A Soulless Castle

Conversing with Ashido Kanō had proven to be a waste of time. While it was interesting to see a character from the series, it was a pointless encounter. His shikai had proved to be more troublesome than let on, giving him enough space to take advantage of my naivety.

Partnering with a Soul-Reaper was something detrimental to my idea. Getting access to the Soul-Society without it would prove far more difficult if I didn't. Ashido was only the first attempt, though. There'd likely be another opportunity with Kisuke Urahara.

Plus, taking both our standpoints into account, I thought it best to leave him to himself. Forcing a friendship with a man who despised my kind above all else was like setting fire to a ticking time bomb. It was only a matter of time before he lashed out again.

'Just glad the guy didn't have a Bankai…'

Fighting him had opened my eyes to a number of things, notably my lack of experience. I had absolutely no clue how to use these abilities of mine efficiently, lacking in both my application of reiatsu and my strength.

My reiatsu was immense. I could feel its overwhelming power within me, and yet I couldn't use it properly. Performing cero and copying a variation of it from the series wasn't difficult, requiring as much effort as sonido did, and yet it was all I seemed capable of.

Considering the strength of the characters at this point in the story, me entering Las Noches may have been foolish. I could hardly keep up with a Soul-Reaper's shikai, there was no telling how I'd fare against a Captain or Sternritter. Pushing my luck was fine, but if I pushed it even slightly across the edge, I'd soon find myself in the gutter.

The castle was quiet, only the brief hollow shriek echoing through its empty halls would display any signs of life.

'Considering the Jagdarmee Camp… I guess it'd make sense if no one was here… Still, it's eerily quiet.'

That camp was likely being set up by the Quincy as I ventured through the castle. They'd probably wait around for a couple of days, gathering Arrancar to recruit and execute before the arrival of Ichigo and his friends, followed shortly by Kisuke Urahara. If I wanted to become an Arrancar, I needed to find that camp at the right time. Stumbling into enemy territory prematurely would only lead to death.

But, before I did that, I wanted a good look around the castle. If I were to find Grimmjow, the chances of me finding Kisuke were equally good, and doing so would be much less dangerous, as opposed to running into a Sternritter, which was definitely much worse a scenario.

Venturing through Las Noches, I noticed an alarming amount of damage. Much of the castle was in ruins, the ceiling mostly collapsing in on itself throughout large parts of the building, the floor nowhere to be seen in others, and large chunks of the wall missing. There was smoke rising in a couple places, likely a sign of recent battle.

As I glanced out the broken walls, I got a glimpse at some of the other buildings within Las Noches, notably Tier Harribel's palace in the distance, its structure burning, the blue flames of the Quincy spitting out of its center like fireworks.

Peering up through one of the cracks, I noticed an odd detail. The blue sky that was often seen within Las Noches was all but gone, replaced by a pitch-black canvas.

'Seeing blue somewhere other than flames would've been a little touching...'

A shiver soon ran down my spine as if to warn me. I could feel an immense amount of reiatsu in three different locations, though I was unsure as to who they were. One was likely the Quincy and their camp, hidden somewhere within the ruins of Las Noches. I assumed the other was Grimmjow, but was unsure as to the third.

'Which one should I g—'

Still thinking, a flash of blue-light shot past me, followed by the whirring sound of what I assumed to be shunpo nearing me.

Three masked figures soon appeared at the end of the corridor, bows in hand, a blue-light emanating from each.

"Quincy?"

They each drew their bow at the same time, firing a flurry of blue arrows towards me at extreme speed. That said, they weren't difficult to dodge, easily weaved around by my sonido.

My step took me behind them as I landed a blow to the first one, thrusting my hand through his chest. Weirdly, my hand had entered his body as if it was the same sand the castle was built upon. There wasn't any resistance as I gutted him, leaving me feeling uncomfortable.

Killing someone was wrong. I'd lived my life trying to the good guy, the kindhearted individual. And yet, here I found myself, thrusting my hand through someone as if they were a doll to be played with. Even if I didn't have the appearance of a human, I was still one on the inside.

But, despite my reservations, I couldn't afford to die. I needed to get home.

"Cero," I said, firing a blast at the second Quincy to my left, the blast launching his charred body through the wall.

The final Quincy attempted to run utilizing his Hirenkyaku. He began sliding across the floor, reappearing in different locations, but was put down all the same by a kick to the stomach, his chest immediately bursting open, his organs plastered across the wall like paint.

'These guys were just peons… That means the camp is near, though.'

Having ran into a group already, I turned in the opposite direction and began walking towards another reiatsu signal, this one closing in one me.

Running into either Grimmjow or the Sternritter were both dangerous outcomes. While I wasn't too worried about the Arrancar's reaction, the Jailer would most definitely have different ideas. His battle with Ichigo was proof enough, the man was incredibly dangerous. At least with Grimmjow I'd likely have a chance to try and ease him into it, the Quincy would definitely attack me on site.

'Pesquisa would be really helpful right around now…'

Constantly having to look back with every corner I turned was beginning to bore me. My lack of senses regarding reiatsu was likely my biggest weakness

As I walked along the empty corridors, a whirring sound echoed form behind me, bouncing off the walls as it made its way towards me.

'That's the same sound as the Quincy hirenkyaku from before... Don't tell me there's more?'

It wasn't a loud sound, easily missed if you weren't paying attention. Fortunately, Las Noches had proved to be too quiet. I could hear even the smallest details in this form, though sensing reiatsu had proven to be a little more difficult.

Glancing behind me, the corridor was empty, only the moonlight peering through the cracked structure.

That sound… It's coming from the shadows?

Parts of the corridor unaffected by the moonlight had a glitter-like substance emanating off them, moving slowly towards me with each passing second, the whirring sound becoming clearer with it.

"Shadows… What sort of shadows sound like that?"

Thinking back, I could remember shadows being used by Yhwach within the Soul-Society, but I couldn't picture how he'd used them. Whether or not any other Quincy had utilized shadows was also something I couldn't put my finger on, leaving me in a state of confusion and weariness.

My legs soon began shaking, my paranoia running rampant through my mind. What if there was an army hiding in the shadows? What if the Sternritter had found me already? Would I really have to someone else to protect myself?

Weary of a potential threat, I released my reiatsu, a vivid lilac burst immediately erupting from where I stood, completely lighting up the corridor. Scaring a group of Quincy was far better than slaughtering them all in my eyes.

The suspended corridor soon began shaking, cracks appearing along the surface of the structure, quickly running along towards the end of the corridor.

I quickly put on a lid on my reiatsu again as if switching off the valve to a tap, the bright light quickly returning as if I'd flipped the switch on a light, but not before I could spot a figure at the end of the corridor, a cloak draped over them as if a shadow itself.

"Agh… Cut it out with that damn reiatsu… You'll get us both killed…"

'That voice… It can't be?'