Asta Aizen: Prince of Hueco Mundo

Chapter 6: The Archer and The Bear

 (Tier's p.o.v.)

 I had just realized that I recognized the silver haired girl and her spiritual pressure, she was the child of Acier Silva, a royal of Clover Kingdom, and a Quincy. The Quincy is a tribe of humans with the ability to absorb and manipulate reishi into spiritual weapons. Like Soul Reapers, they hunt Hollows, however what their powers do to Hollows are completely different. Soul Reapers purify Hollows and cause them pass on to the Soul Society, while Quincy destroys the Hollow completely and erase them from existence. Their ideology on our kind is simple, 'Hollows are monsters that devour human souls, they don't deserve to ascend to heaven for their atrocities, they deserve to be destroyed.' Because of this ideal, the Quincy once hunted Hollows excessively to the point they became a threat to the balance of life and death. The Soul Reapers pleaded with them many times to stop and leave the Hollows to them, but the Quincy refused to listen and continued to hunt Hollows. Eventually, the Soul Reapers were left with no choice but to exterminate the Quincy, leaving very few survivors and ever since, the Quincy have harbored a deep hatred for the Soul Reapers and would never forgive them for the genocide they committed. However, there was one Quincy that I know of who held no grudge against the Soul Reapers, nor did they despise Hollows and even became a good friend of the late Queen Licita Aizen. That Quincy's name was Acier Silva. I didn't know her well myself as I had only met her once, but that was 17 years ago. Although, from that one encounter, I knew that she was as kind a person as the queen herself.

 Flashback - 17 years ago

  (No one's p.o.v.)

 In a remote part of Clover Kingdom's Common Realm, a small group of Magic Knights from the Silver Eagles were sent to apprehend a group of bandits who were razing villages for a month and plundering any valuables they could find. Due to the reported strength of the bandits' leader, the captain of the Silver Eagles at the time, Acier Silva, was also dispatched for assurance in the mission's completion with casualties. Currently, Acier and her squad members were searching the forest where the bandits' camp was likely to be. As they were looking for their target, the squad captain couldn't help but feel like something was off. She couldn't explain the feeling she was having but she knew that something was about to happen. Her subordinates noticed that she was feeling uneasy and one of them asked, "Captain, are you feeling alright? You seem a little concerned." She turned to them and replied, "I can't explain it, but I have a feeling something is going to happen soon. And I don't think it's the bandits we need to worry about. So, be on your guard at all times." As soon after she advised them, the Magic Knights then heard screams coming from the distance. They ran straight in the direction they heard the squall, and they arrived to see the bandits they were sent to apprehend were being killed one by one by something they couldn't see, except for Acier that is. She could see that the criminals were being attacked and their souls eaten by a pair of large Hollows. 'Those Hollows, their spiritual pressure is insanely powerful. Are they Adjuchas? But Hollows at that rank rarely leave Hueco Mundo, so why are they here in the World of the Living?' She thought. The Hollows soon finished off the bandits and noticed the Magic Knights before charging at them. Acier used Steel Magic to grab her comrades and quickly moved out of the way of the Hollows' path, surprising and confusing them. One of the Silver Eagles asked their superior, "Captain, what's going on? Why did you move us out of the way?" Acier decided to feign ignorance as she didn't want normal people to be aware of the spiritual world by saying, "Wait, are you telling me you couldn't see them? Those creatures that were attacking the bandits?" They were shocked and confused by what she said but chose to simply shook their heads 'no'. She then said to them, "They were charging straight at us, so I decided to get us out of the way." They understood her reasons, though they still wondered why she could see the creatures while they could not. "Well, whatever these things are, we can't just let them run loose. Though, it appears that I'm the only one who can see them, I should be the one to fight them. All of you better get away from the area, this may be a hard fight." She instructed her squad. They were hesitant about leaving their captain alone to fight the invisible enemy, but knew that they would only get in the way as only she wad able to see them and chose to leave the area to give Acier room to fight.