Dropping another one today!
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With no other choice, ten minutes eventually passed. Twenty-nine Arrancars and the released Hilda began to move—excluding Lucifer, every single one of them had become an enemy. Once they were capable of movement, the Arrancars surged forward under Hilda's command to restrain Lucifer's body.
“Ho-ho-ho-ho! Die, you vulgar Vasto Lorde!”
CRASH! BOOM!
While the Arrancars held Lucifer’s ankles, Hilda unleashed her attack. And with that, Lucifer La El died.
“Ho-ho-ho-ho! I won! I actually won, Lord Aizen!”
Hilda rejoiced, looking toward her master, Sosuke Aizen. However, Aizen merely cast a gaze of cold contempt at Hilda and spoke.
“You useless thing.”
“L-Lord Aizen?”
“Look behind you.”
At Aizen’s command, Hilda turned around and saw something impossible. Standing there with an air of leisure, scythe in hand, was the very same Lucifer La El she thought she had just killed. Scattered all around him were the corpses of the twenty-nine Arrancars.
“Hahahaha! Tell me, wench, was it a good dream?”
Lucifer spoke while laughing like a madman. Everything that had transpired until a moment ago was nothing more than an illusion Hilda had seen. A sweet, deceptive fantasy provided by Lucifer La El.
“It was truly entertaining. Getting excited all by yourself, releasing your power, and even throwing a fit of madness at the end. Your master looked at you with such disdain while you were performing.”
I had been treated to a hilarious spectacle: a wench putting on a solo show trapped in an illusion I created, while Aizen's expression grew colder and colder by the second. It was high-quality entertainment.
“No... that can't be...”
“Kehehehe. Didn't I declare it? I said I would kill you miserably. You've been dancing in the palm of my hand this whole time. Hahahaha! You stupid bitch.”
“No! I don’t believe it! For me... for someone like me to lose to a mere Vasto Lorde!”
Driven to hysteria by my words, the wench lunged at me. Through the illusion earlier, I had already deciphered all her techniques. It boiled down to her whip having poison, but that was enough. It simply meant she was never even qualified to be my opponent.
“I declare it now. You shall be torn to bloody shreds.”
I raised my Death Scythe to the upper right. Infusing it with even greater power of death, I expanded the weapon's size. Since the Death Scythe could be adjusted at will according to one's Reiatsu, it quickly swelled to three meters in length—matching Hilda’s massive height.
“This is impossible!”
“Hmph. And yet, it is the truth.”
WHOOSH!
SLICE!
The moment we charged and crossed paths, my Death Scythe met her whip. When the clash ended, we stood on opposite sides. I deactivated the Death Scythe and spoke quietly.
“Realize that in the face of Death, everything is meaningless. Ah, perhaps you can no longer hear me?”
Squelch! Thud, thud!
Hilda’s body fell apart, sliced into chunks. Watching her pieces hit the ground, I turned my attention to Aizen, who sat upon the throne.
“It was quite the show, wasn't it?”
“Indeed. Was it then that the change occurred? After she dodged your attacks three times and caught your weapon?”
“Kukuku. Calling your own subordinate ‘that thing.’ She truly is a pathetic woman, even in death.”
I pointed at the dismembered Hilda, but Aizen didn't even blink. She simply looked at me with a frigid gaze and asked a follow-up.
“The answer to my question?”
“Correct. That was the moment she fell into my illusion.”
As Aizen suspected, Hilda was ensnared when she caught my fourth attack. No, more accurately, it was the moment she was slashed for the fourth time. When I declared her miserable death, I decided I would make her as happy as possible before crushing her into the dirt. Thus, I devised the illusion—a sweet dream so intoxicating she wouldn't want to wake up, only for that dream to end with my supposed 'death.' Of course, while she was immersed in that fantasy, I took my time slaughtering the twenty-nine Arrancars and enjoyed Aizen’s expressions and the wench’s performance. What a delightful way to pass the time.
“Hahahaha! What an amusing woman.”
“Surprising. There is a clear gap in power between a Vasto Lorde and an Arrancar. Are you suggesting you are strong enough to bridge that gap through sheer force?”
“Hmph. Curious, are you?”
It’s true that the power difference between an Arrancar and a Vasto Lorde is distinct. However, that only applies when comparing a ‘regular Arrancar and a Vasto Lorde.’
“Did I ever say I was a Vasto Lorde?”
CRACKLE, SNAP.
“Wait... surely!”
“It’s been six years. Did you think I’d just stand still for six long years? You underestimate me far too much, Sosuke Aizen.”
Fractures began to web across the mask covering my face. With the sound of cracking porcelain, pieces began to peel away like old scabs. While the gap between an Arrancar and a Vasto Lorde is clear, the gap between one Arrancar and another is even more definitive.
“Do you understand now? I am the King of this Hueco Mundo!”
Finally, every trace of the mask covering my face vanished, revealing my bare visage. The mask that had hidden my face was a construct made of the same Reiatsu as my Death Scythe. During those six years of meditating on the concept of death, I had already become an Arrancar. In the end, it was Aizen’s mistake for underestimating my strength.
“Hahahaha! Magnificent! Truly magnificent! You became an Arrancar through your own power? And in only six years? Hahaha! Marvelous! I want you more than ever!”
Far from being shocked that I had become an Arrancar, Aizen laughed with genuine joy. This wasn't the usual deceptive, hypocritical laugh she often wore; it was a laugh of pure, unadulterated delight. Because in her eyes, along with that joy, I could see a burning greed to possess me.
“I am curious... what must I do to obtain you?”
Aizen was asking me with absolute sincerity. She was telling me she wanted to own me, and she was asking for the way to make it happen.
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Toss! Toss! Toss!
Everything was for this plot twist!
Everything was an illusion the protagonist showed Hilda!
The power gap between a Vasto Lorde and an Arrancar is clear; I saw Halibel get stomped in the anime flashbacks. But if it’s an Arrancar versus another Arrancar, the MC is overwhelming. He could handle ten Hildas at once. Because what he showed back then was only a fraction of his power.
Actually, the protagonist already became an Arrancar while contemplating death—a sort of 'enlightenment.' To trick Halibel and everyone else, he used his Reiatsu to create a fake mask, similar to his Death Scythe. You wonder how he saw his own face to make the mask? There’s probably water in Hueco Mundo, right? If not, let’s just say he went to the World of the Living to look in a mirror.
Anyway, I dropped a few hints at the bottom of previous chapters, but it seems no one noticed. Hints about techniques that only appear after becoming an Arrancar, how things work if you make a 'declaration,' or how he could manipulate things like a Death Note... I guess I'm just too perfect at hiding them? Kehehe. Anyway, bye-bye to Hilda. If this twist landed for you, please leave a comment or keep reading~ I need to know how well I fooled you!
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