Boss, You're... Kind of Fierce

Bai Zhu gripped the hilt of his sword, the veins on the back of his hand bulging slightly.

There weren't many paths left before him.

The first was to fire White Lightning repeatedly and blast open a gap by force.

The problem was that the six iron cans across from him were spread out, all protected by Black Crystal Heavy Armor. Whether White Lightning could kill them was uncertain, but it would definitely drain his meager Reiatsu dry first.

The second was Sōkatsui.

Even stupider.

One shot would certainly make for a spectacular scene. But after the spectacle, he would be lying on the ground waiting for someone to collect his body. Forget meeting up with Illumi—Milluki would have to sneak out of the hotel and drag him back from a snow ditch.

Bai Zhu glanced at the translucent panel in his field of vision.

Should he draw a new Kidō if it came to that?

The thought had barely surfaced before he dismissed it himself.

With his remaining achievement points, he couldn't draw an Advanced Kidō above number thirty-three. Low-level Kidō would be useless against this Black Crystal Formation. He already had Sōkatsui; drawing a pile of minor techniques wouldn't stop six people from crushing him together.

There was only one card left.

That random Bankai opportunity.

It sounded terrifying, but the instructions for the thing were missing pages.

Would the system restore his Reiatsu?

Or would it merely give him the qualification to "be able to shout it out"?

If it was the latter, then with the tiny amount of mana he had left, forget Bankai—he was still a ways short of even the threshold for Shikai. If it came to that, he might collapse before he finished reciting the line. That wouldn't be unleashing his ultimate move; it would be performing conceptual art for the enemy.

Bai Zhu gritted his teeth and stared at the panel.

"Damn system, if you'd just give me a trial-use manual, I wouldn't be opening a blind box out here!"

Milluki didn't understand him through the earpiece.

"What are you muttering about?"

"Talking to fate's customer service about after-sales support."

"Did customer service reply?"

"It's playing dead."

"Then why aren't you running? The formation's about to close!"

The black patterns had already crawled over the edge of the snow ditch. Spikes poked down from the perimeter, and the black glow made his skin tingle.

Bai Zhu held his Zanpakuto horizontally before him.

Just as he was about to gamble, a dense buzzing of wings suddenly came from the distant town.

At first, it was muffled by the forest and hard to make out. A few breaths later, the sound drowned out the wind and swept into the woods from the direction of town.

Bai Zhu looked up.

Above the snowy mist, a vast swarm of black dots surged toward them, pressing lower and lower until they blocked out part of the daylight.

He froze for half a second.

"Milluki."

A smug chuckle came through the earpiece.

"What?"

"Didn't you say you only gave me six Beetles?"

"Those were for you."

"Then what are these?"

"Mine."

Bai Zhu instantly perked up.

"You had a private stash of troops?"

"Obviously. Did you think I came out here for a picnic?"

The black dots pierced through the snowy mist, revealing metal shells and red lights glowing beneath their abdomens.

Mechanical Bees.

Swarms of Mechanical Bees rushed into the forest from the town, their wings vibrating at high speed. The countless red lights on their abdomens flashed so densely that Bai Zhu's scalp went numb.

He suddenly realized that among the Zoldyck family's freaks, Milluki usually looked the least like an assassin. But give him enough time, materials, and budget, and this fat man could turn an entire city district into a testing ground.

"Fatty."

"Yeah?"

"I take back half of what I said about you before."

"Which half?"

"You're not just a black-hearted boss. You're also an arms dealer."

"Thanks for the compliment."

The Holy Knights noticed the swarm in the sky as well.

The knight leading them raised his spear and gave an order through their internal channel.

"Stay alert!"

"They're the same kind as those Explosive Bugs from earlier!"

"Raise the shield!"

The six Holy Knights turned around. The Black Crystal Circuits that had surrounded Bai Zhu rapidly contracted, drawing a massive amount of energy upward.

A hemispherical black barrier rose up.

The first wave of Mechanical Bees crashed into it.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Explosions linked together in a chain, blasting snow dust and shattered ice into the air. The black barrier rippled under the impact, rings of waves spreading across its surface, yet it stubbornly held.

Bai Zhu seized the opportunity, grabbed a tree root at the edge of the ditch, and scrambled out using both hands and feet.

The instant he left the range of the Black Crystal Formation, the black patterns beneath his feet tried to chase after him. Bai Zhu gave them no chance, gritting his teeth as he activated Shunpo and instantly putting more than ten meters between them.

Once he was outside the black circle, he took off running without looking back.

Milluki's suppressed, excited laughter came through the earpiece.

"Heh-ha... heh-ha..."

"If you can defend, then keep defending!"

Bai Zhu dodged two Black Crystal spikes chasing him from behind and found time to glance back.

The swarm was still pressing down.

The second and third waves crashed into the shield one after another. The Holy Knights' Black Crystal Shield was absurdly tough; every explosion was blocked outside, leaving only a few fine cracks around the edges.

Milluki snorted coldly.

"Such petty tricks, and you dare show them off before your Grandpa Milluki?"

Bai Zhu had already run far enough away. He crouched behind a fallen log, poking out only half his head to watch the battle.

"Who are you saying that to? They can't even hear you."

"As long as you hear it, that's enough."

The Holy Knights didn't keep taking the hits.

Two black-armored knights at squad-leader level raised their spears at the same time, the Black Crystal spearheads shining with a blinding light. They swept toward the sky, and several black shockwaves sliced into the swarm.

Large numbers of Mechanical Bees were shredded apart in midair and detonated early, scattering fire and metal fragments over the snow.

A gap was torn through Milluki's swarm.

The leading Holy Knight seized the moment and immediately gave the order.

"Withdraw from the blast zone!"

"Maintain the shield!"

"Regroup in town!"

The moment Bai Zhu heard that, he panicked.

"They're getting away!"

"I see it."

Milluki's tone was remarkably steady.

"Then why aren't you worried at all?"

"Because they can't get away."

Bai Zhu was just about to ask where his confidence came from when the snow beneath the Holy Knights suddenly trembled.

Around the deep craters previously blasted out by the Beetles, several thick metal constructs drilled out from beneath the snow.

Their shells were segmented, hooks and chains attached to their heads. Their bodies slithered across the ground, moving faster than living creatures. They wrapped around the Holy Knights' leg armor and spear shafts from every direction, even trying to drag away the shield's support points.

One Holy Knight had barely taken a step when a metal ring locked around his ankle.

He roared and swung his spear down.

Another Mechanical Worm sprang up from the side and coiled around the shaft of his spear. Grinding wheels inside it let out a piercing clatter as they forcibly dragged the spear into the snow.

The six Holy Knights' formation was thrown into disarray.

The hemispherical structure of the Black Crystal Shield began to shake, and the swarm seized the opening and drilled inside.

The leading Holy Knight shouted, "Clear these damned things on the ground!"

Milluki laughed even more happily.

"Who told you I only brought flying toys?"

Crouching behind the fallen log, Bai Zhu watched the six Holy Knights who had just been beating him into submission get dragged back into the center of the blast zone by Mechanical Worms emerging from underground. For a moment, he had no response.

He lowered his head and touched the two remaining "lottery bugs" in his pocket.

Then he looked at the swarm of Mechanical Bees in the sky.

Finally, he looked at the metal worms below that were grinding their enemies apart.

Bai Zhu swallowed, his tone becoming considerably more sincere.

"Boss."

"What?"

"You're... kind of too fierce."

The sound of Milluki typing on a keyboard stopped for a moment.

"Don't call me boss. It makes it sound like you're about to skip out on the bill."

"How much does this kind of fire support cost per use?"

"Even at a friendship price, you can't afford it."

"Then can I pay in installments?"

"We'll talk next time. This service is already entering its final stage."

As soon as he finished speaking, the swarm in the sky stopped probing and began a collective dive.

The metal giant snakes on the ground pinned the six Holy Knights in place. Their Black Crystal Shield was forced to deal with attacks from both above and below, and its energy fluctuations became increasingly chaotic.

Milluki lowered his voice, barely able to conceal his excitement.

"Bai Zhu, fall back thirty meters."

Without another word, Bai Zhu turned and ran.

"Is that the theoretical safe distance, or the actual safe distance?"

Milluki paused for a moment in the earpiece.

"This time, fifty meters would be better."