"A true... resurrection?"
Rukia murmured, "You want me to... help you? What do you want me to do?"
"Just cooperate with my actions from now on."
Beltz said indifferently, "I'm afraid you won't be able to return to the Seireitei for a while."
"During this time, let's get along well."
Rukia's hands clenched unconsciously. Get along well with this monster?
But the things Beltz had said before had largely destroyed her worldview, only to reshape it amidst the ruins.
She was very confused now and didn't know what to do.
After hearing Beltz' words, it seemed like this was the only thing she could do for now.
"But if I disappear for a long time, Big Brother—"
Thinking of how Kuchiki Byakuya had never given her a kind look since adopting her, always appearing cold, Rukia lowered her head again and said somewhat timidly, "No, Captain—he should be worried about me."
"Sacrifices must always be made."
Beltz said softly, "I cannot come into contact with your captain."
Rukia could understand; after all, Beltz' appearance was completely that of a Hollow. What if he was mistaken for a Hollow by a Shinigami and cut down?
Seeing Rukia's hesitation, Beltz added, "Alright, if there's a chance, I'll let your captain know."
Rukia then lifted her head and said gratefully, "Thank you. By the way, I don't know your name yet."
She was thanking him already?
Beltz smiled and stated his name: "Beltz."
"Then, Beltz—"
Sitting on Beltz' back, Rukia looked at the endless sky and clouds ahead, her eyes somewhat hollow. She let her mind go blank and asked in a low voice, "How did you know that the Hōgyoku was inside me? What is the Hōgyoku? Why is it inside me?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"Of course I do!"
"I can tell you, but you can't tell anyone else. This is a secret between the two of us, how about it?"
"Of course, I am very trustworthy."
"Then it starts from several decades ago." Beltz slowly recounted the events involving the Visored, Aizen, and Urahara.
The more Rukia listened, the more shocked she became. By the end, she felt a bone-chilling sense of horror!
What Beltz described was simply too terrifying.
Captain Aizen, known as the nice guy of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, was actually a traitor?
He was the mastermind behind everything, and everyone was being used by him?
The Hollowfication experiments of the Visored were his doing, and Urahara and Yoruichi were framed by him!
And now, within the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, there were two other captains who were his subordinates?
Tōsen Kaname and Ichimaru Gin!
Rukia had encountered Ichimaru Gin a few times, and every time she saw him, she felt as if she were being stared at by a snake.
That feeling was too frightening, as if she would be swallowed by that snake in the next second.
So she never liked Ichimaru Gin, but she never expected him to be in league with Aizen!
No! She had to go back quickly. She had to tell the Captain, tell the Head Captain! They had to go and catch Aizen immediately!
"Beltz, I can't stay with you. I have to go back quickly!"
"It's useless," Beltz said. "Do you think the people of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads will believe you, or will they believe Aizen?"
"..." Rukia froze again, her body suddenly going limp.
Yes, how could anyone believe her over Aizen?
She was just an ordinary Shinigami, at most the adopted child of the Kuchiki family. How could she compare to Aizen, the Captain of the Fifth Division?
Moreover, she had heard all this from Beltz; there was no evidence at all.
If others heard it, they would probably just think Beltz was trying to sow discord, wouldn't they?
Seeing that Rukia believed his words so easily, Beltz knew she had trusted him from the bottom of her heart.
After all, Rukia's spirit was at its most fragile right now. Her worldview had just been completely destroyed, and in the process of rebuilding it, whatever others said would become part of her new worldview.
That was why Beltz had acted harshly before and then completely confessed afterward, to close the distance between them.
"Then—then can we only just watch?" Rukia murmured. "If this continues, who knows how many more people will fall victim to Aizen's schemes."
"No," Beltz said. "Rashly exposing all this, or even starting a war with Aizen, would only lead to widespread suffering."
"Aizen's strength is not something you can compare to. His Kyōka Suigetsu can manipulate everyone's senses. I can guarantee that even if you wanted to tell others the truth, Aizen could alter the words coming out of your mouth."
"What you say and what others hear will be completely different."
"Everyone in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, including the Head Captain, is under his hypnosis. If he wanted to, he could even wipe out the Thirteen Court Guard Squads right now."
Hearing this, Rukia felt even more powerless.
"Aizen, what exactly does he want to do? Why is he doing this?"
"To become a god."
"Become a god?"
"Yes."
Beltz said, "Aizen's own strength has long reached the limits of a Shinigami. He can no longer progress, which is the most desperate thing for a powerhouse."
On this point, Hollows had the most to say.
The greatest despair for a Hollow was the stagnation of evolution, so they would desperately devour others to make themselves evolve.
And the ultimate despair was when, after reaching a certain stage, no matter how much they devoured, they could not advance even a single step further.
Then, after reaching a certain point, they would regress back to their original primitive stage, never able to evolve again.
Aizen, having reached the limit of a Shinigami, similarly craved further evolution.
Rukia, of course, could not understand this point, as she was still far from reaching her own limit.
"Then what about you—?"
Rukia suddenly asked, "How do you know all this? This should be the secret of secrets, right?"
"..." Beltz fell silent this time, not speaking for a long while.
"Ah, if you feel it's hard to say, just act as if I didn't ask." Seeing Beltz' silence, Rukia quickly added, "No, there's nothing to hide."
Beltz responded, "Because I am a Quincy. We have always been hidden in the shadow of the Seireitei, so we know everything that happens within it."
"What? Quincy—" Rukia frowned and asked in confusion, "I've never heard of them, why would you be in the shadow of the Seireitei?"
Rukia truly didn't know, because Quincies hadn't existed in the outside world for a long time.
The Quincy race had been wiped out by the Shinigami twice: once a thousand years ago, and once about two hundred years ago.
Since then, there had been no trace of Quincies in the outside world.
Even in the Seireitei, no one talked about Quincies anymore.
After all, in their eyes, Quincies had almost completely disappeared, to the point where even the Spiritual Arts Academy no longer had records of such a group.
Rukia was completely unaware of their existence.
"We are enemies of the Shinigami, I suppose."
Beltz said softly, "We have some differences in how we deal with Hollows."
"There's no need to mention these things, or you can ask your captain when you go back, or look up some related books yourself; you'll find out eventually."
"...I understand."
After a while, Rukia looked up at Beltz' dragon head again.
Although she was on his back and couldn't see his face from this angle, she was looking at Beltz' dragon horns.
"Hey, Beltz."
She spoke softly. "What?" Beltz, who was flying, asked. Rukia asked in a low voice, "Then—will you be my enemy too?"
"Are you also just trying to use me?"
"Idiot, who asks such a question so directly?" Beltz chuckled. "However, as for whether we're enemies, I can only say that I am different from other Quincies."
That one sentence was enough.
If he had said he wouldn't become her enemy, it would have seemed a bit forced.
Just saying that he was different from the Quincies who were enemies of the Shinigami was sufficient.
"Get ready."
While Rukia was silent, Beltz suddenly spoke.
"?"
Rukia was confused: "What?"
"We're going down."
Beltz instantly dove downward!
The person and the dragon, originally ten thousand meters high in the sky, were now diving rapidly toward the endless sea below!
This rapid dive made Rukia scream in terror, and tears almost came out!
Boom!
Then, with a loud landing sound, the two came from the sky to the ground.
Just before landing, Beltz had already changed back into human form.
Standing on the island, he held Rukia in his arms, while she trembled in his embrace, curled into a ball.
After a while, Rukia finally reacted.
She looked at Beltz, who had now returned to human form, and she was stunned, still shaken from the dive.
"You—"
She even forgot the fear of falling earlier, her eyes just wide: "Are you Beltz?!"
So—
Beltz wasn't a monster?!
Where was that huge Azure Dragon from before?
How did he suddenly turn into this fair-skinned handsome guy?
Beltz was certainly a handsome guy; this point had been certified by Candice and Bambi!
Even in the world of Bleach, where there were many handsome men and beautiful women, he was at a stunning level, roughly on par with Haschwalth.
So Rukia was truly shocked right now.
Mainly because the contrast was too great.
She had always viewed Beltz as a monster before!
Now the monster had suddenly become a handsome guy; even Beauty and the Beast didn't have such a huge contrast.
"Did you really think I was some kind of monster?"
Beltz laughed.
☰