Chapter Forty-Six: A Suppressive End

District One of Soul Street, the Yasuda Residence.

"No matter what..." Kirinji, bare-chested and wearing only a towel around his waist with a white towel draped over his shoulder, smoothed back his slicked hair and spoke to Choujuro, "It's best you never get involved with Minasho. Got it?"

"I know already! Stop repeating that to me..." Choujuro, similarly dressed, wiped his face with his towel, responding impatiently.

Kirinji glanced at him, then, from who knows where, produced a blade of grass and placed it in his mouth.

"You still underestimate Minasho, don't you?"

Choujuro raised an eyebrow, then fell silent.

Truthfully, he had never taken Minasho, the captain who looked like a little girl, seriously. After all, he himself possessed captain-level strength for over a century; no matter how formidable that two-hundred-year-old girl might be, she couldn't possibly match him.

"Indeed, in terms of sheer power, Minasho is not your equal," Kirinji said, his mouth twisting as the grass wobbled between his lips. "But if you truly fought head-on, even if you won… no," Kirinji paused, then continued, "it would still end in mutual destruction, without a doubt."

"What..." Choujuro's eyes widened. Kirinji was nearly a hundred years older than him, and yet, hearing such an outcome from this man was a blow.

"The reason is simple." Kirinji slipped on a short-sleeved bathrobe, speaking without turning around, "No matter how far you are from Minasho, as long as she can see you, she can attack you."

---

"The ribbon senses spiritual pressure and becomes as sharp as a blade. The dance hammer gathers spiritual energy at its tip, transforming into an invisible, slender sword," Minasho deftly twirled the hammer and ribbon in her hands, smiling mischievously. "That's my 'Absolute Princess.'"

"Hmph... Who are you trying to fool?" Houston forced a smile, secretly startled.

He had indeed underestimated this seemingly small girl, never imagining that, despite his captain-level power, he wasn't even worthy of forcing her to use her full abilities.

"Really now..." Houston raised his left hand, letting the Quincy cross slip from his sleeve.

A hum sounded as spiritual particles gathered, forming a bow like a disk in his left hand.

"Don't underestimate an adult's strength!"

With a whizz, three strange, disk-shaped arrows shot from the bow.

Minasho laughed lightly, waving her left hand. The root of her ribbon was soft like silk, yet its tip was hard as a sword, shattering Houston's attacks with each sweep.

Wait—

Houston hesitated, forgetting even the pain from the terrifying wound on his body.

Is it just my imagination?

That ribbon...

Was it longer than before?

"You've noticed," Minasho said, raising the ribbon like a little girl showing off her favorite toy, grinning joyfully. "You're right—the ribbon grows longer by absorbing blood."

"It's about two meters fifteen now, but at first..." Minasho suddenly smirked coldly. "It was thirty centimeters."

"!!!!"

"Honestly, I've lost count of how many I've killed. By the time I came to my senses..." The ribbon danced, stirring beautiful waves in the air. "It had grown far beyond my imagination."

"Well then..."

She lifted her dance hammer, a strange tremor emanating from its tip.

"Where are you planning to run?"

Houston clutched his wounded right shoulder, silent for the first time.

His sword was broken, and his one-handed bow couldn't even touch Minasho's clothes.

Was retreat his only option?

No—

Was he to bow and scrape before the Soul Reapers?

"Such a thing... impossible..." Houston forced a laugh. He knew perfectly well he had no chance of victory.

There were two captains here, and he alone.

He knew his own limits.

From the start, he never intended to win.

For he understood the true purpose of the Quincies' 'Silver Cross Knights.'

"Don't get carried away, brat!"

Houston roared, summoning his last surge of energy.

"Not bad at all, Houston," came a voice from above. A dark figure in the sky stroked his chin, then opened his palm, summoning a massive spiritual bow.

"For the sake of a comrade, I'll lend a hand!"

A giant spiritual arrow shot downward.

Houston reacted first.

"Idiot! Move, now!"

The arrogance and mania from earlier were gone; now his face was only panic.

Boom!

The spiritual arrow exploded, failing in its mission—striking Minasho.

A huge, burly figure stood before Minasho, blocking the attack.

Gokenmaru Kenpachi!

"A sneak attack... hardly admirable," Gokenmaru said in a deep voice to the Quincy above.

"Don't be so harsh, Gokenmaru. To launch such an attack from so far away, his power must surpass even this guy's," Minasho peeked past Gokenmaru's massive form at the Quincy above.

"His reflexes are impressive. He looks strong," the Quincy landed beside Houston, glancing at Houston's injuries with a flicker of disdain in his eyes.

"Pathetic, Houston, to be beaten so badly."

"You..." Houston was speechless; he had warned him to flee, and yet the man was foolish enough to show up and mock him.

"You over there, I'm Edric Vista, Captain of the Eighth Division of the Silver Cross Knights. Your name, Soul Reaper?"

Edric seemed not to regard Gokenmaru or Minasho at all; in his eyes, Houston's defeat was simply due to lack of strength.

Such trash could be wiped out in the blink of an eye.

"Gokenmaru Kenpachi."

"Kenpachi?" Edric raised an eyebrow, apparently interested. "I've heard only the strongest Soul Reapers bear that title. So you're the strongest here?"

How lucky was he—just stepping out, he encountered such a big fish. If he took down this man, his Majesty would surely look upon him with favor.

Saedritz, your position will be mine sooner or later!

A mongrel like the Soul Reaper-Quincy hybrid could never surpass the true Quincies!

"Heh heh..." Edric summoned his giant spiritual bow once more.

"I'm truly fortunate."

Houston knew what this simple-minded fool intended.

Normally, he wouldn't care about his fate, but now, without cooperating, neither of them had a chance to escape alive.

"Die!"

Suddenly, Edric felt his vision tilt.

What was happening?

He hadn't moved—

Why...

"You sure are arrogant..." Gokenmaru flicked blood from his blade and spoke in a low voice, "So arrogant I couldn't resist cutting you down."