I hate these brainless, hot-blooded protagonists the most

Faced with Aizen's question, Dunn gave no response.

He merely closed his eyes, then gently lifted his leg and stepped down.

The already-melted ground trembled slightly, and ripples spread into the distance.

Under the influence of those ripples, the power of the flames extended farther away. Yet in Dunn's perception, a presence hidden beneath Soul Society had already been affected by that power.

But this time, Dunn did not hold back.

Violent power instantly engulfed everything, while the Soul Society on the surface slowly vanished under the influence of Dunn's power.

Having done all this, Dunn opened his eyes.

"It's about time."

As Dunn spoke, he looked at Ichigo behind Aizen.

"Are you not planning to make a move? If you try, you might be able to defeat me."

Dunn's words made Aizen's expression shift. He turned to look at Ichigo.

"Forget it. Things have already reached this point. Even when I still existed, I couldn't have done it, much less now..."

A figure appeared behind Ichigo.

He was an ordinary-looking man, though his body was somewhat illusory.

"Soul King."

Aizen directly called out the man's identity.

After all, the Hōgyoku's power came from the Soul King. When this figure appeared, he sensed the Hōgyoku's fluctuations.

"Yes. I had originally hoped you could forge a new path, but it seems there is no opportunity for that this time."

Aizen had looked at the Soul King with some confusion, but the moment the Soul King said this, Aizen's expression changed.

"Isn't it obvious?"

Dunn smiled.

"Everything you did—or rather, everything in this world—was pushed forward by certain people behind the scenes. Those people once believed they had grasped the Soul King's power, and they wanted to push you forward so that you could master power from a higher dimension.

"But they