Laziness is a deadly poison that can corrupt even the gods.
The sound of a rusted bell echoed through the void, where the throne of the Void King sat, its occupant slowly succumbing to that insidious poison. On that day, the Void King received an audience from a strange visitor.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Aizen Sōsuke. Are you the Void King Baraggan?"
Human or Shinigami? Four fragile ants, long forgotten by time, stood before the king with insolent attitudes.
The King of the Void, a god himself, Emperor Baraggan Ruizenburn, felt intrigued by their audacity. Perhaps they might bring an end to this tedious hell.
"...Welcome to my castle."
One of the ants snorted in derision at the king's welcome. What rude, insect-like guests.
"Interesting. This place with no roof or walls is your castle?"
"We need no roof. This void is our canopy."
His former rivals, who once fought for supremacy but now had fallen to the level of Zanpakutō, had left the void. Even Tia Harribel had disappeared. Thus, all of this world had bowed before him, the ancient king.
"Let's talk about something else."
"Hm?"
As Baraggan basked in high spirits, a single ant dared to speak without permission. It was the only insect in the swarm to reveal its name: Aizen.
"I heard you were bored, so I prepared some entertainment for you—how about a wager with me?"
The blue-haired insect asked with a smug smile. His arrogant, haughty eyes were unbearable. But the offer was indeed intriguing.
"Hmm?"
"Come here, peach."
The ant slowly led another ant into the king's presence. The one who appeared was the smallest of the four insects.
"Yes."
The ant that stepped forward was female.
No, she was a child, not even tall enough to be called a woman. Female ants were generally weak, and while Harribel was the only one with any strength, her nature was utterly cowardly. This embodiment of weakness gazed quietly at the king.
"...What is that little girl?"
"She is my fellow ant, Hinamori Momo. She is young but very talented, and I was looking for a suitable subordinate for her."
—If Momo defeats you, she will join our ranks.
Silence fell.
Baraggan replayed Aizen's words in his mind repeatedly, yet he still doubted his own ears... no, he doubted the sanity of the insects before him.
"Baraggan Ruizenburn. I, Hinamori Momo, challenge you to a duel."
To add to the confusion, the female ant bowed. The sight was so absurd that the Emperor burst into laughter from the depths of his heart for the first time in hundreds of years.
"Guh, Ha ha ha ha! A duel? A duel? You and that little girl are going to duel? If you win, you'll become my subordinate? I see, what a splendid diversion, truly a noble jest! Gahaha!"
Holding his twisted abdomen with both hands, he muttered "ridiculous, ridiculous" over and over again. Ignoring the clatter of his convulsing body against the decorations, Baraggan thoroughly enjoyed this rare comedy.
However.
"Don't get too cocky, you ant."
Those who boast must be judged.
The world trembled at the wrath of the gods, and the earth groaned. The servants followed their master's will, raising their battle spirits, and the king, looking down from above, finally rose from his seat.
"It is an act of disrespect. Kill them."
At the signal, the vassals rushed toward the female ant before them. She was surrounded on all sides and should have been beaten mercilessly. With no doubt in their victory, Baraggan turned his attention to the remaining three, gripping his prideful great axe.
But suddenly, the spiritual pressure raging below vanished.
"Since you have taken up arms, may we begin?"
Baraggan was stunned by the voice. Looking down, he saw his own vassals lying motionless on the ground, not a single drop of blood spilled. By what means had their spiritual pressure, which had been so intense moments ago, weakened to the point of unconsciousness?
And the insects that should have been dead were completely unharmed.
"No blood of outsiders may be spilled on this sacred battlefield."
The vassals were blown out of the hall by a gust of spiritual pressure, their bodies fluttering like paper or cotton fluff.
An ant that spares life but forces the defeated to live with their shame. A female who knows nothing of a warrior's pride. The False King felt a deep loathing for the young girl smiling up at him.
"...Disgusting. Let yourself rot in old age and regret your foolishness..."
Baraggan erupted with a dark aura of spiritual pressure and descended before the female ant. Her arrogant eyes, resembling the deep blue of her companion in the background, grated on him. Giving in to his frustration, the enraged king swung his great axe down. Thus, like the countless creatures he had once slain, this insect would also grow old and perish.
That was how it was supposed to be.
"...Time acceleration. A useful ability."
The female ant stood there, unharmed, not even a scratch on her body, positioned half a step outside the reach of his axe, which was eroding the floor beneath it.
Had she seen through the great emperor's strike? Had she blocked the power of the gods?
"Then it's my turn."
"!"
Before he could even register his shock, Baraggan realized he was trapped within multiple layers of spiritual pressure... no, a hemispherical barrier. Before his eyes was a hole in the air, created by the palm of the young girl.
"It's just a small gesture, but let's start with a greeting..."
—Hadō Seventy-Three: Sōren Sōkatsui
The technique of the female ant, a blue flame resembling the destructive path of the Shinigami, passed through the hole and exploded within the spiritual pressure wall. Exposed to firepower he hadn't felt in ages, the king's confusion accelerated further.
What is this? What is happening?
After the raging blue flames subsided, Baraggan stood in the center of the charred circular floor, finally confronting the reality that he was facing the female Shinigami who had challenged him to a duel.
"...As I suspected, this is different from the information I received. You can wield that power not only with the axe but also with your body?"
The primal instincts of one who had lived through ancient times had reached the realm of technique. The ability of "old age" that he had been using unconsciously had protected his body from the woman's destructive arts.
However, it was also proof that his own spiritual pressure was insufficient to repel the power of this death god.
"—...!"
Humiliation.
Baraggan struck his skeletal jaw in anger. The woman did not fear this great emperor. No, she did not fear him at all.
That was the arrogance that could never be forgiven by one before whom all trembled in the face of old age. It was the very act of defying the gods. It could not be overlooked under any circumstances.
"You ant... That act of disrespect deserves death!"
Darkness seeped into the air. The breath of death, like ink dripping into a basin, flickered and engulfed the throne room, turning it into dust.
"You said your name was Hinamori Momo, did you not? I see, you are a worthy opponent to relieve my boredom. I will use your fear of old age as atonement!"
—
A pitch-black wind raged, bringing an end to everything it touched. This was the ancient power that made the Great Emperor Baraggan Ruizenburn a god. It was the symbol of the "eternal" breaker of taboos, born when life and death were first separated.
"—Bakudō Eighty-One: Dankū"
But if the Great Emperor was a god, then the female ant that dared to oppose him was a fragment of the god of death. The insolent one who sought to escape "old age" dared to defy the king with her prideful destructive arts.
A tidal wave of darkness and a colorless wall of light clashed, their forces locked in stalemate. However, after a brief moment, the balance began to shift.
"...!"
"Did you think there was no aging in the destructive arts?"
Baraggan gazed with satisfaction at the crumbling spiritual energy wall, waiting for the end of the ant that had lost its shield.
But.
"All that is mighty must decline. Indeed, there is no eternity in this world. But..."
—When the end comes, we can simply begin again.
"What...!?"
Baraggan stared in disbelief at the scene before him. The decaying spiritual energy wall had stopped eroding and began to revive as if time itself were reversing.
"Did you think there was no regeneration in the destructive arts?"
"...!"
The ant smiled. Though her smile was charming and endearing, the emotion it held was the opposite, mockery.
"Your power is special only in its nature. If you want to accelerate the flow of time, you must overwhelm it with an equal or greater amount of spiritual energy. In other words..."
Once again, a small hemispherical spiritual energy barrier appeared around the stunned Baraggan, trapping him inside. Suspended within it were four beautiful flames, each wrapped in a scorching spiritual pressure so intense it sent a chill down his spine.
"This is a duel to determine which of us is the superior spiritual being."
"What?!"
Instantly, a devastating explosion engulfed Baraggan's entire body. Layers of crimson flames erupted in an instant, searing his vision, disrupting his hearing, and stripping the crown from the standing king. Amid the chaos of destruction, the god felt an unfamiliar, strange sensation.
—It hurts.
He instinctively reached out to touch his head, but the relentless explosions deprived him of the use of his limbs. The sensation spread from his head to his hands, arms, legs, and eventually throughout his entire body.
—It hurts.
—It hurts?
—Pain?!
"What the hell is this!!"
The instincts that had long since faded into the depths of memory resurfaced, reminding him of his primary duty as a living being. It was something that contradicted the power he wielded. Primitive, tragic, and identical to the ants he had once mocked and ridiculed—a desperate clinging to life.
"Impossible! Impossible!! Impossible!! I am the king!! I am a god! I am the embodiment of fear for all the ants!"
"Is that so? But..."
The woman's words pierced Baraggan's consciousness like a blade, cutting deep into his fiery emotions.
"You're hurt, aren't you?"
Baraggan looked down at his own body in shock. His outer skin was charred and reduced to ash. The bones of his arms were visible, covered in cracks, fractures, and traces of melting.
Wounds. Damage. Signs of destruction that should never occur on the body of a god.
"My Zanpakutō, Tobiume, is a very obedient and loyal child. Its ability is to amplify the spiritual pressure it is given and turn it into a blast of flames. That is all."
The clear voice of the woman reached Baraggan's trembling ears. The ability to unleash blazing flames, a crude, barbaric force that merely hurled raw firepower. Yet...
"But... simple power is, in other words, the most straightforward thing in this world—'the fear of death.'"
"...!!"
The king held his breath. The female Shinigami spoke mechanically with a composed expression. The content was too shocking to comprehend.
"...Would you please surrender? I don't want to injure those who will become my subordinates and reduce their combat effectiveness."
"What..."
"You should know this. Even the 'fear of death' you have controlled..."
—is inferior to mine.
The woman's icy smile sent a chill down the god's spine.
He couldn't accept it, wouldn't accept it. This great emperor, of all beings, was feeling fear of death toward the very concept he himself controlled, toward the ant before him.
"...Forgive me."
A whisper, barely audible, carried away by the wind. But as the emotion caught up with his body, the whisper erupted from his skeletal throat like a volcano of rage.
"Forgive me! Forgive me! Forgive me, oh great one!"
"...!"
The king's roar echoed throughout the heavens and earth. Driven by passion so intense that he lost himself, the power of "old age" swelled to such an extent that he lost control, manifesting as an inescapable storm of death befitting the wrath of a god.
"You are but an ant! You worthless insect! Rot and perish, and regret your great sin of mocking this great emperor with despair!"
A tsunami of collapse erupted and rushed straight toward the female Shinigami. It left nothing behind, forgave nothing, and destroyed everything in its path.
However.
"—Explode, Tobiume"
With a final, quiet command, the world, which had been shrouded in darkness, was instantly drenched in red. The instinctive act of shielding his head with his arms just before reason kicked in was utterly meaningless, and Baraggan, struck by the fierce blast, was blown backward onto the throne behind him.
"...Being strong is tough, isn't it? The moment you lose your advantage, you become nothing."
"You... fool..."
"Your fate is already sealed. You'll panic, cower, and hide your fear by raging. Just like a baby screaming in terror at the unknown."
Hinamori slowly walked toward the base of the platform. The breath of death that had once sought to take her life vanished into the same dust as before, lacking even the strength to trouble her approaching opponent. In an instant, the tide of battle had turned completely, and Baraggan felt as though everything he had built was crumbling before his eyes.
And that illusion became reality.
"...Then, shall we end this duel with your surrender?"
Hinamori touched her Zanpakutō and spoke the name of its power. In that moment, Baraggan was enveloped by a spiritual pressure of a scale he had never felt in the three thousand years he had lived.
"—Bankai"
And then, horrific violence engulfed his body.
"Ugh—GAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHH!!!" !!!"
Unbearable agony. The sensation of life force being torn away. Yet, amidst the fading consciousness, the Great Emperor roared with vengeance toward the Shinigami who had dragged him from his throne.
"This won't end like this...! Someday, I will...! I will cut out your arrogant eyes... and reduce your limbs to dust!!
—Hinamori Momoooooo!!"
***
In the deepest depths of the demon realm, there exists an ancient Shinigami.
He governs "old age." The process of dying is what mortals call "old age."
All mortals fear old age, resist it, yet bow down helplessly before it. Before this cruel fate, all power crumbles into nothingness.
Yet this power is so immense that even the god who governs it cannot escape.
"—Welcome to Captain Aizen's ranks. We welcome you, Baraggan Ruizenburn."
A single life that succumbed to the terror of death it once governed. The great emperor of the Void, who had reigned since ancient times, descended on this day into the ranks of Aizen Sōsuke.
***
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