A cold wind blew softly across the wilderness.
Over the vast, ravaged ground below, even the biting wind seemed mixed with the smoke and stench of battle, filling the noses of the people of Las Noches watching the fight from above.
Seeing this scene, everyone from Las Noches shuddered inwardly, an alarming thought surfacing uncontrollably in their minds.
Had that scene just now been caused by Ulquiorra's casual strike!?
If so, then... was the reason for such a tremendous commotion that Gin had been smashed into the ground!?
As everyone entertained that thought—
On the battlefield.
"Crackle..."
From the enormous sunken crater spanning several thousand meters, faint sounds came from its very center, the deepest point of the depression.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
The next moment, four cold flashes suddenly burst from deep beneath the sunken ground!
Countless shattered stones exploded upward, revealing the figure within, now looking utterly wretched.
Gin Ichimaru looked miserable. His body resembled a rag doll struck by a massive hammer, covered from head to toe in gruesome wounds.
Having nearly exhausted all his strength to escape from the earth that had buried him, he stood unsteadily on the devastated ground.
He slowly opened his eyes, his dim gaze seeming to search for something.
When he spotted Ulquiorra standing in the air, clad in bone armor, his eyes brightened slightly as he said slowly.
"How terrifying... You've almost surpassed Captain Aizen now... Ulquiorra..."
As he spoke—
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Accompanied by eerie sounds of shifting bone, the many broken bones in Gin's body rapidly healed.
His severe injuries had almost completely recovered in the time it took him to speak.
However, Ulquiorra seemed unconcerned with whether Gin's wounds had healed. He looked at Gin coldly and said in a low voice.
"Whatever your reasons may be,