Shigure Segawa held his sword with one hand, a smile gracing his face.
"Are you alright?"
The moment the intern saw him, his spirits were instantly lifted.
"Segawa! Is... is that your spiritual pressure?!"
Shigure did not respond but walked forward, facing the owl-shaped Hollow with his back to the intern, calmly saying:
"Could you please step back a bit? Controlling my spiritual pressure so it doesn't affect you slightly hinders my combat."
Upon hearing this, the intern was immediately taken aback.
It really was him!
That unbelievable spiritual pressure, strong enough to crush Hollows!
"Y-Yes! Thank you for saving me!"
The intern quickly got up, bowed at a 90-degree angle, and swiftly dashed to a distance.
"Please hold on! I'll notify Lieutenant Matsumoto to come and assist!"
He understood that with his weak power, staying here would only be a burden to Shigure.
Thus, he went to seek help.
As the sound of his footsteps faded away, Shigure remained silent, focusing intently on the Hollow before him.
By now, he had sensed the opportunity to release his Zanpakutō.
It was combat.
It was the blood of a mortal enemy.
And the Hollow in front of him... was just the opportunity!
Shigure's lips curled up as he slowly raised his sword, looking at the Hollow.
"Then... let you be the first whetstone!"
With those words, Shigure performed a Shunpo, arriving at the Hollow's flank.
With a swift slash, he easily severed its left wing.
The moment the blade touched the blood, Shigure heard the roar of a dragon!
This confirmed his hypothesis further.
Without hesitation, he descended, stepping on the Hollow's back, and thrust the blade into its bony skull.
Empowered by his overwhelming spiritual pressure, the blade's force became extraordinary, slicing through like tofu, without resistance.
"Roar!!"
The owl-shaped Hollow let out a huge scream, struggling and emitting horrifying bone-cracking sounds.
Shigure pulled out his sword, black blood splattering.
The dragon's roar echoed in Shigure's mind again, this time lasting longer than before.
But then, an anomaly occurred; the Hollow's body suddenly began to split, and black spiritual pressure started to burn like flames.
Seeing this, Shigure used Shunpo to leave its body, landing on a streetlight, focusing intently.
The Hollow did not die; instead, under the influence of this spiritual pressure, its body began to rapidly expand and solidify into bone.
Shigure squinted slightly, "It seems an unreleased Asauchi has some hindrance in directly killing a Hollow..."
After enlarging, the owl-shaped Hollow roared, its spiritual pressure rapidly surging, reaching several times its previous level!
It seemed this was its true form.
Shigure intended to charge again, but at that moment, his Zanpakutō suddenly burst into a fierce golden light.
Unconsciously closing his eyes, Shigure opened them to find himself within the inner world of his Zanpakutō.
Shigure's eyes sparkled with understanding—the release opportunity was ripe.
Beneath his feet lay the cracked earth.
In front of him stood the dragon, the true embodiment of his Zanpakutō.
This time, unlike before, there was only a meter between them.
Shigure could reach out and touch its horns.
At that moment, the dragon suddenly opened its mouth wide, letting out a roar.
"Roar!!!"
This earth-shaking roar caused the surrounding ground to tremble violently, yet this time, Shigure remained unaffected.
As if the roar was his own.
Shigure immersed his mind, the Asauchi in his hand quickly melted, transforming completely into spiritual particles, drifting before the dragon's eyes.
At this moment, the dragon's previously alternating eyes both opened!
Its pupils transformed into blazing gold, with lightning flickering within!
Shigure's heart leapt suddenly.
Simultaneously, a grand voice emanated from the dragon's body.
"Rule the skies! Soar high!"
"Tear through the darkness! Grasp the lightning!"
"With all the heat and chaos, from the ends of the heavens to the depths of the earth, march forward!"
This magnificent voice silenced all storms in the world.
Leaving only endless lightning.
They were like spears and swords piercing through the heavens and earth, swirling and exploding!
The ground below, the sky above, seemed to be sliced into countless fragments by the lightning!
Boom!
A massive golden lightning bolt struck Shigure!
The lightning continued unabated, yet he suffered no harm.
Shigure slowly raised his right hand, and in an instant, all the lightning in the world compressed into his hand, forming a spear imbued with all the power of lightning!
At this moment, Shigure and the dragon's souls reached absolute synchronization!
The dragon's eyes blazed with lightning.
"Now... my master, call my name!"
Shigure's eyes shone brightly, his spiritual pressure erupting.
He raised the lightning spear and shouted loudly!
"Candle Dragon!!!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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