The "Miracle"—Gerard—swung his massive shield and smacked away the thunderous spear.
The Lightning Trident was sent flying toward an empty stretch of sky.
And yet—just then—a figure appeared midair and caught the spinning weapon.
"Looks like I made it in time."
The one who caught the Trident was none other than Katori Nanatsuki, who had just finished off the Death Dealing—Askin—and rushed over.
"Sensei!"
"Captain Katori!"
Lisa and Gin Ginjirō visibly relaxed when they saw who had arrived.
"Another helper? You seem stronger than the others... but in the end, you'll all become corpses beneath the Sword of Hope!"
The Miracle—Gerard—raised his colossal greatsword.
At the same moment, Nanatsuki raised Lisa's Zanpakutō— Haguro Tonbo.
Before the giant blade could fall, Haguro Tonbo had already pierced through Gerard's skull.
The blood-soaked trident crashed to the ground at Lisa's feet.
"Take better care of your Zanpakutō, Lisa."
A white mask swiftly formed over Nanatsuki's face.
Though the Miracle—Gerard—had been skewered through the head, he merely knelt on one knee. The mortal wound to his skull rapidly regenerated.
"Mortal wounds like that only make me stronger!"
He rose once again.
His next swing came with terrifying speed and power—several times more potent than before.
The Miracle's resurrection... was his greatest amplification.
But his mighty Sword of Hope was stopped cold by Nanatsuki's single hand.
"Looks like you're still not strong enough."
In the blink of an eye, countless slashes flashed through the air.
Gerard's body bloomed with fine lines of blood.
Then, the giant's body split apart into dozens of pieces.
Nanatsuki narrowed his eyes. In the air, something silver was exposed—a gleaming Quincy Medallion.
Crimson-black Reiatsu surged from the edge of his blade.
A streak of that red-black light slashed across the silver badge.
And in the instant the medallion shattered, the once-coalescing pieces of Gerard's body lost their "miracle"...
And plummeted to the ground.
The wielder of the Schrift "M"—The Miracle—Gerard, couldn't last even one minute against Nanatsuki.
"Weaker than expected… Not enough enhancements? Or maybe Yhwach isn't sharing much of his power right now."
Nanatsuki guessed that even with several amplifications, Gerard was only a bit stronger than Muguruma Kensei.
"Sensei's incredible! He took out 'The Miracle' in the blink of an eye!"
Lisa exclaimed in awe.
Just a minute ago, she and her team had been barely holding on against Gerard, facing total annihilation. But now, before her teacher, the same enemy was utterly powerless.
"Cough cough… With Captain Katori's strength… he might not even be beneath the Head Captain..."
Sasakibe Chōjirō had been struck by Gerard's massive sword. Though he hadn't passed out, his injuries were severe.
Nanatsuki stepped up to the remains of the giant.
Gerard's true identity… was the Heart of the Soul King.
Nanatsuki wanted to see if the core remained among the wreckage.
"Some of the power must've returned to Yhwach..."
There wasn't much Reiatsu left in the corpse.
However, he did discover several twitching flesh masses.
"This is..."
Nanatsuki sensed a familiar Reiatsu and took out a glass case from his pocket—inside, a Hōgyoku.
He picked up one of the quivering meat chunks and placed it atop the Hōgyoku.
In the next moment, the flesh turned into white light and was absorbed by the orb.
"As I thought—Soul King fragments. These must be pieces of the Soul King's heart."
Once the Hōgyoku reached a certain level, it could directly absorb Soul King fragments. There was no longer any need to refine or extract the Soul King's essence as before.
Since Gerard's giant body had fallen from the sky, the remains were scattered. It would take some time to gather them all.
So Nanatsuki left behind a shadow clone to collect the fragments.
"If I can gather all the heart fragments… this Hōgyoku might evolve into its complete form."
Nanatsuki already possessed two Hōgyoku with 50% progress. Fusing them should yield a complete one.
Now, with the Soul King's heart… there was a chance this Hōgyoku could fully evolve.
"And there's still the Soul King's left hand..."
He glanced into the distance, where Mayuri Kurotsuchi was still locked in battle with the massive arm.
That might be enough to help the second Hōgyoku evolve too.
Shup—
Nanatsuki reappeared beside Lisa. She and Gin Ginjirō were treating the seriously injured Sasakibe Chōjirō and Ōmaeda Kishinosuke.
Nanatsuki stepped forward to check their conditions.
"They're not in critical danger. I won't stay here—Lisa, remain and heal them. I'm heading off to support Captain Kyōraku and Isshin."
He had scanned the other battlefields.
Kyōraku and Shiba Isshin's situation was dire—they urgently needed support.
Yamamoto seemed to be holding back, likely because of the surrounding Shinigami, and still hadn't gone all-out. He hadn't even dealt with the twin brothers, Loyd and Royd.
The others were all too preoccupied.
Only Nanatsuki could go.
"Leave it to us!"
Lisa nodded firmly.
Kyōraku Shunsui leaned against the crumbling ruins, performing Kaidō on the Vice-Captain of Squad 8 who lay before him.
"Captain… forget me... cough… go help Captain Isshin… cough cough..."
The vice-captain's abdomen had a massive puncture wound. His Reiatsu was rapidly fading.
"Don't talk."
Kyōraku was using every ounce of his Kaidō skill to stabilize him.
Thankfully, Isshin had arrived just in time. Otherwise, Kyōraku wouldn't have been able to carry the injured man out.
Before Isshin arrived, it had just been him and his vice-captain fighting the Schrift "X"—Lille Barro.
"Just lie still."
Kyōraku, seeing that the vice-captain's condition was stable, turned to aid Isshin.
Lille Barro's strength was overwhelming. Isshin was struggling alone—and in only a short time, he was already falling behind.
Isshin flash-stepped behind Lille in a burst of speed.
"Getsuga—!"
He soared into the air, blade blazing with flames.
BOOM!
A Reishi bullet pierced through his left leg in an instant.
Isshin lost his balance and crashed to the ground.
"Damn it!"
He looked up—Lille's gun barrel was aimed at him again.
His leg was crippled—he couldn't dodge in time!
Just then, a Zanpakutō pierced through Lille Barro's chest.
Kyōraku Shunsui rose from Lille's shadow.
"Got you. You stepped on my shadow."