[Soul Society]
As Rosse continued to stay out of sight, undercurrents began stirring within the Gotei Thirteen.
Fortunately, Hikifune Kirio publicly stated in Squad Twelve, under Rosse's guidance, research regarding the fusion of Kishi and Reishi had already achieved a small breakthrough, and the stabilization of Soul Society was within sight.
Right after that, Mayuri Kurotsuchi also gave a rare answer.
Before Soul Society completely collapsed, they would definitely develop a solution.
And even in the worst case, if they could not solve it, then at most Soul Society would merge into Captain-Commander Rosse's world like Hueco Mundo did. That way, the world's foundational structure would immediately stabilize.
The release of these two heavyweight statements acted like two pillars stabilizing the sea, calming a large number of Shinigami who chose to trust Rosse, dispersing the gloom of recent days.
But the human heart had always been the hardest thing to predict.
Those whose anxiety had already been stirred up by the Kuchiki family, as well as those naturally prone to worrying, instead became even more terrified.
After all, these two public declarations not only offered solutions, but also proved one thing.
The matter of Soul Society collapsing, which Rosse had continuously avoided answering directly about, and which the Kuchiki family had spread, was not only real, but was already happening.
Even with several strong captains suppressing matters from above, people still began secretly contacting others whose resolve had wavered in different divisions under the help of the Kuchiki family.
Compared to the world-ending crisis right before them, the conflicts and sides formed among the Shinigami due to differences in beliefs suddenly no longer seemed so important.
Whether human or Shinigami, mostly blind followers, were easily swept along by trends or deliberately created panic.
In the tide of an era, those who could firmly hold onto their own beliefs without being shaken by outside influences were instead the minority.
Under the Kuchiki family's constant pushing from behind, this undercurrent eventually turned into a massive storm that swept through the entire Gotei Thirteen.
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.
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[Ten Days Later]
Without warning, a huge visible crack appeared in Soul Society's clear sky.
It was not a Garganta leading to Hueco Mundo or the Human World, but merely the first ugly scar torn into the dome of this fragile world before its collapse.
However, the timing and location of this crack were far too perfect. Naturally, Aizen and Rosse had a hand in it.
If the marks of destruction were not carved into the most obvious place visible the moment everyone looked up, how could those wavering Shinigami be forced to make their choice immediately?
The appearance of this crack, combined with the public pressure campaign launched by the Kuchiki family, completely detonated Soul Society's strained nerves.
It was also at this moment that Nimaiya Oetsu and Ichibe Hyosube could no longer remain seated. They quietly left the Royal Palace high in the sky and descended into Soul Society below.
After all, if Soul Society truly collapsed, the Royal Palace that depended on Soul Society's existence would not escape either.
At that point, no matter how well prepared they were in the heavens, they would merely become burial objects.
And just after the main force of Squad Zero fully descended, this magnificent palace floating in the skies welcomed two new visitors.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Rosse's tall figure lightly landed upon the road of the Royal Palace's outer approach.
This was the only route leading to the core of the Royal Palace.
There was not the slightest breeze around them. The ground was paved with flawless white stone slabs, while the massive pillars and buildings floating in midair flowed with high-density Reishi light.
This place was too clean. So clean there was not a single fallen leaf, not a speck of dust, not even the slightest trace of life.
Extreme purity brought an oppressive feeling that made one suffocate.
"Very empty. Full of deathly silence. It feels fake."
Kurosaki Masaki walked half a step behind Rosse.
Her cold eyes swept across the incomparably empty outer approach, carrying a faint aura of death, and gave an utterly merciless evaluation.
"It doesn't just feel fake. It is fake."
Rosse let out a light laugh, casually glancing toward the five detached palaces of Squad Zero in the distance.
"There aren't any traces of those Squad Zero members' spiritual pressure inside those five palaces. You can tell they're illusions with even a little sensing."
"I found the real one. The disguise really is crude."
Kurosaki Masaki's voice was calm like still water as she slightly raised her chin and looked toward a higher point in the sky.
She gently stretched out her pale hand.
In an instant, the high-density Reishi around them began shifting violently as though hearing a queen's command.
Under Kurosaki Masaki's absolute control and stripping of Reishi, this disguise hiding the truth peeled away like a torn painting.
The false image of the Royal Palace around them vanished like bubbles, revealing a much larger true Royal Palace floating a thousand meters above their heads.
"They even specially made a fake layer. If it were to guard against other invaders, that would make sense. But knowing the one coming might be me, this is completely unnecessary," Rosse casually smiled and stretched a hand toward Kurosaki Masaki beside him.
Kurosaki Masaki's eyes did not ripple at all, like a pool of dead water.
She obediently extended her hand and lightly placed it into Rosse's broad palm.
The two figures immediately turned into streams of light, continuously flying upward, easily breaking through the barrier and stepping into the true Royal Palace.
Compared to the lifeless fake illusion just now, the true Royal Palace was obviously much livelier.
Almost the instant Rosse and Kurosaki Masaki arrived, groups of black-clothed Divine Soldiers surged out from all directions.
They were the Royal Palace's exclusive guard force, not naturally born lifeforms, but mindless soldiers created by Squad Zero who existed only to carry out orders.
Among the Divine Soldiers, ordinary first-class Divine Soldiers were enough to rival seated officers of the Gotei Thirteen. As for the second-class Divine Soldiers called the Shield of the Soul King leading them, their strength could even compare to captains at the level of Muguruma Kensei.
At this moment, hundreds and thousands of Divine Soldiers detected the invaders.
Led by ten Shield of the Soul Kings, they drew their blades like a black tide and charged fearlessly toward the two of them.
Facing this terrifying force capable of easily wiping out an entire division in the past, Rosse did not even raise an eyelid.
He released Masaki's hand, placed both hands into his pockets, and calmly walked straight toward the Soul King Great Inner Palace deep within the Royal Palace.
That was where the Soul King resided, and also the only purpose of his trip.
"Don't kill them all. Just make them lose the ability to move. These things run on Reishi. If too many die at once, the Squad Zero members below will sense it."
Rosse's casual voice drifted over together with his advancing footsteps.
"Understood."
Kurosaki Masaki stopped walking. Standing behind Rosse and facing the surging black-clothed army, she gently raised her right hand.
Rip!
The sound of Reishi being stripped apart echoed through the air.
In an instant, the several hundred Divine Soldiers charging at the front, along with the ten imposing Shield of the Soul Kings, suddenly stiffened like machines whose power had been cut off.
Their weapons slipped from their hands, and they weakly collapsed onto the pure white floor tiles.
There was no blood, no screams. They simply completely lost the ability to move.
After doing this, Kurosaki Masaki calmly lowered her hand and followed Rosse once more, continuing deeper into the Royal Palace.
As long as she knew these artificial lifeforms were powered by Reishi, then to her, these Divine Soldiers were merely toys.
Draining the Reishi from their bodies was as simple as breathing for her.
Without Squad Zero guarding it, the Royal Palace could not stop the two of them at all.
Rosse did not even need to act personally. She alone was enough to clear out this heavenly palace.
However, as Kurosaki Masaki walked behind Rosse, her originally lifeless eyes suddenly flickered with a trace of complicated emotion while watching that tall back ahead of her.
It was a gaze mixed with confusion, curiosity, and even a hidden trace of expectation.
Among the Espada under Rosse, she was an absolute anomaly.
Because she was not a Hollow, she did not need to stay in Hueco Mundo maintaining the world's fusion like the Espada.
Because she was not a Shinigami, she also did not need to clean up the aftermath in Soul Society.
Unlike Candice and Ishida Ryuken, she also had not calmly taken friends and family into the new world due to genuine loyalty or a deal.
She had been left by Rosse's side.
On the surface, she was merely Rosse's subordinate, a well-behaved pet casually kept beside him.
But she understood clearly in her heart that beneath this obedient shell, it was only because her heart had completely died that she no longer cared what happened.
She never believed she was truly a dog wagging its tail and begging for favor.
At the very least, she thought she was somewhat better than Shutara.
'Is Rosse really not afraid that at the most critical moment, I will suddenly turn on him?'
Kurosaki Masaki's right hand hanging by her side trembled lightly without control.
Rosse's arrival had violently torn apart and reshaped her life.
She, who should have died from Auswahlen, survived.
But as the price, she also stopped being the Kurosaki Masaki she once was.
She had been transformed from a woman with attachments and warmth into this current existence, who had nearly lost all emotions and completely belonged to Rosse.
'Is Rosse really so arrogantly confident that I will obediently remain his blade forever, without even the slightest thought of resistance?'
'If Rosse wants to devour or replace the Soul King, it will definitely be an extremely complicated process that will occupy his complete focus.'
'At that time, it will absolutely be when Rosse is at his weakest.'
'Perhaps... that will be my only chance to break free of the chains and strike back against Rosse.'
Kurosaki Masaki felt intense confusion in her heart.
In truth, even she herself did not know whether, when that life-and-death moment truly arrived, the hand holding absolute control over Reishi could really stab without hesitation toward Rosse's back.
Maybe only when that opportunity truly appeared before her would she know her real answer.
Meanwhile, Rosse, walking leisurely ahead, seemed completely unaware of the killing intent and confusion struggling violently within the woman behind him.
He still maintained an extremely steady pace, step by step approaching the Soul King Great Inner Palace.
Every barrier, trap, or remaining obstacle encountered along the way would be casually dissolved by Kurosaki Masaki behind him.
Everything here had been created by Squad Zero using high-density Reishi.
And in this world, anything created from Reishi was completely countered by Kurosaki Masaki's absolute Reishi control.
There was no bloodshed, and no sound.
However these fake defenses had been created from nothing, she could silently turn them back into dead objects the same way.
One in front and one behind, the two left behind only deathly silence upon this road leading toward the world's ultimate throne.
———
[At the Same Time, Outside Squad Ten]
The atmosphere across the enormous plaza was so oppressive it felt as though even the air had frozen.
Almost the entire Gotei Thirteen had assembled here. Endless black shihakusho formed one mass as countless complicated gazes stared fixedly at the tightly shut gate.
Creak!
Along with a dull and drawn-out grinding sound, the gates of Squad Ten, sealed for many days, were finally slowly pushed open from within.
Facing the nearly complete army of tense Shinigami outside the gate, the tall figure of "Rosse" slowly walked out from inside.
"Everyone, gathering in such force to find me like this, what is the matter?"
Aizen perfectly imitated Rosse's casual tone carrying the pressure of an absolute superior as he calmly looked at everyone before him.
There was not the slightest trace of panic in his eyes despite being surrounded.
Aside from Squad Twelve, which had deliberately remained in the laboratory, nearly all captains, vice-captains, and elite members from every other division had arrived for this confrontation.
Looking at this group of Shinigami attempting a coup, Aizen's gaze did not waver at all, as though looking at a group of dead people.
In his and Rosse's plans, the entirety of Soul Society only truly regarded Squad Twelve as an important protection target.
In any world, researchers were the most valuable wealth.
Compared to that, even if all the battle-focused people before him who only understood swinging swords betrayed them today and were killed on the spot, it would not cause much real loss to their future plans.
Military force could always be cultivated again, but intelligence could not.
Aizen's indifferent gaze passed directly over the crowd in front and landed upon the five people leading them.
Kirinji Tenjiro, Ichibe Hyosube, Nimaiya Oetsu, Kuchiki Ginrei, and Kyoraku Shunsui.
These five were either Squad Zero members from above, retired heads of the Four Great Noble Families, or former defeated strays. None belonged to the current Gotei Thirteen organization.
But Aizen understood clearly that they were the true instigators behind this storm, the core figures who started this military rebellion.
And all he needed to do today was make these five leave the stage.
"Rosse, at a time like this, you're still this confident?"
A somewhat sharp voice broke the silence.
Hirako Shinji stepped half a pace out from the crowd, the corners of his mouth stretching into an exaggerated grin as he laughed with great delight.
He felt too good right now.
Ever since Rosse descended, their group had been suppressed until they could barely breathe.
They never imagined that after enduring for so long, they would really wait for a chance like this.
"You're planning to stand against all of us with just yourself?"
Hirako Shinji gripped his sword hilt, revenge-like joy visible in his eyes.
This time, maybe they really could turn things around.
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