Shiba Miyako whipped her head around. There was no one behind her, nor were there any Hollows. *Was the voice I just heard an illusion?*
A bloodcurdling scream echoed from the direction of the battlefield. Miyako turned back, but the scene before her had become chillingly unfamiliar.
The Hollow ahead was now supporting its weight solely on its middle two legs. Its four front and back claws each gripped a squad member—the very four who had just managed to wound it.
From above, Fujiwara and the others in charge of disruption raised their Zanpakutō high, slashing down toward the Hollow's head. But in the next second, they were swatted heavily to the ground by the tentacles on its back.
Miyako rushed to Fujiwara, who was closest to her. Drawing her Zanpakutō, she temporarily forced back the pursuing tentacles and shouted, "Why did you come down?!"
"W-Wasn't it you who ordered us to save them, Third Seat?" Fujiwara said, using his Zanpakutō as a crutch to stand up. According to their original plan, the vanguard below was supposed to attack first, while they provided timely support from above.
But before they could react, the four main attackers were instantly captured. Just as they were about to use Kidō to assist, Miyako had supposedly issued the command for a direct rescue. They were only following orders!
*Order a rescue? When did I ever give that command?* A thousand questions swirled in Miyako's mind, but this was no time to ask them. Right now, only two paths lay before her: abandon them, or save them.
*Save them.* There was no need to think, nor was it even a choice. Gripping her Zanpakutō with both hands, Miyako charged at the Hollow. She couldn't just turn a blind eye and watch her subordinates be eaten alive.
"She charged right in? She should have run away first at a time like this." In a tree not far behind Miyako, Ichimaru Gin watched as her advance was halted by a thrown squad member, casually offering his own commentary. "She should have just ignored that guy. If she did, she'd still have a chance to kill Metastacia directly."
As soon as he spoke, the Hollow known as Metastacia took advantage of the opening created when Miyako caught her thrown subordinate. It shoved the Shinigami in its other claw straight into its mouth, deliberately chewing twice—a truly nauseating display of sadism.
"She clearly could have sacrificed one person to save seven, but now at least two are going to die. Tsk, tsk." Gin shook his head with a look of disdain. It was obvious he didn't approve of Miyako's mercy.
At that moment, Aizen spoke up from behind him, offering a completely contrary opinion. "If she didn't do this, she wouldn't be able to save a single one. Now, she might actually bring one or two back."
"Oh? Is that possible? I thought it was predetermined long ago that this place would be the grave for all of them," Gin countered. Setting aside Metastacia's strength, Aizen's mere presence here meant he wouldn't allow a single living soul to leave.
"It was predetermined, but not entirely because of us." Aizen nodded, then shook his head. "Mercy without self-awareness is simply greed, and without the ability to match it, greed leaves you with nothing."
Gin thought about it for a moment. There didn't seem to be any flaws in Aizen's logic. "Losing even herself in the process... that kind of 'nothing' is certainly thorough enough."
"That is not necessarily true. Shiba Miyako might just be the sole survivor."
"Because of Kōe Shihouin?" Seeing Aizen nod, Gin continued, "He did pull quite a few little tricks with Shiba Miyako while we were away, but that doesn't prove the Hōgyoku is on her. Are you sure he isn't just laying down a smokescreen?"
During the time they had left Soul Society for Hueco Mundo, Kōe's contact with the Shiba couple had become much more frequent. There was also that little girl from Squad 13, Kuchiki Rukia. Strictly speaking, the Shiba couple had only received Kōe's guidance by benefiting from her association.
However, after learning that Rukia was actually introduced to him by Kaien, and having confirmed long ago that Shiba Kaien didn't know the full truth behind Urahara Kisuke's defection, the little girl Rukia suddenly seemed far less important.
Why would Kōe insist on dragging the Shiba couple into this? Before Kōe's return to the Seireitei, Kaien was ostensibly the only person Urahara Kisuke could contact within the Seireitei. The Shiba couple was indeed the biggest blind spot where Urahara could have hidden the Hōgyoku.
But the question remained: would Kōe's actions be this obvious? Was his interference with Shiba Miyako a deliberate smokescreen to hide the Hōgyoku's true location, or was he doing the exact opposite, playing a game of hiding it in plain sight?
Both were entirely possible. The Hōgyoku might even be on Kōe himself; he was the most conspicuous, yet easily overlooked blind spot of all.
From Gin's perspective, however, he felt Kōe had absolutely no need to go to such lengths. First, this kind of reverse psychology would hold up even without these actions, and the effect might have been even better.
Second, he knew that Aizen could never possibly overlook Kōe.
Third, and finally, these actions didn't help Kōe at all. Instead, they only piqued Aizen's interest enough to test the waters—just like he was doing right now.
Gin looked toward Miyako. The situation was developing exactly as Aizen had predicted. In her desperate attempts to save her dying teammates, Miyako had vainly exhausted most of her stamina, squandering far too many theoretical opportunities to either slay Metastacia or escape.
Metastacia was far smarter than her in comparison. It temporarily placed the food in its hands on the ground solely to ensure no one escaped its grasp. What a clever, greedy monster.
"Run, Third Seat Shiba..."
Miyako watched as yet another squad member was torn apart by the Hollow. The teammate she had just caught had also lost all signs of life. In the end, she hadn't been able to save a single one...
Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes, but a raging fire burned within them. She wanted nothing more than to tear the hideous monster before her to shreds, but she couldn't. She knew very well that she had to run now, to bring back the final stories of these people...
*Miyako, we cannot selfishly choose to die in battle alone.*
*Is it because we have to bring back the final intelligence?*
*That's part of it, but not all...* Kaien's words surfaced in Miyako's mind. *Your feelings, your story will influence your comrades, and thus be passed on forever. For us, whose bodies disappear so quickly after death, isn't that incredibly important?*
*Yes, it is important!* Ignoring the Hollow's continued provocations, Miyako turned her head, gritted her teeth, and gently laid down the corpse in her arms. She made a silent vow in her heart: *I will bring your feelings and your stories back. I promise!*
Seeing that the female Shinigami had firmly decided to retreat, Metastacia continued to mutter to itself while pushing off its legs to leap high into the air. Its speed was more than double what it had been while toying with Miyako. In the blink of an eye, it blocked her escape route and swiped its right claw.
Caught off guard, Miyako could only raise her blade to block. She was sent flying by the claw, her Zanpakutō snapping into two pieces in her hands, her body feeling as if it had been shattered.
*I can't escape.* Watching the massive maw draw closer, Miyako felt little despair in her heart. She struggled to raise the broken blade in her right hand, even though she knew she no longer had the strength to swing it.
Suddenly, a dazzling orange light bloomed from the broken blade. The beam of light acted like a paintbrush, drawing a four-sided pyramid in the air that completely enveloped Miyako. When the Hollow outside collided with the barrier, which appeared as thin as a cicada's wing, it was instantly repelled and sent flying.
"It seems I was right after all, Gin." Aizen smiled, turning his head to speak to Ichimaru Gin. "Let us go take a look. Let's see exactly what kind of trick Kōe Shihouin is playing."