"Who's there?!"
Cole spoke in an icy voice.
Cold blue light flickered in his eyes, and the blue reishi patterns on his body surged.
From a distance, he looked strangely holy and indifferent—like a god gazing down on mortals who had trespassed into a divine realm.
The three girls present felt their hearts tighten, their gazes turning even more solemn as they stared at Cole.
"That speed and reaction…"
"When did the Military Police get a Soldat like this?"
"And his strength is ridiculous…"
Just now, in that split second, the power Cole displayed was so fast that they barely even saw it clearly.
And for Quincy who specialized in spirit bows, eyesight was their greatest advantage—only with superior vision could they guarantee arrows never missing.
But Cole's speed had already reached the upper limit of what their eyes could track.
"Cough—cough—cough… it's me…"
Candice was being held by the throat. She choked out painful coughs and struggled wildly, but no matter what she did, she couldn't break free of Cole's grip.
Only then did Cole come back to himself. He withdrew his hand and smiled.
"Oh, it's Candice-sama. Why are you here? You didn't even announce yourselves. I thought I'd run into an enemy."
Candice hurriedly covered her neck as she stood up. Shock and anger mixed on her face as she snapped at him.
"What enemy are you expecting to find here?"
This was the Wandenreich—Quincy territory. How could some unknown enemy just invade?
As she spoke, she couldn't help rubbing her pale neck again.
In that instant just now, she had fought back with everything she had.
But that man's hand had been like solid stone.
No matter how she resisted, it didn't budge.
Cole didn't argue with her. He looked at the other girls and raised an eyebrow.
"So many Sternritter-sama… what brings you here? Don't tell me… you came to see me?"
"Master… they came to see me…"
Bambietta had also seen Candice and the other girls, her former companions, so she hurriedly took out her earplugs and stood up stiffly.
Facing the members of the girl group, even with her temperament, she still felt a surge of shame.
"Master?!"
Candice and the others widened their eyes, staring at Bambietta in disbelief.
They couldn't imagine the once-proud Bambietta calling a mere Soldat that.
Was there no sense of rank left at all?!
No—wait.
This wasn't some game, was it?
Had she been completely conquered?
Liltotto couldn't help blurting out, "Bambi, are you out of your mind? Why are you calling a normal Soldat that?!"
The other girls nodded hard.
They were Sternritter—within the Wandenreich, their status was basically one person below, ten thousand above.
As superiors, they had absolute authority over inferiors.
But now it looked reversed.
Bambietta's face turned even redder, and her impatience flared.
"This is my business. It has nothing to do with you. Now get out. This place doesn't welcome you."
She only wanted to drive them away. Otherwise it was too humiliating.
To be conquered by a mere Soldat…
To be forced into begging…
To have done those shameful things…
The girls looked at each other, their irritation rising at Bambietta's arrogant tone.
They were all Sternritter. Their status was equal.
So why was she acting so high and mighty?
Just because she was a bit stronger?
But leaving like this felt unbearable.
Their curiosity had already been hooked.
Why had Bambietta changed so much?
What had that Soldat done?
And what was the ability he was using—Seiketsusō (Still Blood Armor) or Dōketsusō (Moving Blood Armor)?
If they didn't figure it out, they really didn't want to leave.
As the atmosphere grew tense, Cole looked at Bambietta and said with a smile, "Bambi, you can't be that rude."
It was a light voice—
But Bambietta shivered all over. Her cheeks flushed, and her body went limp.
The once-proud, cruel Quincy dropped to her knees beside Cole like a child, pressing her cheek against him as if begging him not to be angry.
Seeing this, the other four girls wore different expressions, but all of them felt a chill run down their spines.
What a terrifying man.
He had actually tamed that brutal queen.
Cole, however, looked a bit speechless and glanced toward the second floor.
There, hiding in the shadows, Yoruichi was watching and angrily waved a paw at him, telling him not to look over.
She hadn't expected things to end up like this either.
She'd only used interrogation techniques.
Cole smiled, then looked back at the four girls.
"Alright. Tell me why you came."
Meninas, who looked a bit airheaded, put her index finger to her lips and asked something that wasn't airheaded at all.
"Um… Cole-kun, you're just a normal Soldat. When we came, shouldn't you have bowed first?"
The other three froze, then instinctively looked at Cole too.
That was true.
Even Military Police members had to salute the Sternritter.
Especially since today's Military Police was no longer the force it had been a thousand years ago—no longer His Majesty's right-hand elite, just a declining organization.
It was only because the earlier scene was too shocking that they'd forgotten about that rule.
Cole raised an eyebrow and looked at Meninas.
"Meninas-sama, I thought you were just naturally spaced out… but now it looks like that's just an act."
Meninas tilted her head, puzzled.
"What does 'naturally spaced out' mean? I've never acted at all."
Cole only clicked his tongue.
From the moment she opened her mouth, he'd understood it.
If you cut this woman open, she'd be black inside.
The so-called pink-haired airhead type was always the scariest.
Liltotto crossed her arms, displeased.
"Stop dodging the question, grunt. Are you going to salute us or not?"
Hearing her companions' aggressive tone, Bambietta blushed, lifted her head, and spoke in a very small voice to Cole.
"Master… they're being disrespectful to you. Do you want me to teach them a lesson?"
The four girls were instantly furious.
That vicious, twisted bitch was actually willing to turn on her former companions for a man?
Cole smiled and didn't approve Bambietta's suggestion. He lightly stroked her hair, then looked at the four girls and asked calmly, "Why should I salute you?"
"A thousand years ago, when our Military Police followed His Majesty into Soul Society, your Sternritter hadn't even been established yet."
"If anyone should salute, it's you saluting me."
"After all, I'm the man who will restore the Military Police's glory."
As he spoke, the blue light in Cole's eyes flared, and a violent pressure expanded outward.
In an instant, Candice and the others' expressions changed. They all released their own spiritual pressure to resist, staring at Cole with heavy faces.
"You… how are you this strong?"
Even now, while Cole was in a state that they couldn't determine—Seiketsusō (Still Blood Armor) or Dōketsusō (Moving Blood Armor)—
The spiritual pressure he released was still stronger than theirs.
Cole didn't answer. He slowly stood up and said indifferently, "From today on, I'm the Military Police Corps Commander."
"Just the four of you… you don't have the right to speak to me."
"Bring Jugram Haschwalth here."
Jugram Haschwalth was the highest authority in the Wandenreich while Yhwach slept, and the top-ranked figure among the Sternritter.
Over the past few days, Cole had used Bambietta's status and position to perfectly disguise himself within the Wandenreich.
Those Military Police members who knew the truth had already become corpses.
Now, even if the Wandenreich investigated however they wanted, he was still a native Quincy with no identity loopholes at all.
Since that was the case, there was no need to keep hiding like before.
He could be more arrogant.
Hearing Cole's outrageous words, the four girls' gazes turned cold.
Even Candice, who had admired him, stepped forward with a low voice.
"Cole, don't tell me you think that just because you conquered Bambi, you can stand on equal footing with us?"
She admitted the old Military Police had been terrifying.
But now, the Sternritter were the Wandenreich's strongest force—His Majesty's only supreme combat corps.
And in pure combat power, the current Sternritter were far stronger than the Military Police of a thousand years ago.
Because the old Military Police hadn't possessed the Quincy's highest abilities—
Things like Vollständig (Complete Holy Form), and Schrift.
Even if the entire old Military Police were revived today, they were confident they could beat them into dogs.
"Hehehe…"
Before Cole could respond, Giselle laughed and moved.
With a step, she darted forward at extreme speed, her posture light and fluttering.
"Lili, why waste words with him? For a disobedient Soldat… you have to teach him properly."
As she spoke, a blue spirit bow formed in Giselle's left hand. With her right, she drew and released.
"Little Cole, don't die, okay?"
With her laughter, sky-blue arrows poured out like rain.
In a single instant, she fired over a hundred arrows, like a blue galaxy erupting inside the castle.
Seeing it, Cole showed no fear. He even sighed with emotion.
"Ishida… that guy really is kind of useless."
Back then, he'd thought Ishida's firing speed was fast—dozens of blue arrows in a second.
Only after coming to the Wandenreich did he realize…
That was basically standard here.
Forget the Sternritter—even ordinary Soldat fired faster than Ishida.
And these Sternritter not only fired faster, their power was far greater too.
While thinking that, Cole stepped forward.
He didn't even prepare a counterattack.
He simply charged straight into the arrow rain.
"Huh?!"
Giselle froze.
Then her eyes widened, staring in disbelief at the figure inside the blue barrage.
"No way?!"
Even though he was hit head-on by hundreds of Heirigu Pufairu (Holy Arrow), not a single arrow pierced into Cole's body.
Instead, it was like they struck steel—
They shattered against him.
During that, the flowing blue patterns on Cole's body accelerated again, like a blue river surging across his skin.
"So it is Seiketsusō (Still Blood Armor)?!"
Giselle snapped back to herself, excitement rising as she retreated.
But in that same instant, Liltotto's expression changed drastically.
"Gigi, watch out!"
"What?"
Giselle didn't understand what she was supposed to watch out for.
That Soldat's defense was terrifying, yes—but that was exactly what Seiketsusō (Still Blood Armor) did.
It granted the Quincy the highest defense.
And as they'd said earlier, once Seiketsusō (Still Blood Armor) was active, strength and speed would drop sharply.
Only Dōketsusō (Moving Blood Armor) enhanced offensive power.
And in that moment—
Giselle's pupils suddenly shrank.
A tall figure had already appeared right in front of her.
"How…?"
Her voice shook.
"Is it Dōketsusō (Moving Blood Armor)?!"
She stared at Cole in utter disbelief.
So it wasn't Seiketsusō (Still Blood Armor).
It was Dōketsusō (Moving Blood Armor).
But how was he suppressing the reishi inside his blood vessels—how had his vessels not burst?!
There was no time to think.
Giselle's spiritual pressure exploded as her Vollständig (Complete Holy Form) formed rapidly.
But her wings were completely different from Bambietta's.
They looked like several pieces of translucent blue "bone" barely connected into wings, and there was even a translucent blue tail behind her.
Before Giselle could activate her Schrift—
A large hand suddenly grabbed at her.
"Ugh…"
Giselle jerked her head back in pain, desperately clawing at Cole's hand with both hands.
That hand was too strong.
Gripping her throat, it made it impossible for her to breathe.
Cole pressed his arm downward and smiled.
"Giselle-sama, since you chose to be a little 'boy-girl,' don't compare brute strength with a real man."
Giselle's pupils contracted to the extreme.
This time, she was truly shocked.
This tall man had seen through her sex at a glance.
Cole, however, felt a bit emotional.
If he hadn't been very familiar with that refined, beauty-loving man Yumichika—
If he hadn't seen Yoruichi's younger brother, who was also an adorable little 'boy-girl'—
He might actually have been fooled.
Because this little 'boy-girl' really did look as cute as a girl.
With a thunderous boom—
The castle's reinforced floor was smashed open into a huge crater.
Rubble exploded, dust and smoke billowed, and the entire castle shook as if it might collapse.
Spiderweb cracks spread from the floor to the walls, like a new mural painted onto the fortress.
Giselle's body was slammed straight into the ground, leaving a pit so deep no one could even tell how many meters it went down.
Cole didn't care. He withdrew his hand, dusted off his palm, and smiled at the other three girls.
"Well?"
"Still want to fight me?"
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