Moments after Yhwach fled into the Shadow Realm, Mercer stood still looking up at the gray clouds. He had just gained a moment of clarity on two important things; where he is right now, and what the hell just happened here that he arrived in a war-torn area. Of course, he was not the only one who stood still in the middle of all the rubble around.
Ichigo Kurosaki was left stupefied at the events he had encountered today. To start things off, he was called to Hueco Mundo by his friend Nelliel for help and encountered an unknown quincy who unsuccessfully tried to take away his bankai, and left him nearly imprisoned by a reishi-like jail in the middle of the Gargantua. He then finally broke free and reached the Soul Society, only to find it in ruins thanks to a surprise invasion by a huge army of quincies who called themselves Wandenreich, the guy he encountered back then. Then he fought off their leader, Yhwach, in a one-sided battle, revealed about the origins of his mother, and had his bankai broken in two, only for it to reshape itself into the man he is looking at right now, who then brutally killed his right-hand man and gouged out his left eye.
The Seireitei…
Yhwach…
His Mother, a quincy…
His zanpakuto, shaped into a man…
Everything is too much for him to handle, combined with the injuries he sustained during the battle with Yhwach. The only thing he could utter from his mouth was…
"What are you?"
That three-word question was directed at Mercer, which was greatly understandable from his point of view given two things;
One was he came from Ichigo's broken zanpakuto, Tensa Zangetsu. The latter was familiar with how Tensa Zangetsu, or Old Man Zangetsu as he called it, looks like, and he was certain that it was not him. Of course, Mercer wanted to avoid another confrontation for the moment, so he decided that it was not time for him to divulge the whole truth to him. The other thing was how he dispatched Jugram and dealt Yhwach with ease. The way he killed him, it was like an animal who catches its prey by complete surprise and tears it apart, and not to mention the way he easily recovered from what could've been a fatal slash from the latter. He would've gone to the conclusion that he is an unknown Hollow, a Vasto Lorde class to be precise, that the Soul Society failed to keep track of. However, there were no prior traces of reiatsu in Mercer; the reiatsu he sensed was from Jugram as he was assimilated, so there's no telling whether he is a Hollow or a Fullbring.
Mercer heard that question from an earshot as he turned his head towards Ichigo, bartered and confused. Only when he starts walking towards him does the latter try to bring his guard up with the broken hilt of his zanpakuto.
"Don't bother, kid. You'll only hurt yourself"
The adrenaline that kicked within Ichigo moments earlier starts to wear off, and he slowly begins to recognize the pain from the battle he fought earlier on. He tries to keep his focus to an approaching Mercer, however the pain was too much for him as his knees slowly gave away. Mercer immediately caught the falling Ichigo by his chest and slowly settled him down in a kneeling position.
"Zangetsu…"
That was all he could say before he completely drifted into unconsciousness.
"I really need to get out of this mess," Mercer thought as he stood in the middle.
"Perhaps I can utilize this"
Touching the ground with his left hand, reiatsu slowly begins to travel towards his left arm and into his body. Within him, the reiatsu begins to attach and integrate itself into his cells, causing it to undergo a metamorphosis. Strains of the Redlight virus begin to attack the invasive reiatsu, assimilating them piece by piece, atom by atom, and cell by cell. This attack however, only hasten the process, integrating themselves into the reiatsu-infused cell, until a different form has been made. The cells emit a lighter crimson compared to the darker ones as it spreads throughout his body. This transformation solidifies the creation of a hybrid between the Blacklight virus and the quincy blood.
Mercer opens his eyes and subconsciously uses his usual infected vision. The moment he uses it, he feels that something has changed about it. Everything around him was darker red in color, however…
Seven figures around him emit a different color. Five of those emit a grayish aura, while two of them emit a brighter white one. This was strange to him; normally he can only see those who are infected with the virus and those who aren't. This time around, he can see figures emitting something he knew wasn't related to Blacklight.
He returns his vision to normal once again and finds that the two brighter figures belonged to Ichigo and another Soul Reaper; a man with a tall build, has unusually long, spiked hair, and was wearing an eyepatch, who was probably incapacitated during a fight.
The four with grayer ones were lying around the ground near the unconscious soul reaper with fatal wounds; two of them were slashed deep in their chest cavity, while the other one had his throat forcibly ripped out. The other two were also found a few feet away from the rest, or whatever's left of them. It seems like something as strong as a cannonball obliterated them from close-range.
"I'm going to have a hard time adjusting to this kind of power" he muttered to himself as he adjusted to his newfound ability.
He walks away from the scene and starts running around the pathway. Perhaps he might find someone that could help him find a way out of Seireitei…
Or someone he can consume…
He uses his ability once more and detects another white figure lying around the rubble. It was a girl with short hair, unconscious and bleeding around her head. It was like someone threw her into the walls.
Perhaps he can consume her for more information regarding this war-torn place
Before he could even begin piercing his tendrils through her, his senses tell him that a squad is coming towards his 12 o' clock.
"To hell with this" Mercer growled in agitation as he retracts his tendrils towards him.
As he anticipated, six soul reapers rushed in carrying a stretcher, their zanpakuto on their sides. They are being led by a tall, muscular man with sharp features, short light-gray/silver hair and brown eyes. He had his sealed zanpakuto, a wakizashi, with an H-shaped tsuba, white weaving around its hilt, and a black sheath, attached in his left side as he surveyed the devastated area.
"How much did the quincies wreck this place?" Their leader was very annoyed by the devastation of the surroundings.
He then sees the unconscious soul reaper, lying on her back by the rubble and is gravely injured.
He also senses somebody's presence as well, albeit unknowingly.
"Everyone, bring Lieutenant Kuchiki to the infirmary. I'll catch up with you soon"
"Yes, Captain Muguruma" the men under him agreed in unison as they gently placed Rukia Kuchiki in a stretcher and carried her towards the 4th Division Barracks, where anyone injured by the invasion were being treated.
"Whoever you are, come out and surrender. I can still sense you" Muguruma calls out the hidden intruder as he grabs the hilt of his wakizashi.
"Fine, you got me. And I just masked my presence very well, how did you even find out?" Mercer asked annoyingly as he showed himself up from behind the crumbled walls, his hands tucked on both sides of his jacket. Somehow, he can understand what he said despite hearing it in Japanese
"Your leaking spiritual pressure says otherwise, now surrender or face the consequences of your actions"
"And you all are in a proper state to pass judgment to a criminal? Look around you, the place is in shambles and you're just out there telling those involved to surrender." Mercer mocked him as he looked around his environment
"And one more thing, you're telling me to face the consequences like I already did something bad. I just got here from being dead and got dragged into whatever this shithole of a country is called" he added, voicing out the truth
"Don't act like you haven't killed a soul reaper or two since you quincies invaded here!!" Muguruma rebutted at him
Mercer had a tick forming in his head. He just told him the truth yet this man had the galls to accuse him of being an invader. Well, he really is an invader but he never laid a hand or a tendril on any of the 'soul reapers' he mentioned.
Soul reapers? A thought had come across his mind
"Soul reapers? You mean the people who take the souls of the dead into the afterlife? If you are, then where's your scythe? Since you don't look like the usual soul reaper that we know of in America" Mercer joked again once more
"Tch, that's it. I'm taking you into custody, one way or another '' Muguruma furiously clicked his tongue. He had enough of his ramblings as he drew his wakizashi from his waist.
"Captain of the 9th Division, Kensei Muguruma. I don't know who you are, or where you have come from, but I will not idly stand here and let you spit out another insult to my fallen comrades. Prepare yourself"