Chapter 23: The Soul King's Sword
In short, Mizuma had a good grasp of the situation.
Long ago the Soul King forged a weapon called the "Divine Sword" and placed it inside a small world tucked between the three realms. He also brought back a fairy-tale dragon called "Little Red Riding Hood" from the West Branch to guard the sword. Members of the Tsunayashiro family and Katani Shinno from Central 46 each held pieces of intelligence about the Divine Sword and planned to come here to seize it.
In the web of scheming, however, Katani clearly ranked lower than Tokinada. The likely layout was this: Tokinada enlisted Katani for his restraining device, then outsourced the dangerous job to the Gotei 13—using the expedition as a cover to double-cross both Katani and the exploration team and try to claim the Divine Sword for himself.
One embarrassing oversight in their plan: two troublesome variables had slipped into the exploration squad.
Mizuma was easy to ignore—Tokinada hadn't bothered to mention him, apparently assuming a mere Fifth Seat wasn't worth much. Mizuma was fine with that. But to underestimate Urahara Kisuke… even Aizen would have to admit they'd been brave (or foolish).
Crucially, this wasn't the ordinary Urahara: for this mission he'd brought an entire backpack of equipment. Mizuma was probably the only person present who fully appreciated how terrifying Urahara's gadgetry could be—but even he didn't want to contemplate in detail what that pack contained.
Worse, Tokinada hadn't even noticed that a walking calamity—Aizen—stood openly among them. In other words, when a mantis goes after a cicada, it'd better watch whether there's a hawk behind it.
Most questions were answered; only one remained.
What exactly was the Divine Sword?
Mizuma set that aside for the moment—there were more immediate problems to handle.
"Bind, Benihime!"
Urahara barked the command and drove his zanpakutō into the ground. Black, band-like restraints shot out with blinding speed and wrapped around Mizuma, hauling his arm back to Lisa's side.
Before Urahara could say anything else, the dragon at the crystal suddenly flared. Red streams of light bled from between its scales and braided together, coalescing into a hooded cloak that wrapped the dragon's whole body. Two seconds later Little Red Riding Hood opened her maw and spat a concentrated gout of superheated flame at the cavern edge where the three stood.
"What—?!"
Urahara stepped forward without hesitation and swung his blade in a shout: "Chikasumi no Tate!" A triangular crimson shield blazed into being and intercepted the incoming fire one beat before it struck the trio, though the shield began to crack from the corners under the pressure.
This was not a mere contest of endurance; others answered the attack at the same time.
Hadō #63: Raikōhō!
Half-kneeling and pushing upward, Mizuma thrust his hand to the sky and unleashed kido he often used in public. Golden, electric light arced like an uppercut and struck the dragon's hood—enough to make it flinch and momentarily halt its flame, but not to break even a single visible mark. Its defenses were astonishing.
Is that dragon really that tough? Or is this thing special?
"Oh? Your power is red. I like it." Little Red Riding Hood commented idly, then pawed at her face in a catlike motion and paused.
"Captain Urahara, sorry…" Mizuma stood and admitted, "we didn't even scratch its hide…"
"That's fine. You did well." Urahara soothed him, but his gaze remained fixed and serious on the casually crouched dragon. He demanded, sternly: "Who are you? Why are you attacking us?"
"You just asked that." Little Red Riding Hood blinked and, with a childlike smile on her delicate dragon face, answered plainly: "I'm the Guardian appointed by the Soul King. I guard the Divine Sword and put every seeker through a trial—just like I'm doing now."
Mizuma scoffed and snapped, "But we don't even know what the Divine Sword is!"
"Hm?" the dragon cocked her head in confusion. "You Shinigami don't have a record? The Divine Sword is a weapon the Soul King personally made. It contains the Soul King's radiance and can break any enemy. Long ago a certain Shinigami visited here—something like Tsunayashiro—and the Soul King told them to record it. How could you not know?"
Mizuma guessed the Tsunayashiro family had hoarded or suppressed the record. Of course they had. He opened his mouth to argue, but the dragon cut him off and, with a mild tone, continued: "Anyway, by the rules, entering the hall means you accept the trial… but since you say you're uninformed, I'll explain."
With a gesture of her right paw, a blue barrier slammed down behind the three and sealed off the cave—cutting off their only retreat.
"You have two choices," the dragon said, holding up two sharp claws. "Defeat me, or escape. Neither will be easy. I will stop you with all my strength—don't underestimate me. I am very strong."
"Looks like—"
Urahara sighed and called upward through a new opening in the ceiling: "Negotiations failed, Captain Kensei."
"Heard," came the reply.
A sturdy silhouette flashed down the hole and landed beside the trio. "Then it's fighting time… right?"
Little Red Riding Hood chirped happily, as if in reply: "Exactly."
The mood tightened.
A surge of reiatsu shot up.
"Bankai—Tekken Tachikaze!" Kensei shouted.
"Crush him—Haguro Tonbo!" another voice barked.
"Sing, Benihime!" Urahara commanded.
"Hadō #88: Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" Mizuma cried.
The cavern exploded with attacks, and the trial was underway.
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〔TL〕
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