Aizen's Reiatsu began to surge through the veil of darkness covering the Shakonmaku. Everyone else stood from a distance observing the overwhelming amount of energy emitting from this single man.
"He's gonna shoot down the Soul King Palace?!" questioned Renji with shock.
"No way." said Hisagi. "He could actually do that?" Rukia was about to take a step forward, only to have the Captain-Commander's hand placed on her shoulder, halting her in her tracks.
However, his Reiatsu soon dissipated, much the shock of everyone, including Aizen himself. 'What happened to his Reiatsu?' questioned Asa. She was familiar with how powerful her former Captain was. So to see his Reiatsu suddenly disappearing like that was very odd to her.
"It's impossible." said Shunsui, standing next to him. "You said it yourself, didn't you? Those restraints can't cancel our your Reiatsu. The only thing it does is keep it around you. But the power required to cap your Reiatsu is unbelievably strong, you know. It's Soul Society's proudest achievement, really. We can't have you making light of it now, can we?" He then looked at Kurotsuchi over his shoulder, adding, "Am I right, Taichou?"
Asa continued watching the scene and finally understood what was happening. 'Reiatsu is something that will keep producing as long as the heart of a Shinigami remains beating.' she thought, recalling the lessons she took with her late grandfather when she was a mere toddler. 'Unless one stops the heart, there's not way the Reiatsu can be stopped. All the prisoners in Mukan for some reason cannot be killed, which means that there's no one who could stop their hearts from beating. That's why those restraints on Aizen were never intended to cancel our his Reiatsu from the start. Its focus, however, was to keep his Reiatsu in check.'
"And now, whether we free you or not, is all up to me." continued Kurotsuchi, who was explaining the same thing to Aizen. "Did you honestly think your powers could've beaten my technology and let you do as you please? How naive, Aizen Sousuke. Well, whether you could actually shoot down the Soul King Palace or not, it won't matter as long as you're in those restraints of mine. It's a matter of pride, you know."
"I see." responded the said man. "So that's how you're controlling these things on me. Well, let's try it out then, shall we? Turn it to the max, and we'll see which is better; your technology or my power?" Suddenly, Aizen was imprinted with the letter "U" across his upper body before it transformed into a grid pattern. Asa's eyes widened with surprise and turn around to look at the culprit.
"Whoops!" said a Quincy standing atop a huge ruble. NaNaNa had long black hair arranged into five fanned-out spiraling spikes, and his teeth was alternate between black and white which resembled piano keys. The rest of his upper facial features were covered by a red-orange mask with a reflective surface, which currently had a small crack on the bottom left. His Sternritter uniform was damaged, leaving him in a small shirt beneath which left his abdomen and arms bare. He wore a pair of white high-waisted pants and boots, as well as accessorising himself with a ring on each finger and a bracelet on either wrist.
"I've seen enough of your Reiatsu for now." he said once his epithet letter formed a grid pattern on Aizen. "It might be because of that suit you're wearing, but your Reiatsu's got holes all through it! Now, if only I could pinpoint the exact location of your Reiatsu, I could break you wide open! And you're in a damn chair.! I haven't even had such an easy target in ages!" After using the grid to pinpoint the holes in Aizen's Reiatsu, he attacked them by increasing their size, expecting it to deplete which would've paralysed and make his target unconscious.
But all he got was a conscious Aizen sitting still in the chair and heaving a sigh. "He won't even pass out? What a freak. Whatever. In a few moments, your Reiatsu will leave your paralysed. We can't have you shooting down the palace now. So be good and watch from there, okay?"
"Huh, to have the enemy come to us at such a time." muttered Shunsui before looking back into the laboratory where his Lieutenant was. "What about the doors?"
"It's no good!" she replied. "All the Reiatsu's gone! We'll have to start from scratch!"
The Captain turned back while tilting his straw hat, sighing, "Good grief. Things are getting complicated now. Well, hello. Urahara-san! Please do all you can do to fix the door. I'll do something about the situation out here."
"Okay!" responded the said man. "Please take care of things here then!"
Just then, the group was surrounded by zombified Shinigami. Kurotsuchi knew who was behind this and glared at Giselle. "You're not dead yet, Zombie Girl?" he scowled. "A zombie controlling other zombies, huh?" All he got was Giselle pulling faces at him out of mockery.
"Hey, Quincys!" called Shunsui. "I guess we agree on not having the palace shot down, but I'm guessing you're not here to lend us a hand?"
"'Course not!" responded NaNaNa sharply. "Like I said, we can't have His Highness be put in danger while he's up there."
"I thought so." said the Captain, whose hand reached for his Zanpakutou. "Then this means we're gonna have to fight."
"Ya think you can fight?" mocked the Quincy, confusing momentarily. "We're done observing all of you! So now I'm gonna paralyse you lot with my Morphine Pattern-" Before he could finish his sentence, he was shot in the chest from behind, killing him off. "Ba... Damn... you... Bazz-B..."
NaNaNa collapsed to the ground, revealing another Quincy, who had green eyes and red hair in a long Mohawk. He had two metl nuts pierced into his upper left ear and a bolt through his lower right ear. After his own battle, it was expected for him have his Sternritter uniform torn in certain places as he was covered in bruises. He wore a white trench coat reaching his thigh, black globes, and pants which were cropped just above a pair of black military boots. He wore a thin chain with the Wandenreich emblem attached to it around his neck, and black armbands around his biceps with a skull and cross bones design on each of them.
Standing behind him were Giselle and Liltotto. The latter was a petite young girl with chin-length blonde hair and purple eyes. Her Sternritter uniform consisted of a skirt instead of the trench coat, gloves, patterned leggings, and a white cap with gold trimmings, featuring a black peak and the Wandenreich insignia emblazoned on the front. She also wore a golden heart buckle around her waist.
"What's going on?" asked Shunsui.
"I'll lend you a hand." said Bazz-B, something which Shunsui didn't expect to hear. "The Wandenreich's something that exists in the shadows of Seireitei. So if Seireitei's destroyed by the palace falling on it, I'd be in trouble too."
"And so you're saying you'll help us?" retorted Kurotsuchi. "Are we to believe you?"
"I didn't say anything like that." corrected the Quincy. "I didn't say anything like that. But I ain't doing this for free either. I want compensation. We'll help you so you can make the doors. And as compensation, take us to the Soul King Palace as well. We're gonna kill the man that deserted us all, Yhwach!"
Shunsui stared at the Quincys across him and said, "I see."
Eventually, the Quincys joined the rest of the Shinigami inside the laboratory to create the door connecting to the Soul King Palace with their Reiatsu, leaving Shunsui and Aizen outside. But by the time they had completed making the door, Seireitei began to crumble, and the buildings in the Wandenreich city were torn apart and lifted upwards. "Why..." questioned Soi Fon, who was feeling as uneasy as the others while watching the whole scene. "Why is this happening?! What are those Quincys doing?!"
"What the-?!" responded Hirako. "Just when we've opened one door with all we've got, now look at the crap they're doing to us!"
While the others watched on, Urahara pressed a few buttons on the keyboard. "Alright!" he called once the giant door was created. "It's done! We're opening now! You guys all ready?!"
"Yeah!" was the reply he got as the Shinigami gathered in front.
With one push, they were greeted by a horrible sight as they stepped out to take in the foreign setting. "Wha..." Hirako was the first to react. "What the hell is this...?! I thought you said we should've been connect to the Soul King Palace. What are we doing in the Quincy's streets?! Explain this, Kisuke! What happened to going to the Soul King Palace?!"
But the said man didn't know how to answer, for he, too, was just as confused as everyone. "The coordinates were correct, we're right above Seireitei. So this should be the Soul King Palace."
"This meaning that the streets that were lifted from Seireitei just now have destroyed the Soul King Palace and rebuilt themselves on top of it." deduced Tadashi, while looking at the buildings with a frown.
"Yeah, right!" scoffed the Captain, not believing a word of it. "Like something like that could happen."
"That's exactly what I mean." responded Tadashi, looking at him straight in the eye. "Don't you get it, Shinji? Our dear enemy has become so powerful that he could easily do something like that." That was when realisation hit the said man.
"I see what you mean." said Asa, taking note of the architecture that seemed to be familiar with her. "The streets seem to go around something. And if I'm not mistaken, this is the place that the Zero Division's Headquarters once was, below the Soul King Palace. But if we look above, there's nothing here. Which can only mean that the Soul Palace has fallen and the enemy now has reshaped everything to his liking." The Wandenreich city had been brought from Seireitei to the palace, and the main palace was placed at ground level while ice covered parts of it. She also noticed that the five floating cities nearby were now connected to the Wandenreich city, creating a giant Quincy Zeichen.
"It's my Big Sister's Reiatsu!" said a young boy upon detecting a familiar Reiatsu. He was a young boy with features that gave off his relation with Yoruichi; dark skin, black hair kept in a ponytail secured with a white band, and yellow eyes. He wore pink fignerless gloves that extended to his elbows, white shoulderpads, and a black garment that covered his torso and legs. He also wore a wide pink band with white trim wrapped around his waist. "I'm coming this time, Big Sis!" He was about to head towards where his sister was, only to find himself about to fall off the edge if he wasn't caught by Renji.
"IDIOT!" he scolded. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Eheh, sorry!" said the boy sheepishly. "I dunno what's happening, but the ground's all..."
"It seems that it would be a difficult task to create footholds out of Reishi here." noted Byakuya, which caught Asa's attention as she looked at him over her shoulder.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"I'm sure you feel it too." he said. "But the concentration of the Reishi that's here right now is a low higher than before. And so, it would be impossible to create footholds out of this concentration. Which only leads us to one conclusion. The one that controls the Reishi in this area is no longer one of our own." The rest of the Shinigami who were listening to him had uneasy looks on their faces. "It's a given that they'd create a field that favours them. Not forgetting that the Quincys attacks are mostly Reishi-related by default. So of course he'd do something like this, especially if he's their leader. But to make thing's worse, he's become someone powerful enough to kill the Soul King."
"True." said Soi Fon after pausing for a moment. "Even if we did get into the Soul King Palace, I doubt we'd be able to see him. So the Soul King has been killed...!"
"Now, now." said Shunsui, grabbing everyone's attention. "At least we can feel Ichigo-kun and his friends even if we're a little far away. So it's good news that they're still alive and well. If the Soul King is killed in the hands of the enemy, all we have to do is defeat said enemy and get a new one. If Ukitake were here right now, he'd probably say the same." Kifune and Seitarou stared at him, thinking about their late Captain whom they imagined would say what his friend suggested. "Okay, shall we go then? We won't be able to move forward unless we meet up with Ichigo-kun and the rest. Isn't it time we Gotei 13 moved for Gotei?"
"Yeah!" was the response he got.
But the creator wasn't done, as another massive palace as tall as a tower comprising of multiple large buildings was built in an instant. On top of this new stronghold was the signature Silbern. "What's what?" demanded Hisagi, staring at the tall building with uneasiness.
"What, you ask." remarked Shunsui. "That's the enemy's base, that's what it is."
"Forget about keeping things safe." commented Urahara. "It's like they're yelling us to bring it on."
"Exactly." agreed the Captain-Commander. "So we will then. Well, of course. The whole point of having a castle is to show off one's strength, isn't it? It would've been funnt if he didn't do something like this."
"Is that really it, though?" questioned the man beside him.
"Whatever it is, he's giving us one hell of a welcome." he remarked. "We shouldn't keep him waiting then. Let's go!" On his command, the Shinigami began moving forward, heading straight for the tower where Yhwach was residing.