"Hey! Your boss is already done for!"Lilynette, transformed into a gun, was the loudest one shouting, as though victory were already firmly in their grasp.
Starrk, however, was nowhere near as optimistic asLilynette. He keenly noticed that the captains of the Gotei Thirteen did not seem particularly concerned about the fall of Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto.
What was going on?
The space of Enma Kōrogi shattered. Kaname Tōsen had taken a brutal slash, the wound cutting diagonally through his body from his shoulder. Only a small amount of Hollow power was repairing his injuries.
Yet Tōsen, who had just emerged from that space, paid no attention to his own condition. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the direction of Aizen's Reiatsu.
Joy rose in Tōsen's heart, because he saw that there was no one beside Aizen to stop him.
In other words, Captain-Commander Yamamoto had already been defeated by Aizen.
"Lord Aizen, go! Leave this place to us!"
Tōsen shouted. Hollow power surged wildly from his body. He intended to use the power of Hollowfication to buy Aizen the last bit of time he needed.
White liquid swallowed Tōsen. As it writhed, an inhuman monster gradually took shape. From its appearance, it looked more like a cricket-shaped Hollow.
However, the heroic posture Tōsen believed he had assumed did not draw even the slightest glance from Aizen. Aizen merely raised his head toward the sky, took a step forward, and began climbing upward on invisible stairs.
"Tōsen! You've turned yourself into something neither human nor ghost, and that man won't even look at you. Is this worth it?"
Standing opposite Tōsen and having watched the entire transformation, Sajin Komamura was deeply pained.
"Lord Aizen has something he must do. He would never waste time on irrelevant people like us!"
Tōsen had long expected Aizen not to look back. After all these years together, Aizen understood him—and how could he not understand Aizen in return?
From the very beginning, Tōsen had never imagined that he would ascend to the Soul King Palace side by side with Aizen. As long as Aizen could successfully climb to the throne and change everything, what did it matter if Tōsen cast away his life?
The unease in Starrk's heart was confirmed by Tōsen's words. In that instant, he understood what fate awaited them.
All of them had been discarded by Aizen.
If things continued this way, Aizen would ascend alone, while every Arrancar here would die in Soul Society.
How could he accept that?
He had finally escaped that lonely existence. He had finally become part of an organization. Even these Arrancar, who seemed cold on ordinary days, had long since become his comrades.
Starrk did not want to return to those lonely years.
Cero Metralleta!
Starrk poured out his Reiatsu like a madman. Countless Ceros fired one after another, their targets not only the two captains blocking him, but also the battlefields where his other companions were fighting.
It was a barrage.
In an instant, Starrk's attacks covered the entire sky.
"Starrk, what are you doing?!"Lilynette asked anxiously. She only knew that Starrk seemed frantic, but she had no idea what he was so worried about.
"Espada, listen! We're disposable pawns! Open a Garganta and return to Hueco Mundo immediately!"
Along with the Ceros came Starrk's furious roar. Behind him, he had already torn open a passage to Hueco Mundo with his Reiatsu.
"Huh?"
The Espada, who had inexplicably come under attack from one of their own, were forced to dodge Starrk's Ceros. At the same time, hearing Starrk's rage-filled order left their minds momentarily frozen.
"Bankai! Ryōgi Uoe: Mujōzu!"
Jūshirō Ukitake released his Bankai, drawing the entire Seireitei into the scroll in his hands.
Starrk's attack bloomed in every direction like a flower. As a result, many of the Ceros missed their targets and began falling toward the Seireitei.
To protect the Seireitei, Ukitake had activated his Bankai. His fingers moved rapidly across the Diagram of Impermanence. One Cero after another, each about to fall into the Seireitei, had its position altered by him. The Ceros that should have scattered everywhere were gathered together by Ukitake.
A yin-yang fish pattern appeared before Starrk. As the pattern rotated, the Ceros he had fired began attacking him instead.
Starrk immediately raised his guns and counterattacked. Explosions thundered one after another, and brilliant fireworks bloomed in the sky above the Seireitei.
Fortunately, they were all Starrk's own attacks. They could not break through his technique. After spending a little effort, he perfectly blocked them all. If those Ceros had struck his other companions, things would have become troublesome.
His other companions?
Another question appeared in Starrk's mind.
Why had Jūshirō Ukitake not used those Ceros to attack the others? Why send them back at Starrk instead? Wasn't that obviously a waste of effort?
For a short while, Starrk could not figure it out. He only felt as though his brain was itching, as if something were about to grow out of it.
"Starrk, switch with me!"
Lilynette sharply sensed that something was wrong with Starrk. In a battle like this, losing focus was undoubtedly a fatal mistake. Since Starrk could not fight properly, she would take over!
"No!"
Starrk rejected her immediately. LettingLilynette take the field would no doubt turn this into a fight to the death.
He shouted again, "Go! We've been abandoned by Aizen!"
The other Arrancar had not yet had time to sort out the situation before the captains entangled them again.
No orders were needed. The captains all came to the same conclusion.
Hold down the Espada. Do not give them time to think.
Starrk was also pinned down by the two captains. His Cero Metralleta was hard-countered by Ukitake's Bankai. Within this Diagram of Impermanence, he was Like a moth trapped in a spider's web, he couldn't break free no matter what he did.
Fortunately, Starrk was not the only clear-headed member of the Espada.
"Desgarrón!"
Ten blue blades intertwined into a sharp net that suddenly appeared in midair. It forced back his own opponent while also relieving the pressure on the other Arrancar.
"Look properly, all of you! Aizen is already gone!"
The other clear-headed one was Grimmjow.
He had interacted more with Tsunayoshi and the others. On the day Aizen evolved, Grimmjow had also been the one to bring the enemies from Soul Society to Las Noches. From that day onward, Grimmjow had paid great attention to changes in the situation.
When they received the order yesterday to attack Soul Society, Grimmjow had already found it strange. After witnessing Tsunayoshi's strength, he did not believe Aizen would recklessly launch an assault on Soul Society.
But that was the outcome of the meeting. Aizen had merely informed them to prepare to leave, giving no specific orders.
After arriving in Soul Society, Grimmjow had remained on guard the entire time. He was also the only Arrancar who managed to follow Starrk's line of thought.
On top of that, Starrk's Ceros had disrupted the rhythm of his own battle, giving Grimmjow the chance to use his ultimate technique, Desgarrón, to influence the surrounding battlefields.
Hearing Grimmjow's voice, the Espada unleashed powerful attacks one after another to force back the captains in front of them.
They looked up.
Where was Aizen?
Above their heads, all that remained was a half-transparent opening.
Using the cover of Starrk's clash against his own Ceros, Aizen had already broken through one layer of the barrier and advanced even higher.
The truth was right in front of them.
They, the so-called Espada, were nothing more than disposable pawns meant to stall the Gotei Thirteen.
Aizen had clearly defeated Yamamoto, yet he had not helped them take down the other captains. That was the best proof.
No.
They could not leave their lives behind in Soul Society.
Without the slightest hesitation, all the Arrancar accepted Starrk's conclusion.
It was time to run.
Tōsen, who had lived in Hueco Mundo for quite some time, immediately sensed what the other Arrancar were thinking.
"No! All of you, stay here! We must fight for Lord Aizen!"
As he spoke, Tōsen condensed a Cero and fired it toward Starrk.
He intended to eliminate that rabble-rouser first.
But Tōsen had forgotten that beside him, his closest friend had been watching him all along.
Sajin Komamura appeared above Tōsen with Shunpo and punched downward, sending Tōsen crashing toward a more distant battlefield.
There was no time to lose. The Espada were about to move toward the Garganta that Starrk had opened.
At that moment, the captains' gazes all fell on Kyōraku.
Only then did Kyōraku react. His teammates needed him to make his stance clear.
He immediately picked up Katen Kyōkotsu and slashed at Sora Inoue.
Then, with a whoosh, Sora Inoue smashed him away with a single move, sending him falling into the Seireitei.
Sora Inoue nearly lost his composure. When Kyōraku attacked him, the man had not forgotten to give him a wink.
Sora could only force down his disgust and punch Kyōraku away.
Kyōraku's actions had already made the Gotei Thirteen's attitude clear.
One by one, the captains used Shunpo, thinking about what posture they should use when they fell, and chased after their original targets.
Starrk was truly anxious now.
Cero Metralleta was not working. Once the others were tangled up by the captains, they really would die here in Soul Society.
Should he escape alone?
He glanced at the Garganta behind him.
Starrk was unwilling from the bottom of his heart.
Another life alone?
He absolutely refused.
Starrk increased the output of his Reiatsu again. This time, the attack seemed to have an effect.
Ukitake suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the enormous yin-yang fish pattern in the sky vanished. Starrk's Ceros could no longer be reflected back.
Without time to think, Starrk casually swept out a fan-shaped wave of Ceros toward the area behind his teammates, delaying the captains' advance.
Was this…?
Had he suddenly awakened his potential?
Starrk could not understand it.
His attack seemed remarkably effective. All the pursuing captains were blasted down into the Seireitei by his Ceros.
Starrk no longer had the mental space to wonder why these captains could not withstand his Ceros. He could only hurriedly call everyone into the Garganta and rush back to Hueco Mundo.
In truth, the moment the captains saw Starrk's Ceros, they had nearly burst out laughing.
As expected, Ukitake was the one who knew how to act. Otherwise, if they had caught up to those Arrancar, it really would not have been easy to control the severity of their own injuries.
This was especially true for Kenpachi Zaraki. Asking him to act during an intense battle was even harder. Once he got carried away, it would be perfectly normal for him to cut down his opponent.
A long-range attack like Cero was perfect.
Getting hit required no acting skills, and they did not need to rack their brains trying to bait out the opponent's techniques. They could simply relax and let the Ceros push them down into the Seireitei.
All the captains lay sprawled in the Seireitei like corpses, watching the Arrancar leave.
At this stage, the Espada were not the main problem.
The key issue was Aizen.
Could Aizen truly fight his way up to the Soul King Palace?
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