A muffled roar squeezed out of Kenpachi Zaraki's throat as he took another heavy step forward.
He gripped the broken, savage war blade with both hands, wanting to slash once more at the godlike figure in the sky.
Yet the instant he stepped forward, countless horrifying cracks suddenly split across his entire dark body.
Accompanied by a dense series of dull sounds of tearing muscle, great sheets of blood sprayed from his arms, chest, and every joint in his legs.
His fleshly vessel ultimately could not withstand all the savage power released by that wild war blade.
The two black horns atop the demon's head silently shattered and vanished.
Kenpachi Zaraki's legs lost all strength to support him, and his whole body collapsed limply forward into the rubble and mud.
Nozarashi slipped from his hand and fell beside him. The captain of the 11th Division no longer had the strength to move even a finger.
"Is this the limit of you mortal creatures?"
Gerard tilted his face, encased in a gold-and-white helmet, slightly downward, flames of indifference toward living beings flickering in his golden eyes.
He spread the pure-white wings of light behind him, which blotted out the sky, while the six-pointed halo hovering above his head slowly rotated.
"Unable to control your own power, you end up with the pitiful fate of your flesh collapsing."
Gerard raised his new greatsword, burning with pale flames, and his arrogant, thunderous voice reverberated through the sky.
"Since your flesh is already useless, become dust beneath a god's ascent."
The greatsword slashed down through the air, its burning flames of judgment whipping up an overwhelming surge of force that rushed straight toward the limp figure on the ground.
"Zaraki!"
The youthful-looking Tōshirō Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed, and the ice steps beneath his feet burst