Boom!
As Yan Si charged into the Royal Palace's domain, the light around him abruptly changed.
It was not the daylight of Seireitei, filtered through the atmosphere, but a purer, richer radiance of Reishi.
The ground beneath his feet consisted of massive slabs of white stone, their surfaces smooth as mirrors, reflecting the flowing golden patterns in the sky.
He stood on the outskirts of Squad Zero's palace complex.
A broad staircase lay ahead, extending upward toward the buildings above.
Yan Si did not pause.
He drove off his right foot again, blasting a web of fine cracks into the ground as he sprinted up the stairs.
"Yo, little bro—"
The voice came from ahead and to one side, carrying a hip-hop inflection.
Yan Si stopped.
Not because he wanted to, but because he had to. A figure stood on the stairs ahead, blocking his path.
He was a tall, thin man with an unevenly cut haori hem, metal rings adorning his shoulders, several necklaces around his neck, and leather guards wrapped around his wrists.
Beside him stood a transparent tank, half a person's height, filled with pale blue liquid.
A sword floated in the liquid.
"Let me introduce myself."
The man extended both hands, pressing his index and middle fingers together in finger-gun gestures and pointing them at Yan Si.
"I'm Squad Zero's Divine General of the West, the Sword God, Ōetsu Nimaiya. Nice to meet ya~!"
He grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"And you, little bro?"
Yan Si said nothing.
His gaze passed straight over Ōetsu Nimaiya and settled on the tank.
The blade in the liquid was long and slender, with a dark metallic pattern along its spine. Its hilt was black, its material indistinct, but he could sense it vibrating slightly, sending ripples through