Gillian

"Damn it, where did these beasts crawl out from!"

"What's the point of asking that? Pick up the pace, that big oaf is almost on top of us!"

In the heart of a dense forest, two men stood back-to-back, shielding a woman with long, pale purple hair between them. These two men were none other than Kamisawa Shirutama and Yamagata Jinnai, whom Diezuka Hiroe had encountered when he first entered the Zaraki District.

At this moment, the trio was surrounded by over twenty Hollow, with more appearing from nowhere to join the fray. Although the two men were fighting with everything they had, they could barely hold their ground, and breaking through the encirclement seemed nearly impossible.

Watching the number of Hollow continue to rise, a flicker of despair surfaced in Kamisawa's heart. Though he didn't want to admit it, he knew his life would likely end here today. Not just his, but Yamagata's and the woman behind them—who was already paralyzed with terror—would all be unable to escape.

"Watch out!"

Yamagata's loud warning snapped Kamisawa out of his brief trance. With a flick of his wrist, the chain in his hand crossed into a loop in mid-air, tightly binding the four-fingered giant claw reaching for his chest, before he spun and threw it over his shoulder toward Yamagata.

Without a word of communication, Yamagata swung the twin-bladed greatsword in his hands. This was his Zanpakuto, known as Katsujo, a two-handed blade with a central hilt and two half-meter-wide, single-edged blades.

Cold light erupted in the dim forest as Katsujo's blades alternated, slicing through two Hollow and carving them into eight pieces. The surrounding Hollow shrieked but dared not approach Yamagata; those who did met the same fate as the two unlucky ones.

"Hey Kamisawa, were you scared stupid just now? Wet pants don't feel too good, do they!" Yamagata didn't press the attack, retreating back after clearing the immediate threat.

"Ah, I was scared, alright! If it weren't for you, I'd be dead." Kamisawa tried to lighten the mood, but he didn't realize his face had already stiffened to the point where he couldn't muster any expression.

"We can't die here!" Yamagata grinned, two familiar faces flashing through his mind as his eyes softened. "Otherwise, how could we ever face those two again?"

Life in the Plain of Slaughter was dangerous and monotonous. For Kamisawa and Yamagata, the only change in recent years had been the arrival of new 4th Division "babies," and their squad had been selected to ensure their safety.

In their eyes, this wasn't much of a change. Compared to Diezuka Hiroe seven years ago, the current rookies couldn't pique their interest in the slightest. They were the usual 4th Division trash, perhaps even more useless than the last.

Kamisawa had assumed this life would continue until his term ended in three years and he returned to the Seireitei. But he hadn't expected a spatial rift to appear out of thin air, and with it, disaster.

It was a Negacion opened by a Hollow. They had intended to ambush the enemy, but the surprise had turned into a nightmare!

In an instant, two of their five-man team were gone, leaving only the three of them. Kamisawa would never forget that abyss-like black maw or those pale, giant hands.

"Don't worry about me! Run! You must survive!!!"

That was the last sentence Kamisawa heard, the final words of the unlucky comrade who had been snatched up and dragged into the giant maw. It was those words that had forced them to calm down and stop their suicidal charge.

The escape had gone smoothly at first, until these Hollow, appearing from nowhere, blocked their path. With no other choice, Kamisawa had reluctantly sent out a distress signal, but it seemed they wouldn't be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

In truth, he didn't know that reinforcements were already close. Not Diezuka Hiroe, but a four-man squad led by the 5th Division 5th Seat, Tsukikage Shunyi—the man Diezuka Hiroe had taught a lesson seven years ago.

"Twenty? No, at least thirty!"

"There are casualties; there are only three left. It seems there were more before."

"Something's wrong. An invasion of this scale isn't common." Tsukikage watched the three trapped figures in the distance, a nameless, ominous feeling gnawing at him. "Assist them in breaking out, then take them and leave. Don't get bogged down in a fight!"

Though Tsukikage had a grudge against Diezuka Hiroe, one had to admit that anyone who could reach the rank of 5th Seat was no mere pretender. His judgment at this moment was precise; even Kamisawa, who couldn't stand him, would have given him a thumbs-up.

If everything went according to plan, Kamisawa and his companions' escape would be a certainty. But the mockery of fate arrived at that very moment, echoing from the north through the forest like an invisible brand that refused to fade.

The wailing sound, like a mix of mockery and misery, successfully drew Tsukikage's attention. The moment he saw the source, his face turned deathly pale, and he spread his arms to halt his advance. He didn't need to stop his teammates; they had already instinctively frozen in their tracks.

A massive black body nearly a hundred meters tall stood there, resembling a giant draped in a black cloak. Its face was covered by a white mask with a long nose, making the creature look like a grotesque clown. But Tsukikage and his team had no desire to laugh; the appearance of such a beast was a catastrophe!

Gillian—that was the name of this massive creature. The giant circular hole in its chest signified its essence as a Hollow.

Hollow were categorized by level, broadly divided into ordinary Hollow and Menos. Ordinary Hollow were further split into those with and without intelligence; most of those that had appeared in the Plain of Slaughter were the latter.

As for the higher-level Menos, they were divided into three tiers based on strength. The Gillian that had appeared was the lowest tier of Menos. Yet, even at the lowest tier, a Menos and an ordinary Hollow were worlds apart.

Take this Gillian, for instance; it was a product born from the fusion of spiritual pressure after hundreds of Hollow devoured one another. This was not something easily seen in the Soul Society. Tsukikage understood that to deal with this behemoth, they would need a team led by a Lieutenant-level officer, or a much larger force of Soul Reapers. The people present were simply no match for it.

He finally understood why Kamisawa had sent a distress signal, but for Tsukikage, the biggest dilemma now was whether or not to save those three.

The Gillian was still some distance away, perhaps two or three thousand meters?

Though the Gillian appeared slow, with its massive strides, that distance was nothing. It was highly likely that the moment they broke through, they would fall into the creature's attack range.

Tsukikage knew full well that if that happened, few people present would survive.

Should he take a gamble, or abandon Kamisawa and the others? Tsukikage was torn.

It wasn't just Tsukikage who noticed the Gillian's arrival; Kamisawa, Yamagata, and the 4th Division woman behind them had been dreading its appearance, and now, that fear had become reality.

Must survive! That was the only thought in Kamisawa's mind. Has it finally come to this? Thinking this, Kamisawa bowed his head slightly, his expression dimming. How truly unwilling I am!

"Hey, Yamagata, let's break out in two different directions." Having reached a conclusion, Kamisawa's tone carried an unquestionable resolve. With a fierce look, he said, "Take the woman with you. Trust me, you can make it out!"

Is he trying to split the enemy's focus? Yamagata frowned. Even if the Hollow were split into two groups, breaking out in such a short time would be difficult, and he had a burden to carry. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed impossible.

"Trust me!"

Kamisawa's voice came again. Yamagata shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. When has this guy ever steered me wrong? Since there was no other way, he would continue to trust him!

"I'm putting my life in your hands." Yamagata finished, hoisted the burden on his back, and charged out, swinging his Katsujo. "If you're just spouting nonsense, I won't let you off!"

"Don't worry, I won't give you the chance!" Kamisawa shouted, spinning his chain-hammer and heading in the opposite direction.

Seeing this, the Hollow on the field spontaneously split into two groups and swarmed after them.

"They seem to have split up to break out!"

Tsukikage's thoughts were interrupted by his teammate's shout. Watching everything unfold in the distance, he couldn't help but feel annoyed; the only possible window for rescue had been wasted just like that.

"Give them some support with long-range Kido," Tsukikage sighed. "We can't just do nothing."

His teammates understood. With the Gillian in the distance approaching at an astonishing speed, there was no time to prepare powerful Kido, and whatever they could manage would be little more than a drop in the bucket—it wouldn't have any effect at all.

Not to mention Tsukikage, who had already given up, even Yamagata in the fray was starting to consider throwing in the towel. Because there were two people on his side, he attracted more Hollows, and with the burden he was carrying, he hadn't even managed to kill his way thirty meters out.

Kamisawa, on the other side, was doing slightly better, but not by much; he had only moved about a hundred meters from the start. The ground beneath his feet had begun to tremble, and the countdown to death was nearing zero.

This is the limit, then. Kamisawa watched the pebbles dancing on the ground, swung the iron hammer in his right hand to smash a mid-air Hollow down, and with a flick of his heels, he retreated instead of advancing. At the same time, he threw the chain in his left hand horizontally backward. By the time he landed, the chain had coiled around Yamagata's waist like a living thing.

Feeling the resistance from his left hand, Kamisawa stepped forward with his right foot, hunched his body slightly, and pulled with all his might, snapping the chain taut across his chest. He pulled his right hand back to his waist, swung his left hand in a wide arc, and hurled the chain high into the air, sending Yamagata and his companion flying along with it.

It sounds slow, but in an instant, Yamagata felt himself flying backward at high speed. Looking down, Kamisawa's familiar smiling face was already becoming a blur.

"So this is what you meant by 'trust me'!"

Regaining his life didn't make Yamagata happy; on the contrary, he was furious. So this guy had intended to sacrifice himself from the very beginning!

Yamagata instinctively reached for the chain around his waist, wanting to pull Kamisawa up with him. Even though they weren't out of danger yet, he couldn't just watch Kamisawa wait for death like this!

But he failed; the chain around his waist had returned to Kamisawa's hand before he knew it. This was Kamisawa's plan: someone had to survive, but it wasn't going to be him. That was the only way anyone could make it out alive. There was no other choice, was there?

"I told you, trust me, and you'll definitely survive!" Kamisawa shouted with a laugh. There was no fear or sorrow in his voice, only the hearty tone of old friends bantering. "If I ever see you again, I won't let you off!"

"You bastard!" Yamagata could see his own tears shattering in the air; he must look pathetic right now! But he didn't care. "I don't want to see your face again either! I'm going to live a damn good life!"

Yamagata desperately wanted to rush back and punch Kamisawa, but he knew that would waste Kamisawa's sacrifice. The lives of the woman on his back and himself no longer belonged solely to them; this was bought with the lives of three people, and he had no right to squander it!

"I never expected..." In the distance, Tsukikage was struck dumb by the scene, unable to describe his current state of mind. A dead end had actually yielded a chance at survival, but it was too heavy, and humiliating. Compared to Kamisawa, I, who could only watch from the sidelines, am truly pathetic!

Bowing deeply toward Kamisawa's direction from afar, Tsukikage stood up and ordered, "Let's go too. Those two need..."

The appearance of a figure interrupted what Tsukikage was about to say. The person before them was dressed in a Shihakusho, his sleeves snapping in the wind as he knelt on one knee, facing Kamisawa's direction.

"Phew, glad I made it in time."

The figure vanished in an instant, as if he had never been there at all, leaving only the lingering sound in the air to prove he had once existed.

Diezuka Hiroe, arriving on the battlefield!