Ichigo widened his eyes and gasped in horror and shock at what Bazz-B had just told him as they raced down a dark hallway.
'Are you serious...' he spoke in an almost silent whisper. 'Your father is willing to destroy the Silver City Just because he couldn't get what he wants!?'
Bazzard then grunted. 'I was just as disgusted as you when he first told me about it' he spate distastefully. 'Apparently The Black Fall was his final ace in the hole when all else failed...by destroying the foundation of the Soul Society itself and rebuilding the Holy Kingdom from scratch'
Ichigo then shook his fist. 'And have you told the other Sternritter about it?'
'I did,' Bazzard said evenly. 'And they are already trying to evacuate as many citizens as possible out into the holds and have sent me to rescue you ...' He then narrowed his eyes. 'But unless those furnaces are completely stopped, tons of people will still die even if they hide within the black city'
Ichigo then lowered his head in frustration. 'Damn it...is there any way for me to help?'
'Considering you are not at full strength, you will just be a liability given that all the Abyssal Knights are now fully deployed to make that operation happen' Bazz-B then stopped himself and sensed many spiritual signatures in the area along with Ichigo, who readied himself. 'Moreover to prevent you from leaving'
Suddenly hundreds of black-clothed Quincies emerged from shadows and behind the pillars as they all conjured various bows and several melee weapons to their hands, and as Ichigo felt their spiritual pressure, he realized with dread, that not only did they possess the same black spiritual power that Bazzard once had, but all of them are at least on the level of an apprentice knight.
However, the Sternritter of the Heat refused to back down as he then set both of his hands ablaze with fire.
'And right now, we can only hope that the other knights and your friend can take out the other abyssal knights by themselves'
Later on in the upper levels of Geshua, Venomoke, and Quigle were engaged in a fierce battle that tore the room around them apart. The former being on the defensive as he used his Reshi shields to defend himself. While the latter pressed his charge on his foe with vicious sword strikes and exploding arrows.
'Are you feeling the pressure pest!?' Quigle taunted. 'While it is indeed impressive that a pitiful impure Quincy like you managed to hold your own against me. You have yet to present yourself as an actual challenge!' he then smirked. 'Especially since you are on a time clock'
Venomoke looked at Quigle for a few seconds and then sighed. 'Well, you are an insanely strong guy that I have the misfortune of fighting against. So it's not like I intend to go easy on you' He then glared sternly at Quilge. 'But since I am on a time clock I'll be sure to step up my game'
The teen knight then stretched up his arms and to Quigle's surprise, elegant glowing light green gear-like markings appeared all over his body.
'Door of the Hunter...' he announced while the glowing gears began to move with the sound of a mechanized door.
'Unlock'
Then to the abyssal knight's surprise, a huge surge of Spiritual power flowed out of Venomoke's body while his markings shined even more brightly, his body growing more muscular and his face aging several years older to the point that he now looked man in his mid-twenties opposed to just an older teen.
After getting taken off guard for a bit Quigle then regained his equanimity and smirked once more. 'A nice little trick, but it is no wherever enough to combat-!?'
Then as if he just snapped out of a daze the rogue Quincy had just realized that Venomoke was already above him and just a few centimeters away from having a sword splitting his skull in half.
With little time to react Quilge immediately raised his arm to block the attack and to his dismay, the blade of his foe was still powerful enough to cut through his blunt Vene.
'Am I Challenging enough to you now?' Venomoke quoted with a deep smug voice and grin. Which then infuriated Quigle.
'Don't get cocky brat!' He raged and pushed back his foe with his sword. 'You are still a miserable impure commoner and it is about time you know your place!'
Quigle then raises his sword in the air and summons dozens of Quincy pentagrams that surround Vonmoke.
'Krichenlied: Sternenfalle!' (Holy chant: Star Entrapment!) He shouted and immediately hundreds of Quincy arrows each with enough concentrated power to crater entire cities shot at Venomoke.
Yet just before all of them stuck their target Venomoke rapidly waved his hands and shot green orbs out of them that each enveloped the fired arrows and freezing them in place. Much to Quigle's disbelief.
'W-What did you do!?' He questioned angrily and Venomoke gave him a knowing sly look.
'Oh come now senior, don't tell me you still haven't guessed the power of my Schrift, have you? The Young man asked in a condescending tone. 'The fact that I was able to unlock your jail cell' he explained with air quotes while slowly walking up to Quigle. 'Along with unlocking part of my potential and through that locked your arrows in place...' He ranted on and the older Quincy steadily began to back away in unease. 'Or...' Venomoke then eyed The older Quincy.
'How I locked away your arm'
Quigle's then winded his eyes in realization and to his shock, he noticed that his left arm was covered in a locking mechanism tattoo that glowed the same light green as the ones on the younger Quincies body and true to Venomoke's words he couldn't move it all and when he looked back at his foe he notice to his growing horror that his enemy had pointed all of his pointed arrows at him.
'For I am the holder of O The Omnilock' the Younger Quincy boasted while crossing both of his arms in front of his enemy. 'And now that you have been locked up...' He then grinned victoriously and then outstretched abd pointed both of his arms at Quigle. 'You are now ready to be burned to a crisp'
He then unlocked all the hundreds of arrows as they all shot down on the stune traitor and upon making an impact all the projectiles exploded in a massive explosion that engulfed the entire room and shook the entirety of Gennaha.
Meanwhile in another section of the burning prison. John sneered in fury at Yuichi.
'Why can I hit you!?' He shouted In frustration as he struck at the teen with one of his spike reshi fists only for them to fade through a black mist. While Yuichi merely chucked.
'I thought I told you already' the Teen said cheerfully. 'My Schrift the Umbra, allows me to control and manipulate shadows, darkness along with the spaces that link them and since they are things that don't have a real solid form. I am capable of creating an invisible shadow barrier that enables me to avoid every one of your attacks' He then flipped away from John. 'So I think it's in your best interest to surrender'
John then twitched his eyes in annoyance.
'Forget it!' He snapped In frustration and then turned around. 'I have better things to do than waste my time with a brat who is too afraid to get hit!' Then rushed to one of the hallways in the chamber. 'I'll just aid our men in destroying those soldats and then that blasted Silver City is finished!'
However, when John ran through the hallway he suddenly found himself back in the same Chamber as Yuchi and was much to confusion.
'The Hell!?' He spoke out but shook his head and headed to another hallway only to himself back in the same room and when he tried again the same thing happened once more.
John then turns in rage at the one responsible for not only allowing him to leave.
'You...' he said in a deathly tone filled with murder. 'You're using that Schrift yours to prevent me from leaving!?'
Yuichi then let out a short chuckle. 'As I told you before three times now. My Schrift enables me to manipulate shadows and darkness and all the spaces that link them' he then stared sternly at John. 'Including the spaces within this very chamber'
John then grinds his teeth In frustration...and then bared his teeth in delight to Yuichi's confusion.
'Then let's bring all those shadows and darkness to light!' He then launched a shining ball of reshi at the teen Sternritter which then exploded in a ball of light. Blinding Yuchi and leaving him vulnerable to attack to the back of his head. Which then allowed John to finally land a hit on his foe and send him flying and crashing into a wall.
'Heh to think it would be that simple to counter that annoying Schrift of yours with a little flash bang' John boasted while looking down at his fallen foe. 'But I guess it is to be expected when they allow poor impure children into the ranks of the Star knights!' He then gave off a cruel laugh. 'Especially given how fragile they are'
'And what makes you think I am fragile?'
A voice came from behind John who looked around to find Yuichi standing behind him and despite having a few bruises, he looked relatively fine. While the glowing lines of blunt vene shine over his face
'A Star Knight would never be chosen if they could be taken out by a cheap shot like that' He spoke in a cold almost robotic voice then narrowed his eyes on John who then became almost pale and lifeless. 'Or wouldn't be able to counter the weakness in their own Schrift'
Then Yuchi shifted into a battle stance that caused his jacket to tighten around his body, and to John's surprise, he found that the young teen had an extremely lean and muscular build beneath his uniform. Then when the Sternritter lowered himself to the ground, he formed a dagger of shadow in his left hand.
And less than a moment later, Yuchi stabbed John in the shoulder by seemingly appearing out of nowheremuch to his shock and when the latter tried to swipe him away with his left armored fist. Yuchi disappeared from his sight again and slashed him behind his back.
'Fuck! John screamed out while gripping the wound on his bleeding shoulder in pain. 'I couldn't sense his spiritual pressure at all when he attacked me, and it isn't that I couldn't keep up with him either. It's almost like he's...teleporting or something!'
He then smiled as then flexed his right hand. 'Well no matter I know his weakness and can negate it!' he then formed an even bigger ball of light in his hands and then detonated it into a bright explosion.
But to his disbelief, instead of illuminating the room like before he suddenly found himself imprisoned in a black dome of solidified darkness. Which then quickly absorbed the light of the flashbang.
'You are rather naive John...' Yuchi said outside the Dome. 'For while the Power of my Schrift may be purged by the light, It can also in turn consume it in darkness. Especially when I can solidly and reinforce it with my spiritual pressure and the reshi in the air' he explain while John grunted his frustration. 'And now you are about the feel the full impact of that darkness'
Then with a simple stab with his shadow dagger on the outside of the Some. John was stabbed with thousands of black spikes that pierced all over his body and making screamed in unbearable pain.
Meanwhile, the battle between Robert and Joesph intensified as the latter steadily began to push the former on the defensive.
'How does it feel Accotrone?!' Joesph taunted while firing dozens of beams of light from his spheres at his enemy. 'To be rendered completely helpless before my schrift The Holy In its Volsstang form!'
Robert nimbly dodged several beams of light with a flying step. 'I am more surprised you are this powerful without having your actual schrift. Even in your volstange form' He then narrowed his eyes and readied his gun at Joesph. 'Which I can deduce you have become so after absorbing remnants of the Reio's power?' Robert commented before firing his gun and sending bullets at the rogued regent, but the latter smirked as the projectiles disintegrated into ashes the moment they made contact with his shield.
'Only enough to restore my former glory' Joesph boasted while raising his hands. 'For, you of all people should know how potent my Schrift is at its full power!' He declared with pride, while mentally commanding five of his spheres to surround the elder, expanding themselves into huge disks of light before charging themselves.
'Pfad des Sternenkeuzes!' (Path of the Starcross)
He announced as the six-light disk fired four beams of light from the front, right, left, behind, below, and above Robert all at once. Unleashing a great blast of energy in the form of a six-pointed star. With each point burning and melting through the ceiling, walls, and floor. Along with several hundreds of meters worth of earth and stone beyond them.
But when the light dissipated, it revealed that Robert protected himself with a Ginto shell that was now severely burnt before crumbling away, while Robert casually walked out before brushing himself off much to Joesph's annoyance.
'Oh, I am fully aware of its power' Robert said casually with barely any hint of concern. 'Or rather its unrivaled speed due to the natural element it commands and the fact, at the time only his majesty could stand against it' He then stared at Joesph. 'In fact, it was the main reason why you were made captain of the Imperial Guard before becoming a royal advisor to the king' Robert then loaded and aimed his gun once more at his foe. 'Unfortunately for you, the standards of gaining such a position have since been raised'
Joesph then looked at Robert in confusion before bursting into laughter. 'Don't you mean lowered?' He mocked. 'Aside from a few exceptions, the current Imperial guard is little more than a joke. Considering they have a lowly dog as its leader, a hedonist who treats his duties with contempt, and a Buffone who doesn't which way is up or down!' he then began to form more disks of light from the balls of light and began moving each of them on top one another and directing them all towards Robert. 'And all because your king refuses to set his people in their rightful places!'
He then fired all of the beams of light at Robert, which unleashed a massive beam of light that was well over a dozen meters in width and blasted through the walls of the room and many others behind it for miles on end.
Yet just when Josh was about to bathe in his supposed victory a familiar voice came from behind him.
'And yet despite all their faults...' Elder Knight then aims his gun at Joesph's back. 'They wouldn't let their guard down so easily' He fired his gun.
However, the leader of the Abyssal knights smirked once more as he knew the bullet would be vaporized by his shield. Yet when the projectile made contact with the shield it suddenly began to drill right through it much to Joesph's shock, and forced him to use the flying step to dodge out of the way... but not fast enough to avoid having parts of the right side of his stomach shredded apart and making him grimace in pain.
'Shame...' Robert said calmly while reloading his gun and glancing at the wounded and furious Joesph. 'One would think that with the power to manipulate light, they would at least be able to move close to its speed...but you can't even manage that'
