Having great numbers alone would have been one thing, but what truly made everyone tremble was the strength of these people!
From the endless ranks of Shinigami stretching beyond sight, the Reiatsu fluctuations radiating from just the first few rows were already immense, at the very least comparable to Third Seat-level officers or above in the Soul Society.
This meant they were no mere cannon fodder, but experts who had already mastered Shikai and were advancing toward Bankai.
Even more terrifying, among some of them, everyone could sense Reiatsu fluctuations at the Vice-Captain and even Captain level.
"What a tremendous shock this is, Kenpachi Chengdui!"
Urahara Kisuke tightly gripped his cane and muttered, his gaze turning incomparably solemn.
"He's already deployed the armies of the King's World into the Shinigami Realm." Li Yuanli said gravely, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Pressure.
An overwhelmingly powerful pressure surged toward them like rolling waves.
Everyone present, facing that massive Shinigami army ahead, felt as though a mountain had been placed upon their hearts.
Unlike ordinary Shinigami, these people not only possessed Shinigami abilities and Reiatsu, but also the discipline and quality of a true military force. Even the resolute gleam in their eyes revealed a determination to die if necessary.
Troublesome.
Incomparably troublesome.
"If we can kill a King here, my king will surely be very pleased." A voice carrying a sneer rang out.
Li Yuanli looked up.
In the sky, the white-browed Shinigami appeared once again, standing in midair and looking down at them.
"Then didn't your king teach you to maintain reverence in front of a King?" Li Yuanli said coldly.
His Zanpakutō slowly rose, its tip pointing directly at the white-browed Shinigami.
Suddenly, a distorted vortex burst forth from the blade's tip.
"Twist him, Time's Cry!" A cold voice rang out.
The vortex suddenly expanded, bursting forth with incomparably brilliant light. At the same time, a sharp and piercing screech echoed through the air, so shrill that everyone instinctively covered their ears.
"Listen carefully, brat, this is the scream of space-time!!" Li Yuanli sneered as he abruptly swung his long blade toward the sky.
Whoosh!
The vortex suddenly vanished.
Everything fell silent, as though all that had just happened were nothing more than an illusion.
"Where did it go?!"
The white-browed Shinigami cried out in shock, his eyes darting around.
But in the very next moment, his entire body shuddered violently, and an expression of utter disbelief appeared in his eyes.
"This is?!!"
What horrified everyone else was that the white-browed Shinigami's body was now continuously changing.
"Childhood. Growth. Prime. Decay. You will drift endlessly between these four states of time and space. Your timeline has already been twisted. Enjoy this little journey, brat." Li Yuanli watched him coldly and spoke indifferently.
Behind him, Urahara Kisuke's face was full of astonishment.
"A space-time type? Your Zanpakutō is actually a space-time type!"
Kenpachi Zaraki and the others were equally shocked.
Space-time type Zanpakutō were extraordinarily rare, so rare they could practically be called extinct!
And naturally, because of that rarity, their power was also exceptionally formidable.
In the sky, the white-browed Shinigami's body kept transforming.
His movements became increasingly difficult. Under the influence of temporal distortion, his constantly changing body cycled through different states:
In childhood, his body was weak and powerless.
In growth, his power reached its peak, allowing him to move and unleash tremendous strength.
In his prime, he became even stronger than his current self.
But in decay, he became frail and vulnerable once more.
This endless alternation between extreme strength and extreme weakness was enough to drive anyone mad.
"D-Damn it!!"
Even as he shouted those words, his voice itself kept changing continuously.
"I am King Yuanli! Go back and tell King Chengdui that I will settle the score from last time with him sooner or later! And as for you all, do you really think a mere few tens of thousands of Shinigami can stop me? It seems you still don't understand the power of a King!"
His voice grew colder and more majestic with every word as an immense wave of King's Power erupted from Li Yuanli's body.
The oppressive force of a King's Might spread outward, distorting even the space ahead and causing ripples to appear in the air.
In an instant, wary expressions appeared on the Shinigamis' faces.
Having deeply understood King Chengdui's strength, when facing another King, they naturally carried a preconceived mindset. That mindset filled their hearts with instinctive fear.
A King, in their eyes, always represented overwhelming power, tyranny, cruelty, and mercilessness.
Without exception.
"Honorable King Yuanli."
At that moment, a burly Shinigami with crimson hair stepped forward, his voice deep and resonant.
"As you said, if we fight Your Excellency, we may indeed underestimate your strength, and many sacrifices may be required. But we are also willing to give up everything for the sake of slaughtering a King! If you think you can force us back with King's Might alone, then you seem rather naïve."
A trace of disdain curled at the corners of the red-haired Shinigami's lips as he sneered coldly.
"To devote ourselves to the Ideal Nation, to devote ourselves to my king, that is our mission and our honor!"
After saying this, he raised his right hand and swung it down sharply.
"Kill!"
At that moment, Li Yuanli's expression changed.
A space-time type Zanpakutō was indeed extremely powerful, but its one obvious weakness was equally clear, it lacked any large-scale attack capabilities and had no area-of-effect skills.
Facing tens of thousands of powerful, highly trained Shinigami soldiers before him, he truly had no good solution.
Even more depressing, after confirming he was a King, the enemy had clearly become even more excited.
"Fighting one against ten thousand, I haven't tried that before!" Kenpachi Zaraki flicked his Zanpakutō and looked at the charging Shinigami with a domineering grin.
"Hey, there are a few of us here. One person handles ten thousand each. Any objections?"
"I object very strongly."
Li Yuanli cursed loudly.
"We're absolutely dead this time!"
Compared to the enormous Qin Nation world, tens of thousands of combatants weren't actually that many, and Li Yuanli wouldn't normally fear them.
But that depended on what level of combat power they represented.
The Shinigami before them could probably bury them alive through sheer numbers alone.
"Fight. We can't exactly surrender without resistance." Urahara Kisuke said solemnly. "Besides, it's not like we have no reinforcements."
As soon as he finished speaking, eight figures flashed into existence, instantly appearing in front of them.
Eight long blades swung out at once.
Boom!!!
The ground ahead immediately collapsed, erupting with violent energy waves that blasted large numbers of Shinigami flying into the air.
The advancing Shinigami army immediately halted, all eyes turning toward the eight figures standing before them.
The eerie white skeletal masks on their faces, combined with the ominous aura emanating from their bodies, made everyone freeze slightly with unease.
"Sorry, we're late!"
"Nice to meet you for the first time. I'm Hirako Shinji."
"Sarugaki Hiyori."
"Muguruma Kensei."
"Aikawa Love!"
"Kuna Mashiro."
"Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō."
"Yadōmaru Lisa."
"Ushōda Hachigen."
The eight figures turned their heads, their savage white masks facing the group as they each announced their names one by one.
After the introductions, the eight turned back toward the army of Shinigami before them.
"The Shinigami Legion from another world."
"The Masked Legion."
"Has arrived!!"
(End of Chapter)
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