While the Ice Clone was rescuing people on the side, Rukia’s original body confronted the Hollow.
Her previous Hakuren hadn’t caused any substantial impact on the Hollow, even though she had used it in haste.
But this also showed that this Hollow’s strength was not to be underestimated, and the High-Speed Regeneration it just displayed was not something an ordinary Menos Grande would possess.
Even Grimmjow, who was one of the Espada, didn’t have this ability; when his arm was cut off by Tōsen Kaname, it was Orihime who healed it for him.
Clang.
The Hollow’s sharp claws collided with Sode no Shirayuki, actually producing the sound of clashing steel.
The Hollow slowly pressed its claws down; Rukia had no advantage in a contest of strength.
Rukia realized this and shifted from meeting the Menos Grande head-on, intending to use her advantage in speed to defeat it.
Using Shunpo repeatedly, countless afterimages of Rukia appeared on the ground around.
The Menos Grande swung its claws one after another, but they all struck Rukia’s afterimages.
With its low intelligence, it couldn’t distinguish which one was the real Rukia and could only hiss and roar in rage on the spot.
‘Hmph, in the end, you’re just a mindless monster.’
Rukia thought so.
A monster with power but no intelligence was much easier to deal with than a rational one.
However, she first had to lead it to a place with no people.
There were too many people in the Rukongai, and it was easy to cause accidental injuries.
“Hado #33, Sokatsui.”
Having made up her mind, she used Shunpo to get in front of the Hollow and directly fired an incantation-abandoned Sokatsui at the Hollow’s mask, though it didn’t cause any substantial damage.
Rukia didn’t mind; she used Shunpo to head toward a nearby sparsely populated area.
She deliberately slowed her speed so the Hollow could barely keep up, keeping it trailing behind her.
On the way, to prevent the Hollow’s attention from drifting, she released some minor Hado.
Rukia arrived at a forest where, as far as the eye could see, no one lived.
The nearest household was several kilometers away.
At this point, Rukia stopped her pace, suppressed her Spiritual Pressure, and stood silently on a tree, waiting for the Hollow’s arrival.
Soon, that Menos Grande followed Rukia’s Spiritual Pressure into the forest, knocking down several large trees along the way.
At this moment, the Hollow stopped its pace; it didn’t understand why the Spiritual Pressure it was just chasing had vanished upon reaching here.
Sensing carefully but still finding nothing, the Hollow stood there roaring in impotent rage for a bit, then thought about returning to the crowded place from before to continue feeding.
Just as it was about to leave, a figure dropped from above, the soft moonlight draping her in a layer of mystery.
The snow-white blade now drove heavily into the Hollow’s head.
Suffering the pain of being stabbed in the brain, the Hollow roared loudly and swung its head frantically.
But Rukia gripped the hilt tightly, hanging her body onto the Hollow’s back to prevent herself from being thrown off.
It swung its hands wildly, trying to swat the young girl off its back, but being clumsy, it couldn’t touch the petite girl at all.
Left with no other choice, the Hollow slammed its back against a large tree with all its might.
Rukia had to leap off the creature’s back first, but Sode no Shirayuki was stuck so deep in the Hollow’s skull that she couldn’t pull it out.
Bang!
How could a fragile tree trunk withstand the full force of a Hollow’s impact?
It snapped in half and crashed toward the creature.
The intense pain distracted the Hollow, and it didn’t even notice the tree it had just knocked down falling toward it.
Thud!
The thick trunk smashed directly onto the Hollow’s forehead.
Fortunately, its earlier struggling had moved Sode no Shirayuki from the top of its head to the back of its skull; otherwise, that blow might have killed it on the spot.
“Third Dance: Shirafune.”
The Hollow was dazed by the impact, spinning in place as if it were drunk.
Rukia didn’t let this golden opportunity slip away.
Using Shirafune, she created an ice blade and plunged it into the Hollow’s right leg.
Feeling the pain in its right leg, the Hollow swung its right claw at Rukia with all its strength.
Although she dodged it with Shunpo, a gash was cut into her right arm.
Ignoring the wound, she used Shirafune again to create another ice blade, intending to drive it into the left leg to immobilize the Hollow.
But this time, the Hollow seemed to know what she was planning.
Just as she used Shunpo to appear before it, it unleashed a Cero.
Rukia hadn’t expected the Hollow to use a Cero at all, as it hadn’t used one once throughout the entire fight.
Although she wanted to escape the Cero’s range with Shunpo, the Hollow’s timing was too perfect.
Rukia didn’t have time to use Shunpo, so in her haste, she cast Bakudo #39: Enkosen to block the Cero.
The circular shield formed by Enkosen blocked the incoming Cero at the last second, but in an instant, the shield was covered in cracks and then shattered.
However, Enkosen bought Rukia a precious moment.
She used Shunpo to get behind the Hollow and plunged the ice blade into its left leg, successfully interrupting the Menos Grande’s Cero.
“Bakudo #9: Horin.”
Casting Bakudo again without an incantation, the reishi rope formed by Horin bound the Hollow’s hands together crosswise.
“First Dance: Tsuki-shiro.”
As Rukia’s voice fell, the two ice blades embedded in the Menos Grande’s legs emitted a pure white light, transforming into a towering pillar of ice that froze the creature inside.
Rukia jumped back to create distance from the Menos Grande and chanted: “Ye lord!
Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!
On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus.
In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens.
Hado #73: Sōren Sōkatsui!”
“This is the strongest Hado I can use right now.
Infused with all my spiritual pressure, even a Menos Grande close to becoming an Adjuchas won’t be able to withstand it.”
A pale blue laser shot from her hand, piercing straight through the Hollow’s body.
More than half of its body vanished, and the remaining flesh squirmed frantically, trying to regenerate.
But it was in vain; the Hollow’s High-Speed Regeneration could not regrow internal organs.
Crack.
As the ice pillar shattered, the Hollow’s remaining body gradually turned to ash and vanished into the air.
Sode no Shirayuki, having lost its support in the creature’s head, fell to the ground.
“It’s over.”
She sheathed Sode no Shirayuki, unaware that a dark spiritual pressure was entering her body through the wound on her right arm before disappearing.
Thinking back, this Hollow attack seemed a bit strange.
While there were cases of Hollow attacks in the Soul Society, the Shinigami’s headquarters, they were very rare.
Usually, the Hollows that came were just fodder that hadn’t even reached the Gillian level—brainless creatures with heads full of mush.
Menos-class Hollows and above usually possessed intelligence.
Such Hollows generally wouldn’t come to the Soul Society to look for trouble, knowing they would gain nothing and would certainly lose their lives.
Yet this time, a Menos Grande nearly at the Adjuchas level had appeared near the Spiritual Arts Academy.
Rukia wouldn’t believe there wasn’t something fishy going on even if she were beaten to death.