__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Holy crap!"
"What the hell is this?! That's it? That's the Zero Division? They're absolute trash! Totally not worthy of such a big, impressive name!"
"And that ridiculous rumor from before, who the hell started it? Drag that bastard out and have him shot already!"
Ichimaru Gin was speechless.
A sudden wave of being scammed washed over him, along with a very strong urge to curse someone out.
Just one minute ago—
He had confidently told Aizen:
"The Zero Division's power is above the entire Gotei Thirteen combined. They're monsters."
Now that he thought about it again…
He really was that damn naive. How did he ever take something that outrageous at face value?
Heh.
These guys dropped dead in a second flat.
With Kamishini no Yari, he could've stabbed every last one of them to death himself.
"..."
Aizen was just as stunned.
Those eyes, usually brimming with intellect, now held nothing but profound disappointment.
Only his dignity as a proper final boss kept him from completely losing it like Gin.
Behind them—
Tōsen Kaname, who had been silent since "863" started, deliberately lowered his voice and spoke with absolute confidence.
"Lord Aizen, is it possible… that this is a trap deliberately set by the Zero Division?"
"What do you mean?"Aizen and Gin frowned.
"I believe the Zero Division intentionally created the illusion of death to deceive Yhwach's eyes. They want him to believe he can kill the Soul King."
"And once Yhwach reaches the Soul King's palace, the Zero Division will suddenly reappear and, right in front of the Soul King, effortlessly take down Yhwach and his elite guard."
"This kind of psychological execution destroys a person's will far more effectively. Even the King of the Quincy wouldn't escape unscathed!"
The more Tōsen spoke, the more excited he became, practically spraying spit everywhere.
He looked like someone savoring the feeling of having seen through everything.
And yet—
Aizen: "..."
Gin: "..."
The two fell into dead silence.
They looked at Tōsen the same way one might look at an idiot.
Fake deaths? A grand setup?
What kind of crackpot conspiracy theory was this?
Sure, the Zero Division talked big, but that didn't mean they were brain-dead.
If they could've ended the fight safely before leaving the Zero Division's palace, why drag it all the way to the Soul King's chamber?
Was this guy hoping the Soul King would die faster or something?
"Captain Tōsen…" Gin said, narrowing his eyes with a sly smile. "Once this whole ranking mess is over, maybe you should recommend yourself for promotion. The Zero Division really needs talents like you. A real hidden dragon or phoenix."
"I agree," Aizen said flatly, nodding.
With that, he ignored the "little genius" Tōsen entirely and turned his attention back to the ranking video.
Bang!
Another gunshot rang out.
The last remaining member of the Zero Division, "Great Weaver" Shutara Senjumaru, collapsed into a pool of blood, eyes wide with resentment even in death.
Just like that—
In only a few minutes, the situation flipped completely.
The one claiming four kills wasn't the Blade God Ōetsu Nimaiya after all.
It was the focus of this ranking segment: Lille Barro.
"Your Majesty…"
"I've cleared the path ahead for you. Please proceed without concern."
Blowing away the lingering smoke from his gun barrel, Lille Barro calmly put his sniper rifle away.
His cold expression seemed to say that killing the Zero Division was nothing more than routine work.
The image froze there.
The ranking segment ended for now.
...
Reality.
Inside the Phoenix Hall of the Soul King Palace.
"..."
Silence.
The atmosphere was so cold it felt suffocating.
This palace, which housed countless Zanpakutō, no longer echoed with laughter. Only the sound of sighs from the Zero Division remained.
"Are we… really this weak?"
Tenjirō Kirinji looked utterly drained. Even his proud pompadour seemed to droop.
It hurt.
It really hurt.
After Ōetsu's flashy domination earlier, they'd all been waiting for their own glorious moments in the rankings.
Who could've imagined—
They didn't get to show off at all. Instead, they humiliated themselves on a legendary scale.
A total loss.
Ōetsu: "..."
Kirio Hikifune: "..."
Shutara Senjumaru: "..."
No one responded to Kirinji. Every one of them lowered their head in self-reflection, no longer feeling proud to call themselves the Zero Division.
Among them, only the big-eyed monk, Ichibē Hyōsube, remained calm. He smiled kindly, as always.
"Friends, don't be discouraged. And don't think the Zero Division's name has been dragged through the mud."
"In the upcoming rankings, this monk will personally use his brush to wipe these nameless ants out of the Soul King Palace."
...
At that moment—
The paused footage resumed.
The scene skipped ahead, cutting to a new location.
Once again, it was the familiar Wahrwelt.
But this time, the camera wasn't on Yhwach's group.
Instead, it focused on groups of captains and lieutenants sprinting through different corridors.
"Lieutenant Ōmaeda…"
"Lieutenant Hinamori Momo…"
"Lieutenant Kira Izuru…"
"Lieutenant Ise Nanao…"
"Lieutenant Iba Tetsuzaemon…"
…
Once everyone recognized the figures—
Especially those lieutenants who had never appeared on screen before—the Gotei Thirteen immediately erupted.
"Huh? I get screen time too? Whoa! What a surprise!" After a brief pause, Ōmaeda burst into cheers.
Sure, his running figure looked bulky and awkward. But as long as he got to be on camera, he was happy.
"Strange," Soi Fon said, frowning slightly. "Someone like you actually showing up on the final battlefield?"
Earlier battles in Wahrwelt had all been god-tier clashes.
Ōmaeda might be captain-class, but honestly… did he really measure up?
"Hey, hey, hey!" Ōmaeda protested. "Captain, say that properly! What do you mean 'someone like me'?"
"I'm your lieutenant, you know! If I'm on screen this time, I'm definitely not just background filler. Just wait, I'll—"
But before he could finish—
His pupils shrank violently, his expression shifting in an instant.
Bang!
A gunshot echoed.
A sniper round came from an unknown direction and slammed directly into his body.
A brief pause. A struggle. Then… he was blasted backward.
Under Ōmaeda's horrified gaze, his future self was shot clean out of the frame. Not even a corpse remained.
"I… how… is this possible…"
His mind went blank.
As fear of death spread, only instinct remained. His once-energetic body deflated like a punctured balloon, collapsing limply to the ground.
He was numb.
A debut that peaked instantly.
Three seconds of screen time, then gone with a single shot.
He never could've imagined such a miserable outcome, let alone accepted it.
"That's the same guy who just sniped the Zero Division, right?" Soi Fon said, ignoring Ōmaeda's mental collapse. Her eyes were locked on the screen, scanning the sea of Western-style buildings for Lille Barro. "He must be hiding at a high vantage point."
Unfortunately, the camera angle was too limited.
Visibility was terrible.
And with Wahrwelt's tower-like structures all looking nearly identical from afar—
Soi Fon couldn't pinpoint him at all.
"If we don't find the sniper's position immediately," she said grimly, "the longer this drags on, the more dangerous it'll be for the lieutenants."
Soi Fon clenched her teeth.
Anxiety slowly crept across her delicate face.
She wished she could trade places with the vice-captains on the screen, strike back with her own unmatched perception and assassination skills, and end it all herself.
But that was nothing more than a fantasy.
All she could do was watch helplessly as the vice-captains were picked off one by one, shot down and left sprawled in pools of blood, waiting for death.
That feeling…
It was like being trapped as a spectator,
forced to personally experience a horrifying shooting game.
"..."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________