The ground beneath the canopy of Las Noches trembled. In the heart of the desert, where sand swirled in a perpetual haze, the final battle between the Gotei 13 and the Arrancar army was reaching its climax.
Facing the towering monstrosity known as the 0th Espada, Yammy Llargo, were two Soul Reapers: Byakuya Kuchiki, Captain of Squad 6, and Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of Squad 11. Byakuya, who had taken over the fight from his sister's benefactor Ichigo Kurosaki, gritted his teeth behind his usual mask of cold indifference.
"GRAAAAAAAH!!"
With a roar that felt like a physical blow to the body, the monster moved. He charged forward, using his fifteen elephantine legs to propel his massive bulk.
"Die like the insects you are!"
"..."
Byakuya used Flash Step to evade the giant meat-shield hurtling toward him. Mass itself was a weapon of destruction; Byakuya had already paid for underestimating the "clumsy oaf" with a crushed left arm.
"Don't be so cold, Espada! Ignore that brat and fight me!"
Kenpachi Zaraki lunged into the fray.
"I'm not letting you go! That's for my leg you cut! Die and stay dead!!"
"Hahahaha! Fine by me! Bring it!"
Kenpachi didn't flinch. He met Yammy's charge head-on, swinging his blade in a massive horizontal arc.
『—!!』
Sword pressure clashed against the monster's hide. But it only lasted for a second.
"You idiot! Who do you think you're fighting with a toothpick like that!?"
"Gah—!?"
Overpowered by sheer, brute strength, Kenpachi was sent flying for miles like a cannonball.
"Scatter—Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
While the enemy was distracted, Byakuya casually commanded the billions of blades of his Bankai to attack. He was well aware that simple strikes wouldn't penetrate the monster's Hierro.
"Then I shall control them directly...!"
"Huh? What—GAH!?"
By focusing his will, the speed of the blades doubled. Byakuya bunched the countless petals together like a school of fish and slammed them into the enemy's face with a wave of his arm.
Byakuya waited for the result. But inside the pink storm swallowing the Espada's head, a crimson light suddenly flickered.
"!"
A massive blast of spiritual pressure erupted, targeting the area where Byakuya stood.
"Pah... that was annoying, Soul Reaper! It stung!"
Byakuya had escaped by a hair's breadth. He watched his scattered cherry blossoms return and stared in shock at the center of the clearing. Yammy stood there, his skin slightly torn and bloody, but the wounds were nothing more than scratches. He looked down at Byakuya with a smug grin.
"Impossible..."
It shouldn't have been. His full-power Senbonzakura Kageyoshi had barely done anything. And to think his Bankai had been pushed back by a mere Arrancar's Cero.
"What are you looking so confused for? That wasn't a normal Cero."
"What...?"
"This is a specialized Cero that uses the blood of an Espada as a catalyst. You grazed my face so many times that my blood mixed in and set it off on its own!"
Byakuya's eyes widened again. But Yammy gave him no time to recover.
"Here. Since you want to taste it so bad, I'll give you a real helping!"
"Tch!"
—Way of Binding 81: Danku—
"Think of this as thanks for cutting my lip... TAKE IT!!"
—GRAN REY CERO—
A Cero of astronomical power, leagues beyond the accidental one from before, erupted from the monster's mouth. The multi-layered Kido barrier Byakuya had instantly deployed didn't even last a second. He was swallowed by a strategic-scale blast that threatened to cleave Las Noches in two.
"HAHAHAHA! But wait, there's more! That isn't the only trump card we Espada have!"
—BARA DEL REY—
As the light faded into a raging sandstorm, Yammy swung his fist like a battering ram. Simultaneously, the smoke in front of him cleared as more explosions erupted.
"How's that!? A blood-infused version of a Bala that can trade blows with Stark! It's got the power of a Cero but fifty times the speed! My Ira release can fire these until there's nothing left but dust! ORA! ORA! ORA ORA ORAAA!"
It was impossible to see how his giant arms were extending so fast. A god-speed barrage of strikes rained down. Each punch carried mass many times that of a battleship's main cannon, falling on the site of Byakuya's disappearance like machine-gun fire. Everything in the line of fire was pulverized by overwhelming violence.
The storm of destruction felt eternal. Finally, his bottomless stamina hitting a limit, the monster wheezed and lowered his fists, having half-destroyed the surface of the Great Canopy.
"Phew... man, I overdid it. Momo is gonna give me such a lecture for this..."
His rage spent, the 0th Espada scratched his head. He ignored the Soul Reapers, looking instead at the ruined state of Las Noches. He began to sweat, worried less about the defeat of the other Espada and more about the punishment he'd face for damaging the palace.
"I wouldn't worry about that, Espada."
A raspy male voice drifted toward the monster from the ruins.
"Huh? Another one? You cockroaches are everywhere."
Yammy turned to see a Soul Reaper. He was even more garish than the spiky-haired one from earlier, wearing strange blue and gold makeup.
The man spoke with a weirdly calm tone.
"Actually, I just received word that the war in the World of the Living is over. I can't afford to waste any more time on remnants like you."
"What...?"
Yammy lowered the leg he had been about to use to crush the man. He heard words he couldn't simply ignore.
"I'm busy, so listen carefully. I'm only going to say this once..."
The monster's brain stalled. The words were so far outside his reality that he couldn't process them.
"Excuse me?"
"Good grief, you really are a dull beast. I'm telling you to surrender. The man who led you is gone."
The follow-up words only confused Yammy further. He opened his mouth to laugh off the absurdity, but in that moment, a crowd of shadows appeared beside the Soul Reaper.
"So, this is Hueco Mundo..."
A petite woman, a man with a dog's face, a white-haired man, and a man with a black beard. All were wearing the white captain's coats of the Gotei 13.
"To think Hollows live in a place like this. How pitiful."
"Whoa... he's even bigger than Komamura's Bankai. If his spiritual pressure is higher than Stark's, was he Aizen's real trump card?"
"Looks like it, judging by the number on his shoulder. Let's finish him off and find the rest of the recovered Arrancars."
As more and more reinforcements arrived, even Yammy realized something was wrong. Including the two he thought he'd killed with his Gran Rey Cero, there were now seven of the enemy's top tier gathered in the heart of Las Noches.
"Now you understand, Espada."
The eighth and final figure stepped forward. He walked with a majestic pace—an old man with a long beard.
"Sosuke Aizen has been defeated. And our Gotei 13 has reclaimed your Army Leader, Momo Hinamori."
"What!? No way!"
"There are ten Captains in the Gotei 13. Aside from the two currently in the World of the Living, all eight of us are here. Surely you don't need me to explain the validity of Captain Kurotsuchi's words."
The old general looked up at him with eyes like flint. He radiated a presence that was on an entirely different level—someone who could rival Sosuke Aizen himself. His words carried the weight of absolute truth.
A lie. It has to be a lie. Momo, who was so stupidly strong. Aizen, who commanded even her. The Demon King who was like a god... they lost?
"Don't... don't screw with me! What about Halibel!? That knight-wannabe wouldn't die without killing at least one Soul Reaper! And old man Baraggan... and Stark! They were in the World of the Living! You're telling me they're all gone!?"
"Indeed. All three of them fought magnificently, worthy of their names as Espada."
Yammy's vision turned red. The emotions that had been building inside him reached a breaking point. Something inside the monster finally snapped.
"YOU DAMN TRASH! I'LL KILL YOU ALLLLLL!!"
It was rage.
Unfathomable, bottomless rage.
"What is that...?"
"He's getting bigger..."
The Soul Reapers recoiled as the monster transformed.
Horns sprouted from his face, his body swelled to a grotesque size, and his eight pairs of legs merged back into two. His entire body was covered in the black fur of a demonic ape. The master's rage had pushed his Resurrección, Ira, past its limit. Yammy Llargo had become a beast of fury that reached for the heavens.
"You insects... none of you... are leaving here alive."
A low, resentful growl rumbled from his throat.
"You cannot be stopped, can you, Espada?"
"Huh? Who do you think you're talking to!? Stark and Baraggan... the guys you worked so hard to kill... they were nothing but garbage compared to me!"
The monster's spiritual pressure expanded to a terrifying degree. It was clear to every Captain present: there was no more room for talk.
"That's right... I am the Espada! It doesn't matter if the other trash is gone, as long as I'm here! I'll crush you all, just like those other two Soul Reapers...!"
The 0th Espada raised a massive leg and brought it down with every ounce of his weight.
"IT'S OVER!!"
An earthquake shook the entirety of Hueco Mundo. Nearby buildings collapsed, the canopy crumbled, and the moonlight of the eternal night mixed with the artificial sun to illuminate the desert of Las Noches.
It was a stomp powerful enough to reach the tenth sub-level of the palace. The monster bared his teeth in a grin of pure ecstasy, certain that everyone was dead.
But then, as the dust began to settle, Yammy saw a familiar shade of pink.
"To think someone like you..."
"...actually thought you killed someone?"
He recognized the voices. Just as he realized who they belonged to, a sharp, agonizing pain shot through the leg he had just used to stomp.
"GAAAGH!?"
His sole had been sliced clean in half. A torrent of blood stained the sand red. Yammy fell to one knee in shock. Standing before him were two Soul Reapers.
"Well, it's true that the brat over there was only a hair's breadth from death," Kenpachi noted.
"Speak for yourself. You're the one who can barely stand," Byakuya retorted.
The two men were half-naked, covered in horrific burns and bleeding from dozens of wounds. Byakuya Kuchiki and Kenpachi Zaraki had returned from the brink of death to stand before the monster once more.
And for the stunned Yammy, the final trial arrived.
"All things in the universe, turn to ashes."
—Ryujin Jakka—
The heat was so intense the monster began to shake. He reflexively looked up and stumbled back.
There stood the old Soul Reaper, his Zanpakuto wrapped in a hellish inferno.
"Even when fighting alone, you do not falter. Impressive for an enemy. For the sake of your loyalty..."
"—...I shall leave you with a single breath of life."
***
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