A wind like knives, sunk to freezing, swept past.
Sode no Shirayuki stepped forth as if born from snow itself—graceful and regal, cold and dazzling. The absolute chill pouring off her made the moisture in the air crystallize; snowflakes and petal-like ice bloomed and drifted like a celestial shower.
"Minus eighteen degrees."
She leveled a frost-white finger at Cole, voice cool as a goddess. "Cole, your zanpakuto is strong, and so are you. But can your body really withstand cold at the freezing point?"
Cole gave her a look. "Why would I fight you up close?"
Sode no Shirayuki blinked—and then scowled as Cole lifted his right hand and rattled off a chant at speed: "Walls of iron sand; pagoda of monks; embers that glow, fade to silent azure—Bakudō #75: Gochūtekkan (Five-Pillar Iron)!"
In an instant, five massive stone pillars dropped from the sky, chains of black linking pillar to pillar.
"Cole, you jerk…"
Face taut, Sode no Shirayuki thrust her palm skyward. "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren (Next Dance: White Ripple)!"
Avalanche-white chill surged. Air temperature and skin temperature plunged; the sky itself seemed to freeze. In moments, a mountain of ice reared up.
But the five colossal pillars punched through like lances, shattering the glacier with irresistible force. Their weight and binding pressure crashed down onto Sode no Shirayuki.
White frost roiled with dust, masking sight. Cole didn't worry; they called it Bakudō—Binding Way—for a reason. Its power lay in restraint. Only Hadō brought world-breaking destruction.
He stamped once in the air—the figure turned to a streak of black light, tearing after the golden, fairy-sized Suzumebachi.
"Couldn't you stall him a few more seconds?" Suzumebachi grumbled, then drew a breath as gold reiatsu flared. "Bankai! Jakuhō Raikōben (Hornet Thunder Whip)!!!"
In the bloom of gold, her sprite body swelled to human size. Along her slender left arm, an utterly outrageous golden missile assembled.
Cole couldn't help it. "Honestly, Suzumebachi, that missile is so immersion-breaking."
Swords that split the heavens everywhere—and then, suddenly, a missile. Grounded much?
If your wielder had a 'Final Zanpakuto,' would it be, like, a nuke? Nuke everything, peace achieved.
Bathed in gold, Suzumebachi sniffed. "Take it up with my master. I'm happy with me. It's strong, isn't it?"
She kicked off—aiming the missile-tip at Minazuki drifting and circling in midair. Fire coughed from the tail; the golden "lance" ripped the night.
Cole's pupils tightened. He wouldn't catch it at this speed; Jakuhō Raikōben condensed a whole Bankai's might into a single shot—its speed and power were beyond ordinary Bankai.
If you measured in "battle-power units," Soi Fong ran about two cars; Suzumebachi was at least one and a half.
"Makes no sense—Stealth Force using a missile…"
Cole murmured—and the Hollow power he'd mastered flared. His body slid into Hollow form; blue reiatsu shifted to black-red, fiercer than before.
Even Suzumebachi flinched, then backpedaled to face him. "Brat, Hollow again? Not afraid the old man sees and chops you in half?"
Cole skimmed the air; in a blink he was before her. He flicked a finger.
Bonk.
"Again!?" Dizzy, Suzumebachi spun in place, livid. "You flicked me again!"
Grinning, Cole arrowed after the golden missile. "Keep it up and I'll catch you and make you spit honey nonstop. I'll never have to buy honey again."
"I'm not scared of you! Come close and I'll stab you twice—dead!"
Cole wove through space: even so, the gap to the missile held.
"Tch. Garganta-style skips are too short—fine for short hops. Over distance, they're no better than hoho…"
He raised his right hand, index and middle fingers aligned, sighting down the golden spear. "Gran Rey Cero (King's Hollow Flash)!"
A black-red beam lanced forth, chasing—and at a hundred meters, it kissed the missile's tail.
Boom!!!
Karakura throbbed with the blast. It was late; households were dark, streets lit only by neon and lamps. At the thunder, windows bloomed awake block after block until the whole city glittered.
Kisuke stared at the shop roof and sighed. "Really now… there goes my roof."
Seeing her first shot fail, Suzumebachi hesitated. Fire another? If she did, she'd be out of juice—couldn't fight or even flee.
A chill ran through her—Cole's "honey" threat echoed. "No way. I'm not an actual bee."
With a pop she shrank back to palm-size and streaked for the Senkaimon.
"Wait—get me out first!" Sode no Shirayuki shouted from beneath the five pillars. Cole's monstrous reiatsu plus high-tier Bakudō left her struggling even in Bankai.
Suzumebachi fluttered, wavering—then glanced back to see Cole tearing after her with a bright, kingly smile. "Don't worry, Suzumebachi. Stay. I won't make you spit too much honey."
Her tiny face went white. She bolted through the gate without looking back. "Sode no Shirayuki! He and your master are basically a couple—he won't hurt you. You stay!"
Sode no Shirayuki shook with anger, little fists balling. "You—!"
True, Cole wouldn't harm her—she was Rukia's zanpakuto. But he would bully her.
Face heating, she bit down. "Minus fifty degrees!"
Skin-temperature plunged to -50°C. Frost crawled across the pillars touching her, biting deep until even their cores iced over.
"Ice Quake!"
Stone, ground, everything in contact trembled—slow frequency, but lethal to frozen things. The earth cracked like glass; the five pillars spiderwebbed, then shattered in a clatter.
Free, Sode no Shirayuki sprinted for the Senkaimon—only to find the hateful brat, golden staff shouldered, already standing before the gate—annoyingly, inexplicably handsome.
She shook off the thought and raised her blade. "Move. Or even if it's you, I'll fight. Don't think my Bankai ends here."
Cole's smile tugged. " 'Even if it's me,' huh? So I'm different to you?"
At -50°C, her emotions should have been faint as frost. Even so, her cheeks colored. "Don't get full of yourself. At absolute zero, even you die."
"Absolute zero, huh…"
Cole breathed out. "Can't deny I'm curious. Show me."
In his last life, science shows had called it the end of everything. Motion ceased, light could not escape, time itself stilled—until annihilation. If Rukia could reach it, her zanpakuto truly was the strongest ice-type.
By contrast… Toshiro's Hyōrinmaru hadn't shown much.
Cole made no move to leave. After a few seconds of war in her eyes, Sode no Shirayuki yielded to temptation. She lifted a jade hand.
"Absolute—Zero."
In the instant of speech, her surface temperature plunged; she became the very avatar of cold. In a single second, she dropped a hundred degrees. Time around her seemed to slow.
In that state, all emotion slid away. Like a frigid god, Sode no Shirayuki looked at Cole. "Absolute zero, −273.15°C. A form that freezes even fear."
She stepped; with every footfall, the temperature fell again. At the limit, her eyes were ice; she moved—and in a single step, she was before Cole.
His pupils shrank. Danger, true and clean, curled over his skin.
He must not touch her. Touch her, and he would freeze.
He gripped the Ruyi Jingu Bang and leveled the tip at her. "Grow."
The golden staff shot outward like a comet's tail. Frost leapt from her jade palm to the tip—and in a blink the metal whitened and the ice raced back toward Cole.
"Yeah, that's bad…"
Black-red reiatsu flared off him like a storm. "Grow. Grow. Grow…"
Under the blast of power, the staff extended faster—ten times faster than the ice could spread. Sode no Shirayuki abandoned the contest at once and darted forward like living snow.
One touch—and anything would freeze.
Cole's left hand snapped up; index and middle finger aligned—a scarlet point spun at his fingertips.
Schwip!
The red Cero lanced across the air—yet three meters from Sode no Shirayuki it began to slow… slower… almost stopping.
Cole's eyes narrowed. "Terrifying. Even time is throttled."
Closer to Rukia's cold meant closer to absolute zero; within that range, time itself crawled. A Cero that should have screamed like lightning now hung like a red lamp.
He slid back—and stopped, frowning. "Have you lost it, Sode no Shirayuki?"
Cracks veined her skin—absolute zero biting even its mistress. In the Thousand-Year Blood War, Rukia had lasted only four seconds. Sode no Shirayuki had held for six. Keep going—and she'd freeze herself to death.
Cole met her gaze—those snow-pale eyes held not a flicker of fear.
"Right. No fear at absolute zero…"
He cursed, collapsed the staff, and charged—this time not dodging but smashing forward on a flood of reiatsu, feet hammering hoho straight into the teeth of the cold.
Absolute zero erupted over him—time and space congealed. His whole body tried to lock. He roared back with sheer spiritual pressure, seized Sode no Shirayuki's slender wrist—and slammed the staff to the ground.
"Dinghai (Sea-Calming)!"
Invisible suppressive force rippled out. The rampaging cold hitched—pinned and pressed by the weight of that unseen pillar.
Seizing the opening, Cole turned to her—hair, brows, and lashes crusted in hoarfrost—and chattered, "Idiot—end the Bankai. Or I'm knocking you out…"
A strange look glimmered in Sode no Shirayuki's eyes. She bit her lip, hesitating. "Then… hold me. Raise my temperature."
(End of Chapter)
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