"You lose."
The two words cut deeper than any Zanpakutō could. Spoken with calm finality, they echoed across the battlefield like a death knell. As those words, paired with Mazuru's earlier declarations, reached the ears of the remaining shinigami, silence momentarily overtook Hueco Mundo's chaos.
It was impossible to accept.
The unshakable titan of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, collapsed to his knees, his scorched haori fluttering like the last flag of an era brought to its end. Then, with a heavy thud, his body fell forward, unmoving.
Mazuru didn't even look back.
His eyes, sharp and detached, scanned the battlefield as he vanished with a crack of spiritual displacement. In the blink of an eye, he appeared next to Shunsui, whose widened eyes flicked from Yamamoto's fallen body to the man now standing beside him.
"Honestly," Mazuru said, voice low but clear. "I didn't want to fight any of you. But you stepped into Hueco Mundo… uninvited. I suppose a lesson is in order."
Shunsui's eyes narrowed behind his hat as he instinctively raised Katen Kyōkotsu, but he was a half-beat too slow.
Mazuru's blade flashed.
*Slash!*
A diagonal streak of red bloomed across Shunsui's shoulder as the seasoned captain staggered back, his sandal scraping on bone-white ground. Blood dripped onto his kimono like crimson blossoms.
Before Shunsui could recover, Mazuru's body became a streak of blood-red light—a stream of destruction tearing through the battlefield.
*Fwoosh!*
The shinigami, already tense, cried out in alarm as the crimson blur raced past them.
Byakuya reacted quickly, his expression carved from stone. Senbonzakura bloomed into a thousand gleaming blades, forming a halo of protection around him. He braced himself.
But when Mazuru struck—
There was no logic to the movement.
His blade cleaved through like an inevitability.
"Hiraishin… Zangeki!"
Mazuru's words were murmured more to himself than anyone else. The battlefield distorted. Space twisted. He disappeared from Byakuya's line of sight—
—and reappeared beside Gin.
Mazuru's hand shot out and caught Sui Feng's wrist mid-strike. Her blade was just inches from Gin's neck.
"Sui Feng," he said smoothly, "you're always in such a rush."
"Let me go!" she snarled, baring her teeth as her eyes flashed with fury. Her reiatsu surged, wild and feral.
Mazuru smiled.
And let go.
For a fraction of a second, Sui Feng was caught off balance. That was all he needed.
*Thud!*
She collapsed—unconscious before she even hit the ground.
No one saw when he moved behind her. No one heard what he said. Only that she went still.
Nearby, Rangiku gasped, her heart seizing. Her hand gripped Haineko, and without hesitation, she released her mist, trying to ensnare Mazuru in its elusive embrace.
But he was already beside her.
*Shff!*
Rangiku froze. A whisper of a voice echoed in her ears—familiar, almost guilty.
"Rangiku... I'm sorry."
The same apology. Again. As always.
Every time he said those words, she fell.
As Rangiku's body slumped into the dust, Gin caught her in time. His silver gaze lingered on her peaceful expression before turning to Mazuru with a bemused chuckle.
"Captain Mazuru… You really do treat women differently."
It was true.
He had cut down Shunsui without hesitation. Injured Byakuya and Toshiro—his own disciples. He hadn't held back.
The red light from earlier—Beelzebub's power—had scoured the battlefield, leaving shinigami blood staining Hueco Mundo's sand.
This was no ordinary clash.
This was domination.
Gin stared at Mazuru, the amusement draining slowly from his face. He wasn't smiling anymore.
So this is what Mazuru was like… whole.
There were rumors. Whispers that the Espada's most enigmatic entity—Beelzebub—wasn't a hollow at all, but rather half of a sealed soul.
Now, Mazuru and Beelzebub had merged.
He was no longer a half.
He was a transcendent.
"There's no Hōgyoku in you…" Gin muttered, watching the unchained aura ripple off Mazuru like a red hurricane. "And yet you broke the boundary. You crossed into something new... Captain Mazuru, you're terrifying."
The battlefield lay in ruins.
Captains lay broken and bloodied across the sands. Vice-captains, wounded or unconscious, were being carried off by whatever shinigami remained standing.
Even the lower-ranked shinigami, who had been spared the worst of it, were falling into depression. Their spiritual pressure was drained. Their morale, shattered.
And above all—Yamamoto still lay motionless, the weight of his defeat greater than any blow.
The Gotei 13's symbol of strength, reduced to nothing.
"Kyo…Mazuru..."
"He can't be stopped..."
"Monster…!"
Whispers rippled through the ranks.
Words of disbelief.
Words of surrender.
Even if Shunsui and the others shouted for them to hold on… there was no holding on.
Mazuru had shattered more than bodies—he had shattered their will.
Zaraki Kenpachi had tried, of course. He had activated his Bankai, roaring as he hurled himself into Mazuru's barrier with everything he had. But the moment Mazuru withdrew his limiter, his speed increased tenfold. With a blur, he sliced through the battlefield—and left a deep gash in Kenpachi's chest.
Now, even the berserker lay unconscious.
Mazuru stood alone.
Untouched.
This wasn't Karakura Town. No Visoreds would arrive. No Kisuke, no Yoruichi. Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't here to ignite a miracle.
This was Hueco Mundo.
And Mazuru had rewritten the rules of this world.
Everything—everything—within his barrier answered to him alone.
Arrancars? They had long fled to the shadows. Even Bounts hadn't dared intervene.
Mazuru had never counted on their help anyway. He relied on no one.
This was why, when Gin had once asked what strategy Mazuru had for invading Soul Society…
He'd received no answer.
Because Mazuru never needed one.
To him and to Aizen, Soul Society was never the true threat.
The Royal Guards were.
And far beyond that, Yhwach—the darkness yet to return.
Now, amidst the despair, a new figure emerged.
A small figure.
She stepped past the broken bodies of comrades and captains alike, eyes forward, heart steady.
Ise Nanao.
The battlefield held its breath.
Many shinigami knew what she had meant to Mazuru before he "betrayed" them. Perhaps that bond would buy them time. Perhaps—
Mazuru turned to face her, expression unreadable.
Nanao did not flinch.
"Nanao…" he said, voice lower than before.
She looked at him, at the man who had once fought beside them… and now stood against them all.
"Have you come to fight me too?" he asked.
"No." Nanao answered, her voice trembling just slightly. "I've come to remind you who you used to be."
*****
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