After eliminating the patrol squad, Nanatsuki and the Onmitsukidō used the surrounding buildings to lay traps while they waited for the tech team to complete the Shadow Passage.
Only Nanatsuki and Shihōin Yoruichi were of captain-class strength here—Mayuri was occupied with modifying the Gate—so if the Sternritter showed up in numbers, they'd struggle to hold the line. The traps were critical to delaying the enemy and buying time for the Gotei 13's main forces.
"When the Quincy King led the Light Empire to invade Soul Society, I wasn't even born yet," Yoruichi said as she buried canisters of Reishi liquid underground. "I only read about it in history class. The textbooks said the Quincy King was killed by Captain-Commander Yamamoto. I never imagined he survived... or that he founded this Invisible Empire, waiting to strike back."
"That's exactly why we're here—to erase this threat before it can strike," Nanatsuki replied, weaving spellwork through the buried canisters, connecting them into a trigger system.
Thanks to Nanatsuki's interference, this war with the Wandenreich had begun far earlier than it had in the original timeline.
At this point, the Wandenreich hadn't yet developed the Medallions that could steal a Shinigami's Bankai—so the captains didn't need to worry about losing their greatest power.
Ten minutes later, the Military Police finally sensed something was wrong.
Inside a duty room in Silbern, a group of Quincy officers were playing cards.
"Frank, the patrol squad hasn't checked in," said a senior Quincy, nodding toward the younger one beside him.
"They're probably just slacking off again. Why worry?" grumbled a bald Quincy, slamming three cards down. "My luck's finally turning!"
"Ishida-sama pulled so many of our men out. Everyone's overworked. I'd take a nap too if I were them," the young Quincy offered diplomatically. But he obeyed the superior and reached for the communicator.
He tried multiple times. No response.
"Those idiots..." he muttered, assuming they'd just fallen asleep.
He tried contacting the guards stationed at the Gate of the Sun.
No answer.
"I can't reach anyone!" he stood up, now visibly nervous.
The others put down their cards.
"Don't tell me they all dozed off? They should be punished!"
"I can't reach the Gate's guards either."
"...What?!"
"That's not right... Who would dare touch the Military Police?"
None of them even considered the possibility of an external attack. Such a thing hadn't happened in centuries.
"Maybe someone's trying to desert. That's the only way this makes sense..."
"Either way—we report this."
The senior Quincy knew it was beyond their pay grade. They needed to escalate immediately.
Minutes later, a squad of elite Quincy departed from Silbern and headed toward the Gate of the Sun.
Unlike the common guards, these Quincy were captain-level fighters—candidates for the Sternritter.
Leading them were three actual Sternritter members.
"My eyes were all destroyed," said Bruno, the Invisible Eye, frowning. He bore the Schrift "E"—his power allowed him to shape Reishi into hidden sensory eyes with nearly undetectable spiritual pressure.
He was in charge of monitoring Soul Society.
But every eye he sent to the Gate had been destroyed instantly.
"Your ability isn't supposed to be easy to detect," murmured Charles, the Proclamation, another newly promoted Sternritter. "Could it be... Ishida-sama?"
After Ishida Ryūken left, Haschwalth had selected new members to fill the Sternritter ranks—Bruno and Charles among them.
"Ishida-sama wouldn't do this," said the third—BG9, a veteran Sternritter encased in armor. "That's not his style."
"What did destroy your eye?"
"I couldn't see clearly. Just a flash of blue light—it vaporized it instantly."
"Then let's hurry. We'll find out soon enough."
They arrived near the Gate of the Sun.
"...Too quiet," one of them muttered.
"Something's wrong—look at the Gate!"
They saw black-cloaked figures at the Gate's base, tinkering with the mechanism—obviously up to no good.
The Quincy prepared to attack—
Fwoom!
From four directions, pillars of light surged upward.
The beams linked, forming a four-point Reishi barrier, trapping the Quincy squad inside.
"Ambush!!"
"Damn it—the barrier's cutting off comms!" Bruno cursed, fumbling with his communicator—it was dead.
From beneath his cloak, BG9 deployed a Reishi machine gun.
RATATATATATA—
High-density spiritual bullets rained down, powerful enough to shred even an Adjuchas in seconds.
But when they struck the barrier—they only caused ripples.
Outside the field, dozens of Onmitsukidō operatives crouched low, funneling their Reiatsu into the construct, maintaining the shield.
"Shinigami?!"
The Quincy finally recognized their assailants.
"The Wandenreich's been discovered!"
"They're after the Gate—destroy the barrier! Spread the word!"
Bruno was frantic—but the shield blocked all signals.
"I'll handle this," said Charles.
He raised his hand and declared:
"By my word—Reishi barriers are hereby forbidden!"
A strange, absolute power radiated from him—and the Reishi constructs crumbled instantly.
Charles' Schrift allowed him to issue proclamations, turning them into inviolable laws.