Sword Pressure!

That's a Gillian?!

Hisagi Shūhei's eyes widened as he stared at the giant creature only half-emerged from the Garganta, his face filled with terror.

How is this possible? How could a Gillian appear here?!

Gillian is a general term for powerful Hollows, with three sub-levels from lowest to highest: Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vastolorde.

But even a lower-level Gillian was no match for them, a group of Shinigami reserves. Moreover, only a few within the Thirteenth Division were stronger than a Gillian.

He flew to the front of the students and shouted, "Run! Get away from here!"

Hisagi Shūhei moved swiftly, rushing to the students who were frozen in fear and waking them up one by one.

"Hinamori! Run!"

Hinamori Momo looked at Shūhei blankly, then pointed to the ruins ahead. "The president..."

Xin?!

Shūhei was startled, then a chill ran down his spine.

But the thought flashed by. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to calm down, and grabbed Hinamori's arm. "Let's go!"

He couldn't afford to worry about anything else now, nor did he have the luxury to.

While pulling Hinamori away from the area, he took out his communication device to call for help.

"Barrier Team! Barrier Team, we have a Gillian here!"

But only static crackled from the communication device, with no response.

"Damn it!"

Hisagi Shūhei sent Hinamori over to Kira and Renji, entrusting them, "Take her and leave quickly!"

Aoshika also approached Shūhei, asking, "Shūhei, what do we do?"

What could they do? A Gillian-class Hollow was something they couldn't handle at all.

The students were now fleeing in panic, causing chaos. But this was a special training space, filled with Hollows. Although not strong, there were many of them. The students, still shaken, were struggling to deal with the sudden appearance of small Hollows, and soon, there were casualties.

"Where's Kanazawa?"

Shūhei's mind was in a mess, and he didn't know what to do. He couldn't contact the Barrier Team for some reason. How could he call for rescue?

That Gillian, that Gillian...

If he went all out to stop it, could he hold it off for a while?

As he was thinking this, a figure suddenly charged towards the Gillian without hesitation.

It was Kanazawa!

Shūhei's heart leaped when he recognized the figure.

The Gillian was too massive, only half of its body had emerged from the Garganta.

Kanazawa swung her sword at the Gillian's arm, but her Asauchi couldn't inflict any damage. The Hollow's hard outer shell vibrated, numbing Kanazawa's hands.

The Gillian seemed provoked by Kanazawa and suddenly raised its palm to swat at her. The palm was so enormous that when it loomed overhead, it felt as if the entire sky was collapsing!

Kanazawa looked up blankly at the approaching palm. Shūhei, seeing this from a distance, rushed forward to save her but realized it was too late.

"Kanazawa! Quick..."

Before he could finish speaking, a brilliant white sword light suddenly shot into the sky, slicing the giant palm in half!

Boom!

The severed half of the palm fell to the side of Kanazawa's head. The Gillian let out a pained howl.

A figure slowly rose from the ruins of the ground that had been smashed by the Gillian's palm.

Kanazawa and Shūhei were stunned at first, then overjoyed.

"Xin!"

Xin let out a breath, standing with his sword. Although the ground beneath him was ruined and he had indeed been slammed into a pit moments ago, he showed no signs of disarray, his clothes completely undamaged.

"Xin! It's great that you're okay!"

Shūhei and Kanazawa Shunpoed to his side simultaneously.

"Xin, we can't contact the Barrier Team. We're isolated and without support!" Shūhei quickly explained the situation to Xin.

Xin's expression was calm. He simply said, "You two go guide and protect everyone. Leave this to me."

"Just you?" Kanazawa couldn't help but ask. She wanted to say it was a Gillian, but then she recalled the almost tangible sword pressure that had cut off the Gillian's hand just moments ago.

"Go!"

Xin said concisely, turning his gaze to the Gillian.

The Gillian's entire body had finally emerged from the Garganta. At such close range, the oppressive aura of the colossal being washed over them. In this seaside town, it had become the largest entity.

It was now staring intently at Xin on the ground with its glowing red eyes, seemingly enraged that Xin had severed its hand. It roared and opened its massive mouth, and immense Reiatsu began to gather within.

Xin did not rush to attack but instead sensed the entire situation around him.

The spiritual veins in this area are too chaotic, and the reiatsu of this Gillian is too strong, almost covering the entire town.

Fortunately, Xin finally confirmed that none of the students had died yet, but another existence appeared among the Hollows, with reiatsu comparable to the large Hollow from the beginning.

Can Shūbīng and the others handle it...

Xin frowned in thought, lightly gripping the Asauchi in his hand and slowly sheathing it. When he looked up, he found that the Cero the Gillian was about to unleash was almost fully condensed.

As the red Cero was about to shoot out, Xin suddenly leaped up. Spiritual particles gathered beneath his feet, forming a foothold, and in an instant, he was at the height of the Gillian's head.

This must have been sent specifically for me, what a grand gesture...

In the darkness, their eyes met. A smile suddenly appeared on Xin's calm face.

Zing!

The Asauchi was drawn, and a cold light flashed in the darkness, lunging directly at the Gillian's face!

The sword pressure directly tore through its mask, split its head, and sent it flying far into the high altitude.

Xin landed gracefully, and before the Gillian's body could fall, he disappeared from his spot with a Shunpo.

On the other side, Shūbīng, who was covering the students' evacuation, encountered a major problem. It was a massive Hollow, not as terrifying as that Gillian, but its reiatsu was comparable to the one Xin had killed earlier.

Hisagi Shūhei, Kanazawa, and Aoshika found it difficult to resist even when teaming up. Soon, Renji Abarai, Izuru Kira, and Hinamori Momo joined them.

"Damn it, is the strength gap really this big!"

Shūbīng was repelled by a blow from the Hollow, the immense force making his internal organs ache. He couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Aoshika said, "We can't fight a Hollow of this level!"

But what Shūbīng was referring to wasn't the gap between them and the Hollow. A Hollow of this level could be easily killed by Xin with a single strike, yet they, working together, were still at a disadvantage.

How is Xin doing...

Shūbīng suddenly couldn't help but look in the direction Xin had been. He saw the Gillian spectacularly collapse.

Boom!

Its massive body crushed countless buildings, the tremendous sound alarming everyone.

That's...

At the same time, a white sword pressure suddenly flew from above Shūbīng's head, accurately hitting the large Hollow they were currently fighting and piercing through its body.

"Yaksha Senku!"

The large Hollow was instantly sliced in half at the waist.

Xin arrived with Shunpo and stood before Shūbīng. He first glanced at Kanazawa, then at Hinamori, Kira, and Renji.

He patted Shūbīng's shoulder, who was still stunned.

"It's good that you're all alive."