Gin Ichimaru slowly slid Kamishini no Yari all the way into its sheath with a soft click.
He tucked both hands back into his wide sleeves, the narrow-eyed smile on his face undiminished.
"Oh my, Captain Urahara, you certainly know how to joke."
Gin Ichimaru turned sideways, regarding the bedraggled man in clogs and a hat with an ambiguous smile. "If I had the time to silence you, I'd be better off spending it figuring out how to report to the Captain-Commander."
"In your current state, even standing up is a struggle, isn't it?"
Gin Ichimaru tilted his head slightly. "Rather than worrying about me silencing you, you should worry more about that poison you haven't finished throwing up."
"If you die of poisoning in a little while, I'm not carrying you back to bury you."
Kisuke Urahara pressed one hand against his throbbing forehead and could not help coughing up a mouthful of dark residual blood.
"That's a chilling thing to say, Captain Gin."
Kisuke Urahara sighed. "I did give you a perfect opening to strike, at least."
"Well, thanks for the treat."
Gin Ichimaru chuckled softly and did not dwell on the subject.
The stench in the surrounding air had completely dissipated, replaced by gusts of cool wind sweeping down from the heights of the city.
Both men turned their gazes toward the white hall farther up in Wahrwelt.
The commotion across the battlefield had yet to subside, and faint tremors of Reiatsu continued to emanate from all directions.
Rubble littered the ruined upper corridors on Wahrwelt's western side.
Great swaths of white stone pillars had been sheared clean through by some invisible, linear force, their cut surfaces as smooth as mirrors.
"Spread out! Hurry, spread out!"
Shūhei Hisagi clutched his bleeding shoulder blade and shouted at the