"Kisuke!!!"
Staring at the violet-black orbs circling around him, Aizen glared furiously at Kisuke.
He had never imagined that things had already progressed to this point, yet this bastard Kisuke still had a hidden card left to play.
When had he planted kido inside his body?
And why wait until now to trigger it?
As he mulled it over, Aizen erupted with the greatest reiryoku he could muster in his current state, trying to tear apart the violet-black spheres that bound his body in midair.
Kisuke shouted urgently,
"Hurry up and move! Seal Aizen now!"
Right now Aizen was at his very weakest.
After multiple evolutions and battles, his power had been completely exhausted.
If they let this chance slip by, it would be extremely difficult to ever pin Aizen down again.
Gin didn't hesitate in the slightest. He raised his zanpakuto, Kamishini no Yari, and aimed straight at Aizen's heart.
"Bankai: Kamishini no Yari (God-Killing Spear)!"
Just as the silver blade was about to extend, a cold voice rang out from not far away.
"Raitei no Yari (Thunder Spear)!"
Gin's expression changed.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a spear of green spiritual power streaking toward him, like a green dragon lancing through the air.
With no choice, he abandoned extending Kamishini no Yari and retreated instead.
In that brief opening, the other Soul Reapers were already rushing madly toward Aizen, all sorts of abilities unleashing together and bombarding his position.
Kisuke couldn't help looking toward Cole.
"Cole, you're not going to make a move?"
Cole was the one closest to Aizen—
Yet he showed no intention of attacking.
"Not interested. I'm tired."
Cole lazily swung his golden staff once, then turned his back and walked toward Rukia.
Every Soul Reaper present went purple in the face.
If not for how dire the situation was, they really would have grabbed him by the collar and yelled,
Just what the hell are you trying to pull?
You're the one who started this fight—
And now you're just going to sit it out?
Are you messing with us!?
Even Ichigo was full of confusion.
He sprinted over while shouting,
"Cole, don't you want to kill him!?"
"Nope."
Cole shook his head slightly.
From beginning to end, he'd never actually planned to kill Aizen.
Because he understood Aizen's goal.
It was extreme, sure—
But it really was aimed at changing this world.
The problem was that due to Soul Society's lies, Aizen had never known the truth about the Soul King.
Look at what happened in the Thousand-Year Blood War.
By then, the wildly ambitious Aizen had already almost given up on killing the Soul King.
Given that…
There was no reason he couldn't be used as an ally.
At least when it came to dealing with the Invisible Empire, Aizen would be a valuable asset, someone who could help him fight Yhwach.
And in the original story, even after the Thousand-Year Blood War ended, Aizen still didn't die.
He was brought back and imprisoned in Muken Hell again.
That alone proved that Aizen still had chances to appear in the post-war arcs—
Very likely in the Hell arc.
So Cole had no interest in throwing Aizen back into Muken Hell in advance.
Only by letting Aizen remain free could he make full use of him.
Of course, the others had no idea what Cole was thinking.
They were practically burning through every ounce of their strength to unleash their strongest attacks on Aizen.
Cole could only shake his head at the sight.
"Kyoka Suigetsu, huh?"
Countless terrifying energies slammed into "Aizen" all at once.
The sky bloomed with a riot of colors, so bright it blotted out everyone's vision.
While they all held their breath—
Far off in the distant sky, Aizen's real body reappeared beside Ulquiorra.
Face dark as ink, he glared at Cole.
"Damn human. Just what are you plotting?"
He was always the one who manipulated other people—
Yet right now, for the first time, he felt like he had been maneuvered by Cole.
And he didn't even know where, exactly, he'd been outplayed.
That inexplicable feeling…
Almost made him want to snap.
Seeing that Cole had no intention of answering, Aizen swallowed his fury and once again tore open a garganta.
"Let's go."
Ulquiorra stepped in behind him without any hesitation.
Starrk and Tia Harribel were dumbfounded.
Hey, we're still over here.
Why are you only taking Ulquiorra with you!?
Seeing this, Cole chuckled and called out,
"Aizen, let's get one thing straight. There's no place for you in Hueco Mundo from now on."
In his own bed, he would not allow anyone else to lie comfortably.
He had no intention of letting his future backyard turn into a revolving door for surprise visitors.
Aizen had no interest in arguing with him.
He simply stepped into the darkness of the garganta.
As a meticulous, far-sighted mastermind—
His bases were never limited to just one.
Beyond Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, he had his own footholds in the World of the Living and in the Dangai as well.
The environment there was far from ideal compared to Soul Society and Hueco Mundo…
But they still existed.
And so, everyone could only watch as Aizen walked away until the black fissure closed and vanished.
"Cole!!"
Shunsui withdrew his gaze and turned, frowning at Cole.
"You'd better give me an explanation."
Just now, under the effect of Kisuke's kido, they'd had a perfect chance to strike.
They might even have been able to finish Aizen off.
Yet Cole had deliberately let him go.
Cole only looked mildly bored, waving a hand.
"It's nothing. I just want to take Aizen on a little trip to Hell in a while. Keeping him alive is more convenient."
"Hell!?"
Everyone froze.
Rukia couldn't help shouting,
"Are you crazy!? We just went over how dangerous Hell is. Why would you even want to go there!?"
The others were thinking the same thing.
None of them had ever set foot in Hell.
But according to Shunsui, Kisuke, and even Ichibe…
Over the long river of history, an uncountable number of powerhouses had fallen into Hell—
Including the founders of the five great noble families.
And yet, with so many monsters sealed inside…
Not a single one had managed to escape.
That alone was enough to show just how terrifying Hell really was.
They even felt that if Yamamoto himself were to go there…
He might die there several times over.
"What else do you suggest? Just let Hell sit there and keep expanding? Or do you really think it's going to behave and stay put forever?"
Cole swept his eyes over them.
He hadn't read the Hell arc, but he didn't need to.
He only had to think for a second to know that Hell would definitely cause trouble after the Thousand-Year Blood War.
For all he knew, Hell's expansion would attempt to swallow the three worlds—no, all worlds—into itself.
That would be despair for every single world.
Everything would grind to a halt once more.
The others were left speechless.
But they still didn't really take his words to heart.
For thousands, tens of thousands, even millions of years, Hell had never caused any visible problems.
Why would something suddenly happen now of all times?
That would be way too much of a coincidence, wouldn't it?
Shinji couldn't help saying,
"Cole, you're overthinking this. When did you develop persecution complex?"
Cole only gave a dry chuckle, then his expression turned serious.
"Believe me or don't, that's up to you. As for Aizen, I can promise you this much: if he ever starts acting up again, I'll personally throw him into Muken Hell."
Only then did everyone relax a little.
They had just experienced Cole's power firsthand; it was enough to crush Aizen.
With him around—
Aizen wouldn't be able to stir up much trouble.
Rukia ran up to Cole's side, looking at him anxiously.
"Cole, were you serious about going to Hell just now? You're not actually that dumb, are you?"
She was genuinely worried he'd go there and never come back.
Cole ruffled her hair reassuringly.
"Relax. I won't go anytime soon. And even if I do, I'll blast my way through Hell and come back to the World of the Living."
His words did nothing to ease Rukia's mind.
She puffed out her cheeks in anger.
"So in the end, you still plan to go to Hell."
Yoruichi walked over, frowning as she eyed Cole.
"Why is it that the moment you heard about Hell, you started thinking about going there? Don't tell me you know something we don't."
"Something like that."
Cole answered lazily.
"My zanpakuto is very sensitive to space, so I can feel that the place called Hell is… off."
Byakuya also came over, knitting his brows, his voice cool.
"What exactly feels off?"
Hearing that, Cole couldn't help smiling.
"Who knows? Maybe your five family founders are stirring up trouble down there—trying to escape, or trying to force Hell to expand or something."
Yoruichi, Byakuya, Isshin, and the others all twitched at the corners of their mouths.
This damn brat.
He actually dared to slander their ancestors like that.
And they couldn't even refute him properly.
After all, even they knew very little about Hell.
"Alright, enough talk. Let's head back."
Cole yawned, turned, and scooped Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki into his arms, stepping out of the Soul King's domain.
The other Soul Reapers exchanged looks, then followed one after another in his wake.
Seeing this—
The members of the Zero Division looked at one another.
Oetsu couldn't help turning to Ichibe.
"Boss… we're just letting them walk away like that?"
"What else can we do?"
Ichibe shot him a dark look.
"You going to be the one to stop them?"
He wanted nothing more than to keep them all there and prevent the truth about the Soul King from leaking.
The problem was, he didn't have that kind of power.
Both Cole and Aizen could match him.
The rest of the Zero Division could only offer bitter smiles.
None of them had the ability either.
So they turned their attention to the ruined Soul King Palace instead.
Shutara sighed.
"Enough arguing. Let's start repairing the Palace. We're going to be busy for a while."
The others in the Zero Division also felt a headache coming on.
Ever since the three worlds had been established, the Soul King Palace had never suffered such catastrophic damage.
To repair it—
Would take at least several months.
…
High above Soul Society.
Cole and the others stepped out of the rift, immediately drawing the attention of countless Soul Reapers.
"What happened!?"
"Did we win!?"
"Was Aizen taken out!?"
Under their nervous gazes, Cole waved cheerfully down at them.
"Everyone, Aizen's been driven off. He won't dare come back again. You should focus on rebuilding Seireitei, okay?"
A forest of dark lines appeared on the foreheads of the Soul Reapers below.
Rebuild Seireitei, huh?
That sounded nice—
But wasn't he just looking forward to gobbling up more spiritual power?
Still, seeing Cole so relaxed, they all felt a weight lift from their hearts.
It seemed things really had settled down.
"Rukia, Shirayuki, want to come with me to the World of the Living?"
Cole tore open a garganta leading to the World of the Living and turned to look at Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki.
The two of them blinked, sneaking a quick, nervous glance at Byakuya—
Then followed after Cole.
Byakuya: "…"
Seeing this, Kisuke gave a wry chuckle.
"Alright, alright. At this point, there's no use overthinking it."
"Everyone already knows the truth about the world. Even Aizen isn't going to try destroying everything anymore."
"Instead of spiraling into wild speculation, we should head to the World of the Living and help people. Hitsugaya and Komamura are still in Karakura Town, remember?"
Only then did everyone snap back to reality, remembering Hitsugaya, Komamura, Kensei, and the others.
Earlier, under the influence of Shinji's zanpakuto ability, they had all been fighting each other.
Who knew what kind of shape they were in now?
"And also…"
Kisuke glanced at Cole, pointing at the "people" beside him.
"You're not going to take care of these two?"
Hearing that, Tia Harribel instantly tensed.
She gripped her zanpakuto and glared coldly at the Soul Reapers opposite her.
Aizen had already run off, leaving only her and Starrk behind.
She'd assumed they were doomed.
Never would she have guessed that Cole would offer to send them back to Hueco Mundo.
Looking back on it now…
It definitely felt like a trap.
"No need. These two aren't that bad at heart. With some proper training, they'll be useful."
Cole shook his head, turning down Kisuke's suggestion.
If he wanted to become the de facto king of Hueco Mundo, he at least needed a few subordinates.
Otherwise, how was he supposed to rebuild Las Noches?
Starrk lazily scratched his hair, glancing down at Lilynette.
"Looks like we don't have to die."
Lilynette clung to his clothes in fear.
After witnessing that terrifying battle just now,
Her heart had room for nothing but raw terror.
Harribel, on the other hand, was on full alert, glaring at Cole.
"What do you plan to do to me?"
Though she was a Vasto Lorde-class Hollow, her essence was still that of a lifeform born from the fall of human souls into evil.
She knew very well what kinds of twisted desires humans were capable of.
And one of the worst… was lust.
Cole grinned proudly at her.
"You're my prisoner of war now. Heh heh heh… what do you think I'm going to—"
Pain exploded at the back of his head.
He clutched it with a wince.
"Ow—Rukia, Shirayuki, that hurts!"
Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki withdrew their fists, fingers still clenched as they glared at him.
"If you dare try anything with this Hollow, I'm telling you now: Hollows are fallen souls, full of sin. Even their souls are sick, and their whole bodies are filthy."
Stung by this slander, Harribel couldn't hold back anymore.
She opened her mouth to retort—
But Cole saw trouble coming and quickly opened a garganta to Hueco Mundo, tossing Harribel straight through it.
Starrk yawned and followed her in.
Only then did Cole breathe a sigh of relief.
He wrapped an arm around each of Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki and stepped into the darkness himself.
(End of Chapter)
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