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One strike. Instant kill.
Blood burst forth like a spring.
Starrk's lonely figure, carrying the last traces of exhaustion, collapsed with a thunderous crash amid the ruins, right before everyone's eyes.
The legendary Primera Espada.
And this was how his first appearance in the ranking video came to an end.
At the same time,
his death once again ignited a storm of discussion.
Thirteenth Division.
"Hmm… Shunsui, don't you think you went a bit too far? That fight really didn't live up to the name 'Children's Games' at all…"
Beside the steaming tea table, Ukitake Jūshirō gave a weak cough. As he looked at Starrk's fallen body on the screen, unmistakable pity filled his gaze.
He could clearly feel it.
In the moment before Starrk died, there was no resentment in his eyes, no bitterness or hatred. What he saw instead was relief. Even a hint of peace.
That feeling…
It was as if Starrk had already grown tired of fighting.
And for him, death was actually the better ending.
"Hey now, Ukitake, that almost sounds like you're blaming me," Kyōraku Shunsui said with a wry laugh, shrugging helplessly. "A fight is never a game, especially when it's between a Soul Reaper and an Arrancar. From the very beginning, it was always going to be a fight to the death."
"I know what you're thinking, and I get how you feel."
"But…"
"Being merciful all the time only gets you killed. If my opponent had been a different Espada, and I'd held back even a little, the corpse on the ground might have been me instead."
Shunsui's eyes were steady and resolute.
Even though he could sense that Starrk was the same kind of person as himself, that didn't change his resolve when he swung his blade.
"…True. You really didn't have a choice back then," Ukitake said, smoothly shifting the topic. "That said, just using Katen Kyōkotsu's Shikai doesn't seem enough to surpass Captain Zaraki's Bankai. I'm guessing you've still got more moments coming later on."
"I think so too," Shunsui replied, nodding without fully committing.
There was no denying it.
Killing the leader of the Espada single-handedly was an incredible feat.
But with Kenpachi Zaraki ahead of him,
being ranked above him using only Shikai would hardly convince anyone.
Unless…
At that thought, Shunsui's mind drifted back to the previous ranking, to the battle that took place in the True World City. That towering, godlike Sternritter. Valkyrie.
"Unless I take down someone on that same level," Shunsui thought quietly, "there's no real reason I'd be placed above Captain Zaraki."
Elsewhere.
Hueco Mundo, Las Noches.
The moment Starrk fell, the palace sank into deathly silence once again. No one even remembered how many times this had happened already.
In a single day,
they had gone from shock to shock, over and over.
In the past, with the Espada's explosive tempers, they would have already tried every possible way to smash that damned transparent screen to pieces.
But now…
After being hit again and again, the Arrancar army's confidence had been completely worn down. Reality had sanded away all their sharp edges.
Soul Reapers?
Fine. You're strong. We get it.
If we can't beat you, can't we at least hide from you?
It's not like the Gotei Thirteen can just wipe out all of Hueco Mundo, right?
As for Starrk himself, even after seeing his own future death with his own eyes, his expression remained calm. No anger, no disappointment, just quiet acceptance.
Clearly, compared to fighting, compared to victory, he cherished his current life more. Having companions by his side, living without loneliness. At the very least, living simply like this meant he wasn't alone.
"…Sigh. I really don't want to admit it, but that Soul Reaper, the so-called second-generation Head Captain, didn't even use Bankai, did he?" Szayelaporro said, his voice heavy with fatigue.
For a Soul Reaper, Bankai was the true trump card. That was beyond doubt.
Which meant, that fight only showed the tip of Kyōraku Shunsui's power. His strongest strength hadn't even been revealed yet.
"His Shikai alone is already that absurdly strong. Don't tell me his Bankai literally manifests all those rule-based abilities?" Grimmjow muttered offhandedly, disgust flashing in his eyes.
He and Nnoitra were the same type as Zaraki Kenpachi, fighters who worshipped raw, straightforward violence.
But fighting Kyōraku meant you actually had to think. And that was just miserable.
"No need to worry. Keep watching. Don't let this shake you," Ulquiorra said coldly, issuing his order.
"My shared vision will record every single one of his abilities. Exposing them early just means more weaknesses. For us, that gives more material to study."
"Perhaps this will turn out to be a good thing."
Right at that moment—
The screen flickered.
Static burst across it as the video jumped swiftly to the next scene.
What appeared first was a familiar sight.
The ravaged True World City, reduced to ruins.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
One massive explosion after another erupted, blooming across the landscape. Towering Western-style buildings were reduced to dust in blazing fireballs.
At the same time, the camera slowly rose, focusing on the sky.
Finally, it stopped on an enormous silhouette that blotted out the heavens.
Beneath an angel-like halo of light, was a pitch-black face marked with vertical yellow lines, like a judge from hell.
Its body resembled a massive cocoon.
And behind it stretched four pairs of gigantic, hollow, white wings of light.
Neither human nor angel.
Judging by appearances alone, this thing was an unnatural monster.
The moment it appeared, a thunderous, trumpet-like voice rang out:
"Soul Reaper…"
"Even after suffering such heavy injuries, you've kept escaping without pause. Your vitality is astonishing."
"Even within the Sternritter, there are very few whose willpower rivals yours."
Its white wings beat mightily as Lille Barro slowly ascended, like a divine envoy coldly passing judgment on mortal lives.
"But…"
"This boring game of cat and mouse ends here. I'm tired of chasing you while you scurry around."
"Prepare yourself to receive God's judgment."
…
The instant this scene appeared, all three realms erupted in shock.
Within the Silbern.
"This is… my Vollständig. God's Judgment!"
In the vast, empty hall, Lille Barro's exclamation echoed.
As the one involved, watching himself transform into his Vollständig with his own eyes left him genuinely stunned.
"I never expected this…"
Frowning slightly, Lille Barro said with emotion, "That Soul Reaper captain, Kyōraku Shunsui, actually forced me to use my Vollständig. Truly impressive."
The praise came straight from the heart.
It reflected both his absolute confidence in the power of the Schrift and his lofty, condescending view of Soul Reaper captains.
"This place again?"
At the end of the corridor, Haschwalth frowned. "This doesn't look like the Silbern. And it's not Soul Society either."
"Could it be…"
A possibility suddenly crossed his mind.
"This place is the one His Majesty mentioned before. The Royal Palace?"
Elsewhere.
Eleventh Division barracks.
"Just like I thought…"
"That fight with the leader of the Espada was nothing more than an appetizer. This is when Captain Kyōraku is really pushed into a corner," Ikkaku Madarame said, holding his breath, barely daring to breathe.
Lille Barro's Vollständig radiated overwhelming pressure.
It crashed down on him head-on.
Almost suffocating.
"Yeah. Just flapping those wings creates pressure like this. That thing's terrifying. It's basically a monster."
After a brief pause, Ayasegawa Yumichika finally couldn't hold it in anymore and complained with an openly disgusted expression:
"Seriously…"
"Do all pure-blood Quincy suffer from some kind of delusion?"
"Every other sentence is 'divine envoy' or 'God's judgment.'"
"I'm getting secondhand embarrassment just listening to it, okay?"
"..."
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