Chapter 118: Who Isn't One Body, Two Souls.
"Is this… the strongest Espada?!"
The entire sky was torn apart by a deep blue torrent. Lines warped. Space bent. Nothing could hold its shape, because any defense and any attack would be crushed beneath that flash, a world ending tsunami of spiritual pressure.
Even from distant battlefields, the scale was unmistakable.
Rukia stared upward, stunned beyond words.
A simultaneous volley of a thousand Gran Rey Ceros made the "mass" above her head feel heavier than the earth beneath her feet. It was completely comparable to storms, tsunamis, earthquakes, a concentrated disaster of immense energy, and in some ways it was even worse.
After all, natural disasters that could distort space practically did not exist.
Shinigami or Hollow, it did not matter. Forget blocking it. Just standing under that sky meant the soul was being crushed. Stamina drained continuously, and the body felt like it would collapse from internal shock.
And yet, Ichigo, who was facing the Cero head on, looked unaffected.
He gripped the hilt of his sword and charged straight into the cluster of Gran Rey Ceros.
"Getsuga… Tenshō!"
Black red spiritual pressure erupted from the swastika shaped guard, forming a crescent moon hundreds of meters long.
Ichigo swung that massive crescent slash directly into the Cero tide.
Black red and deep blue split the night sky in equal opposition.
Then the colors began to mix.
Because Ichigo was not destroyed. He was not repelled. He was cutting through the waves of Cero and advancing, step by step, blade forward.
A stance that screamed one thing.
I will cut through this. I will break through from the front. I will reach you.
"The power of a single Getsuga is strong, but it can't tear apart my offensive in one blow, and it can't injure my body."
"So I'll wrap the Getsuga around my blade and keep feeding it spiritual pressure, turning a one time attack into a continuous one."
"In that way, I can protect myself from being destroyed by the endless Cero. I can compress my power like a sharp knife, pierce the surface, carve out a path of blood, and charge straight at you…"
"Beating my Infinite Cero with an eternal Getsuga?"
Starrk understood Ichigo's intent at a glance.
His heart still shook.
Not because it was complicated.
But because it was pointless.
"You could've dodged," Starrk said, side stepping a strike as Ichigo finally forced his way into range. "So why do this?"
"Neutralizing my Cero head on while enduring the physical burden of output like this… it's not worth the cost."
Ichigo swung a backhand slash.
Ping!
Starrk crossed his dual pistols to block, but he was still shoved back a considerable distance.
"What about you?" Ichigo shot back. "You could clearly survive, so why fight in a way that burns up your life?"
"I'm different from you," Starrk replied. "Dying here only brings me benefits."
"What a coincidence. Same here."
"What?"
"But I don't plan on dying, and I don't want to die," Ichigo said, voice hardening. "I'm going to live. That's why I'm doing this."
"What… does that even mean?"
"You guys have to be hiding some kind of scheme," Ichigo said. "I have to take you down and get information."
"Only then can I reduce the danger and let me and everyone else return to the Soul Society alive, together!"
Ichigo's figure blurred.
His speed was eerie, like Shunpo and Sonído happening at the same time.
"Getsuga Tenshō!"
The slash came down, wrapped in black red crescent light.
Starrk barely avoided it, but the crescent coating on Ichigo's blade suddenly detonated, as if it had slipped free.
It was like a real bomb.
The explosion swallowed them both.
Whish…!
In the next instant, Starrk reappeared on the sand, his fur lined hunting suit steaming. A small amount of black red spiritual pressure clung to him, stubborn and toxic, refusing to fade.
Injuries at the level of spiritual pressure were far more troublesome than wounds of flesh.
It was the reason so many patients in the Fourth Division's relief station could not be discharged even after their bodies had clearly healed.
"Now even Super Regeneration is useless…"
A technique that only repaired the physical body could not fix spiritual pressure itself.
The blood Starrk had consumed earlier had been replenished.
But that replenishment also burned spiritual pressure.
"I see," Starrk murmured. "Damaged spiritual pressure, plus the spiritual pressure spent on Super Regeneration."
"You want to bypass Super Regeneration and drain me as fast as possible, until I can't resist."
"Starrk, let me do it!"
"…It's useless."
"What's useless?"
A voice came from behind him.
Starrk showed no surprise. He spun instantly, pistol aimed at Ichigo's forehead.
At the same moment, Ichigo's blade halted at Starrk's abdomen.
"I'm saying the trump card Lilynette and I have is useless against you, kid," Starrk said.
"You still have a trump card?" Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "Aren't you guys being a bit ridiculous?"
"I should be the one saying that," Starrk replied, gaze fixed on Ichigo. "You're too strong, kid. Over the top strong."
"Why would someone like you still stay with weak companions?"
"…What's strange about that?" Ichigo asked, genuinely puzzled.
Starrk stared at the horned mask for a long moment, as if it pulled at memories he hated.
"If you have Hollow power too, then you should understand," he said quietly.
"My power was too strong. Any Hollow that came near me died, even if I did nothing."
"I can control it and avoid hurting weaker Hollows, sure. But what's the point?"
"No matter what the strong do, it creates an overwhelming impact on the weak."
"So staying away is the right choice."
"True companions are only those with great power. That's why I joined the Espada."
"But from my perspective," Ichigo cut in, "you don't see the other Espada as companions at all."
"What… did you say?"
Starrk's expression froze.
If Ichigo struck now, he could land a heavy blow.
He did not.
"You're Number One," Ichigo said, voice steady. "To us, you should be the most troublesome, because you should use your power to shield your companions and lead them to victory."
"But it's the opposite."
"You don't treat them as people you can fight alongside. You never thought about protecting them."
"The Espada are just people who won't die from being near you."
"In your heart, whether it's them or that girl beside you, they'll all disappear someday, just like the Hollows in your past."
"So you already prepared yourself to watch them die."
"You're already drowning in despair, and you gave up resisting."
Ichigo's grip tightened.
"You ask why I can stand with weak companions while having strength like this."
"It's simple. Because we're companions."
"The moment I gained power and gripped my sword, I swore to my soul!"
"I will fight!"
"To protect everyone, I absolutely will not let them disappear!"
"That's why I became stronger."
"And that's why I'm standing here!"
Starrk felt something inside him lurch, as if a sealed door had been struck from the outside.
"Compatriots… companions… Do I really not care about anything anymore? Even Lilynette…"
"Starrk!" Lilynette's urgent shout rang out from the pistol. "Pull yourself together! Don't let this guy mess with your head!"
"You're not trash who just accepts fate, and you're not some cold blooded bastard who doesn't care about anyone!"
Across from them, Ichigo nodded.
"She's right. He's neither trash nor cold blooded."
"Because when he saw my mask, he wanted to know exactly how strong I am, so he used his real skill to fight me."
"Is that curiosity?"
"…No!"
Ichigo's gaze changed.
His mouth curled into a vicious grin, and even his voice shifted.
"It's instinct."
"How could a Hollow facing another Hollow not want to defeat and devour them!"
"Even if you break your mask and gain reason, you can't escape that primitive urge!"
?!
Starrk's eyes widened.
Lilynette shrieked, "Who are you?!"
"I should be asking who you are!" Hollow White snapped, voice full of cruel delight. "Splitting your soul into two people. Weakening yourselves on purpose. That's idiotic!"
"But you didn't truly become trash."
"That instinct to evolve, to grow stronger, it never died."
"That's why you dragged out your real skill and fought to the death, for once!"
Hollow White laughed.
"But that half baked fighting spirit of yours is just like that guy in the Soul Society who loves to kill. It won't do anything."
"Fight us once, ten times, a hundred times, you'll never win!"
As the words fell, the long blade drove into Starrk's abdomen.
"Ugh!"
Starrk grunted and fired, but the Cero was crushed in Hollow White's left hand.
At the same time, bright red energy gathered at the horns on Ichigo's head and surged backward, swallowing Starrk.
At first glance it looked like a normal blast, but black streaks ran through it. The color was deeper, heavier, like a positron cannon torn out of some science fiction nightmare.
A strike equivalent to Gran Rey Cero.
Starrk was washed away like a flood, thrown several kilometers, his entire body nearly charred black.
Yet Super Regeneration still fought to keep him alive.
His injuries improved, but only as his spiritual pressure collapsed further.
The situation was turning worse by the second.
"Starrk!" Lilynette screamed. "Stand up! Starrk!"
"Do you really want to be captured? That unlucky guy named Arturo got locked up for a thousand years!"
"I don't want prison!"
"…I know."
"Starrk? What's wrong?"
Lilynette sensed something shift in him.
"Nothing," Starrk said quietly. "I just watched those two kids work together so smoothly."
"And then I got lectured."
His voice stayed calm, but his gaze sharpened to a point.
"I'm a little… pissed off."
"That's the spirit!" Lilynette shouted. "Take them down in one go!"
"Taking them down might be impossible," Starrk replied. "But no matter what, I can't be caught."
"I don't mind. But if you hate it that much, I won't let you suffer through it."
"You actually care about my feelings now?!"
…
"Starrk?"
"I'm fine."
Starrk stared at the approaching Ichigo. That familiar demeanor was back.
"Switched again?" Starrk muttered. "How incredible."
"Just who is this Shinigami? He's even stranger than Lilynette and me."
Even so, Starrk did not waver.
They clashed again.
Ichigo felt it too. Even with injuries and a sharp drop in spiritual pressure, Starrk was becoming harder to deal with.
He was fully using his strengths, focusing on the smallest details, cutting out stray thoughts, throwing himself into the fight.
Compared to earlier, he felt like a different person.
"…Now that's more like it!" Ichigo said, exhilarated.
Even though he knew he should not be happy about it.
"You're a battle maniac too, kid," Starrk said.
"Maybe you'd get along with Grimmjow."
"Don't talk nonsense," Ichigo snapped. "I'm not a battle maniac."
"I just couldn't stand that passive, decadent look."
"You've got the heart and the power to protect others, and you do nothing. That's irritating."
"Being lectured by a Shinigami irritates me more than you," Starrk said coldly.
"Then let's have a proper fight!"
"…And you say you're not a battle maniac?"
"Shut up! Getsuga Tenshō!"
Ichigo's slash came, hot with anger and embarrassment.
Starrk's body flared with spiritual light. Using a large amount of blood as a catalyst, he fired a one time Gran Rey Cero.
Even as a one time shot, its power surpassed Getsuga Tenshō.
"Bakudō Number One, Sai!"
While enduring the baptism of the Cero, Ichigo unexpectedly cast Kidō.
It was the lowest Bakudō, but boosted by the spiritual power of a Semi Bankai state, it became the simplest and strongest invisible binding.
"What?!"
Starrk was already physically exhausted from blood loss. Before he could stabilize, his hands were wrenched behind his back, movements sealed, and he fell to the ground.
Ichigo flashed in front of him and pointed his blade at Starrk's forehead.
"It's over, Starrk."
"…It seems so."
Starrk struggled once, then stopped.
Lilynette went silent too.
"Tell me," Ichigo said, voice serious again. "What exactly is your scheme?"
"Who knows…" Starrk sighed.
"But if you want to know what we planned, I don't mind revealing a little."
"To be honest, that's an answer I only just came up with."
Starrk's eyes half closed, as if he were talking to himself.
"I can only say it's worthy of that great person."
"Did he already foresee this day when he assigned each Espada our symbolic meaning?"
"?"
Ichigo frowned, unable to fully grasp it.
Starrk did not explain further.
Instead, he continued, almost like a confession.
"Loneliness. Senescence. Sacrifice. Nihilism. Despair. Destruction. Intoxication. Madness. Avarice. Wrath."
"These are the ten major causes of human death."
"And they're also the nature of our abilities and existence."
"They look like labels, don't they?"
"All of us probably felt the same. That they fit, but wouldn't grant extra power, and might even let enemies see straight into our souls."
"However," Starrk's voice softened, "they can also help us recognize ourselves and change, can't they?"
"What exactly… are you saying?" Ichigo asked despite himself.
"It doesn't matter if you don't understand," Starrk replied.
"Just be careful next time we meet."
"And don't be killed by my Loneliness."
Starrk lifted his head, strangely calm.
"Just in case, I'll prepare you mentally, young man."
"I have an ability to split my soul into Cero attacks."
"So the question is…"
"Can I turn myself into a Cero?"
"?!"
Ichigo's pupils tightened.
In the next moment, Starrk's entire body ignited.
A deep blue spiritual flame.
If before he used blood as ammunition to fire Gran Rey Cero, now he was detonating himself.
Normally that should have been impossible.
But he possessed a technique that split his soul into Cero attacks, a pack of wolves that bit and tore at the enemy.
Activating it while bound by a powerful binding spell would cause it to fail and backfire.
Finally…
Boom!
A deep blue pillar of light erupted from the ground, as if it could destroy the world.
Then it spread, rapidly expanding, like a blister swelling across the surface of reality.
Every major battlefield, including the Central Command tent, felt the disturbance.
Location of the Tenth Pillar.
"Starrk has been defeated as well," Aizen said, hands behind his back, eyes thoughtful.
"Still, that method of death doesn't suit him."
"Was he influenced by his opponent?"
"It seems my earlier suggestion for him to go there worked exactly as expected."
"Lord Aizen," a voice said.
Zommari appeared beside him, kneeling and presenting the Eight Mirror Sword with both hands.
"I have retrieved the item."
"You've worked hard, Zommari," Aizen replied.
He took the Eight Mirror Sword and examined it with clear interest.
"It is my honor to serve you," Zommari said fervently. "Do you have any further orders?"
"Not for now," Aizen said.
"With Starrk dead, and Grimmjow and Szayelaporro defeated, the plan has finally concluded."
"Now we wait to see how Urahara's preparations are progressing."
"And also, you."
Swoosh.
Aizen swung the Eight Mirror Sword.
Under normal circumstances, this sword should not have inflicted physical harm, but the pressure of the swing alone severed Zommari's head.
"Consider this your reward," Aizen said evenly, "for retrieving this item for me."
Zommari's severed head, hearing those words in his final moment, wore gratitude and joy.
That expression did not fade, even after he stopped breathing.
.....
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