CH 88: INCOMING STORM (2)
Back in the soul society, all the members of the Research Division stood up with ashen faces.
“Impossible!”
The red alarm immediately began to sound, and Akon rushed to understand the situation.
“Report!”
“T-the radar d-detec…”
Akon pushed away the scientist whose tongue was frozen because of fear and took a look at the radar himself. What he saw immediately made his heart drop.
“How could this be…”
He understood now why the previous shinigami had been unable to speak clearly. After all, the radar was showing more than a hundred signals and most of them were at the very least at Gillian level. The worst was that it seemed, even more, were on their way. At this rate, it might even reach a thousand.
But this shouldn’t be possible. Even though the gate was a little enticing, the signal was too weak to reach Hueco Mundo and would only affect the few hollows around the gate at the moment of its activation.
‘Think! I need to think!’
He was currently the highest ranked on the site. Calling a superior would waste too much time.
The situation was clear, if those hollows were allowed to pass through the gate, they would pose a danger to Seireitei.
‘We must close the gate!’
But this wouldn’t be enough. The hollows would be able to read the coordinates and enter by opening their own gates. It would be the first time in a thousand years that the Seireitei was directly attacked by hollows.
They not only needed to close the gate, but they also needed someone to stay and fight off the hollows as long as possible before the residual energy faded.
Gritting his teeth, he spoke to the one he had previously thrown off,
“Contact one of the scientists on the other side. Tell them to pass the line to Captain Soi Fon.”
After this, he turned to a few others, “You! Go warn Captain Mayuri. Tell him it’s an emergency. Hurry!”
At the same time, the member of the secret force dispersed as they rushed toward the 1st division and the others.
---
On the other side of the gate, after her shock wore off, Soi Fon immediately began to analyze the situation and came to the same conclusion as Akon.
Raising her hand she called Omaeda,
“Retreat.”
Short and concise. Even though the members of the Kido corps and the research department were panicking a little, those of the secret corps were completely calm. The members of the militia surrounded Soi Fon while those under the direct order of Omaeda began to help in making the non-combatants retreat through the gate.
It was at that time that she received the call from one of the scientists,
“What?”
“Captain Soi Fon…”
“No need to waste time. I already know what you mean. The militia will stay behind and assure that the coordinates do not get leaked. Destroy the gate from your side.”
Ending the discussion, she cut the call and kept the communication device in her hand. She would need it to send the signal when they were ready.
“Gojo, what will you do?”
Since Gojo was a member of the 4th division, he was technically a part of the non-combatants and could also escape if he wanted to.
The situation they were facing could be said to be near hopeless. Be it her Shikai, Bankai, or her own personal fighting skills...none of it specialized in wide-scale destruction and multiple targets. The same went for the members of her division.
But from the report she had on him, it was clear that Gojo was an expert in large scale and multiple targets. Even though his skills were weakened here, Him staying would massively lower the chances of the coordinates leaking.
But this meant that he would also most likely die with them.
She had expected him to hesitate a little but she was startled when she saw him give a daring smile,
“I am staying of course. Though after this, you will owe me one.”
The shock soon gave place to a wry smile,
“If we survive this, I will do whatever you want.”
She spoke offhandedly, but Gojo gave a shrug and smirked,
“Remember those words.”
He could imagine what Soi Fon was thinking. But what she didn’t know was that he really didn’t need to fear this horde. Even if thousands of Vasto Lorde were to come, he was still confident in escaping. Why then would he fear facing a bunch of Adjuchas and Gillians?
‘Shadow teleportation for the win.’
Currently, what Gojo felt wasn’t fear, but incomparable happiness. He could finally test how strong he had really become.
“Soi Fon, do you trust me?”
Soi Fon immediately frowned, “What do you want to ask?”
The evacuation was already nearly completed but those words of Gojo immediately made her put her guard up.
“Not much, you should also evacuate with the members of the Militia.”
Her frown deepened, “Are you underestimating me? Underestimating us?”
He sighed, “This isn’t about underestimating. At the very least, they need to go. Even if they stay, all they will be able to do is serve as cannon fodder. In front of the coming wave, their sacrifice would not even buy one second.”
His words were grating to the ears, but he wasn’t wrong. In the first place, they already had difficulty moving because of the environment. What’s more, they were assassins, not frontal fighters.
It wouldn’t be a mistake to say that they were currently performing at less than 50% of their full strength. Since even at their full strength they would have been far from useful, currently they were just walking targets.
They gritted their teeth at his words but had no rebuke to offer.
Soi Fon was the only one thinking calmly. In this operation, each second counted. Even if it was just one. There was no such thing as useless cannon fodder. If necessary, she would not hesitate to sacrifice all the people here, herself included.
Still, Gojo had been known for realizing many miracles.
Should she bet on it?
‘Well, the chances of me dying are so high. Why not do something crazy for once?’
“I will believe you.”
“Captain!?”
“Don’t listen to him! We are willing to lay down our lives.”
She silenced them with a wave of her hand, “Retreat. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
They all fell silent before following the others to retreat. In the end, the only one left now where Gojo, Nemu, and Soi Fon,
“You should also retreat.”
Gojo spoke Gently to Nemu before turning back to face the approaching wave.
He was so used to Nemu listening to him that it took him a moment to remark that she hadn’t moved at all.
Slightly turning his head, he asked baffled,
“Nemu?”
Nemu did not answer him, her expression showed hesitation and uncertainty, as though some was in some sort of internal struggle.
When the last one aside from the three of them went out, she finally came to a decision,
“I-I want to stay. I am a vice-captain. I can...I can also fight.”
Even though she spoke a simple sentence, when she finished, her chest heaved up and down as if she had run a marathon. For Nemu, expressing her desire in such a way that went opposite to a direct order was a first.
She did not wish to go against Gojo’s order, but she did not wish to leave him alone. She wanted to stay beside him.
Gojo was only stumped for a short while before he gave a wide grin,
“Good, very good.” He ruffled her hair as he said this. Watching her like this, made him feel like he was watching a kid slowly growing. This gave him a weird sense of happiness and pride.
He could easily make her faint and throw her out, but he knew that this would bring negative effects to Nemu. After all, if he treated her roughly after she finally gathered her resolve to express her desire, god knew when she would dare to do so again.
“Soi Fon, you should send them the signal.”
Soi Fon looked quietly at Nemu before nodding. Then, taking out the device, she contacted Akon,
“Do it.”
The gate immediately began to frizzle out before vanishing. The three of them were now left alone in the infinity of the void while facing a horde of monsters.
The spiritual pressure kept increasing at an alarming rate. What could only be described as a sea of hollows could be seen approaching at high speed.
Gojo took a step forward and chanted,
“Through heaven and hell, we alone are the honored one, Tengoku no Kogo.”
His large wings unruffled while his crown sat on his head.
On the other hand, Soi Fon did not shy away from the fight. Even though the chances of dying were high, she wasn’t the type to give up without giving her all.
After taking off her captain cloak and throwing it away, thereby revealing her naked back, she unsheathed her short sword and murmured,
“Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi!”
The sword in her hand began to glow before shrinking and reforming around her right arm. When the light vanished, what was left was a black and gold gauntlet around her arm linked by a small chain to what looked like a long stinger on her middle finger.
The pressure she was releasing was already incredible, but she did not stop here. Her Reiatsu began to take the form of a tornado and covered both her arms and back. She was now ready to go all out.
“Well then, shall we go?”
‘Let’s do a reenactment of 300. Only, this time the 300, or rather the 3, will win.’
Even in such a tense situation, he could not help but joke. After all, even death itself did not make him lose his smile.