Chapter 127

Hunting ground?

The top three are easy to understand: currently, the strongest Soul Reaper in this forest should be Haruto, Mutsuki, and Daijiji.

Based on Xu Gang's description—

What do you want to do?

Haruto's voice was somewhat low.

This was partly due to physical weakness, and partly due to deliberate probing.

"Do the same things as you."

Yang Touxu raised his front hoof and spoke without any hesitation.

"... You always rely on sneak attacks to defeat me. Against a true Vice-Captain-level, you'd be instantly killed. Not everyone is as bad at close combat as I am."

Haruto mocked.

While Yang Tou Xu's overall strength wasn't greater than his own, Haruto's defeat in such a short time was actually due to his reliance on established methods.

Many enemies at the Vice-Captain-level died because of this tactic, leading Haruto to become overconfident in his starting move.

Furthermore, this Hollow with a sheep's head seems to be very familiar with the methods of the Soul Reaper —it might be a bit troublesome for Mutsuki- sensei to fight, but if it were Daijiji... a proper Fifth-Class Reii vice-captain, dealing with Hollows of the same level wouldn't be difficult, as long as he doesn't get his Kidō deflected like Haruto did.

Haruto's words...

Actually, half of it is about himself.

"A sneak attack?"

The sheep-headed creature continued its hoarse, grating noises.

"No."

There was an eerie, ambiguous quality to it.

"I simply adjusted the Reiatsu to the appropriate level based on your skill level."

"... Adjustment?"

Is this Hollow able to adjust its Reiatsu?

Haruto felt as if he had heard a fairy tale—in Hueco Mundo, a place where the strong prey on the weak, the Hollows would only show off all their muscles at any time and place; in their eyes, the concept of hiding one's strength simply did not exist!

"That's right."

The chaos in the sheep's head's empty eye sockets resembled countless, incoherent lines constantly swirling.

"Soul Reaper's senses are really weak; you've been chasing me for quite a while now."

"Could it be...?"

"Didn't you notice anything unusual?"

"!!"

Haruto realized he had really underestimated this guy.

"Not bad, not bad, your reaction time was pretty quick—"

Sheep Head Gently scratched the ground with its hard hooves.

"Your ant-like kind provided a lot of Reiatsu for my clone."

"Sizzle."

Yang Touxu had barely finished speaking.

"Boom!"

From the depths of the forest, one explosion after another resounded simultaneously.

At the same time, the complex rune on Haruto's wrist, with its Reiatsu forming the writing, was also rapidly dissipating.

This means—

"Soul Reaper, I am very grateful to you."

The sheep-headed man let out a sinister laugh.

"If only they hadn't cut me apart..."

"As Gillian, I have absolutely no chance of regaining my self-awareness."

"!?"

Gillian?

The ten Hollows that the Sage found from the Twelfth Division were actually cut from a Gillian?

This is Menos Grande!

Did these sages fail to grasp the gravity of the situation, or did the Twelfth Division conceal the truth and only intend to use the opportunity to destroy the useless experimental subjects?

Without evidence, Haruto would find it difficult to make a judgment in a short time.

But both their appearance and abilities have been explained for many of the oddities.

Just then—

"Buzz."

One by one, vortex-shaped voids filled with chaotic Reiatsu appeared around the Hollow-Headed Goat.

As these voids seeped into the normal space, they gradually transformed into tangible Reiatsu condensations, covering the Hollow-Headed Ram's body piece by piece like armor.

"Click."

At last.

Menos Grande, roughly half the size of Gillian and covered in heavy armor, appeared in Haruto's true form.

"..."

"A-Qing!"

The call anomaly caused by spatial disorder has finally ended.

From the last remaining runes of Tenteikūra, Isane and the others' somewhat anxious voices could be heard.

They all express the same meaning:

The squads they were following, whose targets were Hollows, suddenly self-destructed during the battle; the resulting spatial Vortex directly swept into the bodies of these sixth-year students... turning them into the firewood used for forging the armor that Haruto had just seen.

Is it like that where you are too?

"No, I haven't encountered this situation."

Haruto answered without the slightest hesitation, and tried his best to make his voice sound as normal as possible.

"You guys go back to the audience area first and tell the Twelfth Division and the bigwigs above about the situation. They'll figure out a solution."

"Here I am..."

"Take care of this guy and then leave."

Haruto looked up at the enormous creature in front of him—the two pieces of armor on the front hooves of the ram-headed creature. It must be the creation formed by the fusion of the previously wiped-out squad and the clone it mentioned.

"Let's go help them!"

"Need not."

Kiyone's voice had barely begun when Haruto interrupted her with a hint of a smile.

"Of the three targets, only the last one is progressing relatively quickly. I'll finish it and then join you all."

"Okay, then we'll be waiting for you!"

"Okay, see you later."

"..."

"No other last words?"

The sheep-headed mask's voice no longer had the same feel as before; with the opening and closing of the mouth Visored, it was now more like the sound produced by real organs.

"My body just isn't responding to my commands."

Haruto stood upright, half-squatting and half-kneeling.

Spinal injuries cannot be repaired in a short time. Trying to stand up completely could cause him to fall again due to loss of balance.

"We haven't decided who's the winner yet."

He was using Reiatsu instead of his nerves to control his meridians and bones, forcibly pulling himself up from the ground.

It is a product made by imitating the Bone Strike Ransōtengai.

While it may not be as agile as when it's in perfect condition, it's sufficient for emergencies.

"What can you do looking like that?"

The sheep-headed creature's body completely blocked out the sunlight, leaving only a dark shadow cast upon Haruto.

"Being able to unleash Kidō is enough."

"Your Kidō are useful to me?"

"Although I misjudged the situation, I still maintain... your appetite isn't that big."

"Oh?"

Fine cracks appeared around the sheep's head's eye sockets; this was its squinting motion.

Do you know me very well?

"No, but I understand the relationship between rules and Reiatsu very well."

Haruto was in no way inferior in terms of language.

"This is alarmist."

Even if you were lucky enough to guess correctly, you have no room to maneuver against my complete self... Your last chance was just now.

Sheep-headed Xu shook his head dismissively.

"No, I have a chance."

Haruto's confrontational stance indicates that he no longer needs to buy time for recovery.

"Although it's a bit embarrassing, it's still—"

"Whoosh!"

The sound of Shunpo landing echoed between the two sides.

"This is not a one-man battle."

――――

Volume 1: Chapter 79, The Rat

"Yo!"

The gleaming teeth looked somewhat familiar.

"Haruto."

A tall, sleazy figure stood between Menos Grande and Haruto.

Daijiji has arrived.

"Did I arrive just in time?"

"... It's not too late."

The Kakushitsuijaku technique was used to lock onto the coordinates of his companions. At this point, Haruto's perception dropped to a very low level: he could only detect that Vice-Captain-level Reiatsu was approaching, and he couldn't be sure that it was Daijiji coming.

What about our previous discussion?

Daijiji turned his square face to the side, staring at the Menos Grande opposite him while keeping a glimpse of Haruto out of the corner of his eye.

"... no problem."

"Okay!"