Chapter 34

Outside Soul Society……

Endless Quincy walked out from the great gate spanning the two worlds, gathering outside the four gates guarding Soul Society……

And the man in a black coat, standing at the forefront of the Quincy, was none other than the great emperor who rules over the Quincy's 'Empire of Light'—Yhwach!

"Your Majesty, everything is proceeding according to your plan!"

"After the four gates are breached, we will immediately investigate the internal structure of Soul Society……"

Beside Yhwach, a handsome young man bowed his straight waist slightly toward their supreme emperor and spoke respectfully.

"Yes! Remember your duty!"

"All of you will become the foundation for my rise to the supreme position!"

Yhwach's face was stern; he lightly nodded to the youth, then gazed at the mass of followers before him and spoke in a deep voice.

"We will obey Your Majesty's command!"

For a moment, the Quincy clad in white knight uniforms almost simultaneously offered boundless reverence to their supreme emperor.

The next second, arrows made of spirit particles fell like rain upon the gates of Soul Society!

At the same time, the barracks of the First Division of Soul Society's Guard.

"Report to the Captain-Commander, the enemy has appeared at the White Gate!"

"Report to the Captain-Commander, enemies have also been sighted at the Azure Flow Gate, Black Ridge Gate, and Vermilion Hollow Gate! The troops stationed before the gates have suffered heavy casualties……"

"Report to the Captain-Commander, the enemy claims to be subjects of the 'Empire of Light' and will attack using spirit-particle bows and arrows……"

"Report to the Captain-Commander, we have confirmed the enemy's identity……the enemy are Quincy!"

One after another, Soul Reapers clad in black uniforms kept shuttling between the First Division and the other divisions, reporting to Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, who wields the 'Utter Blade', and to the various division heads, the current situation unfolding in Soul Society.

"Thud!"

After Yamamoto heard that the enemy were indeed Quincy, he used his Soul-Cutting Sword as a cane, striking it heavily onto the ground, producing a dull thud.

"Enough! I can't let those fellows keep destroying things like this!"

Yamamoto let out a loud shout, and the entire First Division fell into complete silence.

Unlike a thousand years later, when he constantly sits in the First Division as a 'symbol of protection' to steady the morale of the Thirteen Divisions, Yamamoto…

Now Yamamoto's personality is more unrestrained, his temper more volatile; in his view, it's better to take the initiative and attack than to stay in the First Division to steady morale……

And coincidentally, the heads of the other divisions of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads thought the same; for a moment, the troops of each division, following their leaders' orders, readied themselves for battle!

As Yhwach would later say, the current Soul Society is less a guard protecting Soul Society and more a murderous gang that kills under the banner of protection!

"Everyone, follow me into battle! All-out war has begun!"

As Yamamoto spoke, his spiritual pressure flared up like blazing flames; his 'Flowing Blade Like Fire' thirsted desperately, and only the enemy's blood could quench the fire it had ignited.

"Yes, sir!"

The entire First Division, upon Yamamoto's command, drew their waist-worn Soul-Cutting Swords, fell in line behind Yamamoto Genryūsai, rushed out of the division barracks, and headed to the battlefield; for a moment, blazing spiritual pressure like fire raged across the battlefield……

Soul Society's four gates……near the Vermilion Hollow Gate.

With the Quincy's massive advance, this place has become a landscape of broken walls and ruins……

It seems endless, countless Quincy pouring in continuously from the wide-open Vermilion Hollow Gate.

Even though Huangmu had warned Yamamoto months in advance, and thus Yamamoto had dispatched large numbers of Thirteen Division troops to guard all four gates of Soul Society, they still could not withstand the sky-covering, rain-like barrage of spirit-particle arrows……

Each volley of arrows was like the scythe of 'Death', reaping the lives of the Thirteenth Division troops one swipe after another; no matter how fearless the Soul Society troops were, facing the endless barrage of spirit-particle arrows they could only retreat repeatedly!

"Weak… they are simply too weak……"

"These so-called Soul Reapers are nothing but targets for us Quincy!"

"I truly don't know what Your Majesty is worrying about; does he think our brave Quincy will be defeated by these incompetent Soul Reapers? Don't joke……"

"Rather than hunting these trash who call themselves Soul Reapers, I'd rather go to the Hollow Realm to hunt the great Hollows!"

A member of the 'Star Cross Knights', mingled among the ordinary Quincy, continually drew his bow and released 'Holy Annihilation Arrows', shooting at the group of Soul Reapers who were putting up a last-ditch resistance……

This Star Cross Knights member's every arrow claimed the life of a Soul Society Thirteenth Division soldier, not a single shot missed; as a result, he grew arrogant and overconfident, completely forgetting the great Majesty's parting words before his departure.

"Retreat, everyone fall back! The enemy's firepower is too strong; we can only temporarily avoid the sharp edge for now, then make plans later!"

The Soul Reapers defending Vermilion Hollow Gate, facing volley after volley of arrows, were truly suffering heavy losses and in utter disarray; not only were they gravely wounded, but even their inner spiritual pressure was insufficient to continue fighting, so for now their only hope of survival lay in a temporary retreat.

"You think you can run?!"

That Star Cross Knights member, seeing the Soul Reapers about to retreat, instantly drew his bow, and a spirit-particle arrow shot forth from his hand in an instant.

However, this arrow did not pierce the chests of those Soul Reapers attempting to flee; instead, it shot from behind and pierced the knee of a Soul Reaper who was sprinting with legs wide open……

"Ah!"

Accompanied by a piercing scream, that Soul Reaper immediately collapsed to the ground.

"Shanmu soldier!"

The Soul Reapers who were sprinting in retreat, hearing the anguished cry from nearby, immediately turned around; seeing their comrade collapsed on the ground, they shouted anxiously.

"Idiot, don't stop! I can't go back anymore; you must return to your respective divisions and report to the captains the abilities of those guys……"

The soldier named Shanmu, after taking an arrow to the leg from that Star Cross Knights member, unsurprisingly collapsed to the ground; he watched as blood poured steadily from the tear in his pants leg, realizing he could not return……

Having realized there was no hope for himself, Shanmu quickly made a decision: to use his last strength to become the hope for other division soldiers to return to their respective units.

"But Shanmu soldier, we……"

The Soul Reapers around Shanmu still hesitated in their eyes; they knew on one hand that what Shanmu said was correct—they needed to return to their divisions and report to the captains—but on the other hand they could not bear to see a familiar comrade wounded and abandon him.

"Too much talk!"

Just as the Soul Reapers hesitated slightly, two more spirit-particle arrows shot toward them.

"Burn, Flying Dan Pill!"

Before the spirit-particle arrows could reach him, Shanmu had already released his Soul-Cutting Sword, unleashing blazing flames that blocked the arrows.

"Hurry up and go……"

After Shanmu left a sentence, he planted one foot on the ground, gripped the released Soul-Cutting Sword, and went to kill that distant extinction monk.

"Shanmu..."

Those few Soul Reaper squad members watched Shanmu's heroic advance, their eyes red.

"Go! Don't let Shanmu's sacrifice be in vain."

However, before they could say more, the seated officer Soul Reaper among the squad had already pulled everyone and run forward.

The seated officer knew clearly that, given Shanmu's condition, he could absolutely not kill that powerful extinction monk; Shanmu's choice to turn and advance was merely to use his own death to let these teammates continue forward without any burden.

"We understand!"

Certainly, the current scene is exceedingly tragic...

Although everyone felt awful, they had only the path of retreat to walk; this was the only hope for these ordinary squad members to survive.

(End of chapter)