"Whoosh!"
A dark green beam of light dropped from the heavens like a divine pillar, slamming into the ground with a thunderous boom.
Boom!!!
The earth exploded.
A massive crater opened where the beam had struck.
Ikkaku's body dropped out of the sky. His left shoulder had been blown clean through, blood spraying down like rain.
The axe-like Ryūmon Hozukimaru in his hand had also been pierced by that dark green Cero, a gaping hole torn straight through it.
"H…how… is that… possible…"
Falling in freefall, Ikkaku stared at Ulquiorra in disbelief.
In that split second just now, he had clearly raised Ryūmon Hozukimaru to guard his front—yet he had still been pierced by the dark green Cero.
"Ikkaku!!!"
Far away, Yumichika shouted, watching Ikkaku's falling figure with a face full of panic.
He simply couldn't believe it.
Ikkaku had used the Bankai he hated to reveal more than anything—and it had still been crushed this easily.
That was supposed to be a Shinigami's final trump card—Bankai.
A Shinigami who possessed Bankai could even become a Seireitei division captain.
There was no way someone like that should be defeated so easily.
Ulquiorra slowly lowered his finger, gaze cold as he stared down at Ikkaku.
His right hand clenched on empty air, and a green spear appeared there.
"So you managed to dodge at the last second?"
Without the slightest regret or hesitation, Ulquiorra hefted the dark green spear and hurled it toward Ikkaku once more.
Renji clenched his teeth so hard they almost cracked as he swung Hihiō Zabimaru with all his might.
"Hikotsu Taiho (Baboon Bone Cannon)!!!"
The massive bone serpent opened its jaws wide again, crimson power building in its maw.
Like a dragon's breath, the red beam shot toward the dark green spear.
The moment they collided—
The red light was pierced through as if it were nothing, the green spear crushing it and continuing straight toward Ikkaku.
"AAAAH!!!"
"Ryūmon Hozukimaru!!!"
Ikkaku roared, swinging his zanpakuto.
On the huge axe-blade behind him, the red dragon-crest patterns flared and spread.
His entire body was wrapped in a faint red glow.
In that state, Ikkaku bellowed and brought down his axe-blade with everything he had.
Boom!!
Another thunderous impact.
The twin giant axe-blades of his zanpakuto smashed into the dark green lightning spear head-on.
In that instant—
He heard the sound of shattering steel.
Ikkaku's pupils blew wide as he watched his twin axe-blades crumble during the clash, the enormous metal blades splintering apart.
Fragments rained down in every direction.
He knew Ryūmon Hozukimaru was a pure offense-type Bankai.
Its attack power was so great…
That even the weapon itself could barely withstand it.
But he had never imagined that even with all that attack power, he still couldn't break the green spear.
On the contrary, his full-power strike only hastened Ryūmon Hozukimaru's destruction.
With a final boom…
Ikkaku slammed into the side of a skyscraper.
The tremendous impact drove him through layer after layer of walls, smashing him all the way from the top to the very bottom floors.
The entire skyscraper collapsed under the shockwave.
Dust billowed up, blotting out the sky.
The commotion drew every Shinigami's gaze.
When they saw Ikkaku lying at the bottom of a newly formed crater, covered in blood, surrounded by the broken fragments of his zanpakuto…
They were all stunned.
That was a Shinigami with Bankai—
And he had been crushed like some nameless foot soldier.
And this was still only the Cuarta Espada.
"Has Hueco Mundo's combat power really gotten this high…?"
"This is bad…"
Shunsui's brows knit as he fought. His duel with Starrk was no longer lazy or playful—he finally got serious.
As things stood now…
The Shinigami side was actually at a disadvantage.
If he kept "playing around" any longer…
It was entirely possible even more Shinigami would be taken out.
"Ukitake!"
He glanced at his old partner. Ukitake nodded, drew his zanpakuto and intoned:
"All flows of water, become my shield!"
"All flashes of lightning, become my blade!"
"Sōgyo no Kotowari (Twin Fish of Logic)!"
Shunsui's expression turned solemn as well. He swung his twin blades and chanted:
"The wind of flowers scatters in confusion, the flower god cries out!"
"The stormy sky shreds apart, the heavenly demon laughs!"
"Katen Kyokotsu (Flower Heaven Crazy Bone)!"
The two of them—four blades total—stared straight at Starrk.
Starrk scratched his hair helplessly.
"Seriously now… couldn't we just mess around a bit on this side and wait for the war to end?"
Shunsui held his twin swords, voice grave.
"No can do. We need to take you down quickly so we can support our comrades."
Hearing the intent in Shunsui's words, Starrk sighed.
"You guys… do you really think I'm weak?"
Shunsui glanced at the other Espada, then back at Starrk and Lilynette, lips curling in a smile.
"More or less. You Vasto Lorde-level Hollows are all Espada, right? You feel like… maybe the Quinta or Sexta Espada?"
So far, he hadn't felt much pressure from Starrk at all.
Compared to Ulquiorra, the Cuarta Espada…
Starrk didn't even seem as threatening.
He looked like the perfect opponent to finish off quickly.
"That really is a shame."
Starrk shook his head and raised the back of his hand.
"I'm the Primera Espada—Coyote Starrk."
Seeing the "1" etched on the back of his hand, both Shunsui and Ukitake had their pupils contract.
They had never imagined…
The laid-back guy they'd casually picked as a "quick win" would turn out to be the strongest of them all.
"Yare yare…"
Shunsui sighed, head pounding.
"That's a problem. So you're the strongest one, huh?"
Even as the words left his mouth, his feet stamped the air.
Using tremendous speed, he flashed to the air above Starrk and brought a sword down at him with all his might.
Starrk still looked half-asleep, casually raising his blade to parry.
But the moment their swords met, surprise flickered across his features.
The arm gripping his blade was forced downward, suppressed.
Seeing Starrk about to take a hit, Lilynette shouted:
"Starrk, what are you doing?! It's just a Shinigami, hurry up and kill her!"
Starrk snapped out of it and swung his sword, knocking Shunsui away.
"This one's a little different. His strength suddenly surged several times over in an instant."
Shunsui had originally planned to explain the rules of Katen Kyokotsu's "children's game," but one glance at the other battlefield changed his mind.
Even with Komamura and Renji working together, Ulquiorra was still overwhelming them.
Shunsui gave up on explaining and immediately activated Katen Kyokotsu's "shadow game," launching himself at Starrk again.
If they kept chatting over here…
Those two over there really might get killed.
Ukitake tightened his grip on Sōgyo no Kotowari and joined the assault, moving in sync with Shunsui.
After all, this was the Primera Espada.
If they couldn't put him down quickly and he managed to join another fight, the entire battle could shift against them.
At the same time…
Harribel's three fracción—Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun—had engaged Rangiku.
Rangiku was standing atop a skyscraper, sweat beading on her forehead, gray ash swirling around her.
"Captain, you still can't fight?"
If Toshiro wasn't back in action soon, there was no way she could hold off all three Arrancar alone.
"Just hang on a little longer. I'm still healing Momo."
Behind her, Toshiro was using kaido to rapidly treat Momo's wounds.
Apacci clicked her tongue, looking impatiently at her partners.
"Mila, Sung-Sun, stop wasting time. Let's just finish them off."
She swung her zanpakuto.
"Lift her up, Cierva (Blue Deer Maiden)!"
As her spiritual pressure flared, her white outfit turned into fur. Her mask shifted into two large deer-like horns and a pointed horn between them.
A black ring-belt appeared at her waist; jagged red lightning streaks marked her eyes, and her irises turned flesh-pink.
Her reiatsu skyrocketed.
Seeing this, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun both turned cold gazes toward the lone Rangiku and drew their zanpakuto.
"Bite and tear her, Leona (Golden Lion General)!"
"Strangle her, Anaconda (White Snake Princess)!"
The two of them transformed as well.
Mila Rose's black hair grew longer; across her generous chest, only a few bands of cloth remained, and she gripped a massive greatsword.
Sung-Sun's upper body remained humanoid, but her lower body transformed into the sinuous coils of a huge white serpent, leaving her in a half-human, half-snake form.
Feeling the surge of all three Arrancars' reiatsu, Rangiku felt an enormous pressure—but she still clenched her teeth and sneered.
"What, you three planning to open a zoo? Why are you all different kinds of beasts?"
The three women's eyes went ice-cold, killing intent brimming as they glared at Rangiku.
Red light bloomed from the horn on Apacci's forehead as she smirked.
"Big-boobs Shinigami, if you want to talk tough, now's the time. Soon, I'll blast you so thoroughly there won't even be scraps left."
Whoosh!
A red Cero blasted out from her horn.
At the same time, Mila Rose and Sung-Sun fired their own Cero.
Facing the three converging beams, Rangiku could no longer keep up the act.
Fear flickered in her eyes.
"Gin…"
Instinctively, she looked toward the center of the flames—toward the smiling fox-like man standing within them.
Gin's eyes flickered.
But in the end, he still didn't move.
In the next second, with a roar, a massive iceberg erupted into existence, slamming into the three Cero and smashing them apart.
"Captain!"
Rangiku snapped back to herself and turned, eyes bright with relief, to look at Toshiro behind her.
He stood up, Hyorinmaru in his right hand, his left pressed against his wounded abdomen, eyes cold as he stared at Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun.
"Rangiku, leave this to me."
Even badly injured, dealing with one more fight was nothing he couldn't handle.
Sung-Sun covered her mouth with a white sleeve and smiled.
"How arrogant. In that half-crippled state, staying alive is already hard enough—and you still think you can beat the three of us?"
Toshiro didn't waste his breath.
He stepped forward and rushed them, swinging his zanpakuto.
"Guncho Tsurara (Flock of Ice Pillars)!"
As his blade fell, cold air surged out.
Moisture in the air condensed at high speed, becoming a flock of white ice-birds that streaked toward them.
The three Arrancar responded by firing bala instead—attacks weaker than Cero, but much faster.
The hail of bala shattered the ice-birds one after another.
Using that opening, Toshiro, wreathed in the form of a dragon of ice, darted forward like a streak of frost and closed in on Mila Rose.
She met him with a heavy slash from her greatsword.
Toshiro spread his ice-dragon wings, accelerating as he thrust Hyorinmaru straight at her.
"Ryusenka (Dragon Hail Flower)!"
The moment their blades met, the sky seemed to flash with an icy shooting star.
Frost raced along Mila Rose's greatsword, spreading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Up her hands.
Across her entire body.
Until she was completely frozen.
"Mila!"
"Mila!"
Apacci and Sung-Sun called out in a panic.
They had underestimated this "little captain."
Even in a heavily wounded state, his combat power was still terrifying.
Crack, crack, crack…
The ice shattered.
Mila Rose, looking like some bloodied Valkyrie from ancient Rome, crashed down onto the rooftop.
Her body was covered in purple-black frostbite, blood flowing freely.
"Damn…"
She fell unwillingly, staring at Toshiro.
The ice had spread too quickly—she'd had no time to react.
Toshiro's expression stayed cold.
If Mila Rose hadn't instinctively wrapped her body in reiatsu at the last second, she would've died the moment the ice broke.
Meeting his gaze, Apacci and Sung-Sun's faces hardened.
They no longer dared look down on the small captain.
Apacci pressed her right hand against her left arm.
"No choice. We'll have to use that."
They could still fight him as they were—but who knew what other strange abilities this Shinigami might have left.
Grievously wounded Mila Rose and Sung-Sun nodded.
The three of them grabbed their own left arms and spoke in low voices:
"Come forth, Konjūshin (Hybrid Beast God)!!!"
They tore off their left arms at the same time and hurled them toward the center point between them.
The three severed limbs collided and burst into blinding red light.
Toshiro froze, staring at the eerie scene before him.
"What is that?"
He didn't believe they would mutilate themselves for nothing.
If they were tearing off their own arms, there had to be a bigger purpose.
The red light flared in the sky, and a desolate, ancient aura seeped out of it.
Toshiro's frown deepened.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he opted to go on the offensive.
He charged straight at Apacci, blade raised.
"Sennen Hyoro (Thousand-Year Ice Prison)!!!"
Whatever they were trying to do—if he killed one of them, it should disrupt their plan.
Facing the onrushing mountain of ice, Apacci showed no fear at all.
Instead, a cold smile curled her lips.
"Gaō, kill that one."
As Toshiro's eyes narrowed in confusion, a roar tore out from within the red light.
"ROAR!!!"
A streak of black light flashed across the sky.
The hulking silhouette of a beast appeared beside Toshiro almost instantly.
A huge, fan-sized palm swung down.
It slammed into Toshiro's body with the weight of a mountain.
He completely lost control, sent hurtling down by that single blow, smashing into the streets of Karakura Town.
The entire street collapsed into a huge crater.
Already heavily wounded to begin with, Toshiro lay in the pit and coughed up a mouthful of blood, eyes wide as he stared at the sky.
"What is that…?!"
Standing beside Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun was a monstrous creature about seven or eight meters tall.
It had deer antlers and deer hooves, long black wavy hair, and a white snake for a tail.
It was a complete chimera—
And its aura was terrifying.
Sung-Sun patted the beast's shoulder and smiled down at Toshiro.
"Shinigami… our child is pretty impressive, don't you think?"
(End of Chapter)
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