"I told you long ago, you are nothing but a pawn who fancies himself a king. As the one orchestrating all of this, did you really think I let you kill those Adjuchas so easily just because you managed to wound me?"
Szayelaporro smugly explained his methods to Kōe. Kōe had always considered such behavior incredibly stupid, but he had to admit, when an enemy did it, it saved him a lot of trouble.
In truth, the Adjuchas Kōe had just slain were also modified by Szayelaporro. However, the extent of their modification wasn't as thorough as the previous ones; he had merely removed the Reiryoku from their blood and added a little 'seasoning'.
Reikenchū—a type of bacteria that, despite being called bugs, were even smaller than Reishi. Aside from reproduction and basic senses, they possessed no other special abilities, showed no signs of intelligence, and caused no harm to their host.
However, they could record the first Reiatsu they came into contact with, using it as their sole food source while falling under the control of that Reiatsu's owner. Originally, Szayelaporro used them to monitor minute changes within his test subjects, but using them on Kōe yielded unexpected results.
The eggs of the Reikenchū could only hatch by absorbing Reiryoku. If left in a natural environment, they would simply remain where they were deployed, endlessly reproducing and dying.
Even if inhaled by a passing Hollow, they would be unable to feed due to the difference in Reiryoku structure and would eventually die.
But if the eggs were hosted within a specific individual from the very beginning, hatching via the host's Reiryoku, and the host had no idea how to control them—it would be a disaster.
Just like Kōe right now. His Zanpakutō was swarming with these Reikenchū. Any Reiatsu released through his Zanpakutō would be halved instantly.
Furthermore, if he ignored this situation and continued to release Reiatsu, the Reikenchū would multiply endlessly. No matter how much Reiatsu he possessed, it wouldn't be enough to feed this blade.
Such a method was absolutely perfect against someone like Kōe, who possessed incredibly acute Reiryoku perception. Even while wearing the Kōki mask, Kōe had been unable to detect these little creatures that were naturally devoid of Reiryoku.
So now, with his Reiatsu structure analyzed and the Zanpakutō in his hand sealed, it was no surprise that Szayelaporro acted as if victory was already in his grasp. After all, a Zanpakutō was far too important to a Shinigami.
Kōe sheathed his blade. The method to control the Reikenchū definitely didn't rely on Reiatsu. Without understanding how they worked, the only solution was to cut off his Reiatsu supply and let them die out on their own. The price for this was that, for the short term, his sword was practically useless—no better than a hunk of scrap metal.
In Szayelaporro's eyes, however, this action looked like a surrender, a sensible display of giving up resistance. It was a reaction that instantly extinguished his surging interest.
*'A Shinigami like this only deserves to have his corpse left intact at best,'* Szayelaporro thought with disdain. But just then, Kōe made a new move.
*Crack! Crack!* A series of faint, continuous sounds suddenly popped in the air.
Fine cracks appeared on the white mask covering Kōe's face, like fragile porcelain about to shatter. It looked as though it would crumble into countless pieces in the next second, revealing the unimaginably aged face one would expect to see beneath it.
"If these are the extent of your methods, then this old man is truly disappointed," Kōe said calmly, acting as if the disadvantageous situation before him didn't exist at all.
At the same time, under Szayelaporro's watchful gaze, he slowly pulled out Kōki—which had transformed into a mask—from his robes and placed it over his face. The original white mask shattered into pieces and fell directly to the ground, ensuring that Szayelaporro never got to see the aged face he had imagined.
"Even uglier than your previous mask."
"Slaughter is inherently ugly. At least, from the perspective of the one being slaughtered."
Szayelaporro chuckled lightly and said with disdain, "Is this your final act of stubbornness? My apologies, but you are far more foolish than I thought."
Kōe had no intention of wasting any more breath on Szayelaporro. He stomped his right foot heavily onto the ground. "[Hadō #57・Daichi Tenyō]!"
The rocky terrain between the two of them surged like rolling ocean waves, rising from Kōe and crashing toward Szayelaporro. Hearing the deafening sound of massive rocks fracturing, Szayelaporro certainly didn't think these boulders would be as gentle as sea waves.
A technique capable of manipulating the terrain itself indeed couldn't be neutralized merely by disrupting Reiatsu structures. He had to admit, it was a clever approach.
But to think this alone could threaten him, Szayelaporro? Wasn't that a bit too naive!
The tentacles on Szayelaporro's back thrashed wildly, turning the ten-meter radius around him into an absolute restricted zone. Not a single rock could touch his body.
"[Hadō #73・Sōren Sōkatsui]!"
Just as Szayelaporro shattered a boulder below him, Kōe's figure appeared right behind it, his hands clasped together with blue flames ready to burst forth.
Showing no signs of panic, Szayelaporro simply opened his right hand toward Kōe. The blue flames in Kōe's hands instantly dissolved into scattered motes of starlight. The seventy-third Hadō was dismantled before it could even be unleashed.
"Useless." Szayelaporro looked at Kōe and said contemptuously, "If this is all you have, then I am truly disappointed. You don't even qualify to have your corpse left intact."
*'It seems a ten-meter distance still isn't close enough.'*
Just now, Kōe had used Daichi Tenyō to obscure Szayelaporro's vision while concealing his Reiatsu to close in and launch a surprise attack. The fact that it failed proved that at this range, the opponent could still rapidly deconstruct his Reiatsu structure.
*'However, considering Szayelaporro took a few steps back, perhaps the effective range is around twenty meters?'*
Kōe understood that if he wanted his Kidō to successfully land on Szayelaporro, he had to get as close as possible, just like when he cast Raikōhō. Even then, his Kidō would still have a portion of its power weakened.
But right now, he seemed to have discovered another method—a much more effective one.
Pushing off his toes to execute Shunpo, Kōe appeared directly in front of Szayelaporro. He drew his right fist back to his waist, looking as though he intended to obliterate the enemy before him with a single punch—even if that enemy was Szayelaporro, a Vasto Lorde-class Menos at the absolute pinnacle of Hueco Mundo.
Szayelaporro didn't retreat either. Bringing his five fingers together, he thrust his hand straight at Kōe. At this distance, even if Kōe tried to release a Kidō, Szayelaporro would pierce his skull before he could finish.
*'A Shinigami who has lost his blade thinks he can hurt me with just his fists? Ridiculous! Even if the data suggests his physical body is comparable to a Gillian, that alone is far too weak before me.'*
*Bang!* Accompanied by a white shockwave, Kōe's uppercut shot forward like a cannonball fired from its barrel, slamming viciously into Szayelaporro's thrusting palm. The crisp sound of fracturing bone seemed exceptionally insignificant beneath the howling gale of his fist.
"Ikkotsu!!"
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