225: Chapter 225 You've overestimated yourself; what happened to the promised support from Soul Society?

jezebel's body should have already been shattered.

Under Renji's King Snake Bite, his body was pierced by countless bone snakes, and his spiritual pressure had nearly dissipated—yet now, within the dust, a twisted shadow was slowly standing up.

“...”

Renji Abarai gasped for breath, propping himself up with Zabimaru as he lifted his head, his pupils suddenly shrinking—

jezebel's body was reconstructing.

His shattered mask slowly healed, the mechanical structure of his severed right arm regrew, and even—

His left arm twisted and deformed, gradually becoming covered in identical metal armor.

“What's going on?!” Rukia stood up, her hand already pressed against the hilt of Sode no Shirayuki.

“That guy's spiritual pressure... something's wrong!” Toshiro's expression suddenly turned solemn.

As the dust cleared, jezebel's figure was fully revealed—his form was now completely different, his entire body covered in pitch-black armor, the joints of both arms transformed into two massive energy-opening gates, and a mask covered his entire head, leaving only crimson eyes visible.

And the most striking thing was—

A deep, black-hole-like spherical object was embedded in his chest.

“Is that... the Hogyoku?!” Gin Ichimaru's narrowed eyes fully opened for the first time.

Tuaner and Ryan both stood with their mouths agape. “Wasn't the Hogyoku in the original story a fake? How did it become real now?”

“Oh no!” Matsumoto Rangiku's voice suddenly tightened. “Aizen's Hogyoku... how could it really be on a guy like this?! Didn't Tuaner say it was a fake?”

“Hehehe... When I previously eavesdropped on Aizen releasing Wonderweiss Margela, he said the Hogyoku's release requires at least several captain-level spiritual pressures. It seems you count as a captain?”

“With you and myself combined, we actually managed to break the Hogyoku's seal.”

jezebel laughed.

That laughter didn't sound like his own, but like some deeper, more chaotic existence mocking them—

“Thanks to the beating you gave me...”

His right hand slowly rose, his fingertips lightly pressing against the Hogyoku on his chest, as blue-purple spiritual pressure exploded like lightning.

“—Now, I am finally 'complete'.”

The Hogyoku is not an infinite energy source; its true ability is to perceive the host's desires and facilitate evolution.

And jezebel's desire was simple—

“Surpass everything, crush all.”

So, the Hogyoku responded to him.

In an instant—

Both of jezebel's arms simultaneously erupted with blinding light, as two massive torrents of energy poured frantically from the gates on his arms, directly plowing two hundred-meter-long chasms into the sea of sand!

“Resurrección—'Dual Blade Style: Iron Prison King's Arms'!”

The original right-arm Battojutsu was a single high-power slash, but now—

Both his arms could release light blades at the same time, forming an inescapable all-encompassing net of slashes.

—And it was faster, with even greater power.

“I can't dodge it!” Uryu Ishida suddenly pulled back his bowstring. “God's Arrows Volley: Scatter!”

Dozens of Reishi arrows boomed out in an attempt to intercept, but those light blades directly shredded the rain of arrows, closing in on everyone without losing any speed!

Clang—

Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho met one light blade head-on, but another attacked directly from his blind spot!

“Hyoten Hyakkaso!” Toshiro used Shunpo to move forward, and an ice wall rose with a roar—only to be pulverized layer by layer by the light blade!

“Tsk!” Matsumoto Rangiku swung Haineko, its fine blades forming a storm that barely managed to deflect a few of the slashes.

Ryan's pair of [Incineration Furnace] swung so fast they left afterimages, completely shielding himself and Mia.

Tuaner released the Shikai of [Shuangfeiyan]; combined with her background as a scout, dodging a few incoming blades was no problem for her.

Loran directly summoned a rustic, ancient tree-shaped shield, which was brimming with the power of nature.

However, in the next second—

jezebel's arms suddenly spread wide, his energy slots fully released!

“Die.”

Boom—!!

Thousands of light blades fell like a torrential rain, and the entire sea of sand was instantly leveled!

Renji collapsed on the ground, the blood from his chest staining the sand red.

He hadn't expected that the enemy he had finally managed to defeat would be resurrected in this form—even stronger and more frenzied!

“The Hogyoku... Aizen's power...” Renji murmured.

“You've got to be kidding me—!” Renji shouted, refusing to accept defeat like a loser.

“Hey, Renji, can you still move?” Ichigo was covered in wounds, yet he still stood in front of him.

“Ha... who do you think I am?!” Renji gritted his teeth, forcing his body up.

Chatot and Uryu were already gasping for air, Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki was snapped in half, one of Toshiro's ice wings was broken, Gin and Rangiku were barely protecting themselves, and the members of Mia's team seemed to be managing with ease—but if this continued, everyone would be crushed by jezebel's dual-blade slashes!

“I have to find a way... to break the deadlock!”

Renji tore off the [Thousand-Weight Curse] from his body and lifted his head with an arrogant expression. “Yes! This is the feeling!! I feel like I can do it again!!”

“Everyone!” he growled. “Cover me! I'm going to finish him off in one go!”

“Are you crazy?!” Ichigo glared at him. “That guy right now—”

“There's no time!” Renji grinned savagely. “Since he evolved—then I'll show him an evolution of my own!”

Toshiro immediately understood: “Everyone! Hold him back!”

In an instant—

“Getsuga Tensho!”

“God's Arrows Volley: Zenith!”

“Bankai: Daiguren Hyorinmaru!”

“Haineko: Dust Storm!”

“Shoot to kill, Shinso!”

Everyone's attacks erupted simultaneously, forcing jezebel to cross his arms in a block—and in that very instant—

Renji Abarai disappeared.

It wasn't Shunpo, nor was it an evasion, but...

“Hihio Jaga Odori!”

—His bones, flesh, and even his spiritual pressure suddenly merged into every segment of Zabimaru's bone blades!

“This is... Man and Blade as One!”

“What?!” jezebel suddenly looked up, but it was already too late—

A snake shadow that blotted out the sky completely enveloped him!

“It's over—”

“Zabimaru: Endless Bite!”

Tens of thousands of bone snakes descended from the sky, no longer a simple Bankai, but...

—Renji had converted all of his own flesh and blood into the blades of his zanpakuto!

“Even if I have to stake my life, I'll bite the Hogyoku to pieces!”

The final blow—

Pierced through!

Crack!!

The sound of something shattering came from jezebel's chest—

The Hogyoku... had cracked!

—“AAAAAHHHH!!!”

jezebel's body began to disintegrate, the energy gates on his arms exploded, and his spiritual pressure spun out of control like a storm!

“We won...?”

“Since Renji could break it, it's probably just a charged fake, right?” Tuaner began to calculate secretly.

However, in the next second—

“What an—unsightly performance.”

From the crack in the fake Hogyoku, Sosuke Aizen's voice slowly rang out.

“...”

Was this basically acting as a free lab assistant for Aizen? The wind blew slowly over the sea of sand, and the entire field fell into a dead silence.

...World of the Living, Mia's villa, in the sky.

Mia looked at Arrancars No. 01, 02, and 03 appearing from the Garganta along with their Fracción, as well as the supreme leader of Hueco Mundo, Sosuke Aizen, and his subordinate general, Kaname Tosen. She felt completely unwell...

Because she was familiar with the plot, Mia had taken quite a few advantages before.

Just like this time, logically speaking, Captain-Commander Yamamoto should have led a large number of captains and vice-captains to the World of the Living for support.

But, however—where were Captain Yamamoto and the others?!!

When Aizen saw Mia's current appearance (occupying Inoue Orihime's body), he couldn't help but chuckle.

“Should I call you Captain Mia, or my little canary, the lovely Orihime?” Aizen's teasing tone made Mia even more annoyed.

Aizen and Tosen, who were supposed to be trapped by Zanka no Tachi — Jokayu, were now standing boldly in the void. And they even had the leisure to tease her? Counting their own undercover agent Tosen, they only had two people on their side at the moment. Mia's face was lined with frustration.

“You old pervert, Orihime has only just come of age and you could still lay hands on her?” Mia's accusation came from her current Inoue Orihime mouth, sounding sweet and soft; it didn't seem very convincing and looked more like lovers flirting.

“We are even in that regard; didn't you also deal her a fatal blow? What I erased and recreated was her consciousness. You directly inherited her body, and perhaps, some of the beautiful memories I fabricated of what she experienced?”