Blood and flesh—shredded beyond recognition.
A crimson spray erupted. A massive pillar of blood punched into the sky.
As the Fury Beast's enormous body was completely blown apart, it wasn't just the cratered ruins beneath him—the entire sky over Zaraki District was dyed blood-red in an instant.
The air was already howling with pressure-winds—
now it was also flooded with an overwhelmingly sharp stench of blood, turning Zaraki District's harsh wasteland into something like a scarlet apocalypse.
"Too strong…!"
"Great Fire Extinguishes the Fan is insane, sure…"
"but honestly—Wood Dragon…"
"that one is the real, world-shocking monster of a Zanpakutō!"
At that moment, nobody could sit still anymore.
They'd all expected Yammy's fate in theory…
but when it truly happened—when the sky flipped from blue and white back into a lurid blood-red—
Zaraki District exploded into uproar.
Every soul in the area—eyes, mind, sense of scale—
was hit with a lifetime's worth of shock in a single second.
"Good thing the spirit barrier's up…"
"otherwise we'd be getting 'rained on' again…"
Ikkaku Madarame muttered, still shaken.
Earlier, it had been that phantom, ink-green "reiatsu rain" when the Black-Winged Great Demon released—
and now it was literal bloodfall, born from an Espada being erased.
And as Ikkaku breathed in that reeking blood-scent,
his fear didn't cool his blood—
it lit it on fire.
"If I join the Gotei Thirteen…"
"become a Shinigami… and get a Zanpakutō…"
"then someday… I can stand that tall too, right?"
After shock piled on shock—
after witnessing Bai Chen's dual Zanpakutō, Wood Dragon and Great Fire Extinguishes the Fan—
and seeing power that felt like "truth itself," absolute and unquestionable—
Ikkaku made up his mind.
Even if other Shinigami refused,
he'd cling to Bai Chen if he had to—
and drag himself, Kenpachi, and the others back to Seireitei.
Ulquiorra's fury—and the second surge
Up in the blood-soaked sky—
Ulquiorra, already exhausted, was fighting off the Wood Dragon's lunges
while keeping his guard up against roots and vines closing in from all sides.
It was ugly.
It was desperate.
And then he watched Yammy—
his long-time partner—
vanish right in front of his eyes.
Even if Hollows were said to have no "heart"…
even if Ulquiorra preached the "path of nothingness"…
his emotion still detonated.
"Damn it…!"
"Bai Chen… you actually butchered Yammy!!"
His voice went ragged—near hysterical.
And in that instant—
RUMBLE—!!
The pressure he'd been brewing—disrupted again and again—
finally burst outward with his rage.
"What… is happening?!"
"Isn't that release already his Resurrección form?!"
"Why is his pressure surging again?!"
"He can't possibly… release a second time… can he?!"
The Shinigami behind the barrier froze.
Their faces locked up, eyes wide.
That deeper, denser darkness pouring out of Ulquiorra
dragged their fear back from the grave.
Sasakibe's expression changed.
"So it's true…"
"My earlier sense wasn't wrong…"
"There's definitely a trick behind the Espada numbering…!"
His instinct screamed it: if the Black-Winged Great Demon truly reached a second release…
this battle—so close to ending—
could flip again.
"Bai Chen…"
"Open your eyes and watch."
"I'll show you what a truly hopeless pressure feels like!!"
Ulquiorra roared—murder in every syllable.
The very sound-wave of his pressure shoved the Wood Dragon back.
Atop the Wood Golem's crown, Bai Chen narrowed his eyes.
"It's too late to stop it…"
He wasn't afraid.
But he couldn't ignore what came with Ulquiorra's second-stage power—
that wide-area catastrophe: the Lance of Lightning.
Bai Chen felt cold sweat—not for himself—
but for everything within miles.
If Ulquiorra gained distance and hurled it without restraint…
it wouldn't just erase Zaraki District.
Northern Rukongai itself could be reduced to ash.
And then… an interruption no one expected
What happened next blindsided everyone.
BOOM—!!
Just as the black pressure was forming into a tangible pillar—
about to spear up into the sky—
the clouds shook violently and tore apart.
Two dull-yellow beams punched down from above—
as if pre-aimed—
and locked onto Ulquiorra's dark form.
The other beam dropped onto the crater where Yammy had been—
but it found only floating rubble.
RUMBLE—!!
The air trembled.
Light flared.
The moment the beams fully enveloped their targets—
the "about-to-reverse" situation twisted again.
But this time—
even Ulquiorra looked annoyed and caught off guard.
"A forced order… from Hueco Mundo."
"So Lord Aizen doesn't want me lingering in Soul Society anymore…"
Ulquiorra lifted his eyes toward the torn clouds.
His surging pressure was abruptly suppressed—
like a tide being forced back.
The fury in his emerald gaze dimmed as his power receded.
He understood immediately.
Negación.
A Hollow rescue mechanism.
It didn't descend without reason.
And the other Espada?
Cold, brutal, indifferent—
they'd never come "save" anyone out of kindness.
There was only one explanation:
Aizen had issued the command, forcing a retreat.
But Aizen miscalculated—
Yammy was already dead.
So only Ulquiorra was truly caught inside the beam.
The second Negación… was wasted on empty debris.
"Can we stop him?!"
From the safe zone behind the barrier, panic surged.
"Vice-Captain Sasakibe—what are those yellow beams?!"
"Is there any way to stop the Black-Winged Great Demon?!"
"He's about to vanish into the Garganta and escape!!"
They turned to Sasakibe for answers.
But he only shook his head, helpless.
"I'm sorry."
"There's no way to stop it."
He stared up at the two opened Garganta above the beams and explained, voice heavy:
"That light is called Negación."
"It's one of the few Hollow abilities that's practically unsolvable."
"Once it breaks through the clouds and descends…"
"it already means he's leaving Soul Society."
As if to prove it—
roots and vines from the Fivefold Rashōmon whipped through the air and struck the beam.
No explosion.
No resistance.
They simply passed through, unable to harm Ulquiorra at all.
The Shinigami sucked in cold breaths.
So that was the Espada's hidden exit—
a guaranteed escape route back to Hueco Mundo.
And worse…
inside the blackness beyond those Garganta,
Unohana's vice-captain felt it—
more than one faint, evil presence.
Other Arrancar.
Watching.
Activating the extraction.
Ulquiorra's threat—and Bai Chen's answer
Within the beam, Ulquiorra's form stabilized—cold and composed again.
He stood atop rising stone, one hand in his pocket—
and looked down at Bai Chen with killing intent.
"Bai Chen…"
"You got lucky this time."
"But next time…"
"I won't hold anything back."
"I'll make you understand what real despair is."
Bai Chen laughed, unimpressed.
"Black-Winged Great Demon…"
"If I were you, I'd be thinking about what happens after you get back."
"About how you'll face the mockery…"
When Ulquiorra returned to Hueco Mundo under Negación—
with Yammy dead—
the Arrancar would explode with gossip.
And as always, blame would roll uphill:
Ulquiorra, the higher-ranked one,
escaping only because of an extraction beam—
would become an easy target for ridicule.
In the end, under everyone's gaze—
the stone rose higher, the beam pulled away—
and Ulquiorra disappeared into the darkness.
The Garganta sealed.
The Negación withdrew back to its origin—Hueco Mundo.
And just as Bai Chen predicted—
the moment the extraction was seen…
it shook the entire Arrancar army.
With Yammy erased and Ulquiorra forced to retreat—
the name "Bai Chen" began spreading through Las Noches for the first time.
It lodged itself deep into the memory of every Hollow and Arrancar—
burned in as a single conclusion:
Bai Chen had become the Arrancar army's primary enemy.
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