"Captain-class combat power… more than thirty!?"
Yoruichi's brows knitted tightly. She didn't believe that information at all.
Thirty Captain-class fighters—what a terrifying force that would be.
Seireitei ruled the entire Soul Society, yet over hundreds of years it had only produced a little over a dozen Captain-class fighters.
Meanwhile, Quincies in the human world were practically extinct, with the rest supposedly gathered inside this so-called Invisible Empire.
Even if the Invisible Empire really was huge, compared to Soul Society, it wouldn't even match a single district of Rukongai.
Just from population alone, it wasn't even on the same level as Seireitei.
How could they possibly have that many strong fighters under such circumstances?
Thinking that, Yoruichi glanced at the Quincy, feeling his rank might be too low—so low that he couldn't tell truth from lies.
After all, with Seireitei as their enemy, the Invisible Empire would naturally want to boost their people's confidence.
Even so, Yoruichi didn't dare let her guard down.
These Quincies had been hiding for nearly a thousand years. Within that so-called Sternritter, there were definitely powerful figures.
With that thought, Yoruichi continued questioning the Quincy, her voice heavy.
"Who is the ruler of the Invisible Empire right now!?"
"It's Jugram-sama!"
"Who is he!?"
"Jugram-sama is the head of the Sternritter, and the emperor's aide. He's the strongest person besides His Majesty."
Yoruichi silently nodded, committing the name Jugram to memory.
Then, with an even heavier expression, Yoruichi asked the question she cared about most.
"Has your Invisible Empire been monitoring Seireitei all this time? How much do you actually know about Seireitei!?"
If, over the past thousand years, everything big and small in Seireitei had been watched by the Invisible Empire…
Then for them, Seireitei would be transparent—no secrets at all.
Captain after Captain's confidential files.
Captain after Captain's zanpakuto information…
Yoruichi felt her heart lift into her throat, terrified she'd hear bad news.
The Quincy said dully, "Of course. We've been living beneath your shadows for over a thousand years—how could we not know your intel?"
Any shadow in Seireitei could serve as a path into the Invisible Empire built from reishi.
Looked at another way—anywhere in Seireitei that had a shadow was under the Invisible Empire's surveillance.
Yoruichi's heart sank.
The dreadful feeling had been confirmed.
But she still clung to a last shred of hope as she asked:
"What intel do you know? Does it include every Captain's zanpakuto…"
The Quincy raised his head to look at her, a cold sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"You should be asking—whose zanpakuto intel do we not know? Of course, there's no such thing as 'not knowing.'"
Yoruichi felt suffocated.
A terrifying race that could force its way into Seireitei a thousand years ago—after hiding for a thousand years, and learning the intelligence of so many Captains…
What kind of threat was that?
It might even be enough to overturn Seireitei itself.
Thinking that, Yoruichi hurriedly looked at Cole.
"Cole, this is bad. Shouldn't we go back immediately and report everything here to Yamamoto?"
In the past, Seireitei and the Invisible Empire had been a case of "you're in the open, I'm in the dark."
Seireitei had been at a disadvantage.
But now they had learned about the Invisible Empire, so the situation flipped—now it was "we're in the dark, you're in the open."
If so, they could strike first and invade the Invisible Empire ahead of time.
Cole rubbed his chin.
"About that… I think we should consider it first. There are still a lot of inside details."
"Inside details!?"
Yoruichi couldn't help staring at him.
"What inside details could be more important than what's happening right now?"
Cole nodded with a smile.
"Aren't you curious how I even knew about the Invisible Empire in the first place?"
"This…"
Yoruichi really was curious.
To her, the Invisible Empire truly lived up to the word "invisible."
Hidden inside Seireitei's shadows—extremely secretive.
And what Shinigami would deliberately investigate shadows!?
That was why they had been hidden for over a thousand years.
Yet Cole had found them so easily.
Seeing Yoruichi's curiosity, Cole lifted a hand and pointed upward, smiling.
"The Soul King told me."
"The Soul King!!"
Yoruichi's beautiful eyes widened. She subconsciously looked up at the sky of the Invisible Empire.
She hadn't expected that answer.
The Invisible Empire was actually connected to the Soul King?
Wasn't the Soul King already turned into a living husk?
How did he tell Cole?
"That's a long story. Let's talk while we walk."
Cole didn't plan to waste time here. It wasn't easy to get into the Invisible Empire—he wanted to explore more.
Yoruichi nodded and continued asking the Quincy a few more questions.
A moment later.
Her expression turned cold. White lightning burst across her slender palm as she asked her final question in a freezing voice.
"During the time you were hiding, did you ever capture Shinigami from Seireitei?"
Back when she was Captain of the Second Division, she had discovered that every few years, several Shinigami would disappear for no reason.
The disappearances were extremely strange. No matter how they investigated, they could never find where they went.
In the end, they could only assume those Shinigami had been eaten by Hollows.
But thinking about it now…
It was very possible those Shinigami had walked through Seireitei's shadows—and were seized by the hands within the shadows, dragged into the Invisible Empire.
Just like those captured Menos.
The Quincy burst into a crazed laugh.
"What is it, Shinigami? Feeling sad for your comrades?"
"I can tell you. Every few years we grab some Shinigami, and then execute them on the spot in Silverframe City."
"Hahahaha… you have no idea how terrified and desperate those Shinigami are before they die. Plenty of them cry and beg. Some even offer to lick our Quincy boots."
"But how could we ever let them go? We drain them until their last drop of blood, right in the middle of their screams and despair…"
Boom!!!
A thunderous impact echoed.
Yoruichi pulled back her bare foot, her face icy as she stared at the Quincy who had been kicked into the barrier.
"You damned trash…"
Just hearing it made her feel those Shinigami's despair and terror.
To be taken from the safest place—Seireitei—right out of its shadows.
To learn the truth and die in despair.
Before they died…
How badly they must have wanted to spread the truth.
How much terror and hopelessness they must have suffered.
What kind of torture they must have endured.
Yoruichi didn't even dare think too deeply.
The Quincy spat blood from the heavy blow, yet still laughed arrogantly.
Yoruichi stepped forward, about to end his life.
But Cole stopped her.
Under her angry gaze, Cole licked his lips slightly, staring at the Quincy with a strange gleam.
"Wait. I want to run an experiment."
Before invading Soul Society, he had already coveted the Quincy's annihilation power.
It was pure destruction. Once struck by it, you were erased completely—no return to the cycle.
When he had tried learning from Uryu, he was shocked to discover something.
He couldn't learn the Quincy's annihilation power.
It was as if…
It wasn't a power he was allowed to grasp.
And without learning it, there was no way to strengthen it by leveling it up.
But thinking back, maybe Uryu was special—after all, he was someone who survived Seibetsu (Holy Selection).
Even Yhwach had said he possessed a power that could surpass him, and had personally granted him the letter "A."
Of course, it might also be that Quincies as a race were simply special.
Either way, this was a perfect chance to try.
Cole exhaled softly, lifted a long finger, pointed it at the Quincy, and said calmly:
"Hadō no Yon: Byakurai (White Lightning)."
White lightning erupted like a beam.
With a bang, the golden chains binding the Quincy shattered.
The Quincy let out a scream and spat blood—then his face twisted into wild joy.
He raised a hand toward the two of them and laughed loudly.
"Stupid Shinigami! You've been pampered for too many years—don't you even know how to kill!?"
As he spoke, a blue spirit bow formed in his left hand. With his right, he drew arrows and fired a storm of blue shafts.
"Die for me, Shinigami!!!"
"If I kill you two, maybe I'll finally be qualified to join the Sternritter!!!"
Yoruichi frowned hard, completely unable to understand what Cole was doing.
But she wasn't worried about him at all.
With attacks at this level, even if Cole didn't defend, those arrows still couldn't hurt him.
Cole flickered through the air, easily dodging arrow after arrow.
During that time, he continuously used reiraku (Spirit Threads), observing the Quincy's movements, making sure not to miss even a single detail.
After a few minutes, Cole stopped with a thoughtful look and let the arrows strike him.
Clang, clang, clang—sounds rang out endlessly.
But on Cole's exposed skin, not even a white mark appeared.
The Quincy's eyes went wide, staring at Cole in disbelief.
"Y-your defense… what is that?"
He had clearly unleashed his strongest attack, yet hundreds—thousands—of arrows hit Cole and didn't even scratch his skin.
Then why did he dodge earlier!?
Was he playing with him!?
The Quincy's face flushed red with rage. He grit his teeth and fired even more desperately.
"Damned bastard—hurry up and die already!!!"
But Cole ignored him completely, slowly raising his palm.
"Looks like… this is how it works, huh?"
Blue power burst from his left palm, igniting into a blue flame that lit up the entire barrier.
Then, before the Quincy's eyes—shocked to the extreme—
That blue flame was shaped and molded, turning into a massive blue bow, even larger than the one in the Quincy's hand.
"T-that's… our spirit bow…"
The Quincy's mind went blank. His legs went limp as he collapsed to the ground.
"A Shinigami… how can a Shinigami wield a spirit bow!?"
"Not just that."
Cole's expression remained calm. He slowly drew the blue bow and said lightly:
"This should be the so-called annihilation power, right?"
A blue arrow formed—radiating a force completely different from Shinigami or Hollows, giving the sheer, direct sensation of facing destruction itself.
(End of Chapter)
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