"Huh? Impossible..."
Allen stood there dumbfounded, hearing the hushed discussions around him.
"What has Vana Freya been doing since just now?"
"Why is he not attacking that person?"
"Who knows."
'Huh? I didn't attack that black-haired guy? What are these people talking about?'
Allen looked down at the physical trail left by his high-speed movement. He followed the trail upward with his eyes, but it suddenly cut off.
'What? This is strange. Why is my vision.. so weird?'
Allen suddenly realized something was deeply wrong with his body.
At this exact moment, he became increasingly aware of the strong sense of dissonance inside his mind.
He raised his right hand and pressed it firmly against his head.
'What is happening to me?'
Just as he struggled to figure out the bizarre situation, Rayleigh had already arrived right beside him and raised the sword in his hand.
Allen was startled.
'He's so fast! This is definitely not the speed a Level 2 should have!'
But he could still react as he thrust his spear forward.
In the very next second, a cold sensation on his neck made his pupils shrink.
He stared at the empty space ahead of him and the weapon he had thrust out, completely unable to understand what had just happened.
Cold sweat dripped slowly from his forehead.
He was Level 5!
Facing a Level 2 Adventurer, and a blacksmith at that, was he truly this helpless?
Seeing that this brief demonstration was enough, Rayleigh released the Shikai of Sakanade.
That strange sense of dissonance vanished at the exact same time.
Allen turned his head sharply and saw the steel blade pressed firmly against his own throat.
Rayleigh safely sheathed his sword and asked, "Will this make you acknowledge me now, Vana Freya?"
The cat person remained silent, utterly speechless.
He was just feeling a bit disheartened.
As a main force of the Freya Familia, he had been defeated by a Level 2 blacksmith!
Though it could not be considered a real battle.
No.
Such an excuse could not absolve him at all.
What was wrong with him just now? He had acted like an idiot.
Like a complete fool!
Seeing this outcome, Ottar stepped forward and stated, "The Freya Familia is willing to trust Rayleigh. The second base is entrusted to you."
Seeing the Boarman speak up for him, Rayleigh was surprised for a moment, but then he nodded.
Since even the strongest Adventurer in the city had agreed, the other Familias could not refute it.
A plan approved by both the Captain of the Loki Familia and the Captain of the Freya Familia left them with no room to question it.
Except for a few girls who were concerned about Rayleigh.
They immediately gathered around him, asking what exactly had happened.
Alise was even more excited as she loudly scream, "That was amazing, Rayleigh! To win one-on-one against Vana Freya—you're truly something!"
From their words, it was clear that Rayleigh had used a new Zanpakuto.
And with just the initial release, he had rendered Vana Freya completely helpless.
That was definitely a highly powerful Zanpakuto!
Finn shared the exact same thought.
He was the only one who truly knew the danger of that sword.
Because of their private agreement, he had not even informed Riveria or Loki about it.
Sakanade..... it was truly terrifying.
If Rayleigh were on the side of Evilus, Orario would be wiped out within the day!
It was human nature to fear it.
That sword was just that dangerous. Its ability could even be described as inhumane, since it was capable of obliterating their senses.
Rayleigh touched the hilt of his sword.
He thought to himself that, indeed, this sword was very powerful.
Although it was not raw power that allowed him to defeat Vana Freya, it had certainly rendered the opponent helpless for a short time.
He knew that continuing to fight in a drawn-out battle would guarantee his defeat.
The level gap was simply too vast.
If Allen went all out and recklessly use his Magic, Rayleigh would most likely be killed.
This brief victory was only possible because his opponent had no actual intention of killing—or even harming—anyone in the room.
In fact, even if he aimed a lethal strike for the throat, his own physical attack power might not be enough to break through Allen's natural defenses.
Even though Allen was not known for his endurance, the sheer stats of a Level 5 were just that exaggerated.
It was just like Valetta, who took his fully chanted double Sōkatsui head-on and only suffered severe burns.
A single Elixir was more than enough for a full recovery.
And there was one more important thing.
Rayleigh was fortunate not to have the peculiar habit of explaining his secret abilities to his enemies.
Sakanade.
This blade belonged to the former Captain of the Fifth Division of the Gotei 13, Hirako Shinji.
Its core ability is sensory reversal.
Through a specific fragrance emitted by the spinning blade, it can completely control the nervous system of anyone affected.
It reverses their sense of direction entirely—forward becomes backward, up becomes down, and left becomes right.
What the victim perceives as moving forward is actually them moving backward.
When they try to raise their right hand, what appears in their vision is their left hand.
Even the physical direction of incoming sound is reversed.
Whether they are an ordinary person or a a high ranking adventurer, no one can act normally under such heavily distorted senses.
This is not just a simple illusion-based ability—it's a total domination over the mind!
Allen thought he was aiming right at Rayleigh, but in reality, he was attacking in the exact opposite direction!
And Allen himself could not even realize what kind of bizarre technique he had fallen victim to.
Faced with an enemy who does not understand this blade's true ability, they would only be toyed with to death in a state of sheer confusion.
Such is the terrifying power of Hirako Zanpakuto, Sakanade.
Unfortunately, Hirako Shinji had been a chatterbox and a loudmouth.
Every time a serious battle started, he would meticulously and completely reveal his abilities to the enemy, only to suffer defeat after defeat.
He was a true expert at digging his own grave!
He was exactly like a certain good friend of his in that regard. Even with such an overpowered ability, he still managed to lose simply from talking too much!
However, when seeing a strong opponent rendered completely helpless against the ability, stumbling around like a headless fly, Rayleigh had to admit that the swelling pride inside was truly hard to suppress.
"Since that's settled, let us begin executing the revised operation," Finn said.
He did not mention the sensitive matter of the hidden spy.
Because the battle was about to begin, if he told everyone right now that there was a traitor among them, everyone would grow highly suspicious of their companions during the fight.
That lack of trust could potentially trigger internal chaos!
...
Following his orders, the operation team dispersed.
Rayleigh went alone to the specific location marked on the map.
It was an abandoned ore refinery.
From a safe distance, Rayleigh activated his Reiryoku perception, sensing a large number of spiritual threads and Reiatsu reactions coming from inside the building.
The location was definitely correct.
Using the spiritual threads to grasp the exact distribution of the enemy's sentry posts, Rayleigh silently eliminated the few guards standing on watch.
Then, he chose to infiltrate the building from the upper passage.
Combined with Bakudō-26: Kyokkō, Rayleigh turned completely invisible and entered through the high walkways.
He concentrated his Reiatsu just beneath his feet.
Even though Rayleigh appeared to be walking directly on the metal stairs, his feet never actually touched the solid ground, so he did not make a single footstep.
He strolled leisurely, as if he were just taking a quiet walk in a park.
Along the way, he passed several armed checkpoints without alerting anyone.
He kept moving until he finally reached the central area.
From this high vantage point, he could clearly see hundreds of people gathered in the space below.
Among them were not only the dark-robed members of Evilus, but also shady underground merchants and some hired mercenaries.
He personally witnessed Evilus members actively stuffing pieces of volatile Fire Rocks deep into their clothing.
All these people had been thoroughly brainwashed.
They were pure lunatics who would not hesitate for a second to take any approaching Adventurers down with them in a suicide blast.
'That was a massive amount of explosives.'
'If it all detonated at once, the entire factory would surely collapse into a pile of smoking rubble!'
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