Chapter Fourteen

In battles between Soul Reapers and Hollows, to some extent being gigantic was its own advantage. Of course, in conflicts between humans and other animals in the living world, that was common sense, but in strife between Soul Reapers and Hollows, it took on additional significance. Unlike human-against-human battles, huge Hollows could be large enough to hit the heavens. Even if one could obtain an advantage through equipment or skill, for example, the Hollow would stand in the way of the Soul Reapers with a disparity that wouldn’t be easy to overcome. However, the reason it was only an advantage to some extent was because it wasn’t a universal superiority. A Soul Reaper who had obtained Zankensoki above a certain level could defeat a Hollow ten times larger than themselves.

Additionally, there were often cases in which a zanpaku-to might possess an ability that could oppose a gigantic Hollow. However, even a zanpaku-to that had achieved bankai naturally had its limits. One of the Quincy king Yhwach’s elite guards who had “The Miracle” Schrift, Gerard Valkyrie, was large enough that he could ward off superficial bankai and had a corresponding amount of strength and stamina.

Hollows could also grow by eating each other and in the end could turn into a large being called a Menos Grande that would stand in the way of Soul Reapers, but their growth could take several paths beyond that.

When they evolved from a Gillian to an Adjuchas, or even further into a Vasto Lorde, their stature would shrink as the reishi that had been enlarging their body steadily condensed. In the end, they would become a “high-density monster,” concentrating several hundred thousand Menos Grandes’ worth of spiritual pressure into a human-sized body. In other words, for part of their growth, the larger they became, the more they were recognized for being a strong Hollow—until they passed Menos Grande level, at which point the smaller their bodies were, the more they were recognized as being powerful due to their markedly condensed spiritual pressure.

However, that being the case, the thing that had app-eared in the Rukongai was impressive enough to make them forget such practicalities. It had a gigantic body, several times larger than a Menos Grande, and was packed with a spiritual pressure density reminiscent of the Vasto Lorde class. When it took a step forward, the ground shrieked and tremored. When it cried out, the atmosphere rumbled, and all surrounding life fell into a spiral of primordial fear. When he got a look at it—at Hikone Ubuginu’s zanpaku-to, Ikomikidomoe—Shinji Hirako let out a shocked cry from high in the sky, where he had taken refuge.

“Isn’t this unfair?! You’re telling us we must recognize you as king when you’re not even using your own power?!”

Then the keeper of that gigantic monster, Hikone, answered in an innocent tone, “Yes, Ikomikidomoe fundamentally uses his own spiritual pressure to move, so there aren’t any issues there, and if we really need to, we can combine and fight!”

“What the hell do you mean you combine with that thing?! Is it some kind of mecha?! Is that thing a giant mecha?!”

At present, Hirako was holding position a step back and observing rather than volunteering to fight directly. In normal circumstances, it would be logical for him to send packing an Arrancar that had appeared in the Soul Society, or to destroy them, but there had been a notice handed down from above: “Avoid killing Espada-class Arrancar so long as they are not hostile or rampaging in the world of the living.”

The policy had been put into place to avoid an all-out war and because the overall balance of souls in the Soul Society, the living world, and Hueco Mundo had been drastically disturbed due to the Quincies’ work. With that in mind as well, Hirako intentionally did not assist Hikone and observed instead, but once he saw Hikone’s uninhibited rampage, he of course had to speak up.

“What’re you going to do if this gargantuan thing starts to go wild? You’re sure you’ve got control over it, right?!”

“Yes, that’s nothing to worry about!” Hikone smiled as usual as they replied, then easily snuffed out a Cero flying by with a single hand and blurted out something else.

“Because I’m just about as strong as Ikomikidomoe!”

≡

“What the hell is happening here?”

What Tier Halibel saw after opening a garganta into the Soul Society was a scene entirely outside of her expectations. She had followed Grimmjow’s spiritual pressure and opened a garganta with the aim of going to the place she thought he had appeared, and Grimmjow was definitely there. But that wasn’t all she found.

There were Soul Reapers and Quincies in addition to those who were neither, jumbled together and battling around something that was as gigantic as a small mountain.

“Is that Luppi?”

Halibel’s eyes were first captured by Grimmjow’s startling blue hair, but she was bewildered by the Arrancar who bore eight tentacles on his back next to Grimmjow. A former Espada, whom she was certain Grimmjow had killed by blowing away the upper half of his body, seemed to have formed a united front with Grimmjow and was attacking a gigantic monster. However, they had not reconciled, and the two of them were striking with high-power attacks with no regard for one another, and for a moment she watched them almost hit each other with crossfire.

“Is that the Soul Reaper from before?”

When Halibel saw the child standing on the back of the mountainlike Hollow, she distanced herself further to observe the situation, feeling unsure and surprised. Then, as though to confirm that her view of things was correct, she spoke to Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck at her side. “So Grimmjow’s aim really was that Soul Reaper. But what are those Quincies doing here? They’re not the ones we battled in Hueco Mundo.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure… I think they’re also part of the group serving Yhwach, at least. But I want to know what’s going on with that monster. It looks like a Hollow, but doesn’t it seem kind of odd?”

“I remember that spiritual pressure. It’s the same as the one from the zanpaku-to that Soul Reaper used to open the garganta.”

“So basically that thing is the zanpaku-to from earlier? It’s shaped pretty differently. Did it achieve bankai like Ichigo’s? Or does it make more sense to call it Resurrección, since that’s what we do?”

Not paying any heed to Nelliel’s puzzling over something that wasn’t immediately relevant to the situation, Halibel continued to observe the presences in the vicinity. However, her status as an observer soon ended.

Having noticed her, the monster that looked very much like a Hollow opened its cavernous maw and requested a conversation with her.

“Ah, new friends. Of course, I don’t recognize you. It does not seem you are Barragan’s mistresses.”

His voice was not at all that eardrum-splitting rumble it had been. However, it still shook Halibel’s and Nelliel’s skulls like an eerie bass echoing directly into their heads, penetrating their guts and bones.

“You know Barragan? So that thing really is a Hollow?”

“Regardless, you thought we were Barragan’s mistresses of all things. For starters, Barragan is long gone.”

When the gigantic monster heard Nelliel’s disgruntled response, it paused for a moment.

“Ikomikidomoe? What’s wrong?”

Ignoring Hikone’s question, Ikomikidomoe made the atmosphere quiver with his words. “I see. So that crafty king has disappeared from Hueco Mundo.”

The Hueco Mundo king had lived for an eternity and ultimately met his destruction while an underling of Aizen’s. Ikomikidomoe, who muttered Barragan’s name as though reminiscing, went silent for a moment, then bellowed across the Rukongai as though he were trying to destroy it all.

“— —— —— — —— ——

—— —— — — ————”

His voice made the atmosphere quiver, and that quiver became a gale. As the wind gathered high-density spiritual pressure, aggressive tornadoes formed one after another in the surrounding space.

It was a terrific bellow in which grief and hatred intermingled, as though he were equally intent on destroying those who attacked him, those who were spectators, those who had yet to make a choice, and everyone else.

That was the trigger that revealed yet a new level of mayhem.

≡

A location in the Seireitei,
passageway in a concealed quarter

Even within the Seireitei, there was a section that only aristocrats could enter. That space, which in normal circumstances would be mostly deserted, had presently been transformed into a battleground filled with the flashing of swords and the smell of blood.

As blade crossed blade, another blade would aim for their backs, and yet another strike would block that blade, and the attackers appearing from the shadows would withdraw into the scrum. It was a battle between a congregation of the protectors and attackers—both of which were assassins by profession. It had escalated into an open melee of large groups, an embarrassment for them as assassins who normally fight by burying themselves in one shadow after another, in intimate, surreptitious struggles.

They had come under the pretext of being the guards of a member of the Four Great Noble Clans—Tokinada Tsunayashiro—in order to restrain his actions and also keep him under surveillance, and it was almost as though the attackers had targeted that time to appear.

The Punishment Force Soi Fon led was fighting a group of jet-black-clad assassins. In response to the assassins, who showed open hostility, the Soul Reapers of the Punishment Force continued to intercept attacks without so much as twitching an eyebrow, as though they were suppressing their own emotions. In the middle of that brawl, Soi Fon precisely dodged her opponents’ attacks while all the time dedicating a part of her mind to keeping a constant watch over Tokinada Tsunayashiro.

Though Tokinada had insisted “these assassins are coming after me,” Soi Fon didn’t believe his words.

She had ascertained that in all likelihood, Tokinada had caused this so he could take advantage of the chaos that ensued, and even if the assassins were really after Tokinada, she had determined that it was certain he would take this as a lucky opportunity to hatch a scheme.

Soi Fon was aware of Tokinada Tsunayashiro’s bad reputation even before he had been seated as head of the family. Though she likely wouldn’t have felt any particular hostility toward him over that.

When Kyoraku had instructed her to get the Punishment Force on the move, giving a terribly hand-waving reason—“Because the Tsunayashiro family head might possibly be scheming something”—she had of course objected that that wasn’t adequate rationale to take action.

“Well, it isn’t just a possibility—he really is scheming something. He went out of his way to call me out and tried to have us exploit the government. He even transparently tried to butter me up by saying I was beautiful, et cetera, and pretended to be looking at me all lovey-dovey.”

Then, the moment Yoruichi had wandered in to accompany them, Soi Fon had promptly blurted out an endlessly perturbing, “Let’s give him the death penalty, right now, as soon as possible,” and proceeded to take on the role of the villain of her own accord.

Since Kyoraku had intended to play the villain himself, he had somehow assuaged her and convinced her to promise that she would carry out her duties civilly. But under the circumstances there was no longer any point in being considerate, and instead Soi Fon continued to be vigilant of Tokinada, thinking “it would save a whole lot of effort gathering evidence if you would just hurry up and try stabbing me in the back already.” However, Tokinada might have been aware of that possibility, as he didn’t assault her from behind and didn’t even try running away as he swung his zanpaku-to at the assassins.

He’s strong.

Though she held a personal vendetta against him, Soi Fon could still calmly evaluate his abilities. She had heard he had previously been a powerhouse, as a seated officer in the Thirteen Court Guard Companies, and he went about cutting down the assassins as though he hadn’t had a several centuries-long gap in work at all.

What is that zanpaku-to?

When Soi Fon observed it in the intervals between her fights, the sword Tokinada gripped only looked like an Asauchi at first glance. Though he had recited the chant for a shikai a while ago, not a single aspect of it had changed.

I’ve heard about the ability of the Kuten Kyokoku, the zanpaku-to that the Tsunayashiro family has been handing down from generation to generation from Captain General Kyoraku, but I would have expected that it wouldn’t even change form.

However, what she had been told about its ability was exactly true. One of the assassins waved their zanpaku-to, and several fireballs appeared around the zanpaku-to’s blade and started to assault Tokinada. It did not reach anywhere close to the level of Genryusai Yamamoto’s Ryujin Jakka, and compared to Isshin Kurosaki’s Engetsu, the heat of the flame was practically child’s play. Regardless of that, the fireball was more than enough to burn a single Soul Reaper alive. At the same time Tokinada flashed his blade, that flame was sent flying back at his opponent like a ball rebounding off a wall. Like light hitting a mirror, the fireball reversed course and crashed into its original user. The assassin cried out and burst into flames.

Seeing this, Soi Fon’s assumption was confirmed that it truly was an ability to be wary of, and that was the exact reason why she had chosen to fight without her zanpaku-to.

So he can reflect abilities, huh?

That’s a lot more troublesome than I thought.

It was a technique that could simply reflect back a zanpaku-to's unique abilities. Though it was similar to Sogyo no Kotowari, which Jushiro Ukitake had used in the past, it didn’t need to absorb the reishi before bouncing back, and it seemed to flick away attacks by creating a reflective wall in front of their eyes.

Given that, it was easy to determine that battling while it was in its Asauchi state would work well enough, but as far as Soi Fon could see, Tokinada Tsunayashiro’s offensive was more masterful than she expected. His skill, paired with that ability, would be enough to ward off most enemies.

However…At the same time, there was doubt in Soi Fon’s mind.

All it does is send back the opponent’s attack…is that all the ability is?

Or is the bankai unique?

Though it was a terrifying power, it wasn’t as though there weren’t any ways of dealing with it. There were those who could battle without a zanpaku-to’s ability. Or there were those who simply overpowered their opponents through brute strength without regard to abilities, such as Kenpachi Zaraki, or those who finished battles before even swinging a sword like Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who took advantage of the adversary’s weak points. She could think of many countermeasures against it.

In fact, before Kyoraku had issued that instruction earlier, he seemed to have had the same doubts.

“It’s just… I don’t think that Tokinada’s zanpaku-to’s ability just bounces back his opponent’s attacks.”

He had gathered information about the zanpaku-to as the Captain General, using his connections with Central 46 and other intelligence networks. However, Kyoraku had misgivings about even getting this information from the start. “His own zanpaku-to was forfeited. The one he is using now can only be held by the head of family. In other words, it’s the Tsunayashiro family’s power itself that has acted as their trump card and even serves as their symbol.

“It’s the zanpaku-to that the Four Great Noble Clans have passed from generation to generation. I’d thought it would be rather like Muramas, but have the absurd power of controlling another person’s zanpaku-to.”

Recalling Kyoraku’s words, who said that as he held up his own zanpaku-to as an example of an irregular power, Soi Fon repelled the assassins while keeping a very close eye on Tokinada at her back. Meanwhile, Yoruichi was haphazardly dealing with the assassins and sighed, lamenting, “The fact that a group as large as this has zanpaku-to without being Soul Reapers is a big problem.”

In response, Tokinada snickered after he had eliminated the scrum of assassins around him. “It is because many Soul Reapers died in the earlier war against the Quincies. The thieves who took possession of those zanpaku-to when their owners went missing seem to have risen en masse.”

“Oh, I merely thought that those aristocrats who didn’t participate in the war had taken the initiative to openly funnel zanpaku-to illegally.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha! If aristocrats like that existed, it would be a disgrace for the Seireitei!”

Tokinada laughed loudly as he, of course, bounced back a lightning strike dealt by an enemy with a swing of his sword. He was either moving fast enough to react to lightning or he was predicting his enemy’s behavior—either way, it was evidence Tokinada possessed abilities in battle that were not to be disregarded.

Tokinada easily dealt with the assassins and responded snidely to Yoruichi, who had spoken sarcastically, “Zanpaku-to and such can change hands anywhere. It is not one’s origins that matter, but one’s actions, isn’t it? I heard that was the case with the current Kenpachi as well, right?”

“A thug who hadn’t even gone to Shinoreijutsuin rose up after stealing a sword from a Soul Reaper who had died in the Rukongai.”

≡

THE SEIREITEI, Kutsuwa Town

The yarrow plants were bent by the wind. The Seireitei had several divisions, and there were several districts that each had their own characteristics, such as the commercial district and the aristocrat’s quarter. However, among those, the one that was said to be especially conspicuous was entirely unconnected to history, culture, or entertainment. It was Kutsuwa Town, which was the Eleventh Company barracks. Just as any other day, hoodlums in shihakusho acted like they owned the place as they strutted through the town’s main streets waving around their Eleventh Company insignia. A man who didn’t fit into the rough and tumble townscape—Yumichika Ayasegawa—walked coolly by the front of the company barracks, which was rank with the smell of blood, dirt, and booze, speaking to the man walking in front of him and to his side who fit in splendidly with the atmosphere of the town.

“Kind of seems like there’s a commotion in the first ward. Wonder if something happened?”

“Since the Secret Remote Squad guys were running around and making a commotion, there might have been a big arrest. Tsk…If I just knew where they went, I would’ve gone there too. Aside from Omaeda from the Patrol Unit, the Punishment Force guys are tight lipped…”

Madarame spoke lazily as he passed through the barracks gate with Yumichika. The rough and tumble atmosphere of the town suddenly receded, and a gruff, grave spiritual pressure made the pair’s skin prickle. However, they didn’t let it bother them and kept walking. They had become familiar with that atmosphere, which was the very reason the two of them stayed in the Eleventh Company.

It was easy to see that the rest of the Eleventh Company members were all breaking into cold sweats over the stabbing and heavy spiritual pressure. Just being in that place made them feel as though they were rolling on the mountain of pins and needles in hell. In this district, where thugs gathered, the reason public safety did not decline precipitously—as in the Kusajishi district of the Rukongai—was likely because the owner of that spiritual pressure kept the company members under control. Then again, anyone who was surrounded by that spiritual pressure could care less about the town’s public order. The source of power himself appeared in front of the two of them as they headed into the training area.

“We’ve come back from our patrol, Captain.”

“All right…”

The Kenpachi Zaraki—that name was a symbol of pure valor in the Thirteen Court Guard Companies, and it was also a series of cursed and powerful words, the personification of a blood-drenched history. However, the man was too unrefined to be described using the word “valor.” Using a torrent of vast power reminiscent of a particular type of natural disaster, he could bulldoze over an opponent’s lifetime of training.

Just as indicated by that inherited name, Zaraki—which is made up of the Japanese characters for “leveled land” and “tree”—the man was like a gigantic tree that continued to stand tall even on leveled land. He was a fitting presence to bear up the meaning of the name Kenpachi—"eight swords”—as someone who never fell, no matter how many times he was cut.

When Madarame saw that the captain was unexpectedly in his captain’s coat on the training grounds, he asked out of curiosity, “What’s gotten into you, Captain? You’re never in your captain’s coat past noon when there isn’t a captain’s assembly.”

Though he hadn’t ever been one to care about coats, Kenpachi would often wear the captain’s coat at assemblies, as though he were fulfilling the minimum of obligation felt toward Genryusai Yamamoto, who had picked him off the streets. Though Kenpachi wouldn’t wear his shihakusho, went bare chested in the training area because it was easier to move, and enjoyed judo sparring against company members, just for today, he wasn’t even attempting to train.

“Yeah, I just got word from that Captain General guy. He told me to get on my captain’s coat and be ready to move at any moment.”

Though it was somewhat in disrepair from the short but intense battles, his captain’s coat really did have special meaning. As though he had some sort of premonition about something, Kenpachi smiled fearlessly while making the yarrow plant etched into the company badge jiggle.

“This better not be a thankless nuisance, but if there's some kind of brawl, I’m about to be thankful.”

≡

THE RUKONGAI

“The heck is this?! Did we just stick our necks into some kind of ridiculous brawl?!”

These were Candice’s words after she was caught up in the aftermath of Ikomikidomoe’s battle, caused by the zanpaku-to that was seemingly a gigantic Hollow. Meninas responded in her usual tone, “I think we’ve been pretty tangled up in this stuff since the very beginning…”

“But at the start all we were doing was blowing those Fullbringer guys away and nabbing ’em! Why’re we getting caught up in a fight between that distilled Menos Grande Hollow monster thing and the Arrancars?! Actually, now that I’m looking…have the Arrancars doubled?!”

Smashing a boulder that had been tossed up by the force of a thunderbolt, Candice gestured at the two new female Arrancars that had appeared.

“Like, what is with their outfits? That’s way too form fitting!”

“Candice, that’s like the pot calling the kettle black,” Meninas said, glancing at the wide-open chests of the Quincy knight uniform. However, Candice acted as though she hadn’t heard and started developing a counterattack.

“In any case, we’ve got to stop this goliath first, or we won’t be able to do our job.”

Though they could have temporarily retreated, she didn’t think that Mayuri Kurotsuchi would allow them to do that. So what they probably needed to do was take advantage of the confusion to find the Fullbringers’ weak spot while battling the colossal enemy. While that may have been impossible at the moment, it would be a chance to analyze how their foes fought. Continuing to fight all the while, Candice considered this strategy and also wondered about whether Ginjo and the others would make a break for it.

“Minni! Create an opening for me!”

“Got it!”

After giving a nod, Meninas slowly moved toward the gigantic Hollow’s feet and hid herself in what was likely to be the opponent's blind spot. Then she simply flexed the muscles in her arm and used brute force to lift him. That alone caused Ikomikidomoe to veer and skitter deeply into the ground in reaction.

“Hah! Good going! Leave the rest to me!”

Aiming toward where the opponent had gone off balance, Candice shot successive lightning arrows. Then, as a final blow, she drove in with an Electrocution, the same attack she had used against Ginjo and the others earlier. The surrounding area was engulfed in blinding light by the successive strikes she had launched at near lightning speed.

“That was close! What is with those people? They’re not holding back even though I’m right here!” Hirako, who had narrowly dodged the lightning, felt a cold sweat break out on his face as he yelled. “Weren’t those Quincies supposed to be Mayuri’s footmen?! Well, right, it’s not like Mayuri would care about me or the other Soul Reapers.”

Having come to that conclusion on his own, Hirako distanced himself even further and turned his eyes toward Ikomikidomoe, who had been swallowed up in the flash of lightning. But…

“That’s not good. Looks like it’s not doing much.”

Ikomikidomoe, who had been in the form of a monster until recently, had transformed into a ball, with his feet folded up. He was enshrined in the middle of the Rukongai as though he were an eerie object of art. In the next moment, just as that gigantic sphere’s surroundings started to fill with white mist, countless small, winged monsters appeared from within the fog. However, they were only small in comparison to Ikomikidomoe’s form; what seemed to be Adjuchas-level Hollows turned into a monster horde and began to soar through the air. Then, like an immune response, the horde leapt at those who were actually attacking—Meninas and Candice.

As he looked down at the zanpaku-to that continued to create hundreds of miniaturized “offspring,” Hirako scowled and revised his opinion.

“I was wrong to think this thing was a giant mecha.”

He now felt an extreme level of caution about Hikone, who controlled that zanpaku-to, and Tokinada Tsunayashiro, whom the child had received the sword from. He continued, “He’s like a whole country on legs. A frontal attack won’t take down something like that.”

As Hirako coolly analyzed the situation, Candice and Meninas were forced into a disadvantageous situation before they could gather their thoughts.

“What kind of zanpaku-to is that?! Can that thing even be a zanpaku-to?!”

“This could be bad…”

The two of them were shooting Heilig Pfeil at the monster horde heading toward them, but there were just too many of them. Meninas used her superhuman strength while Candice used her lightning bolt power to oppose them, but the attacking monsters were being continuously created with a power exceeding what they could muster, and furthermore, their opponent’s main body was itself more or less unharmed.

Candice used lightning that had been combined with reishi to create a lance—a Galvano Javelin—that she wielded with both hands to cut and purify the monsters, but there were too many of them for two swords to contend with.

“Damn it! If we could just use our Voll Stern Dich abilities…”

Normally, Candice could use her wings to manage six swords using the Quincy Voll Stern Dich, but because of Yhwach’s Auswählen she no longer could go into Voll Stern Dich form, and so manipulating two swords was her current limit. There was also the troublesome issue that the monsters weren’t attacking recklessly—though they were a horde, they seemed to move as though they were being directed, like a single living creature attacking while aiming for an opening. Though she could annihilate them all at once through successive lightning bolts from the sky, it was like a drop in the bucket.

“Tsk…Guess we just poked the hornet’s nest…?”

Though she was pretty exhausted from her earlier rapid fire, Candice had just started unleashing another Electrocution when something unexpected happened.

“Don’t bother. You’ll just end up burning through all your Blut Arterie before you get anywhere.”

The familiar voice made Candice’s ears quiver.

“Huh…?”

What could it mean that she was hearing that voice in this place?

Before Candice’s brain could comprehend it, the voice took on a form and ate through the monster horde. A strange, long, narrow jaw that had suddenly appeared swallowed about a hundred of them in one gulp. The strange-looking jaw preying on the enemies sucked in the white monsters, then let out a listless sigh, and then the voice reported its impression of what it had just swallowed: “The skeleton guys from earlier were the same… Mass-produced goods just taste bland.”

A girl with distinctive disillusioned eyes under a white Stern Ritter cap floated in the air. When Candice saw the girl, her eyes opened wide and she yelled, “Li…Lil?!”

She could barely believe her eyes. The person she had been separated from half a year before, and had been trying to find some way to contact since then, appeared just now, without her even having to stir up trouble.

The girl with disillusioned eyes—Liltotto Lamperd—said to the dumbstruck Candice in an exasperated tone, “Seriously, we were planning on getting you out by taking advantage of the commotion. What were you thinking, going straight into this mess yourselves? Why do I even bother?!”

“Y-you! Why’re you here?! There’s no way you came here just to save us!”

“Like I just said, we came here to get you out. You’ve got to listen when other people are talking, you slut.”

“Wait…you’re really alive. I heard you betrayed his majesty, so I was convinced…”

Candice had been doubtful, thinking that in the worst-case scenario Mayuri Kurotsuchi could be lying about Liltotto and the others being alive, and she looked at Liltotto with a mix of relief and surprise.

“Don’t call that ass ‘his majesty.’ Anyway, apparently he’s long gone.”

At the same time Liltotto said that, Candice heard another, different voice coming from behind. “Whoa, you’re in rougher shape than I expected. Candice, how can you look so lame?”

Her forehead twitching in annoyance before she could even be happy about their reunion, Candice sent an anger-filled fist flying behind her.

“Gigiii!”

Easily dodging the fist, the raven-haired Quincy—Giselle Gewelle—smiled only with her mouth as she protested, “Boo, don’t say it like that; you make me sound like a geezer.”

“It’s your own fault for making us upset, Gigi,” Meninas said, as easygoing as ever, without showing any hint of emotion to indicate that they had just been reunited.

“Wait a sec! Why’re you acting like this is normal, Minni?! That’s weird! It feels like I’m the only one who hasn’t gotten the memo!”

“If you’ve got complaints, I’ll pretend to listen to you later, once we’ve gotten some grub to eat. Anyway, we’ve got to deal with that dangerous thing first.”

The horde of monsters had continued gushing from the white mist, and as though they were analyzing the abilities of their new opponents, Liltotto and the others observed them while circling from afar. Then Giselle tilted her head in response to Liltotto.

“Huh? Why’ve we got to do anything? Can’t we just run away?”

“That’s what I was hoping for. But if we run now, it’d be useless if there are bombs hidden in Candy and Minni, right?”

“Oh!”

Candice herself had considered that possibility, but when Liltotto, who was the brains among them, mentioned it, Candice was struck with terror again. Liltotto spoke, not to Candice, but to Candice’s chest, where there was sure to be someone on the other side of the communications device hidden there. She offered him a deal.

“You’re listening, aren’t you, Mayuri Kurotsuchi? We’ll cooperate with your experiment or whatever. Just pay us back by letting Candice and Meninas go.”

A distinct voice resonated from Candice’s cap.

“Good grief. You must be quite conceited to believe you are in a position to be making deals.”

“Whaa…?!”

Ignoring Candice, who was surprised by the voice coming from above her head, the voice on the other end of the communications device went on indifferently, “First of all, I have not hidden a bomb or anything like that in them. Those luddites—Captain General and Central 46—informed me just the other day that putting bombs into subordinates is forbidden. Since I’ve called my zombies a unit, they told me to treat you as soldiers rather than as tools. Really, that’s just coddling.”

“So if they haven’t got any bombs hidden on them, that must mean you’ve put loads of other dangerous stuff in them.”

“I wonder? Anyway, Quincies are antiques now. I don’t intend to destroy you so casually.”

“Hey! What is it with you talking in riddles?!”

Ignoring Candice’s outburst, Liltotto calmly continued her exchange with Mayuri. Even as they were negotiating, she maintained her vigilance about her surroundings and the small forces of monsters that attacked her occasionally to keep her in check. Whenever that happened, she swallowed them whole and skillfully continued her conversation.

“What we want is Candice and Meninas’s freedom and the guarantee of their lives. You’ll be able to make a deal with some of the most battle-worthy of the Quincies—not too shabby, right?”

“That your hubris extends that far is beyond comical. It simply makes me pity you. Though you are antiques, to me you Quincies are just subjects I have finished my research on. Do you really think you are that valuable?”

“If Quincies are so worthless, then you could let go of Candy and Minni for nothing, couldn’t you? Though I think they’re at least worth exchanging for some chores. Plus, this is you we’re talking about. You hid something in me and Gigi too, didn’t you?”

“Huh?”

Giselle was suddenly alarmed at the topic of conversation, and Mayuri’s voice was artless as he declared, “Oh, you’re a fool, but I don’t dislike those who are quick to pick up on the conversation. The Quincy named Ishida had not a clue, however.”

“Sure, thanks. I’m praying you’re quick to pick up on things too.”

In response to Liltotto, who didn’t retreat one step, the voice on the other end of Candice’s cap snickered and continued, “If I say no right now, you intend to take the negotiation up with Captain General Kyoraku, do you not? Good grief, had Shinji Hirako not been here, I could have shut you up in secret.”

“Obviously, I went out of my way to show my face because there was another company captain around.”

“Very shrewd indeed.”

“I already got my fill of finding out how treacherous you are. In particular, I can’t help but wonder what Yhwach would’ve been able to do if you hadn’t been fighting.”

In response to Liltotto’s comment, a loud sigh came from the communications device in Candice’s hat.

“Obvious flattery won’t bring me to compromise. Well, it is true that your ringleader had tunnel vision. Even though he could see the future, it seemed he was unable to see reality.” Then, seeming in a somewhat pleasant mood, Mayuri offered a concrete proposal. “I want as much data on that gigantic, fantastical zanpaku-to and the Soul Reaper-type research subject standing up there as you can gather. If you do that for me, I’ll at least promote you from experimental subjects to mercenaries. If you’re also able to catch the Fullbringers, I’ll even make you taller as a special bonus.”

“Who cares about that? The bigger you are, the faster you get hungry. Basically, all we’ve gotta do is beat that Goliath, right?”

“I’m not expecting that much from you. If it were something the likes of you could defeat, I wouldn’t concern myself with it in the first place.”

“Tsk…You’re underestimating us.”

As though the deal were complete, after her brief complaint Liltotto posed a question to the gigantic sphere that towered high over them. “You’re thinking the same thing, aren’t you, Goliath?”

Giselle, who had been listening from the ground, called up to Liltotto, who was still in confrontation mode, “Hey Lil, I really don’t like this. Why would we help that black and white clown?”

Then Mayuri’s exasperated voice came from Candice’s cap. “Have your brains finally rotted, zombie girl? The one I made the deal with is that glutton. I never expected you to be useful in battle anyway, so feel free to fester on the sidelines.”

“I’d rather not take advice from someone who swiped another person’s zombies.”

“Put it behind you. He’s not someone you’ll win against in an argument anyway.”

While placating Giselle’s resentment, Liltotto looked up at Ikomikidomoe.

“We’ve got to shut down that giant thing before we can do anything else.”

“But…”

Giselle smiled, but her eyes conveyed that she was very reluctantly acquiescing. She sighed and gave an instruction to the shade standing behind her.

“Go get him, Bambi.”

“Yeah. I’ll…work hard. Because Candy and Minni and everyone…is here…”

Then the battleground that had just been engulfed in the white lightning was next engulfed in explosive red fire.

“It’s that bomb girl! Now you’ve brought in a nuisance!”

Seeing the zombie who had leapt out of Giselle’s shadow, Hirako unintentionally raised his voice. His memories of nearly being blown away in the past vividly came back to him, and cold sweat formed on his forehead. The reishi bombs being let loose by the girl with reddish-black skin one after another made contact with the monsters that Ikomikidomoe was creating and transformed their bodies into bombs. Then a hot wind from the resulting chain explosion made the sweat on Hirako’s brow evaporate, even though he was at some distance.

“Ngh! Reckless as usual. Actually, I’ve got to start considering my next moves…”

Hirako sighed and put his hand on his zanpaku-to, muttering in deliberation over whether to take a side in this battle or get in contact with the distant Mayuri in order to consult with him about how to settle the situation.

“Since Momo’s probably told Kyoraku already, it’d be good if I saw some movement there.”

“Oh, whoa… This looks like it’s escalating.”

Though they hadn’t withdrawn, Ginjo and the others hadn’t proactively jumped into the fight either. They were dodging the aftereffects while observing the situation.

“I think this would be our chance to retreat if we wanted to, wouldn’t it?”

Tsukushima shrugged as he said that, and Ginjo responded, “That was what I was intending…but that kid said something about being recognized as the king, right?”

“I see. So that’s what’s on your mind?”

Tsukishima responded to Ginjo as though he were sympathetic. “Yeah, it’s about Xcution, isn’t it?”

The Xcution he mentioned was not the Fullbringer group that Ginjo had once organized in the living world, but a new religious organization that they had just heard about the other day that was throwing its weight around in the world of the living. Ginjo recalled some information he had garnered from the “new residents” of the Rukongai in the last few days and began to detail his supposition. “According to folks who recently died, the cult Xcution supposedly already has several hundred thousand believers, but…I can’t help but think there’s a Fullbringer or Soul Reaper involved.”

They were lucky enough to be able to talk to people who had been believers while they were living, and based on what they said, the written doctrines of Xcution regarding the afterlife perfectly matched the state of the Rukongai and the way the Soul Reapers performed Konso. Those doctrines, which referenced Soul Reapers, the Rukongai, the Seireitei’s existence and even the existence of Hollows, hell, and Hueco Mundo, could have been penned by someone who legitimately knew the world of the afterlife. However, within those doctrines, there was one aspect that diverged entirely from reality. To be more accurate, there was a section about the future, which they were not yet certain would occur.

“In the shadow of chaos spanning one thousand years, a new king shall be born to reign over each of the three worlds.”

At first, Ginjo had thought the religious organization was related to the Quincies and was indicating the new king would be Yhwach. However, he had heard Yhwach’s goal was not to rule over the three worlds but to remove the boundary itself between the worlds and return everything to primordial soup. Thinking this cryptic and prophetic passage was the key to figuring out the group’s identity, he had intended to talk to Hisagi, the self-professed journalist he met the other day, to suss out what the Soul Reapers thought. But before he could do that, an unambiguous hint had appeared right before his eyes.

“Well then, I guess it’s about time for people with power like us to join in?”

Ginjo turned his eyes not to the monstrous zanpaku-to called Ikomikidomoe, but to the child named Hikone controlling it. Then he noticed it—one of the Quincies who had arrived later was approaching that Soul Reaper child, propelling herself using explosions.

“Yo, kiddo. You said your name was Hikone Ubuginu, didn’t you?”

Liltotto’s eyes reflected the form of Hikone Ubuginu, still unharmed and standing on Ikomikidomoe. Exasperated that not only the monster Ikomikidomoe, but also Ikomikidomoe’s Soul Reaper master was unharmed after being showered by Candice’s many thunderbolts, she had purposefully started a conversation to get information from her opponent. “Oh! You’re one of the Quincies who was in Hueco Mundo last time, aren’t you?! It’s nice to see you again! It’s amazing that you’re eating Ikomikidomoe’s followers! I’m glad I could meet you again!”

“I’d rather have not run into you again. So…you were saying you’re supposed to become king?”

“Yes! Oh, well, to be more correct, I’m not becoming the king so much as Lord Tokinada is going to make me the king!”

“So on top of it being a hand-me-down, you’re just a puppet king? Is there not anything you yourself want to do?”

Though she said it as though to provoke Hikone, the child didn't appear to comprehend that she was being sarcastic and innocently replied, “There is! What I want to do is be useful to Lord Tokinada!”

“So if your pal Tokinada ordered you to die a painful death, would you actually go and die?”

“Yes! And I’d do my best to suffer while I do it!”

“Uh-huh, I see…”

Crap. Just talking about this is making me feel half-witted. This kid’s as crazy a fanatic as Lille is. No, the kid’s a little different from him. It’s not fanaticism, so what is it?

It’s like the kid was made that way from the start.

Though Liltotto was dubious as to whether she could get through to the Soul Reaper, she kept asking questions. The fact was, she had a single, genuine question that was unrelated to her premise of gathering information.

“There’s something I wanna ask you.”

It was related to the spiritual pressure that Candice and the others had also noticed intermingling in Hikone.

“Have you heard the name Gremmy Thoumeaux before?”

Gremmy Thoumeaux: that was the name of a boy who, barring Yhwach, was said to be the strongest of the Stern Ritter—someone who could beat anybody. That he was even a boy was something he himself had contrived; in actuality, his true gender and age were unknown. He was a Quincy whose body was a single brain floating in a container and who, through the V Schrift—The Visionary—that Yhwach had bestowed upon him, had created his flesh body by “imagining” it.

He could convert what he imagined into reality, and his abilities were like a god’s. In his fatal battle with Kenpachi Zaraki, he had even materialized a gigantic meteorite and outer space itself in the Seireitei. In the end, he had imagined a power that would outstrip Kenpachi Zaraki, which had ended up bringing about his own downfall when he was unable to imagine a body that could bear that power, and because of that he had been awakened from his dream and his brain could no longer function.

Liltotto had seen the moment that Gremmy’s body had collapsed and had even confirmed that his spiritual pressure had entirely ceased. She didn’t know what had happened to the container holding his brain after that, and she hadn’t intended to find out where it went, but…it was a different matter when she could feel Gremmy’s spiritual pressure coming from the Soul Reaper in front of her eyes.

Liltotto had asked the question presuming that this Soul Reaper might have been a decoy that the living Gremmy might have made with his imagination.

“Gremmy… You mean Mr. Gremmy. Oh!”

Hikone thought for a bit and became bright-faced as though recalling something. “Yes, I do know that name! Lord Tokinada told me about that!”

“What?!”

Liltotto, who hadn’t expected an actual response, opened her small eyes wide as she waited for Hikone to go on. However, Hikone’s reply was the answer that Liltotto hadn’t wanted to hear.

“Mr. Gremmy was one of the people used as an ingredient to create me! Yes, he was!”