Finally, after everything was over today, the so-called Zero Division returned to the Soul King Palace, and Zero asked Yama-jii to bail out his subordinates after the meeting.
Although Zero was severely reprimanded, at least a large group of people who hadn't been put on trial were now free; Zero also understood that Yama-jii wouldn't be stingy with mercy towards cannon fodder.
The group of troublemakers who had been released were filled with respect for Zero. The saying, "With the Captain backing us up, we can do whatever we want," suddenly spread within the 11th Division, and they decided to continue causing trouble...
For the past few days, Zero has been reading to recharge. The book is full of stories about the Quincy and the Soul Reaper, recounting the various conflicts between the two races throughout history.
It's not just humans who can degenerate into nothingness; birds, ants, livestock, sea fish, and many other creatures are also capable of this. Once they develop a basic sense of self, there's a high probability that they will also degenerate after death.
Anything that is a void will be completely eliminated by the Quincy.
Since thousands of years ago, the Quincy's relentless killing of Hollows has caused some irreversible damage to the Soul Society. For example, the District 80 Rukongai is dry because of the imbalance of souls.
The story of Yhwach, the King of the Quincy, leading the Holy Soldier to attack Soul Society is exaggerated in the books, highlighting the harm the Quincy pose to the world and the 'peaceful coexistence' sought by the Soul Reaper.
At this time, Silbern did not yet exist. Previously, the Wandenreich was still in the World of the Living world, not in the Shadow Space of the Seireitei. After Yhwach unified the various Quincy groups in the World of the Living, the Holy City became the symbol of supreme status.
This city was formed by Yhwach using his Reishi Condensation from the World of the Living, and it roams throughout the World of the Living, allowing Yhwach to observe his territory.
It wasn't until their attack on Soul Society over 700 years ago that most of the First Sternritter were killed, and they concealed the Holy City's whereabouts to avoid being hunted down.
In fact, Yama-jii had always suspected that Yhwach was not dead, but the other's heartbeat and Reiryoku had disappeared, and he had witnessed his remains being swallowed by an unknown dark space.
Knowing that Yhwach was in a crippled state, Yama-jii was very confident that even if Yhwach came back, he could still kill him once again!
The primary objective of targeting the Holy City this time is to capture a few core members of the Wandenreich to confirm whether Yhwach is dead or not; if he is alive, they will kill him again; if any remains are found, they will burn them.
The first month since Zero Division left.
On this day, Zero used wooden sticks instead of knives, ostensibly to train his team members who liked to cause trouble by slashing, but in reality, it was a beating.
More than three hundred troublemakers broke over forty wooden sticks in the process, even using the mop handles from the team's toilets. Every single one of these troublemakers was left battered and bruised.
Some of the seriously wounded were even sent to the Fourth Division as a group. Hana-nee was very happy about this, because many wounded soldiers were given opportunities for her new Squad Members to practice, preparing them for the upcoming battle...
"Okay, that's enough for this morning, Kensei. This afternoon, you'll give them Hakuda training until each of them can withstand five punches from you without falling down."
"Yes!"
"Captain, please spare us!"
"Captain, no!"
"I protest! We deserve holidays too!"
"I... I'm applying to leave the team. I want to join the Third Division."
"Me too, I want to go to the Fourth Division and be with all the cute girls."
The Squad Member, seeing their respected Captain Nangong simply utter a few words and the training was taken over by the fierce-looking Kensei Muguruma, began to groan in pain.
"Protests are ineffective. Your vacation time was used up as time off while you were recovering from your injuries. Keep an eye on those who applied to leave the team. Anyone who dares to submit an application, have a few of you bury them alive. I'll take responsibility if anything happens!"
Zero began his devilish speech, saying that these people, whom he had saved, showed no remorse and had even gone further; they needed to be taught a lesson.
Upon hearing the Captain's follow-up orders, the two Captains ' lackeys Yuanshan and Kuluo, chuckled slyly at the crowd. The troublemakers finally realized that this was not a benevolent organization.
Zero had just left the 11th Division's training grounds when a messenger with excellent Shunpo appeared, knelt before Zero, and said, "Captain Kyōraku has returned! The Captain-Commander is convening Captains' Meeting!"
After Zero acknowledged that he understood, the messenger once again Shunpo to leave. As Zero slowly walked towards the Squad, his eyes flickered: ' The Sternritter! They must be stronger than the two we encountered before! Finally, I can move forward quickly again.'
'Yeah! They were just sucking Grunts before!' Yanis echoed Zero in his Inner World.
In the World of the Living, it is daytime, and many Quincy roam various towns and wildernesses hunting Hollows. In the eyes of some foreign residents who do not speak the language, they are what are known as exorcists.
Due to their sheer numbers, residents in many regions are aware of their existence; it can be said that most of the World of the Living is under their control.
Because Yhwach led his forces to attack Soul Society more than 760 years ago and failed, the Sternritter were almost completely wiped out and have not been fully replenished to this day.
Because after Yhwach's defeat, many Quincy began to break away from the control of the Wandenreich, forming factions that constantly contacted and negotiated with the Soul Reaper.
Yhwach's soul was severely damaged and he fell into a deep sleep, with the entire Wandenreich Group being led by Grand Master of the Sternritter, Yugrain Jugram Haschwalth.
During Yhwach's slumber, he donned the mask of a ruler.
The Holy City is bustling with activity. Every year, outstanding Quincy from all over the world are brought here, and then selected within the Holy City before being taken into the Shadow World, a realm unknown to ordinary Quincy.
Once the Quincy enter the Shadow World, that's when the true Wandenreich begins...
However, none of the Quincy knew of this place's existence before they were taken there.
To talk about this place, we have to start with Yhwach's attack on Soul Society. After witnessing Yama-jii's Bankai, Yhwach, through his the Almighty, foresaw his impending defeat and created this Shadow Space in advance.
Then, in the instant before his defeat, he used his the Almighty to travel back in time and entrust all matters to Jugram Haschwalth, instructing him to lead the Quincy to continue expanding the Shadow Space.
After this defeat, he successfully locked his life force, sacrificing consciousness, heartbeat, and strength to save his body from destruction.
Jugram Haschwalth and other loyal Sternritter entered the Shadow World and found their 'Sealed King,' thus beginning the expansion of the Shadow World and the selection of Quincy.
The souls of the deceased Quincy will be returned to Yhwach so that he can repair his damaged bodies.
Those Sternritter who drink his blood and are granted abilities can have their souls absorbed by Yhwach to Resurrection if they kill someone.
Quincy are evolved humans. In this strange world of souls, those with higher Reiryoku live longer and maintain youthful vitality.
Powerful Quincy like the Sternritter could easily live for a thousand years with their Reiryoku...
More than seven hundred years have passed since the war, Yhwach still shows no signs of awakening. As a result, the high-ranking Quincy began to diverge and split into two factions.
The Quincy faction of their Wandenreich was relatively better off, at least they had Jugram Haschwalth as their leader; the other faction, however, had disintegrated several times, once again becoming dozens of large and small groups or families, returning to the state it was before it was unified by Yhwach.
At this moment, in the center of the Holy City, in Arena resembling that of ancient Rome, ten people dressed in white and wearing white hats are fighting. Only one of them can survive and be promoted to the glorious 'Holy Soldier'.
"There are many outstanding Holy Soldier this year; this is the 219th."
"Hugo, if you ask me, why not just take everyone away?"
"Some of them are not Pure-Blood Quincy; their bloodline has been tainted. They can only earn this honor through their efforts and by demonstrating sufficient talent."
"Tch, in the end it's all because they're not strong enough."
A stern-faced blond man and a purple-haired punk-style youth stood on the viewing platform, coldly watching the Quincy fighting below, showing no sorrow for their kin fighting each other.
They chose this path themselves; no one will pity them. On the contrary, they will envy them for having embarked on the right path.
The blond man is Jugram Haschwalth, and the punk-haired man is Bazz-B. Both are members of the Sternritter, have drunk Yhwach's blood, and have been granted 'Schrift' and corresponding powers.
"Hugo, fight me! If I win, you'll listen to me again."
As the fight came to an end, Punk Hedgehog Bazz-B once again provoked Jugram Haschwalth.
"Bazz, you have nothing left to lose. Nearly eight hundred years have passed since I began serving His Majesty. You've already lost over a dozen pairs of underwear and run naked dozens of times. Continuing is pointless."
Jugram Haschwalth refused again. Contrary to what was said in the original timeline, they did not simply refuse; they actually engaged in a contest, which always ended in Bazz-B's defeat.
"Damn it, you have to be beaten!"
Rumble!
Upon hearing Jugram Haschwalth's rejection and recounting of his past, Bazz-B roared, first unleashing the oppressive aura unique to strong Reiatsu, then the Holy City resounded with a rumble and tremor, leaving Jugram Haschwalth momentarily stunned.
"Uh, Hugo, would you believe me if I said I didn't mean it?"
"Fool! Someone is attacking the Holy City! Summon the Holy Soldier and prepare for battle! Notify the Sternritter to assemble!"
Bazz-B to glorify himself, but was snapped out of his reverie by Jugram Haschwalth's cold rebuke, while Jugram Haschwalth was already methodically assigning combat missions.
The roar came again. After Yhwach was no longer there, the long-neglected Holy City was pierced by two shots and began to slowly fall to the ground.
The Kidō Corps, who were searching along the trajectory with the 11th Division, detected a dense and enormous Reishi floating in the sky using Kidō scanning, almost identical to the report of Captain Kyōraku.
After they gave the exact location, Zero, in order to take care of the Squad Members who could not fully control their Reishi for aerial combat, unleashed a fully chanted "Hadō #88" to attack and take down the Holy City.
"Hit! What a huge sky city!"
"Is that the Quincy Headquarters?"
"As expected of the Captain, he hit the target with one shot."
"Wow, that's amazing! He's fully chanted the 88th level of the Hadō."
"When the Captain goes to war, not a blade of grass will be left standing. The Captain is mighty, and everyone can see it! The Captain is the strongest!"
The first attack hit, and the Holy City was revealed. The Squad Members praised their Captain's invincible power and began the classic flattery routine.
Shortly after the first strike, starting from Zero's palm, a massive pillar of lightning struck the bottom center of the Holy City once again, this time piercing through the entire Holy City at a 45-degree angle, causing it to slowly sink to the ground.
"Let's go, wipe them out!"
Zero took the Greatsword he was carrying on his back and charged towards the falling Holy City. He had just broken the Reiatsu seal and chanted the Hadō with all his might, which was why he knocked the Holy City down in just two strikes.
The team members who had followed saw that their Captain had disappeared from the spot, and they all roared and charged forward.
However, Maki did not lose his mind. He used the Tenteikūra to summon the other Squads in the vicinity. There was not only the 11th Division here, but half of the Thirteenth Division Squad were searching for the Holy City in the vicinity. It was just that the 11th Division had found it first.