chapter 309

Chapter 309:

– Layla –

[It’s villain monologue time!]

Oh, please no!

Without me even asking, the dark-skinned Quincy started introducing himself. “I am Lille Barro!” he announced dramatically. “I am Sternritter X, granted my letter by His Majesty himself.”

I tried to cut in. “Yeah, I don’t really care—”

He kept going like I hadn’t said anything. “My powers allow me to pierce all things in my sight with my rifle. I don’t know what tricks you’re using, but I will see past them and defeat you!”

Before I could even roll my eyes, he opened his second eye, which had been closed this entire time. His entire demeanor changed in an instant. He went pale, and for a moment, he looked genuinely horrified. “Impossible,” he declared, almost like he couldn’t believe the words himself. “My power grants me supreme authority over the X-Axis… but you… you control all of space!”

I could feel the Orb of Anywhere inside me getting smug.

Lille’s horror didn’t last long. He shook himself and shouted, “His Majesty’s power won’t lose to some imitation!” He pointed his green Quincy sniper rifle at me again and started firing.

It wasn’t hard to figure out how his power worked, especially after he’d practically handed me a manual. His shots would basically always hit what he was aiming at. All I had to do was move right as he pulled the trigger. Simple.

Honestly, I didn’t even need to dodge. My passive regeneration could outheal the maximum damage he could dish out. But that didn’t mean I was some masochist who enjoyed the pain.

[Only in the bedroom…]

So I zipped around the skies above the Quincy city, dodging shot after shot. He fired hundreds of times, and I pulled off some aerial maneuvers that I thought were pretty fun—stuff like sharp dives and sudden rolls. It was honestly kind of exhilarating.

After about thirty seconds of this, he finally had to lower his rifle. He was panting heavily, clearly on the edge of exhaustion. I hovered above him, watching as he struggled to catch his breath. His Majesty must’ve really believed in him, but firing full-powered shots nonstop like that was not a sustainable plan. Not for him, anyway.

I swooped down and landed on the white rooftop, my heels clicking against the concrete. Strutting over to the Quincy, I watched as he glared up at me hatefully, his hands on his knees, wheezing from spiritual exhaustion. He looked like he was about two seconds away from falling over.

“That was… certainly something,” I said with a shrug. A Lightspear appeared in my hand with a flick of my fingers as I debated whether I should kill him or not.

He had tried to shoot me—a lot, actually—but right now, he was so pathetic it was hard to work myself up to it.

My decision was taken out of my hands when he suddenly screamed, “I won’t die here! I WON’T DISAPPOINT HIS MAJESTY!”

A torrent of energy burst out of him, and he started glowing bright gold. I raised an eyebrow, watching the spectacle as his entire body began to shift and change.

And then… he transformed.

I stared at him, but not because I was impressed or anything. No, I was gaping at him because… what the actual fuck? “What the fuck just happened?” I asked out loud, not bothering to keep the disgust out of my voice.

He had turned into some kind of giant, long-necked Quincy chicken. His weird, creepy eyes blinked at me, and it was honestly unsettling.

“Now you will see my true power! Power that will destroy you!” he squawked. His voice had completely changed, going from something deep and mildly intimidating to squeaky and ridiculous. I couldn’t help it—giggles started slipping out of me, even as I tried to hold them back. This was just too dumb.

Unfortunately, his power-up wasn’t all for show, because the next thing I knew, two simultaneous golden explosions slammed into me. The force knocked me violently off the roof, and I crashed hard into the building next door.

I groaned as I pulled myself out of the rubble. I glanced at my health bar. I’d lost around 5000 HP from that attack. It was a drop in the bucket for me, but I had to admit I was a little impressed. The chicken had managed to boost his damage output by more than ten times.

I dusted myself off, making sure none of it had gotten into places it shouldn’t have, and stretched a little to loosen up. In the distance, I could hear the Quincy chicken cackling and monologuing like he’d already won.

– Yhwach –

Yhwach had just finished delivering his grand speech to the majority of his upper-rank forces when the entire building shook violently. The sound of a loud explosion echoed in the distance, cutting through the air like a warning.

“What is happening?” Yhwach asked out loud, looking around the throne room as it trembled. He could feel it—the Quincy soldiers were being slaughtered, dozens of them every minute. One of his Sternritter was unleashing their full power against an enemy, but something about the energy felt… off. It was strange, difficult for Yhwach to sense clearly. That alone was enough to irritate him.

Haschwalth, his second in command, demanded answers. He barked an order at one of the lower-ranked Quincy in the room to investigate immediately.

The grunt barely had time to move before the door was thrown open with a loud crash. Everyone turned to see who had barged in so rudely. It wasn’t some nameless underling, though.

Yhwach vaguely recognized the man.

Carl.

The guy who’d been assigned to monitor the cameras hidden around the Soul Society for years. Yhwach raised an eyebrow. Whatever had made Carl storm in like this, it had to be serious. Carl looked nervous as hell. His eyes darted around the room as everyone stared him down. He gulped audibly before stammering out his report.

“Hey, uh… everyone,” Carl began, his voice shaking. “I was, uh, just watching the security feeds from the cameras we hid in Squad Four’s barracks… and, um, that lieutenant we killed? Chōjirō Sasakibe? Um… he’s not dead anymore.”

The room fell silent. Carl continued, stuttering worse as the pressure of so many eyes bore down on him.

“The Soul Reapers… they have this woman I’ve never seen before. She has the ability to bring the dead back to life. And she can make portals. She and Kenpachi Zaraki came through a portal and are… uh, they’re invading us. And… I just checked the cameras again. All the Soul Reaper captains are in the process of coming through that portal to invade us too.”

Everyone in the room stared at Carl, dumbfounded. No one said anything at first, but Carl started backing away, clearly uncomfortable.

“I’ll just… leave you all to it and get back to work,” he muttered before turning and scampering out of the room like his life depended on it.

He was lucky. A second after he was gone, Haschwalth fired a massive arrow that slammed into the wall right where Carl had been standing.

“Your Majesty! I shall bring that fool back, and we will execute him at once for his sheer ineptitude!” Haschwalth declared, bristling with fury.

“We don’t have time for that,” Yhwach snapped. “We were planning to storm the enemy’s gates, but now we’ve found them storming our own instead. I did not foresee this, but it makes no difference!” He rose from his throne with a commanding presence. “My Quincy! My Sternritter! Go out there and kill them all! Show them our fury after we have waited 1,000 years!”

The soldiers didn’t need to be told twice. They rushed out of the room in a hurry, leaving Yhwach with only Haschwalth and his newest recruit, Uryū Ishida.

“Those Soul Reapers prove to be quite cunning,” Haschwalth remarked, arms crossed as he watched the doors swing shut behind the departing army.

Yhwach noticed Uryū looked uneasy. The boy was standing awkwardly, shifting slightly as if debating whether or not to speak.

“Speak, my son,” Yhwach commanded.

Uryū hesitated for a moment before finally answering. “Um… the woman who’s invading… does she have ten black wings and six others that are red, purple, and gold?”

“Carl left before telling us that. Why?” Haschwalth asked, narrowing his eyes at Uryū.

Uryū grimaced. “If it’s her… we might be in some serious trouble. She crushed me and Ichigo without even trying. We couldn’t even scratch her.” He paused, looking sheepish. “Also, she’s a literal angel.”

Yhwach stared at the boy, incredulous. “Huh?”

– Layla –

I pulled myself out of the building I’d crashed into, brushing off chunks of rubble from my shoulders. Floating back into the sky, I conjured my Lightspear again.

“How are you still alive?! That’s impossible!” the ugly Quincy chicken guy squawked at me. “It’s no matter! I’ll kill you for sure this time!”

“You’re annoying,” I said, glaring at him. “And honestly, fighting a giant chicken is pretty cringe. You can die now.” Without waiting for another one of his pathetic speeches, I pulled my arm back and hurled the Lightspear with everything I had. The weapon tore through the air like a missile aimed straight at him.

Maybe it was arrogance. Maybe it was just sheer stupidity. But the chicken didn’t even try to dodge.

The Lightspear struck true, slamming right into his oversized body. He let out a shrill, agonized scream that almost made me wince—almost. I could feel the power of the spear ripping through his spiritual energy, tearing it apart at the seams. The idiot dissolved into motes of light, leaving nothing behind.

[That was a true anime death right there….]

I hovered there for a second, letting out a long breath.

“Ara… that was quite an interesting enemy,” came a familiar voice. Turning my head, I spotted Captain Unohana standing on the air nearby. “I don’t remember any Quincy looking like that during the war a thousand years ago.”

“What took you all so long?” I teased. “I literally left the door open for you.” And by door, I meant one of my portals of course.

Unohana actually pouted a little. “You and Captain Zaraki just decided to storm the enemy headquarters without telling anyone. Honestly, I expected such behavior from a meathead like him, but I expected better from an elegant woman like yourself, Layla.”

Grinning, I floated a little closer to her. “Oh? An elegant woman, am I?”

Unohana blushed faintly, then rolled her eyes and glanced around at the ruined city beneath us. “Who would have thought the Quincy rebuilt such a place in secret and hid it so well for all these years?”

I shrugged, glancing up at the dreary, artificial sky above us. The whole place was underground, with no natural light whatsoever. It was gloomy, oppressive. The kind of place that made you feel like you’d lose your mind after a century, let alone a thousand years. “Meh,” I said. “This place is super dreary. No wonder they’re all crazy.”

Unohana chuckled softly, but didn’t argue. Our reunion was abruptly cut short when they both saw a massive plume of golden spiritual energy erupting into the sky. Unohana couldn’t help but giggle and say that “it looks like Zaraki is enjoying himself at the very least.”

He wasn’t the only one going full power either. I decided to let my powers out a little bit so I could feel everything going on in the city and I noticed that all the captains had arrived and most were now fighting. Regardless of the fact that I never felt any of their auras, shinigami naturally felt different to me than Quincy did.

– Zaraki –

Zaraki was having the time of his life. He cut down wave after wave of Quincy soldiers, each one charging at him like they thought they stood a chance. Yachiru cheered him on from her perch on a nearby building, giggling every time he made one of the Quincys explode into blood and spiritual particles. Following that Layla girl here was the best decision he’d made all week.

The Quincys tried everything. They fired endless volleys of those weak-ass blue arrows, but he just shrugged them off. Some of them got desperate and charged him with energy swords, trying to fight him up close. He couldn’t help but laugh at how pathetic their blades were. They lacked resolve. They lacked power. Hell, most of them couldn’t even scratch him. At this point, he wasn’t even bothering to dodge half the time. Swinging his sword around and slashing through everything in sight was too much fun.

That was probably why he didn’t notice the massive bolt of lightning coming straight for him until it hit him square in the back.

Pain ripped through him as the electricity coursed through every muscle and nerve in his body. It stung like hell, but instead of groaning or falling, Zaraki tilted his head back and let out a loud, wild laugh.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” he roared, turning around to see who’d managed to hit him with that much power all at once.

Standing there was some blonde chick in a skimpy Quincy uniform that barely covered anything. Zaraki grinned wide, his excitement growing. He wasn’t picky about who he fought. Man or woman, it didn’t matter. If they were strong enough to make him bleed or keep him entertained, they were worth fighting.

“You wanna play with me, woman? Bring it on!” he shouted.

The blonde narrowed her eyes, clearly pissed off. “I’ll show you what happens, Shinigami, when you storm into my home and start tearing the place up!” she yelled back.

Zaraki rubbed a finger in his ear, tuning her out as she kept ranting. Something about vengeance, retribution, and how she was going to crush him. Whatever. He stopped paying attention after she introduced herself as Catnip… or something like that. Catnip? Was that seriously her name? What a joke.

“Catnip, huh? That’s dumb as hell,” he muttered, laughing to himself.

Her face twisted in fury, and a second later, she fired more of that painful green lightning at him. Zaraki didn’t even flinch. He charged straight at the bolts, his sword held high, laughing like a maniac the whole way. This fight was going to be fun!

– Yamamoto –

Flames burned around Yamamoto as he stood across from his most ancient enemy. He stared at Yhwach, the Quincy King, who had the audacity to declare war on the Soul Society.

“It’s been a while, Yhwach,” Yamamoto said, his voice steady and full of smug satisfaction. “You went out of your way to declare war on us, so I thought maybe we should drop by and settle things now.”

As far as Yamamoto was concerned, Layla had already earned the title of honorary Shinigami. For bringing his dear friend back to life and allowing them to storm the Quincy stronghold directly, she was far more than an ally. No, to him, she was more like a goddess.

When they first arrived, Yamamoto and the captains had immediately sensed an incredibly powerful Quincy, one that could’ve easily wiped out most of the Gotei 13. Yet moments later, that Quincy’s spiritual pressure had been completely snuffed out by Layla’s overwhelming power. Even now, Yamamoto could feel her watching them, her presence distant but unmistakable. Yhwach, however, seemed too consumed by his anger to notice.

“Genryusai Yamamoto… to think you would be brazen enough to pull this off,” Yhwach said, his fury evident. “I will enjoy killing you myself!”

Yamamoto’s staff vanished, revealing his Zanpakutō. “I killed you a thousand years ago,” he said flatly. “It obviously didn’t take, but I don’t mind a repeat performance.”

Before they could clash, two figures swooped down and landed between them. It was Layla and Unohana. Unohana looked a little sheepish, like she knew she’d just interrupted a big moment.

“Hey, old man,” Layla said casually. “How’s tea guy? I don’t sense him nearby.”

“I felt it prudent to leave him in the Soul Society,” Yamamoto replied. “He is still shaken up, and his Bankai has not been recovered.”

“Oh,” Layla said, tilting her head slightly. “Was it a good idea to follow me with so many captains who could also lose their Bankai?”

It was a fair question.

“They have been warned of the dangers,” Yamamoto said. “But none of my captains are cowards. They’ve come to end this war before it can truly begin and damage our home.”

“And what about my home!?” Yhwach cut in angrily.

Yamamoto scoffed and prepared to draw his sword, but Layla stopped him again.

“Who’s this guy?” Layla asked, looking at Yhwach curiously.

“Who am I?!” Yhwach bellowed. “You dare invade my home and not even recognize its owner? I am Yhwach, the King of the Quincy!”

Layla covered her mouth and let out a small chuckle. “Uh-huh… sure you are, buddy. That’s a nice illusion, but you can’t fool my eyes now that they’ve fully merged with the Rinnegan. You’re nothing but an imposter.”

“He’s what?!” Yamamoto thought, shocked.

Before anyone could react further, Layla blurred forward. She seized the fake Quincy King by the throat, ignoring his punches, kicks, and desperate struggles. With a sharp squeeze of her hand, she snapped his neck. His body hit the ground, and in an instant, it transformed into a completely different man—definitely not Yhwach.

“So that was his plan,” Yamamoto said with a scowl. Yhwach had wanted him to waste his strength fighting this fake copy, only to strike when he was tired. Once again, he owed Layla a debt.

“Thank you,” Yamamoto said firmly. “I’m going to find the real Quincy King.”

“I’m coming too!” Layla declared without hesitation.

– Yoruichi –

Yoruichi and Urahara arrived at the head captain’s building, both on edge and trying to find the old man. Urahara had finally cracked the Bankai-stealing device Layla had given them and had come up with a method to counter it. If it worked, it would make this inevitable war a lot easier on their people. But something was off. Yoruichi couldn’t sense Yamamoto’s presence… or any captain’s, for that matter. The entire Soul Society felt strangely empty.

“What the hell happened? Where did they all go?” she muttered, glancing around the eerily quiet barracks.

“This is quite the conundrum,” Urahara said, lazily flicking open his fan like this wasn’t a big deal.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the insight,” she said dryly before heading deeper into Squad One’s barracks. They needed answers.

Pushing further inside, they found Lieutenant Chōjirō Sasakibe. He was standing near a desk, looking like he’d just seen a ghost. Despite whatever he’d been through, he straightened up and greeted them politely.

“Ah, Yoruichi and Urahara. Welcome back home. Are you looking for the head captain?” he asked. “I’m afraid you just missed him. He and the other captains are currently storming the enemy’s main base. I’ve been left behind to manage things in their absence.” He hesitated, his gaze shifting slightly. “Also, I’m… recovering from having recently been dead,” he added, almost like an afterthought.

Yoruichi stared at him blankly. “What…?”

Chōjirō shifted uncomfortably. “I… died. The enemy killed me. But thanks to Layla—the woman who arrived from another dimension—I was brought back. Apparently, she has the ability to revive the dead.”

Yoruichi’s confusion only deepened. “Wait… she can bring people back to life? When the hell did that happen?”

“Shortly before the captains left,” Chōjirō explained. “Her power is extraordinary. She even opened a portal that allowed them direct access to the Quincy stronghold. The head captain believed it was the perfect opportunity to strike...”

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