Why Am I Fighting Jugram Haschwalth?

A red slash skated along the ground toward Jugram Haschwalth, leaving a scorched black trail across the rubble.

Jugram Haschwalth did not even look at the slash.

He merely moved his left arm slightly, and the edge of his shield precisely met the incoming attack.

The red slash struck the silver-white shield like a wave crashing against a reef, shattering into red motes of light that vanished into the air. Not even a scratch was left on the shield.

Jugram Haschwalth's gaze left Furoufushi Saito.

Those pale eyes slowly turned toward Shuichi, as though he were an obstacle that had suddenly appeared in the road.

His expression did not change. He simply looked at Shuichi calmly and coldly, like a winter lake whose depths could not be seen.

Under that gaze, Shuichi felt a chill run down his back.

His danger sense exploded in that instant.

It was like someone had violently shoved him from behind. Every pore on his body opened at once, his hairs stood on end, Reiatsu surged madly through him, and his body moved before his brain could give the command.

Shuichi rolled to the right.

A silver flash swept past the left side of his neck.

It was so fast that he could not see the blade. He only felt a chill brush against his skin.

Then the pain caught up. A thin cut appeared on his neck, blood beading from the wound and running down his collarbone. If he had reacted half a beat slower, the cut would not have been on his skin, but across his throat.

Shuichi covered his neck with one hand and quickly leaned back, taking several small steps away.

Jugram Haschwalth's Hirenkyaku was incredibly fast, so fast that Shuichi had not seen it clearly at all.

Borrowing the momentum of his previous swing, Jugram Haschwalth turned slightly and thrust his shield forward with his left arm.

A translucent shockwave condensed from high-density Reishi detached from the shield like an invisible wall and bore down on Shuichi.

Wherever the shockwave passed, rubble on the ground was crushed into powder, while the Reishi in the air was forced aside with a piercing shriek.

The shockwave struck Shuichi head-on. It was as though a giant hand had slapped him from the side, sending him flying sideways into a heap of ruins. Rubble came crashing down and buried half his body.

Furoufushi Saito lay sprawled amid distant ruins. Watching Shuichi get nearly killed in a single exchange, she frowned.

When Shuichi crawled out of the rubble, every bone in his body seemed to creak.

Chunks of stone slid from his shoulders and back. Several larger pieces struck the ground with dull thuds.

His left hand braced against the ground while his right still gripped his Zanpakutō. Slowly, he pushed himself upright, sat on the ground, and looked up at Jugram Haschwalth.

Jugram Haschwalth was walking. One step at a time, neither hurried nor slow. His boots made faint crunching sounds over the rubble, their rhythm as steady as if he were out for a stroll.

His shield hung at his side, his sword point aimed at the ground. His expression did not change. There was no killing intent, no tension, not even a trace of focus. Those blue eyes were as calm as a lake, and Shuichi's reflection in them looked like a fallen leaf that could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

He did not look like he was fighting.

It was more like he had encountered a stone blocking his path during a walk, stepped over, and kicked it aside.

Shuichi gritted his teeth and got to his feet, gripping his Zanpakutō in both hands before him, its tip aimed at Jugram Haschwalth.

Suddenly—

A blade flashed in from the side.

It was Furoufushi Saito.

She used Shunpo to cut in from Jugram Haschwalth's left. She was so fast that her purple twin-tails left an afterimage in the air, her blade heading straight for his neck.

Jugram Haschwalth did not turn around. He raised his shield and tilted it slightly, blocking Saito's strike.

Blade and shield collided with a heavy boom.

The shockwave kicked up a great amount of dust and rubble.

Saito's blade pressed against the shield. Both her hands bore down on the hilt, her entire body straining.

The shield did not budge.

Jugram Haschwalth merely held up his shield and stood there like a wall.

Saito stared at Jugram Haschwalth's face. There was no expression on it, not even the slightest reaction to her attack.

It was as though he were saying, Oh, you're here too.

Saito clenched her teeth as Reiatsu churned within her.

"Fight, Dairitsu!"

The blade did not change, but an invisible aura spread out from Saito.

Taunting Aura and Misfortune Aura.

And both auras locked onto Jugram Haschwalth.

But they did not seem to have any effect at all.

Jugram Haschwalth stepped sideways and retreated one pace.

The pressure from Saito did not lessen.

Her Shikai did indeed suppress Jugram Haschwalth to a certain extent.

Of course, that referred to the power of her slashes.

Saito knew what her Bankai was.

[Dairitsu Eighty Wrongs]

It was the Bankai of a lone wolf. When no allies were nearby, the phantom of the demon god would release Taunting Aura and Misfortune Aura at maximum strength. Everyone within the aura would be affected by the Misfortune Aura, while Saito's slashing power and Shunpo speed would both increase.

That was why Saito never cared about her teammates during battle. She would charge into the enemy ranks alone, activate Bankai, finish killing, and return.

It was not because she did not care about her teammates, but because her Bankai could not have allies nearby.

But that would not work now.

Shuichi was right beside her. If Saito activated Bankai, Shuichi would also be affected by the aura.

And more importantly, even if she activated Bankai, could she defeat Jugram Haschwalth?

Jugram Haschwalth had no openings. He was as steady as a rock, sword hanging at his side as he calmly watched Saito.

Sitting amid the ruins, Shuichi watched Saito attack Jugram Haschwalth from the side. Her slashes looked powerful, and she seemed to have suppressed him on the surface.

Then he heard someone speaking from very far away. The voices drifted into his ears in fragments, like wind passing through a broken window, whimpering and indistinct. He could not make out what they were saying.

What had he heard? Nothing at all?

He could not tell.

But he sensed something else.

A gentle, healing warmth seeped from the gaps in his bones.

The cut on his neck was healing faster. The bleeding stopped, and the skin around the wound began to close.

His strength was returning. The soreness in his legs and waist was fading, and the Reiatsu within him was slowly but steadily recovering.

Shuichi tilted his head and looked at the Zanpakutō at his waist.

The color along the sharpened edge had changed.

It was not red, but yellow.

Shuichi froze for a moment.

Then he remembered.

[Flower of Agony]

It was the form that accelerated the recovery of spiritual bodies and stabilized Reiatsu.

Shuichi had not actively changed forms.

But Shuichi did not think much about it. He rose from the ruins and lifted his Zanpakutō over his head.

"Scatter, Flower of Longing!"

The golden color on the blade receded like a tide, and red surged upward from the hilt toward the tip.

Shuichi did not hesitate.

He swung his blade.

A red slash shot from the blade toward Jugram Haschwalth, skimming along the ground. It carved a deep trench through the earth, the edges glowing red like a wound split open across the land.

Jugram Haschwalth sensed the slash.

With Saito's blade pressing against his shield, he did not choose to receive it head-on with his sword. Instead, he retreated.

Hirenkyaku activated without a sound. His body seemed to be pulled backward by an invisible thread, instantly withdrawing several steps and escaping Saito's suppression.

Saito's blade suddenly lost all resistance, causing her to stagger one step forward.

The trench carved by the red slash blossomed the instant Jugram Haschwalth retreated.

Countless dark golden chains burst from the crack, forming a net that lunged at Jugram Haschwalth.

Jugram Haschwalth raised his sword and slashed at the nearest chain.

The blade struck the chain with a piercing metallic clang. One section was cut through, but after cutting halfway through another chain, the blade became stuck. Clearly, the energy stored in the slash had been exhausted.

Then a mass of chains surged forward, wrapping around his blade, wrists, and ankles.

The chains tightened. His sword was caught, but he did not immediately erupt with power to pull it free.

He lowered his head and looked at the chains wrapped around him.

"Good chance!"

Saito did not wait for Jugram Haschwalth to react. Her body had already moved. Her Shunpo afterimage remained where she had been, while she herself had rushed before him.

Dairitsu's blade swept upward from below at Jugram Haschwalth's body. At the same time, she drove Reiatsu into the Misfortune Aura, making it denser and stronger in an attempt to suppress him and prevent him from responding to the strike.

Jugram Haschwalth quickly made another choice.

He erupted with Reiatsu and shattered the chains.

Then the Reishi sword in his hand swept sideways and collided with Saito's blade, unleashing a huge shockwave that kicked up dust and rubble. Shuichi raised an arm to shield himself from the blast.

At the same time, the broken chains fell to the ground with clattering metallic sounds.

Then Jugram Haschwalth raised his shield and slammed it toward Saito's side.

Saito immediately made a small backward leap to evade.

The shield strike hit her with a dull boom, sending her flying.

Then, with a bang, she slammed heavily into an intact section of wall, kicking up a cloud of dust as the wall collapsed.

The chains around Jugram Haschwalth had not been completely removed.

A small number that did not hinder his movement still remained wrapped around his ankles.

The second slash had already arrived.

Shuichi attacked again immediately after the shockwave. This time, the slash did not travel by cutting through the ground. It descended diagonally through the air, preserving the power that would have been consumed by carving through the earth. This attack was considerably stronger than the previous one.

Jugram Haschwalth raised his shield.

The red slash struck the shield and shattered into motes of light, just as before.

Saito charged back from the side again.

Her purple twin-tails left a blurred trail through the air.

But Jugram Haschwalth used the sword in his hand behind his back to block Saito's attack from his rear flank.

The third slash.

Shuichi did not hesitate and launched another strike.

Without question, the shield swallowed the slash once more.

But the old crack erupted with new chains again.

The chains burst from the fissure, denser and faster than the first wave. They did not wrap around Jugram Haschwalth's shield or sword, but around his feet, knees, and waist, aiming to restrict his movement.

Saito did not let this chance pass.

She shifted a short distance backward to adjust her position, then followed with a horizontal slash.

Jugram Haschwalth finally made a large movement. He turned and used his shield to block Saito's slash, shattering the chains around him in the process and leaving Shuichi dumbfounded.

Saito's slash was blocked by the shield once more.