Aizen's instant defeat was shocking.
And yet, at the same time, it wasn't.
After all, Aizen was merely a captain-class Soul Reaper, while his opponent was Yhwach, the king of the Wandenreich, the man who had nearly destroyed Soul Society a thousand years ago and had since become even stronger.
His defeat made perfect sense.
But to King Chengdui and Qin Yi, it was still completely unexpected.
"I told you already," Aizen gave a helpless smile. "I'm the weakest one here."
He lay sprawled on the ground in a miserable state, bruised and battered, looking as though he couldn't even move.
Yhwach's gaze remained icy as he walked over and looked down at him.
"Aizen. Stop pretending and get up. You know how important this battle is, and what it means. Or are you planning to betray your king?"
Aizen spread his hands without moving an inch. "I'd love to fight you. But unfortunately... I'm willing, yet powerless. The gap between me and Lord Yhwach is as vast as heaven and earth. It's simply impossible to overcome."
The shameless hypocrisy of those words left even Yhwach speechless.
High above, King Chengdui's body trembled with anger.
That tiny opening was all Qin Yi needed.
Buzz!
His blade swept through the air.
Space itself seemed to split apart as black-and-crimson streaks flared like burning threads, tearing through the sky and leaving rippling distortions in their wake. The slash made the very air tremble.
King Chengdui's expression changed instantly. This strike was even stronger than before, and even faster.
Boom!
The blade was already upon him. With a furious roar, he raised his Zanpakutō to block.
The instant the two swords collided, an overwhelming torrent of raw, tyrannical force exploded against him.
His face twisted as both he and his Zanpakutō were blasted away together.
"This sword..." Qin Yi's deep voice echoed with a metallic resonance that sent chills down the spine. "...grants me limitless power. Chengdui... how do you intend to stop me?"
King Chengdui flew backward for nearly a kilometer before finally forcing himself to a halt. His expression was grim as he stared fixedly at Qin Yi. The black-and-crimson energy wrapped around the blade filled him with an inexplicable sense of dread.
Every instinct he had warned him that the sword was dangerous.
'That sword amplifies his strength... So that's its true ability? It's not like before, when it could control or imitate every Zanpakutō...'
King Chengdui's thoughts raced. The ability Qin Yi had displayed during their previous battle wasn't like this. It had been powerful then as well, but not so overwhelmingly direct.
The force that had struck him moments ago contained no tricks and no complex abilities. It was pure violence, pure domination, nothing but crushing, overwhelming power.
Before he could think any further, Qin Yi vanished.
Black-and-crimson lines blossomed across the sky like countless flower petals, filling the heavens. The terrifying pressure alone caused King Chengdui's pupils to contract.
"Hadō #90, 'Kurohitsugi!'"
"Hadō #91, 'Senjū Kōten Taihō!'"
"Hadō #99, 'Goryūtenmetsu!'"
With three consecutive shouts, dazzling light erupted from King Chengdui's hands. A colossal torrent of spiritual energy surged into the sky before exploding forward toward Qin Yi.
In the blink of an eye, the attacks met.
Qin Yi's expression remained cold and emotionless. He simply swung his sword.
'Slice!'
The immensely powerful Hadō spells were cut in half. The hundred-meter-wide pillars of destructive energy split cleanly down the middle as Qin Yi's figure tore straight through them.
His speed didn't slow in the slightest. An instant later, he was already above King Chengdui.
"Any resistance is futile, Chengdui!" Qin Yi raised the 'King of Hell', his voice cold as ice as he looked down from above. "Because what I command now... is absolute power."
The next instant, the 'King of Hell', wrapped in black-and-crimson energy, came crashing down.
"Great Imprisonment!"
"O power that seals all things, I summon you!"
"Unleash your darkest light!"
King Chengdui's eyes flashed. Qin Yi's attack was nothing more than a simple downward slash, yet it gave him the greatest sense of danger he had ever felt.
This was a fight to the death. One wrong move, and there would be no second chance.
A blinding black light burst from his Zanpakutō. In less than a thousandth of a second, it expanded into a massive wall of darkness over a hundred meters wide, blotting out the sky behind him. Then he swung it upward to meet Qin Yi's descending blade.
Boom!
The entire sky shook violently as ripples spread outward from the point of impact, carrying terrifying shockwaves in every direction.
Rumble...
Throughout Central 46, towering buildings collapsed one after another as the shockwaves swept over them. The ground split apart, vast fissures spreading everywhere. Countless chunks of broken stone were lifted into the air by the overwhelming force.
It was a breathtaking sight. No one had imagined that the battle between the two kings would affect such a vast area.
Yhwach stopped in his tracks and looked up, his expression turning serious for the first time. The energy erupting from the clash high above made even him feel a trace of pressure.
There was no doubt about it: the power those two possessed had already reached, or perhaps even matched, his own.
Breaking through the limits separating Soul Reapers and Hollows could produce such terrifying strength... Even Yhwach found it astonishing.
"Lord Yhwach... wouldn't it be better to simply enjoy the show?" Aizen's voice suddenly drifted over, carrying an indescribable meaning.
Yhwach narrowed his eyes and looked toward him.
Aizen was still lying where he had fallen, but the light in his eyes had completely changed. He looked like a hunter who had already laid his trap and was patiently waiting for his prey to walk into it, or a venomous snake lying perfectly still, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
A chill ran through Yhwach as he suddenly realized the smiling man before him was incredibly dangerous.
"What exactly are you planning?" he asked in a low voice.
"My plan?" Aizen smiled faintly. He casually extinguished the flames still burning on his body, paying no attention to his injuries. "It's actually very simple. I just want to leave this world... and see what's beyond it."
Those simple words made Yhwach's gaze sharpen.
"Before that happens... every obstacle in my way must be removed." The smile vanished from Aizen's face, his voice turning cold. "Even you, Lord Yhwach... have no right to stop me. And you won't."
At some point, Aizen had already risen to his feet. Holding his Zanpakutō in one hand, he stood there quietly, radiating an eerie yet overwhelming aura.
Boom!
A deafening explosion suddenly echoed through the sky, and both men looked up to see King Chengdui falling from the heavens.
Aizen narrowed his eyes. "It's getting close... the world I've been waiting to see."
(End of Chapter)
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