Nobutsuna vanished in Shunpo.
The firestorm tore past the spot where he had been standing. An instant later, it slammed into the Rukongai district behind him.
Buildings vanished beneath the flames.
Smoke poured into the sky as screams and cries for help erupted throughout the streets.
Countless civilians died in seconds.
Bazz-B grinned through the pain.
Then the Scales of Sin changed again. Another line appeared on the left pan.
[Massacre of Civilians: 854]
The pan sank sharply.
Bazz-B's smile vanished.
"Wait—"
BOOM!
His remaining arm suddenly exploded.
Blood and shredded flesh burst into the air as the limb disintegrated from the shoulder down.
Bazz-B screamed, his face twisting in agony.
"WHY?!"
He stared at the Scales of Sin in disbelief. That attack had been aimed directly at Nobutsuna. Nobutsuna had chosen to dodge.
So why was Bazz-B still being judged for everyone killed behind him?
His expression twisted with rage.
"How the hell is that fair?!"
"Rooster-head, you've misunderstood something from the very beginning."
Shigyō Nobutsuna looked at Bazz-B with open contempt.
"The Scales of Sin don't work the way you imagined. The rule is simple: whoever launches the attack bears the consequences."
He'd seen through Bazz-B's little scheme immediately.
Trying to dump responsibility for the deaths of those civilians onto him? Pathetic.
"DAMN IT!"
Bazz-B roared in fury. At this point, he felt less like a warrior and more like a clown being played with.
Every plan he came up with had collapsed in his face, and with both arms ruined, his combat ability had plummeted.
"Enough struggling." Nobutsuna had lost interest in dragging this out. "Accept your fate, Quincy brat."
The Scales of Sin shifted back into the form of a gleaming Zanpakutō. Nobutsuna flicked his wrist, sending a razor-sharp crescent of sword pressure straight toward Bazz-B.
Yet instead of panicking, Bazz-B threw his head back and laughed.
"Hahahahaha! Rest in peace?"
His eyes changed. The rage burning inside them faded, replaced by a brilliant radiance.
"You're the one who's going to die!"
Light burst from his entire body.
For a moment, Bazz-B looked like a ridiculous glowing light bulb, shining so brightly that he almost hurt to look at.
Then a flaming crown began taking shape above his head, tongues of fire twisting around it as waves of heat rolled outward.
Orange-red markings spread across his body like sacred runes, tracing the lines of his muscles in intricate patterns.
The great flame wings behind him disappeared.
In their place appeared six pairs of reishi wings, translucent and radiant, each one giving off a soft spiritual glow.
Finally, a pointed starburst appeared above his head, followed by the five-pointed Quincy star.
This was the power Bazz-B had been holding in reserve.
His Quincy: Vollständig.
He'd never wanted to use it here.
Being forced to reveal his ultimate form against a single Shinigami captain felt humiliating.
But pride meant nothing if he died before he could use it.
"Oh?"
Nobutsuna's eyes sharpened with interest.
The slash he'd just fired reached Bazz-B — and melted away the moment it touched the spiritual pressure surrounding his body.
Nobutsuna lowered his sword.
"Now that's more interesting."
He had never seen a Quincy transformation quite like this.
Bazz-B raised his head.
"Burner Finger: Final Chapter!"
His Vollständig erupted beneath the dark sky like a blazing seraphic halo.
All twelve reishi wings spread wide, tearing holes through the surrounding clouds with sheer heat.
Then the wings folded inward.
A colossal pillar of deep-blue flame descended like a spear of divine judgment.
The air warped around it, crackling violently as the temperature climbed.
Nobutsuna stared into the approaching inferno. And within those flames, he saw faces.
Thousands of them.
Exactly 3,700 twisted, agonized faces screamed from within the fire — the souls of those Bazz-B had personally killed throughout his lifetime.
At the same moment, the bronze scales appeared again.
The character engraved on the left pan — Karma — seemed to come alive.
Its measurement shot upward at terrifying speed.
Higher.
Higher.
Until it nearly reached the critical threshold.
Then a cold voice rang out.
"Contract established."
The Scales of Sin began spinning.
Bazz-B's descending pillar of fire suddenly broke apart. In an instant, it transformed into nine hundred black chains.
The chains twisted in the air like living things and shot straight back toward him.
Bazz-B's expression changed.
"What—?!"
Before he could react, the chains wrapped around his body. His screams echoed across the sky, mixed in with the shrieks of countless dead souls.
Even his Blut Vene, ordinarily capable of withstanding tremendous punishment, began developing dense clusters of holes beneath the burning karmic flames.
His once-majestic reishi wings rapidly deteriorated, each feather twisting into the shape of a charred, crying infant, greedily gnawing away at the power sustaining his Vollständig.
Bazz-B's strength began collapsing.
"WHY?!"
He stared at the Scales of Sin in disbelief.
His latest attack had deliberately avoided the buildings below. He hadn't killed any civilians with it.
So why was he still being judged?
Nobutsuna's cold voice answered him.
"There's something else I neglected to mention."
"The Scales of Sin don't judge only what you do in the present."
Bazz-B froze.
"Their judgment extends across the target's entire timeline."
Nobutsuna raised his Zanpakutō.
"Every life you've taken throughout your existence is recorded. Every massacre. Every murder. Every victim. And once the contract is established…" His eyes hardened. "Your entire life is placed on the scales."
The captains watching from a distance went completely silent. Then someone finally muttered,
"...It can do that too?"
They stared at Nobutsuna's Zanpakutō.
What kind of ridiculous ability was this? At this point, fighting the man didn't even seem fair!