The warehouse seemed to shudder. Tension thicker than blood saturated the air as the four Visoreds faced their treacherous friend—no, their enemy. The sound of the barrier Silas had raised hummed like a dying sun, reflecting the broken light in their eyes.

　　Shinji held out a trembling hand. "Ichigo& Tell me why you stooped so low&"

　　But Silas`s eyes, pools of crimson in the harsh fluorescent light, held only cold calculation. Not a flicker of the easy-going comrade they`d known.

　　A wail, almost animalistic, tore from Hiyori`s throat as she launched herself forward. ZanpakutM gripped in white-knuckled fury. Inches from making contact, her blade was stopped by Silas`s two fingers.

　　"That would have gotten you killed," he softly said, blurring away.

　　A crimson arrow sparked faster than sight. Kensei screamed for Hiyori to watch out. In a desperate attempt, Shinji rushed forward and grabbed her, being struck on the shoulder by the arrow.

　　Mashiro watched as the attack embedded itself in the floor. It was so fast that she hadn`t seen where it came from or when Silas drew his weapon. But one thing is certain: She was in a skirmish and had to go all out.

　　The warehouse transformed into a battleground.

　　Kensei charged in with a flurry of devastating blows. His fists were like battering rams. They could have cracked the earth, but Silas weaved between them, bow raised like a conductor. A booming sound was heard after Silas easily caught one of his fists.

　　"I told you to don your mask, but you even refused to unleash your Tekken Tachikaze&"

　　"He knows my Ban—" Before Kensei could finish, Silas summoned an arrow and lodged it in his thigh. Silas then flicked the air, causing an invisible force to push Kensei back.

　　Mashiro`s childlike cheer twisted into a feral snarl as she summoned her Hollow mask. It took the form of a white hornet`s face.

　　Silas knew she would go rescue Kensei, so he looked over to where Shinji had saved Hiyori. Not giving the two any breathing room, he fired two arrows with one shot. Shinji barely deflected the first with his sword. The second pierced his other shoulder, not enough to stop the relentless assault, yet the wound bled profusely.

　　"Kensei!" Hiyori shouted, her own mask forming. Her skeletal-like mask had a prominent horn centered on the forehead as well as a row of diamond-shaped markings over the eyebrows—a cruel mockery of the dead relationship Silas and her never had.

　　Shinji quickly relayed to her that he was fine. Without hesitating, he released his Shikai. Sakanade sang as it spewed out its power to create the Upside Down World.

　　The battlefield warped and spun, the very air thickening with disorientation. But Silas remained unimpressed.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

　　His sacred bow grew larger and more potent than before. Firing a single arrow, it sliced through the whirling disorientation, striking Shinji square in the chest. Shinji was hurled back, hitting the wall with a bone-jarring thud.

　　"Didn`t I tell you to don your Hollow mask?" he taunted. Each Visored had a story etched in those masks, which Silas needed for them to go all-out for him to truly test how strong his Quincy powers were.

　　Kensei, more furious than ever, finally summoned and released his Shikai. Swiping the space in front of him with his small dagger, he caused multiple blades of wind to hurl their way towards Silas.

　　But this was only a distraction. The real attack was going to come from his lieutenant.

　　"Mashiro&!" When Silas heard her voice, he knew she was preparing to strike the moment he evaded. So he twirled to the side with an almost supernatural grace. "Kick!"

　　Silas`s bow became an extension of his will as he fired a devastating arrow at the wall, sharper than any of the others. It changed its course at an impossible angle. Kensei tried to warn her, but it was too late. Shank! The arrow had sliced off Mashiro`s leg!

　　"You`re too weak," Silas mocked as she flopped to the ground.

　　Another arrow was quickly shot, shattering her mask. She looked up at Silas, eyes wide, with a terrified vulnerability he`d never seen in her before. Summoning an arrow to pierce her skull, it was notched before it could be loosed. Not from mercy, but a flash of Kensei`s blade intercepting it.

　　"Get back, Mashiro!" Kensei roared, standing over her as a defiant guardian.

　　Hiyori finally managed to help Shinji recover. But his breathing came in harsh gasps, and blood loss took its toll.

　　"We have to help him!" she demanded.

　　"No!" he said. "Hiyori, stay back. Let Kensei and I handle this."

　　Silas watched them, a flicker of something resembling curiosity on his pitiless face. "Do you finally understand? Come at me with everything you`ve got, or you`ll lose."

　　Shinji was the first to break, lunging forward with Sakanade`s blade extended. "You bastard!" he roared, his inverted world now warping Silas`s perception. But the attack was a feint.

　　Silas, honed by battles that made the Soul Society`s conflicts look like child`s play, shifted. His senses picked up the real threat: Kensei`s incoming attack, aimed at shattering his ribs.

　　Silas twisted in the opposite direction he would have thought it was coming from; the arrow already nocked and fired. His attack pierced Kensei`s arm, the force of it throwing him off balance.

　　Shinji was awestruck that Silas could still perceive his predicament despite him swimming in Sakanade`s effect.

　　"Enough!" Hiyori screamed. A desperate gamble surged through her veins. The world seemed to contract around her mask. Crimson energy crackled in its jagged maw. Not a scream, not a roar, but a focused beam of raw destructive energy—her Cero!

　　The three Visoreds were shocked to see that she would go as far as releasing one. Even Silas found this amusing.

　　The blinding beam lanced across the warehouse, a fiery whip of annihilation seeking to sear him from existence. The air warped and shimmered with the heat, the very floor beginning to melt under the onslaught.

　　Silas, for the first time, cracked his neck. His eyes briefly widened as he snapped into fluid motion. With one flick of his wrist, a shimmering curtain of arrows wove before him. Hiyori`s Cero shattered against the acting shield, tendrils of power dissipating harmlessly into the charged air. The force of it almost rippled his white dress shirt, while Silas himself stood unharmed, utterly defiant.

　　When the attack ceased, he was left standing!

　　"The weight of your fallen comrades must have dulled your senses," he said. "If this is truly the best either of you can muster, then I remain... disappointed."

　　Those words held more meaning than they could fathom. To block a Cero with ease was no laughing matter. Silas was reading their every move as if he had fought them dozens of times before!