The scales of victory had already tilted completely.
Valhalla's suppressive power spread out, leaving the otherworldly visitors present almost unable to move.
With his strength now gradually laid bare, subduing these outsiders was only a matter of time.
Shinju thought there was no need to fight to the death here.
But at that very moment, an interference from an even higher level appeared.
The dimensional rift in the sky should have gradually closed as the fighting calmed.
But what he expected didn't happen.
Not only did the rift's edges fail to shrink—they rippled with an eerie fluctuation.
Something had seeped in.
It had no form, and it couldn't be traced.
[Warning! Unknown high-dimensional information flow intrusion detected!]
[Warning! Identified as a high-dimensional causality weapon! Threat level: Extinction!]
The system lost its steady mechanical calm.
A high-dimensional causality weapon?
He didn't even have time to think about what that term meant—because the mutation had already begun.
His connection to Valhalla started to violently fluctuate.
[System firewall breached!]
[Core module "Valhalla Link" is being eroded! Stability down 10%!]
Every single percentage of decline weakened his control over Valhalla by one more fraction.
He tried to stabilize the link, using his will to resist the corrosion.
After he issued the command, an unexpected situation occurred—when it rains, it pours.
[Command delay]
[Execution error]
His power and his system had always been absolute.
With a single thought, he could draw upon the temple's might.
Now, even when he forced himself to mobilize it, he couldn't smoothly establish the connection. Something had gone seriously wrong.
He lifted his head, expression heavy.
The outline of the divine temple was blurring. Light was leaking away—things had deteriorated to this extent.
The divine kingdom he had created with his own hands was collapsing from its very foundation.
[Stability down 20%!]
[Stability down 25%!]
The system's alarms were still refreshing like madness.
Cold sweat formed on Shinju's forehead.
This wasn't a clash on the level of raw power.
If it were Yamamoto's Zanka no Tachi, or Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu, he had ways to respond.
But this enemy… he couldn't even find its shape.
It was acting directly on the system—his greatest support.
For the first time, he felt his power slipping out of his grasp.
On the battlefield, the deathly silence was broken.
By a single person's gaze.
Aizen.
Shinju's senses caught the change in that man.
He had been standing there the whole time—like everyone else—suppressed by Valhalla's power.
"What…?"
"This pressure…"
"It weakened!"
Almost at the same time, several captains with the strongest spiritual pressure instantly noticed the change.
The shackles binding their bodies and souls suddenly lightened.
Kenpachi was the first to react.
This man was born for battle—his instincts moved far faster than thought.
In the thousandth of a second the pressure weakened, the golden spiritual pressure he'd been suppressed to the limit with erupted like a volcano.
"AAAAAAAH!"
He roared like a beast, and the hand gripping his zanpakuto finally moved.
He gripped his sword again.
His will to fight reignited.
Not just him.
Byakuya's cherry-pink spiritual pressure began to gather.
Behind Toshiro, the outline of ice wings flickered into being.
Soi fong's body tensed as she took the starting stance for Shunkō.
In just a few seconds, the situation flipped upside down.
[Warning! Suppression module efficiency down 50%! Unable to maintain absolute suppression on high-tier units!]
[System stability down 35%!]
The alarms in his head and the battle intent reigniting outside crashed down on Shinju at once.
His enemies—the lambs he'd been about to slaughter—had turned back into starving wolves with blades in hand.
And the most dangerous wolf of all, Aizen, was watching everything he had orchestrated.
This was a man who stood near the peak in every way.
If Shinju couldn't resolve this quickly… he wasn't confident he could win against him.
What to do?
He had to find a way.
Before the captains fully broke free—
And more importantly, before Aizen made his move—he had to find a solution to this "virus."
Shinju forcibly cut off part of his connection to Valhalla, concentrating all computing power onto the system itself.
[Analyzing intrusion source...]
[Analysis failed! Target dimension exceeds this system; cannot parse!]
[Attempting to start backup firewall...]
[Startup failed! Backup module has been contaminated by the same source!]
[Attempting to isolate core data...]
[Isolation failed! Contamination has penetrated the system root directory!]
One failure report after another crushed his last hope.
Conventional methods were useless against something of this dimensional level.
Just like a two-dimensional lifeform can't comprehend a three-dimensional object—
His system, in the face of a "world law virus," had no ability to resist.
[System stability down 40%!]
Sweat slid down his cheek.
He could feel his existence becoming "thin."
Should he retreat temporarily, return somewhere safe, and deal with the system crisis?
No.
If he retreated now, it would be announcing weakness to Aizen—to all of Soul Society.
And once that happened, the chance would never come again.
Next time, there would be no way to rebuild this kind of advantage.
Aizen would seize this opportunity, unify all forces—maybe even study that "virus," and find a way to completely counter him.
So there was only one choice.
Fight.
Before the system completely collapsed, he had to eliminate the biggest threat in front of him.
Shinju's gaze locked dead onto Aizen.
(End of Chapter)
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