*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

It's been a few minutes since my fight with the Quincy started. And true to their nature as long-ranged fighters, the Quincy has been peppering me with shower upon shower of energy arrows. The arrows also had the unpleasant effect of exploding almost immediately after a successful sidestep.

Which made the battle so far a strange rendition of a World War 2 dogfight.

Regardless of my annoyance, I decided to take the battle slowly. Although the man doesn't seem to be a Sternritter, I'm not fully confident in my ability to counteract his reishi control.

Reading about Quincy abilities is one thing, but experiencing it personally is another. It is honestly unsettling to have reishi that has always bent to your will start to resist you.

The resistance isn't much, mind you, but it's still there.

However, it hasn't smooth sailing for the asshole, either.

Barrel rolling around a dozen arrows, I suppressed a flinch when an arrow brushed past my left cheek. The energy construct drew blood, but the wound was luckily superficial. Similar to the various scratches littering my body.

Knowing the trick behind his arrows, I quickly cast Hadō #1. Shō from my right index. The spell repulsed the arrow with enough force to get it out of my face.

I ignored the accumulating frustration and glanced back at the Quincy just in time to see him trigger one of my traps. Throughout the battle, I've fully embraced tactical fighting. Even now, I'm actively spreading more seals throughout the area.

Most of the seals/traps take very little reiatsu from me to operate. Usually, I can use the ambient reishi to power them. These include traps that form barriers or other constructs that are meant to trap or delay an opponent. However, some traps need a lot more input from me. Particularly the seals that mimic Hadō spells.

This specific trap is quite vicious, if I do say so myself. By hovering within 1m of it, he triggered an energy chain to burst out of the ground and pierce into his calf like a harpoon. The chain immediately contracted and yanked him out of the air.

The chain has a nifty added effect of having a strong paralytic produced on its blade's surface — inspired by Mayuri of course.

I wasn't done yet.

Earlier, I surrounded that particular seal with explosive trigger traps. The trigger being pressure...

An impressive series of bright blue explosions drowned the down figure as well as muffling what I suspect was a rather loud "Fuck!"

Seeing an opportunity for what it is, I added to the fun with two spells I've been cooking up as I dodged the Quincy's spamming attacks.

With a mighty forward swing of Sōten ni zase, I released the spells simultaneously.

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"Hadō #54. Haien." "Hadō #78. Zangerin"

The spells mixed and tentatively fused to give the impression that I'd just fired an unorthodox Getsuga Tenshō. The resultant yellow energy blade shrieked as it tore through the air and closed in on the downed Quincy. As per usual, I empowered the spells to an inch within their metaphorical lives. Pushing the respective spell matrixes to just shy of their breaking points.

A deafening blast came into existence not long after. The resulting shockwave threw me off balance a bit, but a quick mid-air back roll corrected that.

I kept my eyes and reishi senses on the smouldering remains of the blast sight. However, the chaotic energy fluxes made my reishi sense temporarily useless.

At this point, I was running on fumes. Massively empowering spells past #70 takes much more effort on my part than the lower-ranked spells.

Although some of that cost is counteracted by the fact that my energy regeneration was leagues above all Shinigami I've met, but that doesn't mean I'm a perpetual machine. If this battle drags on for much longer, I'll likely have to escape or do something I've avoided doing at all costs.

The dust finally settled, revealing a heavily charred left leg lying alone in a massive crater.

'...'

He escaped, didn't he...

*Sigh*

I had an inkling of that when the vast majority of his scent disappeared milliseconds before the pseudo-Getsuga struck, but I was hoping the fatigue was messing with my mind.

As much as I would like to thoroughly rummage around the area and make sure he is truly gone. I need to leave this location before reinforcements from either Baraggan or the Quincies arrive.

Taking one last glance at the blast site, I cast my last spell in a voice heavy with exhaustion.

"Bakudō #26. Kyokkō"

A curtain of multicoloured energy slowly wrapped around my body, starting from my feet. As every part of my body was engulfed, they seemed to be erased from existence. Leaving no trace, outline or shadow.

I sent a pulse of reiatsu to the rockets situated just a few centimetres away from the bottom of my feet, allowing me to launch myself high off the ground.

Once I was completely invisible and a good height above the battlefield, I chose a random direction and blasted off.

It's been a really tiring day.

...

Vogt POV. A few seconds before the explosion trap activated.

"Tsk."

The Shinigami performed a well-timed barrel roll to dodge my arrows. My frustration was beginning to show on my face as I scowled at the agile airborne opponent.

The records didn't mention Shinigami having any flight capabilities, especially flight that is so much faster than the Hirenkyaku.

The annoying traps seemingly omnipresent on the battlefield didn't help either. Some of those traps could be avoided easily enough as the abnormally high atmospheric reishi concentration around them gave them away.

However, some of the traps were better concealed - particularly those of the explosive variety. The Shinigami, although cowardly, has some skill. Without absolute focus, it's extremely difficult to-

A shearing pain in my left leg abruptly ended my analysis. Quickly looking down, I was met with a harpoon end sticking out of my calf. I ignored the bloody wound and noted that I was rapidly losing mobility in the leg.

However, the pain remained.

The harpoon pulled me to the ground, but before I could come into contact with the sands, my instincts went into a frenzy. Without hesitation, I drew my Seele Schneider (energy blade) and amputated the liability.

Not quite satisfied yet, I withdrew the emergency Gintō (pills of condensed reishi) most officers carry and crushed them. I directed the massive store of energy into my Hirenkyaku. Effectively supercharging the technique.

I grit my teeth as the pain of losing a leg mixed with the agony resulting from the rearrangement of my organs as I suddenly find myself accelerating to speeds I have never dreamt of reaching before.

All of this happened in a fraction of a second. Which left me enough time to see my dislodged leg finally land on the sand from a distance away.

Seeing a part of me engulfed in flames was the last thing I saw before my disorientated mind slipped into unconsciousness.