"Rudbornn-sama!" the Arrancar shouted, clutching his wound. "There's a Shinigami... ugh!"
His voice cut off abruptly as crimson blood sprayed out.
Arrancar No. 61, Rudbornn, had his head covered by a bull skull-like mask, making his expression impossible to see. "An intruder..."
Beneath the mask, his eyes reflected the towering figure who had cut down the Arrancar. A bloodstained white Haori, an open-chested Shihakushō, an eyepatch covering his right eye, spiky black hair, and a vicious scar across his left cheek.
"Captain of the 1st Division, Kenpachi Zaraki." Rudbornn drew the Zanpakutō at his waist. "I am the Captain of the Exequias , Arrancar No. 61, Rudbornn. Your life... belongs to us."
The moment he drew his blade, the humanoid Arrancars in skull masks standing behind him charged at Kenpachi Zaraki all at once. There were at least several dozen of them, packed densely together.
"So there are still this many..." Kenpachi Zaraki raised his katana. "Boring."
The long, serrated blade swept through the air, and even the atmosphere seemed to scream in terror. The brutal pressure of the katana rolled over the Arrancar swarm like an exceptionally effective eraser, wiping a blank space clean through their ranks.
In the next instant, gushing blood filled that empty space, and severed limbs fell one after another.
"These Arrancar won't do at all!" Yachiru Kusajishi poked her head out over Kenpachi Zaraki's shoulder. "Enemies at this level couldn't stop Ken-chan even if there were several times more of them."
"Is that so? Then let's try several times more." Rudbornn murmured, "Grow, Árbol!"
White quartz branches twisted around Rudbornn's body, extending downward into roots that sank into the ground, while branches grew upward and bore skeletal fruit.
Flesh and blood surged beneath the skeletal fruit, forming skull-masked Arrancar that broke free from the branches and charged at Kenpachi Zaraki.
"This is my power, to endlessly create a loyal army of skeletons!" Supported by the roots, Rudbornn stood suspended in the air and looked down at Kenpachi Zaraki as he was swallowed by the skull Arrancar. "This god-like power granted to me by Aizen-sama is not something a brute who only knows how to fight could ever defeat, hm?"
Rudbornn looked down blankly at his lower half, which had already vanished. "What... happened? No way..."
Only when his body began to fall did Rudbornn realize what had happened.
In that single instant, the Reiatsu Kenpachi Zaraki released had crushed the entire skeleton army. Then he had leaped into the air and split Rudbornn apart with one stroke.
It was that simple.
"I was planning to play with you a little longer, but then you turned into a tree." Kenpachi Zaraki glanced at him in disgust. "Chopping down trees is way more boring than chopping people."
"I am... terribly sorry..." Rudbornn fell helplessly to the ground, staring up at the window high on the tower. "Ulquiorra-sama."
"Oh?" Kenpachi Zaraki looked upward, locking onto that slender figure. "So you're there?"
The ground beneath his feet shattered as Kenpachi Zaraki leaped onto the tower. His wide-open single eye fixed on Ulquiorra. "Are you the strongest?"
"The Gates of Hell are opening. No one is permitted to approach." Ulquiorra drew the Zanpakutō at his waist, his eyes calm to the point of lifelessness, like a deep, dark pool. "For Aizen-sama's plan, you must be eliminated."
"That's perfect." Kenpachi Zaraki grinned savagely. "Then we can skip the boring part and get straight to killing each other!"
Yachiru Kusajishi jumped down from Kenpachi Zaraki, found the perfect spot to watch, and crouched there hugging her knees. "Ken-chan! You can start now~"
Whoosh!
A fierce wind howled past, then stopped dead the instant the two blades collided. As their Reiatsu clashed, waves of force spread outward, shattering the ground and smashing stone pillars.
Kenpachi Zaraki pressed harder. Ulquiorra shifted slightly, letting the blade pass by his side, then leaped up, opened the distance, and dove back down.
Kenpachi Zaraki reached out and grabbed the blade thrusting toward him, yanked Ulquiorra toward himself, and drove his own katana straight forward.
Ulquiorra turned his wrist, pried Kenpachi Zaraki's fingers away, and used Sonído to appear behind him.
Almost the instant his figure became clear again, Kenpachi Zaraki had already swung his katana down.
The serrated blade struck him. Ulquiorra's body dipped, and his white clothing tore, but the Hierro beneath it remained completely unharmed.
Pfft!
Ulquiorra's katana pierced through Kenpachi Zaraki's waist and abdomen. Noticing the astonishment on Kenpachi's face, his gaze turned cold. "It seems you're surprised that you can't hurt me."
"4?" Kenpachi Zaraki stared at the number on Ulquiorra's left chest. Because his clothing had torn, the number [4] engraved there was now visible. "So you're only ranked fourth."
"To someone about to die, what meaning does my number... really have?" Ulquiorra formed his hand into a blade and thrust it toward the center of Kenpachi Zaraki's collarbone. "Since you cannot even hurt me, do you still intend to challenge the three Espada who went to the World of the Living with Aizen-sama?"
Crimson flashed.
Ulquiorra's feet scraped across the ground as he steadied himself, then he raised his hand in slight confusion.
Half of his forearm had been sliced open, blood pouring from it.
If he had not reacted quickly enough and pulled back in time, his entire arm would likely have been severed.
It had been close. Fortunately, Ulquiorra had twisted his Zanpakutō inside Kenpachi Zaraki's waist and abdomen, interfering with his swing.
Otherwise, it would not have ended with only half his forearm cut open.
"Ah... no need to look so surprised." Kenpachi Zaraki shook the blood from his katana. "I just heard some bad news, and it put me in a bad mood, so I hit a little harder."
The wound on Ulquiorra's forearm stopped bleeding. "You said... bad news?"
"The three Espada ranked above you went to the World of the Living. In other words, the strongest one here right now is only someone at your level." Kenpachi Zaraki sounded somewhat bored. "I'll be more careful from here on."
"That brief exchange seems to have given you some unrealistic delusions." The wound on Ulquiorra's forearm healed rapidly as green light gathered between his raised fingers. "Cero!"
After a brief charge, a beam of green light shot straight toward Kenpachi Zaraki.
Kenpachi Zaraki spread his fingers into a claw, reached out, grabbed the Cero, and hurled it aside like trash.
Several stone pillars shattered one after another. The green light smashed through the wall, revealing the blue sky outside.
Ulquiorra flashed through the hole and moved outside the tower.
"Huh?" Kenpachi Zaraki froze for an instant, then stepped forward and gave chase. "Trying to run?"
Ulquiorra ran across the tower, rushing into the sky at incredible speed before smashing through the dome above.
Kenpachi Zaraki followed right behind him, charging into the broken blue sky.
Without the false sky created by Aizen blocking the view, the starless moonlit night of Las Noches came into sight once more.
Kenpachi Zaraki stood on top of Las Noches, looking at Ulquiorra as he stopped. "Done running?"
"Beneath the dome of Las Noches, two things are forbidden." Ulquiorra stood atop the tower, looking down at Kenpachi Zaraki as he came up. "One is the use of the Gran Rey Cero, which exists because of the Espada. The other is the release of the top four Espada."
"Both are too powerful. They could even affect Las Noches." The cold wind of Hueco Mundo whipped at the torn hem of his clothing as Ulquiorra warned him, "Release your Zanpakutō now, and you may still survive."
"Release my Zanpakutō?" Kenpachi Zaraki raised the katana in his hand. "My sword has no name. It's always been like this. It was never sealed."
Yachiru Kusajishi followed Kenpachi Zaraki above the sky, found a tall pillar, climbed onto it, and sat down holding the edge, her short legs swinging back and forth.
Her bright eyes gazed deeply at Kenpachi Zaraki as he held up his katana.
"In other words, this is all you have. Then we can end this meaningless battle quickly." Ulquiorra raised his katana before him. "Enclose, Murciélago."
Deep, pitch-black darkness spread outward from Ulquiorra, covering the sky.
Abyssal Reiatsu surged upward, then turned into chilling black rain that fell from the heavens.
Under the cold moonlight, a pair of black demonic wings spread wide. Ulquiorra, dressed in a white robe, had the broken mask on his head shift and change, forming the shape of a two-horned helmet.
"Oh?" Kenpachi Zaraki's mouth stretched into a wild grin, twisting the scar on his face along with it. "Now that's some great Reiatsu. Haven't seen anything like that in a while... This is what makes cutting you interesting!"
"Interesting..." Ulquiorra said. "...is it?"
By the time he spoke the last word, he was already beside Kenpachi Zaraki's ear.
A ghostly green light gathered in Ulquiorra's hand as he slashed toward Kenpachi Zaraki's neck.
Boom!
Stone and brick shattered. Violent Reiatsu whipped up a storm that swept across the area.
"That is how it should be..." Ulquiorra held the Moonlight Sword and glanced sideways at Kenpachi Zaraki. "Do not panic. Do not let your guard down. Keep every nerve taut, without relaxing for even a moment. Only then can you make the wisest decision the instant you are struck, and avoid dying in that same instant."
A wound stretched from Kenpachi Zaraki's left shoulder all the way down to his right waist, dripping with blood.
"Of course, wanting to fight a meaningless battle with me..." Ulquiorra turned slightly and swung his arm, hurling the Moonlight Sword in his hand. "That itself is not a wise decision."
The ghostly green light cut through the air. Kenpachi Zaraki did not dodge or flinch. He simply raised his katana and struck.
"That is not a wise decision either." A new Moonlight Sword gathered in Ulquiorra's hand. "That is different from Cero."
Boom!
The instant the Moonlight Sword collided with the blade, it exploded. Rampaging Reiatsu swallowed Kenpachi Zaraki completely.
Ulquiorra had already expected this. He flashed into the wave of force created by the explosion and swung the Moonlight Sword in his hand.
A cold blade cut across his body, slashing diagonally upward from his right waist and splitting open his left shoulder.
Crimson blood sprayed out, staining the tattered white robe red.
Ulquiorra flapped his wings and pulled out of the explosive shockwave. Blood poured from the torn wounds on his body, scattering red streaks above the sky.
"This..." Ulquiorra pressed a hand to the wound on his chest. "How?"
As the smoke cleared, Kenpachi Zaraki's figure emerged again, his face dark with irritation.
He reached up and touched the area around his right eye.
The eyepatch that had been there had been destroyed in the explosion just now.
"Tsk..." Kenpachi Zaraki let out an annoyed click of his tongue, his vicious eyes, all white with tiny pupils, locking onto Ulquiorra. "This is your fault for breaking my eyepatch. Made me mess up how much strength I was using."
"Eyepatch..." Ulquiorra's emerald eyes narrowed slightly as he sensed the change in Kenpachi Zaraki. "Your Reiatsu... was that a seal?"
"Yeah. If I don't use that thing to seal my Reiatsu, the fight ends in an instant, and then I don't get to enjoy it." Kenpachi Zaraki looked at the gruesome wound on Ulquiorra's body. "You're still standing? Don't tell me you're going to die from that."
"My greatest strength is not attack power. It is regeneration." The wound on Ulquiorra's chest healed rapidly. "Among the Arrancar who sacrificed most of their High-Speed Regeneration to obtain greater power, I alone... can regenerate any part of my body except my brain and internal organs."
Kenpachi Zaraki pressed him. "So as long as I don't cut your head or your organs, you can keep fighting?"
"Correct..." Ulquiorra raised his hand. "A wound of this degree... cannot kill me."
"Well, that..." The smile that had vanished from Kenpachi Zaraki's face returned. "That's perfect!"
Ulquiorra could not understand. "What did you say?"
"I was worried you'd die too fast and wouldn't help me sharpen my katana." Kenpachi Zaraki charged at Ulquiorra, blade raised. "Let's... keep enjoying this!"
Enjoying... what?
Black light gathered at Ulquiorra's fingertips. It was the black Cero that only the Espada could unleash in their Liberated form.
Black light erupted, and a violent torrent surged toward Kenpachi Zaraki.
Faced with an attack that was clearly far too powerful, Kenpachi Zaraki still showed no intention of dodging. He charged straight in with his Zanpakutō raised.
Terrifying Reiatsu rose within the black torrent, condensing into a savage yellow skeleton that tore wildly at the black Cero.
His Reiatsu...
Ulquiorra sensed the change in Kenpachi Zaraki's Reiatsu.
In battle, even the smallest shift in an opponent could be felt clearly.
And within that violent, overwhelming Reiatsu, there was unmistakably a clear surge of pleasure.
Kenpachi Zaraki... this man... truly was enjoying himself.
The sharp pressure of his katana tore through the Cero. The shattered ravines beside Kenpachi Zaraki were proof enough of the black Cero's terrifying power.
Yet he had broken through that terrifying attack head-on, closed the distance to Ulquiorra, and raised his Zanpakutō.
A smile...
He was smiling.
This was supposed to be a meaningless battle. Why could he smile so happily?
He had not yet returned to nothingness. So why did he look... so happy?