"Hokushin Raitei? What kind of obscure god is that supposed to be? Impressive title, I suppose."
The Ise founder had pledged herself to a god from beyond the Three Worlds, but her knowledge clearly did not extend far enough to recognize the significance of the name Hokushin Raitei, much less the authority behind it.
Had she understood what that title truly represented, she might have turned her horse around and fled before the battle went any further.
Instead, completely unaware of the danger she was provoking, she urged her crimson warhorse forward.
The animal seemed made of living flame. Its hooves shattered the space beneath them as it charged, carrying its rider through the air like a burning meteor.
The long sword in the Ise founder's hand blazed just as fiercely, wreathed in fire hot enough to incinerate almost anything it touched.
"Then let me show you the true Apocalypse Battle Formation!"
At her command, the remaining three apocalyptic warhorses reared simultaneously, their cries echoing across the Seireitei as the pages of Revelation began turning at a frantic pace.
The dry rustle of paper grew until it sounded less like a book and more like countless voices whispering and howling beneath the battlefield.
Mitsuhiko swept the Bow of Conquest through the air.
Armored figures appeared in ranks behind him.
They were spectral Crusaders, clad from head to toe in heavy plate and armed with long cruciform swords.
Although they were nothing more than manifestations, every knight carried enough killing intent to make them seem like soldiers dragged directly out of some ancient holy war.
The Ise founder's red horse screamed toward the sky.
Rows of warriors answered.
Ancient war figurines materialized around her in disciplined formations, each carrying a long halberd and wearing an expression as cold and lifeless as fired clay.
They advanced without fear or hesitation, resembling killing machines pulled out of humanity's bloodiest eras.
The Kuchiki founder's gray horse opened its mouth and breathed out a torrent of black deathly mist.
The miasma spread with terrifying speed, swallowing the surrounding area and transforming everything beneath it into a vision of famine.
The earth seemed to dry and die wherever it passed, while the very air took on the oppressive emptiness of a land where nothing could grow and no one had anything left to eat.
Beside him, the Shihōin founder's black horse released a different calamity.
Thick poisonous fog surged from its body in rolling green waves, expanding across the battlefield until it resembled a toxic tide threatening to drown everything in its path.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse had finally assembled their formation.
Well, almost.
Mitsuhiko no longer had a horse.
With the other three mounted beside him while he stood there holding his bow on foot, the image lost a surprising amount of its intended majesty.
Kazuma looked at the spectacle without the slightest concern.
"Hokushin Enclosure—The fourth star."
He gave the Sword a small turn.
The fourth star of the Big Dipper immediately blazed overhead, and a vast waterfall of starlight descended from the heavens.
It poured toward the combined attack of the four founders like a river from the Milky Way itself.
The transformation was immediate.
Under the descending stellar radiance, the heavy armor worn by Mitsuhiko's Crusader phantoms melted into streams of glowing iron that pooled across the ground.
The armies summoned by the Ise founder lost their terrible presence just as quickly, their bodies reverting into brittle clay figures that cracked apart before they could reach Kazuma.
The black miasma of famine changed as well.
Its deathly energy condensed into countless golden grains of millet, which scattered harmlessly across the battlefield like an absurdly generous harvest.
Even the vast poisonous fog released by the black horse was unable to continue. The green tide froze in place, crystallizing into transparent shards of ice that glittered beneath the stars.
In a matter of moments, the four founders' coordinated assault had been converted into harmless matter.
Nothing exploded.
Nothing had been forcibly blown apart.
Kazuma had simply taken everything they sent at him and changed what it was.
The sheer ease of it left the captains watching from below speechless.
Rukia, still pinned close to the ground by the residual pressure on the battlefield, stared at Kazuma with a thoughtful expression.
"So that's how you're supposed to use the Big Dipper…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Have I been using it wrong this whole time?"
Watching Kazuma casually dismantle an attack from four peak-transcendent opponents gave her a very dangerous misunderstanding.
For a brief moment, she genuinely started thinking that perhaps she could do something similar.
She could not.
The four founders might individually possess peak-transcendent strength, but comparing them to Kazuma purely by realm was misleading.
Their previous battle in the chaotic space had already made the difference painfully obvious.
Back then, the four of them had fought together and still ended up being beaten so badly that retreat had become their only realistic option.
The Shihōin founder's expression tightened.
"What are we supposed to do against this?"
For the first time since arriving, he was seriously considering whether remaining in Soul Society was worth the risk.
Even the Apocalypse Battle Formation had failed to produce meaningful results.
The Kuchiki founder shot him an irritated look.
"What do you mean, what are we supposed to do? We keep fighting."
His tone made it clear that he considered the question ridiculous.
"You honestly think Kazuma is going to suddenly develop a compassionate streak and let us walk away? What kind of fantasy are you living in?"
Privately, however, he was already regretting coming to Soul Society at all.
If they were going to start discussing retreat now, they should have thought about that before walking straight into Kazuma's territory.
Mitsuhiko was even less sympathetic.
"If you want to run, then go ahead."
His voice was cold.
"But when our master asks why you abandoned the mission, you can explain it yourself."
That ended the discussion rather quickly.
The four founders had not come here on a personal whim.
Their attack on Kazuma had been ordered by the outside god they served, and deserting the battlefield would mean answering directly to that being afterward.
None of them particularly wanted to discover what punishment awaited failure through cowardice.
Mitsuhiko, of course, had another reason to be in a foul mood.
Yamamoto had killed his horse.
The Ise founder glanced toward him and immediately seized on the obvious target.
"You have some nerve lecturing anyone else."
Mitsuhiko's face turned toward her.
"If you hadn't lost your white horse to Yamamoto, the Apocalypse Battle Formation would still be complete. If the four riders had been able to form the battle array properly, do you really think Kazuma could have neutralized our combined attack so easily?"
That was not entirely fair.
Even if Mitsuhiko's horse were still alive, it was doubtful the formation would suddenly have become strong enough to reverse the situation.
But fairness was not especially important at the moment.
The four of them desperately needed someone to blame, and Mitsuhiko had conveniently gotten the symbolic mount of Conquest decapitated because he underestimated Yamamoto.
He was the obvious choice.
Mitsuhiko's face flushed beneath the anger.
A vein pulsed across his forehead as he pointed a trembling finger at the Ise founder.
"You—"
He stopped.
There was, unfortunately, no good response.
His horse had been killed because he had underestimated Yamamoto.
That much was undeniable.
Mitsuhiko opened his mouth, failed to find an argument that didn't make him sound worse, and finally settled for an angry snort.
He had no choice but to accept the blame.
Kazuma watched their argument with open disdain.
"You pieces of trash finished discussing how you want to die?"
His gaze settled deliberately on Mitsuhiko, carrying the sort of contempt someone might reserve for an animal too weak to fight back.
Mitsuhiko, already furious after being blamed for the failed formation, immediately exploded.
"Did you just call me trash?!"
Kazuma smiled.
"Don't misunderstand me."
His tone became almost reassuring.
"I wasn't talking about only you."
He gestured casually toward the other founders.
"I meant all four of you are trash."
Then he shook his head as if disappointed that clarification had even been necessary.
Mitsuhiko looked ready to start coughing blood.
From the ground, Rukia watched with visible pride.
"Teacher's as arrogant as ever."
Her expression practically radiated satisfaction.
"That's my teacher. At least he hasn't embarrassed me."
The relationship seemed to have somehow reversed itself in her head.
Judging by her tone, one would think Kazuma was the disciple whose behavior she had personally trained and approved.
Kōga, kneeling nearby, slowly turned his head toward her.
"Rukia."
She froze.
"I heard that."
Kōga's expression remained perfectly serious.
"I'll be reporting it to Master later."
Rukia's confidence vanished.
"Uncle!"
Unable to stand under the pressure, she began wriggling around on the ground in desperation.
"Come on, tell me you're not that kind of person. You're not actually going to snitch on me, right? Tell me!"
Her voice climbed so high that it was rapidly approaching a frequency only dogs should have been able to hear.
Kōga nodded solemnly.
"Don't worry, Rukia. Your uncle…"
Hope immediately returned to her face.
"…is exactly that kind of person."
Then he laughed.
"Hahahaha!"
Rukia stared at him in betrayal.
For half a second, she had genuinely believed she was safe.
The emotional drop was so abrupt that it felt like she had been launched to the top of a roller coaster only for the track to disappear beneath her.
Her face fell.
Kōga continued laughing.
Around them, Soul Society remained trapped in the middle of a battle involving four ancient founders, an outside god's power, the manifestation of the Hokushin Raitei, and enough transcendent reiatsu to tear apart the Seireitei.
Yet somehow, Rukia still managed to find a completely different crisis to worry about.
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