'Orihime Inoue, Director of the Medical Division of Xcuation, ' Ulquiorra addressed while staring down at the young woman. 'Why am I not surprised someone like you would come to aid them'

Inoue then smiled at the Espada. 'It has been a while, Ulquiorra,' she acknowledges him while lowering her shield. 'I can see you haven't changed much since I last met you.'

The Espada then unsheathed his blade. 'In terms of myself as a person, no... but in terms of strength?' he then swept down his sword, and unleashed a shockwave powerful enough to level the entire city block beside him to dust' My past self can't even begin to compare.'

Orihime then chuckled. 'Of course, she said evenly while readying two orange shields on both of her arms and then lunged at Ulquiorra, who in turn did the same.

Jurgram then breathed a sigh of relief from the Palace of Governance. 'So, the Directors were able to deploy themselves from the Black City and not a moment too soon,' he commented while looking up at the screen. Yet Robert looked on in worry.

'Do you think she and the rest of the Directors will be enough to stop the Esapda?' the old man questioned, and Jurgram then turn looked toward him.

'The Directors of Xcuation are just as powerful as any of the Sternritter, with a few rivaling the Royal Guard themselves in power. At the very least, they should be able to hold off the Espada along with the rest of our knights until the Hollow Beasts are taken care of' He then looked up at the screen. 'For now this isn't just a battle for victory anymore...but one for survival.

Later at the Academy

'Well, this quite bold of you, Arrancar's Berenice boasted mockingly as he flocks his pink hair. 'To think that such lowly disgusting beasts would desecrate this divine institute of learning,' he eyed Nianzol Weizol. 'Isn't that, right?'

The fisheye Sternritter then mumbled. 'In all honestly, hollows shouldn't even be in the Silbernestadt, to begin with. Let alone here' he lisp.

Berenice then chucked playfully. 'Couldn't have said it better myself

Patros then turns to face the Quincy. 'I suppose you must be the Sternritter guarding the city?'

Nianzol then snorted. 'Who else do you think we are? But then again given you are at the lowest level, Espada. I guess you are also as dumb as you are weak.'

The blue-haired man then raised an eyebrow. 'Oh, so you doubt my strength just because I am the lowest among the ten swords of his majesty?' He then shook his head in disappointment, before drawing his sword. 'I think it is time to teach you brats a lesson in respect.'

Patros then swiped his Zanpakuto and unleashed a slash of spiritual energy towards the two Quincy.

Only for the energy beam to bend around them and blow up the buildings beside them. Much to the 10th Espada's surprise.

'You might as well stop wasting your time, Nianzol boasted with a smirk. 'For anything I have seen and memorized will be pushed back around my comrade and me. 'Leaving you both completely incapable of attacking us!'

'Is that so?' Ggio Vega suddenly whispered behind Nianzol's ears, much to his and Berenice's shock, as the former turned his head around to face him.

'Wha, how did yo-CRACK!' Was all the fish-eyed man could mutter before Ggio instantly appeared behind him again and twisted the Sternritter's head off his shoulders, resulting in a fountain of blood spewing from the torn stump where his neck used to be, while the Espada gave the other Star Knight a cold smile upon committing the murderous deed in delight.

'So basically, if we attack you faster than you can see or memorize, you won't be able to push it back, right?' The 9th Espada said jokingly to the now dead and decapitated head of Nianzol Weizol.

'H-How!?' Berenice stuttered in panic thought. 'There was no way that Espada could move so fast that I wouldn't be able to detect him, and yet he was able to get within Nianzol's guard without me even seeing him' he then stepped back. 'Is he just the 9th Espada, as the daten says?!

Ggio then turns his head towards his comrade. 'Hey Patros, do you want to take this guy on?' He asked, and the Diez Espada then stepped forward.

'Of course, it is the least I can do after getting rid of that annoyance for me, ' he began to redraw his zanpakuto, and Bernese then began to smirk.

'Fool!' He thought in triumph. 'By taking me on your own, you sealed your fate!'

'Tell me, Arrancar...' Berenice asked as he stepped forward. 'Have you ever questioned why you have such a low position among the Espada or even following orders from another?' the Stenritter accused, as he pointed his finger to Ggio Vega, who stared at him indifferently.

The female man then flashes a sadistic smile. 'After all, it seems shameful and hypocritical for someone as respected and dignified as you to be made second fiddle to such a cocky kid!'

Patros then hardened his face and tightened the grip on his sword, and Quincy smiled.

'Excellent...' Berenice mused. 'Now that Arrancar is beginning to ponder what I have said to him. My schrift The Question will soon take affect and turn him into nothing then a drooling idiot!'

The tenth Espada continued to approach the Sternritter, but the latter remained confident. 'Even if he were to put on a brave face or, heaven forbid, resist the Question. Eventually, like As Nodt's fear, the doubts and insecurities will continue to build up to the point that they will overwhelm whatever willpower or reason that Espada has left!'

Berenice Gabrielli then smirked. 'As much of a cliche, it is to admit, resistance is-'

Suddenly the smug Quincy found himself face to face with a slash of spiritual energy that came directly in front of him. Before he knew it, he was hit by the wave and sent flying backward, burning his uniform and cap and heavily bruising the Quincy.

'What!?' Berrianes muttered in pain as he struggled to get up.

'It seems you wonder why your schrift does not work on me? The Question, was it?'

He then widens his eyes in disbelief. 'What, how did he-'

'It's quite simple, Berenice. Really. The Question works by bringing up a person's inner doubts and overwhelming their reason and sanity to overwhelm their mind until they are reduced to mumbling, drooling vegetables' Patros then narrowed his eyes to the stenritter in contempt. 'However, it does not work on those with no self-doubts, to begin with.'

The Quincy then widens his eyes. 'But how!'

Patros then closed his eyes for a moment. They then opened them. 'You might find this impossible to believe, but a hollow is fully capable of admitting his betters and fully willing to follow their orders, given that Ggio Vega was once part of his majesties original guard. I consider it a great honor to follow him. Never mind that any Arrancar would beg at the chance of becoming even the lowest of ranked Espada.'

The Diez then readied another strike as he began to redraw his blade while the tone of his voice darkened. 'A mistake that you will now pay with your life!'

Berenice began to shake his fist in frustration but calmed down and smirked again.

'Okay, sure you were able to shrug off my script. But even so, I am still a sternrriter!' He boasted while forming a Quincy bow and arrow and activating her Blut Arterie, 'You are naïve if you think your pathetic technique will be enough to contend with me!

Patros then slightly raised his eyebrows. '...true. I have forgotten that star knights represent the best that the quinces have to offer, and it is rather insulting to think you wouldn't stand against the first of the twenty levels of my zanpakuto Gerifalte.'

Berenice's face was suddenly drained of color.

'First of...twenty?'

The Diez then readied himself to draw his sword once more. 'Perhaps using Gerifalte level five would be more appropriate.'

The Quincy immediately switched his Vein to Blut to prepare himself for the attack.

But it was pointless.

The energy slash tore right through Berenice's Blut Vein chest and severed off his bow arm in one single strike, and a second later, the Sternritter collapsed to the ground in defeat and bleeding.

'As I said before, Quincy...' Patros said while raising his blade. 'Do not judge an Espada by their rank alone.'

He then stabs his sword down on his helpless opponent.

Meanwhile, with Grimmjow and Moe.

As the Espada and the Director exchanged blows in hand-to-hand combat, the force of their fists generated shockwaves that blew apart the already ruined buildings around them while moving at speeds faster than the regular eye can follow. Yet even this was just the beginning of their battle.

'Hmph,' Grimmjow huffed. 'The kid is decently fast and powerful on his own, and yet...' the Espada casually blocked a fist with his left arm. 'None of his blows are near as strong as the first one he tried to land on me' he then narrowed his eyes. 'Is that punk underestimating me!'

'Heh...' the Espada laughed and laughed a roundabout kick at Moe, forcing him to use both arms to block it. But the force was still powerful enough to send him several feet back.

'I don't know if you are looking down on me. Or you are hiding some ace or something. But obviously, you are not going all out' Grimmjow then draw out his zanpakuto. 'And nothing else that pisses me more than someone who doesn't use their full strength against me!'

Moe then sneered at the Espada. 'Tch, who the hell think you are, man. You were lucky that you managed to dodge my ace when you did. Otherwise, this fight would have been over from the start!' he then unwrapped his left fist and unveiled a brass knuckle with three yellow sevens. 'But if you want to end it already, I am more than happy to take you up on that offer!

The director dashed in front of Grimmjow and struck his fist to attack him. With the latter blocking the blow with his zanpakuto. However, even when he did so, the force of the impact made the ground beneath his feet crack and exploded while the guard of his sword broke off.

Yet dispute his weapon being damaged, the 5th Espada laugh.

Ha!' He roared. 'Now, this is what I want!' He then pushed Moe off of him and readied his battle stance.

And The Director, from then on, knew that this fight with the Espada was far from over.

Then as the battles between the Espada ranged across the slide. The other sternrriter's fight against the Hollow beasts continued.

The great red eagle screeched as it rained hundreds of its feathers and quills down on Kyiv. Still, he responded by conjuring a giant ice shield in the shape of a swan that protected him and his fellow agents and soldiers by folding its wings and blocking the projectiles.

'Snowbird Shield...' and then he pressed his hands together. 'Take flight!' He commanded, and then the swan shield came to life and flew up towards the red eagle with graceful yet dashing speed before ramming itself into the creature, freezing its entire body solid and causing the flying horror to crash into the ground and shatter to pieces.

Unfortunately for Kyiv, he knew that it was far from over. For as no sooner did the eagle's body break apart. It began to rem-form and put itself back together from its shattered remains.

'Damn it all...' The Sternritter cursed and rattled on the communicator in his left ear. 'Cang, how is it on your end?'

'No better, Jager,' the man reported grimly. 'And the same goes for the other beasts as well. No matter how often we kill them, they just reformed themselves back from scratch.'

Cang Du looked dreadfully on the southern side of the region as the massive yellow crab reformed itself after being cut in half. 'In all honesty. I haven't seen a hollow regenerate like that since. Arruruerie and Aaroniero's battle in Tokyo'

'Is it possible that this beast was somehow given that ability before the invasion?' As Nodt questioned, he overlooked the giant green mammoth regenerating from the several holes its body had been punctured with.

Cang then shuddered. 'If that is the case, then it will take purifying an entire nation's worth of souls to take down just one of them, and even then, depending on how many these Beasts have. Even that might not be enough.'

Kyiv listened to the conversation with his fellow knights, looked at the now reintegrated Red Eagle, and sighed. 'I am afraid we have no choice but to whittle them down over time until they run out of souls. Otherwise, they will continue to threaten Silver-City' he then looked over to the city over the horizon. 'And pray that our comrades can fight off the enemy long enough until we can kill these monsters'

Meanwhile, up high in the Royal Palace. Yhwach sat on the thrown with his Almighty activated; through it, he saw a multitude of futures. Many of them were now filled with defeat, death, and darkness, while only a handful showed a light for victory, and even they were fading away fast.

And so, to prevent the last lights from disappearing. The Quincy King decided to follow through on a future that would pave the way for the Holy Kingdoms' victory over their mighty foes.

Regardless of the sacrifice that would entail.