That's a Menos?!
Hisagi Shuhei stared wide-eyed at the giant creature only half-emerged from the black cavity, his face filled with terror.
How could this be, how could a Menos possibly appear here?!
Menos is a general term for powerful Hollows. Among the Menos, from lowest to highest, there are three classifications: Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lorde.
Yet even a lower-tier Menos, a Gillian, was completely beyond the capability of these Shinigami academy students to match, and even among the Gotei 13, those stronger than a Gillian were in the minority.
He flew to the front of the students and shouted angrily, "Run! Get away from here!"
Hisagi moved swiftly, rushing to the students who stood frozen in place with fear and waking them one by one.
"Momo! Run!"
Hinomori Momo stared blankly at Shuhei, then pointed toward the ruins ahead: "The president, he..."
Shin?!
Shuhei was startled, a bone-chilling cold gripping his entire body.
Yet that thought flashed by in an instant; he bit his teeth together, forced himself to calm down, and grabbed Momo's arm: "Let's go!"
Right now, nothing else mattered, nor did it allow him to care about anything else.
While pulling Momo away from this place, he pulled out his communication device to call.
"Barrier team! Barrier team, a Menos has appeared here!"
Yet all that came from the communicator was static and a busy signal; no one answered.
"Dammit!"
Hisagi brought Momo to the sides of Kira and Renji, instructing them, "Hurry and take her away with you!"
Aojika came to Shuhei's side at that moment to ask, "Shuhei, what do we do?"
What to do—a Gillian-class Menos was simply not something they could handle.
The students fled in panic and scattered in all directions at this moment, instantly plunging into chaos. However, this was a special space used for their training, filled with Hollows everywhere. Though their strength wasn't high, their numbers were not small. The students were still shaken, and facing the sudden appearance of the small Hollows, they found them difficult to deal with for a moment, quickly resulting in wounded.
"Kanisawa?"
Shuhei's heart was a tangled mess right then, and he didn't know what to do. For some reason, the barrier team couldn't be reached; how was he supposed to call for rescue?
That Menos, that Menos...
If he used his full power to stop it, would he be able to buy some time?
Just as he was thinking this, a figure suddenly charged unconditionally toward that Gillian.
It was Kanisawa!
A jolt went through Shuhei's heart as he saw her figure clearly.
The Gillian's form was far too huge, only halfway out of the black cavity.
Kanisawa swung her blade at that arm of the Gillian, but the Asauchi striking against it couldn't harm it in the slightest. The Menos's tough surface instead jarred both of Kanisawa's hands numb.
The Menos seemed to be angered by Kanisawa as well, suddenly raising its palm and slapping it down toward Kanisawa. That palm was far too huge, hanging overhead and making it feel as if the entire sky were collapsing down!
Kanisawa raised her head, staring blankly at the rapidly approaching palm. Seeing this from afar, Shuhei charged at top speed, wanting to rescue Kanisawa, but he realized it was simply too late.
"Kanisawa! Quick..."
Before he could finish his words, a brilliant white blade-light suddenly surged into the sky, actually cutting that huge palm straight into two halves!
Boom!
The severed half-palm plunged from above Kanisawa's head down to the ground to the side, and that Menos instantly let out a miserable wail.
A figure slowly stood up amidst the surface ruins that had just been smashed to pieces by the Gillian's palm.
Seeing this, Kanisawa and Shuhei were first startled, then both were filled with great joy.
"Shin!"
Shin let out a short breath, standing with his blade in hand. Despite the ruins beneath his feet and the fact that he had indeed been smashed into a pit just a moment earlier, not a trace of disheveledness was visible on his body, and his clothes were completely free of damage.
"Shin! It's so good that you're fine!"
Shuhei and Kanisawa used Flash Steps to arrive right in front of him at the same time.
"Shin, the barrier team can't be reached. Right now we're in a state of having no outside help!" Shuhei quickly explained the situation to Shin.
Shin's expression was calm as he merely said, "The two of you go guide and protect everyone. Leave this place to me."
"Just you alone?" Kanisawa couldn't help speaking out. She wanted to say that this was a Menos, but then she thought of that nearly tangible sword pressure from just a moment ago that had severed the Menos's hand.
"Go!"
Shin was concise and to the point, turning his gaze toward the Menos.
At this moment, the Gillian's entire body finally detached completely from the black cavity. Viewing its full form from such close quarters, the oppressive feeling of the giant thing rushed over him, and in this seaside town, it had undoubtedly become the largest thing of all.
It was currently glaring at Shin on the ground with a pair of glowing red eyes, seemingly furious that Shin had actually cut off its hand just now. It let out a roar and opened its giant mouth, where a vast amount of spiritual pressure began to gather.
Shin did not rush to attack, instead sensing the full situation around him.
The spiritual pathways in this area were far too chaotic, and this Gillian's spiritual pressure was too strong, nearly covering the entire town.
Fortunately, Shin finally confirmed that none of the students had died yet, but among the group of Hollows, another presence had appeared whose spiritual pressure was nearly identical to the large Hollow from the very beginning.
Could Shuhei and the others handle it...
Shin frowned in thought, holding his Asauchi lightly in his hand and slowly sheathing it. When he raised his head again, he found that the Cero spiritual particles inside the Menos's mouth had already gathered almost completely.
The red Cero looked as if it were about to be fired off in an instant. At that very moment, Shin leaped up abruptly, spiritual particles gathering beneath his feet to form a foothold, and in the blink of an eye, he reached the height of the Menos's head.
You were sent here specifically for me, quite the grand gift after all...
In the dark night, two pairs of eyes gazed at each other, and a smile abruptly surfaced on Shin's calm face.
Clang!
The Asauchi left its scabbard, suddenly flashing a cold light in the dark night and charging straight at the Menos's face!
The sword pressure tore right through the mask, split the skull, and flew off a very long distance high into the air.
Shin drifted down to the ground, and before the Menos's body could even collapse, he vanished from the spot with a Flash Step.
On the other side, Shuhei, who was covering the students' retreat, encountered a huge problem. This was a massive Hollow; although not as terrifying as that Gillian, its spiritual pressure was about the same as the large Hollow Shin had slain at the start.
Hisagi Shuhei, Kanisawa, and Aojika joined forces to resist, yet still felt it was strenuous. Soon, Abarai Renji, Kira Izuru, and Hinomori Momo joined in as well.
"Damn it, is the strength gap really this big?!"
Shuhei was knocked back by a single strike from the Hollow, the immense force making his internal organs ache, and he couldn't help gritting his teeth as he spoke out.
Aojika said, "A Hollow of this level isn't something we can fight!"
Yet what Shuhei was referring to wasn't the gap between them and the Hollow. A Hollow of this level could be easily slain by Shin with a single slash, yet when it came to so many of them joining forces, they were still on the losing end.
How is things over on Shin's side...
At that moment, Shuhei couldn't help glancing toward the direction where Shin had originally been, just in time to see that Gillian collapse with a crash.
Boom!
That huge body directly crushed countless buildings, the tremendous sound startling everyone.
That is...
At the same time, a white blade-pressure suddenly swept past from above Shuhei's head, accurately hitting the large large Hollow they were currently fighting and piercing straight through its body.
"Yaksha Flash Sky!"
The large Hollow was chopped cleanly into two halves right on the spot.
Shin arrived with a Flash Step, stopping in front of Shuhei. First he glanced at Kanisawa, and then at Momo, Kira, and Renji.
He patted Shuhei's shoulder as the latter stood in a daze.
"As long as everyone's alive, it's fine."