Buzz—
Cirucci's screeching continued, with visible sound waves constantly spreading outwards from her.
These sound waves were extremely strange; though the sound wasn't loud, anyone affected by them felt their spiritual body, blood, Reishi, and even their soul vibrating wildly.
Even covering their ears, this vibration, transmitted by sound, could not be stopped at all.
And this...
Was merely the sensation of those casually affected by the sound waves; Starrk, at the center of the sound wave storm, had his clothes fluttering wildly, a dull thudding like drumbeats emanating from within him, and blood already overflowing from the corner of his mouth in this short moment.
Vibration!
It was still vibration; although Cirucci had entered her second Cero, the essence of her ability had not changed at all.
However, this vibration not only spread outwards from the body, but the sound waves themselves also became a mode of transmission, and the vibration frequency became even more terrifying, so terrifying that wherever the sound reached, an abnormal sense of distortion appeared, as if the entire world had fallen into an apocalypse at this moment.
And most importantly...
Even if hearing was shut off, the vibration accompanying the screeching would not disappear; sound merely acted as a conductor in this instance.
Not only that, the reason Cirucci could easily subdue Picaro and make him obedient was precisely because the vibration transmitted by her sound waves after her second Cero could easily block the communication mechanism within Picaro that allowed them to communicate with each other, thus preventing them from exchanging and gathering Reishi.
Boom—!
In just a few seconds, Starrk's face grew even paler, and he unhesitatingly raised the twin guns in his hands.
Accompanied by a piercing roar, a terrifying Cero shot straight towards Cirucci, covering a distance of tens of meters in an instant, arriving before Cirucci in the blink of an eye.
—
And at this moment, the piercing screech suddenly vanished. Cirucci looked at the incoming Cero, the flame pattern on her brow lit up, her purple lips slightly parted, but no sound came out...
No, more precisely, no 'audible' sound came out, but as her lips slightly parted, the Cero that had arrived before her directly disintegrated into Reishi.
This scene appeared extremely bizarre; the Cero looked as if it had spontaneously collapsed upon reaching Cirucci.
But...
Starrk, at this moment, retreated, avoiding the invisible, silent sound waves.
"Hm?"
Immediately after leaving his original position, Starrk's face darkened, and he almost instinctively turned and blocked with his twin guns, but then he retracted them.
Pfft—
Blood spurted from Starrk, and he was sent flying backward like a cannonball.
And in the place where Starrk had been, Cirucci had appeared there at some unknown point, maintaining a punching posture, then with a flap of her wings, she abruptly vanished from her spot.
So fast...
A strange look flashed in Starrk's eyes, and before his body could stop, he turned his gun barrels and fired three shots to his left.
Boom boom boom—
Amidst the roars, six enormous Ceros streaked across the sky, transforming into giant wolves, which distorted and leaped, tearing towards a single point.
And just as the six giant wolves were about to converge, their bodies suddenly glowed, and then...
Rumble—!
Accompanied by a violent explosion, a terrifying shockwave spread outwards in a circular fashion like a tide; everything in its path was reduced to dust, and even the ground's soil was scraped away a layer.
The rising smoke formed a mushroom cloud, enveloping an area of hundreds of meters.
However, this smoke only existed for an instant, then seemed to be stirred by something, dissipating in the blink of an eye, revealing Cirucci with her purple lips slightly parted within.
Cirucci did not attack again but looked at Starrk and said, "Have you noticed? You truly are impressive."
"Heh heh~"
Starrk shook his head, "When the switching speed is this fast, even noticing is useless."
Cirucci's two types of sound: the screeching was extremely terrifying, and within the range where the sound could be transmitted, her terrifying vibration could not be avoided, but this move was not without its weakness, which was the inability to move while screeching.
Once she moved, the screeching would be interrupted.
This did not mean she would allow the enemy to attack; the 'inaudible sound' that caused his Cero to collapse was even more bizarre. At close range, that sound would directly transmit to the depths of the soul, and those who heard it would strangely resonate with the sound, causing them to collapse from within, even from their brains.
Moreover, it was not limited to people; even the Ceros he emitted were the same. It could be said that as long as that 'ultrasonic' sound wave did not stop, no attack could land on Cirucci.
If it were only like this, the first type of sound would obviously pose a greater threat to Starrk, as the second type of sound wave was only an issue if one approached Cirucci's vicinity. Furthermore, both the first and second types meant that Cirucci could only stand still to attack, and moving out of the sound wave's range would nullify her ability.
So Starrk unhesitatingly chose to distance himself from her, then pursued her with his spiritual division.
But what Starrk hadn't expected was...
Besides attacking, Cirucci could also apply that vibrating sound wave to movement; after a flap of her wings, it generated thrust, making her move as if teleporting.
However, this switch would cause Cirucci to be unable to emit that offensive sound wave; she could only use it again after moving to the enemy's side and stopping.
In other words, when the sound wave vibration was applied to her wings, it produced thrust conditions that perfectly matched the sound wave frequency, waveform, and the nature and movement state of the propelled object, allowing her to perform almost instantaneous movements.
And when she stopped, the sound waves emitted from her mouth could only produce reciprocating vibrations in the surrounding area, not thrust.
In short, distancing oneself from her and attacking her when she was in pursuit was the best timing to strike. As long as this weakness was exploited, it wouldn't be difficult to land an attack on Cirucci.
And that was indeed the case, but when the switching speed between these two states reached a certain level, this weakness naturally ceased to exist.
His pursuit with the wolf pack, created by spiritual division, was already his most powerful and fastest offensive, yet in that instant, Cirucci still stopped without warning, using that 'ultrasonic' sound wave to eliminate his wolf pack's attack, as if there was no propulsion at all during movement.
However, Starrk understood that there was indeed propulsion; rather, Cirucci's wings could perfectly control the direction of the propulsion, allowing her to push in the opposite direction when attacked, thus stopping and stabilizing herself in the shortest possible time.
"What a troublesome ability."
...
"Indeed, it's very troublesome."
In the distant sky, Aizen nodded and smiled, "But to be able to do this, it seems she has mastered her ability very skillfully."
From this point of view, Cirucci's transformation did not happen after his defection, but she had already betrayed him and sided with Ishikawa much earlier.
Compared to Cirucci, Nel on the other side, although having a good effect, was clearly a bit rusty and had not fully mastered her abilities, so even after entering her second Cero, she was still in a stalemate with Harribel.
Even Aizen had to admit that he had misjudged them.
The strength Cirucci now displayed was not inferior to Starrk, and this was even with Starrk being more Apprentice at long-range combat. If it were other Espada... perhaps only Baraggan, with his aging ability that ignored sound waves, might be able to fight Cirucci.
"Did Baraggan lose to Cirucci?"
Thinking of this, Aizen turned to Ishikawa and asked, his manner as if conversing with a friend.
"No."
Ishikawa did not hide anything, and as he answered, he subtly glanced at where Captain-Commander Yamamoto was on the ground.
On the Gotei 13 side, apart from Kyōraku Shunsui fighting Ichimaru Gin, Soi Fon and Roka fighting Ulquiorra, and Komamura Sajin and Hisagi Shuuhei fighting Tosen, almost everyone else was completely wiped out.
Especially those maintaining the protective barrier, all fell unconscious due to Captain-Commander Yamamoto's attack.
The Visored also suffered heavy losses.
What made Ishikawa feel most speechless was...
Otoribashi Rōjūrō and Aikawa Rabu, the two former Captains who had stopped Wonderweiss, were now scorched and lying in the ruins. Judging by their miserable state, there was no doubt it was Captain-Commander Yamamoto's fault as well.
It could be said that most of his side were not defeated by the enemy, but were affected by Captain-Commander Yamamoto's attacks.
How could Ishikawa not feel speechless?
"That should be Picaro. If Picaro and Cirucci's evolution levels are the same, he indeed could have defeated Baraggan." Aizen nodded.
Upon hearing this, Ishikawa's brows furrowed slightly.
"Is there anything to be surprised about?"
Aizen shook his head, "I've been managing Hueco Mundo for much longer than you imagine."
Aizen had long known about Cirucci picking up Picaro in the Forest of Menos, but he simply wasn't interested in Cirucci and Picaro, nor did he believe that their coming together could affect his plans, and even less did he believe they were qualified to oppose the Espada he created.
But now, it seemed he had misjudged their strength.
Aizen looked up at the sky and smiled, "A very good interlude, but it's time for it to end!"
As soon as his words fell, a burst of light suddenly bloomed from his body, and a humanoid light projection appeared beside Cirucci.
Seeing this, Ishikawa's expression changed, and he unhesitatingly used Sonido, instantly vanishing from his original spot.
Pfft—!
But at this moment, the sound of blood spurting was heard, and Ishikawa, who appeared behind Cirucci, his pupils suddenly contracted.
This sound did not come from him, nor from Cirucci, but from a thousand meters away from Cirucci and Starrk's battlefield.
Looking up, he saw that in every part of the still ongoing battlefield, a humanoid light projection had appeared.
And these light projections all maintained the same action.
Swinging down their swords!
The sound of blood spurting came from every location outside Cirucci and Starrk's battlefield. Figures, after a burst of blood, fell one after another towards the ground.
Soi Fon, Kyōraku Shunsui, Kensei Muguruma, Kuna Mashiro, Roka, Nel...
Not only that, even Harribel and Ulquiorra were within the attack range, falling to the ground along with the others.
Cleanup!!
A complete cleanup, regardless of friend or foe, the battlefield, originally filled with Reishi fluctuations, suddenly fell silent.
Standing in the sky, apart from Ishikawa and others, only Ichimaru Gin remained; Aizen had somehow left him alone.
And Tosen had already been defeated by Komamura Sajin and Hisagi Shuuhei; the three had already fallen to the ground, which ironically allowed them to escape the calamity.
Cirucci and Starrk, seeing this, couldn't help but stop their actions.
"Why?"
For the first time, Starrk's lazy face showed seriousness, as he looked at Aizen, who stood in the sky like a god.
"Why?"
Aizen met Starrk's gaze, smiling as he shook his head and said, "Why do you ask that?"
"I never told you to trust me; I only told you to follow me, and I also told you not to trust anyone, including myself."
"But tragically... you did not adhere to this principle; instead, you chose to trust me, a more superior existence."
"It's not that your choice was wrong, but for you, who positioned yourselves as 'followers,' if your strength is insufficient to continue following me, what use do I have for you?"
"You truly are ruthless."
Ishikawa withdrew his gaze from Soi Fon and the others, and when he looked at Aizen again, a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
"Ruthless?"
Aizen said, "You think I'm ruthless; that is your greatest weakness. Compared to you now, the you who had not yet entered the Seireitei was actually more interesting to me. The you back then had none of these superfluous emotions; everything about you, just like me, was merely a disguise."
"But now, you have gradually been corroded by the disguise you put on, becoming increasingly uninteresting."
"I can feel that you still have stronger power you haven't used, but because of the people present, you have been restraining yourself, not unleashing that power."
Aizen looked at Ishikawa and continued, "From this perspective, it means you believe others can stop me, and that they can stop me with less sacrifice than you, which is why you are unwilling to use your hidden power here."
"So in my eyes, the current you, like these followers I have abandoned, are not worthy of remaining here."
"Beings choose to trust a superior existence; this is a survival instinct, not wrong, but only the one trusted can become king, can become..."
"—God!"
"And those who can oppose God..."
Buzz—!
The void behind Aizen suddenly split open, and a roar emanated from within.
"Getsuga~"
A jet-black slash, traversing the void, struck directly at Aizen's back.
"—Tenshō!!!"
Amidst the violent storm, the jet-black crescent moon directly struck Aizen's back, and Aizen, who was attacked, did not move from beginning to end, but allowed the attack to come.
Snap~
Without any visible action from him, the jet-black crescent moon shattered like glass.
...can only be a God without those useless emotions!"