Chapter 94

"Bakudo #73: Tōzanshō!"

He slammed his palms, brimming with Reiatsu, down onto his feet.

A translucent tetrahedron, shimmering with a pale blue halo, hangs in the air in an inverted cone shape and rotates slowly.

Nanao released the complete version of the Tōzanshō, not the simplified version modified by Haruto; the resulting Kidō Barrier not only has extremely strong external defense capabilities, but also enhances the Reiatsu recovery speed of its members, which is extremely beneficial for the execution of the Kaidō.

Like Nanao, Haruto was not good at Kaidō, so she could only use this method to temporarily suppress the injuries of the Togakushi and Gori.

Once the setup of the Tōzanshō was complete, Nanao quickly understood why Haruto insisted that she use the seventy-plus Bakudō.

"... How could this be!?"

The number of voids surrounding us from all directions was simply too great!

They are ferocious in appearance and come in all shapes and sizes, including everything from birds and beasts to insects and seafood.

The proportion of Giant Hollows was very low, and their strength was not as great as the four Haruto had just dealt with, but their sheer number—more than two hands' worth—was truly astonishing; plus, there were probably more than a hundred ordinary Hollows of various sizes—

"Nothing."

The Flow in Haruto's eyes was filled with chilling murderous intent.

"Although this isn't Jūreichi, we've still used Hollow Bait... a small snack that even Menos Grande would love, so naturally they'll swarm around like crazy."

As Haruto stepped out of the Senkaimon, the familiar scent he felt was the smell of crushed Hollow Bait.

"Compared to this..."

Haruto began to mobilize his Reiatsu on a large scale.

"I'm more concerned with how they managed to evade my senses before they even appeared."

Quantity can lead to qualitative change.

Haruto wasn't at a level where he could ignore numbers; such a massive horde of void creatures posed a greater threat than the elite monsters he had just killed.

To conceal so many Hollow auras at the same time, and to be able to remain undetected by Haruto, is a realm that only the strong can reach, even if classified as a special ability. The Hollows did not emerge from Hueco Mundo through the Garganta Hueco Mundo, but rather appeared before Haruto only after crossing a certain "boundary" in the World of the Living.

"A-Qing..."

Nanao could sense Haruto's seriousness.

There are too many variables in this Konsō training: with the strength of these Giant Hollow, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they could wipe out an elite Soul Reaper, but now it seems that their purpose is only to target the trainees.

—This is really too strange.

"But..."

Haruto raised his fingers above his head and drew a large circle in the sky.

"That happened after that!"

"Bakudō #37"

"Boom!"

Between the towering buildings and structures, the invisible and colorless Reishi rope net, which blends seamlessly with the ice and snow, instantly tightens.

"Tsuriboshi!"

Even a silent chant unleashing the full power of a mere level 37 intermediate-level Hadō would be effortless for Haruto; the reason he needed to chant it so solemnly was entirely due to its exaggerated coverage area:

A circle with a radius exceeding two kilometers.

The Reishi network, simultaneously concealed by the Kyokkō and celestial phenomena, had unknowingly already touched and even entangled every illusory body.

If it were just to deal with the Giant Hollow centipede, Haruto wouldn't have needed to waste so much time; he could have arrived the moment the trio was attacked.

All the time wasted was used to set up this huge and intricate trap.

After all...

The targets attracted by the Hollow Bait will definitely not be just a few Giant Hollow!

"Hadō #54"

"Hadō #67"

Within the circle drawn by Haruto, as the Twofold Incantation began, two palms raised to the sky simultaneously unleashed intersecting bolts of Raika.

"Haien!"

"Raimeisan!"

Haruto's task is simple.

His two most powerful Hadō, Hyōga Seiran and Kōten Taihō, could only cover a radius of about the size of a town hall square, making it impossible for them to simultaneously kill so many Hollows.

Not only that.

These two tactics will inevitably cause civilian casualties—although gas explosions are common in island nations across various parallel worlds, the destructive power of these two tactics far exceeds the scope of a gas explosion.

Anyone with eyesight can see the problem.

So...

Haruto took a look at Erzhuzi from the film set next door.

Furthermore, to prevent the effect of the convergence of hot and cold air currents from not being as reliable as originally expected, he also specially added a Raimeisan to recharge the thundercloud.

Based on this—

"Tsuzuri Raiden - Kirin!"

Press both raised palms down onto the ground simultaneously.

A massive amount of electrical charge erupted as a thunderstorm, instantly striking each of the Hollow bodies along the dense network of Reishi!

"Boom!!"

――――

This is the only strike.

The smoke cleared and the clouds dispersed.

Centered on the building where Haruto was located, hundreds of Hollows within a two-kilometer radius were simultaneously crushed back into their Reishi state by the lightning.

"Call."

Haruto's chest heaved forcefully.

Integrating numerous Kidō into a single move, while ensuring power, also requires precise control over the location of the lightning strike. This places an enormous strain on one's mental energy and Reiatsu.

Fortunately.

Haruto and his partner's talent in Kidō remains as strong as ever.

Just then—

"Call out!"

It sounded like the whistle had blown during a match.

Even the sharp, piercing sound of the light couldn't keep up with it; the azure streak arrived at Haruto's chest in an instant from an unknown distance.

"Boom."

It vanished upon shattering the Tōzanshō Shield.

"..."

Silent snowflakes fell again to the earth.

"Come out!"

Haruto shouted loudly in the direction of the office building he had come from.

"They've even resorted to Hollow Bait; they still think they can hide their identities?!"

Hollow Bait.

Haruto had retrieved this thing from the body of the dead 11th Division Seated Officer, Onizuka, and successfully lured out the Giant Hollow that had almost killed him near a well in the District 66.

For Onizuka, this item was also considered spoils of war... from Quincy.

Since Yhwach's defeat a thousand years ago, the Quincy's activities in the World of the Living have greatly decreased.

But.

The Quincy originated from Yhwach.

However, not all Quincy belong to the "Wandenreich" faction.

During the more than eight hundred years that Yhwach slept, the Sternritter, without the blessing of the Schrift, and the Wandenreich, without the support of the Sternritter, even briefly lost their dominion over the Quincy.

Many Pure-Blood Quincy have established new territories in the World of the Living and even Hueco Mundo.

At the same time.

Faced with the Quincy whose organization had already been broken up, the Soul Reaper inexplicably did not continue their purge.

Perhaps.

For Shigekuni Yamamoto, who wanted to maintain peace in the Soul Society, killing the ringleader was enough; there was no need for further bloodshed and sacrifice.

The Monk Who Calls the Real Name, whose sole mission was to protect the existence of the Soul King, never paid any attention to these childish actions, which were like a baby learning to walk.

This relationship lasted until more than a decade ago:

After a long period of rest Quincy gradually became active again. Their actions against Hollows disrupted the balance of souls, naturally attracting the attention of the Soul Reaper once more; this led to the Gotei 13 launching a new round of campaigns against the Quincy.

" --Quincy?"

At the end of Haruto's words.

A young man wearing a white trench coat, the color of which was completely opposite to that of Shihakushō, gradually emerged from the wind and snow, stepping on the fluttering Reishi.

――――

Volume 1: Chapter 60, Quincy

"You know about the Quincy?"

With his blonde hair, glasses, and that affected, confident expression, Haruto saw him as nothing short of an alternate version of Uryū.

"Of course, it's recorded in the textbooks of the Shin'ō Academy."

Haruto watched silently as the enemy approached.

Quincy are not spirits; their ability to walk in the sky relies entirely on the faint Reishi particles beneath their feet.

Hirenkyaku.

This is the Quincy's high-speed movement technique.

Because it can utilize the Reishi in the atmosphere, its speed is even faster than the Soul Reaper's Shunpo at the same level; in environments full of Reishi, such as Hueco Mundo or Soul Society, its speed can even exceed that of Menos Grande's Sonído.

"Textbook?"

Quincy Haruto adjusted his obviously expensive glasses—Haruto was certain this guy was a rich man who could drop a fortune of gold coins if he died.

How is our situation described above?

Although he is so well-preserved that there is not a single wrinkle on his face, you can tell from his knuckles and neck skin that he is probably not young.

"A demon-slaying group comprised of humans who share the same goal as the Soul Reaper."

Haruto answered without flinching.

"... That's it?"

"That's it."

The atmosphere between the two became somewhat strange.

"I had assumed that the victor's history would embellish certain actions, but to my surprise, it wasn't even mentioned at all."

"..."

Haruto didn't retort.

The Soul Reaper's job is to maintain the balance of the three realms, and in this process, they consciously eliminate Hollows that threaten stability; while the Quincy's job is to completely obliterate Hollows, protecting the safety of humanity in the World of the Living world as heroes... This is the view of most Quincy. In reality, the Founder Yhwach had another unknown purpose:

By excessively hunting down the Void, the balance was broken again, returning to the state before the Soul King created the Three Realms.