Sosuke Aizen and the others remained in the human world, waiting for the Royal Key to be completed.
Kisuke Urahara, meanwhile, transferred the Thirteen Guardian Squads and the Visoreds back to the Soul Society. Along with them came a blade that had already lost its master, now broken cleanly into two pieces.
Ryujin Jakka.
With Yamamoto gone, the strongest combat force of the entire organization had vanished, and the Thirteen Guardian Squads sank into a grief so heavy it seemed to crush the air itself. Among the younger captains, Soi Fon nearly broke down completely. In the end, it was Yoruichi, the woman she had admired for years, who managed to pull her back before sorrow swallowed her whole.
Urahara spoke in a low, steady voice.
"Aizen still needs to stay in the human world until the Royal Key is forged. That process will take at least several days. During that time, we have to find a way forward."
Shunsui Kyoraku, whose lazy appearance always hid a surprisingly delicate heart, raised his gaze and said gravely,
"Before that, we need to bring back Captain Unohana, Biakuya, and the others trapped in Hueco Mundo. They're essential fighting power."
"Don't worry. I'm already preparing for that."
Urahara nodded.
Hearing their exchange, the audience also remembered something important. It was not just the Visoreds who mattered. The four captain-class fighters trapped in Hueco Mundo were also an indispensable force.
And more importantly...
The protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki, was there too.
At the end of the previous season, he had already come face-to-face with his destined enemy, Ulquiorra.
After a brief transition, the camera finally shifted to Hueco Mundo.
Although nearly half of the Espada had already fallen, that territory still had the Tenth Espada, Yammy, and the Fourth Espada, Ulquiorra, standing guard. On the Soul Society's side, two captains had lost their Bankai. The situation was not as desperate as the battle in Karakura Town, but it was far from optimistic.
And then Orihime Inoue, played by Emily, finally appeared.
The moment she saw Ulquiorra step into view, Orihime's eyes widened in shock.
"Stay away from Inoue, Ulquiorra!"
Ichigo arrived in a rush, his voice sharp with fury.
Ulquiorra, however, remained utterly unmoved.
"There is no need for alarm. The order I received was to ensure this woman's safety inside Las Noches. Although she has already lost her usefulness to Lord Aizen, he has not ordered me to kill her. Until such an order is given, I will continue protecting her."
"Wait... this Arrancar doesn't have those kinds of feelings for Orihime, does he?"
Hearing that cold yet strangely ambiguous declaration, countless female viewers immediately began letting their imaginations run wild. Orihime Inoue's character really did have that dangerous heroine aura, the kind that made powerful men gather around her without even trying. Although her feelings for Ichigo were obvious, Sosuke Aizen's attitude toward her had always been unusually tolerant, almost like a domineering CEO indulging his favorite secretary. Naturally, that also stirred jealousy among the female Arrancar in Las Noches who admired Aizen.
And Ulquiorra, that handsome and deathly cold Arrancar, would occasionally show Orihime a side of himself that he never revealed to anyone else.
"Emily, I feel like your character is even more popular than Mia's female lead. There are so many handsome guys circling around you."
Sitting in the same room as Emily while watching the episode, Bella could not hide her envy.
What she was too embarrassed to admit was that whenever she watched Orihime Inoue, she kept imagining herself in the role.
And honestly, it felt ridiculously good.
In fact, more than eighty percent of Bleach's female fans had probably done the exact same thing. That was also why those shamelessly over-the-top romantic dramas, the ones where every attractive man seemed obsessed with the heroine, stayed so popular no matter how many people mocked them.
"Ha... ha."
Emily answered Bella with a smile so fake it was almost painful to look at.
In the show, the character she played did indeed have relatively close dynamics with several male characters. But in real life? That was a whole different kind of misery.
She actually had to fight a bunch of little bitches for one man.
And she had heard that Alex's new movie had cast another foreign girl.
Damn it.
She had a bad feeling about this.
While countless female viewers drowned happily in their own fantasies, the long-awaited battle between Ichigo Kurosaki and Ulquiorra finally began.
Last week had been Sosuke Aizen versus Yamamoto.
This week, it was Ichigo Kurosaki versus Ulquiorra.
It was pure pleasure.
Alex's dramas had always been like this. He never wasted time with useless chatter. There was not a single second of filler.
Out of loyalty to Aizen, Ulquiorra did not want to damage Las Noches. So he lured Ichigo to the top of the palace dome, where they could fight without immediately destroying the fortress beneath them.
Under a moon that was bright and beautiful, yet thick with killing intent, Ulquiorra stood at the top of a pillar. With the crescent moon behind him, his presence was overwhelmingly oppressive.
"Beneath the dome of Las Noches, two things are forbidden."
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
"The first is the special Cero reserved for the Espada: Gran Rey Cero."
"The second is the release of the sword belonging to Espada ranked four or above."
"Both are forbidden because their power may destroy Las Noches."
After saying that, Ulquiorra slowly opened his mouth and murmured,
"Enclose, Murciélago."
A terrifying spiritual pressure blotted out the sky, causing Samantha Burnes, Renji Abarai, and everyone below the dome to change expression at once.
Then, a rain of dark green spirit particles began to fall.
In his hollowfied state, Ichigo raised his eyes.
Ulquiorra had already appeared in a completely new form.
A pair of enormous black wings stretched from his back, and a horned helmet crowned his head. His aura, already cold and oppressive before, had now become even more frightening.
"Do not waver. Take your stance. Tighten every nerve. Do not allow even a moment of carelessness."
The warning was so full of condescension that viewers could not help wondering whether all of Aizen's subordinates had learned the art of arrogant posing directly from him.
Why did every line from these people sound so absurdly pretentious?
When Ichigo finally settled into his fighting stance, Ulquiorra lowered his head slightly.
In the next instant, a dark green spear of light condensed in his right hand, and he appeared in front of Ichigo as if space itself had folded.
The slash came immediately after.
Blood sprayed through the air.
Ichigo gasped heavily.
The camera shifted slowly, revealing that nearly a third of the hollow mask covering his face had been carved away. His golden eyes trembled, filled with shock, disbelief, and a primal fear he could not completely suppress.
"No way, bro!"
On the set of The King's Ledger, Will, who played a young warrior in the series and was watching the episode alongside Mark and the other actors, shouted before he could stop himself.
Since the second season, they had already watched Ichigo lose to Ulquiorra so many times that it was almost humiliating. Now that Ichigo had finally mastered hollowfication, he was still being pressured like this?
Mark, who played Ichigo, could only smile bitterly.
Fortunately, this week, he should at least have a chance to show off a little.
Ulquiorra's assault continued, though it was obvious he still had not gone all out. After his green spear was blocked by Tensa Zangetsu, he spoke coldly.
"Ichigo Kurosaki. Show me your strongest technique."
Under Ichigo's confused and shocked gaze, Ulquiorra's tone became almost identical to Aizen's, filled with unbearable arrogance.
"I will show you the difference between your power and mine."
The instant his words fell, Ulquiorra beat his black wings and rose into the sky.
Clearly, he was giving Ichigo time to charge his attack.
Feeling completely looked down upon, Ichigo's blood rushed to his head, and he shouted in anger,
"I was going to do that even without you telling me!"
Black spiritual pressure gathered along the blade of Tensa Zangetsu. As Ichigo raised the sword with both hands, that dark energy roared upward like a black tidal wave.
"Getsuga... Tensho!"
Yet facing such an attack, Ulquiorra did not even raise his weapon.
He simply opened his left palm and blocked it head-on with his Hierro.
A few seconds later, the black torrent scattered like a wave crashing against the hardest stone in the world, unable to force him back even half a step.
"As expected. Only the level of a human."
"You have not seen it before, have you? The black Cero of a released Espada."
Ulquiorra's expression remained as indifferent as ever. His left index finger lifted slightly.
In the next moment, Ichigo's entire field of vision was swallowed by a beam of energy so dark green it bordered on black.
Crack.
At that instant, his hollow mask shattered completely.
Below the dome, inside Las Noches, Orihime Inoue, Ishida Uryu, Samantha Burnes, and the others all changed expression. Terrified, they looked up at the massive hole torn open in the sky.
Orihime crossed her hands against her chest, but in the end, she could not suppress the fear tightening around her heart. She begged Ishida Uryu to take her to the top of the dome.
The scene then returned above the palace.
Ichigo's hollow mask had been completely destroyed. His shinigami robes were torn apart across more than half his body, revealing a chest covered in wounds. Even in that miserable state, he still intended to attack Ulquiorra again.
"I already told you. It's useless."
Seeing the resolve in Ichigo's eyes, Ulquiorra seemed to grow even more irritated. With one thrust of his spear, he sent Ichigo flying.
Before Ichigo could even hit the ground, Ulquiorra chased after him, kicked him violently, and sent him crashing through one of Las Noches' pillars, blasting it apart. Then he seized Ichigo by the throat and lifted him up as if holding a lamb waiting for slaughter.
"You have already witnessed the difference between our strength. Why do you still refuse to release your sword?"
Hearing Ulquiorra's question, Ichigo, his face twisted with pain, forced one eye open.
"The difference... between our strength... So what?"
"Do you think that just because I know you're stronger than me, I'll give up?"
"I knew from the beginning that you were strong... But no matter how many times you show me your power, it won't change anything."
"I... will defeat you... Ulquiorra."
At those words, Ulquiorra's pupils shrank slightly.
The next second, he threw Ichigo to the ground.
"If you can still say something like that, then you do not yet understand true despair."
"If you do not know it, then I will show you."
"The true form of despair."
As soon as his voice fell, a dark green spiritual pressure, nearly black, surged from Ulquiorra's entire body and wrapped around him completely.
"Sword release. Segunda Etapa."
Ishida Uryu and Orihime Inoue, who were rushing toward the dome, changed expression at the same time.
What was that spiritual pressure?
It was too vast.
Too deep.
Like an endless ocean.
Before Ichigo, Ulquiorra emerged again.
The clothing on his upper body had vanished completely, and the tear marks beneath his eyes had turned black. His limbs, tail, fur, and every detail of his form had become more primal, more monstrous, and infinitely more terrifying.
"He can release again?"
The viewers, who had already witnessed several Espada releasing their swords, knew very well that an Arrancar's Resurrección was essentially equivalent to a shinigami's Bankai.
But Segunda Etapa...
That was like saying a shinigami could use Bankai again after already using Bankai.
In his Segunda Etapa form, Ulquiorra's voice sounded as cold as a death sentence.
"Segunda Etapa, a release available only to the top four Espada, should never be used within Las Noches. Once released, it will cause destruction on a catastrophic scale."
His emotionless eyes looked down at Ichigo.
"But there is no need to worry."
"It will all end in an instant."
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