The black blade that fell, unable to be dodged, instantly scrambled Quilge's brain.
"Urk..."
The focus in Quilge's pupils vanished, and he went silent.
Quilge was not a powerhouse who relied on a special ability like Gremmy.
He could be considered the standard template for a Wandenreich Quincy, and an elite one whose abilities were top-notch in all aspects.
With his 'Vollständig', he was even more troublesome. If he had been allowed to activate Ransōtengai, it would have taken Sora a lot of time to kill him.
Therefore, Sora held nothing back, switched to Blut Arterie, and unleashed his full power to take him out in one go.
"As expected of an instructor of the Wandenreich. He could actually sense that I used 'Reishi Manipulation'... perhaps the 'Vollständig' enhanced his perception of reishi... he didn't notice it when I used 'Getsuga Tenshō' against Gremmy earlier."
Sora thought to himself.
Quilge's final question was clearly because he had discovered Sora using 'Reishi Manipulation' to cast Getsuga Tenshō.
Getsuga Tenshō required charging to be released.
And 'Reishi Manipulation' allowed him to shorten the charge time and reduce the consumption of his own spiritual pressure by drawing on the reishi in the air.
Sora crouched down and pulled the pentagram emblem off the black glove on Quilge's hand.
"It's a spiritual tool similar to 'Seiren'..."
As soon as Sora took the emblem in his hand, he felt a strange sensation.
The surrounding reishi seemed to become more active.
He glanced at his panel. His 'Reishi Manipulation' ability had improved again.
[Base Abilities (Quincy):
Reishi Manipulation Lv 80 (+6)
Blut Vene Lv 80
Blut Arterie Lv 80
Hirenkyaku Lv 60]
The bonus to Reishi Manipulation had increased from +5 to +6.
Sora tried taking off the chain wrapped around his forearm. The bonus dropped from +6 back to +5.
"When wearing spiritual tools of the same type, the amplification effect is significantly weakened."
Sora put the emblem in an inner pocket of his Shihakushō, keeping it close.
Although the amplification from wearing two similar tools was diminished, it was still a positive boost.
"Captain, are you thinking of getting a new lieutenant?"
Urahara appeared with Shunpo and complained.
He looked a bit disheveled. He had been relatively close and was caught in the shockwave of Sora's attack.
"Then I'll have to recommend myself. I can do a better job than him."
Mayuri also appeared.
The battle on the other side had also ended.
Gremmy was not stupid. Seeing Instructor Quilge defeated so quickly, he knew it would be difficult for him to gain any advantage against three strong enemies and had taken the opportunity to retreat during the chaos.
While fighting Quilge, Sora had no time to deal with Gremmy, allowing him to open a shadow passage and leave the scene.
"The enemy was tough. To end the battle here quickly, I had to catch him off guard and kill him with all my strength," Sora took out his Denreishinki. "I've received several messages. I haven't had time to check them."
As the commander-in-chief, Sora also needed to provide support to other fronts. He couldn't afford to waste too much time here.
He began to check the messages from the other battlefronts.
The Technology Development Bureau had upgraded the Denreishinki, and it could now transmit text messages. Transmitting voice messages during a confrontation with the enemy could easily leak intelligence.
"Sōsuke and Isshin have encountered a strong enemy... many unusually powerful elite Quincy?"
Aizen and Isshin had not requested reinforcements, but this message was a bit old. Considering they might have encountered the elite Quincy of the Wandenreich, Sora still replied:
"I'm coming to support you now."
Aizen quickly replied with a "Received." Isshin did not reply.
The second message was from Akon.
"Akon has found the Quincy settlement, but their numbers are large. With only the 12th Division, we will likely suffer heavy casualties."
After leaving here, Akon had gone to search for the Quincy settlement.
"The 2nd and 7th Divisions have received support from the reinforcement and medical teams and are rapidly expanding their gains."
The following were victorious reports from Yoruichi and Love Aikawa.
"Isane and Kana have already returned to the Soul Society."
The last message was from Isane and Kana, reporting their safety.
Sora used his Denreishinki to contact Kensei Muguruma:
"Kensei, bring Isane with you and lead a team to the Naruki region to provide support. Assist Akon in eradicating the Quincy settlement."
Kensei's voice came through the device: "Isn't the Professor in charge of the Naruki region? Are the enemies there that strong?"
"I need to go support another front. You'll take over here," Sora said.
"I'll be right there!" Kensei replied.
Although Kensei had also mastered Bankai, Urahara and Mayuri had stronger on-the-spot adaptability. Therefore, Sora planned to take them to support Aizen and Isshin.
The strong enemies they had encountered were very likely also Sternritter.
The abilities of the Sternritter were complex and varied. Urahara and Mayuri were better at dealing with this type of enemy.
"Let's go. We're going to support the Hokkaido front."
Sora looked at Urahara and Mayuri.
They were standing over Quilge's body, discussing the Quincy.
"How have so many strong Quincy appeared in the human world in just twenty or thirty years?"
Mayuri frowned. "Their numbers are also growing explosively."
After the last Quincy extermination, although some remnants remained in the human world, they were severely weakened and didn't even dare to kill many Hollows for fear of being discovered by the Shinigami.
In just a few decades, the Quincy forces in the human world had swelled to a level even greater than before the last war.
This greatly puzzled Mayuri.
"Perhaps it's the high reproduction and growth rates of humans," Urahara stroked his chin and said hesitantly. "The Quincy in the human world also have human bodies."
Although he said this, it was difficult for him to convince himself with that explanation.
He also felt that the expansion rate of the Quincy was somewhat extraordinary.
In this war, the Soul Society had deployed more forces.
Both in terms of captain-level fighters and mid-to-low-level fighters, the forces deployed exceeded those of the last war.
However, the current situation was not as smooth as they had anticipated.
"Is that so... a rather flimsy explanation," Mayuri grinned. "After the war, we must count the number of Quincy, and the number of elite ones as well."
...
The human world, Hokkaido.
After arriving, Aizen and Isshin planned to carry out a decapitation strike, sneaking into the Quincy settlement to kill the stronger ones and reduce the casualties for the 5th and 10th Divisions.
However, on the way, they ran into a group of unusually powerful elite Quincy.
"Sōsuke, these guys look pretty tough. They seem to be pure-blooded Quincy."
Aizen and Isshin stood on a large tree, observing the movement not far away.
The Quincy had a clear class system.
Pure-blooded and mixed-blooded Quincy were basically in a master-servant relationship. They could be distinguished by the difference in their clothing.
The Quincy they had discovered were all wearing white military uniforms, a style that only pure-bloods were qualified to wear.
Bloodline had a great impact on a Quincy's strength. Pure-bloods were generally much stronger than mixed-bloods.
Therefore, these Quincy were their targets.
"Hmm... are they worshiping that shrine?"
Aizen frowned. These Quincy had hidden their spiritual pressure very well.
Instead, it was the statue in the shrine that had allowed him to sense a spiritual pressure fluctuation and notice the abnormality here.
Inside the shrine was a stone statue about a dozen centimeters tall.
The Quincy seemed to be holding some kind of worship ceremony, and a faint spiritual pressure fluctuation could be felt from within the statue.
"Do the Quincy have gods?" Isshin tried hard to recall his knowledge about them. "In the past, they seemed to have a Quincy King..."
"Let's get closer and hear what they're saying."
They heard the blond Quincy who was bowing to the statue speaking and decided to move closer.
"Your power... is indispensable..."
"We are here to invite you to the Wandenreich."
"Who's there?!"
Just as Aizen and Isshin got closer, several Heilig Pfeil shot towards them.
They had tried their best to conceal their spiritual pressure, but they were still discovered.
The two used Shunpo at the same time and disappeared, dodging the arrows.
"This is trouble... this group doesn't look easy to deal with."
Isshin landed on another branch and said gravely.
Powerful Quincy could sense the flow of reishi. It was difficult for a Shinigami to hide from their perception just by concealing their spiritual pressure.
The fact that these Quincy could discover them meant they were strong!
"Shinigami?"
A voice from behind startled Isshin.
He turned his head and saw a Quincy right behind him.
The Quincy had short hair and a beard, and wore a pair of square glasses. His face was stern and looked somewhat old.
His hands were clasped behind his back, and he stood perfectly straight.
"Clang—"
Isshin quickly drew his sword and slashed at the Quincy's waist.
The stern-faced Quincy retreated a short distance, pulling in his stomach to avoid the slash that was right in front of him.
"A swift reaction and a sharp slash. You are an elite among the Shinigami,"
Robert calmly commented.
He had been through many storms and remained calm even when facing an elite Shinigami.
Robert Accutrone was one of the first Quincy to follow Yhwach and had even attacked the Soul Society with him once.
"What, you old man want to give me some pointers?"
Isshin pouted, annoyed by the old man's attitude.
"It is not impossible."
Robert's stern face showed no change, as if he didn't care at all about Isshin's offense.
"Stop your big talk!"
Isshin suddenly slashed out.
"Clap—"
Isshin's pupils shrank. His blade had been caught between the Quincy's fingers!
A dense network of blue lines appeared on Robert's hand.
Blut Vene!
"The sharpness is still lacking a bit. Perhaps you can compensate for the lack of power with speed,"
Robert's calm words were extremely grating to Isshin's ears.
On the other side, Aizen was facing even more enemies.
The most eye-catching was a Quincy completely covered in metal armor.
But Aizen gave a few more glances to another Quincy.
The one with a single, slightly curled bang in front of his forehead. His style gave Aizen a certain feeling.
"Perhaps I can try a hairstyle like that in the future?"
Aizen thought to himself.
"Hey, hey, why are you staring at me?"
Askin Nakk Le Vaar had his arms crossed, his tone somewhat lazy.
"I'm not the main force... don't focus your attention on me!"
Askin blew on his single bang.
"Is that so? But I believe the strong always know how to hide themselves."
Aizen observed the other Quincy.
There was one thing he was very concerned about.
The blond Quincy he had seen from a distance was gone.
That blond had been standing in the center of the group, and was likely the one with the highest status.
Now, besides the armored Quincy and the one with good taste, there was also a Quincy who was as hairy as a gorilla.
"Three people are missing. One is with Isshin. Where are the other two?"
Aizen recalled the number of Quincy he had seen just now.
He looked at the location of the shrine, and his pupils suddenly shrank slightly.
The faint spiritual pressure he had sensed from the shrine before was gone.
This had made him ignore the situation over there for a moment.
The suspected leader, the blond Quincy, was still at the shrine. A companion was standing beside him.
What concerned Aizen the most was that a small figure in a white hooded cloak had appeared in front of them.
"Is that also a Quincy? When did they appear?"
Aizen felt that the situation had already gone somewhat beyond his control.
"What are you looking at, Shinigami?!"
The gorilla-like brute raised his huge fist and smashed it towards Aizen's face.
At the same time, the armored Quincy appeared behind Aizen, and from under his cloak emerged a weapon far beyond this era—a large machine gun.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—
A dense volley of reishi bullets shot towards Aizen's back.
"Hadō #73: Sōren Sōkatsui," Aizen raised his hand and threw out two beams of blue fire, forcing the gorilla-like brute back.
"Clang—"
A flash of his blade, and all the incoming reishi bullets were cut in half.
"What bad luck, picking such a tough one. But it's fine, there are more of us. Hams, Nines, you're so strong, you can surely take care of him easily, right?"
Askin stood in place without moving, not showing any intention of fighting, and kept chattering on, seeming like a seasoned slacker.
"Of course! Just a mere Shinigami..." The gorilla-like brute condensed a reishi spear in his hand. "I can kill him by myself!"
"Thump—"
As soon as he finished speaking, he was kicked in the chin by Aizen, who had instantly appeared beneath him.
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