Faced with Yamamoto's question, Aizen turned toward him and seemed to chuckle, though with his body completely enclosed in that white shell, no expression could be seen.
"He's waiting for me as well. He wants to see how far I've reached, and I have no desire to watch this world be completely destroyed."
His words did nothing to make the captains lower their guard.
Aizen had hidden himself inside Soul Society for years, and in hindsight, many of the major incidents that had occurred during that time could be traced back to him.
The appearance of an even greater enemy didn't suddenly make Aizen trustworthy.
Gin, in particular, watched him carefully, the fingers hidden inside his sleeves twitching slightly.
"If you still intend to deal with me, then wait until we survive this crisis. Though personally, I think the chances of that are rather small."
Aizen placed a hand on his Zanpakutō and looked toward Cyrus.
"That man's strength exceeds anything you can imagine. He has never once shown either you or me the full extent of his power."
The captains fell silent.
Aizen's current state alone was already difficult for them to comprehend, yet even like this, he was openly saying Cyrus remained beyond him.
Hearing that inevitably made the situation feel even more hopeless.
"And you should stay out of what comes next. You won't even be able to withstand the aftermath."
With that, Aizen walked straight through the gathered Shinigami and headed toward Cyrus.
They watched his back in silence, and absurdly enough, there was almost something heroic about the way he was walking toward what might be his death.
Considering everything Aizen had done, none of them could quite reconcile that image with the schemer they knew.
Cyrus, meanwhile, had sensed Aizen the moment he appeared.
He could clearly perceive both the change in his body and the transformation in his presence, but before turning to greet him, Cyrus raised one hand and opened a doorway.
On the other side lay Las Noches—or what remained of it.
A huge section of the palace had been destroyed, and numerous Arrancar lay scattered across the ruins with missing limbs and shattered bodies.
Cyrus's gaze immediately locked onto one figure among them.
Ulquiorra, missing an arm and a leg, stirred under that gaze before forcing himself upright.
"You managed this much? Not bad."
"Forgive me, Lord Cyrus. I couldn't stop him."
Ulquiorra awkwardly regained his footing, his voice as emotionless as ever.
"You did well enough. Better than I expected."
Cyrus showed no displeasure.
"Head to the great forest. This world doesn't have much time left."
As he spoke, Cyrus rose and picked up the sword beside him.
"Aizen…"
Ulquiorra hesitated.
"It doesn't matter. The result won't change."
Cyrus waved dismissively, and the doorway closed. He turned back toward the approaching Aizen and simply watched him walk all the way over.
"I'm here."
Aizen stopped in front of him.
"So this is the form you wanted most?"
Cyrus raised an eyebrow as he examined the smooth white shell covering him, then seemed to realize something before Aizen could answer.
"Ah, right. You ran out of time, so you emerged early."
Aizen paused, then nodded.
"That is true. Still, this state can already be considered a success."
He drew Kyōka Suigetsu.
"Looks like you really do want to test yourself against me."
Cyrus rested his sword across one shoulder and tilted his chin toward him.
"Then I hope you last a little longer."
"You don't need to provoke me. No matter what happens, I intend to fight with everything I have."
Aizen's tone remained calm.
"I only hope I can entertain you enough that perhaps, if you enjoy yourself, you'll abandon whatever you intend to do to this world."
The ground beneath his feet trembled.
In the next instant, Aizen's blade was already sweeping toward Cyrus's head from the side.
Cyrus leaned back just enough for the blade to pass in front of his face.
A razor-thin slash continued beyond him, silently splitting the ground apart and leaving behind a perfectly smooth surface like polished glass.
Aizen didn't pause for even an instant; when the first strike missed, he immediately reversed the blade and cut horizontally.
Cyrus raised one finger.
Clang!
Kyōka Suigetsu struck his fingernail.
A violent force traveled back through the blade, hurling Aizen bodily across the battlefield.
He stabilized himself as soon as his feet touched the ground and looked back at Cyrus.
"So even with my current strength, injuring you is still this difficult."
He hadn't held back.
Yet when his sword met Cyrus's finger, Cyrus hadn't suffered so much as a scratch, while Aizen himself had been thrown away by the force behind that casual block.
'What a monster.'
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Aizen's eyes suddenly narrowed.
Cyrus was already standing directly in front of him.
One finger rested lightly against his chest.
Crack.
Fine fractures spread outward from the point of contact across the white shell surrounding Aizen.
"If this is all you've got, then you're going to disappoint me."
Cyrus smiled.
"So I'll help you along."
White points of light began leaking from the cracks.
Then, with a soft sound like an eggshell breaking apart, the cocoon shattered.
Aizen emerged from it.
Boom!
An immense Reiatsu descended upon the battlefield.
"A Shinigami's battle is a battle of Reiatsu, isn't it?"
Cyrus remained standing beneath it as though nothing had changed.
"Consider this transcendent Reiatsu my gift to you."
The pressure did not spread outward.
Aizen concentrated every bit of it directly onto Cyrus, and the surrounding space began trembling violently before cracking apart under the weight.
Aizen smiled.
"Now I should at least be worthy of your attention, shouldn't I?"
"Not bad."
Cyrus nodded.
"Enough to make you use your full strength?"
Expectation appeared in Aizen's eyes.
"You really want to see my full strength?"
Cyrus shook his head slightly and looked away from him toward the Shinigami approaching in the distance.
"All right, then. I suppose I should hurry up and send all of you on your way."
He raised his sword.
Golden flames poured from the blade and began burning fiercely along its entire length.
Aizen's expression changed instantly, and he instinctively retreated.
It was already too late.
His body had begun turning to charcoal.
Neither Reiryoku nor Reiatsu could isolate him from that unbearable heat.
The golden blade seemed less like a weapon than a black hole made of flame, devouring everything around it. Space itself ceased to exist wherever the fire touched.
"If there's another cycle after this…"
Cyrus looked at them calmly.
"…you probably won't want to meet me again."
"That's probably true."
Aizen actually nodded in agreement as the carbonization continued spreading irreversibly across his body.
"What a shame about all those years of planning, though."
Even now, he seemed almost unconcerned.
"If I'd known things would end like this, perhaps I would've simply remained a proper Shinigami captain."
"You're giving up already?"
Yamamoto's shout thundered across the battlefield.
Flames erupted from Zanka no Tachi as he drove the blade violently into the ground.
"Zanka no Tachi, South: Kaka Jūmanokushi Daisōjin!"
The earth convulsed.
Countless charred corpses began clawing their way out of the ground, an endless army of the dead surging toward Cyrus like a blackened tide.
They never reached him.
The moment those flame-wreathed corpses entered the surrounding heat, they simply vaporized and disappeared.
After all—
Even flames had their differences in strength.