Haschwalth also noticed the Senkaimon in the sky.
"Let's retreat,"
he said calmly.
"Huh?" Askin was surprised, not quite understanding why he had decided to retreat so quickly. "We lost one of ours, are we just going to let it go?"
"The Shinigami's reinforcements have arrived. If we continue, more and more will come. Besides..." Haschwalth looked at Aizen, "Your Zanpakutō's ability... is not simply creating mirror reflections with mist and water."
"You saw through it..." Aizen chuckled lightly. "I didn't expect to be exposed so quickly."
"Mirror reflections can at most affect vision. Your ability is definitely more than that. If we continue to entangle with you, it will be difficult to defeat you in a short time."
Haschwalth drew his saber, and a dazzling pillar of light shot up into the sky.
Aizen was pushed back by the blinding light.
By the time the light dissipated, the Quincy in the forest were gone without a trace.
"How did they leave? Is it a method similar to a Garganta?"
A question arose in Aizen's mind.
On the other side.
"Ah... they ran away..."
Mayuri stroked his chin. He sensed that the spiritual pressure of the Quincy on the other side had disappeared. "Speaking of which... the way that little Quincy brat left the battlefield was a bit concerning. It's very similar to the Captain's Zanpakutō ability! Could that also be done with 'imagination'?"
After seeing the pillar of light, Robert, 'The Nimble', had ignored Isshin and was about to leave.
A black rift appeared out of thin air behind him.
Just then, some black threads suddenly appeared on the rift, sewing it shut.
"This is..."
Robert's eyes narrowed.
The shadow passage had been sealed by some unknown power!
"Can this Quincy also summon shadows?" Urahara asked, puzzled. "Could this be a learnable, common ability like Heilig Pfeil or Hirenkyaku?"
Gremmy, 'The Dreamer', had used such a shadow ability in front of Urahara and Mayuri.
They had previously thought it was a unique ability of his, but now they saw the same ability on another Quincy.
"Interesting... the other end connects directly to the destination. It seems even more convenient than the Dangai."
Mayuri had already come to the black rift and was examining it, paying no mind to Robert beside him.
Through the shadow rift, he could see the situation on the other side.
It was an island in the human world, not directly connected to the Wandenreich.
The Sternritter, when coming to the human world for missions, had also considered the possibility of exposing their location. They had set up transit stations at some points to avoid it.
"They create shadow spaces in different places and connect them to achieve ultra-long-distance displacement."
Sora landed, staring at Robert.
Robert and his 'Vollständig' form were easily recognizable.
His combat record was impressive. He had even given the future Shunsui Kyōraku a hard time. His strength was not to be underestimated.
"A new-generation Shinigami captain..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Robert had already appeared behind Urahara.
With Sora and Mayuri having come down, Urahara was the one who was alone!
Bang, bang, bang—
The gun fired three reishi beams almost simultaneously, aiming for Urahara's head, chest, and abdomen.
"So fast!"
Urahara shouted, barely dodging the shot aimed at his head, but he was still pierced through the heart.
"Numerical advantage is insignificant in the face of extreme speed."
In a group, it is difficult to act in perfect sync. Robert had used his extreme speed to create a brief one-on-one opportunity for himself.
He looked at the Shinigami on the ground. The three of them didn't seem to have reacted yet.
Mayuri saw 'Urahara' get killed but showed no reaction.
If Robert had been familiar enough with Mayuri, he would have immediately noticed something was wrong from his overly calm reaction.
"Bakudō #78: Haka no In."
A voice from behind startled Robert.
Several chains shot out from behind him, binding his waist and limbs.
Robert turned his head and saw that Urahara was completely unharmed. The one falling to the ground was another "Urahara Kisuke."
"Sorry, you hit a fake!"
Urahara smiled slightly, tightening his grip on the other end of the chains. Flames quickly spread along them towards Robert.
Although he wasn't as obsessed with "human creation" technology as Mayuri, he was not completely ignorant of Reigai technology.
Urahara had made a special Reigai for himself, which he usually kept in the reishi space inside his hat. If he was in danger, it would swap places with him and take the attack.
Robert tried to break free from the chains, but this was the 78th Bakudō cast by Urahara. It was not weak, and for a moment, he couldn't break free.
The flames quickly spread along the chains.
Robert quickly raised his gun and fired.
Clang, clang, clang, clang—
The reishi beams broke several chains, but the flames still spread along the two that he couldn't break in time.
The wings on his back spread out and stabbed at the chains, cutting the remaining two.
However, before he could make his next move, a terrifying heat came from behind him.
The speed boost from 'The Nimble' allowed him to turn, but that was all.
A dazzling golden light entered his vision.
A longsword burning with flames and lightning slashed at his shoulder. A dense layer of Blut Vene instantly appeared on his body.
But in his 'Shunkō: Raihi Ryōgen' state, Katori Sora was unstoppable!
Crack—
A crisp sound came from the Blut Vene. The blood vessels burst, and glass-like fragments of solidified reishi flew out.
Squish—
The golden flame longsword entered his body. At that moment, Robert finally reacted and quickly retreated, creating distance between himself and Sora.
"Impossible... how could I fall here..."
Robert's body was split in two, but a cloud of reishi formed above his head, and reishi threads connected to his body, controlling it like a puppet.
"Ransōtengai... this is trouble... I'll have to cut him to pieces."
Sora pouted. When dealing with the Quincy instructor, he had been able to take him out in one burst.
But Robert was too fast. Even after hitting a vital point, he had managed to create distance.
"Actually, I've also done some research on the Quincy's Ransōtengai."
Mayuri slowly took out a jar from his sleeve. "As we all know, Quincy are particularly sensitive to Hollow reishi."
He unscrewed the lid and sprinkled the contents into the air.
Many white particles soon floated in the air.
They converged on the reishi cloud above Robert's head and attached to it.
Soon, the cloud looked like it had grown white tumors.
"I can't reach the end..." Robert's face was ferocious, all his previous composure gone. "Then let me wait for you at the end!"
The halo above Robert's head glowed brightly, and the surrounding reishi converged on him.
The white particles Mayuri had released were also absorbed into his body.
With Hollow reishi entering his body, Robert's body rapidly mutated.
His skin swelled, and his body became abnormally thick.
His light wings were also covered in white particles, and the blood vessels extending from them crawled over the wings, looking like white tumors.
"Is he turning into a Hollow?!"
Mayuri's eyes grew brighter. This result was beyond his expectations.
He had originally thought that the substance made of Hollow reishi would cause the Quincy's body to collapse.
But after absorbing the Hollow reishi, the Quincy showed no signs of collapse, but instead underwent a Hollowfication mutation.
Robert flapped his wings and flew high. The white tumors on them suddenly burst open, revealing a dense array of holes.
"Die!"
The voice from the sky was layered, as if coming from a divine kingdom.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—
Countless reishi beams shot out from the dense holes in his wings.
The reishi beams falling from the sky were too dense, like a meteor shower, making it impossible for everyone to dodge.
A saturation strike!
The next moment, a shadow spread outwards. Sora directly deployed his shadow space, using it as a barrier against the rain of reishi beams.
The reishi beams rained down on the shadow space, causing ripples.
Cracks soon appeared on the shadow wall.
As he fired the rain of reishi beams, the mutation on Robert's body became more and more severe.
His consciousness also gradually became chaotic.
"Unstoppable!!!"
More black holes appeared on Robert's light wings. He was going to fire even more reishi beams.
The reishi in this small forest was almost completely drained by him.
Just then, a dark figure appeared on the shadow barrier.
The black blade in its hand was connected to a giant ring, and the blade slowly rotated in its hand along with the ring.
Robert's consciousness blurred for a moment, and then he saw the world turn upside down.
He paid it no mind. With a flap of his wings, more reishi beams shot out from the black holes.
However, the reishi beams did not shoot down at the shadow barrier as he had expected, but instead shot up into the sky.
His full-power attack—
Completely missed!
"How is this possible!"
Robert let out an unwilling roar. He didn't have time to understand why his attack had failed, because there was no more time to fire another one.
His skin swelled up into white balls.
Pop, pop, pop, pop—
The white balls burst, and countless green juices splashed out.
The white particles Mayuri had created contained not only Hollow reishi; he had habitually added various toxins.
By absorbing them, Robert had only accelerated his own death.
He unwillingly raised his gun. The halo above his head emitted a dazzling light. Even the reishi cloud he used to maintain his 'Ransōtengai' had its reishi drained.
Bang—
A powerful reishi beam shot out.
Relying on his 'Sklave Rai' ability, he fired the strongest shot of his life.
But this shot still went up into the sky.
"No!!!"
He could not accept such a result, but his body was still uncontrollably expanding.
Boom—
In the end, Robert's body exploded in the air. Countless pieces of green-blooded flesh rained down from the sky.
The shadow space dissipated, revealing Sora and the others.
"A pity."
Mayuri looked at the scattered pieces of flesh, feeling it was a shame. "The corpse is completely ruined. Next time, I shouldn't use so many toxins. It really affects subsequent research!"
A powerful Quincy like this was not common. The loss of even one specimen made him feel heartbroken.
However, in the principle of not wasting, he still collected the pieces of the corpse on the ground, preparing to take them back to the Technology Development Bureau.
Sora landed in front of Isshin. Seeing his weakened state, he used healing Kidō on him.
"This Quincy was so strong. Those reishi beams were like rain. I thought I was going to die just now!"
Isshin said with lingering fear. "If the Professor hadn't arrived in time, I wouldn't have lasted much longer."
"I knew you had run into a strong enemy when you didn't reply to my message."
Sora nodded gently.
He sensed Aizen's direction. The battle on his side had also ended with the departure of the other Quincy, but he had not come over immediately.
After briefly stabilizing Isshin's injuries, Sora went to where Aizen was.
Aizen was in front of the shrine, fiddling with the statue inside.
"Professor," Aizen stood up and explained, "I believed you could handle your opponent, so I did not go over to help."
"Did you find anything here?"
Sora nodded and looked at the statue. Something that could arouse Aizen's curiosity was certainly no ordinary object.
He soon found that the small statue looked very familiar.
"So many powerful Quincy gathered here must have a purpose. I found traces of a reishi formula on this statue, possibly some kind of sealing formula."
Aizen paused, organizing his thoughts. "This statue... seems to be the main purpose of this group of Quincy's visit."
"Among the Quincy I fought, there was one who looked exactly like the statue... and when Isshin and I first arrived, we didn't see him... the other Quincy were all in front of this shrine, and the leader's attitude was very respectful..."
Aizen explained what he and Isshin had seen.
"You think that Quincy came out of the statue?"
Sora understood what he meant.
"Yes," Aizen nodded.
"Your guess is not without reason. Perhaps he was a Quincy who was sealed or sleeping here in the past, and these powerful Quincy came here to break his seal."
Sora affirmed Aizen's guess.
In fact, he was already certain of the identity of the stone statue and the Quincy that Aizen had seen.
He should be the left arm of the Soul King—Pernida Parnkgjas!
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