"Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!"
A brilliant crimson fireball condensed in Rukia's left palm and blasted out, hurtling straight toward the two Hollows' faces.
"Roar!!!"
The Spider Hollow let out a piercing, ear-splitting roar. It raised its sharp blades and actually tore the incoming fireball apart by brute force.
"What incredible physical toughness!"
Rukia's pupils contracted slightly. Seeing a streak of black light coming toward her, she immediately dodged behind a tree. A thunderous boom shook the air, and she saw the nearby ground thrown up by the shock wave as the explosion resounded.
"This is making too much noise. I have to finish them off quickly."
Rukia stared at them. Her Asauchi was a standard-issue sword, with a white hilt and an unadorned blade, but faint traces of Reishi now flowed over it-the natural reaction of a Shinigami's Reiatsu clinging to the blade's surface.
She stopped testing them and released it at once.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."
The Asauchi's blade changed in that instant, turning from silvery white to pure white. A layer of constantly flowing ice crystals appeared along its edge, climbing up the blade until they finally condensed into a six-petaled frost flower at its tip.
The temperature of the surrounding air plummeted. A thin layer of white frost began forming beneath Rukia's feet and spread outward, covering several meters of concrete in a pale white coating.
"Now, I won't be holding back."
Rukia slashed in an instant.
"First Dance: White Moon!"
Snow-white circles instantly appeared beneath the two dark figures that had landed on the street. A bitter chill abruptly rose and enveloped them completely. Pillars of snow shot skyward, freezing both Hollows.
"O sovereign! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, wings soaring high, you who bear the name of man! Inscribe twin lotuses upon the wall