"This is..."
Feeling that he had lost control of his right hand, Ailin's left hand was the first to light up with lightning.
"Hadō #11: Bound Lightning!"
Crackle!
A bolt of lightning shot out from Ailin's left hand, striking Tessaiga.
"Ah--!"
This bolt of lightning spread along Tessaiga to Ailin's body. After Ailin let out a muffled grunt, his right hand released Tessaiga, regaining control of his right hand.
Clang...
Looking at Tessaiga fallen on the ground, Ailin's gaze towards Kōga Kuchiki contained surprise, wariness and also pleasant surprise.
He was surprised that the weapon he had forged would actually be controlled by Kōga’s Muramasa like a Zanpakutō. He felt wary because with the hundreds of Zanpakutō Ailin possessed, if Muramasa truly entered his inner world, it would likely bring tremendous trouble for Ailin.
The pleasant surprise was for the same reason. Muramasa had already been copied by Ailin. Once Ailin forged Muramasa, with its ability he could truly have an "army of one"! However, all that would have to wait until Ailin was safe.
"Humph!"
Although the desired effect wasn't achieved, destroying Ailin's Zanpakutō with one strike still brought a smug look to Kōga’s face. In his eyes, his ability was the strongest!
"Surrender! If you accept judgement afterwards you might still keep your life." Pointing his released Muramasa at Ailin, Kōga uttered unbelievable nonsense.
Spare Ailin?
How was that possible?
Haruko Kuchiki had disguised herself when entering the tavern, but that was only an external disguise. Her spiritual pressure had never changed at all. Investigating only required tracing Haruko Kuchiki's spiritual pressure to understand everything.
"Relying solely on personal assumptions without seeking the facts yet pressing such a weighty title on me, I really cannot accept this. As for you saying your next strike will take my life—Since when could a 3rd seat be so arrogant when speaking to a Vice Captain?"
Ailin was deliberately provoking him!
Indeed, in terms of status a 3rd seat was in no way comparable to a Vice Captain. But the 1st Division was an exception. Although this was something everyone tacitly agreed on without voicing it aloud.
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So there was nothing wrong with Ailin saying this. Even if this 3rd seat came from the 1st Division, he was still only a "3rd Seat"!
"Damn you!"
As expected, Kōga was instantly enraged by Ailin's words, flickering towards Ailin as a blur.
"Projection—!"
Seeing Kōga make his move, Ailin loudly roared as he released his Zanpakutō.
Boom!
In an instant, Ailin's spiritual pressure surged by five times, reaching the level of a captain. Although there was still a huge gap compared to Kōga, their spiritual pressures were finally within the same realm.
With a wave of his hand, azure radiance converged before Ailin. In an instant, dozens of Zanpakutō emerged amidst the radiance.
"Phantasm Break!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Azure lines spread across the blades of these dozens of Zanpakutō, transforming into rows of arrow bolts shooting towards Kōga.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Facing the incoming Zanpakutō, Kōga swung Muramasa in his hand. The purple aura around Muramasa instantly enveloped those approaching Zanpakutō. But to Kōga‘s shock, these dozens of Zanpakutō didn't have any "Spirits"!
Kōga’s Zanpakutō "Muramasa" could control a Shinigami's Zanpakutō because Muramasa possessed the ability to communicate with other Zanpakutō Spirits. Moreover, in Bankai, Muramasa could even enter a Shinigami's inner world, incite the Zanpakutō Spirit to defect and directly control the Zanpakutō Spirit, forcing the manifested Zanpakutō to serve him instead.
"Humph..."
Seeing Kōga’s actions, Ailin let out a cold laugh. To deal with Kōga’s Muramasa, the Zanpakutō Ailin unleashed this time weren't the actual items from within his reality marble but were projections generated through using his Zanpakutō's Shikai ability instead!
After releasing his true Zanpakutō abilities, all weapons inside Ailin's reality marble could be projected outside through consuming spiritual power.
Being just projections, the power of these Zanpakutō was weaker compared to the real things inside his reality marble. However, aside from "Projection", Ailin possessed another ability too.
"Phantasm Break!"
This ability could greatly boost the might of projected weapons at the cost of damaging them. Although only a one-shot power up, that one strike's power could already match the real things.
Furthermore, as mere Zanpakutō projections, there were no actual "Spirits" within them at all, completely immune against the effects of Kōga’s Zanpakutō ability.
Having lost the initiative, Kōga could only wave Muramasa to deflect these dozens of incoming Zanpakutō.
But—!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The instant these Zanpakutō were struck by Kōga, violent explosions occurred on all of them. Every Zanpakutō's detonation wasn't the least bit inferior to a Lieutenant-class Hadō #31: Shot of Red Fire.
Whoosh!
Amidst the surging flames a figure shot into the sky.
The three captain-class experts, Ginrei Kuchiki, Love Aikawa and Isshin Shiba raised their heads. The other Shinigami were slightly slower to react but still followed their gazes towards that figure hovering in midair.
"You're kidding right?"
"He's actually injured despite being from the 1st Division's 3rd Seat?"
"So powerful, both these guys are truly so powerful!"
Suspended roughly twenty-plus meters above ground, Kōga’s body was shrouded by large amounts of black fumes, with multiple burns visible on his hands and body. Even his Shihakusho had a few holes punctured through. There was also a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Very good, you've truly angered me now!"
After wiping the blood from his mouth, Kōga glanced at the three captains dressed in white haoris on the ground and the more than fifty Shinigami present. His eyes brimmed with viciousness.
I can't control your weapons but can I still not control these people instead?
The Zanpakutō of three captain-class experts plus over fifty Shinigami manifested, let's see how you die!
"Bankai— Mukōjōchū Muramasa!"