Chapter 313
2-in-1 chapter:
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Although he knew that what was happening before his eyes was rely an illusion, Aizen still felt his blood pressure spike the mont he saw the sword in Kaelith’s hand.
Standing in front of him, Kaelith wielded Enrakyōten and used various Zanpakutō abilities to fight Yamamoto and the Monk simultaneously. The three brutes were locked in a chaotic scuffle, putting on an impressive and visually stunning show.
If only Kaelith’s life force hadn’t been visibly draining as he fought—then it really would have been a spectacle.
Aizen’s expression turned grim.
“You think such a trivial illusion could sway , Aizen Sōsuke?
“First, although Kaelith is reckless, he’s not stupid. Enrakyōten might pique his curiosity once, but once he felt how it devours its wielder’s life, he’d never use it again.
“Moreover, knowing how much Yamamoto dotes on him, there’s no way the old man would just stand by while Kaelith walks toward death.
“And besides, from my research, the Soul King’s position is suspicious. Maybe Ichibe Hyosube doesn’t intend to stop him at all—perhaps he only wants—”
In the middle of Aizen explaining his theory, the Kaelith who’d been standing guard in front of him suddenly spewed blood from head to toe and fell over, stiff as a board.
Aizen went silent, took a deep breath to steady himself, and then smiled.
“Well done, you are indeed my Zanpakutō. You’ve successfully managed to annoy . In return, once this experint is over, I’m going to turn you over to soone so they can ‘take care of’ you for a while.”
At those words, Kyōka Suigetsu froze montarily, a flicker of fear in her eyes.
Seizing this chance, Aizen flickered forward.
Pshh!!
His Zanpakutō glead coldly as he stabbed the kimono-clad woman without hesitation.
Crunch.
He twisted the blade inside Kyōka Suigetsu’s body, then yanked it free.
Watching his Zanpakutō cough up blood, Aizen spoke in a calm tone:
“There’s no need for elaborate setups or grand illusions to crush soone psychologically. All it takes is finding their weak spot and striking a fatal blow. That’s the true way to break one’s mind.”
Kyōka Suigetsu clutched her wound, forcing a faint smile.
“Rather like how Kaelith does it to you every day?”
“…”
Do you even know how to converse?!
He left in a huff, disappearing from that realm.
Seeing Aizen’s departing figure, Kyōka Suigetsu let slip the grin of soone who’d won a round. Then she, too, vanished into thin air.
…
“Hey, Kisuke! How much ti has passed?!”
As Kaelith happily—well, forcedly—pumled his dear friend, he shouted at Urahara Kisuke in the distance.
Floating in midair a fair ways away, Urahara wore a laid-back expression. Unlike last ti, when they’d had to join forces to confront Kaelith’s berserk Hollowfication, Aizen’s scenario required no such involvent. Kaelith was handling the “big boss” role all by himself. The rest could just laze around waiting for victory.
He raised his voice to answer. “It’s been fourteen minutes, Kaelith!”
“How long did it take last ti?”
“Forty-two minutes and six seconds!!”
“Oh… No rush, then. Even I—being the genius I am—needed over forty minutes. A talentless hack like Sōsuke needing seventy or eighty is no surprise.”
Kaelith nodded sagely.
Kisuke’s mouth twitched, as though trying not to laugh. He stifled it just in ti, fortunately: Kaelith was too busy beating on the Hollowfied Aizen to pay him much heed.
Suddenly, Kaelith turned his head and cast a terrifying look.
“You were laughing at , weren’t you, Kisuke?”
“N-not in the slightest!!!”
Kisuke yelped, nearly losing control of his voice. Damn it—Kaelith’s instincts were too sharp. Maybe he should work on sealing that sixth sense of his?
Kaelith kept glaring at him, though it didn’t slow down his effortless nullification of Aizen’s every move. He looked every inch the grandmaster in a battle—except one currently splitting his focus.
After a few seconds, Kaelith turned away again, and Kisuke finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Boom!!
Kaelith dissolved into quantum form, passing through the Hollowfied Aizen’s blade and then punching him down into the ocean of sand. He watched as Aizen lay in a deep crater, body regenerating swiftly from the damage while rising to his feet again. Kaelith grimaced and shook his head.
What a bore.
Under normal conditions, sparring against Aizen—even at full power—didn’t guarantee Kaelith the upper hand. Sure, Kaelith’s swordsmanship and martial skills were formidable, and any solid hit could cripple Aizen, but Aizen’s control of the battlefield was terrifying. Almost every move Kaelith made would get countered or evaded, while Aizen maneuvered him into awkward positions or angles that made it tough to land hits.
Now that he was Hollowfied, Aizen had beco even more helpless. Definitely not main-character material. Kaelith snorted.
He had about forty minutes left. Ti to make the most of it.
He grinned, a savage mania in his eyes—yet sohow righteous.
Boom!
Surging Reiatsu erupted from Kaelith’s body, blasting apart his upper Shihakushō and captain’s haori. Ti to get serious!
Might as well thrash Sōsuke for a good three pages.
Kaelith stretched, fists cocked in preparation—only to see a crack suddenly appear in the white carapace covering Aizen.
“?”
Crrk, crrk.
The fissure spread quickly across his entire body. In the next second, the white shell disintegrated into fine dust.
Aizen now stood there, the picture of poise. He raised a hand to the mask still covering his face. Unlike the often-mocked shape Kaelith had, Aizen’s mask was plain white with purple, cloud-like patterns. After confirming its feel, he gave it a small tug, and it vanished along with the gesture.
Then he slid his Zanpakutō slowly back into its scabbard.
Kaelith froze midair, fist raised as if to punch him. They stared at each other in silence.
“How long, Kaelith?” Aizen asked.
“…Slightly less ti than .”
“Be precise.”
“…Under fifteen minutes.”
“Still more precise.”
“…Fourteen minutes and change.”
At that number, Kaelith’s face darkened with despair. He’d needed forty-two minutes to master his Hollowfication; this bastard had done it in under fifteen. So was Kaelith not the main character after all?
Unable to accept it, his brain trembled. He arched his head back, hands twitching uncontrollably like he’d been possessed by Mayuri.
Seeing Kaelith so distraught, Aizen snorted inwardly. The buffoon had annoyed him in that illusion. Letting him suffer now was only fitting.
While Kaelith brooded, Aizen closed his eyes to take stock of his newly acquired power. Like the other Arrancar, having broken the Shinigami–Hollow boundary made his already-growing Reiatsu climb even higher, which might please Kaelith. But if Aizen guessed right, the Hōgyoku’s ability didn’t stop there.
He’d chosen now to run this experint, precisely to test this theory. Aizen quickly searched his body for answers—and soon found them. A slight smile tugged at his lips. Just as he thought, the Hōgyoku didn’t rely “break the boundary between Hollow and Shinigami.” Its true power was likely “to fulfill its user’s desire.” Back then, it was only ant as a tool to gain strength, but it turned out to have far greater potential.
He wasn’t sure what its upper limit might be, but it definitely brought him and “that guy” one step closer to their shared goal.
…
In the grand lounge of Las Noches, Kaelith was lying on a big sofa, yawning.
Beside him, Lilynette was shaking him and making demands: “Kaelith! I want Soul Society snacks! That candied sugar you brought last ti, the…kingy—whatever… the Konpeitō! Gim that!”
“Mmm… The Konpeitō, is it? Let’s see how you behave. Massage my scalp first.”
“Okaaay!” Eagerly, Lilynette repositioned herself, duck-sitting behind Kaelith’s head and massaging him.
Nearby, Harribel ca over, wanting Kaelith’s help organizing a unit of potential Arrancar she could train to better defend Las Noches. Kaelith casually agreed, not planning to do it himself. Good old Kisuke could handle that legwork.
Just then, Ulquiorra approached.
“Lord Kaelith, I have a request.”
“Really? Sure, go ahead,” Kaelith replied, sowhat curious.
Lilynette flashed a little fang: “Hey, Kaelith, I had conditions for my request, and Harribel-senpai’s request is complicated, but you’re letting this guy get a free pass before hearing him out?”
Kaelith snorted.
“That’s because your demands are either complicated or involve crossing realms—things only a miracle worker like can handle. Could anyone else pull it off?
“Ulquiorra, on the other hand, never causes trouble. Any favor he asks will likely be straightforward.”
He turned to Ulquiorra: “What’s up?”
Under Kaelith and Lilynette’s gaze, Ulquiorra said earnestly:
“Lord Kaelith, I want to see…the Soul Society for myself.”
“…?”
Kaelith froze. Good grief, Lilynette’s request needed crossing realms, and Harribel’s was just complicated. Ulquiorra had effectively combined both?
He saw Ulquiorra was serious, so he asked:
“Why Soul Society?”
“I want to understand it in advance,” Ulquiorra explained. “With you and Aizen leading us, unifying Soul Society under your banner—like unifying Hueco Mundo—seems close at hand. Whether we end up fighting the Soul Society as your army or collaborating with its Shinigami to carry out your will, we must at least know what sort of place it is.
“That aside, I’m personally curious. I’d like to see what kind of realm raised soone like you.”
Kaelith rubbed his chin.
Lilynette instantly said, “I wanna go too, Kaelith!”
“Hold that thought.” Kaelith hopped off the sofa and left the lounge. Before long, he popped out of Aizen’s lab and returned, a smug grin across his face.
“Okay, get yourselves ready—and see who else wants to go. Let’s form the Kaelith Travel Group and show you around Soul Society!”
…
Soifon was a bit perplexed. The scumb—er, Lord Kaelith—had been gone for days now. Usually, even if he went out gallivanting, he’d co back at altis.
Fearing the worst, she sent the Onmitsukidō to look for Kaelith. The initial teams returned empty-handed. Just as she was pondering whether to consult Aizen, an Onmitsukidō mber appeared, kneeling with one knee on the ground:
“Reporting, Lady Soifon! We found Lord Kaelith outside the Seiryū Gate!”
“He actually ca in through the main gate?”
Soifon was startled. Officially, the Seireitei had no physical walls, so normal Shinigami had to enter via one of the four main gates. But Kaelith usually went wherever he pleased. For him to use a proper entrance was quite unusual.
While she mulled this over, the Onmitsukidō added:
“He isn’t alone; there are several unknown faces with him. According to inquiries, they claim to be distant relatives of his from when he lived in the Rukongai!”
“Relatives?”
Soifon truly found that surprising. She’d known the scum—er, Kaelith—for nearly a century yet never heard of him having any family.
Driven by curiosity, she used Shunpo to head toward the Seiryū Gate. From a distance, she saw Kaelith leading a small group while explaining sothing. They looked around with wide-eyed fascination, occasionally asking questions. Indeed, they seed like first-ti visitors, presumably “ordinary folks.”
But as Soifon got a better look at them, her expression grew a bit…complicated.
Foremost in her line of sight were two rather generous chests, one black-haired, one white-haired, each belonging to a tall, regal, and stunning woman.
Soifon’s eyes narrowed.
So these are his so-called “relatives?” Perhaps in a…different sense of the word?
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