Moments ago...
Right on the hill outside the city...
There stood seven of the Zion enforcers, assembled and waiting for the signal.
As they looked, the weather changed in a matter of seconds, followed by an unusual lightning bolt pouring into the city in a very bright fashion.
That was Drey's lightning bolt—the signal they had all been waiting for. He had given his signal, and it was time to begin the conquest.
The twins (Enji and Genta) sat down to meditate, ready to invoke the "Kami no me," a demonic manifestation of apocalyptic destruction, a power that always guaranteed their victories in previous conquests despite the odds.
Izuku and Yuri volunteered to stay behind to guard the twins, as the Kami no me would fuse their consciousness with that of the demon when it manifested, making their mortal bodies vulnerable to attack.
The rest of the team mobilized in different directions, though still heading towards the city, perhaps to make sure they would not get in each other's way during the attack.
Even though they were a team, they loved executing conquests on their own.
One of them, Akira Kazumi, took up the role of destroying the city's primary defenses (the walls). As the one who would compromise the city's primary defenses, he was at the forefront, dashing faster than the rest of them down the hill towards the city walls.
Though determined to carry out their mission, which was the destruction of Langford, his ulterior motive was to save the woman special to him, the one he made a vow to, and he had faith that he would be reunited with her during this mission.
Tobirama sprinted right behind him, feeling the sick pleasure of carrying out Master Drey's wishes, laughing in excitement and ecstasy.
"Oh, I'm going to do what Master Drey wants! He'll be so proud of me! He'll love me more!" He sang out loud over and over with a bad tone that sickened the others.
This continued until Urahara couldn't take it anymore.
"Shut up! "I swear I'm getting motion sickness running down this hill because of you!"
Akira laughed, noticing what was happening right behind him.
Urahara arched a brow,
"Why are you laughing, Akira?" "What is up with you?"
Akira did not respond, as he didn't have to know. Though he was the type to rarely show happy emotions, he was excited to finally reunite with his loved one, and the excitement made everything fun for him. The only person who was aware of his ulterior motive was Master Drey, because he told him.
The three of them ran towards the city, ready to conquer it at Drey's command. They had to leave two of their teammates (Yuri and Izuku) behind because the safety of the twins was critical to the success of the mission.
They had been assigned and ordinated from Zion, the empire that had managed to dominate most of the continent and was still spreading its wings of dominion by bringing other provinces under its rulership -- now through the enforcers.
This had proven to be not only successful but efficient as well, given the fact that the military power and resources of the Empire were limited; therefore, sending them out on continuous conquests would be spreading its resources too thin to maintain its tyrannical rule.
Langford had been attacked by the Empire's official military on multiple occasions in the distant past but had been defeated over and over again, thanks mainly to the aid of the Sukunaku, Langford's secondary defense deployed only for dire situations the official military wasn't able to handle.
Their successes back then were mainly because the Sukunaku had several elite operatives at the time, and due to their overwhelming militia, the Empire eventually stopped trying to conquer the kingdom and instead focused on other territories for the time being.
Now it seemed that in anticipation of this, the Empire had now come up with their own, though not as a covert organization only deployed publicly at critical times of war but as the ongoing public enforcers of the Empire's dominance over the continent.
Not much was known about this, though, apart from the elementary facts taught to them before their ordination as operatives. So very few elites among the best of them could fathom the gravity of the situation and the history behind it.
Zaraki was aware of this, and he knew the present attempt at destroying the city might be successful, even though he didn't want to admit it to himself.
....
Mia and Zaraki weren't too shocked to witness this now, as they remembered what their last mission was like, especially for Mia, though Zaraki had just figured out that Drey was a fableman, as that was the best explanation of what they had just witnessed.
The power he used to manipulate lightning bolts didn't seem to be summoned but brought forth from within, like the power to do it came from himself or something inside of him, and it only took a few thoughts to put the pieces together.
His years of investigation, studying, and hard work paid off, and he was able to deduce what was going on presently from the look of things.
"Drey, you didn't come alone, did you?" "Where are the rest of them?" he asked.
"Bravo, Zaraki! You're even much smarter than I took you for. "To be honest, I'm alone for now," he said before asking,
"How could you tell that I had accomplices?"
"Several months of hunting down deserters and assassinating corrupt politicians as an elite is enough to give substantial information on what the Empire is currently up to," answered Zaraki.
"Oh, really, did you take down any deserters recently?"
"I have two traitors heading to your empire, believing someone was supposed to come for them. "Akira Kazumi... does that name ring a bell?"
"How do you?" - Oh! Interesting..."Was Yuzu Tachibana among the people you executed?" he asked.
"Yes," answered Zaraki.
"Oh dear," Drey said as he covered his eyes in frustration,
"I wonder how Akira would take this. I hope he doesn't go berserk when he finds out the woman he came for is dead.
Mia stood there, clueless about what the two were talking about, and was getting impatient.
"Hold on, big boy! Aren't we supposed to kill this guy? "Why are you having a chat with him?" She asked, confused.
"Mia, I need you to go check on Jin and the others."
Mia scowled, now annoyed.
"Don't give me that crap, Big Boy. "I still have a score to settle with this bastard!" she said, referring to Drey.
"Mia! "If you care about your friends, just do as I've told you!" he instructed.
Mia looked at Zaraki, resisting the urge to lunge at him, while he looked back with an arrogant smile that annoyed her.
"I'd listen to him if I were you, darling!" he said politely.
The fact that he sounded so sweet, concerned, and polite given the current circumstances was annoying, but right now she had a bigger priority: her friends.
Reluctantly but surely, she ran off to check on her close comrades, while Drey and Zaraki stood ready to face off.
Finally, with all distractions out of the way, they were ready to fight.
"So Zaraki, let's get started, shall we?" He said as visible lightning sparks flowed through his body.