The air cracked with one fierce lunge by Kisuke as he raced towards Silas. But the moment he reached him, Silas had already vanished. Kisuke ominously looked around, frantic at how fast his movements were. Turning around, he saw Silas standing in the spot he had just leapt from. Sweat permeated Kisuke`s face.

　　Using his Bankai`s abilities, his skin tore apart, revealing his red muscle fibers. They were then sutured back together to help augment his speed and strength. With another quick burst, he raced towards Silas again.

　　The two flew around within the barrier as if playing cat and mouse. Each time Kisuke thought he was in range to use his ability, Silas would fly elsewhere. "I take it you`re aware of what my Bankai can do?"

　　"&"

　　Silas couldn`t speak at the moment due to the amount of spiritual pressure he was releasing. But it was true. He more than knew what Kisuke`s Bankai could do. It was whether or not Kisuke understood how terrifying Silas`s Bankai was.

　　"I take it you can`t speak in that form," Kisuke smirked. Despite not being able to even sense Silas`s spiritual pressure, he remained confident. With fingers spread wide open, he raised his palm, saying, "HadM #91. Senju KMten TaihM!"

　　Twenty spheres of luminous pink energy materialized around him. It was unlike the time he used it in the animation. This version had more spheres and was a lot larger. Silas merely gazed at their shimmering appearances.

　　In a heartbeat, they launched towards him, leaving trails of light in their wake. As the projectiles closed in, Silas remained unnervingly still. No flicker of fear, no instinct to dodge, just the shining radiance emanating from his form.

　　The first orb impacted with a boom, exactly where he stood. A spectacular lightshow then engulfed the area, creating dust and debris, momentarily obscuring the battlefield as each orb converged on him like a relentless vortex. Knowing this wouldn`t be enough, Kisuke fired more excessive spells!

　　Because of the explosive destruction, he was forced to shield his face, afraid that the barrier would break at any moment. As the attack slowly finished, he narrowed his eyes, searching for any sign of his opponent.

　　Had he underestimated Silas? Had the attack landed a critical blow?

　　Then, the dust settled. There, standing amidst the initial point of impact, was Silas, unscathed. The attack hadn`t even ruffled his clothes. He looked at Kisuke, his eyes devoid of surprise or fear, only a cold emptiness. There wasn`t a single faint smile to show how he truly felt.

　　`Those spells had enough force to turn even the strongest of Soul Reapers into ash,` Silas thought to himself. `But flashy techniques pale in comparison to true power.`The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

　　Kisuke felt a cold shiver crawl down his spine. This wasn`t the first time Silas had surprised him, but the nonchalant way he tanked such a powerful attack sent a pang of doubt through the normally-confident shopkeeper. He knew he was facing a formidable opponent, but this was on a different level.

　　His eyes narrowed further as he sized up Silas, his mind trying to formulate a new strategy. "This isn`t an easy fight," he said. At the moment he looked toward the ground, where Tessai was hiding, his attention darted right back toward Silas.

　　Silas moved—no, not moved, but seemed to dissolve, his figure flickering out of existence at the critical moment. From the swirling spiritual pressure in the air, he wove something altogether new.

　　Spiritual particles stretched into tendrils of pale light, dissecting the space around Kisuke into a dangerous geometric cage. The lights flickered as though they were unstable, yet they looked denser than their ethereal appearance suggested. Kisuke tried to use his Benihime to alter the power of the attack, but found himself unable!

　　Then something registered in his head: this wasn`t the true attack; it was a distraction, a way to force him to focus. Silas was still lurking somewhere, so Kisuke darted his eyes, his mind in overdrive, searching for the real threat. His mind raced through possible counters, but he only had a millisecond to react.

　　The network of shimmering lines flashed, leaving him momentarily disoriented. In the split second of vulnerability, a shaft of moonlight erupted from where Silas truly was: directly above him, slowly twirling in a horizontal fashion. He moved with unnatural fluidity, the web of lights shifting with his twirl.

　　`Requiem& Getsuga tenshM.`

　　A crescendo of destructive power was released, creating a devastating wave of energy in the vicinity. The attack sung a deadly song, shooting toward the ground before a blazing light mixed with flames and spirit particles pillared to the sky!

　　Kisuke could be seen from within, his mind racing as he tightly held his sword. His muscle fibers violently ripped apart from the attack while threads tried to keep them together. There was so much of a whirlwind of spiritual energy engulfing him that his ability couldn`t sow his damaged body fast enough.

　　In a split second, his vision blurred. Lines of silver light tore through his flesh, down to his very bones, at a rapid rate. Benihime dropped from his grip, it too being engulfed by the light.

　　" " "

　　By the time the attack finished and things faded, Silas was seen casually walking toward Kisuke`s charred body on the ground. Only the sounds of his steps on the blackened ground could be heard.

　　When he reached Kisuke, the shopkeeper barely looked recognizable. And there was something odd about his expression: he was smiling. His eyes were closed, and there were still flames burning on his attire, yet the shopkeeper had died with no regrets.

　　Silas never gave him the opportunity to unleash his other techniques. He knew what they all were, as well as the prerequisites for using them. Because of that, Kisuke had only managed to use what was possible.

　　There wasn`t a single trace of spiritual power inside the shopkeeper. Neither did he have a pulse. If this was a trick, he would have made himself known by now. And if he had some hidden ability that could have shielded him from that attack, he would have already used it. Silas couldn`t tell what one of this world`s most prominent characters was thinking to be able to pull off a smile before his death.

　　Suddenly, he heard someone from behind yell, "Kisuke, no!"

　　Silas turned to see none other than Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu. Each one of them had a different expression. All of which told him they were anxious, angered, and mortified.