Charlotte swung his blade backward in a flash, aiming for Yumichika's chest. But there was no way Yumichika would be hit so easily – he quickly flash-stepped into the sky, barely dodging the slash.
However, he was panting heavily. Right from the start, he had been forced onto the defensive.
Charlotte roared out the name of his ridiculously long ultimate move once again, but this time, Yumichika didn't bother blocking. Having seen its power before, he instantly flash-stepped away and counterattacked with a slash so fast that Charlotte barely managed to block it.
Even so, a lock of Charlotte's hair was sliced off.
Yumichika didn't think much of it, but to Charlotte, his hair was his true pride – something he had spent countless years in Hueco Mundo nurturing with utmost care.
Seeing it cut sent him into a frenzy.
"UNFORGIVABLE! UNFORGIVABLE! ROYAL ROSE GARDEN BEAUTY QUEEN!" he screamed, his expression contorting in rage as pink reiatsu exploded around him.
Yumichika instinctively raised his zanpakutō to guard as smoke enveloped Charlotte. When it cleared, standing before him was… a muscular freak in a white ballet tutu.
Charlotte's reiatsu had increased several-fold upon Resurrección, but his ridiculous appearance made Yumichika burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha!"
He tried to cover his mouth, but tears streamed down his face as he rolled mid-air in laughter.
Charlotte glared at him, interrupted mid-monologue.
"Hey!"
"S-Sorry… hahaha… sorry!" Yumichika gasped between laughs.
If this wasn't a battle, he might have died purely from laughter.
But Charlotte's strength had indeed reached a new level. He appeared behind Yumichika in a blur and punched him so hard he crashed into the pillar behind, creating a massive crater.
His left arm was fractured in three places. The pain finally wiped the smile off his face.
Don't be fooled by Charlotte's flamboyance – his combat power was real.
Yumichika realized instantly: This isn't someone I can defeat by laughing at.
He dove into the forest at the pillar's base to regroup, releasing his zanpakutō as he slashed at Charlotte.
However, even his Shikai, Fuji Kujaku, couldn't pierce Charlotte's hierro.
"It's useless, useless! Your Shikai just increases the number of your blades – it can't cut through my hierro at all!"
Yumichika didn't argue. Charlotte was right. His current Shikai was only a facade – it wasn't his true ability.
Charlotte saw his somber expression and smirked, taking his punch head-on and uppercutting Yumichika in the chin, sending him flying helplessly.
Charlotte followed up with a double-fisted hammer strike that slammed Yumichika down onto the pillar's surface.
"The Beautiful Charlotte Chuhlhourne's Ultimate, Divine, Wonderful, Lovely, Super Powerful, Seductively Alluring Cero!"
His attacks had long names because if he didn't recite the full incantation, their power would be severely weakened.
A heart-shaped pink Cero fired directly at Yumichika.
He tried to dodge but was still grazed, the massive blast radius too wide to escape completely.
Before he could recover, Charlotte reappeared above him and punched him in the waist, smashing him into the ground with enough force to create a crater.
Yumichika crawled up weakly, slashing with his zanpakutō, but Charlotte caught the blade barehanded and headbutted him so hard he nearly blacked out.
Charlotte didn't give him a chance to recover. He grabbed Yumichika by the collar and used his Resurrección's ultimate move – ironically, his only technique with a short name.
"Punishment of the White Rose!"
Dark black thorns sprouted from Charlotte's body, encasing them both in an orb of shadow. No light could penetrate it.
"This is the Punishment of the White Rose. Inside here, no one can sense anything – appearance, reiatsu, presence – nothing leaves this space. You will die a secret death, never to be mourned. For one who worships beauty, it is the cruelest end."
As Charlotte spoke, ten glowing white roses bloomed within the darkness. Their petals floated down, ready to wrap around Yumichika and suffocate him.
Yumichika felt despair wash over him… but then he called out softly:
"Bloom in mad frenzy… Ruri'iro Kujaku."
His blade transformed into countless shining blue-violet vines that wrapped around Charlotte, sprouting bud after bud.
"These buds will absorb all of your reiatsu until you die," Yumichika explained calmly. "My zanpakutō is different from others. If not for your technique cutting off all external senses, I would never have used it."
As the black rose petals withered away, rainbow-colored glass flowers bloomed in the darkness, and the thorn sphere around them slowly dissolved.
Yumichika stood victorious, explaining to Charlotte that in Squad 11, where everyone's zanpakutō was assumed to be direct combat types, he had always hidden his true ability to avoid being disliked by Kenpachi or Ikkaku.
He didn't know that Kenpachi never cared about abilities – only effort in battle mattered to him.
Charlotte could only stare as his life faded away, overwhelmed by the power of Ruri'iro Kujaku.
Meanwhile, Kira Izuru was locked in fierce combat against Abirama, who had released into his Resurrección, Aguila.
His appearance became that of a humanoid eagle with massive red wings, greatly increasing his speed. Kira was immediately pressured.
But Kira wasn't an ordinary lieutenant. He understood how to exploit terrain and his enemy's weaknesses.
He lured Abirama into a dense cluster of buildings where the Espada's wingspan would be a liability.
However, Abirama wasn't stupid. As one of Barragan's Fracción, he simply hovered in the sky and blasted through buildings with his heavy feather missiles until Kira was forced into the open.
Feathers rained down like guided missiles, but Kira parried them with Wabisuke and escaped to another vantage point.
Abirama grew frustrated with his evasive tactics.
"Enough hiding!"
He traced the markings on his chest, and his wings doubled into two pairs, increasing his speed exponentially.
His murderous red reiatsu pressed down on Kira, but Kira stayed calm.
As Abirama swooped down, Kira released his Shikai.
"Raise your head, Wabisuke."
He slashed each wing four times. With each strike doubling the weight, every wing now weighed sixteen times its original mass.
The sheer heaviness forced Abirama to crash into the ground, unable to lift himself.
Still, Abirama roared defiantly, struggling to rise and attack again, but he could only hover slightly above the ground.
Kira sighed softly.
This is just how battle is…
With a swift step, he moved behind Abirama and brought down Wabisuke once more.
This time, his opponent collapsed completely, pinned by his own wings. Kira finished it without hesitation, decapitating him in one clean strike.
Victory belongs not to those with the flashiest powers, but to those who claim it by any means necessary.
(End of Chapter)
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