Falling from the Sky

"He's already lost. Are you just going to stand there and watch?"

Shunsui Kyoraku lowered the brim of his hat, his gaze fixed on the dark figure about to crash into the ground of Soul Society.

Even he could no longer remember the figure's name.

He had a vague sense that he ought to know it, that he knew the man himself, but the name was gone.

One thing he was certain of: the falling man was like Ross and Aizen, someone who trampled the old order without restraint.

"Having your name erased means the very concept of your existence has been denied. Who would care about a wraith whose name no longer exists?"

Aizen chuckled. His eyes reflected the dark figure's descent as though he were watching a magnificent firework. Only then did he whisper, so softly it was almost inaudible:

"Farewell, Yhwach."

The outcome was clear.

Even after absorbing the power of every Sternritter Knight, Yhwach had been resurrected too hastily. His foundations were unstable.

Against Ichibei Hyosube, who presided over the Soul King Palace, Yhwach still seemed inexperienced.

Or, more precisely, once the monk stopped holding back and revealed the Zero Division's true fangs, Yhwach suffered a crushing defeat.

This was not merely an execution. It was a warning laid bare.

If Ross and Aizen confined their antics to the lower realms and did not cross the Soul King's line, Ichibei Hyosube might choose to ignore them.

But if they showed even the slightest desire to seize the Soul King, the blot of ink now falling from the sky would be their fate too.

"Heh. The next person stripped of his name will be either you or Ross. Death is closing in, yet you're remarkably calm."

For some reason, Shunsui Kyoraku felt a little lighter.

For so