Under Haschwalth's decree, the four set out.
Pernida took the right flank and soon crashed right into the Tenth Division led by Shiba Isshin.
It was wrapped in a large white cloak, its two bulbous eyes glowing with a dim yellow light under the shadow of its hood.
Shiba Isshin vigilantly prepared for battle; he could recognize the intensity of its spiritual pressure.
Even though he had already gone through several battles, big and small, he was still in quite good condition.
He ordered his squad members to spread out and stand guard, gripping Engetsu tightly as crimson flames ignited on the blade.
Reishi arrows shot out without warning.
High-density Reishi arrows condensed in front of Pernida, firing one after another.
Shiba Isshin used Engetsu to split the first few. Waves of heat exploded outward when the flames collided with the Reishi.
He lowered his stance and pressed forward, Getsuga Tensho condensing on his blade.
With a slash, a crimson, crescent-shaped wave tore out, the intense heat melting the gravel into glass.
Pernida dodged backward. A corner of its cloak was burned away by the fierce flames, but the main body beneath remained unexposed.
However, the next moment, Pernida's ability activated.
Schrift C, The Compulsory.
Pernida released its nerves outside its body.
As long as one was touched by its released nerves, they would be controlled. Pernida could alter the shape and state of motion of whatever it touched.
Shiba Isshin suddenly felt his right arm, which was swinging the sword, twist violently.
His elbow joint felt as if it had been grabbed by an invisible hand and forcibly wrenched in the opposite direction.
He didn't know what was happening, and he didn't know how to stop it despite wanting to.
The next moment, a dull, sickening crack of bone rang out, and his tendons were stretched to their absolute limits.
Agonizing pain exploded. He gritted his teeth and looked down. His right arm was already unnaturally twisted into a braided shape.
Engetsu slipped from his grasp, the flames dying out as the blade buried itself in the ground.
'Wh-what kind of ability is this...'
Cold sweat rolled down his forehead. Shiba Isshin clamped his jaw shut, forcing himself not to cry out.
Struggling, he reached out his left hand to grab Engetsu's hilt. Just as his fingertips brushed it, the five fingers of his left hand began to contort, the knuckles bending backward toward the back of his hand one by one.
The joints began bending in the opposite direction, emitting a teeth-aching sound of friction.
Shiba Isshin Shunpoed backward. He couldn't figure out the enemy's ability; he was severely injured in their first clash and had almost lost his combat capability entirely.
The Soul Reaper squad members beside him retreated at his urging, but quite a few still suddenly froze in place. Their limbs began to contort, eventually crushing them into balls of flesh, thoroughly ending their lives.
Shiba Isshin watched the scene unfold before him, his pupils trembling, unsure of how to respond.
'What kind of terrifying ability is this?!'
'Could it be that I'm going to die here today...?'
Meanwhile, on the left flank, the flanking forces led by Kyoraku Shunsui clashed with Lille Barro.
He carried that massive black Reishi sniper rifle, the barrel gleaming coldly under the grayish-white sky.
Landing without a word, he dropped to one knee, set up the sniper rifle, and aimed the muzzle in Kyoraku's direction.
Kyoraku's reaction was faster than he had anticipated. The moment the muzzle was raised, he had already shifted half a body length to the side while simultaneously raising his sword to block.
However, a golden beam of light grazed past Kyoraku's Zanpakuto and scraped his left shoulder, drawing a spray of blood.
Kyoraku Shunsui looked at his left shoulder, where a chunk was missing and blood was beginning to spurt, his mouth stiffening into a forced smile.
"Hey, hey... what kind of terrifying attack power is this? Even my Zanpakuto can't manage to block it for a second?"
Lille Barro raised his sniper rifle once again.
Schrift X, The X-Axis.
He pulled the trigger in rapid succession.
Several beams of light shot out from the barrel simultaneously, covering every direction Kyoraku might try to dodge.
Kyoraku's Shunpo left afterimages in the narrow alley, yet a scorch mark was still grazed onto his body, burning a clean-edged hole through his Shihakusho.
"When the flower wind dances, the flower god weeps. When the heavenly wind dances, the heavenly demon laughs. Katen Kyokotsu."
Kyoraku drew his dual blades.
He darted into the shadows behind a building, using the darkness to conceal his repositioning.
Katen Kyokotsu's ability involved children's games, and the rule was mandatory participation. Relying on an information disparity, he could attempt to spar with the enemy.
"Come, let's play a game."
"One, two, three..."
"Daruma-san ga koronda."
Kyoraku's figure vanished, appearing behind Lille Barro in the next moment, his left blade slashing toward Lille Barro's back.
Lille Barro reacted extremely fast, dodging swiftly while furrowing his brow.
This Kyoraku Shunsui's ability was rather troublesome.
The two became locked in a tangled fight.
On the main battlefield.
Gerard Valkyrie strode heavily down the main street.
With his massive physique, holding a short sword and a buckler, a confident smile hung on his face.
In front of him, Yamamoto Shigekuni's Ryujin Jakka had already been drawn.
Seeing him, Gerard's eyes lit up.
"The Head Captain of the Gotei 13."
Gerard raised the short sword in his hand.
"Looks like I caught a big fish."
The short sword named Hoffnung chopped down, trailing high-density Reishi flames.
Yamamoto raised his blade to meet it, and Ryujin Jakka clashed head-on with Hoffnung.
A ring of blazing white light exploded from the point where the two blades met, shockwaves spreading in all directions.
The stone slabs of the street were ripped up, gravel shooting into the air. The outer walls of nearby buildings cracked with spiderweb-like fissures.
Yamamoto didn't retreat; Gerard's Hoffnung was deflected.
He countered with an upward slash. The scorching blade cleaved into Gerard's shield of justice, carving a crack from the center to the edge.
The crack expanded, and fragments began to peel off. Gerard looked down at his shattered shield, his smile widening instead of fading.
"Excellent."
The shield of justice shattered completely, its fragments turning into Reishi in mid-air before re-condensing back onto his left arm, the patterns even denser than before.
In that same instant, the blade of Hoffnung lengthened significantly, and pale gold Reishi patterns surfaced on the black steel.
Gerard's body expanded a full size, his shoulder width surpassing the distance between the buildings on either side of the street.
"My Schrift M, The Miracle."
"The greater the damage I take, the more power is returned. Your slashes will only make me stronger."
"And my sword can return all the damage it sustains back to the attacker!"
He swung his sword horizontally.
Yamamoto side-stepped, and the sword wind sliced through the entire row of buildings behind him.
The old man countered with a slash, the scorching blade tearing a massive wound across Gerard's chest from his collarbone to his abdomen. Even his Blut Vene could hardly block it.
The scorched flesh at the edges of the wound peeled back, revealing the flame-scorched bones and meridians beneath, while fragments of ruptured Reishi blood vessels drifted in the air.
Gerard looked down at his wound, his smile unceasing, as the wound was already healing.
Bones were reforged, tendons rewoven, and skin recovered.
The scorch marks were entirely replaced by newly formed tissue. Dense black patterns surfaced on the newly grown muscles, spreading in rings from his chest to his shoulders and arms.
"Not enough! More!"
His body swelled several times its size in an instant.
Hoffnung grew in tandem. The black Reishi patterns on the blade shifted from pale gold to a blazing gold. The tip of the sword dragged along the ground, gouging a deep trench into the stone paving.
Yamamoto looked at the monster before him, which only grew larger the more he fought, his hand gripping the sword as steady as a boulder.
"Hasumi Ren."
"Here."
"Lead the squad members and continue advancing. Do everything in your power to annihilate the enemy."
Hasumi Ren glanced at Gerard's continuously expanding body, and then at Yamamoto's unfazed face.
He knew that whatever he said wouldn't affect Yamamoto's decision.
"Be careful, Head Captain."
Yamamoto didn't reply; only the flames on Ryujin Jakka's blade roared higher.
Hasumi Ren turned and left. Before he had gone far, a Reishi blade slashed at him from the side.
He sidestepped to avoid it. The blade brushed past his ear, slicing off a few strands of white hair.
Quilge stood in the middle of the street.
The Reishi blade in his hand was humming.
Several Quincies followed behind him, launching attacks at the surrounding Soul Reaper squad members.
Quilge adjusted his sunglasses.
"I won't let you pass this time."
Hasumi Ren drew his sword and charged forward, clashing with Quilge.
Zanpakuto and Reishi blade collided, sending sparks flying.
Quilge's combat skills were more comprehensive than any Sternritter member he had encountered thus far.
The Reishi blade constantly changed direction amidst the gaps of Hasumi Ren's slashes, moving so fast it left sharp whistling sounds in the air.
One horizontal slash was parried away by Hasumi Ren, but the second strike was already thrusting upward toward his abdomen.
Hasumi Ren sidestepped to dodge. Quilge flipped, using the momentum to bring down a vertical chop. Hasumi Ren raised his sword to block once again.
"To dare compete with me head-on in Zanjutsu, how truly arrogant, Quincy."
Hasumi Ren no longer held back. His Zanpakuto transformed into a torrential storm, viciously attacking Quilge.
Soon, the close-quarters combat left several wounds on Quilge's body. But thanks to the defensive power of his Blut Vene, they were only extremely superficial flesh wounds.
Quilge could not hide his declining momentum; he couldn't gain any advantage in close-quarters combat.
"Quincy Vollstandig!"
In the next moment, Quilge entered his Vollstandig state. A halo bearing the Quincy mark appeared above his head, and wings composed of Reishi rose from his back.
Quilge's spiritual pressure spiked dramatically. He retracted his Reishi blade, shaping it into a bow and arrow, condensing high-density Reishi spheres of light, and continuously firing Heilig Pfeil.
Hasumi Ren met the attacks head-on with his Zanpakuto, taking the opportunity to press forward with continuous slashes, beating Quilge into a constant retreat.
Quilge found him incredibly difficult to deal with; he hadn't expected to still struggle so much against Hasumi Ren even in his Vollstandig state.
It seemed he would have to use that skill.
"Sklaverei."
He activated the Quincy's ultimate technique.
The Reishi in the surrounding environment began frantically converging toward him.
The coating on the stone walls peeled off, the ground was torn apart, and even the Reishi fragments suspended in the air began to flow backward.
The Reishi wings behind Quilge expanded several times over, and the light radiating from his blade became so blinding it was almost impossible to look at directly.
Hasumi Ren watched him, unmoving.
He raised his left hand, spreading his five fingers, and aimed at Quilge's direction.
The Schrift ability awakened to 30% activated.
"Consume."
A power originating from the exact same source as a Quincy's surged from Hasumi Ren's palm.
This power directly locked onto the spiritual power within Quilge's body, forcibly stripping and devouring the Reishi from him.
[SYSTEM: Obtained Spiritual Power Fragment x5, Spiritual Pressure EXP +500]
[SYSTEM: Obtained Spiritual Power Fragment x8, Spiritual Pressure EXP +800]
...
The smile on Quilge's face froze.
He felt the spiritual power inside his body draining outward in an uncontrollable manner.
It was as if some force was drawing it directly from his soul link.
The Reishi absorbed by Sklaverei uncontrollably flowed backward, turning into fine points of light that flew toward Hasumi Ren and poured into his body.
"How, how could you... What kind of ability is this?!"
Quilge's eyes went wide, filled with fear.
Why could a Soul Reaper absorb his power?
Quilge didn't dare think too deeply about it, merely assuming it was the unique ability of Hasumi Ren's Zanpakuto.
In the next moment, Quilge gritted his teeth and activated Schrift J.
A Reishi cage shot violently from his hand, lunging toward Hasumi Ren.
However, Quilge didn't know that after seeing this ability used during his clash with Shiba Isshin, Hasumi Ren had already completely analyzed it.
The Reishi cage expanded instantly, enveloping Hasumi Ren within.
Yet, in the very next moment, Hasumi Ren swung his Zanpakuto and shattered the entire cage to pieces.
Quilge's eyes widened so much they almost burst his lenses.
The Schrift ability he was so proud of was actually ineffective against Hasumi Ren.
And his power was currently being siphoned away by an unknown ability.
Why...
Hasumi Ren took a step forward, his Zanpakuto slicing in diagonally, cleaving half of Quilge's body open with a single strike.
Under the continuous effect of Hasumi Ren's Consume ability, the defense of Quilge's Blut Vene was gradually deteriorating, making it difficult to withstand Hasumi Ren's slashes.
Quilge looked down at the wound on his chest. His fingers twitched, and then he let out a roar of rage.
"Ransotengai!"
"I have yet to follow His Majesty to witness the great cause. How can I fall here!"
Ransotengai activated. Fine Reishi threads reconstructed his heavily injured body, allowing him to continue fighting.
He forced himself to block a few more of Hasumi Ren's attacks, but the wounds on his body multiplied. Even Ransotengai struggled to support such a broken body.
As he was now, he was beyond saving.
Hasumi Ren's blade was raised high, severing Quilge's head.
System prompts refreshed before his eyes.
[SYSTEM: Obtained Spiritual Power Fragment Cluster x1, Spiritual Pressure EXP +1500]
[SYSTEM: Obtained Schrift Fragment x1, Schrift Awakening Level +5%]
[SYSTEM: Schrift A - The Almighty (Consume), Awakening Level: 35%]
Hasumi Ren sheathed his sword.
He leapt to a high vantage point, observing the distance.
On the left flank, Kyoraku and Lille Barro were still locked in combat, but without activating Bankai, the situation looked grim.
On the right flank, Shiba Isshin was collapsed on the ground. Pernida's ability was unsolvable; he was too heavily injured and could no longer fight.
Just then, new information came through Tenteikura.
The Quincies had dispatched a squad that emerged from the shadows to launch a sneak attack on the rear of the Seireitei.
The captains and vice-captains left behind had already engaged the enemy. They could hold on for now, but the situation wasn't optimistic.
Just as Hasumi Ren was about to reply, another spiritual pressure appeared in his perception. It came from the right flank, from where Shiba Isshin had fallen.
That was... Aizen?
Why would he appear here?
At this moment, Aizen Sosuke stood not far from Shiba Isshin, whose limbs were twisted as he lay on the ground.
His eyes quietly locked onto Pernida.
Through his observations just now, Aizen had already deduced the general range of Pernida's ability, and he was currently standing outside the danger zone.
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."
The light of his Zanpakuto's Shikai flashed briefly in the air.
After using Kyoka Suigetsu to conceal his presence, Aizen began probing the Quincy.
"Hado #90: Kurohitsugi."
A pitch-black cube compressed inward from all directions, completely sealing Pernida inside.
Shadow blades slashed frantically within Kurohitsugi, containing enough destructive power to instantly kill a captain-level combatant.
When the shadow blades ceased, Pernida's body was covered in crisscrossing gashes. The cloak was torn to shreds, revealing the true form of the twisted, deformed giant hand underneath.
Pitch-black chains were wrapped between its five fingers, breaking apart on their own and scattering across the ground.
The giant hand flipped over, and the palm split open, revealing two bloodshot eyes.
And its wounds were slowly healing.
Aizen watched it in astonishment, casually pulling the Hogyoku from his robes.
The deep blue halo within the transparent prism surged violently. The Hogyoku was trembling; its craving and agitation exceeded anything Aizen had ever seen before.
Looking at the Hogyoku, the corners of Aizen's mouth turned up uncontrollably, the excitement in his eyes burning like fire.
He looked at Pernida, at the form of that giant hand.
"What exactly are you?"