Chapter 390: BSUS Chapter 393: A Man Like Aizen

“How is that possible? I didn’t kill the guards here!” Ashido’s expression changed drastically. From his words, it seemed this underground outpost was somehow connected to the lives of those two lower-class Arrancars.

But this was clearly not the time to dwell on that. The moment he spoke, the ceiling above them collapsed with a deafening crash. Six massive white tentacles, bearing the weight of the shattered white stone slabs, slammed heavily into the ground.

“It’s that guy from before, the 6th Espada!”

“Forget about him for now, everyone get out of here!”

Ishida shouted to the group, pointing toward the exit on the other side. Before anyone could take a step, the previously intact staircase also crumbled as another tentacle smashed down from above!

“Watch out, Ishida!”

Chad yelled out a warning as his arms transformed into two thick, black-and-white limbs. Clenching his fists, he leaped into the air and punched toward the tentacle descending on Ishida’s head.

Ishida didn’t panic either. Remaining exceptionally calm, he drew his bow and fired in one fluid motion. His speed was even faster than when he was in the Seireitei, and the arrows he loosed packed far more power.

Under their coordinated assault, the python-like tentacle was instantly knocked upward. The two of them had been working hard in secret, and now, it was clear their efforts had yielded remarkable results.

Hiroe looked at Ichigo, whose brow had finally relaxed, and then glanced ahead at Chad and Ishida. Although people always talked about trusting their comrades, shifting from one-sided protection to mutual reliance required strength as a foundation. It seemed the current Ichigo could finally share the heavy burden on his shoulders with his friends.

Of course, those two still needed to grow, because in the face of true danger, their power was still lacking!

Before Chad could even crack a smile, another tentacle slammed down from above. There was no time to repel it; in the blink of an eye, the two were about to be swallowed by a waterfall of quicksand.

In the nick of time, two glowing orange ropes quietly wrapped around their waists, narrowly pulling them out of danger—at least, temporary danger.

“Mr. Chōzuka.”

“Th-Thanks.”

Ishida was still a bit awkward, but no one was in the mood to tease him. Although Kaien and the others immediately deflected the surging sand and debris, it was merely a stopgap measure. If Hueco Mundo was truly a desert like Hiroe had described, they were all destined to be buried eventually.

“What should we do, Big Brother Chōzuka!”

“Let’s try to break out!” Renji suggested, though he quickly realized how unrealistic that sounded. His eyes darted around as he came up with another crazy idea. “Why don’t we attack downward? Isn’t the Forest of Menos right below us?”

*What a genius! I only said the upper and lower layers of Hueco Mundo were separated by a desert, but I never said that boundary was thin!*

Hiroe clearly caught the flash of surprise in Ashido’s eyes. He was probably thinking that if someone like this could become a lieutenant, the casualty rate of Squad 6 must be absurdly high.

“Aren’t you afraid of burying yourself before you even dig through?” Hiroe teased. “Digging your own grave with your bare hands? You’re really something else, Abarai.”

Renji’s face flushed bright red at the remark, while Kaien irritably reminded Hiroe, “Stop making sarcastic comments and just tell us what to do!”

“It seems our enemy spotted us a long time ago, so there’s no need to hide anymore,” Hiroe said. He pointed his right hand toward the massive Arrancar corpse on the ground, and crimson flames instantly engulfed it.

“Trying to bury me with a measly little outpost. Ridiculous.”

The group was confused, but then they watched him make a grabbing motion. The burning corpse was pulled right in front of them. Just as the tide of sand extinguished the lingering flames on its body, the charred husk suddenly radiated an astonishing amount of heat.

“Hadō 96, Ittō Kasō!”

Up on the surface, Luppi was indeed as prepared as he intended to be. Without the slightest carelessness, he had released his Resurrección and assumed his true form the moment he arrived at this relatively remote outpost.

The eight tentacles on his back either whipped frantically into the ground or pierced deep into the earth like massive spears, displaying his current excitement and madness.

*Die in the desert of Hueco Mundo.* Even if someone among them had the strength to escape the sand, unless they could instantly blast away an area of quicksand several times the size of this place, he held the absolute advantage with the help of the rolling dunes. There was no way he would let those detestable Shinigami get away.

At this moment, he had yet to sense the anomaly beneath his feet. Like a bursting balloon, a terrifying Reiatsu suddenly erupted from below. Even the grains of sand beneath Luppi’s feet seemed to dance in fear.

The tentacles buried deep in the ground seemed to evaporate instantly. It happened so fast that he couldn’t even react before a part of his body simply vanished.

An astonishing heat surged from below. The sand dunes, which would normally shift with a mere breeze, became sticky and fused together. But Luppi didn’t even notice this abnormality, because the most terrifying thing of all had already appeared right in front of him.

A colossal pillar of fire pierced diagonally from the underground into the sky. Luppi looked up at its blade-like form, his remaining tentacles subconsciously shielding his head. Whether it was because the light was too blinding, or because he feared that the blade capable of tearing through anything would fall upon him, it didn’t matter—he didn’t even need to be touched. Just getting close to it would reduce him to ashes.

Hadō 96. It was a supreme-tier Hadō rarely seen even in the Seireitei. No, even Kaien only knew of it by name; this was his first time seeing it with his own eyes.

Faced with such power, even if there had been a mountain above their heads just now, there would be absolutely nothing to worry about, right?

Ginjō, Kaien, and the others standing behind Hiroe all felt the same way. It was no surprise that Luppi, who was facing the flaming blade head-on, stood frozen in place. Although he had once been crowned with the title of Espada, his strength was still far from sufficient, which also meant his mind was far more fragile than those he looked down upon, like Grimmjow.

It was unclear how long it had been since the flaming blade that sought to pierce the night sky had vanished before Luppi finally snapped back to his senses. The lingering, intense heat blurred the air, causing the approaching group of people to meld together into a hazy mirage.

The somewhat weakened tentacles on his back instinctively thrust toward the opposition, but they were far too slow, and the figure across from him was far too fast. In just a moment of panic, the man had already arrived right in front of him.

The white haori fluttered in the wind, but the black garments beneath it remained perfectly still. For a split second, Luppi thought of Aizen. Lord Aizen had looked exactly like this the first time he saw him.

The difference was that this man did not wear a smile on his face—that omniscient, god-like smile. Because of that, Luppi dared to imagine the scene of killing him, and was even more determined to do so.

Another blade was raised above his head. Compared to the terrifying, massive flaming blade from just a moment ago, its snow-white body was so petite, so gentle.

But it was going to fall. It would definitely fall. And that was exactly what it did. It seemed so slow, so gentle—gently cleaving everything in its path in two, even if it were the world itself!

“Did Aizen only send you here? Just to throw your life away.”

The world in Luppi’s eyes was slowly splitting apart. The darkness in the center expanded infinitely outward from a single line. Only the expressionless man in front of him remained, as if he alone would never be consumed by the dark.

The man’s tone carried heavy disdain, mixed with a trace of disappointment. How deeply sinful he must be to have disappointed him.

Luppi finally understood. The man standing before him was exactly like Lord Aizen. Even without that god-like smile, their disappointment was enough to strike terror into one’s very soul.

That was the disappointment of a god!