Chapter 44

Errol continued to monitor the situation across Karakura town, systematically eliminating hollows that were on the verge of killing someone.

He also kept an eye on his grandfather and found him along with most of the maids at their house. He then began to pay attention to various parts of the town that caught his interest.

In one area, he saw Sado, also known as Chad, killing a hollow using his Arms of the Giant. His right arm was covered with a flexible red armor, and he killed a hollow that was about to attack some children.

In another part of town, he observed Orihime's situation at school. She was in a desperate situation as most of the students were under the control of a hollow. Errol wasn't sure how they would escape this predicament, so when Tatsuki was controlled by the hollow, he was about to intervene.

Suddenly, Orihime awakened her power. Her hairpin transformed into six fairy-like creatures that enabled her to attack, defend, and heal. She killed the hollow and healed Tatsuki, who was injured from the fight.

Chad, having lost the strength to move after using his power for the first time, was suddenly found by Urahara and Tessai, as if they were expecting this. The same happened with Orihime, who lost consciousness after releasing her power for the first time.

Errol couldn't help but look at Urahara suspiciously. 'This guy...Is he some kind of hidden villain? If it wasn't for the fact I checked with my powers if he has some evil plan, I might have confronted him directly at his shop.'

Urahara might have sensed his stare and looked in his direction, waving at him. Errol controlled the wind and sent sand into his eyes.

"My eyes!!" Urahara shouted dramatically.

Errol ignored him, knowing that Urahara hadn't really tried to avoid it. He continued to observe Uryu's situation. Uryu was slowly being overwhelmed and surrounded by a large number of hollows.

Errol didn't intervene as he saw Ichigo, the busybody with orange hair, coming to the rescue. Ichigo killed the hollows in his path and started talking to Uryu while they fought.

Ichigo began to tell Uryu about the history and annihilation of the Quincy that he had learned from Rukia, and the reason for their annihilation. However, Uryu responded in an indifferent tone.

"I don't care about that history as it happened 200 years ago; it's just an old tale to me. Honestly, I sided with the Shinigami on that one, but..." Uryu paused for a moment before shooting at some hollows.

"..That changed when my Sensei died due to the late arrival of the Shinigami." He said as he killed more hollows.

Ichigo, who was in the middle of slashing a hollow, was stunned. "What do you mean by that?"

Uryu began to explain how his Sensei or grandfather was once a Quincy. He admired his grandfather a lot and wanted to be a Quincy just like him. His grandfather was one of the few remaining Quincies, so he was under surveillance by the Soul Society.

His grandfather always spoke about how beneficial it would be if Shinigami and Quincy could work together. He expressed this to the Shinigami, only to be looked down upon. One day, Uryu's grandfather was fighting a few hollows and asked for help from the Shinigami.

However, he died due to their late arrival, and Uryu witnessed all of this. It was also the day he vowed to prove the strength of the Quincy to the Shinigami.

"That's why I challenged you, to demonstrate the strength of us Quincies," Uryu said as he shot a couple of hollows in the sky. Ichigo, gathering his thoughts, was about to say something when Uryu spoke first.

"But after being scolded by my friend, I realized that all of this is...pointless," Uryu jumped away, avoiding an attack from a hollow.

"You just realized that now!" Ichigo said, anger evident on his face as he slashed through another hollow's mask.

"Yes, my apologies. My hatred towards Shinigami blinded me, and I ended up challenging someone who belongs to the lower rank, someone who has no knowledge or sense of responsibility of a Shinigami," Uryu apologized in a frank and sincere tone.

A tick mark appeared on Ichigo's forehead, and he immediately kicked Uryu's face towards the mask of a hollow, causing a collision.

"Who are you calling low class, you low class Quincy!" Ichigo shouted in anger. Uryu was holding his nose as he glared at Ichigo.

He was about to say something when Ichigo's next words silenced him. "...and more importantly, I think you misunderstood your grandpa. He didn't want to prove the power of the Quincies to the Shinigami..."

Ichigo moved forward, standing back to back with Uryu as he said, "...he wanted to work with the Shinigami, back to back like this, to save people."

Uryu was stunned and recalled his grandfather's words. He gripped his bow tightly before taking a deep breath.

He pulled the string and pointed at the hollows. "Don't hold me back, and don't misunderstand. I will only accept this help as I don't want anyone to die due to my mistake in challenging you. I still hate Shinigami."

"Shut up, you still have a lot to say," Ichigo smirked as he readied his sword. "That should be my line, don't hold me back."

They then fought back to back, killing hollows that seemed to never end in their field of vision. Whenever a hollow was about to attack one of them from behind, the other would protect him.

Errol, who had been watching the entire spectacle from the top of a house, remained silent and didn't intervene anymore as almost all the hollows had gathered at their location.

"The words of a protagonist are really something. He managed to change Uryu's views in just a few words," Errol said in an impressed tone.

He then looked at the cracked sky. "I wonder if they can handle what's about to come out. Based on their abilities right now, it seems impossible, but they are the protagonists. Something might happen that will allow them to deal with those hollows."

As Errol's last words left his mouth, a large, gigantic mask of a hollow emerged from the empty space, as if the space was torn.

It was a Menos Grande, a conglomeration of hundreds of normal hollows, resulting in a single composite entity of far greater strength than any normal hollow. It had a large mask and a giant body that resembled a black giant mantle. There wasn't just one Menos Grande, but three.

"They should be fine, right?" Errol questioned, watching the unfolding spectacle with a hint of concern.