Starrk's voice was soft, but…
No one present was an ordinary being. They all heard it clearly.
"Collapse?"
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez frowned. "What do you mean?"
Aizen-sama… collapsing?
How was that possible?
Ulquiorra Cifer narrowed his eyes slightly, as if contemplating something.
But…
Aizen Sosuke himself acted as if he hadn't heard Starrk at all. His expression remained calm.
In fact…
He was still channeling more of the Hōgyoku's power.
He had created the Hōgyoku himself. Of course he understood its pros and cons better than anyone.
But…
Facing Lynn, Aizen had come to a clear realization.
If he did not continue evolving, he would definitely lose.
So…
Under Hueco Mundo's pale sky, Aizen stood silently. His pupils shimmered with a deep purple light.
Buzz—
The Hōgyoku on his chest bloomed again with its signature glow.
His evolution accelerated even further.
Crack—
The white bone armor continued to spread, encasing more of his body. It now resembled a grotesque exoskeleton.
He could feel it. With every heartbeat, a tearing pain surged through his body. The Hōgyoku was forcibly restructuring every cell.
"Still not enough…"
Aizen muttered through the metallic echo of the bone armor.
He raised his hand, looking at the sharp bone spurs protruding from his fingertips. "At this level… it's far from enough."
In the distance, Ulquiorra's pupils contracted slightly.
As the calmest of the Espada, he clearly saw the blood seeping through the gaps in Aizen's armor. That was a sign.
His body could no longer keep up with the evolution.
"Lord Aizen!" Grimmjow couldn't help but shout, "Your body—"
"No need to worry."
Aizen cut him off, his voice eerily calm. "This rate of evolution won't destroy me."
"But…"
Grimmjow looked at the sword hilt still clutched in Aizen's hand. "Your weapon…"
"Kyōka Suigetsu…"
As if just remembering, Aizen's tone turned faintly nostalgic.
But…
He didn't even spare the broken hilt another glance.
In fact…
He let it go.
With a splash, it dropped into the sea below.
He chuckled. "Though Kyōka Suigetsu is destroyed, its essence has long since become part of my soul."
Aizen slowly raised his hand. Ripples shimmered in the air.
"The so-called Zanpakutō is just a medium. A means to channel power."
Starrk's eyes widened.
He saw countless threads of dense, condensed reishi appear in the air. They were far more refined than before.
That was clearly Kyōka Suigetsu's power.
But it no longer required a physical weapon.
"I see…" Tier Harribel murmured. "Aizen… has transcended the boundaries of a Soul Reaper."
Ulquiorra's tensed shoulders eased slightly.
Yes. That was Aizen. How could something like a broken Zanpakutō hinder him?
A renewed sense of faith reignited in his eyes.
As long as Aizen still stood, no obstacle was insurmountable.
But…
The man they believed in so devoutly did not feel reassured at all.
Aizen looked at Lynn, who remained utterly composed. A cold glint flickered in his eyes beneath the armor.
"Then let's begin."
Before the final word even left his mouth, hundreds of identical Aizen clones materialized in the void. Each one lifelike. Each exuding terrifying spiritual pressure.
This wasn't a simple clone technique.
It was the perfected manifestation of Kyōka Suigetsu's complete hypnosis. By distorting all sensory perception, the enemy would simultaneously "see" countless real Aizens.
Crackle—
Hundreds of Aizens raised their hands together. Thousands of energy spheres condensed in the sky, each one capable of obliterating a city.
Compared to before, after evolving through the Hōgyoku, Aizen's spiritual pressure had risen to a whole new level.
Boom—
The spheres rained down like a violent storm, completely engulfing the space where Lynn stood.
The explosions were deafening. The pale sky of Hueco Mundo split apart with jagged black cracks.
Grimmjow shielded his face from the shockwave, a surge of excitement welling up inside him.
With an attack of this scale… even that monster couldn't possibly.
But when the smoke cleared, his thoughts abruptly froze.
Lynn was still there.
Not even a single thread of his clothing was damaged.
He stood motionless, eyes calm, not a trace of contempt or awe in his expression.
"Impossible…" Grimmjow's voice trembled. "Kyōka Suigetsu's complete hypnosis… didn't work?"
Finally, a crack appeared in Aizen's expression beneath his armor.
He could clearly feel it—his reishi threads melted into nothing the moment they neared Lynn, like snowflakes dissolving into molten lava.
It wasn't being resisted or broken.
It was as if…
Kyōka Suigetsu's ability never existed to begin with.
"Interesting…"
Aizen tried to compose himself, but his voice came out hoarse. "You're the first… completely immune to Kyōka Suigetsu."
Lynn finally spoke, his voice cold and emotionless.
"That's it?"
Aizen was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed.
"Of course there's more!"
He ripped open the tattered remnants of his uniform, revealing his chest fully covered in bone armor.
The purple light of the Hōgyoku had turned pitch black, absorbing the surrounding reishi like a miniature black hole.
The white armor crept higher, climbing up his neck, slowly covering his chin and cheeks.
"Aizen-sama!"
Ulquiorra shouted.
He saw Aizen's skin splitting under the spreading armor. Blood seeped from the cracks, only to be forcibly healed by the Hōgyoku's power.
This wasn't evolution.
This was self-destruction disguised as evolution.
But Aizen could no longer hear anything.
His consciousness was being devoured by the Hōgyoku's darkness, leaving behind only one obsession.
To become stronger.
Stronger.
Strong enough… to kill the man in front of him.
"Hadō #99. Goryūtenmetsu."
(To be continued.)