An escape

(Ryoto's pov)

My action signaled the start of the battle. The first to rush was Masculine, who was ready to punch me the moment I was in his range. Unfortunately for him, I was already using my Prediction Calculation and knew exactly where he was aiming his attack. That's why I prepared Gyaku Hansha's left blade, the reverse one, to meet my adversary's and swung it at the fake wrestler.

"Full Counter!"

And I send Masculine's attack right back at him with all of his power plus some more.

It was one of Gyaku Hansha's abilities. I could send both physical and all the other categories of attacks as long as I was in the range of said attack, and I could even increase the damage dealt if I poured more Reiatsu into the Counter. The drawback is that I can only deflect with the left sword, which can be pretty limited and definitely will be in this fight.

Of course, the other half of Gyaku Hansha isn't an ordinary blade either. The more normal looming katana was best used when my opponent didn't know its ability, which is now. I know that it won't allow me to win automatically, but it will make my life a bit easier and maybe take down a Quincy or two.

There wasn't much pause because of my unexpected counter-attack, and Robert rushed at me and shot multiple Reishi bullets, and I blocked all of them with the normal-looking part of Gyaku. He was expecting his attack to come back just as Masculine's had moments before, but his attack seemingly vanished the moment they touched my Zanpakuto. He didn't have time to ponder about it as I pointed my finger at him and fired off a Kido at him.

"Hado #4, Byakurai."

I used a weak Kido for a reason. It wasn't meant to deal much damage, and it didn't do any, in fact, because he dodged it, but it allowed me to dictate the pace of the battle. I don't react to them. They react to me, and thanks to that, I can pace myself better.

I quickly used Shunpo to get closer to Driscoll and tried to finish him off quickly. If I remember correctly, he is a Sternritter with the designation O: The Overkill. This means that every time he kills anyone, he gets stronger.

Clang

Unfortunately, he blocked my strike with his tekko-like bands, which are around his knuckles.

I clicked my tongue in my mind, seeing my unsuccessful kill but not allowing for even a second of breathing room for my opponents. I did a quick round kick, and this time, my hit connected, sending Quincy flying.

Not wasting time, I rushed at Quilge, who looked the most like he belonged in the military.

It looks like the third time the charm since Quilge anticipated my assault.

"Such strength is truly worthy of a Captain, but alas, it's not enough to win against all of us."

With that said, I immediately sensed an attack from behind me. It wasn't a weapon of any kind, so I immediately assumed it was the wrestler. I didn't even have time to distinguish between auras, as I mainly focused on sensing presence as quickly and accurately as I could. Haki may be powerful, but I could still get tired or overstimulated by it, so using it in moderation was important.

I didn't have enough time to protect myself with the sword as I currently crossed both of my blades with another Quincy, so I quickly moved the handle of one of my swords to hold both of them in hand and tried to defend myself with my forearm covered in Hierro.

Moments later, I felt a powerful blow connecting, and I'm sure that if not for my Hierro, I would have a broken arm by now.

"Go, go, Superstar!!!"

And at the sidelines, I could hear James cheering for his favorite (the only) wrestler. At the same time, as James was going wild, I could feel the fake martial artist getting stronger, so before he could overpower me, I turned my head with my mouth open while charging up Cero. I didn't have time to power it up long enough to leave a significant amount of damage, but it was enough to not let him do another attack. Simultaneously, I charged Bala in my fist and, with a wind-up, threw it at Quilge.

Yet again, another attack was thrown at me, not leaving me with much time to react, but thankfully, I was prepared for it thanks to both of my sensory powers.

It was a spear made of Reishi that was flying at me at high speed, but I only needed to tilt my head slightly to avoid it.

However, it was just a diversion—or rather, it was used as a diversion, as not even moments after I dodged it, I was punched in the face. I wasn't fast enough to avoid it, so I braced myself for impact and boy, did I feel it.

In the corner of my vision, I saw the quincy who hit me, and to my surprise, I saw Mask De Masculine. I quickly scanned my surroundings as I tried to regain my footing after being sent flying and realized what just happened. 

One of the twins vanished from my senses, and I could feel 2 Masculines. Somehow, at least one of the twins overcame their panic attack and joined the battle. 

I have never missed my spider sense more in my life than now. Observation Haki is great and helps a lot, but I'm not that talented with it, and it's not for the lack of training either. Maybe I just didn't get pushed far enough to progress, but I can't unlock my future vision. And that's biting me in the ass at the moment.

I did a quick backflip and regained my footing. The moment I did that, I was already surrounded. Not having much choice or escape route, I attacked.

"Hado #78 Zangerin."

I gathered a large amount of energy in my Zanpakuto and released it all around me, keeping everyone at bay. This Kido is very similar to Getsuga Tensho, which makes it easy for me to use. I could use Getsuga even when I was using Gyaku, but it would take much more energy, which I can't waste right now.

As I was fighting, Yhwach or some higher-up called reinforcement in the form of weak Soldats. Looking at them, I could say that they were worthy of being called an army. Their numbers were huge, and all of them aimed their Reishi bows at me and shot at me. Thanks to all the arrows coming at me, the sky became blue.

I couldn't dodge all of them. Even if all of them were weak, and individually, they weren't a threat in the least, but together, I wouldn't be able to defend against all of them, and they were mixed with stronger arrows from the Sternritters.

"Bakudo #81, Danku."

I created 2 barriers on the opposite sides with great difficulty. Because of the speed at which I made them, they weren't as powerful as they could have been, but I didn't have the luxury of time. At the same time, I still had 2 sides unprotected. 

Thankfully, my Zanpakuto was dual-type, and I swung both of them.

"Full Counter! Vanishing Counter!"

One side shot the arrows back at Quincies, and the other side was free from the arrows. The energy was absorbed by the normal-looking katana. 

Both barriers broke at almost the same time, and I planned on dodging them by using Shunpo. However, I was blocked by Quilge, who used his Jail ability to trap me. Nevertheless, it didn't stop the arrows from going through it and hitting their target, me.

Now, inside a jail, I didn't have much room to move, and I couldn't even do a full swing so I could use Full Counter so I did the next best thing and blocked all the arrows that I could, and while some managed to penetrate me, I protected all of my vitals.

Though I wasn't unharmed, I could mostly fight at full capacity, even if I got an injury to my legs, arms, and body here and there. Most of the arrows only grazed me, and only three arrows were still in my body.

I can work with that.

I didn't have more time to examine my injuries as I sensed an incoming attack from my left side. To my surprise, it was the zombified Bambietta, and Giselle who was controlling her, who was hanging around her neck with a twisted smile.

I didn't return any expressions. Throughout the fight, I remained expressionless. It was a combination of hiding my thoughts from my opponents and finding no excitement in fighting.

I swung one of my swords, ready to use Full Counter to send back many projectiles, but my arm froze.

My eyes widened, and I quickly turned to see why I couldn't move my arm any further, and to my shock, it was surrounded by Jail. Only my arm was inside of Jail. I didn't have time to break it, so I immediately tried to use my other blade, but just like before, after a short movement, it was imprisoned, and it was the moment most of the projectiles hit me. Bambietta wasn't aiming that carefully, but even the balls of Reishi that missed me created explosions that injured me.

All of that created a massive cloud of dust, and as it slowly scattered, it revealed me standing with my arms hanging lifelessly, although still holding my weapons. In my left shoulder, there was a gaping hole. Not to mention many other wounds caused by the explosions. If not for my Hierro, I would probably be dead, but it couldn't protect me from everything, and some of the areas of my body were hit harder and more often than the others, but 'thankfully', the worst I got was a see-through hole in my shoulder.

I was barely standing, and there were a few times I blacked out during the barrage of attacks. Even my Zanpakuto returned to its sealed state. To be honest, I was tired, and I only dreamed about closing my eyes and resting for a while, but I knew that if I did that, it would be the end, and I still had a few things to do before I died.

The moment I was visible, I was rushed at by the close combat Quincies, and all of them pierced me through my body with their blades.

I coughed some blood... a lot of blood, actually. I didn't have the strength to dodge these attacks. At most, I moved slightly so I could dodge the fatal injuries, but at this point, it was a small difference with all the wounds that I have, but this is something I could use.

I grabbed one of Quincy's arms and squeezed it with all my remaining strength.

"Hado #96, Itto Kaso."

My left arm started cracking with an abundance of energy that came into it, and from these cracks, a red Reishi was glowing brightly. It wasn't a slow process, and soon, my whole arm was cracked. The moment it happened, a powerful shock wave burst from me, and next, a gigantic pillar of red Reishi appeared, injuring everyone around me before they decided it was better to dodge it. They probably thought that I couldn't do that much damage while being so close to dying, but they thought wrong.

I fell to one knee and supported myself with my remaining arm, but I needed to move quickly. I bought myself some time, and they wouldn't rush in at me in case I had something else ready in my sleeve.

This was now or never.

(Yhwach's pov)

Ryoto Yuuki was indeed a dangerous man. To think that he was hiding this much. It was wise to add him to the War Threats despite the mysteries surrounding him. He is not Yamamoto Genryusai by any means, but I can see his influence on this man. Ryoto Yuuki was waiting for something. I was aware of it, but I didn't know what it was for. I couldn't believe that he was someone so arrogant to believe that he had a chance against everyone here, so the only other explanation was that other Shinigami would come soon. Possibly, after a set amount of time, they would realize that there is an issue. The moment I realised that I stopped all attwmpts on braching this place but it won't work for a long time. Unfortunately, if/when they come here, they will only see Ryoto Yuuki's dead body.

After he used the forbidden Kido I couldn't see him anymore. First because of the effect of the Kido itself and afterwards because of the cloud of dust. 

I was expecting him somehow to be still standing. That's what kind of impression he gave me during our short acquaintance, but what I saw was his body lying in his own blood, not moving anymore.

That's what I was expecting, but for some reason, I couldn't believe it, so I kept looking. To my surprise, the image of the dead Ryoto Yuuki vanished as if it was a figment of my imagination and was replaced by very alive, although barely, but what gave me a pause was a Garganta behind him. I also noticed a small detail of his eyes being cracked and smoke coming from them, but that wasn't important. He was planning on escaping through the portal. There never was a reinforcement coming for him. He played me.

I quickly approached the almost dead Shinigami and swung my sword at him but I was too late as he was able to get to Garganta and it closed behind him leaving only the empty space where my sword struck.

I frowned. This will change my plans significantly.

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END

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