Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Thunder Chariot

“You monster…” Nagatsuro’s face wore a smile, but for the first time, sweat trickled down his cheeks. He had unleashed thunder fivefold in intensity; while he hadn’t expected Mohamed to be gravely injured, the fact that he emerged nearly unscathed was beyond Nagatsuro’s expectations.

“Monster? You’re in no position to call me that.” Mohamed’s gaze was frigid. Even through the thick black sunglasses, Nagatsuro shivered involuntarily.

“I’ve never met anyone like you before.” Mohamed took a step forward—not a large stride, yet Nagatsuro suddenly felt the weight of a mountain bearing down on him, suffocating, impossible to breathe under.

“A dual personality, and a Bankai that exudes such force and pressure. If not for my Blood Guard, I’d have been charred long ago, wouldn’t I?”

“You… still have vast potential ahead of you. It’s a pity, but this is where it ends.” Once more, an eerie surge of spirit particles gathered in Mohamed’s hand, swirling until they formed the shape of a longbow.

“Active Blood Guard.” He drew back the bowstring, and for the first time, addressed Nagatsuro with grave intensity. “I will end your future with my strongest strike.”

A low chuckle escaped Nagatsuro. He lifted his head, looking at Mohamed with a feverish excitement. “You… intend to end me?”

“Don’t make me laugh!”

A thunderclap erupted. The curtain of the Thunder God, which had towered behind Nagatsuro, instantly dissolved into scattered sparks and vanished into the air.

Confusion—no, incomprehension. He had forcibly altered his Bankai’s form? Would he really do something so foolish? Was he abandoning his Bankai altogether? Mohamed frowned.

He had faced Soul Reapers’ Bankai more than once, and destroyed more than a few. Yet never had he witnessed such recklessness; some Soul Reapers would even shield their Bankai with their own bodies to protect it from harm.

But what this Soul Reaper was doing was so contrary to reason that Mohamed could not fathom his next move.

“You get so cocky the moment I drop my guard—I find it quite troublesome. Really, it’s only happened twice in total…”

Nagatsuro clenched his fist, lightning flickering across his knuckles. “I have no intention of letting both end in failure.”

Thunder roared. Five pillars of lightning crashed down from above, enveloping the area in Nagatsuro’s domain.

“Rolling Thunder Fivefold Celestial Rite!”

Mohamed was stunned. His mind could no longer process what he saw. Wasn’t a Soul Reaper’s Bankai supposed to have only one form? Could he truly possess another Bankai?

“Why so lost in thought…”

Nagatsuro raised his hand, fingers extended toward Mohamed. “I’m coming for you.”

The five pillars of lightning boomed, unleashing countless tendrils of electricity that instantly blanketed the battlefield.

Mohamed saw at a glance that the lightning’s density was impossible to evade, but judging by its intensity, it posed little real harm. He relied on his Blood Guard for defense.

But he had underestimated his opponent.

If one would abandon their Bankai’s original form to wield another power, how could the latter be weaker than the former? Mohamed quickly suffered for his complacency.

“That lightning is for paralysis. The Blood Guard won’t help you.” Nagatsuro’s smile was sly as he crooked his finger, and the five pillars of thunder began to shift position, slowly revolving around Nagatsuro at the center.

“This technique is slow to deploy, so I first had to seal your movements. Surely you understand such things?”

With a flick of his wrist, the pillars spun faster, gradually drawing closer to both of them.

Yet Mohamed could only watch, paralyzed, unable even to move a finger.

“All right, then. Let’s begin…”

A flash of brilliance gleamed in Nagatsuro’s eyes.

“The Thunder God’s ultimate strike—!”

The pillars now spun with furious speed; Mohamed could feel the gales stirred by their rotation, and saw them closing in on him.

“Radiant Divine Thunder Pillar Chariot!”

With a deafening roar, the five pillars merged into one, crushing and engulfing Mohamed. There was no wild, destructive force—only implacable compression and devouring, leaving not a trace behind to mark his passing.

“To anger the Thunder God comes at a price, fool,” Nagatsuro crowed, gazing at the massive, spinning pillar before him.

In his mind, even if Yamamoto himself stood here, faced with his Radiant Divine Thunder Pillar Chariot, he would have no choice but to surrender. Though this technique had only reached this stage after a century of refinement by that surface persona, its power was already many times beyond a captain’s level. Victory was assured.

If it was so devastating even before completion, what would it become once perfected?

The inner persona, Nagatsuro, drew his Western sword from the ground, glanced at the still-fiercely spinning thunder pillar, curled his lip, and turned away.

“How boring.”

“I quite agree.”

In that instant, Nagatsuro nearly imagined Mohamed whispering into his ear from just behind him.

He spun around. The massive pillar still spun where it was, and Mohamed was nowhere in sight—but something in the atmosphere made Nagatsuro uneasy.

“So that’s how it is. I’ve truly witnessed your strength.”

Crackling sounded as a gaping maw was torn open in the formless lightning, as though the curtain had been effortlessly drawn aside from within.

“Well done, Soul Reaper, but…”

Mohamed’s black uniform was reduced to ash, and even his sunglasses had vanished. Yet his body was shrouded in dense spirit particles; though not entirely unscathed, he bore no wounds serious enough to hinder him.

“And that’s all it is, isn’t it?” He stepped out of the pillar as if nothing, and the thunder column split silently down the middle and faded into nothingness.

“My turn to get serious.”