"Ahhhhhhh—!!"
A shrill scream echoed above the Zero Division Palace.
Watching Oetsu's miserable state, even onlookers like Shunsui, Isshin, and Shinji couldn't bear to keep watching.
"Ahem, ahem… Cole, if you keep going you're gonna beat this old man to death…"
Ichigo coughed twice and spoke up.
This was his first time learning that if you beat someone hard enough, it wasn't just the face that swelled— the whole body puffed up.
Right now, Oetsu had swelled up an entire size from head to toe. He was so bloated you could hardly recognize him as human.
Cole exhaled, rested the golden staff against his shoulder, and didn't care at all about what everyone else was saying.
"It's fine, Ichigo. I've already figured out the basic structure of these Zero Division guys. Simply put, they're all immortal. They're not afraid of dying— even if they get killed, they'll revive again soon enough…"
"Not afraid of dying, but definitely afraid of pain…"
Oetsu cut in, practically on the verge of tears.
"You brat are way too much! I'm still a meritorious contributor to Soul Society, you know! I'm the one who forged your zanpakuto, and you beat me up like this?"
At those words, everyone present, including Rukia, suddenly felt awkward.
According to Shunsui's earlier explanation, the initial shallow-aspect form of their zanpakuto really were forged by Oetsu.
And none of them had paid him a single cent.
From the very beginning they'd been in massive debt to him.
Cole just curled his lip, stabbed the golden staff into the floor in front of Oetsu, and said,
"Don't talk nonsense in front of me, old Sword God. My zanpakuto was pulled straight out of my own soul. It's got nothing to do with you, so I don't feel even a little guilty beating you up."
Ichigo nodded in agreement and explained how he'd gotten his own zanpakuto.
A normal Shinigami received a standard-issue asauchi, then, after long-term companionship and communication, finally awakened their true zanpakuto.
But the two of them had skipped over the asauchi entirely and gone straight to a true zanpakuto.
Oetsu spoke through his swollen face, practically sobbing with indignation.
"All zanpakuto were created by me. When you awaken your zanpakuto, what you're directly receiving is the blade I forged…
"Even if a zanpakuto is born within your souls, that blade is still something I forged— it's just that it manifests inside your bodies instead…
"This has nothing to do with time or space. It's a conceptual power…"
Listening to Oetsu's never-ending explanation, Cole couldn't help glancing at Ichigo.
"You get any of that, Ichigo?"
Before Ichigo could answer, Cole sighed, rubbing his temples.
"I really am an idiot. How could I expect you to understand something like that? Forget it. Ichigo, don't worry your head about it."
A vein popped on Ichigo's forehead. He clenched his fist and lunged at Cole.
"Cole, you're dead!"
Watching the two high schoolers bicker and tumble around, all the Shinigami nearby had metaphorical black lines dropping down their faces.
Seriously?
At a time like this?
They could still fool around like this?
Shunsui sighed, looked toward Oetsu, and pointed at another distant Zero Division Palace where thunderous booms were shaking the sky.
"Oetsu, that battle over there looks pretty intense. Are you sure there's no problem?"
Oetsu waved a hand impatiently.
"I already told you it's fine. Quit nagging me. Nothing unexpected is going to happen."
Saying that, he hefted his hammer and walked toward Cole with eyes burning.
Cole raised an eyebrow, immediately dropped the playful scuffle with Ichigo, and stepped forward with his golden staff.
"Hey, blacksmith, what do you think you're doing? Planning to sneak attack me? I'm telling you now, I won't hold back this time."
That swing earlier hadn't been anywhere near his true power.
If he really put his full strength into a blow, he was confident he could smash Oetsu into paste with one hit.
Oetsu coughed twice and shook his head frantically.
"Cole, sir, you've misunderstood. I'm just… curious about your zanpakuto. I want to study it a little."
He was the Sword God. The number of zanpakuto he'd forged over the ages was easily in the tens of millions, yet he'd never seen such a bizarre blade.
One swing of Saiko's hammer—
And he couldn't sense the existence of a sword spirit at all.
Compared to everyone else's zanpakuto, Cole's zanpakuto really did feel like just a weapon.
"My zanpakuto?"
Cole eyed him warily, feeling like this guy was definitely up to something.
Oetsu forced a smile on his pig-headed face and looked toward the sword in Rukia's hand.
"Well, weren't you wanting that zanpakuto to manifest? I can help you."
At that, Cole's heart moved. Thinking about it, he realized he hadn't seen Sode no Shirayuki in quite a while.
He turned to look at Rukia.
"Rukia-chan…"
Rukia huffed twice and shot him a fierce glare, but in the end she still turned to Oetsu.
"If Sode no Shirayuki comes out, will I still be able to use my Bankai?"
"Of course."
Oetsu nodded without hesitation.
Then he explained his own ability to manifest zanpakuto in more detail.
Simply put, unlike Muramasa, the zanpakuto he turned into independent entities could return to sword form at any time.
The downside was that it wasn't very convenient, and it weakened both the Shinigami and the manifested zanpakuto in battle.
After thinking for a moment, Rukia finally nodded.
"All right. Let Sode no Shirayuki come out."
Oetsu nodded back, swung Saiko's hammer, and brought it down hard on Sode no Shirayuki's blade.
In an instant, Sode no Shirayuki seemed to be reforged from scratch, her blade shining with silvery white light.
As her spiritual pressure surged along the steel, cold air billowed out. From within the white mist, the long-missing Sode no Shirayuki (Sleeve of White Snow) stepped forward.
"Cole, I missed you so much!"
She looked at Cole with a radiant smile and flung herself at him.
"Sode no Shirayuki!"
Cole called her name, unable to stop a smile from spreading across his own face as he caught her in his arms and spun her around.
"It's really been a long time. I missed you too."
Seeing master and blade reunited so affectionately, Rukia's face turned red and she couldn't help feeling a little jealous, muttering under her breath,
"Bad Cole, being so close with someone else's zanpakuto… he's never even hugged me like that…"
But for two people who had already shared an intimate experience, just a hug was obviously not enough.
They leaned in and kissed.
"Mmph!!!"
Rukia's face burned as red as an apple. She rushed over, flustered, and yanked Sode no Shirayuki away.
"Sode no Shirayuki, there are so many people here! How can you do that?"
Sode no Shirayuki's cheeks were flushed as well. She unconsciously licked her lips, as if savoring the experience just now.
Hearing her master's scolding, she giggled.
"Well, it's not my fault you're such a useless master, Rukia. After all this time, all you've done with Cole is hold hands. I couldn't hold back anymore…"
Rukia hurriedly clapped a hand over Sode no Shirayuki's mouth, face bright red, and looked around.
"Everyone, don't stand around here. Let's hurry to that Zero Division Palace and see how things are going."
The Shinigami on scene all coughed into their fists, answering her while sneaking strange looks at Cole and Sode no Shirayuki.
Good grief.
A romance between person and blade?
That was… intense.
With those thoughts in mind, their group headed off en masse toward the next Zero Division Palace.
At the back of the group, Rukia, her face still flushed, clung tightly to Sode no Shirayuki's hand.
"Sode no Shirayuki, now that you can manifest again, don't mess around with Cole. You have to stay by my side from now on."
The ice-maiden's smile turned into crescent moons.
"Rukia, what exactly do you mean by 'mess around'?"
Rukia's face reddened even more and she stammered, unable to get a word out.
Seeing that, Sode no Shirayuki cheerfully lunged back into Cole's arms, pouring out all the longing she'd felt in the time they couldn't see each other.
Just like that, everyone arrived at the new Zero Division Palace.
The owner of this palace was the Northern God General, "Great Weave Guard" Shutara Senjumaru.
At the center of the floating island's architecture, countless swaths of cloth in every color hung in the air.
Threads of every kind flowed in and out in a constant stream.
From afar, the whole place looked like a gigantic clothing workshop, churning out new garments every second.
But what everyone cared about was the thunderous booming coming from the middle of the island.
There, the roaring was deafening, spiritual pressure raging as powerful forces collided again and again, like they might tear the entire space apart.
Cole seemed to sense something.
His figure flickered forward.
By the time he reappeared, there was already a girl in his arms— Shutara Senjumaru, covered in blood.
"Senjumaru!?"
The Shinigami all cried out in surprise, but quickly realized something was wrong and stared in shock.
They hadn't expected even her to be this badly wounded.
Cole, however, didn't look particularly surprised.
He treated Senjumaru's injuries as he spoke with a smile.
"Was it Aizen who cut you?"
Senjumaru gripped her slender zanpakuto, Ise Nanonori, like a delicate embroidery needle as she stitched up her wounds, gritting her teeth.
"Yes. I truly didn't expect his spiritual pressure to be that terrifying. My strength was completely crushed by him."
Cole chuckled and pointed straight at Oetsu.
"Senjumaru, you should've taken those guys out first. Only by breaking the Blood Pact Seal can you use your Bankai against Aizen."
As far as he was concerned, aside from Ichibe, all four of the other Royal Guard members had their true power locked away in their Bankai.
And yet they'd sealed those Bankai themselves.
Without using Bankai—
All four of them together were at the level where Aizen could one-shot them.
Senjumaru finished stitching the last of her wounds and sat up, glaring at Oetsu and Kirio through clenched teeth.
"Kirio, Oetsu, you two should sacrifice yourselves and lift the Blood Pact Seal. I want to kill that bastard Aizen with my own hands."
Kirio and Oetsu both gave bitter smiles.
They could indeed revive infinitely.
But that didn't mean anyone would enjoy the feeling of suicide.
With that in mind, the two of them asked Senjumaru about her battle just now.
Senjumaru bit down, pinched Ise Nanonori's thin blade between her index and middle finger, and said angrily,
"Just now, when Ichibe and I fought together, we easily suppressed Aizen. But then he used his zanpakuto's ability even though he wasn't holding a zanpakuto at all…"
"Right, got it."
Cole, Ichigo, and the others all spoke in unison.
"Huh? I haven't even said anything yet— how do you all 'get it' already?"
Senjumaru stared at them in confusion.
Cole pointed at Shinji, Kisuke, and the others, laughing.
"They're Aizen's biggest victims. How could they not know about something like this?"
Shinji and Kisuke's mouths twitched. They were speechless, but also deeply unsettled.
They had seen it very clearly earlier.
After evolving to a higher dimension, Aizen had taken the initiative to devour Kyoka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon), merging it into his body.
They'd thought that meant he could no longer use Kyoka Suigetsu's power.
Who would've thought…
That now he could activate Kyoka Suigetsu without even wielding a zanpakuto.
Shinji swallowed hard, eyes fixed on the source of the roaring ahead. His voice went dry.
"Is… is everything really all right over there?"
He was truly afraid that this so-called Ichibe wouldn't be able to hold Aizen back.
"We'll know if we go take a look, won't we?"
Cole lightly stepped forward and flashed straight into the very center of the battlefield.
Everyone behind him exchanged looks, then followed after him and arrived at the front lines.
There—
They were met with a truly shocking sight.
Like a great monk, Ichibe stood with a massive brush in his hand, clashing continuously with Aizen.
Aizen, for his part, was not at a disadvantage. From the skeletal structures on his back, he constantly fired volleys of purple projectiles—
Fureppa (Radiant Burst).
Each blast of violet light collided with the sweeping brush as both sides unleashed overwhelming force. Even space itself seemed to shudder.
The scale of the battle was nothing short of apocalyptic.
Even a stray shockwave was enough to obliterate everything around it, and the entire Zero Division Palace was shaking, on the verge of collapse.
Nanao, the zanpakuto girls, and others at their level couldn't even stand upright under the shockwaves.
And yet, despite the sheer scope of the destruction, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.
"At least… he can hold."
They had said it before: if the Zero Division were truly charged with protecting the Soul King, they couldn't all be a bunch of clowns.
From the look of things now, Ichibe really was the anchor of the Royal Guard.
Cole smiled as well.
He raised a hand, waving at the two figures locked in furious combat, then cupped both hands around his mouth and shouted,
"Yo, big monk! Put your back into it!"
(End of Chapter)
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