"Who told you to use so much force!"
Mayuri's pupils dilated; he was getting a bit anxious now.
This thing was a new species he had never seen before!
These guys actually used such powerful force to strike!
What if they beat this black bird to death?!
Even if it suffered the slightest bit of damage, he felt like his heart was bleeding!
As for those demonized Shinigami and the subsequent disasters, that was none of their business!
But no matter what he thought, it was already too late.
Boom!
Accompanied by a massive roar, all the Captains unleashed their ultimate moves at this moment.
Even the Captains for whom it was inconvenient to use Bankai performed high-level Hado.
Lightning, flames, projected spears, swung giant blades, and long swords slashing with scorching flames, all of them blasted toward the black Imu!
Puchi!
The black giant bird bore such immense power in an instant; the force was so great that the leaking spiritual power even dispersed the clouds above!
Because the Gorosei had arrived too suddenly, the Seireitei had not lowered the Seireiheki at this time.
Without the Seireiheki, there was no Soul Shield Membrane produced by Sekkiseki.
Otherwise, such intense Reiatsu fluctuations would have been blocked by the Soul Shield Membrane, preventing excessive destruction.
But it was different now; without the Soul Shield Membrane, after that massive power exploded in the air, it also produced a powerful airburst.
Black lightning spread directly from the center of the explosion, collapsing a large number of buildings below in an instant!
And many of the people fleeing from the demons' pursuit rolled their eyes back and fell unconscious just like that!
"
"
The Captains watched the explosion in the sky, feeling a bit of tension in their hearts.
From the sudden appearance of those five monsters to their fusion into a black giant bird with a human body, it all happened far too quickly.
Many in the Seireitei had not yet realized what was happening before Domi Reversi had already begun.
Smoke rose throughout the Seireitei as the Shinigami dominated by the Domi Reversi and turned into demons continued to spread; by now, perhaps over a hundred people had grown demon wings!
There were only a few thousand Shinigami in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads in total; having a hundred converted right off the bat, with more ongoing, was definitely a massive blow to them!
So—
Is that monster dead?!
If the black giant bird died now and the strange state of these people couldn't be undone, could these Shinigami still be saved?
And even more terrifyingly—
Boom!
When the smoke from the explosion cleared, something terrifying happened; there in the sky, that black giant bird—
Was actually unscathed?!
No, it might have been blown to pieces in the previous explosion, but its trait of Immortality allowed it to recover completely!
"Ah—"
Cold sweat trickled down Ukitake's face; wasn't this a bit too exaggerated?
Could the attacks from so many of them not even kill this guy?
"This monster—"
"It seems that killing him is no longer possible." Aizen pushed up his glasses, hiding a look in his eyes that was almost identical to Mayuri's, and said, "Let's choose to seal him."
"That's the only option now," Shunsui said with a frown. But just as they were preparing to apply the seal, a powerful Conqueror's aura erupted from the black giant bird's body once again. This time, the black lightning spread even further, causing more Shinigami fleeing from the demons to roll their eyes!
Feeling the Haki released by Imu, the Captains' expressions darkened, thinking the guy might be about to unleash some ultimate move.
But his body disintegrated at that moment, and the giant magic circle previously engraved on the ground seemed to start functioning again, emitting black lightning.
In the blink of an eye, the giant bird flying in the sky had vanished!
Disappeared?!
Gone?!
The Captains couldn't help but widen their eyes.
Why did this guy suddenly leave?!
It was so abrupt, arriving out of nowhere, only to control some Shinigami and then suddenly leave?
He didn't even say much; it was truly impossible to understand his objective!
"Ah!"
But the wails of the Shinigami in the distance brought them back to their senses. Indeed, although the black giant bird had disappeared, the demons he controlled still existed.
They had to capture them first to see if they could be restored, and also to find out exactly what had happened to them and why they had suddenly turned into these demonic forms.
If possible, they also needed to find clues about those five monsters from them.
They are definitely not Hollows!
"Capture them all!"
The Captains dispersed at this moment, heading in their respective directions to capture the Domi Reversi demon Shinigami.
In the Thirteenth Division District, all the Shinigami had been rushing toward that area since the Gorosei appeared.
However, most Shinigami didn't have the footwork of a Captain.
The Seireitei was actually quite a vast area; only Captain-level Shinigami could cross it relatively easily. For ordinary Shinigami, traveling from one district to another took a long time.
So even though the Shinigami had started rushing there since the Gorosei's arrival, the vast majority were still on their way.
Rukia was one of them.
Because Ukitake Jūshirō was not in the division headquarters when the incident occurred, they rushed toward the battlefield according to standard emergency protocols.
"What is that?"
Advancing with the Shinigami of her squad, Rukia suddenly felt an abnormal Reiatsu coming from ahead.
Although unheard-of Reiatsu had been constantly emanating from the battlefield, she felt it strongly enough now because she was closer.
"Ah!"
Soon, a group of Shinigami appeared in front of her, fleeing rapidly as if they had seen something terrifying!
There were about dozens of Shinigami in total, drenched in sweat with horror written all over their faces, as if they had witnessed something truly frightening.
"What happened up ahead?!"
One of the Shinigami beside Rukia asked loudly. "Run! Or you'll turn into monsters!" a fleeing Shinigami said while sweating profusely, "Get out of the way!"
Turn into monsters?
Rukia was stunned. What was this?
She suddenly thought of Kaien Shiba, who had been possessed by Metastacia—
Back then, Vice-Captain Shiba had also turned into a monster—
At the thought of that scene, a look of extreme pain reappeared on Rukia's face.
After all, she had personally killed her beloved Vice-Captain.
"Kill them!"
While she was lost in pain, the demons had already caught up!
Dozens of Shinigami with black wings on their backs, several meters tall and with fangs, rushed here with swords in hand!
They were fast, even catching up to a few isolated Shinigami; they cut them down with a single strike and then ignored them, simply passing by.
The fallen Shinigami seemed to sink into the ground, their bodies twisting; when they emerged again, they had actually turned into monsters just like those demons!
Then they joined the demon ranks and charged toward the Shinigami ahead together!
!!
Now Rukia finally understood why they said they would turn into monsters.
"Quick! Stop them!"
A Shinigami from the Thirteenth Division said nervously, sword in hand. Although they didn't know what was going on, they knew they couldn't let these demons advance further!
Rukia also gripped her Zanpakuto, but the image of Kaien Shiba being possessed flashed in her mind again, making her body tremble uncontrollably.
"Ah!!"
Seeing the demons getting closer, Rukia gave a loud cry and slashed forward with her sword!
The Shinigami clashed with the demons, but they were clearly no match for the demon Shinigami.
Originally, everyone's strength was similar, but under the Domi Reversi Domination, those converted into demons gained immense power and even Immortality!
Domi Reversi; this was Imu's ability. According to Imu, it could bestow "divine power" upon others.
Calling it "divine power" was actually "demonic power"; after all, even demons wouldn't call themselves demons.
Even a demon would use the title of a god as a disguise, so this demonic power became divine power.
And this ability also had a "Reversi" effect: the demons were black pieces, and others were white pieces. Once a black piece sandwiched a white piece, the white piece in the middle would turn into a black piece.
In other words, once caught between demons, one would be converted into a demon just like them!
Rukia only felt that the strength of the demon Shinigami in front of her was terrifying; when she swung her Zanpakuto to meet him, her arms went numb from the shock!
But Rukia's strength was actually quite decent; although she hadn't been in the Thirteenth Division for long, her progress had been very rapid because the Vice-Captain had been teaching her.
However, the opponents were colleagues from the Thirteen Court Guard Squads after all. Even if they were controlled now, they were still wearing shinigami uniform and holding Zanpakuto; they couldn't bring themselves to use lethal force for the moment!
Rukia was sent flying by a strike but landed steadily. Just as she was about to release her Zanpakuto, a shadow suddenly loomed over her?
What?
Rukia instinctively looked up, only to see a giant dragon suddenly flying over from the distance?!!
That—what?!
Rukia's pupils dilated; this momentary shock allowed the Domi Reversi Shinigami in front of her to close in and prepare to slash at her.
Rukia hurriedly blocked with her sword, but caught off guard, she was still slashed and sent flying, a blade wound appearing on her shoulder as blood flowed.
"Join us."
Only then did Rukia see clearly that the person who swung the blade at her was also a Shinigami from the Thirteenth Division, except he had already been turned into a demon.
Am I next?
Fear surfaced in Rukia's heart.
After Kaien Shiba died, she had lived in constant pain, so she wasn't afraid of death.
Perhaps death would be a form of release for her.
But she could not accept turning into this terrifying demon!
Seeing the demon army about to catch up, Rukia was about to retreat, but the giant dragon that had appeared before suddenly spat out a Dragons Breath!
Boom!
The Dragons Breath exploded right among the demon Shinigami in front of Rukia, and the massive blast sent her flying as well, causing her to roll several times after hitting the ground.
Hiss, it hurts!
Rukia gritted her teeth, but thanks to the Dragons Breath explosion, she was blown out of the demons' range of influence.
She was about to stand up when she realized the Azure Dragon was actually heading straight for her?
Wha—?
Before she could react, the massive Azure Dragon swallowed her in one gulp and then quickly headed away from the Seireitei!
Although swallowed by the Azure Dragon, Rukia wasn't taken into its stomach but was held in its mouth.
Surrounded by darkness, Rukia hurriedly tried to pry open the Azure Dragon's mouth with her sword in a panic. However, just as she was about to swing her blade, an invisible thought entered her mind.
This thought seemed to have a hypnotic effect; her brain became sluggish, and her mind felt like it was filled with mush.
Soon, Rukia lost consciousness and collapsed inside the Azure Dragon's mouth.
"Stop!"
Ukitake Jūshirō, who was rushing back to the Thirteenth Division, also saw the giant Azure Dragon appearing in the sky. It was impossible to miss, as the dragon's body was simply too massive.
It could be seen clearly even from a great distance!
But because of the distance, Ukitake didn't see who the Azure Dragon had eaten. However, regardless of who was taken, it was very likely an enemy related to this anomalous incident!
Was this monster with the previous five?
Ukitake was about to give full chase, but the miserable state of the Shinigami below made him hesitate.
The Shinigami ahead were being pursued by demons and were being converted one by one!
If he left, what would happen to these Shinigami?
These Shinigami were all his subordinates!
Ultimately, Ukitake Jūshirō stopped.
Compared to finding out the truth, Ukitake believed that protecting his subordinates was more important!
He had been deeply pained ever since the incident with Kaien Shiba happened right before his eyes.
After all, he had always regarded Kaien Shiba as his successor; he had even prepared the new Thirteenth Division Captain's haori four days before the incident.
He had already prepared to retire and have Kaien Shiba take over as the Captain of the Thirteenth Division.
Yet, just four days later, Kaien died.
Ukitake decided he couldn't let the same thing happen again!
Meanwhile, Beltz, who was frantically moving away from the Seireitei, felt incredibly thrilled.
That guy Yhwach—
Is just too wonderful!
He even brought out Imu!
Although Haschwalth told him not to go near the Seireitei for a short time, how could he miss such a great show?
Rukia has always been his target!
Inside her body, there's the Hōgyoku!
☰