A razor-sharp cry split the sky.
Transformed into a sun-blotting phoenix of flame, Sōkyoku spread its wings and dove from the heavens, heat carving molten scars between earth and sky as its crushing reiatsu slammed down.
Shutara's face tightened—the target was her. She raised her right hand and chanted, lips moving fast:
"Child of the heavens, iron-forged rampart—let dragon stride, lion roar, tiger howl, and wolf run; sever heaven and earth before they collapse.
Bakudō #81: Dankū (Severing Void)!"
A translucent barrier bloomed in midair—then shattered with a single crack as the phoenix struck. The tidal fire of its wings poured over her like a sea.
Expression hard, Shutara tilted her red parasol, and threads of translucent silk spiraled around her body.
Boom!
The flaming beak hammered the whirling filaments. Gashes ripped through the phoenix of flame, but Shutara was still blasted backward. Wild fire rolled out and set the grass of the Shūhō execution grounds ablaze.
Shunsui pressed down his kasa and sighed, head throbbing. "Seriously… even that big fellow's been unsealed. This is getting troublesome."
Ukitake coughed weakly twice, glancing toward the Shihōin estate. "Has Yoruichi not returned yet?"
With Sōkyoku running amok, only the Shihōin—hailed as the Heaven-Bestowed Armory—could seal it with their shinki, Tenfūrin (Heaven-Sealing Armory).
Shunsui frowned. "No idea what's holding her up this long…"
By rights, with Yoruichi's speed, she should have run to the clan, fetched the armory, and been back several times by now.
Cole, who'd been studying the Shichikyōken, suddenly felt a very bad premonition prickle down his spine.
Going home to fetch it would be no problem for Yoruichi. The problem was… the state of the Shihōin clan right now.
Just picturing that "estate" made cold sweat bead on Cole's brow.
A few seconds later, a slash of black streaked in from the horizon—along with a furious shout:
"Cole!! Where is my house!!!"
Yoruichi dropped from the sky, gripping a wing-shaped device in her left hand and a great wooden shield in her right. She blurred straight to Cole, eyes blazing.
Cold sweat poured down his temple. He tried to change the subject. "Yoruichi, you always bring out the coolest toys—this one is—mmph—"
Yoruichi seized his shoulders and shook him like a rattle. "You brat! Where's my house? Where did you move it? Why is there nothing but empty ground!?"
Tasked by Ukitake to fetch Tenfūrin, she'd raced home—only to go stiff with shock. No estate. Just a bare, endless plain. Not even a foundation stone left. If she hadn't confirmed the coordinates, she'd have thought she'd wandered into Hueco Mundo's white sands.
"Eaten… all… of it…" Cole managed between jolts.
"Aaahhh!" Yoruichi nearly snapped. She shook him faster, voice breaking. "You ate my house!? You glutton! Pay it back! That estate is our clan's inheritance for millions of years—and it ends with me!?"
Cole's skull rang. "Nobody was home… everyone ran… I needed supplies for the war…"
Seeing red, Yoruichi clamped down on his shoulder with a bite. "I'll bite you to death!"
"Shunkō (Flash War Cry)!"
Clothes burst at Yoruichi's shoulder, revealing sun-browned muscle as crackling streams like lightning wrapped her form.
"Ow ow ow—" Cole bared his teeth. "Why are you using Shunkō to bite me!? That hurts—let go!"
Normally, with his reiatsu, even Yoruichi's bite wouldn't hurt. But with Shunkō, it really did.
She didn't let go. Hearing him yelp, she simply lifted a clawed hand. "Die, brat!"
Minutes later, Cole slumped against rubble with teeth marks on his shoulder and bloody scratches on his face, soul extinguished in his eyes. Satisfied, Yoruichi tossed the wooden shield emblazoned with the Shihōin crest to Ukitake.
"Here. Seal the phoenix."
She shot Cole another murderous look. "If this brat hadn't eaten my estate, I wouldn't have wasted time finding the pocket-space entrance."
Cole muttered, "If your people hadn't deserted the place, I wouldn't have eaten it."
Another glare. As if stealing food gave him the right to be righteous. Still, she was furious with her own kin, too. Cowards—every one. Not one stayed. She resolved to give Yūshirō a thorough beating when he returned.
Ukitake caught the shield, gripped it in both hands, and sprinted toward the raging Sōkyoku. Truly—one thing overcomes another. The flaming shinki that cowed captains faltered when the wooden shield drew near. It screamed, rage shaking the heavens—but in its eyes, fear flickered. Even fully unsealed—and ensorcelled—it had no desire to be bound again.
Cole whistled, impressed, then eyed the other "toy" in Yoruichi's hand—a white-boned, draconic wing.
"Yoruichi, what shinki is that?"
She sniffed, preening. "Call me Yoruichi-dono and I'll tell you."
"Yoruichi-dono, please tell me."
Her grin widened. "This is Tenta Shō (Heaven-Step Splendor). Feed it reiatsu and it unfolds a single bone-wing for flight—one of the rare shinki that grant aerial movement."
She pressed her palm to the ribbed, bone-like frame and poured in reiatsu. White draconic bones unfurled like a bird's wing, white winds curling about her.
"Amazing." Cole turned—and caught Nanao staring at the Shichikyōken in his hand, anxious and hopeful. He wrinkled his nose. "With so many shinki, how come your clan only has this one?"
He flicked the Seven-Mirror Sword. He'd been tinkering with it for ages and still couldn't find any offensive edge. Honestly, it felt weaker than a basic asauchi.
Nanao fumed. "Why do you think the Shihōin are called the Heaven-Bestowed Armory? They're the 'God-Arms' clan—they steward an arsenal of shinki, enough to outfit troops. We, the Ise, are shrine-maidens—we steward rites. Of course we don't have a hoard of weapons."
Listening, Yoruichi glanced at the sword in Cole's hand and raised a brow. "Kyoraku actually took that one out?"
"You know it?" Cole asked, curious.
Yoruichi nodded, serious now. "I've heard of the Shichikyōken (Seven-Mirror Sword). It's said to be the most dangerous shinki—the blade that can slay gods."
"Slay gods?" Cole eyed the "ruler-sword," then smacked it against a rock. The stone shattered—but he still felt no special power.
Nanao looked like she might cry. That was a sanctified sword of rites—usually enthroned on an altar—and this human brat was… chopping rocks with it.
Yoruichi stepped in, palm brushing the mirrored facets. "Don't be rough. It's a god-slayer. The stronger your 'divinity,' the more power it draws out."
"Divinity?" Cole's head ached. The longer he stayed in Seireitei, the less he understood this world. First the four noble houses. Then a flood of shinki. Now "divinity." What next—ignite god-fire and ascend?
Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "Don't get the wrong idea. 'Divinity' doesn't mean there are literal gods here."
Cole's mouth twitched. "To humans, even an ordinary Soul Reaper is basically a god."
She ground her teeth, wanting to bite him again, but held it in. "By 'divinity,' we mean that when a being reaches an extreme of power, a quality beyond limits appears. That quality."
"Yamamoto?" Cole raised a brow. In his mind, the old man was the strongest. Did he have "divinity," then?
Yoruichi nodded solemnly. "We've never tested him, but I'm certain the Head-Captain bears divinity."
Cole stared down at the Seven-Mirror Sword. "So this thing really is an anti-god blade…"
On a whim, he drew out the Ruyi Jingu Bang (Compliant Golden-Hoop Staff) with his left hand, held the Shichikyōken in his right, and smashed them together.
Clang!
Metallic thunder detonated. Yoruichi and Nanao both jumped.
"What are you doing!?"
"Don't bang them together!"
Cole staggered, ears ringing, and planted the Ruyi Jingu Bang like a cane to steady himself. "This thing… really is a shinki."
The instant blade met staff, it was like an eight-hundred-ton bell slammed against his skull. His brain hummed on the edge of blackout.
The two women stared at him, eyes huge. "You have divinity!?"
"The Shichikyōken reacted to you!?"
Cole's head still throbbed—and the battle noise grated on his nerves. "You lot—keep it down!!!"
He swung the Ruyi Jingu Bang. The golden staff bloomed in midair, swelling into a heaven-propping pillar that howled down on the battlefield.
"Co—" Shunsui began—
—and was swatted head-over-heels by the descending column of gold. The pillar didn't stop. It hammered Sōkyoku next, blasting bird and bearer alike across the grounds.
Shutara and Ukitake—mid-sealing maneuver—flinched as the blow shook the world.
"This boy is formidable," Shutara murmured, surprised. It had startled her enough when he pierced Shunsui's bankai to haul her out; now he'd clubbed Sōkyoku out of the sky with a single swing.
Cole barely heard her. He thumped his skull with his palm, forcing his focus back, and glared at the Seven-Mirror Sword. "This blade did that on purpose, didn't it?"
He'd studied it for ages and found nothing. One tap against his own staff—and it nearly concussed him.
Yoruichi's gaze sharpened. "It means the Shichikyōken judged you to possess 'divinity.'"
Even she felt shaken. Divinity—a trait only beings at the uttermost extreme would bear. And this sixteen-year-old boy… had it already. She still remembered him as a clueless rookie mere months ago.
"Divinity, huh…" Cole scowled at the sword. "Feels more like it just wants to cut me. If it can 'talk,' why didn't it tell me its power?"
Nanao, a little smug now, whispered, "I told you. Only our bloodline can wield the Seven-Mirror Sword."
"Yeah?" Cole set the staff's tip on the blade and pressed. "Then behave. Hear me? Behave. Or I'll break you. Submit."
Across the field, Ukitake slammed the great wooden shield point-down. "Seal!"
Light exploded from the crest. From the face of the shield, ropes of radiance lashed out toward Sōkyoku. The phoenix shrieked in fury—yet still dared not touch those bindings.
At that moment, a voice slid into the minds of every manifested zanpakuto:
"Protect Sōkyoku," Muramasa hissed. "I will lead it to slay Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, whom I have sealed—so that Ryūjin Jakka may be freed!"
The gathered spirits blinked—then elation lit their eyes. If Yamamoto's Ryūjin Jakka were unleashed, how could Soul Reapers oppose them?
Muramasa stepped out of the inner world, coughing weakly. He ensorcelled Sōkyoku anew and sent it winging far away. Then he turned to Byakuya at his side and rasped,
"Byakuya. I told you where I sealed Yamamoto. Go—aid Sōkyoku and kill him."
Byakuya inclined his head, then raised his blade—and coolly thrust it toward Muramasa. "Mm. I'll go after I kill you first."
(End of Chapter)
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