Chapter 302: Kurohitsugi

"Hado #31: Shakkahō"l (Red Flame Cannon)"

Aizen started advancing towards H'el again, extending his fingertip as the Red Flame Cannon erupted from it.

The still and balanced world was suddenly shattered as a five-meter diameter torrent of scorching red energy surged forward, its intense heat and fiery brilliance highlighting its lethal nature.

The grass below was overturned, scorching and burning, the land transforming into magma, and the sand crystallizing. The Red Flame Cannon fired by Aizen was like a battleship's energy cannon, breaking through the tranquility of the world, and in an instant, it shot towards H'el.

From the three-kilometer dark sphere behind H'el, a fragment of dark space split off, forming a layered barrier in front of him.

The Red Flame Cannon shot by Aizen directly entered the dark space before H'el. The immense spiritual pressure and energy distorted the edge of the dark space for the first time, causing it to bend and tremble as if it were a cracking porcelain.

In the next moment, H'el manipulated the dark space to restore it, reorganizing its structure to be more robust and resilient against the Red Flame Cannon.

Suddenly, another dark spatial rift appeared beside H'el, from which the energy torrent of the Red Flame Cannon shot out like a giant cannon.

This was precisely the same Red Flame Cannon fired by Aizen, but it had taken a turn within the dark space and was now flying back toward Aizen.

"Such a delicate technique."

Aizen smiled slightly as he watched the unaltered Red Flame Cannon he had fired return to him. He then vanished with a flash step and reappeared beside H'el.

'Boom'

The Red Flame Cannon struck the ground, causing a massive explosion that created a crater over fifty meters in diameter. Scorching heat and flames rose continuously, with the edges of the crater emitting fierce flames that began to spread across the forest floor.

As the Red Flame Cannon exploded, Aizen appeared beside H'el. The explosion's light illuminated the contours of his face, and the red glow of the blast reflected in his black-framed glasses. Without hesitation, he swung his sword at H'el.

The Zanpakuto sliced through H'el's figure, cutting into his illusion.

Aizen's expression remained calm, his smile unwavering.

If H'el had been killed in the first strike, Aizen would have been disappointed.

Now, cutting into H'el's illusion, this felt right.

"My true body hasn't been here since I sat on the dark metal seat," H'el said calmly, observing the close proximity of Aizen and his Zanpakuto.

"I know," Aizen replied with a smile. "You're in the multi-layered space constructed within your Zanpakuto, but I want to tell you... the battles of a Shinigami have always been battles of spiritual pressure."

Aizen chuckled softly as his body suddenly unleashed a massive amount of spiritual pressure. The air exploded with a deafening sound, and his spiritual pressure transformed into a tangible force that shook the surroundings. The enormous three-kilometer dark sphere was shattered into dust, disappearing from the area.

Even the Gates of Hell in the sky seemed to tremble under the impact of Aizen's immense spiritual pressure. The slowly opening gap in the door momentarily stalled before continuing its heavy, gradual opening.

The illusion of H'el sitting on the dark metal seat couldn't withstand such intense spiritual pressure and shattered like glass. Layer upon layer of space, endlessly overlapping, flashed and fragmented.

With his overwhelming spiritual pressure, Aizen shattered all the spatial layers H'el had constructed nearby.

H'el's figure, sitting on the dark metal seat, appeared twenty meters away.

Aizen used a flash step to instantly reappear beside H'el, smiling as he swung his Zanpakuto down again.

The result was the same.

Aizen's Zanpakuto slashed into H'el's illusion.

"Is destruction easier than creation for you?" H'el said calmly, his body moving slightly, tilting his neck as his right elbow rested on the armrest, his fingers supporting his cheek, looking at Aizen with a bored expression.

"Oh." Aizen's eyebrows raised slightly.

He hadn't expected that even with pure spiritual pressure, he couldn't shatter the spatial layers constructed by H'el's relatively weak spiritual pressure.

Indeed, he had shattered many nearby spatial layers.

The numerous spatial layers H'el constructed, based on his own spiritual pressure, were indeed easy for Aizen to shatter.

However, Aizen's rate of destroying the spaces with his spiritual pressure could not keep up with H'el's speed of recovery and adaptive spatial modifications to counter Aizen's pressure.

In essence, Aizen's speed of breaking the spaces was slower than H'el's speed of recovering and creating new ones. If this continued, Aizen would never find H'el's true body.

"It seems your techniques for manipulating reishi are similarly enhanced post-release, and your understanding and construction of space deepen with each of my attacks," Aizen remarked nonchalantly, adding a hint of warning, "Next, will you flee? Flee from this domain I control, or else I will find you and cut you down with a single strike."

"Death means nothing to me. I have already obtained what I want. Come on, Aizen, use your wisdom and power to kill me," H'el said, sitting on the dark steel seat with a slight smirk. "Remember, with each of your attacks or probes, I will think, improve, and construct techniques specifically against you, until you have no new skills left to display. That will be your utter defeat."

"Truly frightening..." Aizen sighed, swinging his Zanpakuto.

Never had such a weak spiritual pressure, incapable of harming him, caused him so much trouble and inconvenience. Yet, Aizen's smile grew broader, as if relishing a challenging task. He raised a finger to the sky, and the gaze behind his black-framed glasses held a wild, unrestrained glee.

"Not fleeing? Indeed, people like us would never flee in disgrace."

His eyes shone with a manic gleam, and with a deep, magnetic voice full of a strange rhythm, he began to chant:

"Ye who is masked by the night, bear your claws to the sky! The insolent talent of the arrogant; surge, deny, paralyze in an instant, hinder long slumber.

The crawling iron princess, the self-mutilating clay doll, bind, reflect, extend to the ground, know your own impotence!

Hado #90: Kurohitsugi (Black Coffin)!"

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