Grayfia's gaze swept towards Aizen's Zanpakutō, and Grayfia's brow furrowed as she noticed something was wrong.
"Rune... You modified your Zanpakutō?"
"That's right."
Aizen channeled the Reiatsu within his body, and black runes lit up one by one on his Zanpakutō.
"The technology of the Deva, Ophis's Snake, and the Rune Magic of the Norse pantheon."
"I analyzed the powers from different systems and strengthened the main body of Kyoka Suigetsu."
After being strengthened, the power of Kyoka Suigetsu was further enhanced, allowing him to leave Reiatsu in a designated area in advance. As long as an enemy steps into this area, they will automatically be affected, and their five senses will be controlled by him.
However, correspondingly, this type of hypnosis cannot achieve permanent effect. As long as the enemy leaves the hypnotized area, they will break free from the effects of Kyoka Suigetsu.
This was also the reason why Aizen used Baraggan and other Hollows as bait and hid in the dark to launch a sneak attack. He didn't expect Grayfia to react so quickly, discovering the anomaly immediately, but...
"Intuition has its limits. Let me see how long you can last."
Aizen left a phantom in place and used Shunpo to attack from the side.
Grayfia sensed the danger approaching, raised her hand to block the attack, and simultaneously mobilized her magic.
"Since I can't pinpoint your location, I'll just destroy everything without leaving any blind spots."
Vast demonic power erupted, and a black Magic circle formed in the sky above the Forest of Menos.
Forbidden Spell: Hell Blast!
Deafening roars echoed, and overwhelming black lightning descended, turning the area within hundreds of miles into nothingness, leaving behind a pockmarked ground.
"Oh my. To have this level of power with a casual strike, that's unbelievable."
Thousands of meters away in an open space, Ichimaru narrowed his eyes and let out a sigh.
After that, he turned his head to look at the silently appearing Aizen beside him, the corners of his lips slightly raised.
"Captain Aizen, are you confident you can win?"
"Gin, you're asking too early."
Aizen maintained a calm and composed demeanor, seemingly unaffected by anything.
"This level is not even half of her true strength."
"Oh? That's truly terrifying." Ichimaru's narrowed eyes finally opened slightly.
Even from a great distance, he felt a strong sense of threat from Grayfia's recent magic. If that was only half of Grayfia's power, then how strong was her true power?
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz...
The moment Ichimaru felt this doubt, a vast tide of demonic power surged towards him, and the air, even the entire Forest of Menos, began to shake wildly.
The dust slowly dissipated, and Grayfia walked towards him, holding a sword in each hand, emitting terrifying pressure.
"Gin, take Starrk and the others and move far away." Aizen took off his glasses and casually brushed his hair back.
The original gentle and kind-hearted aura disappeared, replaced by a cold and arrogant feeling. Vast Reiatsu continuously surged, colliding with the aura emanating from Grayfia from a distance.
Heavy collision sounds echoed in the air, as if the auras of both sides had materialized, and the aftershocks spread in all directions, clearing everything in their path.
Even Captain-level individuals like Ichimaru, who were at the center of the battlefield, felt it difficult to breathe.
"Captain Aizen, all the best."
Ichimaru immediately retreated, following Aizen's instructions to find Starrk and the others.
"Alright, now no one is interfering with us." Aizen looked at Grayfia, a rare expression of battle intent on his face, feeling somewhat pleased.
"Let me see your true strength."
"..."
Grayfia didn't reply, but instead drew her sword and slashed at the air beside her body.
Without a sound, Restia, transformed into a weapon, stopped in mid-air just like before.
Grayfia paid no attention, holding a sword in each hand and launching a continuous attack, with hundreds of thousands of slashes raining down.
Slashes overflowed, and the ground collapsed.
Merciless cold light cut through the air, continuously attacking nothingness.
A few seconds later, there was a bang.
Grayfia's spirit was invigorated, and she instantly unleashed her full power, slashing at the air in front of her.
Boom!
The Vorpal Sword landed on the ground, and a huge gully extended infinitely into the distance.
Didn't hit?
No, it hit.
Glancing at the bloodstain appearing on the sword tip, she turned her head to look at Aizen not far away.
"Finally showing your true self."
"I'm very curious, how did you do it?" The smile on Aizen's face grew even wider.
At this moment, the upper half of his clothes was soaked with blood, and a huge wound extended from his right shoulder all the way to his waist. This was caused by Grayfia's previous attack, and it was precisely because of this strike that Aizen confirmed something.
"It's not intuition, you completely ignored the effect of Kyoka Suigetsu."
"Perhaps." Grayfia gave an ambiguous answer.
In fact, she did rely on intuition to dodge the initial strike but after that, it was different.
Because of Yahweh's request, she had taken many items from her to test their effects.
The purifying greatsword she used against the Hollow earlier was one of them, and she also had some other items on her.
For example... the Divine Blessing Talisman, which can stabilize the mind and purify negative status effects after activation.
Originally, Grayfia planned to use this talisman to test its detoxification effect. Unexpectedly, by chance, it also worked against Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu.
Looking at Aizen not far away, who was severely injured and whose aura had dropped significantly compared to before, Grayfia attacked again, preparing to finish him off while he was injured.
However, at this moment, a layer of milky white Reiatsu emerged, covering Aizen's body. The wound healed quickly, and Aizen's aura was further enhanced, becoming even more terrifying.
"Since Kyoka Suigetsu is ineffective, I don't need it anymore."
Aizen pushed his Reiatsu to the extreme, and countless Reiatsu shields blocked in front, stopping Grayfia.
Seizing this opportunity, Aizen raised his hand and aimed at Grayfia.
"Hadō #90. Kurohitsugi!"
A huge black coffin rose from the ground, and Reiatsu materialized into blades, slashing towards Grayfia.
"Grayfia, I'll help you."
Restia's voice sounded, and True Darkness emerged from the sword.
Grayfia understood, controlling the True Darkness to gather on her sword tip, and swung her sword down.
Bang!
The black coffin shattered into countless fragments, and Grayfia reappeared in the open.
At the same time, the ground began to shake wildly, and five Reiatsu dragons broke through the surface and appeared above.
"Hadō #99. Goryūtenmetsu!"
Aizen, who had already prepared, raised his hand and pressed down, and the five Reiatsu dragons crashed towards Grayfia.
Grayfia paid no attention and charged forward. The pitch-black True Darkness surged wildly, hitting the dragons before her.
The Reiatsu dragons were affected, and a layer of pitch black slowly covered their outer appearance.
The next second, the five dragons changed direction and charged towards Aizen along with Grayfia.
Deafening roars echoed, and Aizen, who hadn't expected the Goryūtenmetsu to have its control seized, was hit head-on by this attack, suffering numerous wounds all over his body.
Grayfia pressed on, attacking again, preparing to finish off Aizen.
But just like a scene being replicated, Aizen's Reiatsu expanded once again, and three pairs of butterfly wings appeared on his back.
With a flap of his butterfly wings, Aizen's figure disappeared and reappeared in an open space tens of thousands of meters away. Vast and boundless Reiatsu continuously surged, and under the effect of the hōgyoku, his injuries healed rapidly.
"How is there a third stage too?!" Restia's voice of complaint sounded.
Two power-ups in a short period of time, is this guy the protagonist of some shonen manga?
"It's okay, I just need to defeat him one more time." Grayfia, however, didn't react much.
Even if he evolved again, Aizen's strength still had a gap compared to hers.
Slashes fell, and wounds covered Aizen's entire body, with True Darkness continuously eroding him.
But Aizen wasn't someone to be trifled with either. While fighting, Hadō and magic continuously unfolded around his body.
Kidō, healing magic, the power of the hōgyoku...
Various factors combined, and Aizen managed to heal his injuries despite the True Darkness, turning the battle into a war of attrition.
At this moment, a beam of light struck from tens of thousands of meters away, arriving behind Grayfia in an instant.
Bang!
A golden light shield appeared behind Grayfia, blocking the beam of light.
There are others?
Grayfia's pupils contracted, and she immediately stopped her attack on Aizen, retreating to create distance.
Seeing this, Aizen also created distance. He took out a key and inserted it into the air, opening a spatial passage and disappearing from the spot.
***
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