The roiling black mist gradually dispersed, revealing a stark white skull clad in a dark robe. It wore a double-layered golden crown set with gems and adorned with gold chains. Black flames curled around its neck like a scarf, while a golden one-eyed compass was bound to its chest by more gold chains. Through the tattered sleeves, pale hand bones were faintly visible, with two golden chains hanging near its hands.
"That form..." Suì-Fēng struggled to breathe, her eyes trembling. "What is going on?"
She had seen Arrancar Resurrección before, but this was the first time she had seen a form like Baraggan's, stripped of all flesh, reduced to nothing but white bone.
And that black flame around his neck... could it be Muten Natsu's Hell Flames?
Baraggan stepped forward. Wherever his pale pointed boots touched, the rooftop rapidly crumbled away.
"What I govern is aging. Anything that approaches me..." Baraggan raised his hand. "...will gradually age and perish."
"Run! Ōmaeda!" Suì-Fēng shouted at the frozen Marechiyo Ōmaeda. "He's not someone you can handle!"
"The same goes for you, Captain." Baraggan opened his skeletal jaw. "Respira."
A purplish-black aura spread outward from Baraggan. The instant the reinforced concrete touched it, it began to decay, turning into ash.
Suì-Fēng immediately flashed away, but her broken left hand was a fraction too slow.
The slightest brush with the black mist made flesh and blood vanish without a trace, exposing stark white bone.
By the time Suì-Fēng looked down, the flesh on her wrist had already rotted away.
"Aaaaaaah!" Suì-Fēng clenched her elbow tightly. "Ōmaeda, cut off my hand!"
"Captain..."
"Hurry!" Suì-Fēng snapped. "Are you trying to get me killed?!"
"But..." Marechiyo Ōmaeda gritted his teeth and swung his Zanpakutō. "Damn it!"
The arm separated from Suì-Fēng's body and turned to white bone on the ground.
Even the bone lasted only an instant before quickly scattering in the wind.
"How ridiculous." A low laugh came from Baraggan's skeletal skull. "Even Shinigami... fear death."
How are you supposed to fight an enemy like this?!
Marechiyo Ōmaeda's hand shook uncontrollably around his Zanpakutō, cold sweat streaming down his plump face.
He couldn't get close. He couldn't touch him. Forget defeating him, he couldn't even attack.
Even Captain Suì-Fēng hadn't been able to avoid the aura he released.
As far as Marechiyo Ōmaeda knew, Captain Suì-Fēng was the fastest of all the captains.
If even she couldn't dodge it, then no one in the Gotei 13 could escape Baraggan's attack.
"If this is enough to drive you to despair, then... what will you do when you see this?" Golden chains rattled from Baraggan's sleeves, revealing a massive double-bladed axe wrapped in gold chains. Its pitch-black blades were more than twice as long as before. "Gran Caída!"
"It's wrapped in chains..." Marechiyo Ōmaeda remembered Shūhei Hisagi's Kazeshini, and an ominous feeling rose in his chest. "Don't tell me..."
Baraggan swung his arm, and the Axe of Ruin flew from his hand toward them.
"It really is!" Marechiyo Ōmaeda screamed and immediately used Shunpo to evade.
Black mist suddenly spilled from the Axe of Ruin, spreading outward and catching up to Marechiyo Ōmaeda.
"I'm done..." Marechiyo Ōmaeda ran with everything he had, but he couldn't stop the black mist from closing in. "I'm done. Aah!"
Marechiyo Ōmaeda was kicked hard, screaming as he shot into the distance at tremendous speed and embedded himself in the side of a high-rise building.
"Thank goodness you were there, Captain..." Marechiyo Ōmaeda looked up, still shaken, only to see a figure dissolving into the black mist and scattering with the wind. "Cap... Captain!!!"
The 1st Espada, Starrk, picked at his ear and let out a listless sigh. "One after another, they're all using Resurrección. Even if I don't want to put in any effort, I can't make it too obvious."
"Looks like you're getting serious," Shunsui Kyōraku called. "Ukitake!"
Jūshirō Ukitake turned and saw the pink haori embroidered with floral patterns that Shunsui Kyōraku tossed over. He immediately caught it with both hands. "Kyōraku?"
After taking off his coat, Shunsui Kyōraku, now dressed in a black Shihakushō and a white captain's haori, finally looked a little more serious. "Hold that for me. This guy's finally about to start fighting."
"I'd rather not, if I had a choice." Starrk called out, "Lilynette! Come here."
"I know!" Lilynette complained as she came to Starrk's side. "Why are you yelling? It's not like I can't hear you."
"Huh?" Shunsui Kyōraku froze. "Two against one?"
"No, we're one being." Starrk corrected him. "When Hollows evolve into Arrancar, other Arrancar divide their Hollow power between their body and their sword. We divided it into two individuals."
Shunsui Kyōraku realized the seriousness of the situation. "So earlier, it was two against two?"
"You can see it that way, but the numbers don't matter." Starrk placed a hand on Lilynette's head. "When we become one again, our power is released."
"Give Chase..." Starrk murmured. Lilynette nervously closed her eyes. "Los Lobos."
Deep blue Reiatsu surged into the sky, scattering the drifting clouds.
When the heavy Reiatsu faded, Starrk appeared in a gray fur-trimmed coat.
Compared to Baraggan and Harribel, Starrk's form had not changed much. Most of the difference was in his clothing, which made him look like a hunter. A scope marked with black flame patterns had appeared over his left eye, and his weapons had become two intricately patterned flintlock pistols. Black devices shaped like ammunition belts extended from the gray fur around his forearms, hanging at his sides, with the other ends fastened to his shoulders.
"Katen Kyōkotsu!" Shunsui Kyōraku released his Zanpakutō at once, watching Starrk warily.
"Huu..." Starrk let out a long breath and braced his hands on his knees as he struggled to straighten up. "Heave-ho!"
Lazily raising the flintlock pistols, Starrk murmured, "Here we go, Lilynette."
There was no answer.
Starrk's expression stiffened. Then... he slammed his head hard against the flintlock.
"Ow!" The flintlock spoke in Lilynette's voice. "That hurt! Why are you hitting me?! You idiot, Starrk! What if you break my head?!"
"Shut up! You're the one who didn't answer me!" Starrk roared. "Besides, who can tell which part is the head when you look like this?!"
"Haven't I told you a million times? The pointy part is the head..."
"Oh." Starrk raised a hand and fiddled with it. "Here?"
"That's my butt! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?!" Lilynette, now transformed into a flintlock, cried out in pain. "Be gentle! You big idiot!"
A fluttering straw hat drifted in front of Starrk's eyes, blocking his view. A moment later, a sharp gust of wind split the hat in two.