"Damn it, where did these bastards come from?!"
"What's the point of worrying about that? Push harder, that big idiot is catching up!"
In a dense forest, two men stood back-to-back, protecting a woman with long, light purple hair between them. These two men were none other than Uesawajiri Tama and Yamagata Jinnai, whom Kōe had encountered when he first entered the Zaraki district.
At this moment, the trio was completely surrounded by over twenty Hollows, and more were appearing out of nowhere, continuously joining the fray. Although Uesawa and Yamagata were fighting with everything they had, they could only barely fend them off. Breaking out of the encirclement was proving to be incredibly difficult.
Looking at the ever-increasing horde of Hollows, a trace of despair surfaced in Uesawa's heart. Though he didn't want to admit it, his life was likely going to end here today. Not just him, but Yamagata and the terrified woman behind them—none of them would be able to escape.
"Watch out!"
Yamagata's loud warning snapped Uesawa out of his momentary daze. With a flick of his wrist, the chain in his hand crossed into a loop in mid-air, tightly binding the massive four-fingered claw reaching for his chest. He spun around, executing a shoulder throw that hurled the Hollow toward Yamagata.
Without needing a single word of communication, Yamagata swung his massive two-handed sword. This was his Zanpakutō, Katsujō—a giant two-handed weapon with the hilt in the middle and two half-meter-wide, single-edged blades on either end.
Cold light suddenly flashed through the dim forest as Katsujō's twin blades alternately cleaved through two Hollows, dicing them into eight pieces. The surrounding Hollows merely shrieked, not daring to approach Yamagata. Anyone who dared would end up just like those two unlucky bastards.
"Hey, Uesawa, did you get scared stupid just now? Wetting your pants isn't a good feeling!" Yamagata didn't push his advance; after dealing with the immediate threat, he retreated back to their defensive formation.
"Yeah, it scared the hell out of me! If it weren't for you, I probably would've died just now." Uesawa tried to lighten the mood, unaware that his face was already too stiff to form any expression.
"We can't die here!" Yamagata grinned, two familiar faces flashing through his mind as his eyes suddenly softened. "Otherwise, how would we have the face to see those two guys?"
Life in the Plains of Slaughter was dangerous and monotonous. For Uesawa and Yamagata, the only change in recent years was the arrival of a new Squad 4 "little treasure," and their squad had been drawn to be responsible for her safety.
In their eyes, this didn't really count as a change. Compared to Kōe Shihouin from seven years ago, this new arrival failed to spark even the slightest bit of interest. She was just the usual Squad 4 dead weight—perhaps even more useless than the last one.
Uesawa originally thought this kind of life would continue until his term ended in three years and he returned to the Seireitei. But he never expected a spatial rift to appear out of thin air, bringing sudden disaster.
It was a Garganta opened by Hollows. They had intended to lie in ambush and give the Shinigami a surprise, but it ended up being a horrifying shock!
In a mere instant, two of their five-man squad were gone, leaving only the three of them. Uesawa would never forget that abyssal, gaping black maw and those giant, deathly pale hands.
"Leave me! Run! You have to survive!!!"
That was the last sentence Uesawa heard, the final words of the unlucky bastard who had been snatched up and was about to be fed into that giant maw. It was also this sentence that forced them to calm down and abandon their suicidal urge to fight back.
Their escape had gone smoothly at first, until these Hollows appeared out of nowhere to block their path. Left with no other choice, Uesawa reluctantly fired a distress flare. But looking at the situation now, they wouldn't be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
What he didn't know was that reinforcements were already close. It wasn't Kōe, but a four-man squad led by Tsukikage Toshitake—the 5th Seat of Squad 5 whom Kōe had taught a lesson seven years ago.
"Twenty? No, there are at least thirty of them!"
"There are casualties. They only have three left. It seems there were even more enemies before."
"Something's wrong. An invasion of this scale is highly unusual." Tsukikage looked at the three trapped Shinigami in the distance, an indescribable sense of foreboding washing over him. "Help them break out and evacuate immediately. Do not get dragged into a prolonged fight!"
Although Tsukikage had a grudge against Kōe, it had to be said that anyone who could secure a 5th Seat position was no fraud. His judgment in this moment was absolutely precise. Even Uesawa, who didn't see eye to eye with him, would have given him a thumbs up.
If everything went smoothly, the rescue of Uesawa's trio would be a certainty. But the mocking laughter of fate chose this exact moment to ring out. It originated from the north, echoing through the forest like an invisible brand that lingered in the air.
That whimpering sound—halfway between a sneer and a mournful wail—successfully drew Tsukikage's attention. The moment he saw the source of the noise, his face turned deathly pale. He threw his arms wide, halting his advance. But he didn't even need to stop them; his squad members had already frozen on instinct.
A massive black body, nearly a hundred meters tall, loomed like a giant draped in a black cloak. Its face was covered by a white mask with a long, pointed nose, making the creature look like a comical clown. But Tsukikage and his team had absolutely no desire to laugh. For a monster like this to appear here was an absolute disaster!
Gillian. That was the name of the colossal creature before them. The massive circular hole in its chest signified that, at its core, it was still a Hollow.
Hollows were divided into classes. Broadly speaking, they could be categorized into normal Hollows and Menos. Normal Hollows were further divided into mindless and intelligent variants; the ones that usually appeared in the Plains of Slaughter were mostly the latter.
Menos, being a higher class, were divided into three levels based on their strength. The Gillian before them was the lowest tier of Menos. But even as the lowest tier, Menos and normal Hollows existed on two entirely different planes of reality.
Take this Gillian, for example. It was born from hundreds of Hollows devouring each other and fusing their Reiatsu. This was not something easily seen in the Soul Society. Tsukikage knew that taking down this behemoth would require at least a Lieutenant-class Shinigami leading a squad, or a massive influx of reinforcements. The few of them present were absolutely no match for it.
He finally understood why Uesawa had fired the distress flare. But for Tsukikage, the biggest dilemma right now was whether or not to actually save those three.
The Gillian was still some distance away from them—perhaps two or three kilometers?
The Gillian appeared to move sluggishly, but with its massive strides, that distance was nothing. It was highly likely that the moment they broke through the encirclement, they would step right into its attack range.
Tsukikage knew very well that if that happened, barely anyone present would survive.
Should he risk it and test their luck, or... abandon Uesawa and the others? Tsukikage was torn.
Tsukikage wasn't the only one who noticed the Gillian's arrival. Uesawa, Yamagata, and the Squad 4 woman behind them had been constantly dreading its approach. Now, that dread had become reality.
*'I have to survive!'* That was the only thought in Uesawa's mind. Had it finally come to this? Thinking of this, Uesawa lowered his head slightly, his expression dimming. *'I really don't want to accept this!'*
"Hey, Yamagata, let's break out in two different directions." Having made up his mind, Uesawa's tone carried an unquestionable resolve. With a fierce expression, he said, "You take the woman. Trust me, we can survive this!"
*'Is he trying to divide the enemy's forces?'* Yamagata furrowed his brows. Even if the Hollows were split into two groups, breaking out in a short time would be incredibly difficult. Moreover, he had to carry dead weight. No matter how he looked at it, it was impossible.
"Trust me!"
Uesawa's voice rang out again. Yamagata gave a self-deprecating laugh and shook his head. When had this guy ever steered him wrong? Since there was no other way, he would just have to trust him!
"I'm leaving my life in your hands, then." With that, Yamagata hoisted the dead weight onto his back, swung Katsujō, and charged forward. "If you're just talking big, I'll never forgive you!"
"Don't worry, I won't give you the chance!" Uesawa yelled, spinning his chained hammer as he dashed in the opposite direction.
Seeing this, the Hollows on the battlefield instinctively split into two groups and swarmed after them.
"It looks like they're splitting up to break out!"
Tsukikage's thoughts were interrupted by his squad member's shout. Watching the scene unfold in the distance, he couldn't help but feel a surge of frustration. He had just wasted their only possible window for a rescue.
"Give them some support with long-range Kidō," Tsukikage sighed. "We can't just do nothing."
The squad members beside him understood. The distant Gillian was approaching at an alarming speed. There was no time to prepare powerful Kidō; whatever they could cast would be better than nothing, but it wouldn't have any real effect.
Let alone Tsukikage, who had already given up, even Yamagata in the thick of battle was starting to lose hope. Because there were two people on his side, more Hollows had targeted him. Coupled with the dead weight on his back, he hadn't even managed to fight his way thirty meters out.
Uesawa was faring slightly better on the other side, but not by much. From the start until now, he had only moved about a hundred meters. The ground beneath their feet had already begun to tremble. The countdown to death was nearing zero.
*'This is my limit,'* Uesawa thought, watching the pebbles bouncing on the ground. He hurled the iron hammer in his right hand, viciously smashing a leaping Hollow out of the air. Pushing off his heels, he retreated instead of advancing, leaping backward a short distance. At the same time, he forcefully whipped the chain in his left hand horizontally behind him. By the time his feet touched the ground again, the chain had wrapped around Yamagata's waist like a living snake.
Feeling the resistance in his left hand, Uesawa stepped forward with his right foot and lowered his stance. He pulled with all his might, pulling the chain taut across his chest. Drawing his right hand back to his waist, he swung his left arm in a wide half-circle, launching the chain high into the air—and sending Yamagata and the woman entangled in it flying upward.
It took time to describe, but in reality, it happened in a flash. Yamagata suddenly felt himself flying rapidly backward. Looking down, Uesawa's familiar smiling face was already growing blurry.
*'This bastard... so this is what you meant by trusting you!'*
Gaining a new lease on life didn't make Yamagata happy; on the contrary, he was utterly furious. This guy had planned to sacrifice himself from the very beginning!
Yamagata instinctively reached for the chain around his waist. He wanted to pull Uesawa up with him! Even though they hadn't completely escaped the danger zone yet, he couldn't just watch Uesawa wait for death!
But he failed. The chain around his waist had already slipped back into Uesawa's hands. This was Uesawa's plan all along. Someone had to survive, it just wouldn't be him. This was the only way anyone was making it out alive. There was no other choice, was there?
"I told you, didn't I? Trust me, and you'll survive!" Uesawa roared with a smile. There was not a shred of fear or sorrow in his voice, only the hearty banter of an old friend. "If I ever see you down here again, I won't forgive you!"
"You bastard!" Yamagata could see his own tears shattering in the wind. He must have looked incredibly pathetic right now! But he didn't care. "I never want to see your ugly mug again anyway! I'm going to live a long, damn good life!"
Yamagata desperately wanted to charge back down and punch Uesawa in the face, but he knew that would be betraying his friend's sacrifice. His life, and the life of the woman on his back, no longer belonged to them alone. They were bought with three lives. He had no right to throw them away!
"I never expected..." In the distance, Tsukikage was struck speechless by the scene. He didn't know how to describe his current emotions. A glimmer of life had actually emerged from an absolute dead end, but the cost was far too heavy. And then, there was the humiliation. *'Compared to Uesawa, I'm absolute trash for just standing here and watching!'*
Bowing deeply from afar in Uesawa's direction, Tsukikage straightened up and ordered, "Let's move out. Those two will need..."
The sudden appearance of a figure's back cut off Tsukikage's words. The person before him was clad in a full Shihakushō, his sleeves snapping wildly in the wind as he knelt on one knee, facing Uesawa's direction.
"Phew, good thing I made it in time."
The figure vanished instantly, as if he had never been there at all. Only the lingering sound of his voice in the air proved his existence.
Kōe Shihouin had arrived on the battlefield!
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