Chapter 124: Battlefield Type Kidō
Rumble.
Lead gray clouds quietly swallowed the firmament. Winter thunder rolled in muffled bursts, and fine snow began to fall.
The violent turbulence of spiritual pressure ravaged the air, turning the atmosphere unstable. The swirling white flakes, which should have carried the calm of New Year's Eve, instead screamed through the wind without pause.
A clash between two armies, unlike anything seen since the war a thousand years ago.
Shino Ward had become the very center of the vortex of power, a forbidden zone for ordinary souls. Forget stepping inside. Even drawing near was enough to invite death.
Especially when Yhwach's eyes met Takeru's, a chill ran through both camps.
"It seems you were well prepared," Yhwach asked with open interest. "When was I exposed?"
"Naturally, in Hueco Mundo."
Even standing on the ground, Takeru's presence was no less imposing. His words and gaze alone pressed down on the Schutzstaffel, forcing their expressions to tighten.
"At first, I thought it was the Arrancar. But after we cleared the area around the camp, the feeling of being watched never went away. That's when I knew a third party was pulling strings in the shadows."
"And after the incident at the front lines, that feeling intensified all at once."
Yhwach's eyes narrowed slightly in understanding.
"The surge in surveillance made you feel danger. So you summoned those technicians to Las Noches, and while rescuing Yamamoto Genryūsai and the others, you reverse tracked the source and located the Wandenreich."
"And by doing so, you discovered the Quincies hidden in Seireitei's shadows."
Takeru did not answer. His silence was agreement enough.
Beside him, Isshin, Tsubakabe, Zaraki Kyōya, Amagai, Yushima Ōshū, Mebari, and Ashido all glanced at him in unison.
Only now did they understand why Takeru had been so certain the enemy would exploit this moment.
If anyone managed to reverse locate a behemoth like the Wandenreich, hidden beneath Seireitei for a thousand years, shock alone would not be the end of it. The resulting crisis would force preparations, no matter the cost.
"But," Yhwach continued, voice calm, "the Wandenreich has remained hidden for a thousand years. During this millennium, Soul Society has endured more than one upheaval."
"For example, the disappearance of Yamamoto Genryūsai, and the Zanpakutō rebellion. Both were once in a thousand year opportunities to invade, yet I did not act."
"So why were you so sure I would act this time?"
"Was it simply because you discovered the Wandenreich's existence?"
The interest in his gaze deepened. The question hung in the air, because it was not only his curiosity. Many on both sides wanted the answer.
"No," Takeru said bluntly. "I just felt that if I were the emperor, I would never miss this opportunity."
"If you miss it, you never get another chance to turn the board."
It was not profanity, but it cut deeper than any curse.
Lille Barro's eyes flared, and he took an involuntary step forward.
"What did you say, you brat! In terms of strength, we are clearly superior…!"
"Hey, hey, calm down!" Askin hurriedly restrained him. "Even if you want to attack, you wait for His Majesty's word!"
Other Sternritter looked just as displeased, but none were as impulsive as Lille.
Then Yhwach let out a low chuckle.
"Shimiya Takeru, I must admit you are not entirely wrong."
Those words left the irritated Quincies momentarily stunned.
How could the sovereign be the first to concede ground?
Yhwach did not care what his subordinates thought. His gaze on Takeru was appreciative and vicious at the same time.
"To conquer Soul Society, I drafted a list of special war powers."
"That list represents the uncertain factors in war."
"You are among them."
"The Wandenreich did not act until now, not because we feared those on the list, but because it was unnecessary."
"The threat of the special war powers will vanish with the arrival of a certain day. We only needed to wait for that day."
"But what I did not expect was that, even without my seeking it, fate itself cleared the obstacles and made that day arrive early."
"Even if, as you say, I have only one chance, that one chance will succeed."
"Because the future I desire will certainly descend, and it will certainly be reflected in my eyes."
"This is not coincidence, and not opportunism. It is the natural flow of fate."
"Everything exists for me to take."
"Even your soul, which symbolizes the unknown, is no exception."
His domineering voice mingled with winter thunder, rolling across the sky.
"Are you done talking nonsense?" Takeru slid his hands into his haori pockets.
He did not look like he was bracing to fight, yet the spiritual pressure he released made everyone feel as if a blade had been pressed to their throats.
Yhwach smiled faintly.
"I must admit, I see the shadow of Yamamoto Genryūsai in you."
"The companions you chose, the courage to face me now, the resolve to overturn everything. It is as if I have returned to a thousand years ago."
"This moment mirrors that moment."
"Is this the final death throes of Shinigami destiny?"
"Though Shinigami are fated to be swept into history's trash heap, with your talent, I can make an exception."
"I will allow you to join the Empire, and even grant you greater power."
"If you refuse, then I will treat you with the same attitude I once held toward Yamamoto Genryūsai."
The weight behind those words sent a chill straight into Takeru's marrow. At the same time, it felt like countless needles were pricking through his skin, stinging across his entire body.
He knew what it was.
His sense of crisis.
Yet Takeru did not waver in the slightest. His pupils burned like two black suns, and his killing intent surged as if it wanted to reduce Yhwach to ash.
"Treat me the way you treated the Captain Commander? Perfect."
"Because I'll deal with you exactly the way the Captain Commander did back then."
"Then I'll use your head as the stepping stone for my promotion!"
"Ha!" Yhwach laughed instead of getting angry.
His gaze swept over Zaraki Kyōya and the others, and he spoke with cold certainty.
"With just these few… half dead losers?"
The words were brutal, but even after eight Schutzstaffel had been killed, the reality remained. The imbalance in numbers was still overwhelming.
"Of course," Takeru continued, "it's not just them."
The ground trembled.
Yhwach and the remaining Schutzstaffel turned, and saw darkness spreading across the earth like low black clouds.
It was not clouds.
It was Shinigami.
At least a thousand of them.
Lieutenants of the Gotei 13, and the strongest combat oriented squad members from the ranks.
"Oooooohhhhh!"
Their roar shook through the snow as they advanced behind their respective captains and lieutenants, sealing off Yhwach's retreat.
Divisions fanned out, surrounding the Shino Ward area. Main roads, rooftops, walls, the silhouettes of Shinigami were everywhere.
Yet the most eye catching figures stood in the front line.
Suì Fēng and Ōmaeda of the Second Division.
Kira of the Third Division.
Retsu Unohana and Isane of the Fourth Division.
Hinamori Momo of the Fifth Division.
Byakuya and Renji of the Sixth Division.
Komamura of the Seventh Division.
Kyōraku and Nanao of the Eighth Division.
Shūhei of the Ninth Division.
Tōshirō and Rangiku of the Tenth Division.
Kenpachi of the Eleventh Division.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Nemu of the Twelfth Division.
Ukitake of the Thirteenth Division.
Eighteen figures in total.
Among them were as many as nine captain level combatants.
They held their spiritual pressure in check, yet the air still thickened under the sheer density. If the momentum of Takeru's side felt like a vast army, then this was a literal one.
Caught in a pincer between two vast armies, Quincy expressions changed sharply.
"Oh no!"
"The Shinigami captains have been rescued!"
"Was this a trap?!"
"Silence!"
Haschwalth's reprimand snapped the voices shut.
"There is no need to panic. Those are merely fakes created by the Shinigami."
Everyone froze.
It was true.
The familiar faces leading the divisions were reigai created by Kagerōza.
Boom!
Massive figures, like small mountains, slammed down.
Jidanbō, Kaiwan, Danzōmaru, and Higonyūdō. The four gatekeepers of Seireitei.
"Looks like we made it in time."
Kūkaku stood on Jidanbō's shoulder, dragging Ganju along with her. She crossed her prosthetic arm and real arm over her chest, eyes shining brightly.
And behind the reigai were not only nameless lieutenants and squad members from the past.
Some were people Takeru knew.
Kagerōza, Nozomi, and Rangiku.
Rindō Yū and Hachihara Kumayuru, who had been buried in deep cultivation for a long time, were also here.
They stood within the Ninth Division camp.
Among them, the intellectual, elegant Rangiku held a firearm that looked like a Gatling gun.
The presence released by the five of them, plus the reigai Shūhei, was not inferior to the divisions led by the reigai captains.
Beside the reigai Kira of the Third Division stood a relatively unfamiliar young man. Kibune Ri, a member of the Expeditionary Force who had been urgently recalled along with Amagai.
And at the end of the Eleventh Division line, a lean, tough man in a hood deliberately hid his face, silently blended into the ranks.
"Even though I planned to live out the rest of my life in anonymity after Lord Kariya's death… I can't do it after all."
His gaze burned toward the front, toward the figure who had gathered everyone here, and he clenched his fist as fighting spirit rose.
Compared to hiding away, Ichinose Maki would rather fight for someone once more, even if it cost him the life that should have rotted in the wilderness long ago.
At the same time, Takeru's voice carried across the battlefield, vibrating alongside his spiritual pressure.
"Do you see? In Soul Society, there are plenty of people who want to kill you."
A cold curve formed at the corner of Yhwach's mouth.
"Ah, I see it. I see Soul Society's resistance, and I foresee the death of everyone who resists me."
"How unfortunate. If you had hidden away and dragged out your last breath, you might have lived a few more days in despair and fear, spending the last New Year of your lives."
"Since you refuse to cherish it, I need not be merciful."
"Go, members of the Schutzstaffel."
"Offer me a New Year's gift with the lives of my enemies."
At Yhwach's order, Lille Barro, unable to suppress the boiling intent in his blood, was the first to charge at Takeru.
"Lille Barro!" someone shouted. "You want to take all the glory for yourself?!"
"Damn it… the special war power is mine!"
"It should be ours. Little Bambi is so lacking in team spirit."
The four members of the Female Knights followed immediately.
In response, terrifying spiritual pressure erupted from Takeru's body.
Silver blue light poured outward and flooded the ground.
In the next instant, a silver blue skeletal giant rose up.
Black and red electric arcs crackled across its frame, each one carrying the power to tear space apart.
"Small fry, get out of my way!"
Roar!
The skeletal giant roared at the sky.
The sound was deafening.
Augmented by Black Flash, even a roar laced with spiritual pressure became unavoidable. Shockwaves stacked atop shockwaves, blasting the atmosphere apart and turning the world into a vast white blur.
Even the air itself seemed to wrinkle. Visibility collapsed, and nothing could be seen clearly.
"Burner Finger… gwah!"
"Damn it…!"
"My ears… I can't hear anything!"
Lille Barro released his technique quickly, but not faster than sound.
Candice Catnipp and the others were the same.
They had no time to activate their powers before the shockwaves struck. Their heads rang from the vibration. If they had not instinctively used Seikessen, their bodies might have shattered on the spot.
They rushed in fast.
They were thrown back even faster.
The Schutzstaffel behind them changed expression, but they could not evade the roar either. They were all blasted away, sent flying straight into the embrace of the Gotei 13 forces behind them.
Inside the skeletal giant, shielded from the roar, Isshin and the others stared in shock.
"As expected of the General," Isshin muttered. "Cleaning up like this makes things way easier. I'm heading out first!"
He vanished.
"Then I shall go as well," Zaraki Kyōya said.
His figure dissolved, merging into the atmosphere as he pursued the scattered Schutzstaffel.
Amagai and the rest understood the priority too. Clip the enemy's wings first. One after another, they split off in different directions.
Takeru said nothing.
He only focused on reinforcing the giant.
He made the Karasu Tengu rise to its full height.
Now, from within the diamond shaped space on its forehead, it was his turn to look down upon Yhwach.
"To think Shinigami power could catalyze such a spectacular creation, approaching the form of a god," Yhwach said, eyes sharp.
"I am well aware that only you can achieve this. Including that peculiar black lightning just now."
"But that move should not be something you use casually."
"You should have cherished that hard won opportunity."
"If you had used your full strength to strike me with a blade, perhaps my head would already have fallen."
"Or perhaps I would have been left without even a corpse."
Takeru's expression did not change.
"If no one stood at your side, I would have tried."
"…."
Not all Schutzstaffel had been blown away.
Haschwalth remained.
Sword in one hand, shield in the other, he stood before Yhwach.
It looked like he had blocked the shockwaves for his emperor, but strictly speaking, what he stopped was not the roar itself.
He blocked Takeru's killing intent.
The moment Black Flash characteristics appeared, Haschwalth had raised his shield.
And because of that, Takeru did not unleash an even stronger strike.
To avoid having it reflected back.
He could attempt to overwhelm skill with raw force, but spending that much power on Haschwalth alone was not worth it.
Yhwach seemed to see through him and smiled.
"Haschwalth, go and fight as well."
"Your Majesty intends to take the field personally?" Haschwalth's brow tightened.
"Yes." Fierce light flickered in Yhwach's eyes.
"I said I would treat him with the same attitude I had toward Yamamoto Genryūsai."
"In that case, I must act with my own hands."
"This is not something to be left to others."
"Understood," Haschwalth said, withdrawing his weapons.
He bowed, a hand to his chest.
"I wish you enjoyment."
Then he vanished.
"Enjoyment?" Yhwach rose to the same height as the Karasu Tengu, unconcerned about any surprise attack, and looked down at the battlefield behind them.
"That is not wrong, I suppose."
The Schutzstaffel members who had been blown away immediately summoned the Soldat of the Wandenreich to prevent being swallowed by numbers.
They were special forces selected through rigorous training, with the coordination of a modern army. Individually, each possessed strength comparable to a lieutenant. Paired with advanced tactics and equipment suited to the Quincy system, more than a thousand elite soldiers surged from the shadows.
In a single exchange, they split the divisions apart. The battlefield fractured into countless pieces, and modern slaughter erupted everywhere at once.
And clearly, the Soldat, with higher overall combat quality, held a greater probability of winning in direct clashes.
Then the Karasu Tengu stomped.
The battle's state changed instantly.
Eight differently colored auras spread from beneath its feet like ripples.
This was a new Kidō Takeru had comprehended after the expedition to Hueco Mundo.
If it had to be classified, it could only be called war type Kidō.
Focus Aura: increases the defensive strength of the shihakushō and physical body by 10%.
Thorn Aura: any attack received causes the attacker to suffer 10% spiritual pressure damage.
Strong Strike Aura: attacks have a 10% chance to deal double damage.
Endurance Aura: increases movement speed and neural reflex speed by 10%.
Vampirism Aura: while dealing damage to the enemy, heals the user through Bakudo, with healing equal to 50% of damage inflicted.
Brilliance Aura: spiritual pressure recovery speed becomes twice the normal rate.
Command Aura: increases the strength of any form of attack by 10%, stackable with Strong Strike Aura.
Unholy Aura: stamina recovery speed becomes twice the normal rate.
The eight auras expanded to the edge of Takeru's spiritual pressure coverage. As long as someone was within that range and identified as an ally, they received the full boost of all eight techniques.
Takeru received them as well.
Eight different colors glowed beneath the Karasu Tengu's feet, vivid as a rainbow.
The other Shinigami were the same.
For a moment, the battlefield became strangely colorful and vibrant.
High above, watching through the chaos, Takeru smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes.
"How about it, Yhwach? Does it feel a little like an amusement park?"
"You bastard…!" Yhwach's face tightened.
Through the eyes and ears of the Quincy, he could feel just how absurd the boost was.
"Yamamoto Genryūsai did not have such ability."
"What are you talking about?" Takeru drew his Zanpakutō.
"My teacher is Aizen Sōsuke."
Then the voice shifted.
"So, are you going to surrender?"
"…Why would I need to surrender?" Yhwach spread his hands, reishi flames igniting.
His spiritual power surged like he held two massive stars, and the winter thunder above turned into lightning that ripped through the lead gray clouds.
Winds screamed through the snow, the sky itself resembling a natural disaster descending.
"Save your sleep talk for your dreams!" Takeru's eyes flashed.
The Karasu Tengu's eyes flared with brilliant golden light.
Spiritual pressure climbed to its peak in an instant.
It was obvious a devastating technique was coming.
Yhwach made full preparations to answer it.
But then, one Word Spirit fell.
"Izanami!"
At the cost of the Karasu Tengu shattering, brilliance erupted, more dazzling and dreamlike than the light that had consumed Kuchiki Kyōka.
Ignoring Yhwach's defenses entirely, it dragged him into an infinite, eternal cycle.
.....
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