After Alostrol used the bait-to-bait hollows, these creatures had unexpectedly found their way into the world and were now scattered throughout the city and scurrying through the streets of the city looking for souls to devour.
A group of hollows were running down one of the streets, smashing anything in their path.
Before they went any further…
"Flame Wall!"
Suddenly, a wall of black fire rose up in the middle of the street, managing to hit a couple of hollows that ended up disintegrating while the other hollows were smarter and stopped in front of the wall of flames.
Soon after, the wall of black fire went out, revealing Shuna on the other side and scowling at them.
"Poor innocent souls who have been consumed by hunger and darkness." said Shuna.
One hollow simply let out a roar at her before it and the others charged towards her.
"Allow me to help you rest in peace. Alignment Field!" shouted Shuna with outstretched arms, causing a circular barrier to erupt from her and spread across the area.
When the barrier hit the hollows, they let out a roar of pain before being completely disintegrated.
By the time Shuna undid the attack, there were no hollows left in the area.
"I hope you find peace wherever you go." said Shuna with her hands clasped together in prayer.
In another street, hollows were running rampant like wild beasts in search of food.
One hollow was ahead of the others and before it went any further, something jumped from above the buildings and pounced on the hollow.
That which lunged at the hollow turned out to be Ranga, the tempest star wolf loyal to Rimuru, who was fighting the hollow with claws and teeth like two wild beasts.
In the end, Ranga drove his jaws into the hollow's neck and then gave a jerk to the side, snapping the hollow's neck which ended up dead in the process before disintegrating.
After that, Ranga got into position and snarled at the hollows, who snarled back at him in response.
"As long as I live, none of you will do anything in this city that my master so painstakingly created." said Ranga before letting out a howl, which caused the sky over the area to cloud over completely.
Before the hollows could react, a tornado fell to the ground where the hollows were standing, who were swept away by the wind currents.
Shortly after, several lightnings fell from the sky, striking all the hollows, which were eventually disintegrated by the electrical power.
By the time the last of them was eliminated, Ranga undid the tornado and the sky cleared up again.
Ranga sniffed some air.
"Looks like there are still a few left out there. I hope the others are all right." said Ranga.
A group of hollows advanced down one of the streets while, on the other side of the street, stood Gobta and Rigur on the backs of wolves and armed with swords.
"Where do you think those things have come from?" asked Rigur.
"No idea, but they have entered the city with hostile intentions and it is our duty to deal with them." said Gobta.
"You're right. Let's show them what we can do." said Rigur drawing his sword along with Gobta before the wolves charged into battle.
Thanks to the speed of the wolves, they were able to avoid any hollow attacks and when they saw the opportunity, they slashed at them with their swords in depth, killing them in the process.
Gobta had just killed a hollow when another one stood behind him with its paw raised for the kill.
Fortunately, Gobta noticed this and stepped into its shadow along with the wolf, avoiding the hollow's attack, from whose shadow Gobta emerged with his wolf and they slashed it across the back with the sword, killing the hollow.
"These beasts aren't as complicated as Falmuth's knights." said Gobta with a toothy grin.
"Yes, it's like fighting common monsters." said Rigur decapitating a hollow which disintegrated right away.
A huge group of hollows came running down the street towards a person who was on the other side and walking calmly towards them.
That person was none other than Veldora and he was annoyed.
"I was quietly reading the latest chapter of the manga and it was interesting, but you had to come and interrupt me." began Veldora before stopping and looking at the hollows with a toothy grin. "Well, I wanted to get some exercise today anyway." said Veldora before taking a stance and putting her hands together, with a space between them, to the side.
From between the hands a sphere of energy began to form and despite the clear impending attack, the hollows continued their stampede towards the humanoid dragon as they only thought of devouring its soul no matter who he really was.
Veldora let out a small battle cry before stretching his arms forward, shooting the sphere in the form of an energy beam that covered the street completely and traveled further even, destroying several buildings and more things as well in the process as the hollows were engulfed by the attack and disintegrated until there was nothing left of them.
After the attack died down, Veldora shook his hands as he finished his work.
"Ha. That attack will never bore me. Rimuru and the others better take care of their problems or I'll have to step in. Well, until then, I'll go see if there are any more of those things around." said Veldora.
Even if they couldn't see them, Rimuru and the others smiled internally, for despite the hollows loose in the city and the weakening dome, they knew that Veldora and those around would take care of protecting the civilians, which left them somewhat reassured, as well as the others to see that they weren't worried at all about the situation with the hollows, but still, they all had to stop the revolutionaries if they wanted to name that a total victory.
"Well, what do you say?" asked Bulu before positioning himself with his spear pointed forward. "Shall we continue this death match? I'd be disappointed if you did otherwise." said Bulu with his toothy madman grin.
"At this point, it's already impossible to retreat." said Chad readying his right arm.
"That's right. Even if that dome is weakening us, we just have to defeat it before it's too late." said Geld readying his shield.
"I agree. I'd rather kill you while you're still strong. So, let's not waste any more time." said Bulu before rushing towards them.
The orc and fullbringer moved to the side to avoid the spear charge.
Seeing that he no longer had his knife, Geld prepared to throw his punch, but Bulu blocked it with his spear before striking him in the chest, pushing him back.
Noticing something out of the corner of his eye, Bulu turned his head to see Chad emitting energy from his shoulder as his right fist was wrapped in the same energy.
"El Directo!" shouted Chad stretching his fist forward to shoot a beam of energy, but Bulu began spinning his spear like a propeller that served as a shield.
Just as the attack was over, Chad lunged at him to hit him, but Bulu moved out of the way before kneeing him in the chest which made him gasp and then Bulu kicked him into a wall.
That's when Geld went back on the attack with a punch that Bulu blocked with his arm before trying to hit him with his spear, only for Geld to shield himself with his shield.
At that point, the two entered into a duel of their own, with Bulu launching spear attacks while dodging or blocking attacks from Geld, who used his shield to protect himself from the evil shinigami's attacks while trying to hit him, only for him to dodge or block each attack.
Not to mention that he was feeling the effects of the dome, making it harder for him to resist blocked attacks.
In the end, they both collided their weapons with each other and pushed each other in a duel of strength, with Geld having more difficulty.
They stayed like that for a couple of seconds until they ended up repelling each other's weapons and suddenly Bulu took advantage of that to grab his spear tightly and bring it down in a vertical motion.
Geld noticed it and reacted quickly by placing his shield in an attempt to protect himself, but then…
CRAC
The spear strike proved too powerful and ended up breaking the shield, much to the horror of the orc, who was unable to react when Bulu side-swiped him with his spear, sending him into a wall that collapsed from the impact.
"Looks like you are out of little toys for me to break. Well, never mind. You're entertaining me better than I expected." said Bulu.
With groans of exertion, both Chad and Geld stood up and joined in.
"Can you continue?" asked Chad.
"Yes, I still have more tricks up my sleeve." said Geld.
"Same here, but because of that dome, our power won't be enough to defeat it." said Chad.
"Individually, no, but I think, if we combine our current strength, it should be more than enough." said Geld with a plan in mind.
"Hmm. It could work." said Chad.
"I wish this would last forever, but, unfortunately, I have a job to do. So, let's get this over with as soon as possible." said Bulu.
"You read my mind." said Geld before grabbing Chad's left hand and spinning around like a top as he continued to grip the fullbringer.
After spinning several times, Geld threw Chad full speed like a javelin as the fullbringer gave off energy from the right shoulder.
"El Directo!" shouted Chad directing his fist forward.
Needless to say, Bulu was slightly taken aback by that, but he reacted quickly and raised his spear to block the punch, but the force of the blow sent him sliding backwards.
"Yes, that's right. Keep fighting to the end. Make this a battle I can't forget!" said Bulu with his toothy, unhinged grin.
"If that's what you want…" began Geld stepping in front of him with his fist drawn back. "I'll make it happen." said Geld before he started throwing punches non-stop.
Bulu swung his spear quickly to block each punch from the orc and just as he blocked another punch with his spear, he noticed something glowing from above and looked up to see Chad standing in midair before dropping down with his fist charged with energy and extended.
Reacting quickly, Bulu raised a hand to parry Chad's charged punch, causing a ripple of wind as the ground beneath the evil shinigami cracked.
"Ha. Throw everything you can at me. I'll resist it all." said Bulu with a cocky grin as he held Chad's fist with one hand and Geld's fist with his spear clutched in the other hand.
"Then resist this." said Geld taking advantage of that moment to punch him hard in the face with his other hand, causing him to lose concentration long enough for Chad to move further, causing an explosion in the process.
Chad and Geld moved away from the area of the explosion and when the smoke caused by the explosion cleared, Bulu was seen with the top of his kimono shredded, revealing his well-toned and muscular body along with some minor injuries caused by the explosion.
"Hahaha. Wonderful! It's been a long time since anyone has done such a thing to me! You still have strength despite the dome effect." said Bulu.
"And we still have plenty left." said Chad.
"So don't think it ends here." said Geld.
"Words are one thing. I prefer to prove things with deeds." said Bulu before lunging towards them with his spear.
When he reached them, Bulu tried to attack them with his spear, but they were able to dodge the attacks before throwing their punches that Bulu blocked with his spear or with his own body.
It was then that Chad slipped his leg between Bulu's, causing him to stumble and shortly after, Geld backhanded him with his arm, sending him crashing into a wall.
Just as Bulu was starting to get up, Chad was emitting energy from his right shoulder.
"El Directo!" shouted Chad extending his fist forward, shooting a beam of energy in the process.
In the end, Bulu couldn't react in time and the beam hit him directly, setting off another explosion that caused the building the evil shinigami was in to collapse on top of him.
Chad and Geld gasped a little due to the effort put into the fight in addition to the debilitating effect of the dome.
"Do you think it's over?" asked Chad.
"I hope so, because if not…" began Geld before suddenly the rubble of the building began to shake.
Soon after, Bulu emerged from the rubble with a bestial roar, revealing to have some wounds on his body along with a line of his blood running down his face, before looking at his opponents with a look of pure mad glee.
"That's it! Hit me relentlessly! Make me bleed more! Let's make this battle one that ends with someone dying!" said Bulu.
"That guy is really crazy!" commented Geld.
"I really give you kudos." said Bulu.
"Why?" asked Chad.
"I thought I would only use this against Kenpachi Zaraki, but I'm glad I can use it on someone else" began Bulu before taking a deep breath to… 'KASUMI, ACTIVATE THAT NOW!' shouted Bulu to the confusion of the fullbringer and the orc.
"Now that you know about our technique, I will give you a chance to retreat. If you leave the dome, the effect will wear off, but if you stay here, you will end up dead." said Vighor.
"So, our choices are to leave and let you kill innocents or stay here and die so you can kill innocents. Not much of a choice." said Renji.
"You are naive if you think we will accept some of those options." said Hakuro.
"I'm just giving you a way out in a polite way. I really don't care what you decide, as the outcome will be the same." said Vighor.
"Just because you say so!" said Renji throwing his whip sword at him.
Vighor used one of his axes to block the attack before throwing the other towards the vice-captain.
Renji quickly stepped aside to avoid the axe, but, knowing how that zanpakuto worked, he knew the axe would come back towards him, so he jumped as soon as he felt the axe very close to him.
However, the moment the axe passed under him, Vighor appeared grabbing it and threw his other axe upwards, passing in front of the vice-captain.
Before he could react, Vighor suddenly appeared in front of him grabbing the axe and then hit Renji with the backhand of the axe, sending the vice-captain to the side.
Just as Vighor landed on the ground, Hakuro appeared in front of him and tried to attack him with his sword, but the evil shinigami blocked him with one of his axes before trying to attack the older kijin with his other axe, which Hakuro dodged by leaning to the side.
In the next instant, the two began a weapons duel, blocking and dodging each attack thrown.
Despite Vighor's two weapons and the effect of the dome, Hakuro was able to keep up for a while, but then, the moment Vighor blocked another sword strike with one of his axes, he pushed the weapon up, giving him room to hit him with the back of his other axe, pushing him backwards.
Before he could fully recover, Vighor threw one of his axes at him, which Hakuro deflected with his sword, but the axe ended up coming back towards him, so Hakuro had to focus on the axe.
Vighor intended to take advantage of that to catch the older kijin by surprise and attack him, but then, Renji used shunpo to appear at his side with his zanpakuto raised.
Unfortunately, Vighor reacted quickly by using his other axe to block the zanpakuto of the vice-captain, who tried to attack him again, but Vighor threw his axe aside to then disappear.
Believing where he was going to appear, Renji turned his gaze to the axe he threw a short while ago and that was rapidly approaching him, and threw his zanpakuto towards it to hit the evil shinigami, but at the moment he hit the axe in mid-flight, he realized that he had made a complete mistake.
And it was true, because what he did wasn't the technique of his zanpakuto, but shunpo and he had used it again to appear in front of Renji, who was punched hard in the face before he could react and shortly after, Vighor recovered his axe that returned to his own hand.
Meanwhile, Hakuro was still dealing with the other axe, repelling it every time it came close, only for it to end up coming back at him.
Just as he deflected the axe away, Vighor suddenly appeared grabbing said axe before throwing it away and using the one at hand to attack the older kijin, who raised his sword to block the attack, but the evil shinigami's strength put into the attack ended up causing him to slide backwards.
"Tsk." voiced Hakuro, as the dome effect was affecting him too much and if he didn't do something soon, he would lose.
"Watch out!"
Hakuro turned his gaze to the side to see the axe that Vighor threw flying straight at him, but before it reached halfway, Renji appeared beside the older kijin via shunpo and used his whip sword to deflect the axe that ended up falling into the hands of Vighor, its owner.
"Are you all right?" asked Renji.
"It'll take more years for a young man like you to care about me." said Hakuro.
"With those pesky weapons and that speed it's going to be very tricky to take him down. Especially with our strength slowly dwindling." said Renji.
"Maybe, if we watch his movements, we can anticipate where he will attack." said Hakuro.
"Do you think it's possible?" asked Renji.
"You should ask yourself instead of me, Vice-Captain Abarai." said Hakuro.
Renji was shocked to realize that he had given him advice, almost in the same way his captain usually does.
With a determined look, he gave the older kijin a nod.
Without a word, the two quickly charged towards the evil shinigami.
"I see you would rather die here. So be it." said Vighor before throwing his two axes.
"Concentrate, Renji. Which axe will he show up on?" asked Renji mentally as he watched the axes and Vighor closely for any clues.
When the axes were very close to them, Vighor disappeared and Renji's eyes widened like saucers at the realization.
"There!" exclaimed Renji as he directed his zanpakuto towards the axe coming towards him, at which Vighor appeared grabbing it.
Just at that moment, he was shocked to see Renji's whip sword elongate towards him, so he had to use his ability to disappear and appear at the other axe.
However, he didn't expect Hakuro to appear in front of him and swing his sword at him, so he raised both his axes to protect himself, but the force of the blow sent him backwards, hitting a wall in the process.
Soon after, Vighor stood up with a groan.
"I see now you can tell where I'm going, but that won't do much good." said Vighor before throwing an axe towards them.
Hakuro was the first to intercept the axe and repel it to the side, but Vighor appeared the next instant and tried to attack him with his other axe, only for him to move quickly to dodge it.
Before Vighor could react, Renji appeared at his side by shunpo and gave him a side kick that sent him rolling on the ground until he stopped and got up.
At that moment, Renji threw his whip sword towards him, who stepped aside, but the moment the tip of the sword hit the ground, it went to a wall where it bounced to another side and so to another as it went on endlessly lengthening.
By then, Vighor realized that he was surrounded by Renji's whip sword, who, with a jerk, made his sword gather around him with the intention of enclosing him in a thorny cocoon.
Unfortunately, at the last second, Vighor threw an axe forward, which allowed him to escape before the trap closed, but then, Hakuro suddenly appeared in front of him and made a diagonal cut with his sword, managing to make a cut in his chest that made him scream in pain.
Pulling himself together quickly, he gave the two swordsmen a withering glare.
"You…" said Vighor angrily before throwing his axe aside.
The next instant, Vighor appeared grabbing the axe before quickly throwing another one, only to appear grabbing it elsewhere, from where he threw another one again.
For a while, Vighor was moving back and forth with the help of his axes while Renji and Hakuro kept their eyes on him to try to figure out from where he would attack.
In the end, Vighor threw his two axes, one towards them and one to the side just before disappearing and reappearing where the second axe, which he threw towards them at a faster speed than the first one.
When it reached them, Vighor appeared grabbing and then swinging it towards Renji, who used his sword to block the attack before letting out a groan of exertion and pushing it away from him.
It was then that the other axe reached Hakuro, who quickly blocked it with his sword.
Vighor smiled internally, for he had planned that, the moment he was deflected to another side, he would appear grabbing and then attack the older kijin, but then, Hakuro swung his sword in such a way that, when he deflected the axe, he made it head downwards, causing it to stick into the ground, to the horror of the evil shinigami.
Seizing that moment, Renji threw his whip sword towards him, who repelled it with his remaining axe, but before he could react, Renji charged towards him and when he reached, grabbed him by the collar of his kimono just before Renji's zanpakuto wrapped around them both like a snake.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked Vighor.
"As long as I'm grabbing you, you won't be able to escape and even if you did, you'd end up going to that axe that's stuck in the ground. So until you make a decision…" began Renji with a toothy grin before creating a sphere of red energy in the hand that gripped the evil shinigami, who was horrified to learn what he was about to do. "Hado #31: Shakkaho!" shouted Renji before there was a powerful explosion that engulfed the entire area.
Soon after, Renji appeared at Hakuro's side, looking quite hurt due to how close he was to the explosion.
"It was a truly reckless move." said Hakuro.
"I know, but it was the only way." said Renji.
When the smoke caused by the explosion faded, it revealed Vighor breathing heavily and with half of the top of his kimono shredded.
"Damn you. Do you really think that with a stroke of luck you can defeat me?" asked Vighor.
"It wasn't a matter of luck, it was a matter of skill." said Hakuro.
"Exactly. Even if our forces are reduced, we still have tricks up our sleeves." said Renji.
"Is that so? Good. Then, I won't lag behind" said Vighor before throwing his remaining axe forward and when it was very close to them, Vighor suddenly appeared grabbing it and ready to attack with it, forcing the two swordsmen to jump back quickly to dodge the axe.
However, that turned out to be a trick to draw them away from the axe stuck in the ground, which he retrieved.
"I didn't think I'd use it, but you leave me no choice." said Vighor before pulling a pistol from his pocket.
Renji and Hakuro positioned themselves in case he was going to attack with it, but instead, Vighor pointed it upwards and shot a flare that exploded in a cloud of dust as it went very high.
The two swordsmen didn't know what that meant, but it was clearly not good.
"You bastards! How can you use a dirty technique like that?" asked Rukia angrily.
"We just do it because we can, my dear. In war, anything goes, there's nothing clean or dirty." said Kailung.
"I won't argue with that. However, that technique is too dangerous to leave it activated for too long." said Souei.
"Oh, don't worry. It'll all be over soon, because you won't live long!" began Kailung before spinning the chains with swords to the side, forming a helix. "Hisui no wa!" shouted Kailung swinging his propeller, causing a spinning ring of jade green energy to shoot out.
Rukia and Souei quickly dodged out of the way to dodge the attack, but then, jade hollows appeared at their sides ready to attack.
Fortunately, they were able to avoid the surprise attack, but when they tried to cut them with their swords, they couldn't due to how tough their jade skins were, much to their frustration.
It was then that Souei pulled out several threads that he wrapped around them, keeping them restrained.
"It won't last long." said Souei.
"But enough." began Rukia before thrusting her sword into the ground. "Juhaku!" shouted Rukia as a path of ice formed from the sword to the jade hollows and then, the ice spread across their bodies until it completely covered them.
Taking advantage of that, Souei lunged towards them and performed several slashes before standing behind the frozen jade hollows who, in the next instant, were cut into pieces.
"Mmm. Impressive, but not a problem." began Kailung before crossing his jade swords. "Hisui Shokan!" shouted Kailung before thrusting his swords into the ground, where cracks emitting jade-green light formed in the ground, from which four jade hollows emerged. "I can summon as many as I want. Smash them!" said Kailung causing the hollows to rush forward.
Rukia and Souei set about fighting the jade hollows, but due to their tough skin and the weakening effect of the dome, it proved to be very complicated for them to the point where they could only dodge the attacks without stopping.
"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" shouted Rukia spinning her sword as a glowing circle formed on the ground below her and a jade hollow.
Knowing what she was going to do, Souei wrapped his threads around a jade hollow and before it tried to struggle its release, Souei, with a jerk, sent it flying to where the first jade hollow was.
Seeing the second jade hollow come flying towards her, Rukia jumped away from the circle and the moment the second hollow collided with the first hollow, a pillar of light shot out of the circle from the ground and soon after, it turned into a pillar of ice with the two jade hollows trapped and frozen.
"No matter how many of those beasts you send. We'll fight all of them you throw." said Souei with determination.
"Hmm. Damn useless beasts." said Kailung before throwing his two jade sword chains at the two remaining hollows, wrapping them around him until the jade sword dug into them, causing them to roar in pain, much to the confusion of the vice-captain and the kijin ninja.
Before they could react, Kailung yanked on his chains, sending the two jade hollows towards them.
"Look out!" exclaimed Rukia as she and Souei fled the scene just as the jade hollows impacted each other, causing a shockwave explosion and a glow of light.
By the time it was all over, Rukia and Souei were seen getting up, looking quite hurt as the blast wave hit them and hit them hard.
"Are you okay?" asked Souei.
"Yeah, I've endured similar things." said Rukia.
"Really? Then I must be doing something wrong." said Kailung.
"You just killed your subordinates." said Souei.
"Subordinates? Rather, they are my puppets who help me facilitate my work, but as they say, if you want something to go right, you have to do it yourself." said Kailung.
"You really are someone horrible." said Rukia.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, my dear. Except to the other neighborhood." began Kailung before pulling his chains to retrieve his jade swords. "Hisui no Mou Kougeki!" shouted Kailung waving his jade swords, launching jade-colored energy missiles at them.
Rukia and Souei dodged out of the way to dodge the missiles that caused loud explosions in the impact zones and lunged towards the humanoid bull, who whirled his chains with swords.
Even though they were two against one, Kailung was able to dodge and block their attacks with the help of his zanpakuto, which he tried to hit them with, but they either moved out of the way or blocked it with their swords.
It was then that Souei threw several threads that tangled around Kailung like a spider web, but with his brute strength, he shredded the threads easily before spinning his two sword-wielding chains quickly into two propeller forms.
"Hisui no wa!" shouted Kailung swinging his two propellers, launching two spinning rings of jade energy, but they quickly dodged it.
"Can you think of any plans to defeat it?" asked Souei.
"I think so, but we would need to stall it long enough." said Rukia.
"As you wish." said Souei before creating several clones, with which he launched himself towards the humanoid bull.
"No matter how many of you there are, I will defeat you all." said Kailung before he set about fighting Souei and the clones, producing clashing sounds from the weapons.
Meanwhile, Rukia jabbed her zanpakuto at four points in a semicircular line in front of her.
Ice particles were emitted from those punctured areas as Rukia took position.
"Mr. Souei, step aside!" exclaimed Rukia.
Hearing that, both Souei and his clones quickly moved out of the way, much to Kailung's confusion and before he could find out more…
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" shouted Rukia releasing a great rush of cold air that enveloped the humanoid bull and the street, resulting in everything being frozen.
Rukia breathed heavily due to the effort put in, as her strength was reduced by the dome.
Suddenly, cracking sounds were heard and to her horror, she saw cracks forming in the icy structure that had Kailung imprisoned, who broke free completely along with a cry of exertion before looking at the vice-captain angrily.
"You're going to need more than that to defeat me." said Kailung.
"Something like this?" asked Souei before releasing strands that wrapped around Kailung.
"Heh. Really? Again with this? You know they won't be able to hold me." said Kailung with a cocky grin.
"I don't intend to hold you back, I intend to do this." said Souei before giving a sharp tug.
That caused Kailung to be swung like a ball on a chain and Souei went into a full spin as he made Kailung crawl across the frozen buildings, smashing them in the process while he was beaten relentlessly.
By the time Souei finished the full spin, he lifted the humanoid bull high and with a final tug, sent him forcefully to the ground.
Soon after, Kailung stood up with an angry look on his face.
"You're starting to piss me off!" said Kailung.
"Then we're doing our job right!" said Souei.
"You're going to pay for this!" began Kailung picking up his jade swords. "Hisui no Mou Kougeki!" shouted Kailung waving his jade swords, launching jade colored energy missiles at them which they quickly dodged.
Kailung went on to launch energy missiles non-stop, causing explosions all over the area as they scrambled back and forth to dodge them.
"If we keep this up, it will destroy the whole city." said Souei.
"In that case, we'll have to stop it now." began Rukia before pointing her index finger at the humanoid bull. "Bakudo #61: Rikujokoro!" shouted Rukia causing six slabs of light to spike around Kailung, bringing him to a complete stop.
"But what…?" asked Kailung before noticing a flash in front of him, only to be horrified when he saw Rukia charging energy into her index and middle fingers.
"Hado #73: Soren Sokatsui!" shouted Rukia making a thrusting motion with her palms, releasing a huge beam of energy that enveloped the humanoid bull as it continued to travel further.
Soon after, the beam dissipated and the area was seen completely shattered by the attack, with Kailung lying on the ground.
Rukia breathed heavily before leaning forward, having to use her zanpakuto for support to keep from falling.
"Are you okay? That attack must have cost a lot of energy." said Souei.
"It… It did, but it will have been worth it if with that…" began Rukia before suddenly Kailung stood up with a cry of rage and throwing his two jade swords towards them.
Souei reacted quickly by using his two swords to repel the jade swords.
"How could you possibly have so much power?!" asked Kailung.
"I'm not a vice-captain only because of my wit and skill." began Rukia rising to her full height. "Even if you have that dome, you won't defeat us so easily."
"That's right. And if you can't beat us, you'll never be able to beat your captains." said Souei.
"You think so? Is that really what you think?! Very well. You wanted it." said Kailung.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Souei having a bad feeling.
"Something I only had in store for my former captain, but I see that, first, I'll try it on you." said Kailung before retrieving his jade swords and clashing them together loudly, causing a flash of jade color so big that Rukia and Souei had to cover their eyes.
"Now do you understand? Thanks to my dome, you will become so weak that it will be like crushing insects. Hahaha." said Kasumi laughing mischievously.
"AAHH!" shouted Shion in pure rage as she quickly lunged towards her with her fist recoiled. "I'll kill you!" exclaimed Shion throwing her fist forward.
"Bakudo #8: Seki!" shouted Kasumi creating on the back of her hand a sphere of energy that received the impact of Shion's punch, who was sent back with so much force that she impacted against a wall.
"Shion!" exclaimed Orihime with concern.
"Hado #33: Sokatsui!" shouted Kasumi pointing her hand forward, from which she shot a huge beam of energy.
"Santen Kesshun!" shouted Orihime raising a barrier that blocked the attack, but the power caused it to slide back a bit and after the attack and the barrier were undone. "Koten Zanshun!" shouted Orihime causing one of her fairies to dive towards the kido expert like an energy knife.
"Bakudo #81: Danku!" shouted Kasumi creating a transparent barrier in front of her that blocked the attack completely.
Even though her attack had been blocked, Orihime took that moment to go after the kijin woman, who was getting up with a groan.
"Shion, are you okay?" asked Orihime.
"I will be… as soon as I'm done with her." said Shion angrily and intending to throw herself into the fight again.
"Don't. That's what she wants. You must control yourself or you could end up badly." said Orihime hoping to convince her.
Shion was pissed, as what Kasumi was doing with her dome and personality was bringing back horrible memories from the past, but Orihime was right.
She had to keep her mind focused and cool to be able to fight someone who was well specialized in offensive and defensive spells.
So she closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them.
"I'm sorry. It's just that she reminds me of someone I deeply hate even though he is no longer among us." said Shion.
Orihime didn't know who she was talking about, but from the way she said it, he reminded her a bit of Aizen, Tsukishima and Ginjo, people who did very horrible things.
"I understand." said Orihime.
"Hey, if you're going to talk, let it be when you're dead. Hado #31: Shakkaho!" shouted Kasumi shooting a sphere of energy from her hand.
"Santen Kesshun!" shouted Orihime raising a barrier that blocked the attack completely.
"Orihime, try to distract her while I approach her." said Shion.
"Understood." began Orihime before undoing the barrier. "Koten Zanshun!" shouted Orihime causing one of her fairies to dart towards Kasumi.
"That trick again?" asked Kasumi with an evil grin before pointing a finger at the incoming attack. "Hado #1: Sho!" shouted Kasumi shooting an energy bullet from her finger that impacted against the opposing attack, knocking it down in the process. "Ha. Now you're so weak that I only need the weakest attack I have to stop you."
"You're wrong. That attack only gets stronger the more I want to defeat you" said Orihime with a serious expression.
"Oh yeah? Is it that you don't feel like fighting me anymore?" asked Kasumi.
"No, just distracting you." said Orihime.
"What?" asked Kasumi before sensing something incoming and turning her gaze to the side, only to be horrified when she saw Shion very close to her and with his fist heading towards her quickly. "El Escudo!" shouted Kasumi being able to raise a green barrier on her arm that blocked the blow completely.
"I won't let you use such a trick on the people of this city." said Shion as she applied more force in hopes of breaking the barrier.
"Grrr. What does that matter to me?" asked Kasumi before creating a transparent bluish-white energy rod in her hand, something that made Shion's eyes widen in surprise as he sensed she was going to do something and quickly backed away. "Bakudo #62: Hyapporankan!" shouted Kasumi throwing the rod which multiplied into many more.
Shion had to quickly escape from the drop zone, avoiding the many rods that stuck into a wall like pins.
Before she went to attack again, Kasumi clasped her hands together, causing five small yellow orbs with thin tails to emerge from between her interlocked hands and rise above her head before forming a five-point circle and then raising her interlocked hands above her head.
"Bakudo #75: Gochutekkan!" shouted Kasumi slamming her interlocked hands downwards sending the orbs to the ground which caused a bright light to generate in the sky above Shion and that's when five tall thick pillars connected to each other by chains fell on the kijin woman who let out a gasp as the pillars knocked her to the ground while holding her down.
"Let's see if you can escape this now with your monstrous strength" began Kasumi before charging energy into her index and middle fingers. "Hado #73: Soren Sokatsui!" shouted Kasumi making a thrusting motion with her palms, releasing a huge beam of energy.
Shion was aghast at the thought of that being the end of her when suddenly Orihime stepped in the middle.
"Shiten Koshun!" shouted Orihime creating a triangular barrier composed of three triangles.
The beam directly hit the barrier and stayed that way until then, it flew back towards Kasumi, who was shocked by it and couldn't react before the beam completely enveloped her as she screamed.
By the time the beam dissipated, the street could be seen completely destroyed and Kasumi lying on the ground.
Orihime thought for a moment that it was all over, but then, a loud groan was heard and she was surprised to see Kasumi get up with little difficulty and a groan of effort and pain.
"You… What the hell have you done?!" asked Kasumi angrily.
"I won't let you hurt MY FRIEND!" said Orihime.
"Orihime?" asked Shion surprised to hear that despite the pain she was feeling from the weight of the pillars.
"Friend? Take a good look at her! She's not a human, she's a monster!" said Kasumi.
"What does it matter that she's a monster? She's no different from you and me! So don't even think of teasing her!" declared Orihime.
"Tsk. Very well. Do you love her so much that you're willing to die for her? I'll grant you your wish. Hado #31: Shakkaho!" shouted Kasumi shooting a sphere of energy from her hand.
"Shiten Koshun!" shouted Orihime creating a triangular barrier composed of three triangles.
The energy sphere impacted against the barrier before being thrown back.
Kasumi quickly stepped aside to avoid it, causing it to impact a building behind her, causing an explosion in the process.
"I get it. That barrier works like a mirror that returns physical and non-physical attacks, but let's see if it can return this" began Kasumi before drawing a red colored symbol in the air. "Bakudo #9: Geki!" shouted Kasumi as her body was enveloped in a red aura.
Orihime let out a gasp as a red aura enveloped her, paralyzing her in the process, causing the barrier to melt away.
Kasumi held her pose as she slowly moved towards Orihime who was groaning from the effort of trying to free herself from the paralysis.
Finally, Kasumi approached her and undid the paralyzing aura, but before Orihime could react, Kasumi grabbed her by the neck tightly and lifted her high.
"This isn't the way things were supposed to be, you know? We were supposed to bring absolute justice over the rotten Soul Society system to create a new and fair one for everyone, but you had to interfere and because of that, we ended up in this world! Now we have been forced to do this so that we can come back and fulfill our ambition! So, if we are doing this, if anyone gets hurt or killed from all this, it won't be our fault, but yours AND YOURS ALONE!" exclaimed Kasumi tightening her grip on the young woman's neck who gasped for air as she kicked her legs and tried to break free.
It seemed that life was going to be completely extinguished from her to the point where Orihime let out a couple of tears at the thought of it being the end of her.
Suddenly, the pillars holding Shion began to shake, something that caught the kido expert's attention.
"What?" asked Kasumi loosening her grip a bit as she turned her gaze towards the kijin woman who was trying to get up despite the pillars. "Stupid beast. Do you really think you can lift that in your state? With your current strength, you shouldn't be able to."
"You…"
"I what?" asked Kasumi in confusion.
"LET GO OF MY FRIEND!" shouted Shion suddenly getting up and knocking the pillars off of her.
Kasumi was so in shock from seeing something she considered impossible that she didn't react when Shion threw a punch towards her, hitting her full in the face and throwing her away, causing her to let go of Orihime in the process, who fell to the ground, but before she made contact, Shion caught her in her arms.
"Orihime, are you okay?" asked Shion with concern.
Orihime coughed a little before opening her eyes with a small smile.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for saving me." said Orihime.
"You're welcome." said Shion before leaving Orihime standing.
Looking ahead, the two saw Kasumi get up while holding her face due to the pain caused by the punch from earlier.
"What are you supposed to be doing?!" asked Kasumi.
"Protecting my friend. That's what I'm doing." said Shion.
"Didn't you hear me?! This is all their fault!" exclaimed Kasumi pointing at Orihime. "The reason we're doing this is because of her! You shouldn't be protecting her!"
"While it's true what you say, there is a clear difference between her and you. And that is that I know Orihime would never hurt anyone for any reason other than to protect others!" said Shion.
"Shion." said Orihime impressed by the kijin woman's words.
"Grrr. Damn you all of you. I'm going to…" began Kasumi before…
"KASUMI!"
The three were startled when they heard a loud shout in the distance.
"Was that… Bulu?" asked Kasumi confused by her partner's call.
It was then that she noticed the flare fired by Vighor and the jade green glow caused by Kailung.
Those three things were enough for Kasumi to know what they were saying or rather, what they were asking for.
"Tsk. You stupid. Look at making me do all the work." said Kasumi before giving herself a small cut on her finger from which blood came out which she used to draw some symbols on her arms, her hands and on the ground.
Afterwards, Kasumi extended her palms to the front, generating a glowing rectangular box to then, perform several hand movements to create several extensions in the air like roots connected to the glowing rectangle.
"Bakudo #77: Tenteikura!" shouted Kasumi placing her hands on the rectangle, causing the root-like extensions to glow and create a web extending from the rectangle.
While Shion was confused by it, Orihime was worried, as she knew what spell that was.
"So… a dome that absorbs the opponents' energy, either magic or reiryoku, right?" asked Uryu adjusting his glasses.
"That's right. Personally, I would have preferred to attack under cover of night to make this easier, but Alostrol preferred not to, since, according to him, we aren't assassins." said Ruhood.
"Hard to believe for someone who wants to kill an entire city." said Benimaru angrily.
"Those were his words, not mine. Anyway, as much fun as it is to fight you, I'm afraid this won't last long, as your forces are being whittled down as we speak." said Ruhood.
"Then we'll just have to defeat you before we get any weaker." said Benimaru readying his sword wreathed in black fire.
"I am of the same opinion and since you have revealed your strategy to us, I will have to get more serious." said Uryu taking from his belt a metallic and elongated object.
Activating it revealed a sharp energy blade, much to the surprise of the red-haired kijin and the evil shinigami.
"Oh, so you had that on you, did you?" asked Ruhood.
"What is that thing?" asked Benimaru.
"This, my good friend, is a Seele Schneider. The quincy's only sharp weapon." explained Uryu.
"I am honored that you are going to use that against me." said Ruhood with a smile.
"You shouldn't, because… I swear on my quincy honor… I'll kill you." said Uryu.
"Heh. Not if I kill him first, so see to it you use that thing right." said Benimaru.
"Stop calling my Seele Schneider 'thing'." said Uryu slightly annoyed, as that comment reminded him of that arrancar that accompanied him on his entrance into Las Noches.
"Enough talk." began Ruhood before positioning himself. "Ya no ame!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow into the sky that exploded into several that fell to the ground like rainwater.
Uryu and Benimaru quickly moved away from the impact zone, but soon after, Ruhood used shunpo to appear next to the quincy.
"Ya no ame!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow into the sky that exploded into several, but Uryu used his sharp weapon to shield himself from the incoming arrows before lunging towards him in an attempt to cut him down.
Ruhood planned to back away, but then, he felt Benimaru approaching from behind with his fire sword ready to strike, so he had to use shunpo before they both cut him down with their weapons.
Suddenly, they both looked up to see Ruhood above them.
"Ya no ame!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow into the sky that exploded into several.
Reacting quickly, Benimaru shot a huge blast of black fire that hit the incoming arrows, causing an explosion.
Ruhood was about to make his next move when Uryu appeared at his side to try to slash him with his sharp weapon, but Ruhood used to escape before appearing elsewhere.
"Hokuinpakuto!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow that took the shape of a hawk and flew quickly towards the quincy, who saw it coming and used his sharp weapon to cut it down, undoing it in the process, much to the surprise of the evil shinigami.
It was then that Benimaru appeared at his side and tried to slash him with her sword, but he moved out of the way by shunpo to appear elsewhere.
"Daburuinpakuto!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow that hit the red-haired kijin from behind, causing him to stumble a bit before turning around to face him.
"I still have enough strength to withstand your arrows." said Benimaru.
"You're wrong. That attack is only weak the first time, but on the second…" began Ruhood before snapping his fingers.
That caused a strong explosion to occur in Benimaru's back, where the arrow hit the first time.
Despite the explosion, Benimaru was able to stand.
"You bastard." said Benimaru gritting his teeth in frustration.
"You can look at me like that all you want, I don't regret what I've done." said Ruhood with a small smile.
With a small battle groan, Benimaru shot a blast of black fire that Ruhood avoided with shunpo, but the next instant after appearing elsewhere, Uryu appeared next to him and tried to slash him with his sharp weapon, but Ruhood moved back and forth to avoid it before using shunpo to escape and appear behind him.
"Hokuinpakuto!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow that took the shape of a hawk and flew quickly towards him.
Uryu swung his weapon to slash it as before, but then, the hawk quickly moved to dodge the weapon, much to the quincy's surprise, who couldn't stop the attack from hitting him full on and before he could react…
"Daburuinpakuto!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow that hit Uryu's shoulder, making him groan from the pain just before Ruhood snapped his fingers, causing a loud explosion to occur in the said shoulder, making Uryu scream in pain as his clothes were partially destroyed by the explosion and the next instant, Ruhood lunged towards him and kicked him in the chest that knocked him to the ground.
"Hadn't you said you would kill me for your quincy honor? I see it wasn't that big of a deal." said Ruhood mockingly.
"Damn you!" began Uryu as he stood up. "Not only do you mock the honor of the quincy, but you've smashed my uniform! Do you know what it will cost to repair this?" asked Uryu very angrily.
"Does that really concern you now?" asked Benimaru with a bead of sweat.
"Well, in that case, let me fix that by making sure you die with what's left. Hokuinpakuto!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow that took the shape of a hawk.
Reacting quickly, Benimaru launched a huge wave of black fire that impacted against the hawk arrow, exploding both attacks in the process.
However, in the next instant, Ruhood appeared elsewhere.
"Daburuinpakuto!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow for each, hitting them directly.
Soon after, Ruhood used shunpo to appear above them.
"Ya no ame!" shouted Ruhood firing an arrow that burst into several.
Uryu and Benimaru were about to move out of the way, but then, Ruhood snapped his fingers, causing the effect of his previous attack to happen and an explosion happened on each of them, which made them unable to avoid the shower of arrows in time which caused a bigger and more powerful explosion.
By the time the smoke caused by the explosion cleared, Benimaru and Uryu were seen quite injured, but still standing.
"Ugh. We need a strategy to beat him." said Benimaru.
"I might have one, but I need you to distract him long enough." said Uryu.
"Okay, but if anything happens to me, you'll get the blame." said Benimaru.
"I'll be able to handle it." said Uryu.
"Personally, I'd rather get it over with now, but I can go on a little longer if you want me to." said Ruhood.
"Not at all. I want to end this too." began Benimaru before wrapping his sword in black fire. "And I will do it right now." said Benimaru before lunging towards the evil shinigami.
Benimaru threw non-stop slashes with his sword, but Ruhood kept moving quickly to dodge the attacks.
Ruhood moved away from him and readied his bow.
"Hokuinpakuto!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow that took the shape of a hawk.
Benimaru dodged the hawk arrow, but then, he noticed it was coming back at him.
It was then that an idea occurred to him, so he charged towards Ruhood, to his confusion and before he could realize it, Benimaru approached him, grabbed him and threw him directly towards the hawk arrow, which couldn't deflect and ended up hitting its launcher.
After Ruhood recovered from the damage he took from his own attack, Benimaru set about throwing waves of fire with his sword.
"Ya no ame!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow that burst into several that impacted against the fire waves, destroying them all in the process, generating a smoke screen.
Suddenly, a powerful blast of black fire shot out of the smoke and Ruhood had to use shunpo to avoid it, although part of his uniform came to burn, so he had to tear off the burnt piece to prevent the fire from spreading.
Soon after, he saw Benimaru walking towards him with a monotonous look on his face.
"Daburuinpakuto!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow, but Benimaru shattered it with a single sword strike, much to the evil shinigami's surprise. "What? No way. Your strength was supposed to be pretty reduced by now."
"It's not like he's stronger…"
Turning around, Ruhood was surprised to see Uryu with his Seele Schneider, whose glow was brighter than before.
"But that you're weaker." said Uryu.
"Impossible. That shouldn't happen." said Ruhood.
"If you know about this weapon, then, you should know its true nature, right?" asked Uryu.
That made Ruhood's eyes widen at the realization.
"From the moment it is activated, the Seele Schneider is absorbing the reishi from the opponent's attacks. The more it absorbs, the weaker your attacks become while I become stronger." said Uryu.
"Tsk." expressed Ruhood in frustration for not realizing this earlier.
"Ha. Now what does it feel like when they do that to you, huh?" asked Benimaru with a toothy grin.
"Hmm. I admit that caught me off guard." began Ruhood adjusting his glasses. "However, that won't stop me until I've killed you both. I still have the advantage of the weapon."
"Here's another thing you don't seem to know about the Seele Schneider. Actually and though it looks like it, it's not a sword." began Uryu before readying his bow, with the sharpened weapon being used as an arrow. "But an arrow."
Before Ruhood could react, Uryu shot the arrow which traveled so fast that Ruhood didn't have time to dodge it, causing the arrow to stick in his shoulder, making him scream in pain.
Ruhood brought his hand to the wound caused by the arrow before glaring angrily at the quincy.
"A single wound won't stop me." said Ruhood as he gritted his teeth from pain and anger.
"You're right. That may not." began Uryu before pulling out another Seele Schneider which he activated. "But this does." said Uryu before stabbing the weapon into the ground.
That caused a line of energy to form from the stuck weapon to an energy platform below Ruhood, as well as four other lines of energy going from that platform to other Seele Schneider stuck in a position that caused the energy lines to form a pentagon.
Ruhood was horrified to see that and tried to escape, but, for some reason, he couldn't get away, as if he was stuck to the ground.
"Sprenger!" shouted Uryu with a small container in his hand, from which he poured a small drop to the Seele Schneider he had stuck.
In the next instant, energy erupted from the weapons, traveled to the lines and then to Ruhood, who screamed before a massive geyser of energy erupted beneath him, enveloping him completely as he continued to scream.
The energy geyser continued to shoot and spread out to cover the pentagon completely and a couple of seconds later, the geyser exploded.
By the time it was all over, the area had been completely shattered.
Needless to say, Benimaru was amazed at the power displayed in that.
"Wow. What an attack. Why didn't you use that when you faced Souei?" asked Benimaru remembering the fight between the quincy and the kijin ninja.
"In order to perform this attack, I needed time to prepare everything and without the opponent noticing." began Uryu before adjusting his glasses. "With someone like Mr. Souei, it would have been impossible."
"That I won't doubt." said Benimaru knowing what his friend was capable of.
Suddenly, they both felt something incoming and quickly dodged out of the way to dodge an energy arrow that caused an explosion as it hit a building across the street.
Looking ahead, the two were shocked to see Ruhood standing with his bow, but he looked badly hurt from that attack and was breathing heavily.
"This isn't over yet. Not until one of the two sides falls." said Ruhood.
"In that case, it will clearly be ours given the state you're in now." said Benimaru.
"That may be, but I…" began Ruhood before his eyes widened like saucers then he chuckled lightly with a smile.
"What's wrong? What's so funny?" asked Uryu.
"Oh, it's just that you're about to regret running into me out of all of us." said Ruhood, confusing the quincy and the red-haired kijin.
"Rimuru, I know you trust your friends downstairs, but if we want to take that one down, we need to take this bastard down as soon as possible." said Ichigo.
"You read my mind, Ichigo." said Rimuru.
"It's admirable that, despite the dome and the hollows on the loose, you still want to fight me. I wish the other shinigami were like you. That way, things would have turned out differently." said Alostrol.
"Save the speech for anyone who cares. Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy.
"Kami no Shouheki!" shouted Alostrol using his scepter to create a barrier that blocked the attack completely. "Thanks to the dome, your attacks are less powerful than before."
"Then, we'll have to stop holding back." said Rimuru before launching a huge black lightning towards the evil shinigami.
Alostrol placed his barrier to block Rimuru's attack, but then, Ichigo used shunpo to position himself behind him and attack him.
However, Alostrol increased the barrier to protect him from behind, but still, Ichigo didn't give up and kept hitting the barrier without stopping in an attempt to destroy it.
A while later, just as Ichigo prepared to strike the barrier again, Alostrol undid the barrier and blocked Ichigo's sword with his scepter.
As the two were in a thrusting duel, Alostrol sensed something incoming and turned his head slightly to see Rimuru lunging towards him with his sword ready to strike.
Unfortunately, Alostrol used shunpo to quickly disappear, causing Rimuru to dive straight towards Ichigo.
Both of their eyes widened in horror before Rimuru immediately stopped to avoid making a terrible mistake, but then, they both looked up to see Alostrol with his rings around him.
"Jouka-Dan!" shouted Alostrol shooting energy bullets from said rings, hitting them directly and enveloping them in a smokescreen.
Alostrol braced himself in case any of them lunged towards him and so it was when he saw Ichigo, a bit hurt from the attack, emerge from the smoke and flying quickly towards him with his sword at the ready.
Alostrol positioned himself to block the attack with his scepter when, at the moment Ichigo was very close to him.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy.
Due to how close he launched the attack, Alostrol didn't expect that and ended up receiving the attack directly, being pushed backwards.
Before he could fully recover, Rimuru appeared next to him and launched a cutting water wave that hit him directly, creating a gash on his chest in the process, making him scream in pain.
"What did you say before about not being powerful?" asked Ichigo.
"You're finished, Alostrol. If you don't want us to continue until we tear you to pieces, you'd better surrender immediately." said Rimuru pointing the sword at him.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not giving up. Unlike you, I have divine power on my side. Kiseki no Iyashi!" shouted Alostrol as he was enveloped in a white aura.
To Ichigo and Rimuru's surprise, the wounds Alostrol had started to slowly disappear, even the gash wound on his chest was fading to the point where it seemed like it never happened.
"As long as I have these divine gifts, I will never be defeated just as our cause will never die." said Alostrol.
"Damn it. Look at he has that kind of trick up his sleeve." said Ichigo annoyed by the fact that his opponent had potent healing abilities.
"Don't despair, Ichigo. Even if he has that ability, we have to continue." said Rimuru.
"But how are we going to beat a guy who can heal even if we seriously hurt him?" asked Ichigo.
"We'll figure out the way. Until then, let's keep going." said Rimuru before shooting several icicles like bullets.
"Jouka-Dan!" shouted Alostrol shooting from his rings energy bullets in a rapid fashion.
Both attacks collided with each other, causing several explosions.
Despite his little doubts about it, Ichigo wasn't going to let Alostrol and his kind continue committing mischief, so, with a determined look, he grabbed his zanpakuto and used shunpo to quickly disappear.
While Alostrol was shooting energy bullets with his rings, Ichigo appeared next to him and tried to attack him with his sword, but Alostrol, even though he was with his ranged attack, used his scepter to block the incoming attack.
It was then that he made one of the rings spin towards him, so he shot an energy bullet at Ichigo, who was sent backwards in the process.
By then, Rimuru realized this and stopped shooting icicles, so he had to step aside to avoid the energy bullets from the other rings, but then, Alostrol appeared at his side via shunpo and hit him with his scepter hard, sending him to the side.
"Do you still not understand? These gifts I have are a divine blessing. It is a sign that I am destined to lead my followers to a better society for all." said Alostrol.
"You sound just like a lunatic cult leader." said Ichigo.
"That's right. Just because you have purifying and healing powers, doesn't make you the chosen one." said Rimuru.
"Funny. That's what the captain-commander told me the day I told him about my ambition, but he, like all of you, was wrong. Do we have to wait until the gods or the Soul King himself comes to help us? No. We must act on our own." said Alostrol.
"It's true that sometimes, we shouldn't wait for luck to smile on us." began Ichigo remembering when he was without powers and didn't know whether or not to wait for some solution. "But that doesn't mean we should follow a path that results in the death of many just for an absurd dream."
Rimuru had brief memories of when he killed the entire army of Falmuth's kingdom, but as cruel as it may have seemed to many, he wouldn't regret it, for because of that, he was able to bring back his loved ones.
"Do you think that changing the Soul Society for a better one is absurd? Don't you know how corrupt and rotten their 2000 year old system is that has only caused misfortune to many?" asked Alostrol.
"That doesn't give you the right to kill innocents just because they disagree with you. Your goal is the right one, but the path to achieve it isn't at all. Even if you overcame that path, you wouldn't achieve your goal no matter how much you desire it." said Rimuru.
"That you will never know… because you will no longer be here to see it! Jouka-Dan!" shouted Alostrol shooting energy bullets from his rings like a machine gun.
Ichigo and Rimuru set about dodging the bullets as they quickly advanced towards the evil shinigami and when they reached him, they intended to hit him with their swords, but then…
"Kami no Shouheki!" shouted Alostrol activating a barrier with his scepter to block both attacks.
Seeing that they weren't going to be able to break through the barrier, Ichigo and Rimuru stepped back as Alostrol undid the barrier.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy.
Alostrol was about to perform his defensive technique when suddenly several threads wrapped around the arm holding the scepter and pulled him back.
Turning his head quickly to see Rimuru with the threads connected to his hand.
"Without the scepter, you won't be able to protect yourself at all." said Rimuru.
Alostrol was horrified by this before seeing Ichigo's attack head towards him just before it hit him directly in an explosion of smoke.
When the smoke cleared, Alostrol was seen slightly hurt.
"Damn heathens!" began Alostrol before readying his rings. "Jouka...!"
However, at the last second, Rimuru appeared in front of him with his hand outstretched, from which a yellowish green gas came out.
Alostrol was shocked when he saw that he couldn't move at all.
"What… What have you done?" asked Alostrol.
"Something that will make you stand still for a moment and while we're at it…" began Rimuru before wrapping his fist in black lightnings. "This is for releasing hollows in my city!" exclaimed Rimuru before punching the evil shinigami hard in the chest.
Due to the lightnings added to the blow, there was a loud explosion that sent Alostrol far backwards before he could stop himself, revealing that his kimono was partially destroyed with some wounds on his body.
Alostrol breathed heavily for a few seconds before looking angrily at the substitute shinigami and the human slime.
"Are you really going to follow that path? A path that will lead you to fight true salvation?" asked Alostrol.
"Screw your salvation. If that path leads us to protect innocents from guys like you, I'll gladly take it." said Ichigo.
"Even if our forces are reduced by your dome, we'll keep fighting with everything we've got." said Rimuru.
"As you wish. Kiseki no Iyashi!" shouted Alostrol as he was enveloped in a white aura that healed all his wounds. "I won't rest until our goal has been accomplished and then…"
"Alostrol!"
"Mmm? Kasumi? What's wrong? Why are you using this communication spell?" asked Alostrol.
"The others have sent their signals. They want me to activate that." said Kasumi.
"I see. Then they must be in trouble if they want to resort to just that." thought Alostrol.
"What do I do then?" asked Kasumi.
"Do it." thought Alostrol.
"Are you sure?" asked Kasumi.
"Of course. Let's show them what we're really capable of when they push us to our limits." said Alostrol.
An evil grin formed on Kasumi's face when she heard her leader's response.
"Understood." said Kasumi before undoing the communication spell.
"What were you talking about? What's that thing you were talking about?" asked Orihime.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just something that will allow us to tear you and this whole city apart." said Kasumi.
"What?" asked Shion.
Before anyone could ask anything else, Kasumi whipped around gesturing with her hands before clasping them together tightly.
"Enhansa!" shouted Kasumi raising her hands to the sky.
That caused the dome to glow briefly before exploding into pieces that accumulated in six different spots, something everyone noticed.
"What's going on?" asked Geld.
"You see, it turns out that Kasumi's dome does more than just absorb other people's energy." said Bulu.
"What do you mean?" asked Renji.
"Did you think that was their only function? Dealing with captains of divisions and the captain-commander, we had many strategies to use." said Vighor.
"But now, you have forced us to use this strategy that we didn't plan to use until our battle against the Soul Society." said Kailung.
"So, feel honored that we are going to use it against you." said Ruhood adjusting his glasses.
"What does that strategy consist of?" asked Rimuru.
"It consists… in transferring all the absorbed energy to us. Giving us power beyond unmatched." said Alostrol.
They were all shocked to discover that they were now going to get more power than before, which would make things much more difficult.
Before they could even try to stop them, energy beams shot out from the six points where the pieces of the dome were accumulating, hitting the members of the revolutionary group.
"Now… Witness your end!" exclaimed Kasumi.
"BA…" began Alostrol.
"…N…" continued Ruhood.
"…B…" continued Kailung.
"…A…" continued Vighor.
"…I!" finished Bulu.
The next moment, strong explosions of energy occurred in the areas where the fighting was taking place.
In Bulu's case, his weapon had become a mixture of hammer and spear, with the spear tip protruding from the hammer emitting electric sparks.
"Sutomubasutahanma!" shouted Bulu.
In Vighor's case, his two axes had become one, but of a larger size, with a crescent moon-shaped blade, two spearheads at the top and back from where the axe-blade protruded, and a golden semicircular guard with four golden tips.
"Baikingu-o!" shouted Vighor.
In Kailung's case, instead of his weapons transforming, a sort of giant minotaur made of jade with armor and two swords similar to those of the humanoid bull came out of the ground behind him and rose to its full height.
"Hisui no Togyu!" shouted Kailung.
In Kasumi's case, her body was surrounded by a reddish orange aura while her hair was rising as if the wind was pushing her upwards, plus her eyes had turned white.
"Zettai-Tekina Chikara!" shouted Kasumi.
In Ruhood's case, his bow transformed into one with four sides, like two arches fused together in the shape of a cross.
"Sunaipa!" shouted Ruhood.
In Alostrol's case, his scepter was gone and all that remained were the rings floating around him.
"Shinkan-Cho!" shouted Alostrol.
Everyone was amazed, not only by the appearance of their weapons, but also by the enormous power they were emitting.
The battle had definitely become much more complicated than they had imagined.
AN: How have I been doing with the fights?
I hope I did well.
If you have any comments, feel free to let me know.
For the next chapter, we are in for the end of these battles, so wait and see what will happen.