"Same as those two students from Shin'ō Academy."
"Paired Zanpakutō?"
Reiatsu sensed the changes around him. Even though he had killed countless powerful enemies and Quincy, Furuoki—who had long forgotten what fear was—couldn't help but feel a tingling in his heart.
Although the wisp of black flame in Aiyan's palm looked somewhat similar to the previous Amaterasu flame—both being black flames in appearance, with one slightly darker and the other slightly lighter—Reiatsu perception and beast-like instinct both told him these two flames were not the same at all.
Amaterasu's flame, at best, could rival the heat of Ryūjin Jakka.
But what about the black flame in front of him?
Not a trace of heat leaked from it. It looked almost like an illusion. And yet, that small black flame, no bigger than a palm, gently flickering upward—released gravitational torrents that distorted and collapsed the very sky.
Boom—
In that moment—
Furuoki Otagawa not only forgot about asking Aiyan to use Bankai, but immediately raised his crimson Zanpakutō with his right hand and pointed it at Aiyan at the fastest speed of his life.
Boom—
Accompanied by a thunderous roar like the bellow of a divine beast, hundreds of magma fireballs—each hundreds of meters in diameter—rose into the sky.
In an instant, the entire ceiling of the barrier was filled with blazing Ryūsei Rengoku. They hovered above like celestial bodies, radiating intense heat and light.
"Ryūsei Rengoku."
Seeing Aiyan further release Kōfūin, Furuoki Otagawa no longer cared whether his full-strength attack would destroy the entire Gotei 13, nor whether Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni would personally kill him with Ryūjin Jakka after the war for reducing Seireitei to scorched earth.
Faced with Aiyan's complete Shikai, he put everything on the line.
The power of Bankai.
A thousand years of accumulated Reiatsu.
All of it unleashed in a single instant.
He was determined to obliterate Aiyan at all costs.
"Die!!"
Furuoki Otagawa raised his blade and slashed.
The magma fireballs occupying the zenith immediately began to pour down. Like a thousand stars falling from the sky, they trailed searing heat and fire, crashing toward Aiyan from above with explosive force.
Even—
Even Aizen, Yamada Seinosuke, and Tōsen Kaname were swept into this terrifying onslaught.
"With the entire Gotei 13 and all those Shinigami buried with you, you can die without regret."
Furuoki Otagawa grinned and stuck out his tongue, laughing maniacally.
He could already picture Aiyan being incinerated beneath the overwhelming rain of magma stars.
However—
Aiyan smiled faintly, even lifting his head to gaze at the incoming magma stars. He casually raised his left hand and slightly loosened the black flame resting in his palm. Then—
Boom—
The flame suddenly twisted and began to spin, condensing into a black dot no larger than a fingertip. Instantly, the air around it folded in on itself, collapsing under the terrifying gravity.
Then—
Before the fireballs could strike, hundreds of magma stars suddenly stopped in place, and like schools of fish caught in a whirlpool, were drawn toward the tiny black dot.
Clearly, any single magma fireball was a thousand times larger in volume than the black point.
But this small black dot, like the gaping mouth of Gluttony itself, devoured the stars within seconds—sucking them in like water down a drain.
Just one move—
He swallowed an attack capable of destroying most of the Gotei 13.
Aiyan curled four fingers, leaving only his index finger extended. He gently pressed it against the black point and pushed it forward—
Tsk tsk—
The black point, originally no larger than a fingernail, instantly expanded ten thousandfold, becoming a dark sphere as black as ink. It hovered in the air like a black sun, overflowing with terrifying gravitational force, completely eclipsing Soul Society's moon.
Without even stirring—
The instant it formed, a gravitational shockwave exploded outward, surging through the entire battlefield like a storm.
Even Aizen had to unleash his full Reiatsu just to prevent the barrier from being torn apart by the gravitational pressure of the black sphere.
"Farewell, First Generation Tenth Division Captain."
"Furuoki, the Immortal."
Aiyan looked down upon the earth, chuckled, and pressed his index finger down onto the massive black sphere.
"Yami no Teiō."
If Furuoki's Ryūsei Rengoku were the falling stars from heaven—
Then Aiyan's black sun was the sun itself crashing down.
Only—
This sun was pitch black. It gave no light. It had no heat. It simply devoured and twisted all it touched.
"Even the Quincy King, Yhwach, couldn't kill me back then."
Furuoki's face twisted with rage. Gone was the wicked grin. Gone was the crazed laughter.
Confronted with the dark sun—
He did not flee.
Instead, he bared his fangs like a wild beast, brandishing his Zanpakutō furiously.
Each swing of his blade summoned dozens of towering magma pillars from the lava sea beneath his feet, erupting like volcanoes, blasting toward the dark sun with all the force of a world-ending detonation.
Poof—
The moment the magma fire pillars touched the black sun—
First, they twisted and crumpled like dough under pressure.
Then they shattered into spirit dust, unable even to maintain the form of magma.
"Aiyan Sōsuke!!"
"It's not over yet!!"
"Don't underestimate a First Generation Captain bearing the name of the Gotei!!"
Even after seeing hundreds of magma pillars reduced to ashes within seconds, Furuoki Otagawa did not retreat. He drove his blade backward into the sea of lava.
Tsk tsk—
Centered around the blade, a tremendous suction force erupted.
In an instant, the entire lava sea that submerged Tsunayashiro's estate was drawn into the blade.
"Jigoku Entō!! (Hell Flame Sword)"
Having sealed the entire sea of molten fire into his Zanpakutō, forging a blade of pure incineration, Furuoki advanced instead of retreating. He launched himself from the scorched earth, leaping toward the descending black sun. His grip tightened, and a blazing red arc followed the swing of his sword, cleaving through the atmosphere as it struck—
Boom!!
The two forces collided. A terrifying gravitational-magma shockwave burst outward like a hurricane, sweeping across every corner of the barrier in an instant.
The scorched earth.
The magma-burned rocks.
Everything within the barrier was reduced to ash.
"Bakudō #81 · Dankū — Triple Layer!"
Even this was just the aftermath.
Aizen had to reinforce the barrier while simultaneously casting high-level Bakudō. He even used a newly developed technique that abandoned incantation—similar to Aiyan's Kidō method.
In an instant, three layers of Dankū barriers rose up from the ground, holding off the encroaching gravitational-magma wave.
After finishing, he swept his eyes across the battlefield.
Then—his pupils shrank to pinpoints behind his glasses.
Furuoki's Zanpakutō—
Was bending backwards.
Bit by bit.
Slowly, it twisted to a near ninety-degree angle.
Then—began to spin, twisting like a pretzel.
Click—
With the sound of shattering steel—
The fire-type Zanpakutō with the second strongest destructive power—
Shikkoku no Ryōken—
Shattered into countless pieces in midair.
"My Zanpakutō!!"
As Shikkoku no Ryōken was destroyed, the massive black sun began its final descent.
Furuoki's eyes widened. A flicker of disbelief passed across his face—
Then he and his broken blade were swallowed whole by the all-devouring black sun.
Then fell to the ground.
There was no cataclysmic explosion.
No roaring torrent of energy as Tōsen Kaname and the others expected.
After consuming Furuoki and every fragment of his Zanpakutō—
The black sun entrenched on the earth began to compress wildly.
From several kilometers wide—
To hundreds of meters—
Then to tens—
And finally—
To a black dot the size of a fingernail.
Whoosh—
Aiyan reached out.
The tiny black hole flew into his palm.
The moment it touched his skin, it reverted into a quiet, black flame.
Only a twisted, irregular barrier remained.
And a massive, gaping basin where Tsunayashiro's estate used to be.
As for Furuoki Otagawa—
And Shikkoku no Ryōken, the second-most powerful fire-type Zanpakutō after Ryūjin Jakka—
Both were utterly annihilated.
Erased from the spiritual world itself.
...
If you enjoyed this book, don't forget to vote with a Power Stone and take a few seconds to leave a review
Join my P@treon for advance chapters and special content!
[email protected]/Ren_Saga