Wandenreich vs. The Arrancar

 is a battle taking place during the Quincy Blood War, focusing on the conflict between the First Jagdarmee, led by Executive Hunting Captain Quilge Opie, and several Arrancar following the Wandenreich's conquest of Hueco Mundo and forcible conscription of strong Arrancar into its forces.

Prelude
Days before their first attack on Soul Society, Yhwach and the Wandenreich attack Tier Harribel and the other Arrancar in Hueco Mundo, successfully defeating the former and routing the latter with their unconventional powers and raw strength, before annexing Hueco Mundo itself as their territory and beginning a forcible conscription of the Arrancar.

Following the initial assault on the First Division in the Seireitei, Yhwach learns that Asguiaro Ebern was unable to capture Ichigo Kurosaki's Bankai and surmises that the Arrancar can serve a purpose after all by testing such things before ordering that the First Jagdarmee capture and recruit a few more for him. Shortly afterward, several of the Jagdarmee escort a line of chained and cloaked Arrancar through the sands of Hueco Mundo.

When one member of the Jagdarmee notices Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends falling out of a Garganta by hearing their voices, another points out that the only living things from this location are with them and that they killed everyone else, which causes the first member to dismiss what he heard and move on. Moments later, the captive Arrancar are lined up against a wall by the Jagdarmee before their leader, Quilge Opie, who sits on a throne with his head resting on his hand.

With Quilge getting up once his subordinate informs him of something, Loly Aivirrne deduces that Quilge is the one they must take down, and when Menoly Mallia questions if they should really be doing this, Loly counters that they will end up dead anyway if they do nothing. Clicking his heels together, Quilge demands the attention of the captives and announces that they will be hosting a selection competition for the Hollows and Arrancar to determine which of them will live or die today. Quilge details how he will be stabbing each of the Arrancar in the side, starting from the right end of the line, and instructs them to get down on their knees and beg like they are licking the shoes of the Jagdarmee if they desperately wish to live.

After Quilge claims that the captive Arrancar are those who had the luck, wits, and strength to survive the earlier assault of the Jagdarmee and must not waste this opportunity, a male Arrancar steps forward and begins to ask if he will be spared should he vow to serve the Wandenreich, but Quilge immediately impales him with a spear and proclaims that this is not how it works. Clarifying that joining the Wandenreich requires an entrance exam and that this selection competition simply determines who will get that chance, Quilge pulls his spear out of the dead Arrancar and begins impaling several others one at a time.

Though Quilge claims that this is meant to illustrate what will happen to those who fail, his subordinates discuss his lack of interest in actually bringing back any Arrancar or even in Hueco Mundo itself. Suddenly, when Quilge stabs his spear at them, Loly evades to the side and grabs the shaft of the spear, to Quilge's surprise, before Menoly cuts through the spear with her Zanpakutō and holds it to Quilge's chin.

Battle
When two of his subordinates approach him in alarm, Quilge merely notes that they took too long to react and is left puzzled by Loly and Menoly still having their Zanpakutō since those were supposed to have all been confiscated, which one of his subordinates affirms in confusion. Once Loly and Menoly introduce themselves and claim that they would never be defeated by an underling like him, Quilge manifests his Reishi Sword and cuts through the blade of Menoly's Zanpakutō, throwing two Reishi daggers into Menoly's right shoulder at the same time, before punching Loly with the hilt of his Reishi Sword when she attacks him, incapacitating her.

Walking away, Quilge orders his subordinates to punish Loly and Menoly without killing them, since Yhwach ordered him to bring back any foolish Arrancar with courage and they have passed this test, and ruminates on Sōsuke Aizen not being as great as everyone considers him to be if he had such weak Arrancar as aides, though he admits that this is to be expected since even Harribel was powerless before Yhwach. However, upon hearing the noises of pain behind him growing louder and turning around to reprimand his subordinates for overdoing it, Quilge sees Pulsera Cuerno decapitating dozens of his subordinates and hurtling toward him.

With Quilge catching the Zanpakutō mid-flight without injury and wondering who they are, Emilou Apacci stands on a rocky outcropping alongside Franceska Mila Rose and Cyan Sung-Sun, where she expresses disbelief at Quilge speaking poorly of Harribel without even knowing who they are. As Apacci disparages Quilge for being clueless and demands that they tell him who they are, Sung-Sun questions who she is talking to and Mila Rose promises to kill Apacci if she gets too carried away. Aggravated by this, Apacci begins butting heads with Mila Rose atop a broken wall, and while the two of them scream death threats at each other, Sung-Sun confronts Quilge on the sand below and notes that she will be dealing with him alone since the apes are busy fighting each other, to Apacci and Mila Rose's further ire. Miles away, Ichigo moves along the sands and muses that he can sense a conflict in the distance before Nel Tu suddenly pops up on his shoulder and identifies this as the Reiatsu of the Tres Bestias. When an alarmed Ichigo wonders how long she has been there, Nel claims that she will be watching his back, which an exasperated Ichigo accepts, and explains that the Tres Bestias are three Fracción under Harribel's direct command who are strong, fearsome, and constantly trying to kill each other, which means that the Jagdarmee has no hope of winning against them.

As a terrified Nel clutches Ichigo's eyes and wailing about the Tres Bestias, Ichigo protests that he cannot see where he is going while a perturbed Orihime Inoue warns him that the enemy might notice them if he makes all this noise. Simultaneously, Apacci sneezes, accidentally firing a Cero that spirals into the ground and blows up several members of the Jagdarmee in the process, and punches one of the Jagdarmee while wondering if Mila Rose is talking about her behind her back, prompting Mila Rose to casually cut through another soldier with her Zanpakutō and assert that she did not say anything before theorizing that Apacci's ears are rotten.

With the two of them butting heads again, Sung-Sun shoves her Zanpakutō through a third soldier's head and suggests that Apacci and Mila Rose leave if they plan on squabbling so much, which leaves the remaining Jagdarmee bewildered and intimidated by their strength. However, when one of them runs to Quilge and requests that he give them a temporary withdrawal order, Quilge fires a Heilig Pfeil through his chest, drawing the attention of the Tres Bestias, and suggests that the Tres Bestias surrender rather than continue to fight. As Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun express confusion at this, Quilge elaborates that surrendering to join the Wandenreich will allow the Tres Bestias to serve Yhwach alongside their beloved Harribel.

Though Quilge believes that this is a level of happiness that they will never be able to attain otherwise, Apacci simply breaks a wall with her fist, rejects this notion, and demands that Quilge stop underestimating them alongside Mila Rose and Sung-Sun. In turn, Quilge realizes that his negotiations have fallen through and expresses disappointment at this. Moments later, upon reaching the site of the battle, Ichigo is shocked to see Quilge standing over Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun, who lie defeated with bloody wounds behind him, while Quilge recognizes Ichigo as a Shinigami and muses that they are receiving a lot of guests today.

Aftermath
With Quilge and his subordinates initiating a battle against Ichigo due to his status as a Special War Power who must be immediately dealt with, Orihime gathers the five incapacitated Arrancar and begins healing them with Sōten Kisshun. Later, Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun regain consciousness and summon Ayon to battle Quilge.