"Too scary…"
"Ichigo… the future you really has it rough!"
"To think you have to fight a monster like that, all alone with no one to back you up!"
In the present world,
inside a high-school campus,
Tatsuki Arisawa pressed a trembling hand over her mouth.
In her dark eyes, the entire screen was filled with wave after wave of exploding light.
Her gaze,
and her emotions,
were inevitably dyed with fear.
Even though she was just a viewer, watching everything as an outsider…
once she tried to put herself
in Kurosaki Ichigo's place right now,
Tatsuki felt as if even the right to breathe was about to be taken away from her.
It was just that overwhelming.
After releasing his Resurrección,
Ulquiorra was practically a different person.
The Black-Winged Great Demon's true form possessed power of terrifying magnitude.
He looked exactly like an invincible demon descending upon the night,
a being who simply could not be beaten.
And just now,
that scene where he used high-speed movement to appear right in front of Ichigo
and almost sliced off his head with that moonlight-like blade—
that had showcased Ulquiorra's combat strength
to an utterly merciless degree.
It made people instinctively feel despair.
"Yeah…"
Yasutora Sado (Chad) also went pale, speaking in a voice full of fear.
"In the previous scene, when he was fighting Grimmjow,
Ichigo could at least barely block his attacks."
"But this time, he was just a little slow to react,
and he almost got his head blown clean off!"
"Their ranks are only two numbers apart…
is the power gap really that ridiculous?"
Earlier,
in the previous entries of the countdown,
they had already seen Zaraki Kenpachi brutally crush Nnoitra.
Back then,
on the battlefield of Karakura Town,
Nnoitra had also been a Vasto Lorde-class Arrancar ranked in the top four.
Yet the pressure he exuded
had never reached anything near the current level of horror.
"Don't tell me…"
"Aizen actually messed up the rankings?"
Chad frowned, that thought surfacing in his mind once again.
Otherwise,
there was simply no way to explain
why the Black-Winged Great Demon's performance in battle,
and the pressure he radiated,
were so dramatically different from the other Espada.
The contrast was so huge it was hard to believe.
——
Meanwhile,
in Squad One's barracks,
the Gotei 13 captains were just as shocked.
"?!"
"This Black-Winged Great Demon really is something else…"
"That last attack wasn't any weaker than my full-force swing!"
Zaraki Kenpachi knit his brows, his tone filled with surprise.
Even now,
while he was still speaking,
the green energy from the blast on-screen hadn't completely dispersed.
Moreover,
Ichigo's figure
had remained buried in the explosion's shockwaves for a very long time.
Most importantly…
the surrounding ocean of sand was in violent upheaval,
rising and falling like a colossal waterfall.
The scene instantly reminded Kenpachi of
the footage from the Nozarashi segment of the countdown,
where his future self had used two-handed swordsmanship for the first time
and one-shot Nnoitra.
Back then,
after he swung his blade and the slash came down,
the aftermath had also been a scene of overwhelming devastation.
In fact, it might have been less destructive than what they were seeing now.
No wonder
Kenpachi was shaken—
for a brief moment, he had genuinely been intimidated.
Across from him,
as the Head Captain,
Retsu Unohana and Isane Kotetsu both wore worried expressions.
They couldn't help feeling anxious for Ichigo:
"Next…"
"Ichigo should be fine, right?"
"There's no way he's going to get killed a second time right after the battle starts, right?"
"An outcome like that would just be too despair-inducing…"
For this possibility,
no one dared to make any guarantees.
After all, there was already a precedent.
Up to this point,
Ulquiorra had been,
throughout the entire Bleach world that had been revealed so far,
the only one who had actually killed the protagonist.
If he could do it once…
he could obviously do it a second time.
Right now,
while the captains were reeling in shock,
all they could do was silently wish Ichigo good luck.
If the slash didn't sever a major artery, he might still survive.
Otherwise…
he was really done for.
——
Fortunately,
the next sequence of footage
finally let the viewers relax the hearts they'd been holding in their throats—if only a little.
"Boom!!!"
As the dust clouds rolled and dispersed,
Ichigo's figure emerged from within.
A corner of his Hollow mask had been sliced off and shattered,
and fresh blood was leaking from the wound.
But…
he was safe.
Ichigo hadn't fallen; he was only gasping for breath.
"Huff… huff…"
"Thank goodness, Ichigo dodged!
He didn't get killed in a single blow!"
In the Urahara Shop,
Isshin Kurosaki let out the breath he'd been holding.
The nerves he had kept wound tight until now
finally relaxed.
He said with palpable relief,
"Looks like the Black-Winged Great Demon's attack
has a very strong impact on the surface,
but the actual lethality might be limited."
"At this rate, as long as Ichigo can stay focused,
he should still be able to keep trading blows with him!"
And sure enough,
no sooner had the words left his mouth
than the video showed Ichigo raising his hand,
using spiritual energy to repair the mask.
His Hollow mask re-formed,
covering his face once more and hiding the bloodstain.
"Getsuga Tenshō!!!"
Provoked by Ulquiorra's taunts,
Ichigo pulled himself together once again.
Dark red, tangible spiritual pressure
erupted from his body,
coiling around his blade
before he unleashed the largest Getsuga Tenshō he had ever fired—
an enormous crimson crescent.
"So strong…"
"Compared to their first clash,
the size and scale of this Getsuga Tenshō have at least doubled!"
"This time, that Black-Winged Great Demon…
there's no way he's still going to act cool and try to catch it with his bare hands, right?"
The spectators gasped,
their fields of view completely filled
by the waterfall-like crimson crescent that spanned the desert.
This one strike
was practically everything Ichigo had left.
Even through the screen,
they could feel the spiritual pressure spilling out,
clearly sensing
the terrifying power contained inside that immense Getsuga.
However…
what happened next
once again left the audience slack-jawed in shock.
"Whoosh—!!!"
He didn't even move.
With dark green spiritual pressure flaring around his body,
Ulquiorra simply stood his ground facing the camera.
The massive black wings at his back
gave a single flap—
and to the viewers' astonishment,
the crimson crescent was effortlessly blown apart,
the entire image instantly wiped clean.
"The gap is too big…"
Byakuya Kuchiki frowned.
"From the looks of it, Ichigo can't even break through his defense."
"Unless the white-masked Hollow that fought me shows up again and takes over…
otherwise…"
By the time he said this last line,
Byakuya was already shaking his head slightly, unable to keep watching.
Honestly,
anyone with eyes could see what this fight had turned into.
It was a one-sided slaughter.
After releasing his Resurrección,
Ulquiorra's power had skyrocketed—
at least several times stronger than Ichigo in his Hollowfied state.
So,
from a neutral standpoint,
Byakuya had no choice but to admit that there was no suspense left in the outcome.
Next,
it was highly likely
the viewers would once again witness
the protagonist, Kurosaki Ichigo,
being killed for a second time.
——
After that,
another exchange of words began.
"Kurosaki Ichigo…"
"I'll let you see one last time…"
"the black Cero that an Espada can unleash
in a released state!"
To completely crush Ichigo's confidence,
and to force him to feel the overwhelming difference in their strength,
Ulquiorra lifted a finger.
Right in front of the video's point of view,
he fired a Cero that darkened the entire screen and swelled into another explosive orb of light—
Cero Oscuras.
"Rumble——!!!"
With a deafening roar,
the image trembled.
Dark green explosive energy once again flooded outward, spilling past the edges of the screen.
Through the transparent light curtains,
the shockwave slammed into the real world,
blasting swaths of viewers off their feet.
In that instant,
throughout every corner of the Bleach world,
cries of shock and wails of horror overlapped without end.
"Black Cero?"
"This is the first time I've heard of it! So the Espada have a technique this powerful as well?"
"It must be something only the Black-Winged Great Demon can use, right?
That dark green energy is terrifying!"
"If that hit him head-on…
can Ichigo really withstand it this time?"
Staring at the entire screen filled with waves of explosive light,
and at Ichigo's silhouette once again swallowed by the blast,
the audience
couldn't stop themselves from worrying for the protagonist all over again.
At the same time, they felt the oppressive weight of this battle growing and growing.
In the past,
ever since this countdown started,
no matter what kind of fight Ichigo had gone through,
even if he was on the losing end at first most of the time,
in the end,
whether by sheer willpower or outright cheats,
he always managed to turn the tables,
defeat his opponent, and claim victory.
This time alone…
from the very beginning,
after watching the entire fight unfold,
not a single viewer felt there was any hope of a comeback.
Yes.
Things were just that hopeless.
The dark, crushing presence of Cero Oscuras
only amplified that feeling
to an infinite degree.
——
Then,
when the dust and shockwaves at last cleared,
Ichigo's figure was still standing, stubbornly refusing to fall.
But…
his Hollow mask
had been completely obliterated.
Half of the black tailcoat-like outfit he wore
had also vanished,
leaving half of his battered, blood-covered torso exposed.
"Good grief…"
"He's still hanging on? Kurosaki Ichigo really is worthy of being
the only human Aizen-taichō considers to have the potential to become the Soul King."
"Any normal person would have long since given up,
falling to their knees in despair."
Beneath the throne,
Gin Ichimaru's eyes opened a fraction wider, genuinely surprised.
The difference in power
had not shaken Ichigo's resolve.
In fact, under the camera's close-up,
you could clearly see
that his hands were gripping the hilt of his sword even more tightly than before.
It was as if he were sending a message to all the viewers—
even against a released Espada,
even against the Black-Winged Great Demon,
the protagonist's will could not be crushed so easily.
At least,
that was how Gin saw it.
He faintly sensed
that although this was Ulquiorra's turn to dominate the screen right now…
if things kept dragging on like this,
if he failed to finish Ichigo quickly,
then—
the cheat would really kick in.
The time left for the Black-Winged Great Demon
was already starting to tick down.
Not far away,
Ulquiorra himself
still wore the same cold, silent expression under his horned helmet.
Yet deep in his heart,
a trace of displeasure surfaced.
"Still not giving up?"
"That's only because Kurosaki Ichigo…
has yet to witness
the Black-Winged Great Demon's true, fully complete form."
Ulquiorra murmured in an icy tone.
As the one actually fighting,
he had already guessed what might happen in the scenes to come.
And in fact,
the words he spoke next
ended up being a prophecy.
A perfectly accurate prophecy.
——
"Humans or Shinigami…"
"To imitate Arrancar in order to gain power—
that's a course of action I can understand."
From a distance,
with the moon-blade in hand,
the aloof figure of the Black-Winged Great Demon walked step by step toward Ichigo.
"But never imagine
that you can stand on equal footing with us Arrancar."
At this,
faced with absolute desperation,
Ichigo's response was as stubborn as ever.
He forced himself to his feet,
raised both hands to grip Zangetsu,
and prepared once more
to fire a Getsuga Tenshō.
That act—
especially the look in his eyes,
that unwavering determination which ignored the massive gap in strength
and refused to acknowledge fear—
completely enraged his opponent.
"Kurosaki Ichigo…"
"The fact that you can still act like this
only proves you don't yet know what true despair is."
"Since you don't understand…"
"then I'll show you myself."
His voice was flat and frozen.
His anger surged.
This time, Ulquiorra was truly furious.
It wasn't Ichigo's provocations that set him off.
Rather…
it was the fact that he couldn't seem to break the protagonist.
Or put another way, he was sick of seeing Getsuga Tenshō over and over.
Even after he had showcased the gulf between their powers,
Ichigo still kept crashing into him head-on without the slightest hesitation—
that stubbornness was what drove him up the wall.
As his fury erupted,
so did his spiritual pressure.
A deeper, more overwhelming pillar of dark green reiatsu
blasted straight up into the sky.
This change,
whose visuals were almost identical to the earlier Resurrección sequence,
was broadcast through the countdown video
and instantly caused an uproar in the real world.
All across the Bleach world,
and especially
inside Las Noches in Hueco Mundo,
where the Arrancar army was currently enjoying the show,
everyone's expressions changed.
They were horrified, shaken,
and cried out in disbelief:
"What!!!"
"Did I see that right… is this… another Resurrección?!"
"That's impossible!!!"
"After borrowing the Hōgyoku's power to become Arrancar,
every Menos is only supposed to be able to release once, right?"
"How can Ulquiorra perform a second-stage Resurrección?!"
In that instant,
throughout the vast halls of Las Noches,
it was as if three nuclear bombs had gone off in the middle of the void.
Every single Menos and Arrancar present—
even the three whose status and power matched Ulquiorra's,
Starrk, Barragan, and Harribel—
all reacted with the same expression,
faces filled with extreme shock.
Starrk, at least, managed to stay relatively calm.
After all, he was the only one in Hueco Mundo
whose power had been so great it split into two bodies,
and who then independently became an Arrancar.
So although he was momentarily surprised
by the reveal of second-stage Resurrección,
his expression quickly returned to normal.
His gaze instead brimmed with curiosity and anticipation.
Barragan and Harribel, on the other hand,
were in a completely different emotional state—
one of being thoroughly crushed.
"Tch…"
"So there really is a second-stage Resurrección…"
Barragan half-closed his eyes, letting out a heavy grunt.
Right now,
the surge of spiritual pressure bursting out from Ulquiorra's whole body,
a pressure that surpassed even Vasto Lorde-class,
was like invisible blades stabbing directly into everyone's souls.
Wave after wave slapped them in the face,
leaving Barragan so humiliated he almost wished he could disappear.
All this time,
as Espada No. 2, ranked just below Starrk,
and as the former ruler of Hueco Mundo,
Barragan had already felt plenty stifled.
For a long stretch of time,
he had nursed resentment in his heart—
resentment and hatred toward Aizen—
but he'd had no choice except to swallow it silently.
And now,
the video suddenly revealed
that Starrk wasn't the only one.
Even Ulquiorra, in his second-stage Resurrección,
possessed power far greater than his own.
This cruel truth
made Barragan's mentality completely collapse;
he immediately and utterly broke down inside,
feeling shocked and bitter in equal measure.
At this moment,
within the footage,
under the astonished gaze of countless viewers,
amid that torrent of savage spiritual pressure,
the Black-Winged Great Demon in his second-stage Resurrección
finally appeared in full.
The bone lance vanished,
the black clothing peeled away,
and the giant black wings changed form.
On top of that,
a long, original tail extended behind him,
revealing the most primal shape of his being.
The oppression radiating from him
reached its absolute peak in that instant.
(End of Chapter)
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