O Softhearted God, Save Us!

Hearing Asano Kiyoshi's words, Yamano Mirō immediately nodded and said to him:

"It's all right, sir, it's all right... Aah!"

Before he could finish his bold declaration, searing pain dragged him back to reality.

Asano Kiyoshi swung his blade and severed both his legs. Then he stripped the clothes from his severed limbs and wrapped his entire body in them. Just like that, a "torso" handbag without limbs was made.

Yamano Mirō lay inside the "handbag," wailing without cease. Blood dripped continuously from the bag, splattering onto the ground and forming a blooming, bloody flower.

Asano Kiyoshi felt somewhat sickened by the sight before him. He was not truly such a brutal person, and Head Captain Yamamoto naturally understood his nature.

So, before Asano Kiyoshi began this mission, Head Captain Yamamoto took him to the surveillance room of the Twelfth Division. There, he saw those damned beasts. He saw what they had done, saw the blood and sins on the streets of Rukongai that could never be washed clean.

After watching only a small portion of the surveillance footage, Asano Kiyoshi threw up. He vomited violently, until tears streamed down his face.

Head Captain Yamamoto simply watched quietly from the side. Once Asano Kiyoshi had finished vomiting, he said one thing to him:

"Within the iron blood of decisive slaughter lies the upright bone of a gentleman standing alone in the wind! Many times, killing is the best means of protection! I hope you understand that."

After saying this, Head Captain Yamamoto left.

Asano Kiyoshi stood where he was, his face pale. It took him a long time to recover. Then he returned to the surveillance room and watched for an entire night before finally finishing those two hours of footage.

He vomited as he watched. By the end, there was nothing left in his stomach; he could only dry-heave. The stench of blood filled his mouth the entire time, but he endured it. At daybreak, amid Mayuri Kurotsuchi's faint disdain, Asano Kiyoshi was supported out of the Twelfth Division by Nemu Kurotsuchi.

After that, the Captain-Commander took Asano Kiyoshi to the Nest of Maggots once more and had him kill some people there...

It was another unbearable memory, but it had, in the end, tempered the kindness he had brought from his past life with an edge.

Kindness without an edge could not protect anyone!

Asano Kiyoshi stepped forward and lifted the "handbag" containing Yamano Mirō. His expression was as cold as ice that had remained frozen through the depths of winter. He said flatly:

"Lead the way."

Although Yamano Mirō was in such agony that he nearly crushed his teeth, he still remained mentally composed. In a trembling voice, he said to Asano Kiyoshi:

"Sir, go toward one o'clock to your right. There are two hidden sentries there. One is behind two stacked rocks, and the other is in the canopy of a tree marked with an 'X' scar. Neither is very strong. You can deal with both of them in an instant. After that come the open sentries. Their exact locations are..."

As Asano Kiyoshi listened to Yamano Mirō, he slowly closed his eyes. The spiritual threads in the surrounding area gradually appeared within his vision, and they more or less matched what Yamano Mirō had said. He nodded and said:

"Thank you for your cooperation. I'll let you go when the time comes, so rest assured."

Though Yamano Mirō was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, he still forced out a heartfelt smile.

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"

He did not know whether he could survive in this state. Perhaps he would die tomorrow. But who cared? As long as I can live through today, that's enough! Even if it's only for a minute or a second, I want to live!

79th District - Kusajishi District

This place had always been the very embodiment of lawlessness. Especially after a criminal who had escaped from the Nest of Maggots arrived, a sizable force had taken shape here.

This force was called the Yingkou Group. Their boss, Yingkou Hui, seemed to have once been a low-ranking Seat Officer in some division. In a region where even Shinigami were rarely seen, he was practically invincible.

And with that as their foundation, the Yingkou Group had become local tyrants in Kusajishi District.

Murder contests, rape and plunder, killing for loot, cutting out hearts and ripping open bellies... To the Yingkou Group, these were merely everyday amusements. After all, lowborn as they were, they could only treat these "fine traditions" learned from the nobles as a refined pastime.

Musashi Kasa of the Yingkou Group was currently holding a blade, a smile on his face as he hacked at the shabby door of a family home. The reason was simple: the family's daughter was beautiful, and because they had hidden her so well, none of the other members had discovered her. She was still untouched!

Such a prize, and so easy to obtain—how could he possibly let her go?

Inside the house, an elderly man braced his back against the door. The decrepit wooden door was no match for an iron blade. Most of the strikes sliced through the wood and landed on the old man's body. His back was already drenched in blood, his flesh a mangled mess!

Yet even so, the old man did not move away. He had propped the table upright and used its support to brace himself, guarding the doorway with all his strength.

Musashi Kasa kept hacking with his bloodstained blade. The sheer force of his madness made thick drool run from the corner of his mouth. As he chopped at the wooden door, he felt all the pressure in his heart, all the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of those above him, being vented at last!

The bloodstained blade thrilled him beyond measure. His entire body trembled!

The surrounding residents watched the scene, but not a single one acted. They knew that if they drove this one man away, before long everyone on their street would be hanging from the branches of trees...

Though they were furious, though they were sorrowful...

They could only pretend not to see!

This was the pain hanging over every heart, a shadow of death that no light could penetrate! Darkness accumulated over a thousand years!

Musashi Kasa hacked at the door. The old man painfully yet resolutely held it shut. The daughter wept, tears of blood flowing down her face!

The girl prayed. If gods truly existed, then, O softhearted God! Save us! Save us!

We truly haven't committed any crime!

Save us!

Please!

O softhearted God!

Save us!

Maniacal laughter and the crashing of blows against the door, weeping and hoarse cries intertwined, weaving a sorrowful melody that hung over the skies of the Soul Society.

As if the gods had heard the girl's prayer, the figure of a young man suddenly appeared before everyone.

In his left hand, the young man carried a bundle still dripping with blood. Five or six heads, their eyes wide open in death, were tied to it.

He was like a demon from Hell, yet also like a softhearted god from Heaven!