Greetings!

It's been a while since the last chapter of Devil's Snare and I apologize... I got wrapped in many things at once and wanted to really make this the best, which couldn't be done half-hartedly. This is a short chapter and the next will be the last one, I decided to make it two because one would be too long I suppose... and I wish to make the ending as japanese-RPG-like as possible, so be sure to look forward to some plot twists and surprises :)

Now then, let's get back to business ;)


"Santen Kesshun!" the Shun Shun Rikka obeyed gladly their master's command, forming a brightly glowing shield over Kurosaki Ichigo's back, blocking yet another Gillian's cero before it dispersed under its force.

The Shinigami Representative turned, feeling a gust of wind running through his orange spiky hair as soon as another one of the giant hollows disappeared, cut in half by his Getsuga Tenshō.

"Thanks, Inoue!" he called with a smile and jumped high into the air to ensure another enemy will recieve the same treatment.

She beamed back at him, thought he couldn't see it and it was only a split second before she realized how foolish she were to do so. She turned around just in time to see two Gillans together with at least half a dozen of those humanoid creatures they saw earlier charging at her and through the glamour of battle nobody else seemed to notice. She made a few steps back, calling to Tsubaki, though she knew it was pointless. When it came to defense and healing, she felt her powers growing, but in combat she was still useless no matter how hard she tried. Inoue prepared herself...

... And then many things happened at once.

The girl's eyes dilated, Tsubaki shot forth to deliver a blow to her enemies and she recognized those shambling creatures as Shinigami as well as the denizens of Inuzuri, suddenly understanding why weren't there any corpses here. They were all turned into mindless pawns directed by Mikaboshi's will. And with the realization came hesitation as well. Could she perhaps do something to save them? But before she could ponder that idea a shadow fell upon them and she heard Ichigo's voice calling her name and felt herself being lifted high into the air, while enemies below were scattered to pieces.

With a gasp of surprise, Inoue looked up to see the ever expressionless face of Ulquiorra Schiffer, large black wings of his resurrección form compensating with the flow of the wind to keep them both airborne. He did not say or do anything, looking around until they finally descended a little further from the centre of the battle where he considered it safe. Emerald eyes zeroed in on round grey orbs and Inoue felt her face flush with embarrassment.

"Thank you." she whispered, evading his gaze.

"Do not get in our way, woman." Ulquiorra said only before taking off and leaving her standing alone among the rubble that could have once been a shop or a house.

Turning his head a few times to ensure she was safe, he finally relaxed, taking down the nearest cluster of enemies that could possibly endanger her with a single strike. They were to search for a dimensional rift to Mikaboshi's prison, though as far as he analyzed the situation, they were getting nowhere near achieving their goal. No matter how much of this pitiful trash they killed, still more kept coming and there was no sign of any distortions that would mark the opening portal

And the Cuatro was not the only one getting tired of the never-ending fighting. Kenpachi stopped his usual deranged laughter while he chased after the attacking creatures, swinging his sword now only half-heartedly and not forgetting to complain about lack of proper challenge, which made Ichigo try to make himself as invisible for the 11th Division Captain as possible while slicing Gillians and ghouls -as Kurotsuchi called them- as he went, hollow mask firmly in place.

Something bright blue crossed his path, missing a few vital organs by inches and as he jumped to avoid the evident ambush, he saw the quincy arrows hit their appointed targets shambling only few feet away towards him. Ishida already turned his attention elsewhere when Ichigo looked at him and the Shinigami Representative sighed heavily, making a mental note to avoid getting too close to his lover as well.

The rest of them apparently faced the same problem. Even though they were using as little reiatsu as possible, with no end of this slaughter in sight most of them could still feel it draining slowly from their bodies and it was only a matter of time before the spiritual pressure bearing down on them -even though they already got somehow used to it- will surely take its toll.

Dust and mud swirled from the ground, clouding their vision. The roars of hollows deafened them and irritation caused the thick atmosphere to charge even more. Nobody noticed a small, almost invisible crack pulsing only inches from Inoue Orihime's right shoulder. She didn't either until her eyes fell upon it as she looked around, uncertain feeling of being watched making her uneasy. She reached out tentatively with her hand to examine it, brows furrowing with concentration.

Seconds later a deafening scream drowned out even the glamour of battle raging fiercely throughout the whole place and all heads turned to where it had come from to see the orange-haired girl fall to the ground limply, the disruption now sparkling with energy it must have drained out of her.

"Inoue!" it was Ichigo's voice that carried through the racket, though Ulquiorra reached the girl's unmoving form first as if he kept close to her on purpose this whole time, examining her closely.

Having finally found what they were looking for since entering Inuzuri, the group of Shinigami together with humans and Espada alike were able to successfully regroup, making their way to the crackling distortion with renewed enthusiasm; keeping the slightly thinning numbers of enemies at bay with deadly precision.

Senbonzakura's pink petals wrapped around the nearest mob, shredding everything to pieces; Quincy arrows dispatched those that managed to get away and a wall of ice surrounded them, holding the small army back to protect Inoue and for the three Guardians to finally do their job.

Ulquiorra lifted the girl into his arms extremely gently. "She is unconscious. The rift drained almost all of her reiatsu." he stated matter-of-factly, carrying her away while the others gathered around the expanding distortion. "I believe we should take her somewhere else for now."

Ichigo's eyes followed him, the teen looking as if he wanted nothing more than to tail the Cuatro Espada, but having his hands full with fending off yet more of Mikaboshi's abominations closing in from opposite direction, he could only glimpse the two of them vanishing in sonido as the last of his opponents fell under the combined force of Getsuga Tenshou and swirling ashes of Matsumoto's Haineko. Uncertain and quite unsettling feeling nestled itself in his gut and the frown on his forehead deepened.

"Great, it's still pretty small, this shouldn't take long." Renji's musing severed the train of the Shinigami Representative's thoughts as the Tengu now in control of the red-head's body scrutinized the phenomenon in front of them.

"You keep those away if you please. After we seal it, they should disappear as well." the Tengu instructed, pointing towards Hitsugaya's ice wall being slowly but surely broken through. Tattooed brows furrowed in contemplation, crooked grin flickered over tanned face.

"But still..." he trailed off, shoving the thought away together with the mirth tugging at his lips and nodded to the other two Guardians who asumed their position, forming a precise triangle with the distortion in the centre.

And as they did so, the ground beneath their feet seemed to come to life. Dust and earth rose up to curl around their ankles, carried by nonexistent wind. Oni, Tengu and hollow as one offered their faces to the gust of wind surging through their clothes, Renji's fiery hair billowing as if turned into real flames as he tilted his head up, opening his arms in almost welcoming gesture. Grimmjow and Arisawa followed his example and the moment the tips of their fingers touched, the built up reiryoku burst out with such a force it threatened to blow the remaining Shinigami away like a mere sheets of paper.

They turned around as the thick wave of spiritual pressure washed over their backs, arms raised to protect them against its force. Wide-eyed they watched the three Guardians suspended in midair, their feet barely inches above the swirling ground, eyes closed and the whirlwind of energy they seemed to be giving out all being devoured by the crackling distortion in their centre. There was something different about them now and exactly what it was became clear once they descended back on the parched ground, one after the other, strange silvery aura eminating from all three of them.

Tengu occupying Renji's body was now holding a long staff with numerous metal rings dangling from the flower-shaped hoop forming its tip, the light enveloping his body clothing him in rippling embroidered garments woven from the very fabric of sunrays, majestic stormy-grey wings protruded from his back and he spread them as if ready to take off, tip of each feather smoothly darkening to inky-black. Grimmjow, taken over by his Oni Guardian changed as well - horns curling round his now slightly pointed ears had grown a little bigger and much more pronounced so that they no longer blended with his messy electric-blue hair, clawed hands gripping tightly the handle of Pantera and somewhere along the way he managed to get shirtless, thought white hakama still securely covered most of his lower body, showing no sign of the gaping hollow hole. Arisawa's appearance was the most inconspicuous, the only thing obviously different about her being a white mask with venomous fangs hiding away her face.

The Tengu thrust the end of his staff into the ground and let go. A crack appeared where it connected and slowly crawled to the centre if their formation, where it met with those made by the Oni and hollow creating a tear right underneath the crackling entrance to Mikaboshi's prison.

The Guardian's eyes slid closed, palms clasped in front of their chests, fingers intertwined and thumbs pressing against the index fingers raised and pressed together. "Rin. Pyō. Tō. Sha. Kai. Jin. Retsu. Zai. Zen." their voices blended together in a perfect harmony as they chanted the First Seal.

The aura weaved around their bodies slithered into the ground underneath their feet and through the three cracks in the dust until it met in the centre and raw spiritual energy bursted out, swallowing the dimensional gate in a blinding column of silver light reaching high into the now quickly darkening sky. There was a loud, warning rumbling of thunder that made their audience look up for a single moment to see it disappearing into the heavy grey clouds swirling around it.

Three pairs of equally silvery glowing eyes opened, fixing onto the scene to proceed with the Second Seal.

"On baishiraman taya sowaka." the Tengu's words floated from his lips as if it were a song, it seemed to reverberate through the charged air and solidify before their very eyes into a bright golden chain that coiled like a snake around the silver column. The three Guardians' hands moved to interlace in a slightly different fashion as he spoke again: "On isha naya in tara ya sowaka." and a second golden chain appeared, joining its predecessor.

Another quick slip of their fingers and this time the chant came out of Grimmjow's mouth. "On jite rashi itara jiba ratanō sowaka." and this time the words formed into a chain weaved of the deepest darkness itself, also winding round the pillar of light and it began pulsing weakly.

"On haya baishiraman taya sowaka." the Oni voiced the second verse, his hands automatically moving in the appropriate manner and another black chain followed them, taking its proper place.

Now it was Arisawa's turn and the hollow chanted in a hoarse voice. "On aga naya in maya sowaka." moving her fingers so quickly the gestures seemed to blend into one. "On hirota ki shanoga jiba tai sowaka." and a pair of crimson chains coiled out of her white mask, following the others' example.

Now the trapped distortion began to violently shake the earth, random surges of reiryaku shooting out like lightning, though hitting only the splitting ground. Drops of sweat sprinkled the Guardians' skin, but they did not abate.

The last two verses blended together into incomprehensible muttering through the renewed rage of thunder above their heads as the three of them proceeded as one and when the three sets of conjured chains tightened around the column of light, reducing it to at least half of its original width, their hands separated again, only tips of their fingers touching slightly to form a circle in front of their chests that charged with energy as they cried out: "Bakudou # 101: Amatsu Tsuihou!"


Now this little cliffhanger... need to think very carefully what happens next and I think this was the perfect thing to lure you into anticipation, yes?

Well even if it wasn't, I'll make sure to make it up to you all :) In case you're wondering, the Ritual of Banishment comes from Kuji-in - Nine Hand Seals asociated with nine syllables of Kuji, for our purposes it serves a little as exorcism of a sort, look it up on wikipedia if you wish :) Or if you've seen Tactics anime, I based it on that :)

That bakudou spell is of my own making... "Amatsu" means heavenly and "Tsuihou" means banishment... it sounded cool :)

Please review as always, every opinion is welcome :) and see you next time :)