Cero!

The battlefield fell into a stalemate.

The Tenth Division Shinigami could inflict only negligible harm on the Adjuchas. In contrast, a casual blow from the Adjuchas was enough to leave them severely injured.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been an unquestionably one-sided slaughter.

However, with Akira Morisawa's absurdly strong healing ability running at full output, as long as someone was not unlucky enough to die on the spot, even injuries like broken arms and legs could be quickly stabilized, and basic combat ability could be restored as much as possible.

Soon, almost seventy percent of the Tenth Division members were stained with blood. Yet not one Shinigami retreated. Instead, they grew increasingly fearless, doing everything possible to restrict the Adjuchas.

Akira was still here.

As long as he remained here, they had no need to fear battle or injury.

Feeling the fragrant grass beneath their feet, almost every Tenth Division member held on and, miraculously, continued restraining the Adjuchas.

Akira, who had been constantly providing wide-area healing, suddenly sensed something wrong.

Normally, as a high-level Menos, an Adjuchas possessed intelligence and emotions already very close to those of humans. It was a new life form evolved from the chaotic collective consciousness of a Gillian.

Yet although the Adjuchas in front of him seemed on the surface to possess independent awareness and could communicate through language, the logic of its battle behavior was extremely simple.

It kept letting the Tenth Division members' Bakudo restrain it and showed no awareness of the need to force its way through and kill the three key seated officers or Akira himself. It even showed confusion when badly injured Shinigami recovered their combat strength.

This did not match the intelligence an actual Adjuchas should possess.

...

At the same time, Kaname Tosen, sensing the battle situation from a distance, said, "Lord Aizen, the battle... seems to have stalled."

Sosuke Aizen nodded and looked toward Akira. A trace of surprise crossed his eyes as well.

In Aizen's expectation, the battle should have been declared over once the three seated officers fell.

"Shinra Bansho. I see. It is indeed a wide-area healing ability superior to the rumors, and it seems able to directly absorb reishi from the air to repair injuries. Quite a unique ability..."

Aizen evaluated it objectively, then pushed up his glasses. His tone changed.

"Unfortunately, such a soft ability cannot change anything. Akira Morisawa, the man who dared threaten me, ends now."

After that, Aizen paused and turned to Tosen beside him.

"Tosen, it is about time. End this farce."

"Yes, Lord Aizen."

Tosen answered, then drew his Zanpakuto and murmured.

"Cry out, Suzumushi."

A sudden buzzing sound rang from the blade of Suzumushi and rapidly spread toward the distant battlefield.

In an instant, everywhere that faint buzzing passed, every Tenth Division member fell into a momentary daze. The Bakudo they had been continuously releasing against the Adjuchas also faltered, and even Akira felt his consciousness inexplicably go blank.

By the time Akira came back to himself, the Adjuchas had already appeared not far from him, and a huge crimson sphere of light was gathering at its mouth.

"Cero?! How did it have time to gather that?"

Akira's expression changed. Instinctively, he tried to pull away.

But in the next instant, the sphere of light in the Adjuchas's mouth erupted, sweeping straight toward Akira.

Compared with the Adjuchas's purely physical impacts, the Cero released by that immense reiatsu annihilated almost everything in its path. Even Akira, positioned at the very rear of the battlefield, was swallowed by it.

Boom!

A huge cloud of smoke surged upward. The ground that had originally been covered in green grass was shaved down by nearly a meter.

Akira felt as if something had blasted him into the air. Then he smashed heavily into the ground. Familiar warmth surged uncontrollably from his mouth and nose.

Blood.

Although Akira felt too heavy to move, after countless deaths at Shinra Bansho's hands inside his mental space, he could clearly tell.

It was blood.

And only massive rupturing of the internal organs, even the complete destruction of the heart, could cause blood to surge backward like this.

'What was that sudden blankness? Not just me. Did every Shinigami lose focus?'

'Cero... a ray of destruction formed by concentrating reiatsu to an extreme degree. Terrifying. Is this the true power of an Adjuchas?'

'What is this? Am I going to die? My thoughts are so scattered...'

At that moment, Akira could not see his own condition. But Sosuke Aizen, who watched everything calmly from far away, saw it clearly.

Half of Akira's chest had been completely erased. A massive amount of blood poured out, and within a few breaths, the ground where he lay was completely dyed red. His reiatsu also fell sharply, like a cliff collapsing.

Dead for certain.

Aizen slowly withdrew his gaze and reached that entirely natural conclusion.

Let alone an ordinary member or seated officer, even most lieutenant-class Shinigami who had not mastered Bankai would almost certainly die after taking a direct Cero from an Adjuchas-class Menos.

Aizen's expression did not change at all. No ripple stirred in his heart. Removing a somewhat irritating Shinigami was, to Sosuke Aizen, probably no different from crushing a bug crawling across a wall.

Because Akira had become irritating, Aizen had made a point of eliminating him along the way.

Then Aizen looked toward the battlefield as the smoke gradually dispersed. Very few Tenth Division members were still standing. Most had died on the spot, while the remaining portion had completely lost the ability to fight.

"Tosen, it is over. Let us go."

Aizen wore a gentle smile as he spoke.

"The rest can be left to this Adjuchas with little intelligence. It can slowly savor the emotion-rich portions of the Shinigami souls, then die at the hands of the captains who arrive as reinforcements."

"Yes, Lord Aizen."

Tosen sealed his Zanpakuto and returned it to its sheath. Beneath the black cloak, his expression seemed somewhat complicated.

"Tosen, do you feel sadness over this?" Aizen asked gently as he turned and walked forward.

Tosen followed Aizen and nodded, his voice low.

"Yes, Lord Aizen. But this is a necessary price for true justice. Their lives will continue within true justice."

Aizen smiled. He was just about to say something when his steps suddenly paused.

Akira's reiatsu, which had been weakening continuously, had stopped falling.

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