"Those few Gillians are just a bit annoying. The captain plans to wait a little longer to see whether there's an Adjuchas behind them, fishing in the shadows."
Amagai spoke up to explain, "Our mission is to..."
Bang!
The massive body of a Gillian slammed into the barrier. A hemispherical curtain of light flashed in midair. The impact was loud, but it didn't shake the camp.
But very quickly, the clustered Hollows opened their huge mouths, condensing deep black-red spheres of light.
"Hm?!"
Everyone who looked up immediately tensed. Amagai even raised his voice to warn them, "It's a Cero. It's starting!"
In truth, he didn't need to remind them. Everyone already knew what was about to happen. That black sphere, compressed with massive amounts of spiritual pressure, was an energy cannon only Menos could fire.
Its power was terrifying, something even vice-captain level fighters couldn't take head-on. And once an attack that costly was used, it meant the general assault was about to begin.
BOOM!!!
Several Ceros turned into pillars of light and exploded against the barrier, instantly making the spherical light screen flicker unstably.
In the next moment, combat squads surged out from all around the camp. Veteran soldiers needed no orders, naturally forming up in fixed formations. For them, this was nothing more than cruel yet familiar daily routine.
But today's Hollow offensive seemed a little different.
Aside from the Gillians, an astonishing number of lesser Hollows had gathered on the outskirts. Their spiritual pressure wasn't strong, but the sheer numbers made them look imposing.
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Along with strange sounds, three Hollows bearing both animal and human traits suddenly appeared in the sky. They were much smaller than Gillians, but the intensity of the spiritual pressure they radiated, "Three Adjuchas?!"
Amagai was shocked. Iori beside him also wore a grave expression.
"What's going on… why are Adjuchas acting together?"
"There's no need to investigate Hollow affairs. No matter what's happening, what we have to do hasn't changed!"
The usually frivolous, lazy voice now carried a wild, arrogant edge. Saito Immortal Flash-Stepped to the front of the group and looked up at the three Adjuchas. Facing this immense pressure, he couldn't help but grin.
"Three of them, huh… even for me, it'll be hard to stop them all. This camp might really get broken."
"Mm!" The soldiers all stiffened, worry surfacing in their eyes.
But Saito quickly continued, "But keeping the camp safe is simple, just kill them all!"
"Listen up, you brats. The camp can always be rebuilt. No matter how much we lose, don't let it distract you. Focus with twelve hundred percent of your attention on your Zanpakuto and the enemy's neck!"
"Roar!!!"
The veterans were fired up. Fanatical battle intent instantly drove away fear. In such desperate circumstances, worrying was useless, fighting with everything you had might carve out a path to survival.
"I'll take the Adjuchas. I'll try to hold them all back. If any slip through, you're on your own."
Saito said bluntly, "As for the Gillians… where are my Four Heavenly Kings? It's time for you to show yourselves!"
"Yes!"
Including Amagai, the three squad leaders all responded at once. Saito froze for a moment, then turned his one eye toward a certain silent figure.
"Aizen Iori, you too. From today on, you're one of the Four Heavenly Kings!"
"Oh?" Iori didn't seem surprised. "Understood."
He touched the asauchi at his waist, the one he'd picked up after coming to Hueco Mundo. It hadn't been infused with spiritual pressure; it was just for show.
His real Zanpakuto was wrapped in black cloth on his back at all times. Everyone thought it was some kind of device for tuning machines, like an antenna.
Looks like after today, he could throw away the asauchi and openly bring out the Ame no Murakumo Sword.
But there was still one problem to settle first.
As a debut "entrance show" for his Shikai, should he put on a bloody struggle against a Gillian, or have his little cosmos explode and counterkill an Adjuchas?
"Ha… huff…"
The disheveled man knelt on blood-soaked sand, gasping for air. Yet the harder he breathed, the faster his stamina drained. From blood loss alone, his vision was already flickering between blur and clarity.
Looking around, Hollow corpses littered the ground. Because of Hueco Mundo's special environment, they hadn't dispersed immediately, turning the area into a flesh-and-blood slaughterhouse.
And even after killing so many enemies, there were still at least two Gillians nearby, with countless low-level Hollows. They had Amagai and his companion tightly surrounded, clearly with no intention of letting them escape…
So this was probably the end for him, Amagai Shusuke felt a dreadful premonition rise within him, then laughed bitterly and self-mockingly.
Ever since joining the Hueco Mundo expeditionary force, shouldn't he have already been prepared for this day?
Whether it was his duty as a Shinigami or the honor of his family, both dictated that he had no other choice right now.
"I'm sorry, Iori… we might not make it out," Amagai said with deep guilt to his back-to-back companion, Aizen Iori. "This time, I dragged you down with me."
At the height of the battle, the outermost barrier had been broken. The unit Amagai and Iori were in was heavily targeted by Menos.
To allow more people to retreat smoothly into the inner double barrier and regroup, Amagai had voluntarily chosen to stay behind as the rearguard.
He'd done so ready to sacrifice himself, but never expected Iori to leave the main force to save him, only for the two of them to end up trapped here together.
"You didn't have to do this," Amagai said, closing his eyes in pain. "I…"
'I just didn't want to disgrace my father, no matter what,' Amagai Shusuke couldn't bring himself to say it.
His family wasn't particularly prestigious, but his father was one of Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's direct disciples, a fellow student of Shunsui and Ukitake. Though low-key, he had earned the Captain-Commander's trust.
Amagai had always admired his father. Yet for some reason, his father never set goals for him, nor made any demands. That made Amagai feel that it was his own lack of talent that caused his father to have no expectations of him…
So he'd always pushed himself harshly, even volunteering to join the Hueco Mundo expeditionary force to earn battle merit and bring glory to his family.
Deep down, he vaguely understood that maybe his father was simply respecting his personal will, not that he didn't value him. But now there was no turning back. If he died here, at least it would count as following through on his original resolve.
But Iori's rescue made him realize how ridiculous his little thoughts were.
While he was still entangled in father-son relationships and family honor, things that didn't even matter, his comrade had risked his life without hesitation to save him.
Never in his life had Amagai Shusuke felt such shame.
"Talk less. Save some strength. Can you still stand?"
"Iori…"
Hearing that calm tone, Amagai turned to look at Iori in disbelief, unable to understand how he could stay so composed at a time like this.
Iori faced forward with an unchanged expression. He too was covered in blood. To protect Amagai, he'd consumed a lot of spiritual pressure, and his stamina should have been at its limit. In Amagai's eyes, Iori's condition should have been even worse than his own.
Yet the difference in their bearing was like night and day. The boy's will, immovable like bedrock, struck Amagai to the core of his soul.
"You… if you acted alone, you could probably break through and escape, right?"
Amagai tightened his grip on his Zanpakuto. He was a swordsman too, and he didn't want to become anyone's burden.
But Iori remained silent in response to the suggestion hidden in those words.
And immediately, Amagai understood. Iori would never abandon a companion. As long as he was still alive, Iori would stay behind to cover him.
'Damn it!'
"How pathetic I am…"
Watching the increasingly restless Hollow horde, Amagai made up his mind. He absolutely couldn't drag Iori down.
"Rather than be torn apart and devoured by these monsters, I'd rather uphold a warrior's dignity and cleanly commit seppuku..."
"Don't say something so stupid."
Iori said firmly, "Stand up!"
The boy rose with his hand on the hilt. His blood-stained Shihakusho billowed in the fierce wind.
"Are you going to waste time thinking about how to die with dignity, or draw your sword and live gloriously with me until the very last moment?!"
———
Amagai took a deep breath. His light brown eyes contracted tightly, then burst forth with dazzling light.
His rusted body moved once more. Amagai lifted his Shikai-released Zanpakuto. Its blade formed a scythe-like shape at the tip, flames flaring when swung.
Normally, his spiritual pressure was too depleted to ignite it, but now it was overlaid with a layer of crimson lotus light.
"Yeah, you're right… Even if I've made countless mistakes, at least I can still choose my own ending, we have to survive!"
"Don't just talk big and end up all bark and no bite," Iori snorted. "Just so you know, I'm dirt poor. If you die carelessly, don't blame me for showing up at your funeral empty-handed."
"Haha…"
Amagai grinned. "I'm going in, Iori!"
"Leave this side to me!"
"Roar!!"
A flood of lesser Hollows surged forward. In desperation, Amagai erupted with astonishing combat power.
The Zanpakuto named "Thunderfire" truly lived up to its name, spewing flames of terrifying heat that swallowed enemies whole, turning one grotesque monster after another into charcoal.
But in the end, it was just a final flash before death. Soon he ran out of steam and was about to be drowned by wave after wave of attacks.
Worse still, a Gillian ignored the "allies" around it, opened its mouth, and condensed a dark red Cero, intent on erasing Amagai completely!
"So this is as far as I go… but you have to live, Iori!"
Letting out a heroic roar, Amagai raised his Zanpakuto and launched a hopeless attack at the Gillian.
A pure white crescent sword pressure surged into the sky, slicing upward through the Menos' body, even splitting its pale mask clean in two.
"Graah…"
As the Gillian screamed and collapsed, crushing countless lesser Hollows beneath it, Amagai, who had thought himself doomed, stood there in a daze.
But he quickly reacted, spinning around in shock and joy to look at Iori. The boy wore a solemn expression, holding in his hand a jade-green longsword utterly different in shape from an asauchi, like an ancient artifact.
"Zanpakuto… Iori, you've awakened Shikai!"
"Don't let your guard down. There's still one Gillian left!"
Iori opened his eyes and met Amagai's gaze. They nodded to each other and threw themselves back into the fierce slaughter once more….
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[CG Registered]
[Four Heavenly Kings Who Repel Hollows: Black Grim Reaper]
[Type: Bond]
[Rank: A]
[Quality: Rare]
———
[Reward List]
[Stamina: Small Increase]
[Tenacity: Medium Increase]
[Spirit: Medium Increase]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
'Huh? So many stat drops… Is it because the bond rank is "A"?'
'As expected, bonds between men are way easier to grind than with women!'
Amagai would probably never know what kind of thoughts his so-called brother-in-arms, who fought and bled alongside him, was actually having at that moment.
"So this is my 'Clear Mind, Still Water'. It should count as a water-type Zanpakuto. Aside from being exceptionally sharp, it can gather spirit particles from water vapor to restore stamina. And it can also release a sword pressure called…"
"Alright, alright. I just asked you to briefly explain the situation, I didn't tell you to introduce your Zanpakuto's abilities!"
Seated in the main position of the captain's tent, Saito Immortal, wearing loose pants, bare-chested, with bandages wrapped around his wounds and private areas, quickly cut Iori off, his expression strange.
"Personal intel is extremely important in battle. For Shinigami, a Zanpakuto's abilities are their greatest secret. Normally, people wouldn't even tell close friends. How could you say it out loud in front of everyone?"
The other three squad leaders in the tent all nodded in agreement, clearly thinking Iori was far too straightforward.
But Iori, who had just openly exposed his "trump card," argued confidently, "This is Hueco Mundo, surrounded by powerful enemies. We've just gone through a major battle, suffered heavy losses, and everyone is injured. This is exactly the time we should work together and overcome hardship as one!"
"Revealing my Zanpakuto's true name and abilities may not follow the rules, but since you all know what I can do, future coordination on the battlefield will surely be smoother. That will greatly improve combat efficiency and reduce casualties."
"In my humble opinion, such information is insignificant compared to the lives of my comrades!"
"Please don't doubt me. At this critical moment, as a newly appointed squad leader with neither seniority nor connections, all I have is a passionate heart equal to yours!"
"Magnificent!"