The crimson fog dragged Sora and the others into a strange space filled with red mist.
"I can't sense the Garganta!"
Nelliel's expression shifted slightly. This red mist space had actually cut off her connection to the Garganta.
This meant she couldn't use Sonído here!
Sonído was an ability that utilized the Garganta to achieve displacement. Without access to the Garganta, Sonído was impossible.
Fortunately, Professor had also taught her the Shinigami's Shunpo.
Shunpo was a high-speed movement technique performed using Spiritual Pressure. With a teacher, even a Hollow could master it.
"This is an independent space isolated from the outside world." Sora raised his hand, firing a bolt of lightning from his fingertip.
The lightning vanished into the depths of the red mist, but even after a long while, it never struck the boundary of this peculiar space.
"Boundless?" Sōsuke Aizen frowned. "It seems we won't be able to leave until we deal with the enemy."
"Enemies incoming!" Nelliel didn't dare to be careless and quickly entered her half-human, half-antelope Resurrección form.
Countless indistinct blood-red figures gradually emerged from the red mist.
"Are these the servants of the Evil Blade?"
Nelliel's eyes narrowed. She sensed the Spiritual Pressure of those servants; many were actually Captain-class powerhouses.
The Evil Blade possessed the power to corrupt the heart. Those defeated by the Evil Blade in the past would all become a part of it.
The Lord of Hell, who ruled this realm, had used it to defeat countless powerful enemies. Those powerhouses from ancient times had now become puppets manipulated by the Evil Blade.
The servants of the Evil Blade surrounded the three of them, but the main body of the Evil Blade was nowhere to be seen, seemingly having no intention of showing itself for the time being.
A blue-haired servant waved his blade, instantly whipping up a huge wave over ten meters high, crashing down towards the three.
Nelliel stepped forward, thrusting her flaming short spear fiercely, blasting a large hole through the crashing wave.
Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—
Several figures passed through the hole Nelliel had created.
Flaming vines, thunderbolts, ice spikes, and blades all attacked Nelliel simultaneously.
Nelliel's lower antelope body was large, but she was actually extremely agile. She deflected the incoming thunder with her flaming short spear, vanished from her spot instantly, bypassed the flaming vines and ice spikes, and headed straight for the blue-haired swordsman at the rear.
The flaming short spear lifted the blue-haired swordsman and smashed him onto the ground.
Bang!
The terrifying force instantly shattered the blue-haired swordsman. His body didn't seem to be made of flesh and blood; after being shattered, he exploded into a cloud of red mist.
Nelliel was no longer who she used to be. Although this blue-haired swordsman's Spiritual Pressure had reached the Captain level, he couldn't withstand even a single blow from her.
The defeat of the blue-haired swordsman didn't cause the other servants to hesitate at all; their pursuit followed immediately.
These servants had essentially become part of the Evil Blade. Given a little time, the Evil Blade could resurrect the dead servants from the red mist.
Nelliel dodged again, evading several attacks.
"These servants seem to lack intelligence!" Nelliel remarked.
On the other side, Sōsuke Aizen swung his sword, beheading two servants attacking him and Sora.
"These are just puppets with nothing left but combat instincts."
The servants had lost their autonomous consciousness, leaving only combat instincts. This actually eliminated the distracting thoughts in their minds, allowing them to display greater strength in head-on clashes.
However, none of the three were ordinary Captain-class fighters, so they handled the pressure easily.
Sora looked into the red mist. He faintly sensed a gaze observing them from nowhere and everywhere.
The omnipresent red mist seemed to be alive.
Just then, a Zanpakutō suddenly appeared from the red mist behind him.
The blade slashed fiercely towards Sora's neck.
The shadow beneath Sora's feet swirled and rose like flowing water. In an instant, a shadow barrier erected behind him, blocking the Zanpakutō.
The collision between the Zanpakutō and the shadow barrier made no sound.
"Kagehime..."
Sora's eyes narrowed. The blade slashing at him was impressively Kagehime in its Bankai form.
A figure slowly emerged from the red mist. It was a Shinigami who looked exactly like him.
"Another me? A copy? Or a manifestation?"
Thoughts raced through Sora's mind.
Turning his head, he saw that Sōsuke Aizen and Nelliel were both fighting "invisible enemies".
"A mirror image of the self? It seems only the individual can see their own Copy. If defeated by the Copy, one loses their self, or perhaps the Copy takes over the body?"
Sora speculated on the Evil Blade's ability.
If defeated by the Copy, there was a high probability of becoming like those servants—losing autonomous consciousness and being controlled by the Evil Blade.
"Let's see how much of my strength you can display."
A black blade also appeared in Sora's hand.
"Arrogant!" Sora (Copy) shouted low, catching the black blade with two fingers.
At the same time, three servants behind Sora attacked him simultaneously.
These three servants were all Shinigami. They released Kidō at the same time, coordinating to complete a single spell.
"Bakudō #99, Part 2. Bankin (Great Ban)!"
The bald Shinigami in the middle slapped the ground: "First Song: Shiryū (Halting Fabric)!"
Huge white strips of cloth rose from the ground, wrapping around Sora's body and binding him like a mummy.
The short-haired female Shinigami on the left raised her hands: "Second Song: Hyakurensan (Hundred Bolts)!"
Reishi condensed into dozens of light spikes, piercing into the mummy's body.
The long-haired male Shinigami on the right clapped his hands together: "Final Song: Bankin Taihō (Great Seal of 10,000 Prohibitions)!"
A massive stone monument descended from the sky, crushing the mummy bound by cloth and light spikes.
The mummy was first pierced through the heart by a streak of light slashed by Sora (Copy), and then crushed into fragments by the huge stone monument.
"Is this the extent of it?"
A voice came from the shadow beneath the short-haired female Shinigami.
The real Sora floated up from her shadow.
His image had changed somewhat. Holding a shadow blade and draped in a shadow coat, a pair of white horns grew on his forehead.
This was the Transcendent form, fusing the powers of Hollow, Shinigami, and Quincy.
The short-haired female Shinigami turned her head, and her body instantly split into dozens of pieces.
Neat chunks of the corpse fell to the ground, turning into red mist.
Sora (Copy)'s expression turned cold. Thunder and flames surged from his body, transforming him into a golden flame giant.
He used Sora's 'Armor of Dust-Binding Thunder and Flame'!
The golden flame giant raised a long sword of golden fire and smashed it fiercely towards the real Sora.
"You still want to defeat me using my own moves?" Sora chuckled softly.
At the same time, more surrounding servants launched attacks on Sora together.
Ceros and Kidō instantly drowned Sora's figure.
Boom—!!!
The explosion kicked up rolling waves of fog in the red mist, and all the servants were blown away by the terrifying shockwave.
Sora (Copy), inside the golden flame giant, stared coldly at the changes in the center of the explosion.
"It seems you can only display strength at the Shinigami limit..."
The real Sora's voice suddenly rang in Sora (Copy)'s ear.
The Copy turned his head sharply, only to find the real Sora standing beside him, unharmed.
"Trying to defeat me with such power is no different from a mayfly trying to shake a tree."