Chapter 97
But when the towering pillar of light appeared, she couldn't help but worry for Haruto —the exaggerated phenomenon meant equally exaggerated destructive power, which, according to her uncles, was already close to the power that only Captain-level could display.
The explosion, which occurred so close by, did not affect the surrounding area.
The Sprenger absorbed all the power of the Heilig Pfeil, making the light that pierced the sky even more dazzling.
But in the next instant—
"Beep."
The brightness that had pierced through the clouds receded completely, and the city seemed to return to its original tranquility.
"What!?"
Krien stared in disbelief at the scene before him.
Haruto was not burned to ashes by the Heilig Pfeil Sprenger; beneath him, layers of ice crystals bloomed quietly like lotus flowers.
As the petals formed from solid ice scattered like rain, the hexagonal "lenses" hidden within gradually revealed their true form.
"A trap was set..."
The two-meter-high lens turned to face forward, reflecting Krien's somewhat dazed expression.
"You're not the only one!"
Hyōga Seiran.
While Krien was setting up the Sprenger, Haruto was also quietly preparing the incantation for Hyōga Seiran —as a high-level Hadō that he had only recently mastered, casting Hyōga Seiran by silent incantation would require a lot of time.
Fortunately, the other side was very cooperative.
The characteristic of the Ice and Snow type of Kidō lies here: the solid ice created by it can not only be used for attack, but is also extremely useful for defense.
Krien's backup plan was very well hidden, but using it against someone like Haruto, who is already a cunning player who excels at trash talk...
How could it possibly go unnoticed!
"The Bakudō"
The unadorned, minimalist, and swift chant began.
"Kyōmon!"
Haruto overlapped his palms and pushed them forcefully forward!
"Buzz!!"
The sky was dyed red by the aurora.
The flames of the Sprenger, infused with the Heilig Pfeil, erupted with dazzling iridescent colors, hurtling towards Krien was standing almost within reach.
"Laugh!!"
The dazzling light shone like the sun in the sky!
Krien, who unleashed two powerful attacks in quick succession, had no chance to dodge and was instantly incinerated by the flames, burning half of his body to ashes.
"Call."
The charred remains fell along with the snowflakes.
"Thump."
The Quincy had been so confident of victory just moments before, now lay lifeless on the ground, his arrogant demeanor gone.
"Call."
Haruto slowly descended towards the rooftop.
"Nanao."
As he dispelled the chill that seemed to penetrate his very being, he spoke to Nanao, who was about to rush towards him.
"You stay here to maintain the Tōzanshō."
"If what this guy says is true, I need to go help the other teams immediately."
"A-Qing..."
Nanao looked at Haruto's immobile right arm with some concern.
"Don't worry, it's just a minor side effect of double chanting; you'll recover quickly."
Preparing two different types of Kidō) with numbers above 80, and even using Silent Chanting (a technique that completely conceals Reiatsu fluctuations), puts an extremely high level of pressure on the body.
Haruto's symptoms on his right arm are merely superficial.
In fact, his left hand was equally weak and powerless at that moment, and he probably would have difficulty even holding his Zanpakuto.
"Besides..."
"This Quincy named Krien should be the leader of this group. I could handle the rest with one hand."
However, to put Nanao at ease, Haruto told a little white lie.
"... good!"
When answering with this word, Nanao's feelings were extremely complicated.
She felt a mix of pride and joy, but mostly self-reproach for her inability to perform—in terms of Rei'i Grade and the quantity of Kidō arts, she was clearly not much weaker than Haruto.
But when it comes to actual combat...
"Then I'll go first."
Haruto raised his hand and waved twice, then used a Shunpo to leave the scene.
"Whoosh!"
The barrier set up by Quincy relies on drawing Reishi particles from the atmosphere to maintain its existence and will not disappear with the death of the caster.
Even though Haruto successfully killed Krien, the Hell Butterfly's communication function remained disrupted.
"Whoosh."
Haruto is using Shunpo to travel at full speed.
I need to hurry.
Haruto was eager to save people.
Although the other Quincy are not as strong as Krien, the combined strength of the other students participating in this Konsō internship is also no match for Haruto.
Even the second-ranked pair, the Isane sisters who were drawn into the same team, might not be able to defeat their opponent:
Neither Isane Kiyone were skilled in combat; they devoted nearly half their energy to studying the Kaidō.
This is also why the Fourth Division doesn't participate in the battle.
If the Isane sisters hadn't learned a lot of combat-style Kidō from Haruto would have been even more anxious than he is now: the first thing he needed to find was the Isane sisters.
After all.
In the World of the Living where the Fourth Division has not yet entered the fray, there are only a handful of people who can save lives.
"Pity..."
Haruto glanced at his drooping arm.
"Sixth-Class Spiritual Pressure is still a bit lacking."
Given his current condition, it will take him at least 15 minutes to barely recover and return to normal.
"Otherwise, with my current physical condition, I should be able to withstand the backlash from two attacks of the level 80+ Kidō at the same time."
Reiatsu must be matched with the body in order to unleash its full combat power.
Haruto's Reiatsu far exceeds that of others of the same level, but its concentration is still at the level of Sixth-Class Spiritual Pressure.
Reiatsu increases largely depend on talent, not just hard work—even if Haruto is a genius in this area, it's wishful thinking to advance a level in less than half a year.
Let's return to the Kidō.
The fact that neither Kyōmon nor Hyōga Seiran is listed in the numbered Hadō indicates that their use is subject to significant restrictions.
Both mentally and physically.
If it were the numbered Hadō, Haruto could withstand even the Senju Kōten Taihō, which is supposed to be used by Captain-level; although he hasn't tried it yet, even if he released two Kōten Taihō at the same time, there shouldn't be such obvious side effects.
But!
On the battlefield just now, this was already a safe choice.
The Senju Kōten Taihō is indeed incredibly powerful, but considering its extremely long incantation time, Krien would likely never give him such an opportunity.
Not to mention, Haruto also has to worry about accidental injury.
If you choose pure defense, then the Dankū is definitely better. But it is precisely because the Dankū's defense is too absolute that Haruto finds it difficult to switch from defense to offense immediately after surviving two waves of attacks... Trash talk time is a necessary means to break the opponent's will. Although Haruto appears to be handling it with ease, he is actually very concerned about saving people.
Using Hyōga Seiran will allow you to achieve Haruto's goal in the shortest time:
The ice crystals generated by Hyōga Seiran can accelerate the creation of the Kyōmon; at the same time, as a hybrid elemental and physical attack Kidō, it can also help determine the strength of the Sprenger, and based on this, cast Kyōmon powerful enough to deflect the Heilig Pfeil.
The battle didn't last long, but Haruto felt he had done his best.
"Whoosh!"
Haruto's speed is increasing.
The city scenery was quickly left behind him.
Haruto had no map; the only thing that gave him any sense of direction was the Silver Cross he had just picked up from Krien's body.
As the only spoils of war, Haruto could soon sense the presence of several other barriers as soon as he picked it up.
The barrier's effect of blocking auras and communication clearly only works on Hollows and Hell Butterflies; otherwise, communication between Quincy would also be affected.
Haruto can do now...
Save as many as you can!
"Bang!"
The sticky, red and white substance scattered and flew everywhere.
The headless corpse, riddled with torture and wounds, fell to the ground.
"Hey hey~"
Sickly, slender fingers, like steel needles, pierced another head; the upward-rolling whites of the eyes further illustrated the torment the deceased had suffered before death.
"That brat over there."
The man, wearing the same Quincy coat as Krien, licked his bright red lips vigorously.
"Weren't you making quite a racket before?"
"..."
The Quincy raised his chin high and spoke to Gyōkaku Kumoi, who was slumped on the ground, motionless.
Only two members remain in this Soul Burial Squad.
Besides Gyōkaku Kumoi, whose eyes were lifeless, the only other person still alive was Ayaka Kurumadani, who was barely able to stand up while leaning on her sword sheath.
Ayaka's partner in the lottery: Sunai Nezumi —the ninth generation's underling of Munechika, a lower-ranking nobleman—was immediately betrayed upon meeting him; the other two fifth-graders, on the other hand, had been tormented until just now when they were finally freed.
"..."
His only response was silence.
Gyōkaku Kumoi was terrified.
Otherwise, with his Seventh-Class Reii, he would have had no problem Quincy before him until reinforcements arrived.
"Useless thing, can't even provide this much amusement?"
The Quincy shrugged, somewhat bored.
He had initially thought that Gyōkaku Kumoi would give him some enjoyment, but who would have thought that just witnessing his classmate being cut into human stumps would leave him completely terrified and helpless... It's a shame the intelligence report said that this was the offspring of a high-ranking noble in Seireitei.
"In that case, let's start from here... Girl, would you like to dance with me?"