Chapter 473 - 473: You Can’t Stop Me

Cyrus looked down at the gathered Arrancar.

After Grimmjow finished speaking, no one else said anything.

Everything they had discovered so far only made Cyrus more certain of his theory.

This world's power system was certainly strong, but the world itself was incomplete.

The state of the World of the Living was proof enough. Yet the people born here couldn't perceive anything strange about it.

Even someone as meticulous as Aizen had never noticed until Cyrus pointed it out.

That alone said a great deal.

Cyrus turned toward Aizen.

Everything this man had done—his schemes, his experiments, his ambition—what did the being behind this world consider it?

An experiment?

Or merely entertainment?

Yet Cyrus still couldn't sense the existence of whoever had created all of this.

If it was the Soul King, then nothing Cyrus had detected from him so far suggested it.

"That person…"

Aizen looked at Cyrus.

"What does she look like?"

"Let me see…"

Cyrus raised one hand.

Flames gathered above his palm and traced themselves into the shape of a young woman.

Aizen studied the fiery image carefully, committing every detail to memory before standing.

"How much time do I have?"

"Not long."

Cyrus waved a hand.

"You'd better move quickly."

He smiled faintly.

"Besides, I want to see what you can actually become after fully fusing with the Hōgyoku."

Aizen nodded, gave the surrounding Arrancar one last glance, then left at a brisk pace.

Tosen silently followed.

Once they were gone, the Arrancar turned their attention back to Cyrus.

"When do we move?"

Grimmjow cracked his knuckles, visibly eager.

"With that many Shinigami gathered in one place, there should finally be a decent fight."

"Whenever you want."

Cyrus answered casually.

Harribel blinked.

"There's no plan?"

"Not really."

Cyrus glanced over them.

"It's not like any of you are going to play a decisive role. You're mostly there to make things livelier."

A faint disturbance ran through the Arrancar.

None argued.

They had seen enough of Cyrus's strength to know better.

Starrk scratched his head.

"What if I don't go?"

"That's fine too."

Cyrus nodded.

"You can stay here and wait for the result."

"In that case…"

Starrk considered it, then sighed.

"I guess I'll go."

Cyrus waved them away.

"Do whatever you want. Baraggan stays."

The Arrancar dispersed almost immediately.

Baraggan remained behind, clearly puzzled by why he had been singled out.

"You've existed in Hueco Mundo for a very long time."

Cyrus looked at the ancient Hollow.

"How has the World of the Living changed over the years?"

"Hardly at all."

Baraggan answered without hesitation.

Although he hadn't personally left Hueco Mundo much after becoming its ruler, he had always known something about both Soul Society and the World of the Living.

Countless Hollows had traveled there through Garganta over the years. Information inevitably made its way back to him.

Cyrus asked another question.

"If you've ruled Hueco Mundo for so long, why didn't you gather Vasto Lorde-class Hollows under you earlier?"

"Why did you only start doing it recently?"

Baraggan fell silent.

"I have always been gathering powerful Hollows."

He finally answered, though even he sounded uncertain.

"Then during all those years, there were no Vasto Lorde like these?"

Another long silence.

"…I don't think so."

Cyrus smiled.

"You don't think so?"

"You called yourself the King of Hueco Mundo and ruled Las Noches. You really don't know?"

Baraggan's expression darkened.

"It was quiet before."

He slowly raised his head.

"It was always quiet."

"And then…"

His voice became less certain.

"They simply began appearing."

Even Baraggan could hear how wrong that sounded.

For the first time, the inconsistency in his own memories struck him.

He had never questioned it before.

But now that Cyrus forced him to look back, gaps and contradictions seemed to appear everywhere.

A faint sense of fear crept into the ancient Hollow.

"You should go to the World of the Living too."

Cyrus had already heard enough.

"You probably want to know what the hell is going on just as much as I do."

Baraggan said nothing.

He turned and left.

Once he was gone, Cyrus raised a hand.

A green doorway opened in front of him.

He stepped through.

The next instant, he was back in Soul Society.

And almost the moment he appeared, several figures arrived around him at once, cutting off every direction.

"You really did come back."

Senjumaru stood with her hands folded, her expression unusually serious.

At the same time, the steady tap of a cane approached.

"I'm not here to fight this time."

Cyrus smiled.

"I came to meet your Soul King."

"The Soul King?"

Yamamoto's voice sounded as he approached.

He stopped in front of Cyrus.

"That will not be permitted."

"Not while this old man is here."

"This concerns something important."

Cyrus's tone remained easy.

"Even so, the answer is no."

Yamamoto lifted one hand and pointed into the distance.

Cyrus didn't need to turn around.

Observation Haki had already shown him exactly what lay in that direction.

The devastation left by his earlier attack.

"What you did already amounts to a declaration of war against Soul Society."

Yamamoto looked directly at him.

"There can no longer be peace between us."

"Oh."

Cyrus spread his hands with a smile.

"Sorry about that."

"I figured getting rid of those people might actually make some of you happier."

His gaze drifted toward the destroyed Central 46.

"They were a bunch of fossilized old men anyway. They weren't exactly doing Seireitei—or Soul Society—much good."

Neither Yamamoto nor the members of Squad Zero looked especially surprised.

Cyrus had attacked without hesitation before.

Clearly, he had never cared whether those people lived or died.

"Still, forget it."

Cyrus waved a hand.

"You already know you can't stop me."

"And honestly, coming here was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I'm still heading to the World of the Living afterward."

Then his body dissolved into flame.

"He disappeared?"

The members of Squad Zero paused.

Cyrus's presence had vanished completely.

Even through Reiatsu sensing, there was nothing left to detect.

Yamamoto turned toward the deepest reaches of Soul Society, tightening his grip on his cane.

"He may have already noticed it."

Senjumaru spoke suddenly, as though their failed attempt to contain Cyrus had never happened.

Strangely, none of them seemed particularly anxious now.

"We truly cannot stop him."

Yamamoto's voice was heavy.

"But even if he has discovered it…"

"It changes nothing."