The fallen Holy City crumbled, its fragments scattered across tens of square kilometers of land. This area happened to be a forest, with normal human villages and towns more than ten kilometers away.
From the moment Zero destroyed the Holy City, various chaotic Reiatsu, of all sizes, began to appear in an area of several hundred square kilometers, constantly colliding with each other.
The entire 11th Division attacked the Quincy Holy City, which had been shattered into pieces, but they immediately encountered fierce resistance. The Quincy were able to stay in the Holy City would not be killed by the fall.
Zero ventured alone into the larger section of the Holy City ruins on the edge, where a very strong Reiatsu emanated.
When the Quincy regained their senses, they sensed a terrifying scene through their search of the spiritual veins: the surrounding area was almost entirely filled with red spiritual veins, a symbol of Soul Reaper.
"Report: The 11th Division has shot down the enemy Headquarters in the Liulingli area to the northwest of our unit. The 11th Division is now fully engaged in the attack."
"All personnel, reinforce!"
The First Division of the Fifth Division, led by Captain Seigen, quickly rushed in that direction to join the encirclement and suppression.
They were closest to each other and split into three groups to search, led by Captain Zheng Yuan, Vice Captain Yi Hua, and Sanxi Pingzi respectively.
The First Division of the Seigen was ambushed On the Road by dozens of Quincy dressed in white robes and hats. The Reiatsu of the leaders was clearly stronger than that of the others, and arrows rained Sky Cover the Soul Reaper in an instant...
"A powerful Reiatsu is approaching, almost identical to the attack that destroyed the Holy City. Let's go, surround and kill him!"
"Hmph, I'm enough on my own."
"Hmm? Terrence encountered him first!"
"Then we'd better hurry."
Jugram Haschwalth sensed the Reiatsu emanating from the ruins of the Holy City not far away. Its strength was undoubtedly at the Captain-level. Noticing that one of the current knights had already clashed with that person, he and Bazz-B quickly moved towards that direction.
The fighter who battled the invading Soul Reaper Captain was "V" Terrence Torg, Sternritter, whose ability was called Violinist.
The ability to induce sleep through performance, rendering people powerless to resist and at the mercy of others... At this point, "V" was not Gremmy's the Dreamer, nor was it the imagined 'The Vanishing Point'.
If Terrence had fought for even a few minutes, including himself and Bazz-B, there would have been six Sternritter members in the Holy City —six against one—enough to surround and kill this man first...
Zero, moving with incredible speed, swung his sword twice at the brown-haired youth in front of him, but the youth only suffered minor scratches and crashed through a few buildings as he flew backward, without sustaining any serious injury.
' Yanis, look at this guy! His Reiatsu is barely enough to fill a cart, yet he's managing to withstand my attack. I slashed with all my might!'
'Boss, I reckon this guy is Pure-Blood Quincy, able to use the Blut Vene, which only the highest-ranking Quincy can use, to defend against attacks...'
Zero understood after hearing the information Yanis had mentioned: the Blut Vene is primarily for defense, while the Blut Arterie is primarily for offense; this was one of the pieces of information Yanis had gleaned.
In fact, there are some records about Quincy's abilities in the Seireitei's books, but most of them are just historical records and do not provide much detail or analysis of these abilities.
While talking to Yanis, Zero swung his sword twice more, preparing to unleash his strongest Reiatsu to finish him off, when the Quincy removed a glove, causing his Reiatsu to suddenly increase.
"To be able to defeat me, a Sternritter, without being able to fight back, you're truly impressive. My name is Terrence. Can you tell me your name? The unknown Soul Reaper Captain!"
'As expected of the Captain of the combat unit of the Gotei 13, this is troublesome!'
Terrence noticed the numbers on the haori behind Zero and silently sighed as he asked the question.
At this moment, the Holy City beneath his feet was transformed into Reishi and absorbed. These Reishi were assimilated by him into Reiryoku, and then transformed into even stronger Reiatsu.
"11th Division Captain Nangong Ling, you can also call me Nangong Kenpachi! So you're using your ultimate move already? Then I'll finish you off in one go!"
Zero sensed several powerful Reiatsu closing in on him; to be on the safe side, it would be better to deal with this guy alone first.
"So it's Kenpachi! My apologies, but you think you can take me down in one go? Even the First Generation Gotei 13 wouldn't dare to be so arrogant. Well then, let me play you a song... How... possibly!"
Terrence's slightly sarcastic tone came to an abrupt halt. Before he could even reveal the Schrift, his chest was pierced by a red Greatsword, and Zero appeared behind him.
'This isn't Shunpo, it's Menos Grande's Sonído... His face... Why?'
He turned his head with difficulty and saw an unbelievable scene: the young Kenpachi had a mask on his face that only Hollows possess, which then disappeared as he turned his head, turning into visible Reiatsu.
"You've rambled on and on; once the other Soul Reapers arrive, it won't be easy to devour you right in front of them."
Zero hates opponents who talk nonsense the most. He doesn't have much time, and he's afraid that his abilities will be exposed to the Soul Reapers and analyzed by those with ulterior motives.
He instantly broke the seal and became Hollowfication, killing Terrence, who hadn't even displayed his Schrift abilities, with a single blow.
Terrence, having just used his Quincy: Letzt Stil, absorbed a large amount of Reishi from the Holy City using an enhanced version of 'Reishi Gathering,' resulting in a very high level of Reiryoku, which in turn provided more Reiryoku to those with zero growth...
"Did they die in battle?"
"Impossible. It was less than thirty seconds in total, and the burst of Reiatsu just now (over ten seconds) shows that Terrence used his full strength."
"Who exactly is our opponent? Is he also a surviving member of the First Generation Gotei 13?"
"Haha, interesting, they actually killed that piece of trash Terrence so quickly!"
The moment Terrence's Reiatsu weakened, the other five members of the Knights were filled with doubt and surprise.
Sensing the enemy's sudden surge in Reiatsu and their weakened state after killing Terrence, Jugram Haschwalth fell silent; he wasn't as optimistic Bazz-B.
If any random Captain possessed this level of combat power, then the Soul Reaper of today would be no weaker than he was over seven hundred years ago; he must personally test this Captain's fighting ability, and if it proves unacceptable, he will have no choice but to recall the chosen one back to the Wandenreich...
' My Reiatsu has increased from 3.9 to 4.2. My Hakusui and Saketsu are operating even faster. I can continue absorbing for a while longer. If I can absorb a dozen or so of these levels, I can step into the next dimension with my Shikai alone!'
'Boss, he has a lot of Reiryoku. He must have absorbed and converted a lot of Reishi after using his Quincy: Letzt Stil. I suggest we force them into their Final Forms before killing them!'
'Great idea!'
Yanis's suggestion was accepted, and Zero was about to shoulder Terrence to confront another rapidly approaching Reiatsu, but two Holy Soldiers who had been chosen by the Wandenreich tried to stop him.
But when they saw clearly who the red Greatsword had pierced, the two could no longer take their firm steps. It was Lord Terrence, a member of the Knights Order who possessed the Schrift "V".
When Zero and Terrence were fighting, no Quincy were hiding nearby. These two were the closest, having been pulled away from Terrence by their fall. By the time they returned, the fight was over.
Of course, Zero didn't let them off the hook either. It seemed their Reiatsu was at the level of the third to Fifth Seats in the team. Zero also pierced their chests with Blood Drink, stringing them together like a candied hawthorn and carrying them away...
In the forest where the Holy City had collapsed, five Reiatsu converged on Zero, and Zero rushed toward the one closest to him.
In a small open area in the forest, Ling, carrying a string of slightly shriveled candied hawthorns, encountered a burly man with short, black hair and blue eyes.
This person was wearing a white cloak, had a burly build, and wore a hat unique to the Wandenreich.
'Hmm? Terrence and the others have no Reiryoku left. Logically, even if they were killed, their Reiryoku shouldn't disappear so quickly, and their bodies should still be emitting Reishi... There's something strange about that Zanpakuto that pierced through the three of them!'
The burly man who had just arrived stopped in his tracks. As Quincy, he noticed that the three corpses pierced by Blood Drink no longer had Reishi, and he guessed that Blood Drink had a special ability to absorb spiritual energy.
"How come I've never seen anyone take down that violinist in such a short time, more than seven hundred years ago..."
Clang!
When Zero swung his Blood Drink, he shattered three candied hawthorns. He then cleaved the burly man's neck with his sword, producing a metallic clang. It was the Blut Vene worn by the Quincy.
The burly man, who had fought the Captain before, naturally knew the strength of the Gotei 13. He wanted to stall for time a little longer, but Zero still wanted to use the same recipe to marinate the candied hawthorn.
Thump!
Zero was sent flying hundreds of meters backward by the burly man's counterattack punch. The force of the punch astonished Zero: "His Reiatsu doesn't seem that great, but he can unleash such a powerful punch!"
After wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Zero realized his liver had been injured by the shockwave; that Liver-Shattering Punch was no joke.
"Hmph, my Bilsen Jacobson, and His Majesty bestowed upon His Majesty the Schrift 'P,' representing power, overwhelming power..."
As he spoke, Bilsen retracted his punching stance, squinted at Zero, and thought to himself, 'But I should be the one who's surprised; a full-force punch only resulted in a trickle of blood from the corner of my mouth!'
At this time, the Schrift "P" was not the girl from the original timeline's Thousand-Year Blood War; they were all added to the Sternritter later.
"Blut Vene that can't penetrate the outer layer of defense? I've got it!"
The taste of blood in his mouth excited Zero. His mind raced, and he immediately came up with a way to deal with this person. Since he, as Quincy, liked to fight... then let's have a fistfight!
Under Bilsen's puzzled gaze, Zero plunged the Blood Drink into the ground, and in the instant the corner of his mouth curled up, he had already moved to Bilsen's side and threw a punch.
Bilsen wasn't afraid and suddenly swung his fist to collide with it!
Gusts of Gale suddenly rose in the forest, the result of Zero unleashing his Reiatsu after breaking the seal once more. On the other side, Bilsen was completely on the defensive, as Zero, unleashing his full Reiatsu, was moving too fast.
In terms of Reiatsu levels, Bilsen was at most 1.5 Cars, and that was before he even used his Quincy: Letzt Stil, which is why he was completely overwhelmed by Zero.
In his haste, Bilsen exposed a fatal flaw and tried to counterattack. Zero seized the opportunity and exchanged a punch with him. Zero's right hand only went slightly numb, while Bilsen's right hand was fractured.
Because Bilsen used the Blut Arterie to enhance his attack, he was unable to simultaneously Blut Vene for defense, resulting in a broken bone and putting him at a complete disadvantage.
Without the Blut, in a pure contest of physical toughness, he's no match for Zero. Zero is a man who can withstand eight punches from Yama-jii without falling...
Zero landed a heavy punch on Bilsen's face. He had intended to unleash a hundred punches in one go to shatter the guy's internal organs, but his reinforcements arrived, and four of them at the same time.
"That damn guy..."
Bilsen, bleeding from his mouth and nose after being beaten, used his Ransōtengai and Quincy: Letzt Stil, breaking down the nearby ruins of the Holy City into Reishi and absorbing them.
"Hey, aren't we going to stop fighting?"
Zero watched as the pitiful Bilsen conjured the Reishi Bow, and with a chuckle, he retrieved his Greatsword, glancing around at the four newly appeared Quincy.
Judging from their Reiatsu, these people are all very strong.