Help! I am bound to Aizen!-Chapter 255

Chapter 255

2-in-1 chapter

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Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!

High above, Starrk stood in silence, continuously firing off Cero blasts.

Some distance away, Kaelith gripped his blades with both hands, sweeping out a long arc of steel that sliced through the oncoming barrage in dazzling style.

Though he’d seen Starrk’s abilities in the anime, actually facing them left Kaelith somewhat awestruck. So fast. Two guns were somehow unleashing hundreds of Cero in an instant. If he remembered correctly, even an 11-barrel close-in weapon system could only put out a couple hundred rounds per second. Where did all these shots come from? Truly a master gunner!

For his part, Starrk was just as shocked. Thanks to his extraordinary talent, he’d begun evolving far beyond other Hollows when he was still just an Adjuchas. While the rest struggled to avoid devolving, he’d already become a Vasto Lorde. Then, while other Vasto Lordes played king, lived off the land, or enacted their form of justice, he quietly completed his Arrancar transformation.

Because he’d evolved too quickly, his reiatsu always leaked out uncontrollably, easily killing any lesser Hollow that tried to approach. Even Vasto Lorde–class Hollows wouldn’t last long around him. For ages, his main worry was how to make himself weaker so he wouldn’t accidentally crush anyone who came near.

Only now, upon meeting this man called Kaelith, did Starrk realize there could be someone even stronger. Forget the reiatsu he normally leaked—he’d already merged with Lilynette, drawing upon nearly all of their power, and still couldn’t gain the upper hand. This guy…is a monster?

A slight frown creased Starrk’s brow; he felt the pressure mounting. Still, he didn’t change tactics. As far as he was concerned, his flurry of Cero was enough to keep Kaelith at bay. If these two Shinigami would just back down, all the better. After all, it’d been ages since he’d met anyone he could actually talk to, and he had no wish to kill them.

On the ground below, Aizen watched Kaelith’s battle in silence. After a moment’s thought, he spoke up:

“Kaelith, use your full strength. Baraggan may find out we’re here at any time—finish this quickly.”

“Roger!” Kaelith called back from midair. He opened his eyes wide, pupils locking onto one tiny gap among the hundreds of Cero. With mere eyesight, no one could pick out that minuscule flaw in the ocean of blue light, but Kaelith’s instincts never failed to reveal an enemy’s opening.

He grinned, leaning forward slightly. In the next instant, blue flames erupted around him. His foot, wrapped in surging reiatsu, stamped hard on empty air, trailing a blazing streak as he shot across a thousand meters in a flash—straight to Starrk!

Voom!!

Even as he moved, Kaelith unleashed his full spiritual pressure. At once it filled the skies, making the very air quake in unease.

“Wha—?”

Starrk’s eyes widened. So he hadn’t even been fighting seriously until now? Never having faced a rival at his own level, Starrk stumbled under this sudden assault.

“Idiot! Don’t panic!” Lilynette’s angry shout rang from the twin guns. She yanked Starrk’s arms up, aiming to blast Kaelith before he could close in.

But before she could fire, a short blade whirled forward.

Clang!!

Wrapped in blue flames, the dagger struck the side of Starrk’s gun, knocking it away. Lilynette cried out in surprise as she spun through the air. Instinctively, Starrk reached out to grab his displaced weapon. But the dagger had a long chain trailing behind it—after looping around, it snapped tight around Lilynette and dragged her back toward Kaelith even faster than it had come.

“Lilynette!” Starrk shouted.

“Hahahaha! Lilynette’s mine now!” Kaelith laughed, stretching out a hand to catch the gun reeled in by his chain. Yet just before he could grab it, the weapon vanished, replaced by dozens of gray wolves wreathed in fiery reiatsu. Their jaws gaped wide, snapping at Kaelith from all directions—

Chomp!!

Their teeth clacked shut on empty air. Kaelith reappeared a short distance away. “Wow, terrifying, absolutely terrifying.” He mock-wiped nonexistent sweat from his brow, eyeing the wolf pack Lilynette had become.

“Damn it, still no success?” Lilynette’s voice echoed through the air.

Kaelith chuckled. “Keep at it! Maybe next time.”

“Don’t you look down on me!” she yelled, transforming into a wolf pack once more and charging him.

“Well, come on then,” Kaelith crowed, brandishing twin blades as he rushed to meet them. Starrk could only shake his head at the frenzied clash; Lilynette and Kaelith were locked in a heated fight, leaving him—her actual partner—momentarily sidelined.

He relaxed a bit, deciding to wait it out. That was when a voice rose behind him:

“Losing focus so soon?”

Crap!!

Starrk’s pupils shrank. He reached out, gathering spirit particles into a sword, but the enemy moved faster. Just as he gripped the hilt, agony flared along his back. Aizen stood there, smiling faintly, Zanpakutō in hand. Blood dripped from its tip.

Starrk couldn’t see the wound, but from the pain, he guessed it was a deep slash running across his back.

Dazed, he tumbled from the sky.

“Starrk! Starrk!”

Lilynette’s anxious shouts came through the gun form they shared. In their merged state, she could sense how badly he was hurt. If he hit the ground, even shifting sand could aggravate his wounds. She wanted to revert to her human form, but half her soul was off battling Kaelith in wolf form. What now?!

Just as Lilynette panicked, someone caught Starrk by the collar, halting his fall with a jolt. She turned, startled, only to see Kaelith already there. But…what about the wolves?

A quick check revealed that Kaelith had already dealt with the entire pack. The huge power gap made her tremble—she hadn’t felt genuine fear since becoming a Vasto Lorde. Centuries, maybe millennia? Possibly longer. Because Kaelith had wiped out the wolf half of her soul, she could finally revert to her human form from the gun. A flash of light, and Lilynette separated from Starrk’s body, bracing him as they regarded Kaelith warily.

“Sorry, Lilynette, I…”

“No, it’s my fault. If I hadn’t rushed off after Kaelith, you wouldn’t have been blindsided,” she muttered, teeth clenched.

Kaelith burst out laughing. “What do you expect? That’s Aizen we’re talking about—the grand master of sneak attacks. Even if you hadn’t chased me, he wouldn’t have missed his mark.”

Behind him, Aizen remained silent, though a faint twitch marred his brow. He mentally noted to add that remark of Kaelith’s to his personal ledger of grudges.

Starrk glanced between the two men, torn, then sighed. “What are you planning to do with us? If it’s experiments you want, then take me. Spare Lilynette that ordeal. I’ll cooperate fully—whatever data you need, I’ll help you get it.”

Kaelith burst into a hearty laugh. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re thoroughly exploited. You’ll be working eight full hours a day, with only three meals plus snacks, just three bonuses a year, and only two months of vacation! Worst of all, you only get a pay raise once every four months, and overtime is paid at triple the rate. After hours, you have to train for an hour, and you’ll only receive my personal counseling session once a week.

How’s that? Terrified yet?”

Starrk gave him a bewildered stare, while Aizen closed his eyes with a sigh and stepped in, figuring he’d better handle the real negotiations. Leaving serious matters to Kaelith would only lead to more chaos.

Kaelith wandered off with a yawn, approaching the Tsunayashiro Shinigami instead. At sight of him, many swallowed hard. They’d recognized him from the start; some even thought of running, but the crushing spiritual pressure from the fight had pinned them in place. Soon, the Shinigami Kaelith saved earlier arrived and explained what had happened.

So he’d come to recruit them…

Despite that explanation, they still worried. Sure, Kaelith was strong, but was he strong enough to face the newly empowered Baraggan? They doubted it—until they witnessed his fight with Starrk firsthand.

Only then did they truly grasp how the onetime prodigy at the Shin’ō Academy had become anything but a simple student. Kaelith…had indeed become a formidable Shinigami. Even if their clan master were alive, he couldn’t contend with him now. And that was without mentioning the one who followed Kaelith around…

A few clan leaders snuck a glance toward Aizen. Feeling their eyes, Aizen turned, giving them a benign smile—yet it was no smile at all, but raw malice made cold and tangible.

There was no doubt that refusing Kaelith’s offer meant a fate worse than death at the bespectacled man’s hands. By comparison, sticking with Kaelith, however risky, beat immediate demise.

As Kaelith drew near, clearing his throat as if to speak, a dozen Tsunayashiro Shinigami dropped to one knee in unison.

“We of the Tsunayashiro clan pledge ourselves to Lord Kaelith!”

Kaelith blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even begun persuading them, yet they’d already folded? Then he broke into a grin. Aizen had to talk and talk to earn a single defection, but here Kaelith did nothing—just radiated a bit of kingly presence, and they surrendered. The difference was obvious.

Seeing the Tsunayashiro clan yield, Aizen gave a nearly imperceptible nod before returning his focus to Starrk.

…

…

In Las Noches, Baraggan—still in his bony form—lounged on a massive throne, body slouched at ease, face propped on one hand, gazing at the frantic scene below. The recent clash with Senzo Tsunayashiro had left half the fortress in ruins, and hordes of Adjuchas and their minions were hard at work rebuilding.

Baraggan raised a hand, watching a shimmer of light cross over it. Where before his arm was all bleached bone, now flesh and blood appeared.

Feeling the renewed sensation of a living body, Baraggan gave a smug laugh. If he’d known devouring Senzo would bring such wondrous gains, he’d have done it sooner. Now he was likely unrivaled in all existence.

How could any Soul Reaper defeat one who’d shattered the boundary between Hollow and Shinigami? Impossible!

Just then—Boom!! A huge explosion echoed.

“What was that?!” Baraggan roared in fury. A dozen Adjuchas immediately soared skyward, peering toward the source. There, a number of familiar figures stood. One Adjuchas let out an excited cry:

“Lord Baraggan, it’s the Shinigami…those Tsunayashiro strays!”

“Oh?” Baraggan roused himself, floating upright. Weren’t they fleeing like whipped dogs not long ago? Now they’d come back?

“They blasted a hole through the outer wall and are marching in!” another Adjuchas called. “…Though there was already a breach from your last fight, so why bother making a new one?”

Baraggan ignored that, drifting forward. He wanted to see whoever was leading these rogue Tsunayashiro upstarts. Managing to rally them for direct revenge—whoever it was must have some skill.

If the fellow knew which way the wind blew, Baraggan wouldn’t mind adding such talent to his ranks.

Cavernous sockets flickered with a ghostly flame as he focused on the distant group. The moment Baraggan recognized the Shinigami at the forefront, he gave a startled exclamation:

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“Kaelith!!”

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