The enormous pair of wings of light unfurled, and countless pure-white rays burst from the round holes in them.
Everything the light touched was pierced through and obliterated the instant it made contact.
There was no shock wave from a physical collision. The towering spires nearby were silently riddled with holes, then crumbled apart.
Shunsui Kyōraku did not even have time to retrieve the twin swords scattered on the ground before he swept the dazed Nanao Ise into his arms.
He squeezed out the last trace of Reiatsu in his body and stumbled into a Shunpo, carrying his lieutenant through a gap in the web of light in a desperate scramble.
The gash in his side kept tearing open as he moved, hot, frothy blood dripping freely down his torn clothing.
Shunsui Kyōraku gritted his teeth and gave a muffled groan. Using the clouds of dust thrown up by the collapsing boulders as cover, he darted deep into a huge, half-ruined castle.
It was an auxiliary palace built to guard the main hall of the Soul King Palace, with heavy marble beams and columns interlaced throughout.
Dragging his heavy feet, Shunsui Kyōraku brought Nanao into a narrow crevice behind the courtyard gallery.
The two slid down against the icy stone wall, the remains of a dome teetering overhead.
Shrill, grotesque bird cries echoed around the entire castle.
It was no longer a sound a human could make, like countless sharp steel needles scraping across metal.
Lille Barro hovered in the air directly above the castle, his eight wings of light beating slowly.
His deformed bird head twitched from side to side, murky yellow light flickering in its many holes.
"Sinner... blasphemer, where have you hidden?"
Lille Barro lifted his beak as he muttered to himself, his pitch rising and falling.