(Soukai Nation: Elder's House)
All the survivors of the sudden attack were now at work gathering their dead and trying to repair the damage to their home. The Quincy soldats were piled together and burned, the chimera bodies were gathered together and were dissected by Esdeath who wanted to find any possible weakness in them and how much was still human, then move on to torturing Enshin who had his hands crushed and Teigu confiscated. The five teens weren't idle either as they took over the evacuation process, Hinowa kept the people calm and organized while Hisame organized a defensive ambush as some Quincy came to capture the villagers. Now the injured of Spirit were now getting patched up while Sotetsu met with the group again.
"So, if I may clarify, Quincy are humans who learned to harness 'soul energy' and use it to fight, except they misuse that power and are using it to take over the world." The king summarized, trying to process everything that happened recently while Akame translated for those that still didn't know the language. "The rest of the world moves on without us while we're stuck trying to decide who should unify the continent." He sighed, realizing just how vast the world and how behind his home was. "Very well, you can inform your king that I will open diplomatic ties with the Grand Empire and as a gesture of good faith, I'll include some of the finest Meihou blacksmiths in my kingdom. In exchange I would like military aid in helping Soukai bring unity to Wakoku as well. In the form of soldiers or in supplies."
"I'd also like to take Hinowa and her friends with us." Esdeath chimed in, surprising the teens. "They did rather well in their first attack and they have real potential, Hisame could very well become your main military commander and... Hinowa might just prove herself to be a worthy successor." She said while idly rubbing the crest on her chest. "I intend to finish their training and I can promise results." Sotetsu thought for a moment before looking to the kids, seeing both shock and excitement in their eyes, before allowing them to give their consent.
"Hate to be the one to say this," Wave started while looking at the remains of their patrol boat and the cargo freighter, stopping any celebrations, "but we're not going anywhere without a proper ship. While any naval officer worth their salt can handle maintenance and repairs, I don't know what I can do when both vessels are pretty much scrap. Though... that's being generous." Their vessel was torn to shreds by the Quincy arrows and the chimeras on the freighter tore that one apart from the inside out. "That, and Syura is still at large so we need to look for him."
"Well I welcome the diplomats, Mine and Chelsea, to join me as we discuss matters of state while you look for your criminal." The king stated, wanting any threat to his people taken down quickly. "I'll also request my finest ship builders to craft a new vessel for you. Granted... it won't be metal. I'm still surprised you had a ship of metal."
"While you guys try to figure this out, I'll be heading back to the Empire." Ichigo stated, surprising... only the Soukai side as the Empire natives grew accustomed to Ichigo being able to do whatever by now. "I'm willing to bet Gilgamesh has already made his next move so I need to hurry."
"Wait!" Mine called out, tearing something out of a notepad that she was writing in. "Here, an abridged report to his majesty. Try to get us a cruise ship next time." Ichigo felt his eye twitch but left the building and removed his Gigai ring, disappearing from sight and beginning the long flight to the Empire.
(Empire's Capital)
'I wonder what sustains that storm? Many Danger Beasts? A single beast? A Hollow? Or just a natural phenomenon like that spot on Jupiter?' Ichigo wondered as he flew. It took him hours and another kido spell to quell the storm but he eventually made his way back to land and then to the capital. 'Back aga-!?' He froze in mid air and gagged, losing control of his Reishi footholds and dropping into free fall. 'The hell?! This scent!' He thought as a glowing outline of a Kushanada appeared around him and faded just as quickly. 'What could possibly!?' He managed to get control back and stop his descent just a dozen feet from the ground, slowly lowering himself and coughing the whole time.
"This scent... a truly vile sin." The Kushanada spoke in his mind. "As your connection to Hell grows, your ability to sense someone's sin grows as well. Find the sinner. Burn them. KILL THEM." It was hard to argue, the stench was as bad as when Ichigo first arrived and the ambient Reishi itself was borderline toxic. If that was how it worked then he could only guess that Syura only managed to hide from them because of Shambala and getting enough distance to be out of his range. This sinner would not escape him, his scent was too wretched to be allowed mercy. While Ichigo was reflecting on this, Mez appeared at his side. Becoming a Shinigami, she now wore a Shihakusho but still chose to flaunt her chest and expose her bikini top.
"Master," she greeted her teacher and new boss, "the Emperor requests your aid. Several people and entire families have started disappearing and he suspects the Quincy may be involved. The team has been searching almost non-stop for the past month to find the culprits." Ichigo took a look around to see guards everywhere and the people looking scared. Unfortunately, the stench of sin was like a thick fog over the city. Mez started to return to the castle while Ichigo began to follow, pausing to look around again after he thought he heard something.
(Throne Room)
"The situation only continues to deteriorate my lord." Run reported to the leaders of the empire as he flew into the throne room with the rest of the Empire's new special forces coming into the throne room, Run being the only one of the team not in soul form. Ichigo's soul projector was in the room so they could all converse. Susanoo was standing at the emperor's side, serving as butler and bodyguard to the monarch while Najenda and Budo took command of Spirit in Ichigo's absence. "We see dozens of people all over the capital act strangely but never one that gives us any concrete leads, almost as if they're watching us and selecting the ones we aren't watching."
"These Quincy have gotten rather arrogant, considering they're only acting while Ichigo isn't around and they continue to hide." Budo growled, furious at his helplessness in the current matter.
"Can we know for a fact that it's because they know Ichigo is in the east?" Najenda questioned, trying to think of any possible angle. "Very likely that it is that, but how did they know? Maybe this was always a plan while we get preoccupied with the matters to the East. Did we play into their hands?" That was when Ichigo finally appeared, still grimacing from the disgusting stench of sin.
"Ichigo! You've returned!" Makoto called out, running to the hybrid and embracing the man he's come to look up to as his savior and older brother figure.
"Do you mind reporting what happened with you Ichigo?" Budo asked, hoping for some bit of good news.
"The continent is called Wakoku, it is divided into twenty-two nations with each one battling for sole supremacy of the continent." The Soul Reaper said as he pulled out the letter Mine wrote. "After we made landfall I had to leave to deal with all the souls of Wakoku... I only left when I felt the disturbance of a Quincy attack and they've seemed to be making chimeric abominations that Stylish would give his soul to work with." Chouri took the letter and started to read it over with Makoto, then Ichigo turned to the military forces. "So... what did I miss here?"
"At minimum that we've counted, over a hundred people have disappeared and were reported missing." Run announced surprising the hybrid before he grimaced again from something. "There has been almost nothing linking these people together, but the highest numbers are from children and handsome young men." Run himself felt his teeth clench as a scowl formed on his face. "I have a theory of who our culprit might be, but I have been unable to find him to clarify."
"You mean that clown that was with Syura?" Najenda asked, remembering that Run's students were raped and murdered by the serial killer clown. "We've got nothing but speculation to guide us right now and no one matching his or any of Syura's group has been sighted. Ichigo, can't you sense what's going on?" She asked the hybrid who twitched again from something.
"Sorry, but I can't seem to focus." Ichigo told them, pawing at his ear. "I keep getting this weird feeling like I'm hearing something and I can't get this STENCH OF SIN OUT OF MY FACE!" He roared, making his jacket tear from a sudden burst of Reishi and accidentally destroying Najenda's metal arm from the sheer power before he got himself under control. "AAHH! Can no one hear that buzzing!?"
"No, they can't." Ichigo froze as Kyoka Suigetsu manifested in the room. "It's a sound based illusion, designed to distract and entrance any that might hear it. You're protected by me, but they're distracted from it. I didn't say anything until I was absolutely sure." Ichigo smiled at his second Zanpakuto spirit while everyone else looked at her in shock and awe.
"Care to lead the way?" The hybrid asked as she smiled and returned to his inner world. "Everyone, look closely at this blade." He unsheathed Kyoka Suigetsu and activated her power. "Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu!"
(Sewer System)
With the knowledge of it being auditory hypnosis, Kyoka Suigetsu offered both guidance and protection to Ichigo and the remaining members of Spirit though her abilities were being stretched to their limit thanks to needing to cover the whole of the capital. Ichigo took a small team of five, consisting of Run, Izou, Suzuka, and Leone, into the capital's sewer system hear he heard the song originating while the rest of the team tried to keep the damage to a minimum topside. The sewers were definitely missing the clean of a proper sanitation effort as most of the efforts were on the surface and the only real concern was that the sewers weren't clogged up too badly, it smelled horrible but Ichigo took the brunt of it to use his hypnosis to remove the sense of smell. There was a proposal to have criminals do the cleaning but the crime rate dropped significantly with Honest's defection and the revolution ending. Luckily they were headed toward one of the cleaner parts of the sewers, used for rain water, and the distant hums in the air gained more clarity.
"... to dance and float with us~." Ichigo heard a woman sing, thus prompting them to rush while trying to remain as silent as possible. The stench of sin got stronger and stronger as they eventually came upon an opening and found the horrors within. He scanned everything with a cold and clinical analysis, working hard to suppress his base desire to kill the two Quincy inside in favor of gathering as much information as he could. First was a tank full of spirit energy and what looked to be a crudely fashioned Reishi extractor that was hooked up to at least a dozen women and men. To the side was a pile of dried up husks of bodies of various people. The exception being children, who all had the same happy expression and glossy lifeless eyes in the pile of the dead. The ones that weren't hooked up to that machine were comatose women, bare men in a trance-like state fawning over a woman matching Cosmina's description, and naked laughing children around a smiling clown that wore a poofy white shirt with white and red face paint on slim body and a noticeable lack of any kind of legging.
"My turn! My turn!" A little boy cheered. "Make me an angel next!" The clown laughed happily, turning Ichigo and Run's blood to ice in horror and disgust as he reached for the child. The very next moment the clown would find himself missing much of the arm that was reaching for the child with a fist burying itself in his head before sending him flying into the wall.
"No speeches, no banter, someone evacuate the survivors and just KILL THESE BASTARDS!" Ichigo roared as his golden Hell armor materialized on his body. Run's anger and hate at seeing what the clown was doing with the children burned and he wanted to aid Ichigo immediately since he wanted him dead more than anyone but his better nature won out and he tried to get the children out of there, all of them saying that they wanted to become angels. Over with Cosmina, Izou rushed at the singer with his blade poised to impale the girl but her veins glowed a bright blue and his Kotetsu bent and snapped while she was shot back out of her man pile.
"Blut," She said while adjusting her dress, "a neat skill of the Quincy that allows one to gain a powerful defense or greatly increases strength. Made sex so much better." She pulled out a microphone, the Teigu Heavy Pressure, and began singing into it only to be kicked from behind by Leone and Suzuka. The pair and Mez trained relentlessly ever since becoming Soul Reapers, focusing on the speed and martial arts aspect over swordplay and becoming somewhat proficient in Shunpo. Cosmina only became proficient in Blut and her Schrift, the Siren, focusing instead on indulging in all of the men under Gilgamesh's command, her prize for swearing her loyalty to him. Now she regretted that decision as she was getting pummeled by Suzuka and Leone's coordinated assault. At the same time, Izou was in mourning.
'K-Kotetsu...' he thought brokenly as he picked up the shattered fragments of his beloved sword shortly after it broke, 'I... I failed you, my precious Kotetsu.' The pain in his chest only became worse with each shard he gathered and placed onto his outer kimono jacket. 'I'll fix you... Ichigo can fix you.' His mind was nearly fractured by the loss until a roar of anger snapped him out of it. The clown's face split open into four parts, each one filled with needle-like teeth, while the grew in size and mutated. The lower body exploded into a spider-esque body with crab legs while his amputated arm exploded into tentacles with spear tips while the other arm became a long, spindly, thing with his fingers turning into snakes with Champ's head.
"How dare you!" The monster roared in anger, reaching for the children. "They want to become little angels! How could you stop me!?" The eyes on his serpent fingers were all stabbed with Run's feathers while he tried to keep the kids from running to the clown monster with his Teigu wings. Just then the monster was wrapped in chains and ripped to the ground, his limbs all slipping off like they were cut and Ichigo began glowing with the aura of a Kushanada.
"Champie!" Cosmina cried out after a brutal punch sent her tumbling. "Last song!" She shouted, Ichigo noticing the ears on Champ's freaky head disappearing as she sang. Ichigo kept up his protection, muting out any sense of sound for his allies by making them deaf via hypnosis as they all watched in horror while every last hostage began bleeding from everywhere in their head, dying as their brains turned to mush.
"Awww~ and I still had so many angels to love." Champ whined as he transformed into a dragon, mimicking the Tyrant that was used to make Incursio, with six orbs floating around him. "Oh well. I've plenty of bodies to feast on no-" A huge gaping hole appeared in Champ's dragon chest as a Kushanada manifested above Ichigo, who had thrust his sword at the transforming Quincy.
"Champ... you're sins are many," the hybrid spoke in a dual voice of his own and the growl of Hell's jailers, "I'm here to REAP VENGENACE ON YOUR SOUL!!" The head of the Kushanada sprayed fire on the monster who tried to shield himself with the spinning orbs but the fire wasn't stopped and bathed the clown in its heat. Champ screamed in unbridled agony and transformed into thousands of different things, hoping that one would be immune from the heat of the fire. Even turning into some kind of fire type Danger Beast did nothing to alleviate his suffering as he turned back to the fat clown that was his original form.
"WhaHHH! What did you do to me!?" He cried out as Ichigo and Run stepped up to him and the gates of Hell rose up behind Champ.
"You now burn in the flames of Hell you piece of shit." Ichigo answered, glaring at the sinner before him with disgust and hate. "These flames burn your very soul until you lose every last ounce of will as you suffer an endless eternity for the crimes you have committed." Just then, through the fires and screams, Ichigo and Run saw a white light shine through and change the fires blue with a presence that demanded obedience appearing.
"Hello, my lost son." The hybrid never heard this voice before but immediately recognized it from deep within himself. The Quincy King.
"Yhwach. Figures that you'd allow scum like him to-"
"Stop. I feel just as disgusted as you that my power is even part of this wretched soul. I do have standards, and much of this 'Wild Hunt' make me want to retch. So please, do me the favor of burning them from existence. I can't imagine how desperate you made my poor son, Gilgamesh, to allow that filth into his ranks."
"Save it. You don't care about anyone but yourself. When I'm done in this world, I'm coming to kill you next." The hybrid growled, swiping his hand and making the chains of Hell drag Champ's still burning and screaming soul to where it belongs.
"Hey... Ichigo?" Leone called, getting his and Run's attention to reveal a bound and gagged Cosmina that was beaten unconscious. "What do we do with this one?" Ichigo though for a moment.
"Run, lead them back to the castle and get us a clean up crew. I want everything here either burnt to ash or taken to my lab." The former teacher nodded, feeling somewhat hollow after finally seeing justice done. "Izou!" The hybrid called to the swordsman. "You stay with me. I saw what happened." Ichigo held out his hand and summoned an Asuachi. "Shall we try an experiment?"
(Timeskip: Still in the capital)
Days passed as the damage was assessed, the Lord of the Path of Peace returned to the capital to perform the funeral ceremony and it was announced that the Quincy, still being called The Cult, were behind it and that they murdered all of their victims. The emperor sent out a message to the remaining leaders of the other kingdoms to meet and to discuss the threat of the Quincy and was still waiting for news on that front. Makoto also commissioned another vessel to sail eastward with fifty armed soldiers and Danger Beast parts for their Meihou craftsmen. Ichigo, meanwhile, was hard at work on his own matters.
The first thing he tackled was for Cosmina's interrogation, overhearing her brag about her sex life gave him an idea of an ironic torment. With the Stylish AI, Ichigo concocted a drug that would make Cosmina hypersensitive but at the cost of never climaxing no matter what anyone did to her. She was then thrown to the prisoners and jailors of the palace to enjoy while her vocal chords were paralyzed after a bit of surgery after learning about her power of song. Every day since she was imprisoned a jailor came by for more of the drug and reported her desperation for climax.
Next was Najenda's arm and the schematics of a new Pumpkin gun from the SRDI. The decision to make it a prosthetic was easy for the the scientists of the institute since connecting directly to the body meant that it was connected to the soul far more easily. Najenda's body accepted the mechanical limb almost instantly, as if welcoming an old friend, though she'd need more practice to keep her arm from transforming suddenly into the different guns. Her damaged eye was also replaced with one that operated like a scope for better aiming.
The final experiment for him was analyzing the Kotetsu to what could be done about the shattered blade and sure enough it had part of his soul in it. The man loved, cared for, and was obsessed with his blade to the point that it actually held a piece of his soul... Ichigo wasn't sure how to take that information. However, he placed the fragments of Kotetsu, Izou gathered literally every last piece, and an Asuachi into a synthesis tank and watched as the fragments bonded to the soul steel and giving it a blood red blade. Izou had his Kotetsu back as his Zanpakuto and he embraced the calling of the Shinigami.
"What a week." Ichigo groaned as he slumped onto his desk, Stylish finishing out a report for Kisuke and Yamamoto. "Can I finally get some rest?"
"Unfortunately not sir, and could you be a bit more stylish in your actions? Like so?" The AI asked as he gracefully fell into a holographic chair to demonstrate, earning an annoyed glare from the hybrid. "You still can't relax yet. As per your own orders, you told me to help you figure out a more efficient way of getting through the storm region, or stopping it completely, once your other matters were attended to." Ichigo released a tired sigh of resignation.
"Fine. Run all possible scenarios on clearing or bypassing the storm with Kido and available Teigu in the Empire's current possession." He ordered as Stylish got about his task. 'I wonder if Esdeath and the others found Syura yet.' He thought while trying to get as much rest as he could from the current events.
(Wakoku)
In the time that Ichigo left to return to the Capital, Esdeath and her team were hard at work in the Eastern continent. Esdeath was working to get any information out of Enshin, cutting off his legs and an arm and leaving him trapped in a hollow ball of ice under the water with a hole for air and occasional food. He very quickly cracked from oxygen deprivation, biting coldness, and eating the remains of his former arm and legs for sustenance and confessed that the Quincy main base was inside a cave. That was all he could tell as Gilgamesh never allowed him or any of his number to explore the outside of the base and used his 'Gate' to teleport them as needed. Enshin was then left to freeze to death before his soul was dragged to Hell. Without a prisoner to question, Esdeath took the five teens and began searching Soukai for Syura while continuing their training.
Without many obligations other than being bodyguards to the diplomats, Tatsumi and Wave wanted to set after Syura first but still had the language barrier issue since neither of them were fluent in the native tongue. Mine and Chelsea would join them in the hunt and the four would split into two teams. They then wasted half a day as Mine and Chelsea argued over who would go with Tatsumi. Akame went ahead before anyone else, choosing not to waste any time in hunting the bastard son of Honest. Unfortunately, the bastard in question was already gaining quite a bit of distance between himself and his pursuers.
'Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!' Syura cursed as he limped along, still reeling from the shocks he suffered from Tatsumi and Wave but staying as silent as possible. 'Everything is supposed to go MY WAY! The Quincy gave me power, I have one of the best Teigu, I'm supposed to have a privileged life! So what the hell is happening!?' He had no direction, he just ran as he tried in a vain attempt to think of anyway out of suffering any more humiliation and punishment at Gilgamesh's hand. Unknown to him, or anyone else, he had long since fled the Soukai nation and bypassed a major fort to enter the Tenrou nation taxing himself and Shambala heavily in the process. He eventually came upon an estate near a lake area before his body finally gave out, leaving him hurt, tired, and starving in an unknown land just inches away from what looked to be clean water.
Syura faded in and out of conciseness but he was soon found by guards of that estate who took him into one of the buildings while sending word to their master. He was placed in a bed and was being examined by a few of the healers as the lord of the estate came to see her uninvited guest. She was a tall woman with flawless skin and long silky maroon colored hair and maroon eyes, wearing nothing but an open robe to display her large breasts and toned but soft figure. She found Syura, half naked from the examination and licked her lips. She was Moegi of the Ten Stars of the Tenrou Nation and the leader of all the Southern military and when she wasn't fighting in the battlefield, she was indulging in the pleasures of the flesh with her bodyguards/lovers.
"Continue to tend to him but strip him bare." She ordered her servants who followed her command, revealing his entire body to her. 'Oh yes, he'll be a fine addition.' She thought before leaving the man to the tender care of her staff, returning to her own harem of men with a stronger itch in need of scratching.