Only two people present understood Kyoraku and Ukitake's suicide.
"It seems, Your Majesty Rosse, the pressure you placed on them was simply too great."
Aizen's low laughter echoed through the air. He pushed up his glasses, his calm tone carrying a bit of emotion.
Why commit suicide?
Because charging forward while alive might seem brave, but Kyoraku and Ukitake understood very clearly that they would never get the ending they wanted anymore.
Only those who drew their swords and charged without hesitation when disaster first arrived were worthy of Rosse's appreciation, and in the end, worthy of being granted a death filled with honor and dignity.
That reward belonged only to the first wave of resistance.
And what about the Shinigami who survived until now?
When they learned Rosse was the king of Hueco Mundo, an outsider from another world, they did not immediately rush over in fury to question him, nor did they have the courage to draw their swords at once and drive out the outsider.
They chose to endure. They chose to wait and watch.
Only today, after gathering a large group of allies and riding the storm stirred up by the Kuchiki clan, did they finally dare to come force the issue.
That was not bravery. It was cowardly herd behavior.
At this point, everything was already too late.
Out of everyone here, aside from the initiator of this entire farce, former clan head Kuchiki Ginrei, none of the others deserved a clean and honorable ending at Rosse's hands anymore.
During the first clash, Kuchiki Ginrei had offered up his life despite certain death, using it to stir up the grief and fury of the resistance.
That was also why Aizen had been willing to personally act and grant Kuchiki Ginrei the respect of a direct death.
"Humans are interesting creatures. Some people become more courageous under pressure because it brings out the ferocity in their bones. Others, the greater the pressure, the more clearly they see the cruelty of reality, and the more timid and sober they become."
Rosse slightly raised his eyes and gave his calm assessment.
"Kyoraku Shunsui was too clear-headed. Instead, he lacked the courage to fight to the death. I don't know what this group of people had been waiting for before, or what kind of miracle they were hoping for."
"Maybe they watched too many movies from World of living and thought that as long as they united all the power in the world, they could overthrow the evil demon king like in fairy tales."
"But unfortunately, reality isn't a fairy tale. There won't suddenly be a hero descending from the sky, nor a savior who becomes stronger than the demon king after casually training for a few days," Rosse's tone stayed calm.
"Well said."
Aizen smiled faintly, "But even if a miracle really did appear in the end, and that hero descending from the sky defeated the demon king, what actual connection would that have with those wise men who carried blood-deep grudges yet only knew how to hide in the shadows and cling to life?"
"It's not entirely unrelated, Sosuke."
Rosse chuckled and refuted him.
"At least in their logic, they got to see their enemy meet a miserable end. At least deep inside their cowardly hearts, they feel that after they close their eyes in death, they finally have the face to meet those dead friends and relatives again."
"Even if... the demon king's death had absolutely nothing to do with any blade they themselves swung?", Aizen raised an eyebrow slightly after hearing that.
He could not understand why someone would feel a twisted sense of pleasure and relief because their enemy died at another person's hands.
Their friends and family were killed by that person, yet instead of using every extreme method possible to grow stronger and take revenge personally, they instead acted like trash and placed their hopes in vague strangers?
In Aizen's view, the very idea of placing hope in others was itself a hopeless kind of stupidity.
To him, revenge meant nothing if you did not personally cut off your enemy's head.
Everything in the world would eventually die. Even the Soul King hanging high in the sky would one day fall from his throne.
Living like a rat for revenge until the enemy became old and weak, then joining forces with a few strong people to drag them down from the throne, could revenge obtained through that kind of miserable survival really satisfy someone?
He did not know about others, but Aizen was completely certain.
If it were him, he would never be satisfied.
He would rather die charging at a stronger opponent like a moth flying into fire than accept revenge handed to him by someone else.
Kyoraku Shunsui and Ukitake Jushiro's joint suicide was like two stones sinking into an abyss.
In the end, it only caused a tiny ripple in this sea of despair.
The elegy of the old era had already ended, but as long as people were still standing, the battle would continue.
The remaining rebels who were barely hanging on had already lost the light in their eyes.
They had no way out and no clever tactics left.
On this battlefield where hope had been stripped away by a god, the only and most primitive method left was to use the swords in their hands to try and defeat the nearly unbeatable Rosse in the sky.
"ROSSE!"
Right in the middle of this suffocating silence, an enraged roar exploded from the distant heavens like thunder.
Along with that roar, a dazzling pillar of spiritual pressure shot into the sky.
Kurosaki Ichigo tightly gripped the long and short Zangetsu in both hands. His figure first appeared as a tiny black dot in the distant sky, then rapidly drew closer like a burning meteor.
Carrying a violent storm of spiritual pressure, he crashed straight into the battlefield.
"ROSSE! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Kurosaki Ichigo's eyes were bloodshot, the corners splitting open.
He let out a beast-like roar. His Flash Step shattered the air beneath him as the Zangetsu in his hand became a black crescent slash, striking mercilessly toward Rosse's head in midair.
"Compared to how immature you were back in Las Noches, the intensity and density of your spiritual pressure have indeed increased quite a bit. But relying only on this kind of chaotic rage is still far from enough."
Even against this violent strike capable of splitting mountains and seas apart, Rosse, who had his back toward Ichigo, could not even be bothered to turn around.
He merely gave a casual and indifferent evaluation while keeping both hands in his pockets, still looking down at the lifeless Shinigami below.
Clang!
BOOM!
A deafening metallic crash exploded behind Rosse, and the violent shockwave instantly tore apart the surrounding clouds.
Yet not even the corner of Rosse's clothes moved.
Because behind him, Kurosaki Masaki had appeared at some point, standing directly in Ichigo's charging path.
She merely stretched out one pale hand and steadily blocked the fatal slash aimed straight at Rosse's heart.
"I already said this."
Kurosaki Masaki's hollow and lifeless eyes quietly stared at Kurosaki Ichigo, whose veins were bulging from up close. There was not the slightest warmth of a mother in her voice.
"If you want to kill Master, then you are my enemy."
"He's already ruined this world like this! He KILLED Dad! He KILLED Orihime! And you still want to protect him like some puppet?"
Kurosaki Ichigo gritted his teeth, feeling more frustration and pain than ever before.
His eyes glowed red as he stared hard at the familiar yet utterly cold face in front of him, trying to find even the slightest trace of her former gentleness in those eyes.
"So what?"
Kurosaki Masaki's indifferent voice carried no emotional fluctuation.
She looked at the boy risking everything for his family as if she were looking at a stone by the roadside, an irrelevant stranger.
"If you want to kill him, it's simple. But before that, today, you'll have to step over my corpse first."
"Damn it!"
Kurosaki Ichigo threw his head back and let out a painful roar. He suddenly pulled back Zangetsu and leaped dozens of meters away.
This time, after desperately completing his special training and rushing over here, he had come fully prepared to die alongside the Gotei 13 and Squad Zero while surrounding and killing Rosse.
Who would have thought that by the time he arrived, the battlefield had already turned into a completely one-sided slaughterhouse?
What made his mind freeze even more, what he simply could not understand at all, was that his most respected teacher, the Aizen who taught him Shinigami combat techniques, was actually standing beside Rosse smiling, standing against everyone else.
'Weren't you supposed to be rivals?'
'Aizen-sensei, didn't you need my help to ascend to the sky?'
'So what are you doing now?'
He had not even figured out this absurd situation yet. He only wanted to kill Rosse first.
But just like last time, even though he had become several times stronger again, he was still stopped by Kurosaki Masaki.
He wanted to get past her and directly fight Rosse to the death, but the nearly absolute pressure over spirit particles told him Kurosaki Masaki was not joking at all.
Raising blades against his own mother, even fighting to the death, this was the cruelest nightmare Kurosaki Ichigo had never wanted to face in his life.
"Aizen-sensei!"
Kurosaki Ichigo lowered his blade toward the ground and endured the twisting pain inside his chest as he turned toward Aizen not far away and angrily demanded, "Can you tell me why even you are standing on Rosse's side? Didn't you once teach me that Shinigami shouldn't be bound by rules, that you wanted to break through limits and ascend to the throne in the sky? You and Rosse were supposed to be mortal enemies, so why are you standing together now like master and servant?"
"Lord Rosse and I truly were enemies before."
Facing Ichigo's accusation filled with betrayal, Aizen remained relaxed and calm.
He pushed up his glasses and did not even bother giving Kurosaki Ichigo much attention.
"But even enemies can one day put aside their differences and fight together if their ideals resonate. As for the reason? Very simple. Because on the path toward the peak of evolution, I lost, and I lost completely willingly," Aizen's tone was extremely calm.
Back when he disguised himself as a teacher in the Human World and nurtured Kurosaki Ichigo, to him it had only been an entertaining variable in a long-term plan, a raising game to pass the time during boring years.
Now, his true pursuit had already been fulfilled through Rosse, and he had even seen a much broader world.
The remaining entertainment of seeing how far Kurosaki Ichigo could grow no longer interested him. There was no need to care anymore.
Instead, leaving this obsession-filled boy for Rosse to handle might even add some interesting tragic color to this closing drama.
"Lost? So after losing, you just throw away your dignity and bow down to become his slave? How did all of you people who call yourselves strong end up turning into such disgusting things?", Kurosaki Ichigo cursed furiously.
"Ichigo, your understanding of defeat is still so shallow and full of prejudice," Aizen's expression remained calm, completely unconcerned with Ichigo's insults.
"Lord Rosse is stronger than me. His vision and mindset are also far beyond mine. He is more suited than me to sit on that throne ruling everything. As someone pursuing the path, why can't I calmly admit my defeat?"
"Admitting defeat has never meant bowing and scraping. I acknowledge his ideals and saw his ability to break stagnation, so I willingly serve him in order to witness even greater scenery. Is that not acceptable?"
Aizen tilted his head slightly. The look he gave Ichigo carried the teasing attitude of an elder looking at an ignorant child.
"Ideals? Reform?"
Kurosaki Ichigo's hands trembled from anger as he gripped his blade.
"But he's done so many unforgivable things! He killed so many people! Aizen-sensei, do you seriously not care about any of that at all?"
"Why would I need to care about that?"
Aizen laughed softly, his gaze deep and cold.
"Ichigo, put away that ridiculous Human World morality of yours. Before Lord Rosse descended, under this seemingly peaceful and false rule, countless civilians in the lower levels of Soul Society and the Rukongai died silently every year. But after Rosse arrived, he broke the nobles' monopoly and made this place more alive and full of possibility. So in the grand history of this world, is he merit, or sin?"
"I don't care about any grand history!"
Kurosaki Ichigo roared through gritted teeth, stubborn tears shining in his eyes.
"As long as he killed innocent people for his own selfish desires, then he's wrong! He's a sinner! Just because he later changed some system or let more unrelated people survive doesn't mean the murders he committed can just be erased and suddenly called right!"
"Oh? Such simple and narrow absolute justice," Aizen's eyes remained unmoved.
"Then according to your idea that 'killing is evil,' people absolutely should not kill others or wage wars for personal grudges, because that would only create more innocent casualties and endless cycles of suffering."
"So then, Kurosaki Ichigo, the fact that you're standing here holding a blade with murderous intent, trying to kill Rosse and even willing to raise swords against your own mother... is that right, or wrong? Aren't you also creating slaughter for the sake of satisfying your own personal revenge?"
"Ahhh! I'm not listening! Aizen-sensei, you're just twisting words!"
Kurosaki Ichigo clutched his head in pain. Aizen's airtight logic cornered him completely, leaving him no way out, until he could only roar like a furious and helpless child.
He did not understand much. He could not understand world structures or grand principles.
In the simple values of a seventeen-year-old boy, everything Rosse had done was absolute evil.
Rosse's arrival caused his father Kurosaki Isshin to die in battle. It caused Inoue Orihime, who always smiled and called him "Kurosaki-kun," to die miserably.
It even turned the mother who should have been gentle into the cold slave before him who no longer recognized family.
How was he supposed to understand that? How was he supposed to accept it?
'I have to kill Rosse!'
'I do not care about any grand reasons. Doesn't matter who tries to stop me, I will drag that bastard down from the sky and chop him into pieces!'
[🙇🏻 You Can Support the Story Through P@tr3on—AmbitiousTranslator. It also has 40+ Chapters of all the novels and fanfics. Thanks for reading~]