Chapter 23: Chapter 21
It took me a lot of time, but finally, I was able to read through it all. After the first half, I started regretting not asking them to explain it to me instead of having to read it all by myself.
The first step is infiltration. Captain-Commander has assembled a task force of some of our most skilled captains and lieutenants. To be precise, it is Byakuya Kuchiki, Yoruichi Shihoin, and Urahara Kisuke. Names that carry weight, names that have faced impossible odds before. But this… this feels different. The plan is for Yoruichi and Soifon, along with members of their squad, to slip into the heart of the theocracy's capital, their mission to gather intelligence to map out the weaknesses that we'll exploit.
The plan is bold, audacious even. Kisuke's part in this is to disrupt their communication and to sever the theocracy from the higher-ups. Spiritual artefacts, designed to interfere with their rituals and magic, will be hidden throughout the cities. The mere thought of it sends a shiver down my spine. If this works, it will sow chaos, making the people question everything they've been taught to believe.
Meanwhile, Byakuya, along with his squad, will start appearing before normal humans, making them question their own beliefs and sowing chaos.
And then, the assassinations. The High Priests of the Six Scriptures are our targets, fanatical leaders who guide the theocracy's every move.
Why make such an elaborate plan? Simple. We don't want to eradicate them but to defeat them. We could kill our way through, but it would only make everyone wary and hate us.
The plan is simple and not hard to figure out. Even though I expected something more from Aizen, I cannot deny that it is kinda nice. Even if those parts fail, we can always do it in a traditional way. Conquer. Some people would use it to discredit us, while some would gain from it, like the ones worshipping me, for example.
The problem that would appear is what to do after. The most viable options are putting someone on the throne who is on our side or just making a country managed by us. However, I don't want the second option. The ones managing mortals should be the living, not us.
The other possible issue is the elven kingdom. The theocracy is at war with them, and from what I know, it's not easy for them. Despite how they want to hide it, they are at an impasse and cannot advance the frontline.
For that, there are a few solutions. Those include negotiations with the elves, sabotaging them, or even holding the front. I decided to send no one other than Ukitake along with Zaraki. Why the psycho? He is an intimidation factor. They will be more likely to accept and stop themselves from attacking once we start the operation, especially if there is a big scary guy to show that we are no joke.
The only unknown is the balck scripture which is the highest ranked force of theocracy. Out of all scriptures that one is the strongest and if believing the tales some of them might be capable of fighting weaker captains. That is what makes them kinda threatening, not very dangerous, but compared to others who can do nothing, it is a lot.
'They should be busy now.'
'How do you know?'
'Remember when I told you that Shalltear will get mind controlled? They were supposed to make it. That's why they currently are somewhere around E-Rantel. And the distance is long enough for them to not be able to come.'
Holy hell! This is amazing. Combined with the fact that we will stop all communication, it will make them realise what's up long after we are done.
Am I worried that they can potentially find Nazarick? Hmm.
Nah. For one, it's well hidden; the other, even if then so what? Even if they invade it with an army, they will only die. As much as I don't want to say, Nazarick is way stronger than Soul Society. Ainz has way more NPCs and doesn't even get me started on their levels. I have none on level 100, and he has a lot of them.
I am very thankfull that Ainz is the one that came here and not someone I didn't know. Otherwise, I would have to hole myself up in Soul Society and never go out! Even then who knows if they won't have any means to forcefully enter.
Anyway, just in case, I sent Bone Daddy a message with a warning about them.
I think I need to figure out new ways of calling him, I ran out of ideas.
While everyone was preparing for the operation, I wisely decided to do something else away from it. It's not that I am trying to run away from work, right? It's just a more important thing to do...
I went to hunt down some of our enemies soldiers. Potentially it's a bad idea as that might alert them of our retaliation, but then I thought about the ancient truth that assasins taught me. Nobody will notice, if there is nobody to notice.
In short, leave no witnesses, and it's all good. They will not figure it out until we attack them, so no problem.
So, with that in mind, I went into the 'enemy' territory. I didn't even need to sneak or anything; I got the ring that helps mask my presence, after all. Knowing that most of the actual army is stationed on the front lines with elves, I went there. On the way, I passed through some villages and cities where, to my displeasure, there were a lot of roaming ghosts. Good thing there seem to be no hollows around, or it would have been very bad for them. Of course, I took care of them and sent the good ones to Soul Society while more nefarious people went directly into the sword.
Due to the detours I took to take care of the spirits, it took me nearly two days to get to my destination. I didn't visit every single settlement in theocracy, but a big part of them for sure.
Despite the lost time, I still arrived at the general area of the front. It was mainly forest area along with some plains here and there. Despite the lack of presence of the humans or other races the animals here are actually not appearing this often. I thought it would be the opposite since, without civilisation, animals would feel more comfortable.
I was strolling around while appreciating nature and trying to find some sort of camp. At some point, I did find it a great camp with tents and palisades, which means that they had been staying in this place for some time already. No new camp would have such fortifications due to how much work creating that requires.
Looking at the sheer size of the camp it should have been made for around 20 thousand soldiers. No idea how big is this country military but I doubt it is all it has. From my knowledge, it is the strongest country in the region, so it would make sense.
Upon entering, I noticed a characteristic that makes this camp unique. And that are... corpses of soldiers lying around the whole camp.
Someone was here, and from the residual energy along with the number of ghosts still around looking in wonder, it didn't happened that long ago, at most a few hours. Someone destoryed a whole army.
I decided to check for any clues later and first took care of ghosts who, upon noticing me, either started to cry happily or panicked. The soldiers went directly to my zanpakuto while... the other ghosts I sent to soul society. Who are the other ones? Elves.
I see a bunch of cages with dead bodies of elven women in them. Those do look as if they died for longer than the rest, so whoever killed the soldiers is not responsible for the caged ones. I can only guess what happened to those poor women. These fuckers!
There were also, in some way, fewer ghosts that had brawls with those of the theocracy knights. The fun and interesting thing is that contrary to their enemies, they were mixed in gender. Both men and women were taking part in that attack, which, looking at the medieval setting, is kinda revolutionary unless It's how it works here for every country other than the religious zealots. I think they might have been the ones who attacked, or at least a few of them who died here. I send them to Soul Society because the fact that they were killing those bastards means that they are some good ones.
I will ask them later what happened here.
Just then, a butterfly flew to me and sat at my finger, relying on the message. I smiled after realising the content.
It's starting. Time to get rid of those idiots.