chapter 308

Chapter 308:

– Layla –

A sudden burst of spiritual pressure swept over the entire town. I  turned my attention to the north of Karakura Town. High in the sky, I spotted Ichigo. He was already in the thick of a battle with another Quincy. His Bankai was already out, which honestly wasn’t surprising. I was pretty sure he used it in nearly every fight after unlocking it in the anime.

“Another one,” Yoruichi said, frowning as she hefted the unconscious Quincy over her shoulder. This one had shown up with the clear intention of killing her but had failed spectacularly. “I can sense that Ichigo can handle that guy easily, but what this one said was disturbing. I’m heading back to Urahara’s place. I don’t sense any more Hollows nearby. Pretty sure this Quincy wiped them all out,” she added, glancing toward me.

I pouted, trying to convince her otherwise. It seemed like all the sexy women in the bleach verse kept finding ways to avoid me...

[Maybe because you scare the shit out of them with your insane power.]

“Don’t you want to come with me to the Soul Society and find out what’s going on? That guy mentioned something about a declaration of war,” I asked her.

Yoruichi bit her lip, clearly torn. “I do want to know what’s going on… but I really should check in with Urahara if this is as serious as I think it is. I never thought that prophecy could be real.”

“Prophecy?” I tilted my head, curiosity getting the better of me.

“You can ask the Head Captain if you’re going there anyway,” she said, dodging the question. She gave me a faint smirk. “Good luck, angel. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”

I grinned back. “I certainly hope so.”

And with that, she disappeared, flash-stepping across the rooftops toward Urahara’s shop. I watched her go for a second before shaking my head and focusing on Ichigo’s fight. With a single beat of my wings, I shot across the town and closed the distance in an instant.

“What the hell!? Why isn’t it working? I can’t take your bankai!” the Quincy was yelling, his voice tinged with frustration. He was fiddling with some silver device in his hand, looking utterly baffled.

I landed nearby, my eyes narrowing at the strange tool. “Steal bankai?” I muttered to myself. That sounded both interesting and dangerous. No way was I letting this guy keep that thing. I wasn't letting anyone steal MY bankai whenever I got one.

“Universal Pull!” I  extended my hand. The device flew out of the Quincy’s grasp and landed in mine. I turned it over briefly before tossing it to Ichigo.

He fumbled with it for a second before catching it. “Oi! Where did you come from?” Ichigo demanded. “Weren’t you on the other side of town? I could sense Yoruichi’s spiritual pressure skyrocket! Who was she fighting?”

“Just some low-level Quincy trash. Like this guy.” I shrugged, jerking my thumb toward the one in front of us.

“You bitch! Who are you calling low-level trash?!” the Quincy snapped, his face twisting in anger. He raised his hand toward me, his spiritual energy flaring. “Just for that, I’m going to make sure to have some fun with you before I kill—”

Puchi…

A Lightspear tore clean through his head, cutting off his sentence mid-threat. His body slumped and dropped out of the sky like a rock.

“Holy shit!” Ichigo exclaimed, staring at the falling body. “You just killed that guy!”

“I tend to take threats like that personally,” I told him with a huff, crossing my arms. “Anyway, make sure you give that bankai-stealing device to Urahara. It might be important.” Before he could respond, I called on my orb of anywhere, and a purple portal formed beside me and I hopped through it back to the Squad Four barracks…

– Unohana –

Chojiro Sasakibe lay on the floor, lifeless, his blood pooling beneath him. Unohana knelt beside him, her expression grim.

“I’m sorry, Head Captain,” Unohana said quietly. “There’s nothing I can do for him.”

The Head Captain nodded, his face stoic as ever, but Unohana noticed how tightly he gripped his staff. It was clear he was holding back his emotions. Chojiro wasn’t just a subordinate—he was one of his oldest friends.

A purple portal suddenly appeared nearby. Both Unohana and the Head Captain immediately shifted into defensive stances, their spiritual pressure rising.

“Are the Quincy attacking again?” Unohana hissed, her hand on her sword.

From the portal, a figure emerged, her 16 black wings fluttering behind her as she stepped through casually. Layla of the Fallen waved at them. “Hey there, you two,” Layla greeted. Her gaze then fell to Chojiro’s lifeless body, and her casual expression shifted to shock. “Oh no, tea guy!? What happened to him!?”

Unohana sighed heavily. “He was killed by a Quincy. There’s nothing more I can do for him. Where have you been, Layla?”

Layla placed her hands on her hips. “I was with Yoruichi in the human world. Quincy assassins showed up to kill her and Ichigo Kurosaki. Yoruichi took her guy down, no problem. I handled the one going after Ichigo because, let’s face it, the creep deserved it.”

Unohana’s lips twitched into a brief, humorless smile. “At least there’s some good news.” She straightened, her gaze hardening. “But I must return to the Captains’ Tower. The war demands my presence.”

Layla blinked, her wings twitching. “Whoa, an actual war? So, the guy Yoruichi captured wasn’t just rambling. That sucks. What about the guy who’s supposed to help me fix my Asauchi??”

The Head Captain turned his stern gaze on her. “I’ve sent a message, but I don’t imagine they’ll respond soon because of this war...”

Layla groaned, throwing her arms up. “These Quincy are the worst! Why does everyone’s drama always have to mess up my plans?”

Despite the situation, Unohana couldn’t help but find Layla’s theatrics slightly—only slightly—amusing.

The Head Captain’s lips quirked into a faint smile as well for a moment. “I need to return now.”

“Oh! Don’t forget to take tea guy with you!” Layla said suddenly.

Unohana frowned, confused. “What?”

Layla walked over to Chojiro’s body and, to everyone’s shock, kicked him in the side. “Wake up, tea guy! Quit being dead and making everyone sad!”

“What the hell are you doing?!” Unohana bristled, her spiritual pressure flaring. “That’s blatant disrespect—”

Her words cut off as something impossible happened! Chojiro, who had been dead, his chest brutally pierced and heart missing, suddenly gasped and sat up. He clutched his chest, which was now unmarred.

“What?” Unohana stared.

“Impossible,” the Head Captain whispered.

Layla shrugged like it was no big deal. “Well, that’s handled. I’ll let you guys catch up.” Without waiting for a response, she strolled off, her wings fluttering behind her.

Unohana and the Head Captain exchanged stunned glances, then looked back at Chojiro, who was still gasping for air, completely alive again. Neither had any idea how to process what had just happened.

Unohana immediately dropped to the ground to check over Chojiro. She pressed her fingers to his neck, checked his chest, and even leaned in to confirm his breathing. This wasn’t some kind of trick—he was actually alive.

“Huh? Of course I’m alive,” Chojiro said, sounding confused. He sat up, wincing as if his body still remembered the pain. Then his eyes widened. “Wait… didn’t I lose that battle with that Quincy?” He turned to the Head Captain, who still looked stunned. “The Quincy stole my Bankai from me! They have devices that can steal anyone’s Bankai as soon as they’re used, Head Captain.”

The Head Captain’s grip on his staff tightened. “That is grave news,” he said. Then, after a moment, he added softly, “I’m glad you’re alive again, my old friend.”

Unohana straightened, her face serious as she turned to the Head Captain. “Sir… Layla of the Fallen. I think she’s more than ‘some random angel’ like we thought she was. With her incredible powers… being able to revive the dead… that puts her on the level of someone like the Soul King himself.”

The Head Captain shook his head slowly. “I don’t think that’s it.”

Unohana frowned. “What do you mean?”

The Head Captain’s expression was grim. “I think she’s more powerful than the Soul King… a lot more powerful.”

Unohana froze at that declaration. She stared at the Head Captain, her mind racing. If what he said was true, then they had no idea what Layla’s limits really were.

– Layla –

I was sitting in the Squad Four barracks cafeteria, poking at a bowl of chocolate pudding. It wasn’t anything amazing, basically hospital food, but it gave me something to focus on while I figured out my next move. I didn’t really want to get involved in this war, but it felt like I didn’t have much of a choice. Leaving now and coming back later was always an option, but knowing my luck, the zanpakutō creator guy getting killed.

[He probably was going to get killed, which is why your luck put you here when it did.]

Yeah, that was one way to think about it. I finished my pudding and thought about grabbing another one when the nearby wall exploded. Dust and debris went everywhere, and Squad Four members started freaking out, shouting about an attack. But instead of Quincy, Kenpachi Zaraki stepped into the wrecked cafeteria, grinning like he owned the place. A little girl with pink hair clung to his back, giggling.

“See, Ken-chan! We found her! The super strong lady!” she chirped.

Kenpachi’s wild grin widened as he stomped toward me. “I heard you’re incredibly strong and even beat that old man! Let’s fight!”

I put a finger on my chin, pretending to think it over, but honestly, I was trying not to laugh. He was exactly like in the anime—a total battle maniac. “Normally, I’d be all for it,” I said. “But you guys are about to be in a war with the Quincy, and I’d rather not waste energy. We’ll probably have to take a rain check on that…” I trailed off, an idea popping into my head. “Although, we could have a different kind of competition, if you’re up for it.”

“Oh?” Kenpachi leaned forward, his grin somehow getting even more dangerous. “Let’s hear it, girly.”

I stood up, meeting his gaze without flinching. “Waiting around for the Quincy to attack again sounds boring, doesn’t it?”

“Beyond boring,” he agreed with a nod.

“Then let’s take the fight to them. Let’s storm their stronghold and see which of us can take down the most Quincy!”

Kenpachi’s eyes lit up. He thought about it for all of two seconds before throwing his head back and cackling. “Now that’s what I’m talking about! Let’s do it! How do we get there?”

“While I was in the World of the Living, two Quincy attacked my new friends,” I explained. “Fortunately for me, my senses are pretty sharp, and I caught the location of their base when the second one showed up.” I waved my left hand, and a purple portal flared to life next to me. “Well… are you coming or not?” I glanced over my shoulder and started strutting toward the portal slowly, just to make it dramatic.

“You bet your ass I’m coming!” Kenpachi laughed. “Let’s go kill some Quincy!”

– Kenpachi –

Kenpachi followed the strong, pretty woman through her weird purple portal. Yachiru was hanging off his shoulder like always, and he didn’t bother to ask where they were going. He didn’t care. He just knew there was going to be a fight, and that was all that mattered!

The second they stepped through, Kenpachi looked around and let out a short, amused laugh. They were in some kind of city where every single building was painted white. The whole place was blindingly clean—so clean it made him want to mess it up. It didn’t take long for the nearby soldiers to notice him. They were Shinigami, but their eyes went wide with shock when they saw him and the woman. Then they started yelling.

“It’s Kenpachi Zaraki!” one of them shouted.

"How did he get here?!” another stammered.

"Where are the sternritter!"

Kenpachi smirked. “Heh. Look at ‘em runnin’ around like headless chickens.” He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, making Yachiru giggle from her perch.

“They’re shocked because you’re so scary, Ken-chan!” Yachiru said cheerfully, swinging her legs. “Oh, wait! You’re here with a strong lady, so that’s gotta be double scary, huh?”

Kenpachi laughed. “Guess that makes three of us then, huh?” He shifted Yachiru to a better spot on his shoulder, then unsheathed his sword with a long, scraping sound. He could already feel a rush of spiritual energy from nearby Quincy.

“Let’s kick some ass, Ken-chan!” Yachiru cheered, pumping her fist.

“Heh heh heh,” Kenpachi grinned, looking up at the approaching Quincy. They were already moving into formation, but he didn’t care. He lifted his sword onto his shoulder like it was nothing and shouted, “Come at me, little Quincys!”

The moment they got close enough, Kenpachi moved. He was a blur of speed, cutting down three of them before they could even react. Blood splattered across the white streets, staining them red.

“Ken-chan, look out!” Yachiru called, pointing behind him.

Kenpachi didn’t turn. He swung his sword backward without looking and hit his target perfectly. A Quincy soldier flew backward, crashing into one of those spotless buildings. The impact shook the wall and sent dust everywhere.

“Hah! Too slow!” Kenpachi taunted, turning toward another group. They hesitated, clearly terrified, but it didn’t stop him. He rushed forward, his heavy footsteps cracking the ground beneath him.

“W-What is this guy?!” one of the Quincy stammered before Kenpachi cut him down with a single swing. Another tried to blast him with arrows of spiritual energy, but Kenpachi deflected them easily, charging straight through.

“You call that an attack?” Kenpachi roared, slicing through their ranks.

Yachiru clapped her hands excitedly. “Yay, Ken-chan! You’re winning!”

Kenpachi grinned even wider as Quincy after Quincy fell. This was what he lived for. Fighting. Winning. Watching his enemies panic and run. The strong woman had led him right into the middle of a bloodbath, and he was having the time of his life!

– Layla –

“Hahahah! Die you weaklings! Bring me a real challenge!”

[Someone’s having fun…]

Kenpachi was hacking and slashing his way through Quincy grunts like it was the best day of his life. I watched for a few minutes, leaning against a half-broken wall. He didn’t even bother dodging most of the arrows they shot at him. The ones that actually hit him didn’t do much more than scratch him. He just grinned harder and kept cutting them down. Honestly, it was kind of fun to watch, but I had some things to do.

“He’ll be fine,” I muttered to myself, pushing off the wall. I turned my focus to the rest of the city, which was a hell of a lot bigger than I expected. I could sense so many Quincy everywhere, like the whole place was crawling with them. A lot of them even felt like they were captain-level, which was impressive because the only quincy in the show up to the point I’d seen was Uryu...and he was never on Ichigo’s level.

Maybe I could just get the Quincy to surrender to me. That would save everyone a lot of time and effort, right? Then I could hurry up and get my sword fixed. I giggled to myself at the thought. Yoruichi and Unohana were going to be so grateful when they found out I prevented an entire war. I’d probably get a lot of praise for saving the Soul Society from losing so many people. And I meant a lot. There were so many Quincy here that this war was going to be a bloodbath.

I spread my wings and jumped into the air,careful not to fly too high. The ceiling above me stretched far, but I could tell this entire city was underground. Actually… Now that I was in the middle of it, I started to wonder. Were we underneath the Soul Society?

“Weird,” I said out loud.

{Quest Initiated: Fear of the Goddess! Break the Quincy army before it can massacre the Shinigami!}

{Reward: +5 Levels! Access to Quincy Techniques}

‘I’m not really a fan of fighting with bows, System.’ I thought after reading that pop up quest. I doubted they had any abilities I was interested in anyways.

[Fine then! How about this one?]

{Reward Updated: +5 Levels! New Title Unlocked- ???? ?????}

Oh! I always liked getting new titles. I was fine with this reward!

{-500 HP!}

“Ow!” I complained. As I was flying over the city, I suddenly felt like something punched me in the gut! The same sensation suddenly hit me in the arm and then my upper thigh! Large holes suddenly appeared in my clothes that I had created myself. What the hell was hitting me!?

I quickly scanned the surroundings and spotted who it was. A dark skinned man with green hair was standing on top of a building about a kilometer away holding a massive fucking sniper rifle. The gun actually looked pretty cool and I was very interested in the fact that it could actually hurt me… despite not really doing that much overall damage at this point.

[That’s cuz you’re broken.]

[Layla of the Fallen]

[Title: Sixteen Winged Angel, High Goddess of Angels, Death’s Favored.]

[Supreme Goddess 3 / 8: Merged with Mind Stone, Power Stone, Reality Stone]

[Level: 123]

[Sacred Gears: Purger of Darkness, Orb of Infinity]

[HP: 12,449,300 / 12,450,000]

[MP: 706,253,120]

[Faith Energy: 3,365,676,843]

[Vigor: 1,245,000]

[Strength: 3,072,758]

[Intelligence: 70,625,312]

[Luck: 128,145]

[Available Free Stat Points: 0]

[Perks and Skills:]

-High Goddess of Angels (100x Increase in all Stat Points. Access to all Angelic Abilities. Can turn other races into white or black winged Angels depending on the person's Karma.)

-Death’s Favored (Resurrect on Death after 24 hours. Can resurrect up to three people a day.)

-Daughter of Heaven's Will (Passive Skill: Ask and you shall receive! The universe bends to your whims and circumstances that you wish for are far more likely to occur!)

-Acting (Max: You are a master of the craft when you want to be.)

-Observe (Max: No one's level is hidden from your gaze. No one can detect you using Observe on them.)

-Light Manipulation (Max: All Light Abilities Cost 10x less MP to Cast.)

-Senjutsu (Max: Passively regenerate 1000 MP/Min.)

-Rinnegan (Max: All Rinnegan abilities cost 5x less MP.)

-Faith Pool (Can draw upon Faith Energy when MP runs out.)

-Cosmic Energy (Instead of air, you know breathe Cosmic Energy. All abilities are drastically improved along with access to Cosmic powers.)

-Blood of the Kryptonian (Massively Increases strength while under a yellow sun.)

-Lustful Queen (Active Skill: You can drain the energy of anyone you touch and convert it into any type of energy you desire. This ability is 1000x more effective when performed during sexual intercourse. You will also receive random stat points after every “session.”)

-Fear Resistance (Max!)

…Yeah.

I flapped my wings and blurred myself over to the top of that building. The sniper was glaring at me with only one of his eyes open.

“Can you stop shooting me? That’s really rude, you know!” I floated up to him with my hands on my hips.

He gave me a look that pretty much asked “really?” before he pointed the large gun at me and pulled the trigger again. This time I was ready for it and put my hand up in time. I felt something invincible but strong slam into my palm and chip off a couple dozen more HP. Of course, all of it was restored by my natural regeneration along with all the damage he’d previously done… Including the holes he’d rudely put in my outfit.

“What the hell are you!?” the Quicy shouted at me. “My power was granted to me by his majesty. There’s no way my shots can’t hurt you!”

I tilted my head. “Ok…?” Technically his power did hurt me, but sometimes it was just too much fun to mess with people. Especially when they were trying and failing to kill you.

– Unohana –

It was definitely unusual for every single captain to be inside Unohana’s barracks at the same time, yet that was exactly what was happening. Her barracks seemed unusually popular today, although one captain was notably absent.

“Where is Zaraki?” Captain Hitsugaya asked, sounding annoyed as he crossed his arms.

“I don’t sense him or his lieutenant anywhere nearby,” Captain Kuchiki said, his tone calm but pointed.

Captain Kyoraku chuckled lightly. “He’s probably running around looking for that angel woman to pick a fight. Tell me, is she as beautiful as I’ve heard?”

Unohana’s calm gaze shifted to Kyoraku, her eyes narrowing just slightly. “She is,” she said evenly. “But I wouldn’t risk antagonizing her.” Her voice stayed calm, but the warning in her tone made Kyoraku shiver.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said quickly, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

The Head Captain cleared his throat, drawing the room’s attention. “We’ll have to start this meeting without Zaraki, then,” he said, his voice heavy with authority. But before he could continue, a knock sounded at the door. Unohana turned to see her lieutenant, Isane, slipping into the room.

“Forgive me for interrupting, Captains,” Isane said, bowing slightly. Her expression was tense, and she seemed unsure of how to proceed. “But… um… I just got word from some other members of our squad. It’s about our guest, Layla of the Fallen, and Captain Zaraki Kenpachi.”

Unohana’s calm expression didn’t falter, but she raised an eyebrow slightly. “Go on,” she said.

Isane took a deep breath. “They decided to storm the enemy stronghold. There’s apparently a purple portal floating in the middle of our cafeteria that leads directly there.”

The room went silent for a moment as the captains processed what Isane had just said.

“Eh?”

XXX