Crimson Reiatsu streaked across the night sky.
Following the strongest presence, Yoriichi soon reached the shopping district on the eastern side of Karakura Town.
The place had already been reduced to ruins.
Several buildings had been cleaved in half, and rubble littered both sides of the road. A tall Arrancar stood in the middle of the street, an enormous double-crescent scythe resting on his shoulder.
He was gaunt, with a cruel smile on his face and a white eyepatch covering his left eye. His exaggerated laughter echoed endlessly through the street.
"So this is the city the Soul Reapers protect?"
Nnoitra raised his scythe and casually swung at the building beside him.
Before the blade could fall, a crimson slash suddenly swept past.
Boom!
Nnoitra's scythe was forcibly knocked aside. The slash skimmed his cheek and carved a straight fissure through the road behind him.
The smile on his face briefly froze.
Yoriichi landed before the ruins, holding Hekyō in his right hand as he regarded him calmly.
"This ends here."
Nnoitra turned his head, his gaze falling on Yoriichi's Captain's Haori, and grinned again.
"A captain?"
"Soul Society sure thinks highly of me, sending a captain here in person to die."
Yoriichi ignored his taunt and merely glanced at the collapsed buildings around them.
There were still signs of living people inside.
Although the nearby residents had been evacuated beforehand, a few people had failed to leave in time. If the fighting continued, they could very well be buried beneath the rubble.
Yoriichi raised his sword.
"Leave this place."
Nnoitra froze for a moment, then threw his head back and laughed.
"Are you ordering me around?"
"Don't get so full of yourself, you mere Soul Reaper!"
As his words fell, his figure suddenly vanished.
The next instant, the enormous scythe was already above Yoriichi's head. Gripping its shaft with both hands, Nnoitra brought it down with tremendous force.
Yoriichi held his sword horizontally before him to block.
Clang!
Reiatsu surged outward, and the ground instantly caved in.
Nnoitra grinned savagely and pressed harder, only to discover that the sword in Yoriichi's hand did not budge at all.
"Is this all you can do?"
Yoriichi asked calmly.
Nnoitra's expression darkened.
He abruptly pulled back his scythe and swept its blade straight toward Yoriichi's neck.
But this time, he hit nothing.
Yoriichi had already appeared behind him.
"Breath of the Sun, burn away the filth of all Hollows, Hekyō."
The dark gray blade turned blazing crimson, and golden-orange Reiatsu flowed slowly along its edge. The temperature around them rose rapidly, and even the Reishi in the air began to destabilize.
Nnoitra spun around.
Yoriichi had already swung.
Slash!
Blood sprayed.
A wound stretched from Nnoitra's chest to his shoulder. Searing Sun Reiatsu clung to his flesh, sending white smoke rising constantly from the edges of the wound.
Nnoitra staggered back several steps and looked down at his chest.
His Hierro had been cut open.
"How is that possible?"
He raised his head, his expression gradually twisting.
Nnoitra had always believed he possessed the hardest Hierro among the Espada. An ordinary Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto could not even leave a mark on him.
Yet Yoriichi's slash had met almost no resistance.
"Bastard!"
Nnoitra swung his scythe, raining down a barrage of slashes.
Yoriichi took a step forward.
Crimson sword light flashed repeatedly before him. Every stroke precisely blocked a scythe blade, without the slightest wasted movement.
Nnoitra attacked faster and faster, but his expression only grew uglier.
No matter which direction he attacked from, Yoriichi could respond in advance. Those calm eyes seemed to have already seen through every move he would make.
Another sharp clang rang out.
Hekyō severed the enormous scythe through the middle.
Following through, Yoriichi swung his sword and left a second wound across Nnoitra's abdomen.
Blood fell to the ground.
Nnoitra instantly pulled away, his chest heaving.
"Don't think you've won just because you cut me."
He tightened his grip on his ruined weapon, his gaze growing increasingly vicious.
"I'm the strongest warrior among the Espada!"
Yoriichi looked at him.
"You're afraid."
The street fell silent for an instant.
Veins bulged on Nnoitra's forehead, and he raised his Zanpakuto high.
"Pray, Santa Teresa!"
An immense surge of Reiatsu erupted.
As the dust cleared, four arms sprouted from Nnoitra's back, each holding an enormous double-bladed scythe. A huge crescent-shaped horn appeared atop his head, and his smile became utterly savage.
"Now I'm going to tear you apart, bit by bit."
He opened his mouth wide and stuck out his tongue. A mass of yellow energy gathered at its tip.
It was a Cero.
"Die!"
The Cero blasted out, instantly engulfing the entire street.
Yoriichi stood where he was and extended his left hand.
"Bakudo #81, Dankū."
A transparent barrier appeared out of thin air.
Boom!
The Cero struck Dankū, its violent Reiatsu spreading constantly to either side. Nnoitra stared fixedly ahead, yet never saw the barrier shatter.
Even after the Cero had completely dissipated, Dankū still stood where it had appeared.
"How is that possible?"
Nnoitra's pupils contracted slightly.
Yoriichi lowered his left hand, his crimson blade pointing diagonally toward the ground.
The next instant, he vanished.
Nnoitra instinctively raised four scythes and brought them down in front of him at once.
"Sun Breathing, Sixth Form."
"Lightning Sunrise."
Seven streaks of crimson sword light flashed past.
The first stroke severed the scythe blades, the second cut through Hierro, and the third severed his arms. Without the slightest pause, the remaining four all struck Nnoitra's Reiatsu nodes.
Yoriichi appeared behind him and slowly sheathed his sword.
Nnoitra stood where he was as his four weapons fell one after another.
"How... could I lose..."
His body swayed, but he still refused to fall. His remaining arms suddenly reached back, trying to grasp the scythes that had fallen to the ground.
But the moment his fingers touched a shaft, his entire arm lost its strength.
Nnoitra dropped to one knee, blood dripping steadily down his body. With every Reiatsu node cut open, he could no longer maintain his Resurrección, and the arms on his back began to crumble away.
Yoriichi turned around and looked at him calmly.
"It's already over."
At those words, Nnoitra clenched his teeth and braced his hands against the ground again. He would not allow himself to lie sprawled before the victor like this, and he found Yoriichi's calm gaze even more unbearable.
"Don't look at me like that..."
He raised his head with difficulty, forcing a savage smile onto his face again.
"I don't need your pity, and I don't need you to go easy on me."
Nnoitra had never cared whether he would die.
What he could never bear was someone standing somewhere beyond his reach, then looking down on him as the victor.
It reminded him of the truth he had always refused to admit.
No matter how he fought, there was always someone stronger than him.
"Soul Reaper, don't think I've admitted defeat."
Nnoitra used the last of his strength to stand, but his body could no longer move forward.
He stared at Hekyō in Yoriichi's hand, blood spilling constantly from the corners of his mouth.
"If you can kill me, that proves you're stronger than me."
"So don't give me that boring look."
At that, he suddenly began to laugh quietly.
"This is how a fight should end..."
Crimson patterns spread rapidly from his wounds, and Sun Reiatsu directly ignited his soul.
Flames rose.
Nnoitra's body broke apart in the firelight, finally dissolving into Reishi.
Yoriichi did not look back.
He could sense the Reiatsu of many more Arrancars within Karakura Town.
He looked up into the distance, and crimson light flashed beneath his feet.
He headed toward the nearest battlefield.
Before you continue