The golden figure smashed into the innermost barrier hard enough to send violent ripples across its entire surface.
Fortunately, captain-class Shinigami were personally maintaining that layer, and despite the tremendous impact, it held.
"Hahahaha! Now that's more like it!"
Kenpachi's crazed laughter rang out from where he had crashed.
"What a sharp nose you've got."
Another voice followed, and a figure slowly rose into the air as though gravity meant nothing to him.
Behind Cyrus, an enormous spatial fissure began opening.
Through it, countless Menos could be seen standing on the other side, all staring toward Karakura Town, while dozens of humanoid Hollows gathered near the edge of the opening.
Powerful Reiatsu poured through the rift in waves.
Every one of them was an Arrancar.
The Shinigami who sensed that pressure unconsciously swallowed, beads of nervous sweat sliding down their foreheads.
From atop a high-rise, Yamamoto tightened his grip on his cane.
Cyrus alone was already an opponent they had little confidence in handling, yet he had brought an army of powerful Hollows with him as well.
Several were familiar faces who had already caused heavy destruction and casualties in the World of the Living, and their strength was easily comparable to captain-class Shinigami.
Cyrus swept his gaze across the artificial Karakura Town and took in every layer of preparation.
"I gave you plenty of time."
His voice wasn't particularly loud, yet it carried across the entire city.
"To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. I thought some of you might have gotten stronger, but it looks like you're still exactly the same."
The Shinigami listening to him felt their hearts sink. That tone did not sound like a promising beginning.
"There is no need for such boasting."
Yamamoto's low voice answered from the distance.
Cyrus turned toward him with an easy smile. "Not even going to try smoothing things over first?"
"If such a thing were possible, this old man would naturally prefer it. But you do not appear interested in allowing that."
Yamamoto's expression remained grave.
If there were any possibility of avoiding what was about to happen, he would have taken it, even after the destruction Cyrus had caused in Soul Society.
Compared with the potential annihilation of the entire world, the damage to Seireitei meant very little.
But Yamamoto already knew compromise was impossible. He had tried once before and failed. There was no reason to cling to false hope now.
"What do you want us to do?"
Behind Cyrus, Starrk stepped partially through the fissure and looked at his back, waiting for instructions.
"Nothing."
Cyrus didn't even turn around. He merely raised one hand in dismissal.
"Head back to the great forest. As long as you're inside its boundaries, that's enough."
"Huh?"
Starrk stared at him in surprise.
"Whether you're here or not won't make much difference." Cyrus's tone remained casual. "I'm going all out from this point onward, and if you stay here, there's no guarantee you'll survive."
'Going all out?'
A disturbance immediately spread among the Arrancar.
They all knew how strong Cyrus was, but the statement still felt insulting. Was he really implying they were so insignificant that merely remaining near his battle could kill them?
"Understood."
Starrk recovered first and nodded without argument.
He glanced at the others, then simply turned and walked back into the fissure.
Nelliel and Harribel exchanged a look before following him.
Several other Arrancar hesitated only briefly before retreating as well, though many remained stubbornly in place, apparently unwilling to miss the fight.
Cyrus didn't repeat the order.
Boom!
Kenpachi had already recovered and launched himself forward again, his body becoming a pillar of golden Reiatsu as he charged straight at Cyrus.
He gripped his sword with both hands this time, putting everything into a downward strike.
Cyrus raised his left hand.
Smack!
His palm closed around the descending blade.
Crack!
The sound of breaking metal came from inside Cyrus's grip.
For the first time, Kenpachi's expression turned genuinely startled.
Cyrus slowly exhaled.
"Whoo…"
A thin trail of white vapor left his mouth, and even the space around it visibly distorted beneath the heat.
"They used to call me the Flame Demon."
His lips curved into a smile.
"So I came up with something to live up to the name. Never really had much opportunity to use it, though."
The air around him suddenly warped.
Space itself seemed to transform into the surface of a violently disturbed lake, rippling and twisting around his body.
A hand abruptly seized Kenpachi by the shoulder.
In the same instant, both he and Yamamoto disappeared.
The Captain-Commander had used Shunpo to drag Kenpachi away.
Behind Cyrus, the still-open fissure connecting to Hueco Mundo began twisting violently under the rising temperature, its structure becoming unstable.
The Arrancar who had refused to retreat finally understood what he meant.
Their bodies began trembling as they frantically backed away.
In only moments, their flesh started drying and shriveling, while the fragments of Hollow masks remaining on their bodies cracked under the heat.
The larger Menos farther back didn't even have time to flee.
They opened their mouths in soundless roars before their enormous bodies seemed to be erased from existence.
White flames streaked with orange-red erupted from Cyrus.
The fire twisted, expanded, and swelled as though alive. Within moments, a gigantic humanoid figure hundreds of meters tall had taken shape.
Every part of its body was made entirely of flame.
The giant possessed a massively muscled frame, golden light burned within its eyes, and two enormous spiral horns twisted upward from its head.
Around its feet, everything began melting almost immediately before vaporizing entirely.
Buildings.
Roads.
The ground itself.
Nothing remained.
Cyrus's figure emerged from the flames at the top of the giant's head.
"Kill them."
The Flame Demon's eyes snapped wide open.
It raised its right arm, and an enormous sword materialized in its hand, longer than the giant itself.
Red-gold patterns pulsed across the blade while illusory flames danced along its surface.
"Ryūjin Jakka!"
The giant casually swung the enormous blade downward.
At the same moment, a small figure shot upward to meet it.
Yamamoto.
His own burning Zanpakutō crashed directly against the descending weapon.
There was no contest.
The instant the two blades met, Yamamoto was hurled backward like a projectile. He slammed into the ground, carved a long trench through the artificial city, and skidded all the way toward Karakura Town's outer edge.
A crimson slash erupted from the giant blade.
Anything standing in its path vanished instantly into vapor. Even the surrounding space collapsed wherever the attack passed, and unlike before, the shattered space failed to repair itself afterward.
"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Byakuya's cold voice rang out.
The space around the Flame Demon shifted as enormous blades rose from the ground in countless rows.
Whoosh!
The giant simply changed the direction of its weapon and swept horizontally.
A figure was blasted away.
Byakuya flew through the air with his face drained of color, half his body already gone—completely vaporized by the heat.
He had only just returned after escorting the others away.
The moment he saw Cyrus's enormous flaming construct, he had attacked without hesitation.
His Bankai had collapsed on contact.
"Minazuki!"
Unohana released Bankai immediately and caught Byakuya as he fell, beginning treatment at once.
But before anyone had time to recover, the crimson slash reached the edge of Karakura Town.
It struck the barriers.
There was no explosion.
No violent collision.
Layer after layer of the Shinigami's defensive barriers simply broke apart in absolute silence.
And every Shinigami maintaining them was gravely injured in the same instant.