Gin Ichimaru held Rangiku Matsumoto tightly as he watched the young Quincy appear not far away.
"Run."
Gin suddenly threw Rangiku backward. At the same time, he gripped his Zanpakutō with his left hand. The blade extended like mist, piercing forward in an instant.
However, the smoke dispersed completely. The opponent stood there unharmed.
"Your Zanpakutō cannot harm me at all."
The Sternritter known as Nianzol Weizoltwisted his body unnaturally and appeared beside Gin in a flash.
Yet at the moment his distortion ability activated, a blade suddenly pierced through his torso. A hand followed, striking him and sending his body flying.
"…Why didn't my ability redirect the attack?"
Nianzol crashed into the distant sands, staring in shock.
Standing beside Gin at the original position was a gloomy man holding a long sword.
"And who might you be?" Gin asked curiously.
The man replied calmly,
"My name is Shūkurō Tsukishima. Kurotsuki Renya sent me to assist you."
"So it was Renya…"
Gin let out a faint sigh of relief before asking,
"How were you able to strike him? His Schrift can distort all attacks."
Tsukishima smiled.
"His ability is indeed formidable. However, his clothing remains unaffected. That means his distortion is selective."
Gin frowned slightly.
"Wouldn't selective control make it even more dangerous?"
"Exactly," Tsukishima replied. "So I inserted myself into his past. Once his ability activates, I am treated as part of the established flow just like his clothes."
Gin narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
Hearing this explanation, Nianzol's face turned pale. He immediately turned and fled.
But Tsukishima stepped forward.
In a single motion, his blade swept downward.
Blood sprayed.
Nianzol collapsed heavily onto the desert.
"Don't… kill…"
He tried to beg, his speech distorted by the strange tongues protruding from his mouth.
"What did you say?" Tsukishima asked with a frown, casually stepping on his head.
"You're rather rough," Gin remarked dryly.
At that moment, Rangiku returned, flying back toward Gin.
"Why did you throw me away?!" she shouted angrily.
Gin said nothing at first. He simply embraced her and murmured,
"Because I love you."
The sudden confession made Rangiku tremble. Tears welled in her eyes as all her anger vanished, replaced by quiet joy.
In another part of the desert, Shunsui Kyōrakulay injured on the ground.
An elderly Quincy aimed a pistol directly at his head.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a figure appeared behind him and slashed.
"Hmph."
The Quincy turned and fired instantly. The attacker stepped lightly and avoided the shot.
"You're quite strong… to have defeated Kyōraku," a cynical voice sounded.
A man with short blond hair appeared in the distance.
"Who are you?" the old Quincy asked coldly.
"Me? I'm Shinji Hirako," he replied with a grin.
Without another word, the Quincy flashed forward, appearing behind Shinji and firing at point-blank range.
"So fast…" Shinji muttered, surprised. He twisted his body just as a Heilig Pfeil shot past him.
A Hollow mask fragment appeared briefly on his cheek.
"Your speed is impressive. But you won't be able to escape my ability."
He lowered his Zanpakutō and said calmly,
"Collapse… Sakanade."
The world inverted.
Shinji now appeared to stand upside-down in midair.
"A sensory-type ability?" the Quincy muttered. "It reverses perception… creating the illusion that you have changed position while you remain still."
He fired immediately. The arrow shot toward the space beneath Shinji.
But the attack missed. Shinji appeared to the right.
"It's not just up and down," he said softly. "Left and right are reversed as well."
"So what?"
The Quincy fired more than a dozen arrows, blanketing the space.
Yet in the next instant, a deep wound opened across his back, exposing bone.
"Not only direction," Shinji's voice came from behind him. "Front and back too."
"I've got you!"
The Quincy spun and fired. This time the arrow pierced Shinji's body.
"My vision may be manipulated," he said coldly. "But when you attack, your presence reveals you."
However, at that very moment, a blade pierced through his ribs and into his heart. Shinji's real body materialized behind him.
"It's not just spatial reversal," Shinji said with a smile. "Even the sensation of injury is inverted."
He slowly withdrew his sword. Blood ran down the blade.
The Quincy exhaled in regret and fell from the sky.
"That's that."
Shinji yawned and turned away.
Elsewhere, Chōjirō Sasakibe lay collapsed on the ground.
Standing before him was the Sternritter hunter, Quilge Opie, glasses glinting as he raised a western-style blade.
But in the next instant, he lunged forward. A clawed strike tore through the space he had just occupied.
The attacker was an Arrancar wrapped in white armor, his face resembling a hyena.
"…A Hollow?" Quilge smiled faintly. "I have hunted many in Hueco Mundo."
The Arrancar Perez vanished and reappeared behind him, slashing downward.
Blood spilled as Quilge narrowly avoided a fatal strike.
He distanced himself, expression darkening.
"I have fought throughout Hueco Mundo… yet I have never encountered an Arrancar as powerful as you."
"Powerful?" Perez replied quietly. "Then you misunderstand. There are countless Hollows stronger than me. If they were here, you wouldn't even be able to stand beneath the sun."
"Perhaps," Quilge said calmly. "But I never said I couldn't defeat you."
His body suddenly transformed.
Two enormous wings spread from his back. His left arm thickened grotesquely, while the blade in his right hand dissolved into Reishi and fused with his limb. His physique became massive and imposing.
"Be hunted."
He rushed forward and struck.
Boom.
Perez crossed his arms to block, yet they shattered under the force. He was blasted into the ground.
"…Pathetic," Quilge muttered, walking toward him.
Perez exhaled slowly.
"Resurrección… Segunda Etapa."
All armor vanished. His body expanded into a towering half-human, half-hyena Hollow form. Even as he transformed, his broken arms regenerated.
"What… is this?" Quilge froze momentarily.
A blur flashed past. His right wing was severed instantly, and he was sent flying.
"…Damn it."
He rose again, unable to comprehend the sudden surge in strength.
Indeed, Perez in this second-stage release possessed Reiatsu far surpassing that of an average first-release Arrancar such as Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.
Realizing the threat, Quilge raised his hand and activated his Schrift.
Reishi gathered around Perez, forming a glowing prison.
Perez struck the bars with his claws. Sparks flew, but the structure did not break.
"It's useless," Quilge said proudly. "This is the evolved form of my ability. It can imprison all non-Quincies. No matter how strong you are, you cannot escape."
Perez attacked repeatedly. The cage remained intact.
"Stay there. I'll finish that one first."
Quilge walked toward Sasakibe.
Halfway there, his body suddenly froze.
A hand pierced through his chest and ripped out his heart.
"I heard you've slaughtered many Hollows."
Grimmjow's voice sounded from behind him.
Quilge tried to turn his head, but collapsed lifelessly onto the sand.
Grimmjow tossed the heart aside and glanced at Perez.
"…Still not gone?"
Indeed, the Reishi prison remained. Even after Quilge's death, it did not disappear.
At that moment, another figure appeared beside the cage.
With a single slash, the structure shattered into spirit particles.
"Tsukishima-sama… thank you."
Perez stepped out. Only Tsukishima could alter an object's "past" so that its very existence changed.
Tsukishima gazed toward the distant battlefield.
"Go. Deal with that monster."
Far away, the colossal form of Gerard Valkyrietowered over the battlefield.
Kūgo Ginjō, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, Ulquiorra Cifer and Tier Harribel attacked him repeatedly
Yet none of their blows caused any visible damage.
"What exactly… is he?"
"Why can't he be killed?"
The question lingered over the battlefield like a curse.