Pitch-black~
Everywhere he looked was completely shrouded in darkness, and within that darkness stood rows of ancient European-style buildings.
Gulp~
The sound of swallowing rang out. Looking at the surroundings that had always felt unbearably dull and boring to him, the young man swallowed hard.
"B-Back... back already?"
Even now, he still felt as though he were trapped in a dream.
Bankai?
"Ha... haha... hahaha."
The young man, covered in his comrades' blood, knelt on the ground. A vacant smile slowly spread across his face.
"...Hahahaha~~"
His wild laughter grew louder and louder, leaving the similarly dressed people around him unable to keep the confusion from showing on their faces.
"So what if he used Bankai? In the presence of His Majesty's Shadow Domain, he was still helpless."
The more desperate he had been before returning, the more ecstatic he was now. The instant that monster unleashed Bankai, he had thought himself certain to die. He had never imagined that he would return unscathed.
"No!! Of course I was able to come back!"
The expression on the young man's face turned fervent. "This is His Majesty's Shadow Domain. Once it unfolds, it isn't something a Soul Reaper can..."
Pfft—!
His fevered muttering abruptly stopped.
The young man lowered his gaze and stared at the gray blade tip piercing through his throat, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Enough with the theatrics. No one cares what you think."
That incomparably familiar voice sent the young man's consciousness plunging into darkness. Even in the instant before his death, he still could not understand...
How had this spirit space, hidden within the shadows and beneath the Soul Reapers' noses for nearly a thousand years without being discovered, and never entered by anyone other than a Quincy, been invaded so easily?
How had the other