"Hah… hahaha…"
Obana collapsed, his labored breaths ragged, his gaze fixed on the woman before him, filled with disbelief.
A dark red, mech-like armor hovered behind him, shielding his upper body, faintly glowing with embers. In its hands, it gripped one long and one short blade.
Yet, despite this armor's protection, Obana's left arm, left leg, and right eye had vanished, replaced by a chilling "nothingness."
No blood, no debris, no trace.
As if they'd never existed.
Even his sky-piercing Reiatsu had evaporated.
Before him, the woman calling herself "Louise" Stood unmoving, her vacant eyes staring into the distance.
She seemed oblivious to the scene.
Hachiman, 13th Seat, gaped at the sight, frozen in abject horror.
"Captain Obana…"
"How… how is this possible…?"
Obana, sprawled on the ground, exhaled shakily. As he looked at the woman, a glimmer of understanding flickered in his eyes, his face twisting into a bitter smile.
"So this is the 'Soul King's power' Makoto-kun warned us about?"
"No wonder… he told us to be careful."
His Bankai, Bakuryū Tenshakukō, forged a substance he believed to be the hardest known.
Years ago, it had withstood dozens of blows from Yamamoto's Shikai.
For centuries, Obana had prided himself on this.
He thought no material surpassed his Tenshakukō.
But in that fleeting moment, his slashes, punches, and flame torrents vanished a foot from the woman.
Worse still, by merely touching her own limbs and eyes, she'd unleashed that "Soul King's power" on him.
First his Reiatsu, then his leg, his arm, his eye.
By the time he reacted, half his body was gone.
Neither his tier-2 Reiatsu nor Tenshakukō could shield him…
Obana, who'd always relied on his defenses to taunt any foe, had finally met his match against this near-rule-like ability.
Counterattack? Out of the question.
Escape? Likely impossible.
He tugged at his lips, propping himself up with one hand, his trembling body leaning on his shifted center of gravity to rise to a kneel.
Without Reiatsu, only the barest core of his soul remained.
Maintaining his Bankai was already a herculean effort.
Today, he'd probably die here.
Click.
As the thought crossed his mind, a figure appeared before him.
Hachiman, 13th Seat, stood trembling, his sword-hand shaking uncontrollably.
"Captain Obana!"
"Please, retreat now!"
His voice rasped, "I… I'll buy you time."
Even if it cost his life.
But as he shouted with his last shred of courage, a familiar weight landed on his shoulder.
A bloodied, heavy hand pressed down, just as before.
Obana, with only one arm and leg, stood tall like a bear, unyielding.
"You'll make a fine Shinigami." Obana said, grinning with delight.
"Captain... Obana?"
Hachiman faltered, stunned.
To find such a view before death was more than pleasing.
Behind Obana, the Bakuryū Tenshakukō dropped one blade, its single hand steadying his body, allowing him to float forward slowly, facing the pure-white woman again.
His lone eye met her, still ignoring his existence as she had from the start.
But Obana no longer felt the initial rage.
The strong overlooking the weak was only natural.
Yet, from their clash, he'd glimpsed the nature of her power.
"Your ability… it's 'erasure,' isn't it?"
Obana stated with certainty.
Only then did Louise turn her gaze, her movements slightly stiff, as if puzzled.
Puzzled why he'd state the obvious.
Schrift E, Louise.
Efface, to erase.
Obana continued floating forward, speaking, "After all these years, even a fool like me has learned some simple truths."
"For instance, a Shinigami's battle is a battle of Reiatsu."
"To affect a stronger foe, you need comparable strength."
"Even a rule-based monster like Makoto-kun must follow his own rules…"
"So."
"You have to look at me and touch your own body parts to erase mine."
"And."
"Any power beyond your ability's limit, even your 'rule' can't erase it!"
"And, most importantly…"
His words fell, and Obana snapped his head up, his single eye locking onto Louise.
A resolute, gleeful smile spread across his face.
A warrior of death, born anew in battle, fearless.
Louise's sculpted face showed a trace of confusion, tilting her head, emitting a soft, "Oh?"
The instant the sound left her lips.
Obana's Tenshakukō gripped his body tightly.
His form vanished, propelled by the floating mech, a sonic boom shattering the air, piercing thick white clouds, trailing flames in a half-arc around Louise.
Louise's expression grew solemn, her head turning to track Obana, her crescent-white pupils following his movement.
Her right hand lightly touched her body's surface.
Shoulder, abdomen, left eye.
Obana, in his supersonic charge, spewed a gush of blood.
His shoulder blade, stomach, and left eye vanished.
His tall frame spun like a rag in a giant's grip, collapsing uncontrollably, his vision plunging into darkness.
Yet he didn't stop, driven by his sharpest spiritual sense, charging at Louise with the utmost speed of his life.
"As I thought!"
Blood gushed from his mouth, yet Obana's booming laughter rang out, fearless in the face of imminent death.
"You can't erase what you don't have!"
With his roar, the Bakuryū Tenshakukō, gripping his body with one hand, closed in on Louise.
The mech's three-meter blade crashed down.
Yet, a faint, serene smile crept across Louise's calm face.
"I can."
Obana's expression froze.
Louise raised her left hand, intercepting the blade's path.
Ding.
No contact was made, yet a crisp metallic chime rang in Obana's ears.
His vision gone, he couldn't see the scene unfolding.
The blade aimed at Louise's head swung through empty air.
The portion of the blade her hand "blocked" vanished as if it had never existed.
When the swing finished, only half the Bakuryū Tenshakukō's long blade remained.
Obana faltered, then roared, raising his arm. The mech mirrored him, swinging the remaining blade recklessly toward Louise.
Each swing, even its mere shockwaves, carved dozens to hundreds of meters-long gashes in the earth behind her. The heavy blade, wreathed in flame, unleashed earth-shaking might.
Yet Hachiman, 13th Seat, watching from behind, grew increasingly despairing.
Every one of Captain Obana's strikes hit nothing.
Not because they missed.
Louise hadn't moved an inch from the start, merely extending her left hand.
But each time Obana's blade struck, it shortened, dissolving mid-swing until, at last, only the hilt remained.
"Still struggling?"
Louise's voice was soft, like dandelion seeds adrift.
Finally, the Bakuryū Tenshakukō's fist slammed into the air inches from her with a heavy thud.
Louise's right hand gently caught it, halting it effortlessly, serene as a breeze.
"Your spirit and strength are at their limit."
"Won't you accept your fate?"
She asked softly, withdrawing her hand and pressing a fingertip to her chest.
Guh...
His heart erased.
Obana's face turned ashen.
His body, deprived of pumping blood, stiffened at an uncanny speed.
Yet the bear-like man still grinned.
He shakily extended his limp arm, seizing the slender wrist that moved to block him. His breaths rasped like a broken bellows as he growled his final words,
"A hero's gotta go out boldly!"
"How could I give up?"
"Do you even get it?"
"And besides…"
As he gripped her arm, a strained smile cracked his face.
'Any power beyond your ability's limit, even your 'rule' can't erase!'
Obana wasn't fool enough to forget his own words.
"Hm?"
Noticing his expression, Louise frowned, glancing at her seized arm.
Blind, Obana turned his head, staring vacantly toward Hachiman's Reiatsu.
"Hey!"
His rugged face broke into a hearty laugh.
A hero's gotta be bold, no trembling legs!
Hachiman froze, captivated by Captain Obana's smile.
The next moment, crimson and dark red cracks, glowing with eerie brilliance, surged across the Bakuryū Tenshakukō's surface, flowing like streams through mountains, leaping and pulsing.
Throbbing like a heart.
Veins bulged on Obana's forehead as he gripped Louise's arm with all his might, his smile twisting into a feral grin.
"Bury with me."
"Remember this!"
"The name's Obana Danjiro!"
Louise gazed at him silently.
Ding.
The Bakuryū Tenshakukō shrank to a minuscule point.
All its Reishi, compressed to the extreme, beyond what the Soul Society could contain.
It turned molten black.
And then,
Bloomed!
As the distant light flared, Hachiman's senses were obliterated in an instant.
A celestial radiance, as if a thousand suns vied for glory, erupted.
The relentless surge spread in all directions, tearing the atmosphere, piercing thick clouds. The swelling glow engulfed a hundred-meter radius, the earth quaking as if alive.
Blistering heat and energy exploded from a single point, consuming everything.
The crimson Reiatsu ripple carried dozens of kilometers.
It was the light of the world's hardest substance and courage, bursting in unison.
A war hymn of valor, lauded by the world, unending until death!
Hachiman stood rooted, eyes fixed on the scene, his gaze unyielding.
Until he sank to his knees.
"Captain..."
"Obana."
But before grief could take hold, the dust-swept earth was erased into a pristine void.
The pure-white woman stood unmoved, her expression blank.
Louise's crescent-porcelain eyes, stirred at last by Obana's death, flickered with faint confusion as she gazed at the endless blackened crater.
"I said it was futile…"
"Such a stubborn man."
Her words fell, and she stepped from the scorched pit, her feet treading the still-sizzling soil as if touching nothing.
She passed Hachiman, kneeling on the ground, without a glance.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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