The space of the Wandenreich is attached to the Seireitei, but the two spaces are separated by a thick layer of black Reishi particles, like a shadow. All Quincy must pass through this shadowy area to Quincy.
The Quincy can enter and exit this shadowy area in just a second or two, but its vastness and depth are not merely a matter of a meter or two.
At least, the Soul-Devouring Beasts, which were frantically absorbing Reishi in the shadow zone, even though some of them had grown to be over twenty meters tall and had tentacles that were fifty meters long, still could not reach the inner space of the Wandenreich.
As three days passed, even with occasional instances of mutual devouring and merging, more than three hundred still remained.
The larger the single eye, the larger the Soul-Devouring Beast's body, the more and longer its tentacles, and the stronger it becomes.
The fast-growing Soul-Devouring Beasts are already over fifty meters tall, and their Reiatsu has reached the Captain-level... but they are not yet at their limit; they are still growing.
In the Ice Palace, as the entire space became increasingly unstable, Yhwach was awakened.
After learning the details, he sat upright on his throne, his face showing a hint of gloom.
The course of events had slightly exceeded his plans from a thousand years ago, and he couldn't quite understand what he had overlooked.
Could it really be that guy named Nangong Ling from Jugram Haschwalth's report? But he wasn't in my glimpse into the future.
If it really is because of him, then there's only one explanation: that guy was made into Soul King for a period of time, exceeding the scope of 'The Almighty'...
Thinking of this, Yhwach asked, "Jugram Haschwalth, has that guy named Nangong Ling really been sealed away?"
Jugram Haschwalth said seriously, "Based on the information we have, it has indeed been sealed away. Moreover, he promised that when he became the Soul King, he would create the sun of Hueco Mundo, but there has been no change in Hueco Mundo for a long time."
Jugram Haschwalth learned about the creation of the sun in Hueco Mundo from some lower-ranking Arrancar he had captured from the Sternritter, and it was also around that time that he inquired about Nangong Ling.
"Report: In the external Shadow Domain, a large number of monsters are devouring Reishi, causing instability in our space. The Reiatsu of those monsters contains the Reiatsu of Hollows, so it cannot be ruled out that Soul Reaper are using modified Hollows to attack us."
Just as the two were preparing to analyze Nangong Ling's information in depth, a Holy Soldier from the technical department ran over to report the root cause of the spatial disturbance.
Jugram Haschwalth said coldly, "Too slow. It took a full three days to find out."
The Holy Soldier quickly explained, "We are very sorry, we didn't think of it that way at first. We only realized it after His Majesty Wenlai's Schrift ability was also devoured."
"Furthermore, it is predicted that the monsters outside will attack in two days, at which point the space of the Wandenreich will collapse, resulting in many connections with the Seireitei in three days..."
The tech Holy Soldier rattled off his analysis of the data in one breath, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
"You can go now. Report back if you find anything."
"Yes."
Yhwach ordered the Holy Soldiers to withdraw, his face expressionless, revealing neither joy nor anger.
After a long silence, Yhwach sighed, "I thought a thousand years of peace would dull Shigekuni Yamamoto's cold-bloodedness, but I never expected that a traitor from decades ago would awaken him."
"Jugram Haschwalth, have Wenlai remove his powers! Have the Holy Soldier set up battle formations everywhere, and inform our allies..."
"Yes."
Jugram Haschwalth gave a slight salute, then turned and left.
He assigned the members of the Sternritter to various locations throughout the Wandenreich, ordering them to kill Captain-level Soul Reaper who infiltrated the territory as soon as possible.
The Seireitei, the Kuchiki Clan.
A gaunt-faced man and the current head of the Kuchiki Clan calmly stared at each other, sizing each other up.
After a long silence, the man finally spoke, "So, Lady Ginrei Kuchiki and Sōjun are dead, and you are the current head of the Kuchiki Clan."
Byakuya Kuchiki turned away from the man and said coldly, "As a disgrace to the Kuchiki Clan, I should have expelled you from the family register, but my grandfather asked me to give you a chance before he passed away."
"Now that you have been punished, the Gotei 13 will attack the Wandenreich in three days. Only the Third Division and Thirteenth Divisions will remain. The letter of recommendation is here. Choose your own life from now on!"
After finishing his sentence, Byakuya Kuchiki turned and left, leaving only a letter on the table...
The man who was released after serving his sentence was Kōga. The years of normal imprisonment had calmed him down considerably, and he was no longer as impulsive as he had been in his youth.
After reflecting for two hundred years, he also felt that if he had restrained himself from killing those people back then, perhaps there wouldn't have been so much trouble.
As for the only point of criticism in the history of the Kuchiki Clan, Byakuya's attitude towards it can be described as extremely calm.
He doesn't need to worry, nor will he worry, that Kōga can threaten his position.
As for the letter of recommendation, Byakuya originally didn't intend to pay attention to Kōga, but his aunt, Kōga's wife, asked him to write it, hoping that her husband could wash away the shame of the Kuchiki Clan.
Kōga sighed, "We've run into so much trouble as soon as we got out!"
Outside the door, Kuchiki Kōun peeked out of the window, curiously observing the young master who had just been released from prison.
The old man who was sighing and complaining inside just a moment ago had vanished in the blink of an eye.
Hongyun felt a chill run down her spine and turned around abruptly, only to be met with Kōga's sharp gaze.
"Ha!"
"Wow!"
Kōga suddenly glared, his Reiatsu and killing intent filling the air, which frightened Hongyun so much that she used several Shunpo and disappeared above the wall.
"Hehe, kid, you've mastered the Shunpo technique quite well."
Kōga's lips curled up slightly, revealing a rare smile.
He then looked at the envelope in his hand, and his expression instantly hardened.
The Kuchiki Clan is moving out of the Seireitei today, so Kōga went to a side courtyard to say goodbye to her lover before heading to the Thirteenth Division...
Upon arriving outside the Thirteenth Division's Squad Barracks, Kōga saw a red-haired young man standing at the door with a complicated and hesitant expression. He seemed to want to go in but was afraid of what might happen, so he eventually left helplessly.
Kōga stopped a girl with onion-shaped hair and asked, "Excuse me, is Captain Shiba here?"
"Who are you?"
Rukia had been stopped, looked suspicious. The person in front of her was thin, but had a gentle and refined demeanor, and his Reiatsu was restrained, making it impossible to discern his true strength.
What shocked her even more was that this person was wearing the unique Kenseikan of the Kuchiki Clan at his temples. She had never seen this person in the Kuchiki Clan for decades, which made her doubt his identity.
Kōga's expression remained unchanged. "Kōga Kuchiki has just been released from 'Muken' prison and has applied to become Squad Member the Thirteenth Division."
Rukia was surprised; she knew about Kōga Kuchiki's history, but Kōga probably didn't know who she was.
"Haha, Byakuya bribed me to arrange for you to become Seated Officer." A hearty laugh suddenly rang out, Kaien Shiba appeared.
Rukia to the side, was exasperated and retorted, "Captain, please don't spread rumors about my older brother."
"Haha, it's alright, Byakuya won't mind."
"Big brother?"
"Wow, you just came out, you don't know her yet, do you?"
Seeing Kōga, Kaien Shiba immediately understood. She pulled Rukia aside and introduced her to Kōga, saying, "This is your Kuchiki Clan's adopted daughter, Rukia Kuchiki. Hisana her older sister."
"Greetings, Uncle."
"Um."
Rukia bowed in greeting, Kōga nodded slightly in return.
"Seriously, you're family, and I have to introduce you... Fine, let's go, I'll take you to the job."
Kaien led Kōga to his office and directly gave him the title of Third Seat, making him Third Seat along with another young man, while Rukia was only Fifth Seat.
Two days later, the families of the Soul Reaper in Seireitei completely withdrew, leaving only a few fearless individuals and combat personnel.
At the same time, the Wandenreich.
With a cracking sound, a house Silbern collapsed. A crack had appeared there, from which a giant tentacle emerged and slowly waved.
Approximately ten meters in diameter and a hundred meters in length, a light swing, even without much force, can cause entire swathes of houses to collapse.
"The enemy is here."
"Quickly, attack it together!"
The fifty Guards Corps assembled and unleashed a hail of arrows, firing thousands of shots until they finally severed the giant tentacle.
However, accompanied by booming sounds, more and more giant tentacles emerged from other places, and the spatial rifts grew larger and larger.
A giant Soul-Devouring Beast poked half its body out, its single eye frantically scanning the space.
"Wow, it's huge!"
"He's over 300 meters tall."
"That eye alone must be twenty meters in diameter!"
"Don't just stand there, take it down."
The squad Little Captain of the Guards Corps roared and fired arrows, waking the terrified Guards Corps then joined in the shooting.
But the Soul-Devouring Beast seemed to have gained intelligence, and directly raised one of its tentacles to block the Reishi Arrow.
Then, a gash slowly tore open in the part of its body below its single eye, eventually enlarging and spewing out a large mouthful of thick, black liquid.
As the liquid fell to the ground, more than a dozen enormous Gillian sprang up like mushrooms after the rain. The remaining liquid, insufficient to form Gillian, also transformed into various shapes of Ragged Hollows.
In just over ten minutes, the same thing has happened in hundreds of places.
These Soul-Devouring Beasts have evolved a smattering of rudimentary intelligence, knowing to create minions to buy themselves time to escape from the rift.
Rumble!
The Reishi Bombs that had been planted long ago were being detonated one after another. They were originally intended to be used against the Soul Reaper, but at this time the One-Eyed Monster was releasing too many Hollows, and the Guards Corps was about to be overwhelmed. They could no longer care about anything else.
Buzz! Boom!
A strange cry came from afar, and members of the Sternritter attacked, knocking down a Soul-Devouring Beast that was about to break free from the crack.
Then, it used Heilig Pfeil to blast off its single eye, completely annihilating it...
"Using these monsters to wear us down? As expected of Shigekuni Yamamoto, his ruthless pursuit of victory remains unchanged."
Yhwach looked at the ravaged, Wandenreich, feeling no anger, but rather a secret satisfaction.
He was constantly absorbing the souls of the fallen to strengthen himself and accelerate his recovery.
The souls of the monsters and voids that were massacred by the Sternritter would also be absorbed by him.