword at someone like that…'
He felt like he'd just dodged death itself.
The collapse worsened—giant boulders rained down as he bolted for the exit.
—
Second Level, Hollow Detention Area
Bazz-B lay on the ground, heaving.
Haschwalth stood nearby, watching silently.
"Your ability is so damn dirty…"
Bazz-B's body was scorched in multiple places.
Not from his own flames—Haschwalth had reflected the damage back at him.
World Harmony shifted misfortune away from Haschwalth and onto others.
"It's over. Assaulting the Sternritter Commander is high treason. You'll face a hundred years of imprisonment."
Haschwalth's tone remained calm. He didn't mention the destroyed arena.
Then came a thunderous crash.
The whole area trembled.
Haschwalth lifted off instinctively.
Bazz-B, still grounded, experienced the quake full-force.
"Haha—ha ha! Must be Ishida!"
Bazz-B laughed through the dizziness.
Haschwalth frowned. This wasn't the outcome he'd predicted.
Yhwach had more than one guardian. Bazz-B alone couldn't stop them all.
That was why Haschwalth had insisted their effort was doomed.
But now—the tremors grew. The ground cracked open.
This wasn't part of the plan.
Grabbing Bazz-B by the collar, Haschwalth vanished.
They reappeared outside—where half the arena had already collapsed, and the rest wasn't far behind.
Not far off, Gerard Valkyrie had paused his battle with Soken and Cang Du.
They, too, stared toward the ruin.
Soken spotted Haschwalth—and drew his bow.
A flash of Reishi shot forward.
While Haschwalth deflected the arrow, Cang Du used the opening to grab Bazz-B and retreat.
"You guys really did it! Blew the place sky-high!" Bazz-B laughed, satisfied.
"Wasn't us," Cang Du replied.
"It wasn't? Not me either… then who the hell—wait. Don't tell me it was one of the Royal Guards?"
More Quincy flew out of the crumbling ruin.
"You all seem busy," came a light voice.
Nanatsuki arrived, smiling. "The rule was to leave the hunting ground to win, right?
"So I blew it up, then left. That counts too, doesn't it?"