Chapter 121: Floral Burial

Petals.

All that Aaroniero could see were petals.

A world rendered entirely in pink.

Having lived all his life in Hueco Mundo, Aaroniero was seeing such a beautiful sight for the first time. For a moment, he was utterly entranced.

“!”

Then, suddenly, Aaroniero snapped out of his daze.

“Enraptured?”

Seeing his enemy momentarily lost in reverie, Byakuya merely taunted him coldly. He did not take advantage of the opening to strike him down.

In Byakuya’s eyes, Aaroniero was no threat at all.

“Ridiculous. You think something like this can defeat me?”

Curling his lip in disdain, Aaroniero reversed the trident in his hand. The enormous tentacle on the left side of his body swung down toward Byakuya’s head.

“Slice!”

Byakuya did not even move his hands. Two thin streams of pink blades shot toward Aaroniero’s tentacle and twisted it to pieces.

“Tch…”

Aaroniero gritted his teeth. A great quantity of white substance suddenly gushed from the severed end of the tentacle, then transformed back into its original shape.

“High-Speed Regeneration…”

Casting a sidelong glance at the tentacle that had grown back, Byakuya narrowed his eyes before raising one hand.

“Whoosh…”

A stream of pink petals surged in the direction indicated by Byakuya’s hand, completely sealing off the path before Aaroniero.

“It is time to end this.”

“Gyahahaha!”

Hearing Byakuya speak as though he were nothing worth considering, Aaroniero burst into loud laughter. He spun the trident in his hand in a dazzling flourish, then leveled its point at Byakuya.

“Who do you think you are? You are nothing more than an insect in my eyes, yet you dare speak to me like that—”

His eyes narrowed slightly, and the tentacles on either side of his massive body began to writhe violently.

“Die.”

“Boom!”

Several thick tentacles slammed into the enclosing net formed by the pink petals. The white, writhing appendages were twisted to pieces, yet the net itself began to tremble, giving the impression that it was about to collapse.

But for Aaroniero, a low-ranking Menos, having his tentacles shredded was utterly meaningless. In the face of High-Speed Regeneration, such injuries could heal in an instant.

The enclosing net formed by Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, however, did not possess an inexhaustible power of regeneration to rely upon. If it were forcibly broken, then broken it would remain.

Yet in Byakuya’s eyes, given Aaroniero’s level of strength, shattering Senbonzakura would be no simple matter.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Every blow from Aaroniero caused the cramped chamber to shake violently, making it seem as though the entire place were about to collapse.

But none of this posed a problem for the eternally expressionless man. Even if the chamber came down around them, Byakuya was confident that he could easily carry the gravely wounded Rukia out.

“Die, damn you!!”

The frenzied Aaroniero repeatedly attacked the seemingly paper-thin pink wall before Byakuya. Yet even as stones began falling from the ceiling, the wall composed of cherry-blossom petals showed no sign of breaking—not even the slightest tremor.

“Die, die, dieeeee!”

“Slash!”

“!”

Amid the cacophony, the faint sound of flesh being cut—something that should have been insignificant—had an astonishing effect. The berserk Aaroniero abruptly ceased his rampage, and the room, which had been shaking and roaring moments before, fell silent.

“You are too noisy. Be quiet.”

Standing behind Aaroniero with his back turned, Byakuya spoke calmly, a pink blade in his hand. He sounded as though the person he was addressing were no more than an insignificant nobody.

“Shhk—!”

A long wound opened across Aaroniero’s enormous side, severing every tentacle on that side of his body.

“You…”

Though he was merely a low-ranking Menos, Aaroniero was still one of the Espada. Since becoming the Ninth Espada, this was the first time he had ever been reduced to such a state by another.

“You bastard!!!!”

The body bearing Kaien’s face spun the trident furiously in its hands. Countless streams of water gathered around him, and with movements like those of a dancer, a massive column of water thundered toward Byakuya, who still stood with his back turned, apparently defenseless.

“Foolish.”

Byakuya turned with graceful ease, as though performing upon a vast stage. There was not the slightest trace of disorder or awkwardness in his movement; everything unfolded as though it were precisely how matters were meant to be.

With a casual stroke of his blade, he tore the enormous column of water apart.

“Boom!”

The shattered column burst into spray, splashing down around Byakuya like rain. Already standing amid the falling water, he appeared all the more noble.

“Do you truly think you can strike me with an ability stolen from someone else?”

“What? Stolen? You dare describe my power with such a lowly word? I am the Ninth Espada—Aaroniero Arruruerie! I can devour other Hollows and obtain their abilities!”

Aaroniero was gradually slipping into madness. He spun the trident in his hand once more, and moisture gathered around its prongs, condensing into a spiral-shaped lance.

“Use your blood to atone for this!!”

“Boom!”

The condensed lance was stopped before Byakuya by a shield of pink petals, unable to advance even an inch farther.

“Impudent wretch. A mere low-ranking Menos, and yet—”

Byakuya slowly raised his arm. The white bracer on the back of his hand traced a pure white arc through the air, and the pink blades began to stir restlessly in response to his movement.

“You dare attempt to wash away your humiliation with my blood.”

“Know your place.”

“Boom!”

Countless blades suddenly exploded outward, shattering the water-lance atop the trident as well. Then all the petals rushed toward Aaroniero, surrounding his enormous body from every side.

“These things…”

Aaroniero swung his trident wildly, trying to disperse the objects he found so offensive. Yet no matter how desperately he struggled, the petals did not diminish in number. Instead, they drew ever closer to his massive form.

“With these things…”

“Consider yourself fortunate. Though you are merely a low-ranking Menos, you will be allowed to die within such an extravagant funeral. Such luxury comes but once—”

Watching the flustered Aaroniero without emotion, Byakuya lowered the hand he had raised and coldly pronounced his enemy’s sentence.

“I have granted you permission.”

“With these things?!!!!”

“Scatter—”

The countless blades began to spin, forming a pink tornado that enveloped Aaroniero within it and slowly devoured his immense body.

“No further words are necessary. This is more than enough.”

No one knew how much time passed. At last, the spinning blades gradually came to a halt. The clustered petals slowly dispersed, revealing Aaroniero’s mutilated corpse, reduced to fragments scattered across the floor.

“This extravagant funeral of flowers is an experience you will have only once in your life. Be satisfied.”