"He ran away?"
Grayfia frowned slightly and turned her head to look in the direction where the beam of light had just come from.
"You are... a Quincy from the Wandenreich?"
"That's right, my name is Lille Barro, Your Majesty Yhwach's most perfect creation."
A man wearing a hood, with his left eye closed, carrying a large gun, slowly walked out from the corner.
"I originally intended to finish you off in one go, but I didn't expect you could withstand my attack."
"It wasn't me who blocked it." Grayfia lowered her head and looked at the tag hanging in front of her.
This was a protective item Tatsuma had given her, capable of blocking fatal attacks at critical moments.
Just now, when Lille Barro launched a sneak attack, it was this tag that released a light shield, blocking the attack.
"So that's how it is. This is the variable Your Majesty Yhwach mentioned."
Lille Barro seemed to understand something, raised his sniper rifle, and aimed at Grayfia again.
"Although I don't know what that tag is, items have limits. If once isn't enough, then twice. My attack will shatter that shield sooner or later and pierce through you."
Grayfia shook her head slightly. "You won't need that many times. Although this tag is a protective item, it's also a distress signal item."
"The moment you activated it with your sneak attack, your fate was already sealed."
"Playing tricks!"
Lille Barro snorted coldly, his finger pulling the trigger without hesitation, firing a golden beam again.
At the same time, a crimson magic circle appeared in front of Grayfia, and a figure walked out from within it.
"Red Dragon Emperor?!" Lille Barro recognized Tatsuma, his pupils contracting.
Without even looking at the result of his attack, he turned and vanished from the spot, running towards the distance.
"Trying to escape?"
Tatsuma snorted coldly, activating his Time energy to its extreme, covering the entire surrounding area. The golden beam that was close at hand was affected and slowly dissipated, and Lille Barro was likewise frozen in mid-air.
Raising his hand, he drew Gram, and Time energy and Power of Destruction converged on the sword body.
The next instant, a cold light flashed.
Lille Barro was cut in two, his body and soul affected by the Power of Destruction, turning completely into nothingness.
[Congratulations on successfully defeating Lille Barro and obtaining the red trait: Universal Pierce.]
[Universal Pierce (Red): Releases energy to form a beam, piercing through everything in its path. The more energy released, the greater the power of the beam.]
The notification sound rang out, Tatsuma put Gram back into his sub-space, and turned his head to look at Grayfia not far away.
"Tell me, why did you end up fighting with a Quincy from the Wandenreich?"
"I'm not too sure either."
Grayfia recounted her recent experience.
After listening, Tatsuma's expression became subtle.
"You said you were fighting with Aizen, and then this Quincy suddenly jumped out and ambushed you?"
"Yes."
"Aizen modified his Zanpakutō, and evolved several times during the battle, with butterfly wings appearing on his back?"
"Yes."
"Where is Aizen then?"
"It seems he knew about the tag's existence. The moment he saw the light shield, he opened a spatial passage and ran away." Grayfia's expression was somewhat subtle.
Aizen's escape process was simply too smooth, as if he had practiced it multiple times.
She happened to be attacked by Lille Barro at that time, retreating to create distance. By the time she reacted, Aizen had already vanished without a trace, impossible to catch up to even if she wanted to.
"Sorry, I was careless."
"Don't worry about it, you've already done very well to reach this point." Tatsuma didn't pay too much attention to this.
Lille Barro was the Captain of Yhwach's Elite Guard. His appearance here meant that Yhwach had given an order.
Although he didn't know how far Yhwach could see, the power to gaze into the future was something Grayfia couldn't contend with.
With premeditation against no preparation, Lille Barro had prepared in advance and launched a sneak attack from the shadows. It would be strange if he didn't hit.
"Tatsuma, what are you planning to do next?" Just then, Grayfia's voice sounded.
"Should the Hueco Mundo hunt continue?"
"Continue, but let's change the plan."
Tatsuma recharged Grayfia's tag, raised his hand, and pointed upwards.
"Let's put the Forest of Menos aside for now, you go take down Las Noches."
"Okay."
"You can leave some people alive for easier management, but you don't need those troublesome rebels."
"I understand." Grayfia nodded slightly.
Taking down Las Noches wasn't difficult for her.
Leaving the Forest of Menos and returning to the desert above, Grayfia took out a reconnaissance map, confirmed the direction of Las Noches, and began to travel.
At the same time, within the Wandenreich.
Yhwach opened his eyes, a rarely seen solemn expression on his face.
With the help of Ophis's Snake, his power had largely recovered.
A few days ago, while secretly observing the situation in Soul Society, he accidentally saw the future where Aizen was defeated.
Aizen was currently an ally of the Wandenreich and an important part of his plan to crush Soul Society. To ensure the smooth execution of his plan in the near future, Yhwach naturally wouldn't allow Aizen to be defeated.
However, when he delved deeper into Aizen's future, the images he saw were very blurry. The only thing he could confirm was that the person who defeated Aizen was Grayfia.
Yhwach naturally knew Grayfia. She was a dark aggregate from another world, with the possibility of killing Aizen by ignoring the hōgyoku.
To prevent Aizen from being killed, Yhwach sent Lille Barro to help.
However...
"Why would Lucifer's Queen be connected to the Red Dragon Emperor?"
Recalling the figure he saw before Lille Barro died, Yhwach was a bit confused.
Aizen, who had just escaped back to Soul Society, was equally puzzled by this matter.
Grayfia was Sirzechs's subordinate and had prior contact with Tatsuma. Because of this, Aizen predicted that her strength would increase.
But he didn't expect her increase in strength to be so astonishing. He even less expected Grayfia to possess Tatsuma's tag.
Didn't only members of Akatsuki and Tatsuma's women have that thing? Why would Grayfia have it in her possession?
Aizen thought and thought, and could only come up with one possibility.
The person who sent Grayfia to Hueco Mundo wasn't Sirzechs, but Tatsuma.
"Did he calculate that I would make a move, and then set up an ambush by playing along with my plan?"
"What a terrifying man."
Aizen's reason for fighting Grayfia this time wasn't just to reduce the Devil side's fighting strength. More importantly, he wanted to find an evenly matched opponent to help himself complete his evolution.
Folding the three pairs of butterfly wings on his back, Aizen reached out and touched the hōgyoku on his chest, which was flashing with blue-black light.
After merging the hōgyoku into his body, he used the power of Kyoka Suigetsu to complete three stages of evolution without anyone noticing. Yet even so, he still wasn't confident he could defeat Tatsuma.
Tatsuma's track record was simply too astonishing. Every time he made a move, there would be a significant increase in power.
To catch up to Tatsuma's evolution speed, Aizen chose to attack Grayfia, accelerating his evolution through the pressure of battle.
In fact, he did succeed.
The fourth stage, which would have originally taken some time to achieve, was completed in a single battle.
However...
"It's still not enough." Aizen made his judgment.
The fourth stage couldn't even suppress Grayfia, let alone Tatsuma.
After opening his communication device and sending a message telling Ichimaru and Kaname, who were still on standby in Hueco Mundo, to run away, Aizen took out a trench coat and looked towards the inconspicuous shadow in the corner.
It was time to go meet Yhwach.
...
Second Division.
"Captain Kyōraku, please stop."
Soi Fon, having received the message, appeared in front of the prison and stopped Shunsui.
"Ahead is the cell of major offender Rukia. Unless you have the Captain Commander's order, entry is prohibited."
"Hehe. Captain Soi Fon, don't be so rigid, let's make an exception."
"No means no." Soi Fon snorted coldly, placing her hand on her Zanpakutō.
"Captain Kyōraku, I must ask you..."
"I know where Yoruichi is."
Shunsui suddenly interrupted, casually taking out a letter from his pocket and gesturing with it.
Seeing this, Soi Fon, who was about to say something else, instantly fell silent, her expression becoming hesitant.
After carefully considering the difference in strength between herself and Shunsui, she removed her hand from her Zanpakutō.
"Don't let it happen again."
"Thanks a lot."
Shunsui chuckled as he slipped the letter into Soi Fon's hand and walked openly into the prison.
Soi Fon took the letter and looked towards her Vice-Captain, who was a step behind. "Don't reveal this matter to anyone, otherwise..."
"Captain, I suddenly remembered my sister needed me today. I'd like to request a leave of absence."
Ōmaeda's body stiffened, and he ran back the way he came without looking back.
Soi Fon nodded in satisfaction. Then she lowered her head, opened the letter, and looked at its contents.