The Spirit King's Palace existed in an independent space above Soul Society, separated from it by seventy-two layers of barriers.
Ordinary Soul Reapers, even if they passed right by it, could not perceive the existence of the Spirit King's Palace at all. That was the true secrecy of that place.
But Cole was different.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang's ability Teikai Shinjin (Sea-Calming Divine Pillar) could suppress an entire world, allowing him to dominate the power of heaven and earth.
Within that domain, he could see and sense everything that existed in that heaven and earth.
The Spirit King's Palace, hidden within space, was no exception.
"He really… found it…!?"
A hint of fanaticism burned in Aizen's eyes as he temporarily set aside his urge to continue attacking Cole.
As long as Cole could locate the Spirit King's Palace, then even if Cole didn't lift a finger, Aizen would smash that space down himself.
When that happened… the Spirit King within the palace…
Murderous intent flashed across Aizen's eyes.
He absolutely could not accept that the being all Soul Reapers revered, the ruler of Soul Society, was that kind of "thing."
If he truly laid eyes on the Spirit King, then he would definitely kill him, transcend the Spirit King, and become an existence above the world itself.
"Wait, Cole, you can't knock down the Spirit King's Palace, you really can't do that!"
Shunsui almost wanted to cry as he grabbed Cole's arm. He might have no great passion for fighting, but he had no wish to become a sinner who doomed the world, either.
Kisuke wanted to hurry over and stop Cole as well.
The other Soul Reapers shared the same thought.
Even though they didn't know who the Spirit King truly was and had never seen him, the mindset of loyalty to the Spirit King had long since taken root.
Almost from the moment they entered the Shin'o Spiritual Arts Academy, every Soul Reaper had been indoctrinated with loyalty to the Spirit King.
Cole only curled his lip at that, clearly unconcerned with their attempts to stop him.
"Don't worry so much. I'm just giving the Spirit King's Palace an advance warning shot, so they won't be helpless when danger comes later.
"Right now the Spirit King's Palace sits high above everything else… but when the invisible empire invades, it'll be about as secure as a public toilet.
"Anyone with even a bit of fame will have taken a trip through the Spirit King's Palace."
Back then, the Spirit King had even been taken out.
And the Thousand-Year Blood War was, at most, only a little more than ten years away from now.
Sooner or later, that axe was going to fall.
So it might as well fall early.
It was a good chance to see just what kind of fighting power the Spirit King's Palace really had.
Seeing that they couldn't talk Cole down, Kisuke, Shunsui, and Isshin all turned their gazes toward Rukia at the same time.
"Miss Rukia, we can only rely on you now."
"Go on, Rukia."
"Rukia, use that astonishing charm of yours and seduce Cole properly."
"W-wait a second…"
Rukia's face went bright red. She shot those three shameless old men a furious glare, itching to freeze them all into ice sculptures.
Rely on her?
She had to seduce Cole?
She was a captain now—how could she do something so embarrassing?
As she thought that, Rukia swallowed nervously, her heart pounding wildly. She mustered her courage and gave Cole a flirtatious wink.
"Cole, do you think I'm pretty?"
Cole shuddered from head to toe and replied speechlessly,
"It's so cold I'm about to freeze to death. That was seriously cringe."
To be fair, Rukia was very beautiful, though her features were still a bit too youthful. Compared to sultry beauty, she leaned more toward the cute side.
But this more-than-one-hundred-year-old cute girl had almost zero experience in romance.
One wink from her…
And all the charm fell flat on the floor.
Rukia's face flushed even redder, this time from anger. She bared her teeth and lunged at him.
"You brat, stop it right now!"
The Four Great Noble Houses were essentially the royal families of Soul Society and had distant ties of blood with the Spirit King from countless years ago.
According to the hidden records of her family…
If the Spirit King died…
The entire world would be destroyed as a result.
To be more precise, all worlds, all realms in between, and all spaces would fall and sink into Hell.
After all, Hell was a space that had existed eternally since before the three worlds appeared.
"Rukia, you should at least calm down a bit. You've seen the members of Squad Zero before—you know how strong they are. Isn't it better to let them join the fight?"
As Cole spoke, he reached out with his left hand and circled it around Rukia's waist.
Compared to his almost one-meter-ninety height, Rukia's roughly one-meter-sixty frame was like that of a small child.
He could easily lift her with just one hand.
Rukia's anger spiked even higher, and she kicked her legs furiously.
"You lousy Cole, stupid Cole, put me down right now or I'll cut you with Sode no Shirayuki, I'll chop you into one big block of ice…"
As she vented, Cole raised his right hand, golden staff in his grip.
"Teikai (Sea-Calming)!"
The golden staff slammed down into empty space.
An invisible gravity spread out in all directions.
The entire world instantly grew countless times heavier. Space itself began to warp, and the buildings on the ground collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Countless Soul Reapers were pinned to the ground before they could even react, crushed flat by the enormous gravity.
Bodies lay scattered everywhere. No matter how they struggled, they could not stand up under the crushing weight.
Many more Soul Reapers simply couldn't bear the pressure; their vision went dark and they fainted outright.
Rukia was so startled she forgot to struggle. It took her quite some time to recover, and when she did she glared at Cole in exasperation.
"Cole, what are you doing!?"
"When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat get cooked too…"
Cole coughed awkwardly, then said,
"I'm pushing my ability to its limit. Some collateral damage is unavoidable… but relax, their lives aren't in danger…"
Soul Reapers all had exceptionally strong bodies; even the weakest of them possessed strength a hundred times that of a human.
Being crushed and knocked unconscious right now was just because they couldn't handle the sudden gravity yet.
There was no real risk to their lives—in fact, they would gradually adapt to the gravity over time.
Rukia had barely let out a sigh of relief when a deafening boom sounded from the sky above.
She instinctively looked up.
Her pupils constricted to the limit as she stared at the crack in the heavens in utter shock.
"What is that!? A Garganta!?"
What she saw was countless mysterious, intricate patterns appearing in the sky, spreading across the fabric of space itself, forming a vast black halo.
Vast, majestic, suffused with overwhelming heavenly might.
At that moment, that sky-like space was collapsing, tearing apart bit by bit. The noise of it breaking was more piercing than thunder.
One layer of space after another was being ripped away.
It was like a hard-shelled nut whose outer shell was being peeled off layer by layer, revealing the soft kernel within.
Seeing this, every Soul Reaper of lieutenant rank and above held their breath.
Shunsui stared at the heavens, his voice dry.
"So that's… the Spirit King's Palace…?"
His teacher had been Yamamoto, and he himself was a veteran Soul Reaper with deep seniority.
Yet even so, he had never seen the true outer face of the Spirit King's Palace. Now that he did, it really did feel like something that shook the very heavens and earth.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the space was not only collapsing bit by bit—it was also descending.
It was as if Cole's earlier words had come true.
He really was going to knock the Spirit King's Palace down.
As everyone stood speechless…
Aizen could no longer restrain the frenzy in his heart. His eyes blazed as he stared up at the sky.
"There's no mistake… that's the Spirit King's Palace!"
He had never seen it with his own eyes before, yet he knew beyond doubt that this was it.
Only the Spirit King's Palace would display such an astonishing feat.
No one else—not even the Four Great Noble Houses—had the right to carve out such an astonishing space in the middle of Seireitei.
As he thought this, Aizen burst into wild laughter and thrust his right hand toward the heavens.
"So this is what you call the Spirit King…?"
"Watch me knock him down as well!"
"Hado no 91: Kurohitsugi (Black Coffin)!"
In an instant, a gigantic black coffin appeared in the sky, enclosing nearly half the space within it and ripping open even more fractures.
(End of Chapter)
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