Even though all the spiritual arrows hit Ichigo, they couldn't even tear through the outer layer of his shihakushō!
His newly released Shikai, Crescent Moon, tore through the smoke and stabbed into the ground. Ichigo caught one of Quilge's projectiles with a single hand and said coldly, "Ishida once told me that Quincy only use bows."
As he spoke, Ichigo infused the arrow with his spiritual pressure and hurled it back at Quilge!
Amid the massive explosion, Ichigo yanked Zangetsu out of the ground and handed Nel over to the comrade who had rushed in behind him.
Quilge took advantage of the moment to fire off a barrage of spirit arrows.
The relentless attacks forced Ichigo to focus on defense.
Seeing how powerful Ichigo was, Quilge swept his bangs back and said, "To think you could dodge while catching my Heilig Pfeil and throwing it back at me bare-handed."
"I feel dizzy just thinking about how immature I must've been!"
"Heilig Pfeil? You name your arrows something that hard to remember?" Ichigo shot back. "Don't worry, your bow's at least better than Ishida's. Though… it's been a long time since he's shot anything."
"Ishida?" Quilge tilted his head slightly. "You mean the second-rate Ishida Uryuu?"
"My Heilig Pfeil is weaker than his? That's funny—no, that's impossible!"
With that, Quilge retracted his spirit saber and removed the white glove from his right hand.
In that instant, a massive pillar of spirit particles erupted toward the heavens!
Bathed in that dazzling light, Quilge evolved.
As the brilliance faded, Quilge emerged, now cloaked in wings and crowned with a halo.
"This is the ultimate form of a Quincy—Quincy: Vollständig!"
With that declaration, he launched a new round of attacks!
His speed now vastly enhanced, Quilge closed in on Ichigo.
While dodging, Ichigo recalled what Urahara had told him. According to Urahara, Ishida Uryuu once paid the price of all his Quincy powers to activate the strongest Quincy technique—one that could even destroy a Bankai with a single arrow.
And the trigger for that power had been removing the Seele Schneider glove.
So when Ichigo saw Quilge's new form, he began to wonder if the power Quilge wielded was the same as Ishida's.
Quilge seemed to read his thoughts and clarified kindly, "My power is completely different from Ishida Uryuu's. In fact, it was refined two hundred years ago!"
"The only one who refused to join that evolution was none other than Ishida Uryuu's grandfather, Sōken Ishida!"
In other words, the two techniques might appear similar, but Uryuu's was a one-time power, while Quilge's Vollständig could be used repeatedly.
Realizing that, Ichigo smirked. "Good. If Ishida ever turned into something as disgusting as you, I might actually slice him by mistake."
With that, golden energy flared from Zangetsu, and Ichigo fired a Getsuga Tenshō straight at Quilge!
But Quilge, in Vollständig mode, dodged it easily, moving at blinding speeds.
He unfurled his wings proudly. "It's normal for you to think my form is disgusting. To you evil Shinigami, the appearance of a Holy Executor must seem both sickening and abhorrent."
Acknowledging Ichigo's disgust with pride, Quilge raised his blade and began to absorb the spirit particles around him.
This move was something Ishida Uryuu had once used against Mayuri as well—against it, anything composed of reishi lost all meaning.
Especially in Hueco Mundo, where even the sand beneath their feet was made of reishi!
Quilge didn't just absorb the surrounding spiritual matter. Even Orihime's Santen Kesshun barrier was being broken down and consumed!
That was huge. Orihime's barriers could usually match any attack at a one-to-one ratio—if only once.
Just as Quilge was basking in his high from absorbing everything…
A massive punch shattered his spiritual beam from behind, followed by a monstrous roar!
With a thundering crash, a giant fist smashed into his face, sending blood flying from his mouth!
As he groggily looked up, he realized his assailants were the three Arrancar he had already defeated!
And the monster who struck him was none other than their pet—Yammy!
Unfortunately, once Yammy released his power, he became uncontrollable, attacking foe and friend alike!
But against Quilge's Vollständig form, Yammy went into full slaughter mode.
His fists, like hurricanes, pounded Quilge straight into the ground like a buried post!
Could the Quincy's so-called Bankai-killer form really be this fragile?
Seeing him half-buried in the earth, Apache laughed. "What a tough bastard! Even after getting smashed that hard by Yammy, he's still in one piece!"
Before she could finish, a blade pierced through Apache's chest!
Quilge, lying prone and writhing in pain, growled, "That power wasn't in the reports… I'll have to suggest His Majesty revise the Blut armor parameters. But first, you all need to die!"
As if nothing had happened, Quilge stood back up, reishi rapidly converging around him and restoring his strength.
By now, Quilge saw Yammy as an absolute menace.
But Yammy's regenerative powers made normal attacks useless.
What happened next shocked everyone.
As Yammy lunged at him, his body disintegrated before even making contact—shredded into pure spirit particles and absorbed into Quilge!
"HAHAHAHAHA! This power is called Sankt Altar! It elevates the basic Quincy ability of Reishi Manipulation to its peak, granting total domination over spirit particles!"
"In simple terms, my control over reishi is absolute!"
Using Sankt Altar, Quilge even absorbed Yammy's spirit particles, gaining a hybrid body as powerful as a Hollow god!
If his previous form had only made Ichigo nauseous, this one was sheer horror incarnate!
As this abomination advanced toward them, Rose grabbed Apache and Sung-Sun and fled toward Orihime and Chad.
Sung-Sun quickly deployed her cloaking shield, hiding herself and the others.
But this trick was meaningless against Quilge, who simply absorbed the reishi forming the shield and located them instantly!
Just then, Ichigo arrived on the scene!
With a single slash, he cleaved off the halo above Quilge's head, canceling his absolute control!
Ichigo had waited, watching Quilge's fight with Yammy closely to discover Sankt Altar's weakness—and now, he'd found it.
As Ichigo clashed with Quilge, somewhere else…
The man who looked just like old man Zangetsu had already led the Sternritter straight into the Seireitei!
No one knew how they'd bypassed the Shakonmaku barrier so silently.
But the Gotei 13's seated officers and captains rushed to confront the intruders!
The first ones to make contact were Shūkurō Tsukishima and Izuru Kira of the 3rd Division.
Before they even saw their enemies clearly, Kira's arm and half his body were blasted away!
Other members were similarly annihilated in an instant.
Clearly, the Sternritter were not to be trifled with.
Sternritter: B — Bambietta Basterbine
N — NaNaNa Najahkoop
F — Äs Nödt
H — Bazz-B
C — Candice Catnipp
E — Robert Accutrone
And finally, appearing last, was the leader of the Sternritter: Jugram Haschwalth!
The most loyal subordinate of Yhwach!
He looked down at the Shinigami and declared arrogantly, "Tremble, Shinigami. From now on, the Sternritter will purge you!"
As Kira and the others' spiritual pressures faded, the captains rushed onto the battlefield.
Thanks to the information gathered during Chōjirō Sasakibe's attack, the captains speculated the enemy might be able to seal their Bankai.
But they were wrong!
The Quincy didn't seal Bankai—they stole them!
None of the Quincy even used Sasakibe's Bankai in front of Yamamoto or Sasakibe himself!
Normally, avoiding Bankai usage would be the wise move—it limits risk.
But in facing the Sternritter's overwhelming power, the captains knew they couldn't win without going all-out!
So Byakuya Kuchiki, Tōshirō Hitsugaya, Sui-Feng, and Sajin Komamura all activated their Bankai at the same time!
"Bankai! Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
"Bankai! Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"
"Bankai! Jakuho Raikōben!"
"Bankai! Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō!"
But that was exactly what the Quincy had been waiting for.
Calmly, they pulled out devices just like the one Yhwach used: Quincy Medallions.
And in an instant—they stole all four Bankai!
The truth hit like a hammer—the enemy hadn't come to seal Bankai. They came to take them!
Realizing this, Hitsugaya shouted, "Rangiku! Use the Tenteikūra and notify all Shinigami at once!"
After learning four Bankai were stolen, the remaining captains began racing toward the battlefield.
No one was angrier than Mayuri Kurotsuchi of Squad 12.
"Those bastards! At least let me finish analyzing their methods before you start using Bankai!"
And he wasn't wrong.
Now that the Quincy had stolen their greatest powers, the Soul King was in even greater danger!
Elsewhere in Seireitei, the always-calm 8th Division Captain Kyōraku Shunsui—who had never used his Bankai in battle—encountered Sternritter N: Robert Accutrone.
Although Kyōraku once defeated Coyote Starrk, the top-ranked Espada…
That battle required help from four captain-level Shinigami.
Now, alone against Robert who had activated his Vollständig, Kyōraku was clearly outmatched in speed.
With just one exchange, Kyōraku lost an eye!
In only a few minutes since the Sternritter invasion began, the Soul Society had suffered tremendous losses!
Facing this overwhelming threat, Akon, Vice-Chief of the Research and Development Bureau, made a shocking decision.
He ordered his subordinates to contact Kurosaki Ichigo—despite protocol forbidding contact with Earth-based Shinigami without approval!
But Akon took full responsibility. "Only Ichigo can save the Soul Society now!"
After tracking spiritual energy, they finally reached Urahara Kisuke.
From him, they learned Ichigo was currently fighting Quilge Opie of the Sternritter.
Most importantly, Quilge couldn't steal Ichigo's Bankai!
Ever since Ichigo destroyed the halo above Quilge's head, he'd completely dominated the fight.
If not for Ichigo's desire to gather more intel, Quilge would've been taken out long ago.
Now, Quilge relied solely on a power called Blut to survive Ichigo's attacks.
This ability infused reishi into his bloodstream to boost his combat ability.
It had two forms:
Blut Vene (Static): Boosts defense.
Blut Arterie (Active): Boosts attack.
But the two couldn't be used simultaneously!
After being knocked down by a Getsuga Tenshō, Quilge found himself caught in a dilemma!
(End of Chapter)
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