Ururu and Jinta had already dashed into the Urahara Shop the moment they saw Koga Gō and the others appear.
"Damn it! Even if you're a captain, you're still just a weakling now! How dare you act so arrogant?" Maqiao shouted, her voice sharp with contempt.
"Don't make any moves. I'll handle him myself," she declared, glancing at the others behind her.
"Ma Qiao, don't be impulsive," Koga said in a low voice, his tone heavy with warning.
But Youxi and the others only folded their arms, watching with amusement. None intended to join forces. Most of the Bount preferred to fight alone; solitary pride was their nature. If not for Kariya's overwhelming power binding them together, such a group would never have stood on the same battlefield.
"Come then" Maqiao never finished her words.
Her body split cleanly in two before anyone could react, and within a heartbeat, her flesh began to decay, skin collapsing, bones turning brittle until all that remained was a whisper of dust drifting into the air.
"If you want to fight, fight. What's the point of all that noise?" Shiraha said calmly, flicking the blood from his Zanpakutō. His expression didn't change as he shook his head lightly.
Urahara's fan lowered slightly. "Such speed… could he really move that fast using only the artificial body? Terrifying," he murmured.
The gigai Shiraha used had been crafted by Urahara himself; no one understood its limits better. Yet the raw speed Shiraha displayed exceeded even what Urahara thought possible. If he could do this while restrained, what would happen when his full power was unleashed?
"What… what speed is that?" Koga whispered, his voice trembling. The rest of the Bount stared at Maqiao's remains in disbelief. None had even seen Shiraha move. One moment she spoke; the next, she was gone.
"Next," Shiraha said, his tone light as he raised his Zanpakutō, "it's your turn." His icy-blue eyes swept across them like blades.
"Reveal yourself, Dalk!" Koga commanded coldly.
"Show yourself, Gesell!" Yushi shouted beside him.
Their Dolls emerged instantly Dalk, the iron-bodied construct with spider-like limbs capable of assimilating metal, and Gesell, a manifestation of ten cards, each able to summon monstrous entities from within its seals.
Blood still pooled at their feet, Maqiao's remains already dust. The air trembled with reishi as both puppets materialized.
"Now there are only two of you left," Shiraha said softly, a faint smile curving his lips. "Anything else you want to say?"
The Bounts' abilities were unique, but to Shiraha, they were fragile things puppets bound to weak masters. Kill the manipulator, and the Doll would vanish with them. Measured by spiritual pressure, most of these enemies barely reached the level of a seated officer. Only Koga's Reiatsu approached that of a lieutenant.
"Impossible! This is impossible!" Yushi's voice cracked, eyes wide with horror. "Kariya said your power was suppressed! You shouldn't be this strong! How can you"
Shiraha's smile deepened, cold and distant. "You're just cannon fodder. Die obediently."
"Gesell! Kill him!" Yushi roared, his fear collapsing into rage. He drew one of his cards the strongest in his set and pointed it toward Shiraha.
From the earth, a massive creature burst forth, four or five meters tall, its featureless face split only by a single gaping maw. It howled and lunged at Shiraha.
Cold sweat rolled down Koga's face. Shiraha had yet to release any spiritual pressure, yet the sheer pressure of his presence alone made breathing difficult.
But with Yushi attacking, Koga had no choice. His eyes hardened. "Let's go, Dalk."
Dalk's voice, metallic and mocking, rang out. "Tch. This man's exactly my type. Shame I have to crush him."
The Doll dropped low, its limbs slamming into the ground. An iron sphere was ejected from its body, splitting into hundreds of small, razor-edged orbs that tore through the air toward Shiraha.
Yushi's summoned beast roared beside them, charging in unison.
But within a meter of Shiraha, everything stopped. The orbs hung motionless in midair; the charging monster froze as though time itself had halted.
"Is that all?" Shiraha's tone was quiet, almost bored. "Too weak."
Disappointment flickered across his face. He had expected more.
"Thirty times gravity," he murmured.
Instantly, the atmosphere thickened. Gravity erupted around him, an invisible storm of pressure crushing the space within its reach. Koga, Yushi, their Dolls all were engulfed by a torrent of blue-violet Reiatsu that surged from Shiraha like a tidal wave.
Gesell screamed, his form collapsing under the immense pressure, bursting into a mist of blood that dissipated in seconds.
"Boom… boom… boom…"
The suspended iron orbs crashed to the ground one by one, slamming craters into the earth. Dalk's metallic limbs cracked, the force fracturing her body piece by piece until it shattered entirely, scattering fragments of steel across the courtyard.
"My body… it's so heavy! It feels like I'm being torn apart!" Koga gasped as the ground beneath him split open. His body trembled violently, blood spurting from his mouth.
Under Shiraha's gravity and Reiatsu, bones shattered audibly. "Click… click…"
Yushi screamed, crushed to the earth. "Kariya… you lied to us! I'm not" His voice was cut off as his body imploded under the weight, vanishing into mist along with his Doll.
Koga still lived, though barely. His bones cracked with each breath, blood gushing from wounds that refused to close. Through blurred vision, he turned his head slightly and laughed hoarsely.
"Hah… Kuchiki Shiraha… the plan is already in motion. The Soul Society will fall to the Hunters…"
Shiraha looked down at him calmly. "Still talking?" His voice carried no emotion. "Then thirty-five times gravity."
The final wave struck.
There was a deep, crushing sound then silence.
Koga's body was obliterated where he stood, reduced to a red mist that vanished into the still air.
The courtyard fell quiet once more.