For the first time since arriving in this world, Cyrus was releasing his power without holding anything back.
There was simply too much of it to unleash all at once, and bringing his full strength to bear required time.
Yet even this initial release had already pushed everyone around him beyond what they could withstand.
"Zanka no Tachi, East: Kyokujitsujin."
Yamamoto forced himself forward through the unbearable heat, every trace of his flames compressed into the blade in his hands.
Yet before that sword of concentrated fire could even reach Cyrus, its tip began to disappear.
There was no clash and no resistance. Inch by inch, Zanka no Tachi simply vaporized.
Yamamoto refused to release the hilt.
More and more of his fiery Reiryoku poured into the weapon, desperately replenishing what the heat erased as he continued forcing his way forward.
At that moment, a figure appeared soundlessly behind Cyrus.
A tiny point of cold light stabbed toward his back.
The result was no different.
If anything, the attacker disappeared even faster than Yamamoto's blade.
The finger-like weapon in her hand endured for a fraction of a second longer, but that was all.
Soi Fon, despite being covered in layer after layer of defensive Kidō, was gone.
The other captains had no time to mourn her.
Bankai erupted across the battlefield one after another as Zanpakutō abilities with strange rules and enormous quantities of spiritual power crashed toward Cyrus from every direction.
The resulting spectacle was overwhelming, the sort of assault that should have threatened anything in Soul Society.
Aizen watched it all from within his newly evolved body and quietly spoke.
"There really isn't much of a chance anymore."
There was a trace of helplessness in his voice, an emotion so unfamiliar to him that even he found it strange.
For perhaps the first time in his life, he was confronting a gap that cleverness, preparation, and talent could not simply bridge.
Cyrus heard him.
His eyes shifted slightly toward Aizen as he raised his left hand, which had now transformed completely into golden flame.
"This was always going to be the result. At this point, even I don't know exactly how strong I've become."
Nothing around him could approach within even a short distance.
Then—
Boom!
A deep impact sounded, followed immediately by an explosion far beyond anything before it.
The space surrounding Karakura Town shattered completely.
Cracks spread through reality itself, racing outward with terrifying speed as the artificial Karakura Town collapsed almost instantly.
The original Karakura Town was dragged into the same destruction, both swallowed by the chaotic currents left behind when space itself broke apart.
Then all sound vanished.
Yamamoto and the other Shinigami disappeared within the enormous collapse.
A layer of Reiatsu condensed around Aizen's body, becoming almost physical as he resisted the spatial destruction around him.
Cyrus, by contrast, remained completely unaffected.
The shattered void was pure darkness, while Cyrus had become the only sun within it, golden light pouring from his body in every direction.
Yet even that radiance could not illuminate the entire darkness.
The broken space stretched farther than sight could reach.
"Is this what you wanted?"
Aizen's voice reached Cyrus despite the soundless void.
Cyrus glanced toward him.
The fact that Aizen could still communicate through spiritual power told him something important.
They were still within the structure of this world.
"Not thoroughly enough."
Cyrus shook his head and turned toward a particular direction.
There was nothing visible there except endless darkness, but through his spatial perception, he could still sense the isolated space he had created earlier.
After a moment, he looked back at Aizen.
"You have two choices now."
"Choices?"
Aizen tightened his grip on Kyōka Suigetsu.
"So far, only the World of the Living has been shattered. Hueco Mundo and Soul Society are still intact. Once I finish with those, this world may be destroyed completely, or it may reset and enter another cycle."
Cyrus's lips moved, but his voice exploded directly inside Aizen's mind.
"You can choose whether to disappear with it or enter that cycle yourself."
"There's no meaningful difference."
Aizen raised one hand and pressed it against his chest.
"I can feel that my power is still nowhere near its limit. What I need is a stronger desire—something powerful enough to force me even further."
He lifted Kyōka Suigetsu with his other hand and pointed the blade at Cyrus.
"And right now, you're the only one who can give me that."
Cyrus's expression shifted slightly.
"Heh."
Then he moved toward Aizen.
To an outside observer, the motion would have looked almost leisurely. To Aizen's senses, Cyrus simply vanished from one place and appeared in another.
A hand closed around Aizen's throat.
Cyrus dragged him forward.
Space shattered for a second time.
The two of them tore through the fractured boundary, and a familiar scene suddenly appeared before Aizen.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
The instant they arrived, a shout rang out and a compressed slash of spiritual power flew straight toward Cyrus.
Cyrus casually shifted the hand holding Aizen.
Bang!
The Getsuga Tenshō struck Aizen instead and exploded against his body.
Ichigo stared in stunned disbelief.
Aizen gripped Cyrus's wrist with his left hand, but his fingers were already rapidly carbonizing before regenerating and burning away again. The same cycle was happening around his throat.
The Hōgyoku had enhanced Aizen's regenerative power to an extraordinary degree.
For now, that extraordinary power was being spent almost entirely on surviving the flames covering Cyrus's body.
"What happened to the World of the Living?"
Ichigo stared fiercely at Cyrus.
This was the first time he had ever seen the man himself, but there was no mistaking him.
This was the enemy everyone had been preparing for, the monster Soul Society had treated as an unprecedented threat.
And now that enemy stood directly in front of him.
The Shinigami who had been preparing to fight him were nowhere to be seen.
"It seems none of you ever take my warnings seriously."
Cyrus turned his head toward Ichigo, though his gaze eventually settled on the black cat beside him.
"Hell may have been the only place where any of you had a chance of surviving. But since you decided not to go…"
He released Aizen.
Aizen immediately pulled away, though every place touched by Cyrus continued cycling between carbonization and regeneration.
"They're all dead?"
The black cat leaped forward and transformed into Yoruichi.
There was none of her usual teasing demeanor now. Her face was grim, and both hands were clenched tightly at her sides.
Ichigo heard the change in her voice and looked sharply toward her.
"Probably."
Cyrus answered without much emotion.
"They should have broken down into Reishi and returned to this world. Isn't that what happens when Shinigami die?"
He paused briefly.
"Even someone with spiritual power as overwhelming as your Captain-Commander ultimately ends up the same way."
Yoruichi immediately placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.
"Ichigo, go."
"Yoruichi-san…"
Ichigo instinctively tried to protest.
"You still have two little sisters."
That stopped him.
Ichigo's expression stiffened, conflict spreading across his face.
"There's no point discussing where to run anymore."
Aizen appeared beside Ichigo and spoke before either of them could continue.
"Have you really not noticed yet?"
Yoruichi immediately stepped in front of Ichigo, instinctively placing herself between him and Aizen.
"Aizen."
But Aizen had only come to state the obvious. His attention remained fixed on Cyrus.
"He never intended to spare any of you."
A brief pause followed.
"No—more accurately, he never intended to spare this world."
Aizen looked directly at Cyrus.
"Or do you also have the rather unpleasant habit of watching people desperately struggle to survive when you already know they have no chance?"