While Yūsuke and Yhwach were facing off, someone had taken advantage of everyone's distraction to sneak into the Spirit King's Palace.
Although the Spirit King's Palace had been completely exposed, it still contained many defensive barriers set up by the Monk Who Calls the Real Name. The number of people who could bypass these barriers and enter the Spirit King's Palace could be counted on one hand.
However, Aizen Sōsuke, who possessed Kyōka Suigetsu, was one of them!
"The so-called 'Spirit King'... what an utterly humiliating title."
At this moment, Aizen was standing in front of a massive piece of amber, with several subordinates standing behind him.
The amber before him was composed of golden spiritual particles, crystal clear yet unbreakably strong. Inside, a body of an adult man, lacking both limbs and any other appendages, was sealed.
This man, lacking limbs and any other appendages, was the symbol of Soul Society - the Spirit King!
The Spirit King's body was completely naked. Ever since he was sealed within this amber by the Five Great Noble Houses, everything about him had been fixed, even the expression on his face could not be changed.
The only thing he could still do was to think, and occasionally communicate with the members of the Zero Division through telepathy. And this 'occasionally' would probably only happen once every few centuries!
"Aizen Sōsuke, you've finally arrived."
The Spirit King's voice echoed in Aizen's mind. Judging from his words, he seemed to have anticipated Aizen's arrival.
Aizen wasn't surprised by this, as he knew the Spirit King possessed the power of foresight.
"Since you knew I would come, and didn't have anyone prepare any defenses, it seems you're ready to die," Aizen said slowly.
"Kill me," the Spirit King's voice echoed again.
Aizen gently caressed the surface of the amber with his hand, and said with a smile, "Of course, allow me to grant you this mercy. Consider it a gesture of respect for the end of a bygone era. As for your power... I will make good use of it!"
As he said this, Aizen plunged his Zanpakutō into the amber without hesitation. The sharp blade pierced directly through the Spirit King's chest.
At the very moment of the Spirit King's death, the power that maintained the balance of the entire world instantly collapsed.
"Aizen Sōsuke... do you know your future?"
In the final moments before the Spirit King's life completely faded away, Aizen heard the Spirit King's last question.
He knew that the Spirit King was now dead, but this seemed to foreshadow that his future wouldn't be as beautiful as he planned.
A dark expression flashed across his face, and Aizen asked Ichimaru Gin behind him, "Have they not brought that woman over yet? I should have sent you to carry out this task."
Ichimaru Gin smiled impassively, "Aizen-sama, I'm afraid it's too late for me to go now. Let's just wait patiently."
Aizen snorted coldly, and a massive fissure appeared in the Spirit King's Palace. An aura of Hell emanated from this fissure, a dimensional passage connecting to Hell.
At that moment, a pair of enormous hands emerged from the fissure. These hands had no skin, only bloodied muscles.
The muscles on the hands were tense, as if exerting all their strength to tear the fissure open. The already exposed blood vessels seemed to burst from the excessive force, and a large amount of blood flowed out, quickly staining the entire Spirit King's Palace crimson.
"ROAR!!!"
With an earth-shattering roar, the fissure connecting to Hell was suddenly and completely torn open, and a massive, grotesque head emerged from within.
This head was very similar to a human head, but its face, like its hands, had been stripped of its skin. It had sparse, withered yellow hair on its head, and its eyes, nose, and tongue had been cut off, making it a truly gruesome sight.
In reality, this was the manifestation of the Will of Hell. Countless soul chains, invisible to ordinary people, extended from its mouth, controlling all the Sinners under its will. At the same time, it itself was eternally trapped in suffering!
After the Will of Hell appeared, a soul chain shot out from its mouth, connecting to the Spirit King's chest.
However, this soul chain wasn't meant to transform the Spirit King into a Sinner, but rather to preserve the Spirit King's power.
Since Aizen had already merged with the Will of Hell, his power and the Spirit King's power were fundamentally incompatible. He couldn't absorb the Spirit King's power for his own use.
The power that was compatible with the Spirit King's included the Shinigami of Soul Society, the Hollows of Hueco Mundo, the Quincies of the Human World, and the Fullbringers, but not him, who had already merged with the Will of Hell.
The world that the Spirit King's power balanced was Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World, and likewise didn't include Hell.
Aizen himself couldn't absorb the Spirit King's power, but he had his own plan. This plan was to entrust the Spirit King's power to Orihime, but only if Orihime was already under his control.
As a Fullbringer, Orihime was undoubtedly capable of bearing the Spirit King's power, and Aizen considered Orihime's Fullbring to be the most powerful power of all.
In his description, Orihime's power could achieve "the rejection of all phenomena", touching upon the forbidden territory of God!
Aizen was currently waiting for his subordinates to bring Orihime from Hueco Mundo to this place. As long as he personally killed Orihime, making her a Sinner of Hell, then after Orihime absorbed the Spirit King's power, that power would belong to him.
"In just a few moments, I will step into the realm of God!"
From the moment the Spirit King died, fragmented lights appeared in the skies of Soul Society, the Human World, and Hueco Mundo. These lights were constantly expanding outwards, and although their speed wasn't fast, they seemed to be endless, as if they would swallow the entire sky.
These fragmented lights were the spiritual particles left behind after the world's collapse. Because of the absence of the Spirit King, Soul Society, the Human World, and Hueco Mundo were already gradually collapsing.
At this moment, it might seem to the lifeforms of these three realms that they were just watching a strange phenomenon far away in the sky, but when the collapse of space reached their doorstep, no living being in these three realms would be able to escape.
"What's happening!? Who killed the Spirit King!?"
Others might not know what these sights represented, but the Monk Who Calls the Real Name, as one of the oldest existences, immediately understood.
Although his attention was partly drawn to the battle between Yūsuke and Yhwach, he hadn't forgotten to pay attention to the Spirit King's Palace.
The reason he had only now discovered that the Spirit King's Palace had been invaded by Aizen was because Aizen had used the power of Kyōka Suigetsu to create a facade outside the Spirit King's Palace, making anyone outside believe that the Spirit King's Palace was safe and sound.
The Monk Who Calls the Real Name couldn't care about secretly watching the battle between Yūsuke and Yhwach any longer. He immediately rushed towards the Spirit King's Palace.
When he entered the Spirit King's Palace, he discovered Aizen and Aizen's subordinates inside.
"Manako Oshō... as expected, you're the first to arrive here."
Seeing the Monk Who Calls the Real Name, covered in murderous intent, Aizen said with a smile.
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