The colossal hexagonal prism shimmered overhead, refracting seven-hued light that pierced the perpetual twilight of the Forest of Menos.
Its radiance bathed the pale trunks of the trees in fractured color, distorting shadows into trembling specters.
"Interesting…"
Raizen Kō did not move.
He neither retreated nor raised his blade.
Instead, he stood atop a warped branch of white bark, observing the construct with detached curiosity as torrents of prismatic light descended upon him like divine judgment.
The instant the seven-colored beams converged
Dark-gold lightning erupted outward.
"Thunder Armor."
Reiatsu surged.
Not wild.
Not unstable.
Controlled.
Refined.
Arcs of crackling lightning coiled across Raizen Kō's centipede-like bone armor, fusing with it seamlessly. The black chitin plating now shimmered with luminous veins of stormlight, each pulse resonating with dense, oppressive Reiatsu.
The prismatic beams struck.
They did not pass.
They did not pierce.
They shattered.
The impact produced violent shockwaves that tore apart the surrounding forest canopy, splintering towering white trees into spiraling debris. The earth fractured beneath the pressure.
Yet Raizen Kō remained motionless.
He had not even drawn his blade.
Captain Osaki Masahiro's eyes widened.
Impossible.
His Bankai Senkan Hisō was designed to refract and multiply destructive force infinitely within its mirrored construct. Every beam fed into another. Every strike compounded.
Yet the Hollow before him did not even take a step back.
Osaki roared, veins bulging across his temples as indigo Reiatsu exploded outward from his body.
The prism intensified, glowing with blinding brilliance.
Still
It could not advance a single inch.
Raizen Kō stood with one hand resting at his side.
Ten breaths passed.
Twenty.
A full minute.
Then five.
Osaki's breathing became ragged. Sweat poured down his face. His Reiatsu trembled on the edge of collapse.
Raizen Kō yawned.
"Is this the limit of a Captain?"
His voice was calm. Almost bored.
Osaki's expression twisted in fury.
"DIE!"
The prism flared violently
And in that instant, Raizen Kō moved.
He drew the blade at his waist.
The Zanpakutō hummed faintly.
Dark-gold lightning crawled along its edge as though eager for release.
With a single horizontal slash
The sky split.
The hexagonal prism cleaved in two.
For half a second, silence reigned.
Then the cleaved construct detonated from within, lightning detonating through its mirrored structure in a chain reaction of rupturing spiritual force.
" Pffft!"
Osaki vomited blood.
The destruction of a Bankai reflects directly upon its wielder. Cracks spiderwebbed across his spiritual core. Blood streamed from his eyes, ears, and nose as his Reiatsu destabilized violently.
He fell to one knee.
Yet he laughed.
So even now, he laughed.
"A Hollow… wielding a Zanpakutō?" he rasped. "Pathetic imitation… You think holding a blade makes you a Shinigami?"
Raizen Kō said nothing.
His gaze remained cold.
"Defeated men bark the loudest."
A crimson-black Cero formed at his fingertip.
He did not fully charge it.
He did not need to.
The blast struck Osaki squarely, detonating against his body. Though the Captain attempted to Shunpo aside, the edge of the blast tore through his leg, severing it cleanly.
The forest echoed with the thunder of impact.
Raizen Kō vanished.
Sonído.
He appeared before the fallen Captain in an instant.
Osaki struggled, propping himself upright with trembling hands.
Raizen Kō looked down at him.
"Tell me," he said softly. "What makes you believe Shinigami are superior beings?"
Osaki glared upward, blood dripping from his chin.
"We maintain balance. You Hollows devour without purpose."
Raizen Kō's eyes narrowed faintly.
"Balance is maintained by power. Nothing more."
Osaki's lips curled faintly.
Then
He slammed both palms to the ground.
"Senkan Hisō Shattered Mirror Requiem!"
Fragments of destroyed prism glass, scattered across the battlefield, vibrated violently.
They rose.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Each shard carried residual Reiatsu.
They converged toward Raizen Kō in a desperate final assault.
But Raizen Kō was already gone.
Lightning flashed.
His Sonído, augmented by his lightning-enhanced movement, blurred beyond conventional perception.
Osaki's pupils shrank.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
The fragments attempted to reform into a prism once more, but the structure was unstable. Fractured. Irreparably damaged by the prior slash.
Raizen Kō sheathed his blade.
Then he stepped forward.
His right fist tightened.
Lightning spiraled around it in a compressed vortex of Reiatsu.
He struck.
The incomplete prism exploded into luminous dust, dissolving entirely.
Osaki's Reiatsu collapsed.
He fell forward, barely conscious, yet still glaring with hatred.
Even broken
He refused to kneel in spirit.
He raised one trembling hand.
"The bones of a beast, scattered across the land. A red crystal spire, a steel wheel. Movement is wind, stillness is void. The sound of clashing spears fills the empty castle…"
Raizen Kō did not interrupt.
"Hadō #63 Raikōhō."
A concentrated blast of lightning surged forth.
Unlike earlier attacks, this was fully incanted amplified in both force and precision.
The bolt struck Raizen Kō directly.
It engulfed him.
Silence followed.
Then
The lightning bent.
Folded inward.
Absorbed.
Raizen Kō stood untouched.
Lightning crawled briefly across his armor before fading.
"You attempt to kill me with lightning?"
His tone was almost amused.
Osaki's final reserve of Reiatsu faded.
Still, he spat blood and glared upward.
"One day… the Shinigami will erase every last Hollow…"
Raizen Kō stepped forward.
"There is no erasure," he said quietly. "Only evolution."
His hand moved.
A precise strike.
Osaki Masahiro's head separated cleanly from his body.
The Reiatsu in the area slowly settled.
The Forest of Menos returned to stillness.
Raizen Kō looked down at the fallen Captain.
"Captain-class," he murmured. "Ordinary."
The pressure Osaki emitted had been formidable but nowhere near the monstrous density of individuals like Kenpachi Zaraki even while sealed.
In Hueco Mundo's current era before widespread Arrancarization through the Hōgyoku such a Captain could roam safely against most Adjuchas.
But against him?
Insufficient.
Raizen Kō turned his gaze toward the distant horizon of white sand and endless night.
This was only the beginning.
Evolution did not stop at Adjuchas.
And he had no intention of remaining beneath the ceiling of this world.
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