I don't own concept of Bleach.

Sorry. Kinda busy these few days, examinations and stuff.

Chapter 21

The soldier roared as they intruded a new piece of land for war, hands gripped tightly on their weapons. I watched as the enemy ran towards Wing and Cylse, like a mass of locusts.

Panting, sweat poured down my cheeks, wetting my dry skin. Wing was trying to heal Cylse. She looks to be badly injured. Judging from the explosion of lightning, she must have been in a fight. Just like Wing, she has gotten much stronger. She knew that sword fighting was not her forte, and thus she worked on her spells. Hadou #63, it was a sight to behold indeed.

I had just returned from the headquarters of the seventh division. I've managed to find my weapons in the prison cell. Luckily, I was posted there for duties. If not, it would be hard to look for my weapons. Panting, I ran back towards the meeting point and there, I found Wing and Cylse together, and a horde of enemies approaching them.

As I got closer, I leaned forward, breaking into a sprint. My hand was gripped tightly on to my sword. With a slam of my feet, I burst into the air. Locking my elbow, I cleared my blade out of its sheath.

In a second, I could feel my blade cleaving into soft, tender flesh. With a final push, I cut through the joint of the bone and severed the entire body into two. Blood sprayed out of the body. Hastily, I looked back at Wing.

"Dude, you fine?" Wing replied me with a nod.

"Work on the spell. I'll try to hold them back!" I took the opportunity to inhale deeply, filling my lungs with the tainted, bloody air. Silently, I pushed my left feet to the back, positioning my sword on the front. It was time to unveil the work of my efforts from the extra training sessions. The hardships I took in turn for the power to protect those that I love. In the past few months I have grown considerably in strength, I cannot let Wing alone save us again and again. Cylse has proven that she can do it, and now, so must I.

The air around my sword started to grow denser by the minute. With a short cry, I shouted," Speed on, Hirameki!". A gust of wind surrounded my blade. Then, the air around it exploded. Bringing up my sword, I swung it downwards, testing its new weight. I could feel Wing grinning behind. My lips curved up into a smirk.

Hirameki, or Flash, takes the form of a Chinese sword. Unlike the usual round sword guard, it is now flat, and shapes in a manner like the upper lip. The main difference was in its blade. Unlike the katana, Hirameki was sharp at both ends, with a pointed head. It was used more in the tactics of maneuvers, instead of slicing. The gold chains shone brightly under the sunlight, hanging from the handle of the blade.

Most of the soldiers were alerted to presence of Hirameki, but few hesitated. In fact, it only served to spur them on. There was a difference, in their morale however, they used to run with a purpose, with victory in their eyes, but now, they saw fear and death.

In an instant, the morale has shifted.

Using the muscles from my shoulders and chest, I threw Hirameki forward carelessly at the nearest man. In reflex, he brought out his shield.

Then, before my blade could strike his shield, I pulled him back with the golden chains. In one smooth motion, I jumped diagonally into the air, and flung my sword downwards, sending it diving towards his head. It ended with an explosion of blood.

Landing on the ground, I gripped my sword, turning my body sideways to dodge a thrust. Hirameki tore through the neck of that certain opponent, severing his head from his body. Following the movement of the wind, I did not stop. Slash, dodge, thrust, twist, spin, and slash. These are the wordless orders that flowed into my mind. With these commands, three more bodies fell to the ground. To the others, they saw fear, power and mindless rage. I felt lust, a lust for blood.

It was not long later before I panted, muscles aching from the exertion of strength. Wing was still with Cylse, trying to heal her. After all, healing was not an easy task, I highly doubt Wing would be able to heal her fully; it would take more than a skillful person to do the job. However, it would be enough to sustain her life.

I took a step backwards, dodging a slash of an axe to my chest. Leaning downwards, my centre of gravity was shifted to the lower portions of my body. Using this advantage, I sprung out of my position, forcing the sharp end of my sword into the enemy's neck. Pushing Hirameki lightly to the side, his neck broke in a soft, silent snap. Thrust, slash, and dodge. Instinctively, I jumped backwards. It was a mistake. My feet landed on blood, causing me to slip. I could feel myself hanging in the air as I lost balance, falling backwards as I watched a sword diving into my stomach.

Thrust.

In a split second, a sword burst out of the chain, stabbing the enemy in the head, pushing him backwards. Almost immediately, the sword sprung back into the chain, disappearing in a blur. With the shard end of the sword, I pushed the pointed end against the ground, using it as a pivot to drop myself back on my feet.

Dodge.

I squatted down, feeling the breeze of a sharp weapon zooming past my head.

Slash.

Hirameki came in contact with muscle. I watched as the blood sprayed out from the wound. My sword went deep enough to injure him, but not deep enough to kill him. Hirameki did not have such a power; it was only capable of mild attacks. That was the reason for targeting necks. It is soft, and has almost no bones to protect it.

The power of my blade comes from its hidden length. Inside the chain, or rather, Hirameki himself hid more swords. They would appear in a flash, instantly killing the enemy, at weird angles. He strikes like a magnum, he kills like an assassin.

However, he was not effective against multiple opponents. Even though he strikes fast, he can only be used for stabbing attacks. Since the power isn't very strong, he has to attack weaker spots on the body for an efficient hit. The number of shinigami have been greatly reduced, even though we have a higher standing, the enemy has too many troops. Our soldiers were getting exhausted. We need more reinforcements. Speaking of which, where is that --

"Dragonic Purple!"

Following the contact between the purple energy and the ground, there was a large explosion which sent several of the enemy, and our troops flying away. Beside me, a series of soldiers in purple outfits, similar to the enemy troops sweep across the ground, clearing soldiers. Their attacks were swift and deadly. With their knives, they decapitated bodies, sending limbs rolling away. The injured were left on the ground, their blood pouring.

--

I"I don't get it, why are you taking so many efforts to remove the chains from the souls? Just to summon a whole lot of hollows? You sound like a terrorist." said Tenma. As part of his daily duties, he was tending to the cell, keeping it clean for the prisoners. It was a weird irony, but yes, it is a part of his job.

"The shinigami are tainted, they curse the whole lot and betrayed us modified souls. They make us to help them fight, and then they destroy us once we were deemed unworthy. Do you even know how we felt? It was as if we were target practice! They designed us so that they can kill us all!" The lady in purple stood angrily on her feet, screaming at the top of her lungs. Luckily for Tenma, the guards on duty at the door were away. Since there was someone in the hallway, they went for a short break.

"We were innocent souls, simply trying to live the rest of lives in peace before we die a second time, before our spirit particles rejoin the society." she claimed, shaking her head. Her shaking voice had placed Tenma at an edge. His worst nightmare were the tears of a woman, be it the tears of sadness, or the tears of joy.

"All right, I'm sorry." said Tenma, as he proceeded on sweeping the floor, silently reprimanding himself. He was the one that brought up this topic. Even though she was interrogated and had given her piece, he wasn't content with her answers. Pulling out hundreds of chains just to summon a lot of hollows? Just by removing the chains would create enough trouble for the Soul Society. She didn't have to use them to summon the hollows.

Her plan was simple. Going around, snatching the chains off souls, keeping them at a side. When they managed to gather up around a hundred chains, they ordered a decoy group to attack Wing and the other Quincy, while the remaining few stayed on, gathering more chains and finally, setting up the ritual to open the gate from Hueco Mundo. It would be easier taking the hollow bait from the Quincy themselves. In fact, it was too weird, the captains accepting her statements so readily.

Sighing, Tenma peeked at the purple lady, who was sitting at a corner, shivering. She looked to be in tears. Once again, he sighed, he shouldn't have probed her on the question. Alas, she didn't seem like such a weak woman.

Balancing the broom on a hand, Tenma reach hastily into his pockets, fishing out a bar of chocolate.

"Here." he said, throwing the chocolate through the prison bars towards her. As if guided by instinct, she caught the chocolate in her hand. Quickly, she wiped a tear off her cheek, looking at him, obviously confused.

"Eat it; chocolate releases something known as endorphin that makes you happy." She looked at the chocolate, inspecting it carefully, wondering if it was rat poison.

"It's safe, you're about to get executed anyway, why would I kill you now?" She didn't refrain from inspecting it however. In fact, she didn't even try to unwrap the chocolate bar.

"What? Still worried that it's no safe?"

"I can't open it properly with my hands cuffed." she said, looking up at Tenma with those big, round purple eyes. Somehow, they reminded him of Puss in Boots.

"Come over." Slowly, she walked towards him like a spoilt child, lips pouting, almost stomping her feet. Taking back the chocolate, he opened it before giving it back to her.

"Thanks."

"Yea, don't worry about it." said Tenma. It was then, when he saw her wounds. When she raised her arm, her sleeve slid down, showing a series of bruises and wounds. Quickly, he lashed out a hand, grabbing her wrist. He did it with speed, but without strength. He did not want to hurt her.

"They did this to you?" She shook her head, pulling away from him.

"I'll bring you some ointment." said Tenma, placing his broom aside, getting ready to run off.

"Wait! Can you... do me a favour?" she asked. She reached out held his fingers, halting him in his footsteps.

--

"Ms Darkender, finally, you're here. Just in time. "I said, shouting sarcastically. A certain purple hair lady landed just beside me, thrusting her dragon-head spear against a foe. The impact ended with a resounding crack. Ribs would have broken easily with that strength.

Taking a short moment, I took a glimpse of the purple terror, watching her deal lethal blows to the head and ribs of the enemies. Even though there was no sharp blade, the blunt impact of the weapon was enough to break the bones of her foe. By striking at the right places, all of them were lethal strikes.

"It's the first time I heard of thanks portrayed through insults, darling." she said, swiping the end of her spear into the chin of an enemy. The bones in his neck snapped, and his head hang loosely from the body.

"I'm sorry, Ms Darkender, but that's the best I could offer."

She grinned.