At this moment, the Star Extermination Troop had just entered a forest. The surroundings were quiet. Aside from the unknown darkness, there were no signs of impending danger.
There wouldn't be any danger right now, but if Kōe had taken just five more steps forward a moment ago, a fresh Garganta and a horde of starving Hollows would have definitely appeared.
Though invisible to the eye, Kōe could sense that exactly five meters away lay the Reiryoku-free zone protecting the Star Cross Fortress. Kōe called it the Reishi-Severing Membrane.
The presence of the Reishi-Severing Membrane proved that the Star Cross Fortress was close. As long as they passed through here, the "Forging the Cage and Exterminating the Stars" operation would officially begin.
But they certainly couldn't just brute-force their way through. Kōe and Old Man Yama had no intention of posturing for a frontal, decisive clash with the Quincies just yet. Before the two sides crossed swords, the existence of the Star Extermination Troop absolutely could not be discovered by the enemy.
Kōe extended his right hand and slowly inched it forward. Feeling his hand touch the Reishi-Severing Membrane suspended in the air, he immediately halted his steps.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the scenery around Kōe gradually blurred, becoming slightly brighter than the surrounding environment. It looked as though an unknown liquid had been smeared across an invisible wall in the air, eventually forming a circular archway wide enough for ten people to enter side by side.
Keeping his right hand perfectly still, Kōe reached his left hand forward by less than five centimeters, and another circular archway appeared. He turned around, nodded at the squad members behind him, and signaled, "You may enter. Just walk through exactly as we rehearsed."
Passing through the Reishi-Severing Membrane wasn't exactly difficult, but it wasn't simple either. The basic principle was to use Reiryoku to open a gap in the membrane, while simultaneously using an appropriate amount of Reiryoku to fill that very gap—which was the true nature of those two circular archways.
Whenever a Shinigami passed through, they only needed to match their crossing speed to ensure the Reiryoku barrier didn't instantly rupture. Eventually, the Reiryoku would slowly cancel out the Quincy power that made up the Reishi-Severing Membrane. Since the opened gap wasn't large, the membrane would inevitably wear away the Reiryoku and return to its original state. Though its power would be significantly weakened, it was more than enough to maintain the Reiryoku-free zone for a period of time.
The principle wasn't hard, but the execution was incredibly demanding. It required the operator to have exquisitely precise control over their Reiryoku. However, for Kōe, who had excelled at developing Kidō since childhood, this was a non-issue. Reiryoku manipulation was his bread and butter!
Even so, it was only when every last squad member had safely passed through that Kōe truly breathed a sigh of relief. To cross those short five centimeters, neither he nor the members of the Star Extermination Troop could afford a single mistake. Fortunately, the squad members hadn't lost their footing at the last second, and he hadn't underperformed due to nerves.
The entire forest was about thirty kilometers deep. According to Kōe's multiple stealth recon missions, the Quincies inside the Star Cross Fortress rarely appeared here unless they happened to be heading out.
Even so, Kōe, leading at the front, maintained a high level of concentration at all times, guarding against any Quincies that might appear. Thankfully, he wasn't a jinx; the entire Star Extermination Troop didn't encounter a single Quincy patrol and smoothly reached the inner edge of the forest.
Looking out from this vantage point, a slightly raised mound could be seen on the horizon ten kilometers away. That was the target of the Star Extermination Troop—the Star Cross Fortress.
From here to the Star Cross Fortress, the terrain was a completely unobstructed plain. It was impossible for a large army to approach unnoticed.
However, Kōe had already deployed a strategy for this. They would send a vanguard unit to approach the Star Cross Fortress while the main force remained here, only charging toward the fortress once the operation officially began. And right now, he was giving his final instructions to the members of the vanguard unit.
The vanguard unit wasn't large. It consisted of the four captains dubbed the 'Strongest Quartet'—Hirako Shinji, Ōtoribashi Rōjūrō, Aikawa Love, and Muguruma Kensei; the Chief and Vice-Chief of the Kidō Corps, Tsukabishi Tessai and Ushōda Hachigen; the newly appointed Vice-Commander of the Executive Militia, Shihōin Yoruichi, along with four of her subordinate squad leaders; and finally, their general commander, "Ao"—making twelve people in total.
The entire Star Cross Fortress was circular, with a radius of ten kilometers—roughly one-sixtieth the size of the Seireitei. It was divided into Outer, Middle, and Inner districts. The exact number of Quincies inside was unknown, but there were definitely over a thousand stationed there permanently.
Among the three districts, the Inner district was particularly crucial. Not only because most of the experts in the Star Cross Fortress resided there, but more importantly, because there was a Senkaimon connecting to the World of the Living situated in the central plaza.
It was hard to believe that a Senkaimon—something only Shinigami possessed the technology to build—would appear in the heart of a Quincy lair. Yet, it was the truth. According to Kōe's investigations, the Quincies in the World of the Living used this to travel directly to the Star Cross Fortress. No similar structures existed elsewhere, which meant this Senkaimon was likely built for the Quincies by Azashiro's faction.
The existence of this Senkaimon made the Shinigami of the Seireitei gnash their teeth in hatred, because it meant they couldn't launch a frontal assault on the Star Cross Fortress—or rather, they couldn't do so before dealing with the Senkaimon. Otherwise, once the Quincies in Soul Society fled back to the World of the Living, the price to eliminate them later would be far too steep. That was an outcome the Shinigami absolutely did not want to see.
Of course, avoiding alerting the enemy—which would cause the majority of the Quincies gathered in the World of the Living to notice something was wrong and scatter—while protecting the Star Cross Fortress's Senkaimon from being destroyed, was also a critical point to note in the "Forging the Cage and Exterminating the Stars" operation.
Therefore, revolving around this damn Senkaimon, the twelve members of the vanguard unit would execute three different tasks to ensure the operation's success. These three tasks were called "Forging the Cage," while the overall assault was named "Exterminating the Stars."
The first layer of the cage had to be set up outside the Star Cross Fortress, encompassing the entire structure. The primary executors of this task were the two Kidō commanders, Tsukabishi Tessai and Ushōda Hachigen.
First, they would join forces with Kōe to cast a massive Bakudō one kilometer away from the Star Cross Fortress—[Original Kidō・Sanfūsa Sanmon]. This was a spatial-sealing Kidō created by Kōe specifically for Soul Society. Its unique trait was that it could be cast by a single person or cast in segments by multiple people, making it perfectly suited for this situation.
However, this Kidō could not restrict the Senkaimon; it was primarily meant to prevent the Quincies from escaping the Star Cross Fortress and fleeing into the wider Soul Society.
Before the [Original Kidō・Sanfūsa Sanmon] was completed, Yoruichi and the four Executive Militia squad leaders had to infiltrate the Star Cross Fortress first. But their tasks were different; the four squad leaders would participate in forging the second layer of the cage.
These five individuals each held a Hakai-fu—a World-Piercing Talisman. It was an extremely weakened version of a Senkaimon that could only facilitate spatial jumps of about ten kilometers within Soul Society.
The four squad leaders needed to enter the border between the Middle and Inner districts, wait for the exact moment the [Original Kidō・Sanfūsa Sanmon] began outside, and then trigger their Hakai-fu, ensuring the talismans kept running.
This was the second layer of the cage—a cage targeting the people within the Middle district.
"You all don't need to push yourselves too hard; just entering the Middle district is enough. The only requirement is that you absolutely must not be exposed prematurely." Kōe temporarily modified the mission parameters, then turned to Yoruichi and continued, "As for you, you're the most crucial. Remaining hidden is the prerequisite, but you must at least enter the Inner district and get as close to the Senkaimon as possible to secure it. Ultimately, you must ensure that when I arrive, I can reach the Senkaimon within a single breath!"
Kōe had also lowered the requirements for Yoruichi slightly, but even so, the task she had to execute was fraught with extreme danger, because she would be participating in the forging of the third layer of the cage.
The Senkaimon was the crux of this entire operation. They couldn't let the Quincies use it to leave Soul Society, nor could they let the Quincies destroy it, which would alert the remaining Quincies in the World of the Living and cause them to scatter into human-populated areas.
And Yoruichi was in charge of the operation targeting the Senkaimon. Originally, Kōe had planned to have her old man, Shihōin Dōzō, execute this, but the old geezer claimed that Yoruichi's infiltration skills and Shunpo had already surpassed his own, leaving Yoruichi with no choice but to shoulder this heavy burden.
Yoruichi's group of five carried Hakai-fu, and similarly, Hirako's group of four and Kōe held corresponding Hakai-fu that linked directly to theirs.
When the [Original Kidō・Sanfūsa Sanmon] began to cast, Hirako's group of four would first use their Hakai-fu to teleport directly into the Middle district of the Star Cross Fortress. They would stir up trouble and cause destruction to draw the attention of the Quincy experts in the Inner district, ensuring the Kidō could be cast smoothly.
Once the Kidō was complete, Yoruichi would activate the Hakai-fu in her hand. Through it, Kōe would arrive directly at the plaza, use Kidō to immediately seal the Senkaimon, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Yoruichi to defend the Senkaimon in the Inner district.
This was the final layer of the cage in the "Forging the Cage" mission—sealing the Senkaimon, the only possible escape route for the Quincies.
Using the activation of the [Original Kidō・Sanfūsa Sanmon] as a signal, the main force of the Star Extermination Troop would rapidly advance. With capturing targets alive as the priority and killing them outright as the baseline, they would launch a frontal assault on the Quincies starting from the Outer district!
At that time, the Star Extermination Troop in the Outer district would act as the main body, pushing inward to eliminate the majority of the Quincy forces. The four captains in the Middle district would act as the pivot, constantly ensuring coordination between the inside and outside. Kōe and Yoruichi in the Inner district would serve as the ultimate failsafe, leaving the Quincies with only one option: to fight. This was the core of the operation—"Exterminating the Stars."
And right now, Kōe was making the final adjustments for this step.
"There aren't many existences capable of fighting you one-on-one and holding you back. According to my years of reconnaissance, there are two Quincies in the Star Cross Fortress known as the Holy King and the Holy Queen. I estimate they are the only two who can delay you."
Kōe instructed Hirako's group of four, "Hirako and Love, you two handle those two. Rōjūrō and Kensei, you cover them. Try your best not to let other Quincies harass Hirako and the others, and while you're at it, try to push the battlefield toward the Inner district. The bigger the commotion you make, the better!"
"Of course, if the enemy shows intentions of retreating, you just need to keep the key figures pinned in the Middle district. Yoruichi and I can clean up the small fry. However, if you don't feel any pressure, you must immediately split off two people to rush to the Inner district—tentatively Hirako and Love. If anything unexpected happens, we'll adjust using Kidō as a signal!"
Seeing the four of them nod in unison, Kōe called over all eight available lieutenants in the Star Extermination Troop—excluding Sasakibe Chōjirō—and gave them a few instructions. They would take over command of the Star Extermination Troop once the vanguard unit departed.
Forging the Cage and Exterminating the Stars. Whether they could truly exterminate the stars depended entirely on whether these twelve people could successfully forge the cage right now.
Power Stones, reviews, and comments— really helps a lot
Want to read ahead? Get access to 50+ extra chapters on my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/Aragai_Sama