["What an astonishing number..."] Sōsuke Aizen approached the figure among the countless Hollow corpses. ["Were these little mountains of Hollows your doing?"]
["No..."] Starrk looked up. ["Those guys died because they came here themselves."]
Even split into two, their power was still far too strong.
Those Hollows simply weren't powerful enough. Just getting close was enough to kill them on the spot.
["A Hollow who became an Arrancar on his own... You seem quite powerful."] Sōsuke Aizen stepped closer.["I'm looking for companions..."]
["What a coincidence. So are we."] Seeing that Sōsuke Aizen hadn't died instantly like the other Hollows, Starrk felt a faint glimmer of hope. ["Are your companions strong too?"]
["Come with me if you want to know."]
["Fine. That works."] Starrk stood up together with Lilynette. ["From the looks of it... if you stay with us, you probably won't die that easily either."]
…
Almost the same moment Love Aikawa and Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi joined forces to wipe out a large pack of wolves, several wolves sprang out from beneath the ruins, bit into their bodies, and exploded with a thunderous roar.
The masks on their faces were blown apart. Both men weakened at once, and two more wolves shot out, closing in on them.
Boom! Boom!
Deep blue flames tore through their wounds, burning the crimson blood that sprayed out.
Watching the two of them fall, Starrk descended closer to the ground and called softly, "Lilynette."
There was no answer.
Starrk's expression froze. He lifted his empty hands. "Lilynette?"
"What?" A deep blue wolf appeared beside Starrk, grumbling, "Why are you yelling so loud? It's not like I can't hear you."
Starrk let out a breath of relief and smiled faintly. "I thought..."
His smile froze. A blade had pierced through his chest.
"What..." Starrk struggled to turn his head, looking at the shadow behind him. "What...?"
"Kageoni." Shunsui Kyōraku rose from Starrk's shadow. "My Katen Kyōkotsu's ability turns children's games into reality. The rules are set by Katen Kyōkotsu, and anyone who steps into its Reiatsu field is forced to follow them. In Takaoni, the one who climbs higher wins. In Kageoni, the one whose shadow gets stepped on loses. The winner lives... and the loser dies!"
Shunsui Kyōraku thrust his blade into the shadow beneath his feet, and the blade emerged from beneath Starrk.
The wound in Starrk's chest stopped bleeding instantly, and he flashed into the air.
"You're still this fast..." Shunsui Kyōraku followed right after him. "This cute little sword of mine has been dragging me around so much I'm about to collapse."
The range covered by Reiatsu. Special game rules. Starrk finally understood why Shunsui Kyōraku hadn't attacked at full strength earlier.
The game rules only took effect within the Reiatsu's range.
And Starrk's long-range attacks happened to counter Shunsui Kyōraku's ability perfectly.
"Lilynette," Starrk called softly, but no wolf appeared by his side.
After taking down two captains capable of Hollowfication in an instant, Starrk's split soul fragments had been exhausted.
Just now, the final soul fragment had helped stop the bleeding from his wound.
Starrk reached out. A deep blue glow surged from the magazine and condensed into a long blade in his hand, blocking Shunsui Kyōraku's attack.
"Irooni." Shunsui Kyōraku slashed at Starrk's arm. "Gray."
This strike was much faster than his previous attacks, leaving a shallow cut on Starrk's arm where it was covered in gray fur.
"Hm?" Starrk sensed something was wrong. That slash had gone in deep. With Shunsui Kyōraku's strength, Starrk wouldn't have been too surprised even if it had cut his arm off.
But the wound was far too shallow. It was no different from a scrape.
Irooni... gray...
Thinking back to everything Shunsui Kyōraku had said, an idea surfaced in Starrk's mind.
"What's wrong?" Shunsui Kyōraku reminded him. "It's your turn to name the color you want to cut. Any color other than the one you say won't have any effect."
Starrk swung the Blade of the Blue Wolf. "White."
Surprise flashed through Shunsui Kyōraku's eyes. Even though he dodged immediately, his back was still grazed.
A small tear opened in the white Captain's Haori, and a great spray of blood burst out.
So that was it... The instant Starrk swung his blade, he felt his Reiatsu respond.
The moment he joined the game of his own will, his Reiatsu resonated with the Reiatsu Shunsui Kyōraku had released, making his attack even faster.
More importantly...
"What a problem," Shunsui Kyōraku sighed. "I didn't think you'd figure it out on your first try."
The rule of Irooni was that the person who cut the color they named won.
Both sides named a color, and each could only cut areas on the opponent's body covered in that color.
If they cut an area of any other color, the slash would be nullified.
The larger the area of the named color on the caller's own body, the stronger the caller's slash became.
But that also meant the area vulnerable to the opponent's slash was larger, making it more dangerous.
The smaller the area of the named color on the caller's own body, the weaker the caller's slash became.
But that also meant the vulnerable area was smaller, making it safer.
When Shunsui Kyōraku attacked Starrk, he had called gray.
Gray covered a large area of Starrk's body, making it easy to hit, but there was almost no gray on Shunsui Kyōraku. So although the slash landed heavily, the damage it caused was very small.
When Starrk attacked Shunsui Kyōraku, he called white.
White covered a large area of Shunsui Kyōraku's body, making it easy to hit, and white also covered a large area of Starrk's body. Because of that, even a slight graze caused serious damage.
"You really are hard to deal with..." Shunsui Kyōraku closed in with his blade. "Why did I have to fight someone as strong as you?"
Starrk wanted to say that even more than he did.
Starrk had always envied the weak.
Because they were weak, they could gather together in groups.
But because he was too strong, those who might have become his companions would die just by coming near him.
He no longer knew whether Lilynette had split off Starrk, or Starrk had split off Lilynette...
Either way, it was only to escape loneliness.
Starrk had thought that once he became one of the Espada, he would have companions and would never be as lonely as he had been before.
But the moment he lost Lilynette, the emptiness in his heart became impossible to ignore.
People did not become companions simply because the weak walked together.
Only those who understood one another could truly walk side by side.
And now, even if he understood that... it was too late.
Starrk swung his blade at Shunsui Kyōraku, but only cut through the light, fluttering Haori.
Wearing his black Shihakushō, Shunsui Kyōraku tightened his grip on his Zanpakutō. "Black."
The sharp blade slashed toward the pitch-black Hollow Hole in Starrk's chest.
"Awooo!" A deep blue Blue Wolf blocked in front of Starrk and bit down on the blade.
Shunsui Kyōraku was startled. At such close range, even he would have trouble escaping unharmed from the Blue Wolf's explosion.
Flames surged over the Blue Wolf's body, but it did not explode.
"Starrk!" the Blue Wolf shouted. "What are you doing?!"
"Doing what I should." Starrk grabbed the Blue Wolf by the scruff of its neck, forcibly suppressed its explosion, and threw it backward.
That single instant of delay was enough for the blade in Shunsui Kyōraku's hand to cut open his body.
"Starrk!" Lilynette's voice rang out. "You idiot! You living is the same as me living!"
"Yeah." Starrk grabbed Shunsui Kyōraku's wrist. "Then I'll leave living to you..."
Boom!
…
Thud!
Nell, who had been running at full speed, suddenly reverted to her earlier child form, and the three people riding on her back rolled straight onto the ground.
Fortunately, Rukia Kuchiki reacted quickly and caught Nell in her arms, sparing the little girl from the tragic fate of being crushed.
"Huh?" Nell flexed her tiny hands. "My power..."
"Looks like that burst of power has run out." Muten Natsu stood with Orihime Inoue's support. "But it was enough. Thank you, Nell. We're here."
After passing through the absurdly tall corridor, an enormous pitch-black space came into view.
"Muten!" Uryū Ishida called loudly when he saw them. "Kuchiki-san, Inoue-san..."
If he had known Orihime Inoue would arrive this quickly, he could have spared himself that treatment with its uncertain outcome.
"Nell!" Dondochakka and Pesche ran over together. "You're finally..."
"Mm!" Nell broke into a wide smile. "It's all thanks to Muten and the others taking care of me along the way."
Dondochakka and Pesche exchanged a glance, then bowed deeply to Muten Natsu and the others. "Truly... thank you so much!"
"I'm the one who should be saying that." Muten Natsu shook his head. "Nell saved me."
Mayuri Kurotsuchi leaned against a stone pillar and snorted coldly. "Since you came here, that means you know what to do, ne."
He was skillfully sewing his body, which had been severed in two, back together with one hand, while Nemu Kurotsuchi poured the organs that had liquefied and not yet fully recovered back inside. The scene was far too horrifying.
Muten Natsu looked toward the Gates of Hell. Tentacles extending from the pitch-black Hōgyoku clung to them, writhing grotesquely. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I only know we can't let it open."
The Hell's Eye on his forehead turned as Muten Natsu tried to see inside the Gates of Hell, but all he saw was himself.
It was as though the eye on his forehead had connected its vision to the eye sockets of the broken skeleton on the gate.
"The Hōgyoku is the core," Mayuri Kurotsuchi reminded him. "As long as you stop the Hōgyoku from sending power into the Gates of Hell, that gate will close on its own."
"Sounds easy enough." Muten Natsu drew Myōki and held it in his hand, only to feel a faint tug.
When he turned, he met Rukia Kuchiki's worried gaze.
"Muten..." Rukia Kuchiki's fingers tightened slightly around the hem of Muten Natsu's clothes. Then, helplessly, she let go. "Be careful."
She couldn't stop him.
Nor could she help him.
It had been that way before, and it was still that way now.
"Mm." Muten Natsu stroked her head, then turned and walked up the steps.
He felt no rejection at all. There was even a force pulling him toward the Gates of Hell.
As he drew closer, the aura spilling from the Gates of Hell grew thicker, as though blood were burning right beneath his nose.
The Hell's Eye, which had been restless all this time, was now unusually quiet, reflecting Muten Natsu's figure as he climbed higher.
At last, he stood before the Gates of Hell. Compared with the enormous gate, Muten Natsu's figure looked almost pitifully slight.
A sharp flash of blade light passed, and one tentacle fell, twitching as it dissolved.
Muten Natsu had thought this would be harder, but the tentacles were unexpectedly easy to cut.
After cutting down one obstructing tentacle after another, Muten Natsu reached out for the pitch-black Hōgyoku. As long as he took the Hōgyoku away, the Gates of Hell would lose their power source and close on their own.
But the instant he reached out, the Hōgyoku erupted with pitch-black light. It tangled with the crimson aura spilling from the Gates of Hell and surged toward Muten Natsu.
Myōki swept across, unleashing a flurry of ink blades.
But the shredded darkness gathered again in the next moment, like writhing sludge, closing in on Muten Natsu without relenting.
"It really isn't that simple, ne." Mayuri Kurotsuchi observed the state of the Gates of Hell through an instrument. "Because of external stimulation, the opening process is accelerating."
As if confirming Mayuri Kurotsuchi's judgment, a low creak sounded, and the four chains binding the two gates rattled loudly.
The Gates of Hell opened a crack, pulling the chains taut.
Viscous darkness gushed out, sweeping past Muten Natsu's body before dispersing into the air. It floated there like droplets, and yet also like gas.
"Is this... Reishi?" Uryū Ishida tried to control it, but failed.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi caught a drop in his hand, lightly rubbed it between his fingertips, then stuck out his tongue and licked it. "It looks like... Hell's phosphoplasm, ne."
Rukia Kuchiki was worried about Muten Natsu, but seeing that the substance only passed over his body without harming him, she relaxed a little.
"Phosphoplasm?" Uryū Ishida pressed. "What is that?"
"There is too little existing data to give a clear definition." Mayuri Kurotsuchi waved for Nemu Kurotsuchi to collect it. "You can understand it as a special form of Reishi different from that of Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the World of the Living. Or, to put it more simply, power from Hell."
"Wel..." The broken white jawbone on the Gates of Hell shifted slightly. Its teeth clicked together with a crisp sound, accompanied by a somewhat sluggish voice. "Welcome back... Muten Natsu."
More pitch-black darkness poured out. Though it did not harm Muten Natsu, it left him as if trapped beneath a waterfall, unable to move.
Hell Flames ignited beyond his control, scattering the phosphoplasm around him.
Although he had not released the Hell Flames himself, with their help, Muten Natsu was able to move freely.
His burning hand reached toward the Hōgyoku and grabbed hard, only to pass through it as if through an illusion.
Muten Natsu had put his strength in the wrong place, and his body inevitably staggered. The instant he looked up at the Gates of Hell, his gaze froze.
Behind the crack in the open gate, a hand grasped the Hōgyoku and slowly lifted it.