"Welcome back..." Watching Shunsui Kyōraku fall, Starrk whispered, "...Starrk."
"I should be welcoming you," the gun in Starrk's hand replied. "Lilynette."
Starrk lowered his eyes to the gun in his hand. "Starrk... what do we do now?"
Lilynette answered, "Anything we want."
Starrk asked again, "Then where do we go?"
A hint of nostalgia entered Lilynette's voice. "Anywhere we want."
"Come with me..." A Garganta opened behind him, and Starrk fell into it. "To the ends of the earth."
They had become Aizen's Espada to gain companions.
As the first among the Espada, they had fought the Shinigami, only to lose each other.
Now that they had reunited through the power of Hell, neither Lilynette nor Starrk had any intention of sacrificing the other for anyone else again.
Hueco Mundo was vast. Somewhere out there, there had to be a place they could stay.
Even without any other companions, it did not matter. As long as they had each other, that was enough.
"He... he ran away?" Marechiyo Ōmaeda noticed Starrk's disappearance and stared wide-eyed in shock. "He just left... Isn't he one of Aizen's subordinates?"
"You still have the nerve to let your attention wander?" Suì-Fēng snapped, her eyes locked on Baraggan without relaxing for an instant. "Do you think our enemy is going to leave like that Arrancar did?"
Of course not.
Baraggan's finger bones curled as he tightened his grip around Gran Caída, carrying a terrifying aura as he charged straight at Sōsuke Aizen.
It had been a dull night, no different from any other.
The King of Hueco Mundo sat upon his throne of bones, looking down at the Menos kneeling below him.
Any one of them could have claimed a hunting ground of their own in Hueco Mundo, but before the strongest and oldest King of Hueco Mundo, they could only fold their massive bodies in on themselves and kneel on the ground in a ridiculous posture.
It had been this way in the past, it was this way now, and it would remain this way in the future.
In the distance, a Menos was cut in two. Amid the startled cries of the other Menos, three figures appeared before Baraggan.
["Who are you?"] Even as the Menos questioned them, its sharp claws were already reaching for the three intruders.
A swift blade split the Menos's skull.
Sōsuke Aizen's gaze passed over Kaname Tōsen, who had killed the Menos, and settled on the skeleton seated upon the throne. ["I suppose this is our first meeting. You are... the King of Hueco Mundo, correct?"]
["Indeed I am."] Baraggan looked down at the three of them. ["And who are you? No masks, so you are not Hollows... Humans?"]
That made sense.
In Hueco Mundo, no one would be mad enough to provoke the King of Hueco Mundo.
Only ignorant humans who did not know their place would dare appear before him like this.
Still...
["It makes no difference what you are. I happened to be bored. If you had not shown up today, I was planning to split my subordinates into two sides and have them slaughter one another."] Baraggan's skull let out an aged voice. ["Since you have brought me a little amusement, I suppose I should at least welcome you. Welcome to my castle... Las Noches."]
["How amusing."] Kaname Tōsen's eyes could not see, yet he seemed to understand everything around him perfectly. ["A place with no roof and no walls can still be called a castle? It seems the King of Hueco Mundo truly enjoys jokes."]
["I have no need for a roof."] In the face of an insect's offense, Baraggan mercifully displayed a king's broad-mindedness. ["For me, as king, the entire sky of Hueco Mundo is the roof of my castle."]
["Enough, Kaname. Verbal sparring is tedious."] Sōsuke Aizen drew the Zanpakutō at his waist. ["Let us talk instead, King of Hueco Mundo. Would you like to see my blade? This blade... Kyōka Suigetsu."]
Sōsuke Aizen held the Zanpakutō in a reverse grip, turned the blade toward himself, and raised it.
Baraggan did not understand. ["What are you trying to do?"]
["I wonder... are you satisfied with yourself as you are now?"]
["...What?"]
["Have you never felt that everything before your eyes is different from the world as it should be? Have you never thought of going one step further? Help me. Come with me."] Behind his glasses, Sōsuke Aizen's eyes were deep. ["If you do, I will give you greater power... and a new world."]
["Hmph..."] Baraggan snorted, then burst into laughter. ["Hahahahahahahaha! Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! A new world? Do not make me laugh, little ant! I am the King of Hueco Mundo! The ruler of this world! There is no being who can surpass me! Beyond the domain I have carved out, no new world exists!"]
Tired of the ants' dull jokes, Baraggan waved his hand and ordered the Menos under him, ["Go. Crush these arrogant ants for me!"]
["Is that so?"] Sōsuke Aizen murmured. ["Shatter... Kyōka Suigetsu."]
With the sound of something breaking, the scene before Baraggan's eyes shattered like glass, revealing the truth hidden beneath.
The Menos that had charged fiercely toward the three of them had already been slaughtered by Kaname Tōsen and Gin Ichimaru.
Sōsuke Aizen announced calmly, ["This is... the world you inhabit."]
Baraggan lifted Gran Caída. ["You brat..."]
["How ironic, King of Hueco Mundo."] Sōsuke Aizen spoke the same title in the same tone as before. ["Holding a weapon and dressed in a black robe like that, you look almost like a Shinigami."]
["Enough of your nonsense!"] Baraggan roared, swinging Gran Caída. ["I will..."]
Before he had fully reached Sōsuke Aizen, Baraggan could not wait any longer and swung Gran Caída. "...kill you with my own hands!"
Surging black mist turned into an ominous canopy, enveloping Sōsuke Aizen.
Regret it... Sōsuke Aizen!
Baraggan stared hard at Sōsuke Aizen's back, at the figure who had not even had time to turn around.
Regret your arrogance and conceit.
Regret giving me this power...
Then perish in that regret!
Only when the attack was about to reach him did Sōsuke Aizen finish turning halfway.
Yes... exactly as Baraggan had expected.
Sōsuke Aizen had not gained power from Hell.
After all, he was only a Shinigami. No matter how much he tried to imitate a Hollow, he could never obtain such tremendous power from Hell the way the King of Hueco Mundo had.
Golden light met the ominous black mist, and a surging current scattered the darkness.
"Baraggan." Harribel blocked the attack for Aizen. "Your actions are a betrayal of Aizen-sama."
"Harribel, your actions are a betrayal of me!" Baraggan raised Gran Caída. "I am the King of Hueco Mundo. You are nothing more than a little fish swimming through my kingdom!"
Harribel raised the greatsword formed from golden flames. "Your kingdom only pursues meaningless sacrifice."
"Do you think he is any different?" Baraggan demanded. "Harribel!"
["Tier... Harribel?"] When Sōsuke Aizen called her name, he had just killed the Arrancar who had attacked Harribel. ["I did grant him power, but unfortunately, an increase in power did not help him gain the ability to control it."]
["I have heard of you... You became a Vasto Lorde without gaining power by killing others."]
["Even when you defeat an enemy, you do not devour them."]
["You dislike Hueco Mundo... or rather, you dislike Hueco Mundo as it is now, correct?"]
["Yes. Hueco Mundo as it is now."]
["Even if this world has been like this since the moment it was born, I can give you the power to change it."]
["Come with me, Harribel. Create the world you desire... a world without sacrifice."]
A world without sacrifice... did not exist.
The weak sacrificed themselves and became part of the strong's power.
The strong would then be preyed upon by those even stronger, sacrificed in turn.
Those who pursued sacrifice would inevitably pay the price in sacrifice.
That was why Harribel refused to devour others.
If she could not change the world, then at least she could hold fast to herself.
Even if that meant being sacrificed.
But then Sōsuke Aizen appeared.
He told her the world could be changed, and that she could possess the power to change it.
A world without sacrifice did not exist.
That was why those who desired such a world had to create it themselves.
Sōsuke Aizen had indeed done it. He had given Harribel power, built Las Noches, and created a clear sky.
He allowed the strongest Arrancar to exist peacefully in the same room, rather than fighting one another.
Gathering companions, protecting the weak, accumulating power... Harribel had been doing the same thing for a very long time.
Sung-Sun, Mila, and Emilou were all companions she had gathered, but even then, she could not stop other powerful beings from coveting them.
Sōsuke Aizen, however, could gather the strongest ten Espada, establish a new order for Hueco Mundo, and grant the Espada even greater power.
So...
Harribel poured Reiatsu into her greatsword, extending the blade formed from condensed Reiatsu even farther and distorting the surrounding space. "Stand down, Baraggan."
"Then die with him!" An ancient bell rang out. The black mist surging from Baraggan's body solidified into pitch-black steps beneath his feet, and an ominous presence shot into the sky, blotting it out. A crimson blood moon floated behind him. "Perish like ants!"
The raised Gran Caída fell. The moon behind Baraggan shattered, and bloody light plunged through the darkness. Everything it touched withered and vanished in an instant.
Everything except... that figure.
"That is enough." Sōsuke Aizen cut through Baraggan's body with one stroke. "This has gone far enough."
"Wh... what...?" Baraggan turned in disbelief to look at Sōsuke Aizen. "Why are you..."
"Even now," Sōsuke Aizen split Baraggan's skull with another stroke and watched as he gradually dissipated, his gaze as deep as it had been all those years ago, "you still cannot see the world you inhabit."
Harribel drew back her Reiatsu. "Aizen-sama, may I..."
"No." Sōsuke Aizen smiled as he approached and cut through Harribel's body with one stroke. "You are no longer of any use either."
Splurt!
Crimson blood splashed before her eyes, and Harribel stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Aizen... sama?"
"The Espada I went to such trouble to find, and even with the power of Hell, you are still unworthy of fighting under my command." Sōsuke Aizen sheathed his Zanpakutō. "To think... you cannot even match me alone."
"Aizen!" Harribel used the last of her strength to thrust out her greatsword. The extended blade pierced Sōsuke Aizen's body like warm golden lightning, and then rushing water surged forward, tearing Sōsuke Aizen into glass-like shards... Glass?
"Troublesome." The real Sōsuke Aizen appeared behind Harribel and stabbed through her body with one stroke. "At your level, you do not even have the right to raise a hand against me."
The swinging blade drew out a spray of blood.
Harribel fell from the sky, her lifeless eyes gazing up at Sōsuke Aizen beneath the clear sky.
That was right.
A world without sacrifice... did not exist.
"Now then, let us begin." Sōsuke Aizen looked toward the others. "The Gotei 13... and you failures."
Gin Ichimaru, who had been fighting Shinji Hirako, immediately sheathed his blade and stepped back. "Captain Aizen, they're still fighting over there."
"It does not matter." Sōsuke Aizen glanced over. "It will end soon."
"Aizen-sama is taking the front line himself..." Kaname Tōsen sensed Sōsuke Aizen's movement. "Then I should use my true strength against you as well."
"Bankai?" Sajin Komamura had already prepared himself for that. "That suits me just fine!"
"Bankai? Do not make me laugh." Kaname Tōsen placed his hand over his cheek. "Aizen-sama has granted me astonishing power far beyond Bankai."
Violent Reiatsu roared, and what appeared once more in Sajin Komamura's eyes was no longer Kaname Tōsen's face.
It was a stark-white mask that completely covered his head.
Its surface was smooth, without the slightest trace of facial features, and only a thin vertical slit ran down the center.
"Kaname Tōsen..." Sajin Komamura was beside himself with rage. "You have fallen this far!"
"Fallen?" Kaname Tōsen questioned him. "Why is transforming from a Shinigami into a Hollow considered falling? That conclusion is based on your shortsighted division of Shinigami and Hollows into good and evil."
"No... Betraying your comrades, betraying your friends, even betraying your subordinates..." The short fur on the back of Sajin Komamura's neck stood on end. "Throwing away everything just to gain extraordinary power. That is what it means to fall!"
"Sajin..." Kaname Tōsen's voice overlapped with a strange buzzing. "So in your eyes, I only threw everything away when I left the Soul Society?"
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