"It's over," Looking at all the well-known powerful figures on the battlefield who had already made their final choice, Aizen slightly raised his head and let out a faint murmur.
Although thousands of trembling ordinary Soul Reapers still remained in the ruined plaza, in Rosse's eyes, these lives were no different from the dust on the ground.
If Rosse wished, he wouldn't even need to draw his Zanpakuto. He only needed to casually raise a hand as though brushing away a spiderweb, and these Soul Reapers who had lost their pillar of support would vanish in an instant.
What was even more pitiful was that, even now, within this massive formation of Soul Reapers, not a single person had the courage to straighten their back and speak for themselves.
This collective cowardice and silence had already become an irreversible death sentence for these remnants of the old era.
Although after Abarai Renji's heroic death, Soul Reapers in the crowd below had begun kneeling one after another in fear, letting out miserable cries, Rosse and Aizen had long since ignored these pleas for mercy.
If they had voluntarily cast aside their dignity and begged for survival before Abarai Renji's thunderous condemnation, then out of idle mercy, Rosse might really have spared their lives.
But now, after Abarai Renji had already torn open reality and shown it to them, these people only woke up afterward and tried to use the path someone else had carved out to secure a chance of survival for themselves.
Faced with this kind of shameless attempt to survive, there was not the slightest trace of pity in Rosse's eyes.
With a soft sound like a funeral bell, Rosse casually snapped his fingers in midair.
In an instant, a wind of spirit particles swept across the battlefield, carrying an indescribable power.
Only a second later, the thousands of Soul Reapers still gathered before the Tenth Division gates, crying and wailing, did not even have time to let out a final scream before turning into silver ash that scattered through the sky.
Not a single trace of their existence remained in this world.
Granting them such a painless death was already the greatest mercy Rosse was willing to give these cowards.
"It's all over."
Rosse looked down at the completely silent ruins beneath him and spoke softly, as though admiring a perfect painting.
He elegantly drew the Zanpakuto at his waist, a blade that had never been stained by common blood, and casually slashed downward through the empty space before him.
Accompanied by the tearing sound of space being cut apart, a massive gate filled with endless starlight and an unknown aura slowly took shape before everyone's stunned eyes.
Every survivor present knew very clearly that once they crossed this gate glowing with divine light, they would completely leave behind this decaying homeland and head toward Rosse's new world.
As for what miserable state the Soul Society left behind would become in the future, from the moment they chose submission, it no longer had any real connection to them.
Perhaps this moody new king would truly keep his promise and preserve the Rukongai districts they had purchased with their dignity and sacrifices.
Allowing those innocent souls to continue living and multiplying in this broken world.
But there was also a strong possibility that Rosse simply did not care to keep promises made to ants. Once they left, he might casually erase the entire Soul Society after it had lost its value.
Looking at this gate that would decide their fate, Sasakibe Chijiro's aged face showed no reaction. Without hesitation, he took a steady step forward and became the first to enter the unknown starlight.
The 147 old Soul Reapers behind him, who represented the remaining embers of the old era, followed closely behind like silent ghosts.
For them, since they had already chosen the humiliation of survival after their faith collapsed, they would force every tear and every regret back down.
Even if the Soul Society they knew no longer existed, as long as the legacy and traces left behind by Captain Commander Yamamoto still lived in their memories, their worn bodies still had a reason to continue living.
Not far away, Kirinji Tenjiro and Yoruichi Shihoin silently followed behind. Neither lingered where they stood.
Since they had already put everything down and chosen to trust a devil like Rosse, they might as well cast aside every concern and trust him completely.
With steps that appeared carefree but carried immense weight, they also turned into streams of light and entered the bottomless gate of starlight.
As one survivor after another silently entered the gate, the number of figures left in the ruined plaza became fewer and fewer.
Surprisingly, Rosse, the victor of the new world, was not the last to leave.
Before turning and stepping into the sea of stars, he merely waved his hand casually and took Shiba Kukaku with him. He did not even deliberately keep Rangiku Matsumoto by his side.
Just like that, he openly left his completely unguarded back to everyone present and calmly walked into the depths of the gate like an emperor inspecting his territory.
The massive and mysterious gate still stood before the ruins of the Tenth Division, while the remaining Soul Reapers continued filing through one after another.
Only after confirming that Rosse's figure had completely disappeared did Aizen elegantly raise both hands and carefully smooth the wrinkles from his clothes before slowly drifting down from the sky like a falling leaf.
His shoes stepped onto the bloodstained stone pavement, producing a steady crisp sound as he walked toward the gate representing a new beginning.
Aizen knew very well that beyond that gate filled with flowing starlight was an unknown world filled with endless possibilities and challenges.
It was the new life he was about to begin as a subordinate.
Being able to temporarily put away his pride, follow behind Rosse, see a broader world, and personally witness the world that had produced Rosse was also something he greatly looked forward to as a seeker of the path.
However, at that very moment—
"Bankai: Kamishini no Yari!"
Thrust!
Just as Aizen was about to step into the light, under the shocked gazes of everyone preparing to leave, a cold silver blade shot out from the shadows like a venomous snake and pierced straight through his back.
Hot blood burst from the white tip of the blade protruding from Aizen's chest like a fountain.
That glaring red instantly soaked through his white haori.
Aizen's body suddenly stiffened. With great difficulty and rigidity, he turned his head.
Behind the black-rimmed glasses, his eyes were filled with a level of disbelief never seen before.
He stared fixedly at Ichimaru Gin holding the sword. His trembling lips parted slightly, as though his mind had completely stopped working.
It was as if he simply could not understand how Ichimaru Gin, the trusted subordinate who had followed him like a shadow for a hundred years, could strike without mercy at this moment when everything had already been decided.
However, seeing this extremely convincing Aizen, who displayed despair and shock to the fullest, Ichimaru Gin, who should have been happy that his ambush had succeeded, instead lowered his bloodstained Shinso with loneliness and disappointment.
His narrow fox-like eyes, usually half-closed and hiding countless schemes, slowly opened for one of the rare times in his life.
Those beautiful ice-blue eyes stared fixedly at the man before him whose chest had been pierced.
The teasing smile that always lingered at the corner of Gin's mouth turned bitter as he let out a long sigh.
"Ah... so it completely failed after all."
"I really didn't expect that after enduring and preparing for so long, after spending nearly a hundred years preparing this killing blow, it would still be neutralized so easily by you, Lord Aizen."
As the smartest person who had hidden himself most deeply within the Gotei Thirteen and spent the longest time by Aizen's side, nobody in the world understood Aizen better than Ichimaru Gin.
If this crude physical ambush could truly strike Aizen's vital point, then with Aizen's terrifying bearing, always standing above everyone else, he would never show such a ridiculous expression full of panic and disbelief like an ordinary person.
At least, that was how Gin saw it.
This display of emotion was too out of place.
Like a glaring flaw, it cruelly informed Gin of a hopeless truth.
Everything he was seeing right now, the blood and the wound, could only be a false illusion carefully woven by Kyoka Suigetsu.
Even though Gin believed he had already figured out all the patterns of this blade, when this absolute hypnosis that completely controlled the five senses fell upon him, he still had to admit in despair that Kyoka Suigetsu's ability to alter perception truly left no solution.
Sure enough, as Gin's despairing sigh faded away, the Aizen before him, whose chest had been pierced and who seemed on the verge of collapse, suddenly rippled like water.
Then the fake Aizen, along with the blood splattered across the ground, transformed into countless sparkling bubbles and vanished without a trace in the breeze.
At the same time, on another section of ruins ten steps away from Gin, the real Aizen, calm and composed, with both hands in his pockets and not even a corner of his clothing damaged, appeared before everyone's eyes once again as though stepping out from another dimension, carrying his signature gentle smile.
"Why did you do this, Ichimaru Gin?"
Kaname Tosen was the first to break the silence. Veins bulged on the back of the blind Soul Reaper's hand as he abruptly drew his Zanpakuto.
For someone who viewed loyalty as his foundation, seeing Aizen stabbed in the back by a companion of a hundred years was something he absolutely could not tolerate.
"Captain Tosen, in your eyes, we've always been close companions, haven't we?", Ichimaru Gin still maintained his smiling expression.
Even though the ambush had failed, the hand holding Shinso did not tremble in the slightest.
"But in reality, since more than a hundred years ago, from the first time we met, we've never been walking the same path."
Gin shifted his narrow and dangerous gaze past the furious Tosen and calmly looked toward Aizen in the distance.
"Lord Aizen, you should know better than anyone why that is, shouldn't you?"
"Of course I know."
Aizen was also smiling. There was not the slightest trace of anger or lingering fear on his gentle face after being betrayed by a trusted subordinate.
It was as though he had already seen through the hundred years of restraint and killing intent.
"Gin, the reason you've worked so hard to remain by my side all these years, isn't it standing among these ruins right now?"
Aizen extended a slender finger past the two men confronting each other with drawn blades.
His gaze finally settled on the blonde figure standing silently at the very back.
"Miss Matsumoto, as the sole motive behind this century-long assassination attempt, how do you view this matter?"
With that question, Aizen exposed every story hidden beneath the surface.
From the moment Rosse deliberately took Shiba Kukaku with him but left Rangiku Matsumoto behind, Aizen had already understood everything.
Among all the survivors present, only Ichimaru Gin and the vice-captain of the Tenth Division shared a childhood bond that connected their lives.
The godlike lord Rosse had deliberately left her behind. Clearly, he had anticipated what would happen and intended to hand over the authority to decide the life and death of the traitor Ichimaru Gin entirely to Rangiku Matsumoto.
When it came to Rosse's habit of playing with human nature and fate, Aizen was confident he would not guess wrong.
Besides, over such a minor personal grudge, there was no need for him to go against the script his lord had already arranged.
Setting aside his identity as Rosse's deputy, Aizen was also an extremely curious observer.
He genuinely wanted to see what choice Vice-Captain Matsumoto, who usually appeared carefree, would make when faced with Ichimaru Gin, who had willingly become a venomous snake for her sake.
A cold wind swept across the ruins, lifting Rangiku Matsumoto's golden hair.
"Gin, I already tried to persuade you the last time you acted. Why are you still doing something so pointless?"
Rangiku Matsumoto let out a heavy sigh filled with helplessness.
She slowly raised her eyes, filled with complicated emotions, and quietly looked at the man who still wore a smile even while facing death.
"Under the rules of this new world, if you had simply done nothing and lived obediently, everyone would have reached the best ending. Wouldn't they?"
From the moment Rosse did not take her through the gate of light, Rangiku Matsumoto had already sensed it.
She had personally experienced Rosse's omniscience and omnipotence.
Since the captain had determined that Ichimaru Gin would draw his blade at the final moment, then no matter what, Ichimaru Gin would definitely draw his blade against Aizen.
Rosse was that kind of person.
He never made mistakes.