NOTAKING
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Chapter 106(Remake)
🕑 Added 2025-07-09 11:19:37 +0000 UTCMeanwhile…
In a far corner of Las Noches, where the halls grew colder and the air thickened with spiritual tension, stood a palace of pale white stone—its pillars cracked, the silence broken only by the distant hum of unstable reishi.
Inside, Rukia stood frozen.
Her breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding violently in her chest as she stared into the eyes of the man before her.
“Kaien-dono…?”
But no.
She knew that face. Knew those eyes. The familiar smile that once brought her comfort now twisted into a cruel smirk, dripping with mockery.
He stood tall, dark hair slicked back the same as it had been when he was alive—when he had been himself. But this… this wasn't him.
It couldn’t be.
“W-What… are you…?” she asked, her voice low, trembling.
The figure took a slow step forward. “What’s wrong, Rukia?” His voice was soft, mocking. “Isn’t this what you wanted? To see me again?”
She gripped the hilt of her Zanpakutō tightly, her knuckles whitening.
‘No… this isn’t him. Kaien-dono would never…’
“Stop it!” she said, shaking her head, her voice rising in defiance. “You’re not him! Don’t wear his face!”
The impostor laughed. “So quick to deny it. Yet your blade trembles. Your heart still clings to guilt.”
He raised his own blade, pointing it at her.
“I am Aaroniero Arruruerie, the last of the original Espada. And this body… this face… I owe it to Kaien Shiba.”
Rukia’s eyes widened in horror.
Aaroniero’s smile widened as his hollow mask cracked slightly above his head, revealing two bulbous, grotesque skulls fused together inside a glass dome, suspended in fluid.
“He was delicious,” the creature whispered. “His memories… his feelings… his regrets. I own them now.”
Rukia staggered back, the emotional weight slamming into her like a tidal wave.
“Don’t… don’t speak like that!”
Her sword ignited with frost, her spiritual pressure rising.
“I’ll free him,” she said. “Even if it means cutting him down… again.”
Aaroniero's smile faded into a scowl, lifting his blade as darkness swirled at his feet.
“Then let’s see if you’ve grown strong enough to do what you couldn’t before…”
The chamber was suffocatingly silent, lit only by the pale green glow of hanging lanterns. The air was thick, almost choking, and Rukia stood still in the heart of it, her blade trembling slightly in her grip. Across from her, the man she had once admired—a man who had taught her everything—stood smiling. But the smile wasn’t his. And those weren’t his eyes.
He moved first, a blur of motion that snapped Rukia out of her trance. She parried the downward slash with her sword, her knees buckling under the pressure. Sparks flew where their blades met, steel grinding against steel.
She twisted and stepped back, trying to create space, but he was relentless—striking again with the speed and familiarity of someone who once knew her style intimately.
'He’s fast… too fast. But he’s not Kaien.'
She darted to the side, dodging a swipe aimed at her throat. The blade cut through her sleeve, a line of red blooming along her upper arm. She didn’t cry out. Pain was clarity. Pain meant she was alive.
"Still holding back?" he taunted, launching a flurry of slashes. Rukia met them head-on, blocking, parrying, dancing on the edge of death. His strength was monstrous, and yet it wasn’t the power of the real Kaien—it was wrong. Corrupted.
"I won’t falter," she said under her breath. "Not again."
She pivoted low and swept his feet, forcing him to leap. As he landed, she drew a deep breath and raised her free hand.
"Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!"
A roaring blue flame exploded from her palm. It caught Aaroniero square in the chest, sending him skidding backward through one of the stone pillars lining the chamber. Dust erupted. Rukia didn’t hesitate. She rushed forward, blade at her side, prepared to finish it.
But he emerged from the rubble, barely scratched, grinning like a man possessed.
"Yes, that’s more like it! Don’t hold back, Rukia. Show me everything. Like you did the night you killed Kaien."
Her body tensed.
"Shut up. You’re not him. You never were."
Aaroniero raised his weapon and a sudden surge of reiatsu made the ground tremble. He morphed—two monstrous tentacles bursting from his back, eyes appearing along their slimy lengths. Hollow energy rolled off him in waves, oppressive and stifling.
He charged again, this time with grotesque speed. Rukia ducked under the tentacles and countered with a vertical slash, but he absorbed the blow, laughing.
"You see? I’ve inherited Kaien’s power… his memories… even his voice. I am Kaien!"
Rukia gritted her teeth. "No. Kaien would never mock others. He never fought with hate. You’re just a parasite wearing his face."
She leapt backward and landed in a crouch, heart hammering. Then, closing her eyes for a split second, she whispered the words that steadied her soul.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki."
A wave of cold air burst outward as her zanpakutō transformed. The pristine blade glowed, white and elegant, as snowflakes began to drift from the ceiling.
Aaroniero snarled, flinching at the drop in temperature. Rukia stood tall, her breath visible in the freezing air.
"First Dance: White Moon."
She moved like silk on ice, graceful yet deadly. Her blade traced a wide arc, forming a perfect circle beneath her feet. The moment she stepped forward, a column of ice erupted in the path of her enemy. Aaroniero dodged left, but Rukia anticipated it—twisting mid-spin and sending a slash straight across his side.
The Espada shrieked. Blood sprayed against the stone walls.
Enraged, he lunged again, wild now, swinging madly with both blade and tentacle. Rukia weaved through the chaos, slashing with precision. Every cut was smaller than the last—controlled, surgical. She didn’t need brute force. She needed truth.
"Kaien taught me to fight with resolve," she said between attacks. "And the resolve to defeat you… is stronger than any doubt in my heart."
Aaroniero lunged with a scream of fury, tentacles flaring.
"Then die with him!"
Rukia planted her foot, lifted her blade, and whispered her final step.
"Next dance… Hakuren."
A blinding surge of white shot from her sword, a massive glacier of spiritual energy. It enveloped Aaroniero completely. His scream echoed throughout the palace as he was frozen solid, encased in death.
Silence fell. The snow drifted slowly now, like feathers.
Rukia’s blade lowered. Her body trembled—not from the cold, but from the weight of what she’d just done. She walked forward slowly, eyes softening as she approached the statue of ice.
"Rest, Kaien-dono," she said gently. "You can sleep peacefully now."
Then she turned, steady, and walked away. Her steps were heavy… but her heart no longer was.
' I wonder where Ichigo is' she thought.
TO BE CONTINUED
