Farewell to the Saints!

Chapter 196 Farewell to the Saints!

On the open ground in front of the First Squad's barracks, the captains' faces were all grim.

Huizi's words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, creating far more than just ripples.

The Quincy have never died out. They have lain dormant in the shadows of the Soul Society for a thousand years, accumulating power far greater than that of the Gotei 13!

Just hearing this sent chills down the spines of every team leader present.

When Keiko uttered the name "Yohabach," the veins on the back of Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's hand bulged as he gripped Ryujin Jakka tightly.

"Yhwach—" Yamamoto repeated the name, his voice low and rumbling like distant thunder: "He's still alive—and—he's even in the shadow of the Soul Society?! Utterly—outrageously arrogant!"

"Now is not the time to assign blame." Keiko's voice drew everyone's attention back: "Souya Azajo's Rain and Dew Pomegranate has completely merged with the Holy Script Spread. He is synchronizing the Deep Sea Contract imprinted on his body to every individual whose spiritual particles have merged with his through the spiritual particles scattered throughout every corner of the Soul Society."

"The five-pointed star badges on the bodies of those fallen soldiers are only the first step; the abyss marks on their arms are the second stage."

"Once the mark is fully solidified, they will become Yhwach's knights of God, possessing an air-like, immortal body similar to Sōya Azajo: and absolute loyalty to Yhwach. At that time, you will not be facing Quincy: but your former subordinates."

"Is it too late?" Ukitake struggled to sit up from Rukia's back, his pale face filled with anxiety. "Rukia, put me down, we have to go—"

His words were interrupted by a sudden scream.

The scream came from a young soldier who had fallen to the ground not far away!

His eyes remained empty, but the abyss mark on his arm began to emit a dark red glow!

The light moved across his skin like a living thing, and with each pulse, his body convulsed violently!

Immediately afterwards, the second, third, and fourth team members—all the fallen team members—began to convulse at the same moment. The five-pointed star emblem on their chests and the abyss mark on their arms glowed in sync, and the two light patterns intertwined on their bodies to form a twisted net that enveloped their entire bodies!

Then, spiritual pressure began to surge from their bodies!

The spiritual pressure seemed to have been forcibly extracted by some external force!

"This is—" Soi Fon's pupils shrank sharply.

"Saint," Keiko said, her brows furrowing slightly.

It seems she wasn't ruthless enough.

She thought Yhwach wanted to use the Gotei 13 soldiers to oppose the captain, making them unable to bring themselves to do it.

But Yhwach went straight for the Saint!

Moreover, this sanctification is different from the past.

Instead of beams of light descending from the sky, countless tiny black tentacles seeped from the abyssal marks within the soldiers' bodies!

These tentacles crawled out from the marks on their arms, swaying and searching in the air, before suddenly plunging into their chests!

"Yohabach hasn't fully recovered his power yet." Keiko looked at the tentacles and explained to everyone in a very fast voice, "Under normal circumstances, it should be several more years before he reaches the nine-year mark of fully recovering his power, and only then can he activate Athena."

"But it's clear now that he can't wait any longer."

Keiko observed the unusual phenomena on the team members and quickly began to think.

Yhwach possesses the power to seize, but he will need nine years after regaining his power to use Sanctification.

Correct.

However, by fusing with Im and utilizing Im's abyssal power, he made up for this deficiency.

Using the deep-sea contracts on these team members as anchors, he launched an unconventional act of sanctification.

After all, Im can also grant power to others and then take it back.

In some ways, the two of them are quite similar.

Fortunately, this was not a true mark of holiness, but a false mark spread by Souya Mochishiro using his abilities.

Otherwise, none of these thousands of Death Gods will survive!

As she thought of this, the black tentacles that emerged from the abyss tensed up simultaneously.

The next second, countless thin streams of light were forcibly extracted from the soldiers' bodies, flowing upstream along their tentacles and disappearing into an invisible coordinate in the void!

That stream of light was spiritual pressure!

The pure spiritual power that these Grim Reapers had honed and accumulated day after day was forcibly taken away by Yhwach at this moment!

The members whose spiritual pressure had been drained let out a short, mournful wail at the same time, their bodies falling back to the ground like puppets with broken strings!

The emptiness in their eyes disappeared, replaced by extreme weakness and bewilderment!

A few people with strong will struggled to get up, but they collapsed again as soon as they managed to prop themselves up.

"Damn it!" The captains tried to stop it in their own way, but there was nothing they could do. They could only watch helplessly as Yhwach took away the spiritual pressure of their own members!

"Nearly 70% of the spiritual pressure has been drained." Mayuri Kurotsuchi squatted down next to one of the team members and scanned the other's body with a simple detector he carried with him.

His voice was filled with a twisted fanaticism: "Interesting! Absolutely fascinating! To be able to remotely steal a person's spiritual pressure in such a way!"

His words were a bit too beastly, after all, those whose spiritual pressure was taken away were their subordinates, but Mayuri Kurotsuchi showed no regret at all, his eyes only filled with a fanatical desire to understand the unknown.

However, everyone knew who he was, so they ignored him.

"This is going to be troublesome." Keiko looked at the fallen soldiers, her tone calm but chilling: "His Saint Seiya has released such a huge spiritual pressure, which will probably greatly accelerate his recovery."

The team leaders remained silent.

Their anger did not diminish in the slightest; on the contrary, their growing anger rendered them speechless!

Keiko looked at Aizen and noticed that Aizen was also frowning slightly.

Yes, Aizen didn't use his "I want to stand in the sky" move at this time; he was still the captain of the Fifth Division.

But it's clear that Yhwach's sudden move caught him off guard.

But he and Keiko hadn't completely overlooked similar possibilities.

How should I put it?

When everyone knows you have more than ten years to fully recover, then those ten years—

That could be the biggest trap!

Aizen and Keiko were not entirely without warning of Yhwach's actions.

However, using this method was indeed somewhat unexpected.

Shifting perspective from Aizen's, Keiko looked up again at this moment and said softly, "They've arrived."

The next moment, another force descended!

That force came without warning.

The tentacles didn't emerge from the bodies of the fallen soldiers, but fell from the sky!

Five beams of light pierced through the thick spiritual cloud layer above the Spirit Hall and landed precisely on the five captains.

Soi Fon, Shunsui, Ukitake, Komamura Sajin, and Kenpachi Zaraki standing a little further away.

Then the beam of light disappeared.

A holy light simultaneously emanated from all five captains!

The light that Yhwach used to reclaim Quincy power was trying to draw spiritual pressure from their bodies.

The five captains immediately tried to dodge, but Huizi simply waved her hand, and the next moment a powerful force was unleashed, directly shattering the pillar of light that descended from the sky!

There was no spectacular scene, no sound, it was simply shattered by Keiko's spiritual pressure!

Upon seeing this, Yamamoto immediately said, "Find a way to enter the Shadow World."

"All captains, maintain the highest level of alert from now on."

"Captain Kyoraku, lead your team to Rukongai and see if the residents there have also been affected. Captain Soi Fon, have your Stealth Mobile Force gather all the remaining members into the First Division, grouping them by division number. Captain Kurotsuchi, leave the members who are lying on the ground to the R&D Bureau."

After giving the instructions, Yamamoto looked at Keiko.

Huizi knew what he was going to say next.

A thousand years ago, Yhwach was defeated by the Gotei 13. A thousand years later, he returns with a vengeance, but this time he is more hidden and better prepared.

Yamamoto would definitely ask her if, since she knows about the Wandenreich and Yhwach, she knows where the entrance to the Wandenreich is and how to enter.

Keiko knew, of course, that the Invisible Empire was a shadow realm that only the chosen could enter, but with Keiko's strength, she could easily break through it.

But she couldn't say it now, because Elensger was still one last step away.

She needs time, and Yamamoto needs an entrance.

So she didn't help break the path to the Unseen Empire, but simply told Yamamoto that the Unseen Empire was in the shadow of the Soul Society.

As for how to get in, that depends on Mayuri's abilities.

Keiko believed that once the Gotei 13 had figured out a way to enter the Wandenreich, Ellensg would be able to complete the final step.

After the captains received their orders and dispersed, Keiko did not return to the Tsunayo residence, but instead headed towards a secluded corner on the outskirts of the Seireitei.

After confirming that no one was around, he launched the Black Hole.

She went to the Broken Realm, and then she went to the world of One Piece.

Strictly speaking, it's the world in the shadow of Wano Country.

There, Aizen had moved the entire Las Noches laboratory there, merging it with Vegapunk's research facilities into a massive research complex spanning two world technology trees.

When they passed through the black cavity and entered the Dangai, Aizen also arrived.

With his current abilities, he only needs to leave an illusion in the Soul Society to disguise himself.

There's not even much need to stay in the Soul Society anymore.

Aizen and Keiko met, said nothing, just nodded, and then went to the world of One Piece together.

On a 3D screen in the laboratory, a Devil Fruit covered with black scales is slowly rotating in a petri dish, each pulsation distorting the surrounding air.

Shakya and Lilith frantically recorded data on either side of the screen, Edison was sweating profusely as he adjusted the energy output parameters, and Pythagoras, with his eyes closed, used his vast brain capacity to deduce all the possible evolutionary branches that might occur after the fruit took shape.

"Progress," Keiko said, getting straight to the point.

"It'll be quick." Aizen said after checking the data, "The Nidhogg Fruit is also a rare god-level fruit," and its production is much more difficult than that of ordinary Mythical Zoan fruits.

"But most importantly, it is the will contained within these god-level fruits," as if the god corresponding to the Devil Fruit had passed down from ancient times to the present through this Devil Fruit.

"I know—but—it's better to hurry." Keiko sighed and said, "With a major battle imminent, it's never too much to increase our combat strength."

"So—it's time to unseal that guy too."

As Aizen said those words, on the other side of the Shadow World, there was a separate space specifically created to imprison high-risk individuals.

However, in the end, there is only one person here, and that person has already been sealed away.

Beltz was standing in front of a cage reinforced by layers of binding spells.

In the center of the cage was a huge mummy, tightly bound by the Ninety-Nine Binding Spell personally cast by Captain-Commander Yamamoto, its body also covered by multiple sealing spells added by the Kido Cult.

The person inside was none other than Edward Newgate the Whitebeard!

Ever since being forcibly blackened and controlled by Litoto using the power of the Five Elders at the Sphinx, and then sealed away by Yamamoto using a binding spell, he has been...

It was kept by Beltz in his own world of shadows.

He is very powerful, and killing or banishing him would have brought about huge changes.

Beltz had been holding onto this card, waiting for a sufficiently valuable opportunity. Now, that opportunity had arrived.

Beltz raised his right hand.

He gently gripped the cage.

The layers of binding seals began to crumble one by one, starting from the outermost layer.

With Beltz's strength, breaking the seal on Whitebeard's body is not a difficult task.

Quincy possess absolute subordination to spirit particles. Even though this was a seal set up by Captain-Commander Yamamoto, it was broken down by him with absolute power at this moment!

When the last seal was peeled off Whitebeard's body, the demonized Whitebeard seemed to unleash lightning from his eyes, overflowing with domineering aura!

"roar!"

Still in his demonized state, Whitebeard roared and immediately pounced on Beltz!

He also has a pair of demonic wings on his back and demonic fangs. Even though he has been sealed for so long, he is still in a state of being dominated by the dark side!

After all, under the sealed state, his bodily functions were almost forcibly stopped.

Actually, breaking the Black Domination state isn't that difficult; you just need to kill the opponent to restore them from the Black Domination state.

But people like Whitebeard and Rocks are different!

Because they are too strong!

Because of their immense strength and powerful aura, they can use this aura to protect themselves from being killed. Combined with the almost limitless self-healing ability brought by the Black Domination, they become truly immortal!

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