Bleach: Starting with Marrying Retsu Unohana

As Barragan thought this, a chill suddenly ran through him. It seemed that ever since his battle with 'Kiba' came to an end, he had become someone else entirely...

In the past, upon seeing the Grim Reaper appear, he would have ignored the threat posed by 'Kiba' beneath him and crushed it without hesitation. However, he chose to join forces with 'Kiba,' which is clearly out of character for him.

"Was I influenced by the power of that Grim Reaper from the very beginning?"

Barragán thus made a deduction in his mind.

"This is utterly humiliating!"

As Barragan thought this, he clenched his fist, which was hidden in his black robe. The pale bones creaked as Barragan raged.

A huge chapter of 4,000 words!

Chapter 67 The Ultimate Cycle

"Since you've imprisoned me in this world, then open your eyes wide and watch as I utterly destroy it! I'll show you the terrible price you pay for such an insult to a king!"

Barragan had no idea that this world had just recently insulted a man who called himself the King of the Quincy, the second King to arrive in this world! At this moment, Barragan had only one thing on his mind: to vent his anger with all his might.

"Boom~Boom~Boom..."

Just as Barragán was preparing to use his 'aging' power to corrupt a world, a series of bells suddenly rang in his ears.

"Who's ringing the bell?!"

With his empty 'eyes,' Barragan looked toward the direction where the bell was ringing. In the 'dilapidated' bell tower, there was an old monk who kept ringing the bell. The old monk was quite strange. Although he was dressed in a kasaya and dressed as a monk, he had short, white hair and a tuft of white beard under his nose. In addition, there was a deep scar on the old monk's right eye. He did not look like a proper monk at all.

"Buzz!"

Upon seeing the monk, Barragán immediately used his bell-ringing machine to enter the bell tower, where he coldly watched the monk ringing the bell.

"One, two, three, let's go!"

The old monk seemed oblivious to Bailergang beside him, or perhaps he simply didn't care whether anyone was around or not, as he focused intently on ringing his bell.

"Stop banging!"

Upon seeing this, Bailergang was furious. He stopped the old monk from pushing the 'bell hammer' and angrily rebuked him, saying, "This bell sound is making me feel uneasy!"

“My lord, you are not upset because of the sound of the bell, but because you are already upset and have nowhere to vent your frustration. You just happened to hear the bell that I, the monk, rang, and that’s why you’re fixated on the sound!”

The old monk, upon hearing Barragan's angry rebuke, remained calm and composed, looking at Barragan with a serene expression and speaking softly.

"That's nonsense!"

Upon hearing the old monk's words, Bailergang flew into a rage. He waved his hand to kill the old monk in front of him, but the moment his hand touched the monk, he hesitated.

Bailergang didn't know what was causing his inner turmoil, nor could he understand why he couldn't bring himself to kill the monk before him.

"Get out of my way!"

In the end, Barragán simply pushed the old monk aside and then waved his hand to obliterate the ancient bell.

"Hahaha……"

Barragán looked at the clock that had been instantly destroyed by his 'aging' power and burst into laughter. He was in an exceptionally good mood at that moment.

"Thump! Thump..."

However, before Barragan could think further, the bell rang in his ears again, instantly freezing his laughing face.

"Damn it! Why are you still ringing the bell?!"

Barragán pressed his hands to his head, enduring the headache as he turned to face the old monk he had pushed over, and angrily questioned him.

“‘Benefactor,’ you are attached to appearances! This humble monk’s bell has clearly been destroyed by you, so how could it be that this humble monk has rung it?!”

After being pushed down by Bailergang, the old monk did not get up. He took out a wooden fish from somewhere, sat on the ground, and began chanting unknown scriptures until he heard Bailergang's question. Only then did he answer Bailergang's question.

"Who is ringing the bell?"

Barragán pressed his head hard and continued to ask the old monk.

"you!"

The old monk extended a finger, pointing to the cheek of Barragán's remaining skeleton, with a kind and filial smile on his face.

"I?"

Upon hearing this, Barragán was taken aback.

"Nonsense!"

Immediately afterwards, Barragan felt that he had been fooled by the old monk and roared angrily.

"It was you, benefactor, who rang the bell yourself..."

“Benefactor, you destroyed this humble monk’s bell, and that bell has run from this bell tower into your heart! This humble monk’s bell is here, but your bell has been born in your heart and taken root there.”

The old monk sat cross-legged and began to speak to Bailergang.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Barragán fell silent. He calmly looked at the old man, then extended his skeletal hand.

"It was you who rang the bell!"

Barragán looked at the old man and asserted that he believed the bells would stop ringing naturally once the old man was killed.

"It was me who rang the bell..."

However, to everyone's surprise, when the power of Barragán, which symbolized 'aging,' touched the old man, the old man actually smiled and readily admitted it.

"It's really you!"

Upon seeing the old man admit it, Barragan immediately unleashed his 'aging' power without any restraint.

As Barragan activated his aging power, the old man's physical body instantly vanished, turning into a pile of withered bones!

"Hahaha……"

Upon seeing this, Barragán suddenly burst into laughter, but as he laughed, he could no longer laugh.

"Take a good look at who I am!"

The old man, who had shed his physical body and turned into a pile of bones, did not die. Instead, he smiled faintly at Barragan and spoke 'leisurely' in a voice that Barragan knew all too well.

"..."

Barragán fell silent. Even if he were confused, he wouldn't mistake what was before him. At the same time, Barragán finally understood why he felt so familiar with the old man who was ringing the bell. It was because the skeleton that appeared before him after the old man shed his physical body was none other than himself!

"Byrgang, you boast that your strength is invincible! But why does this invincible power of 'aging' also work on you?!"

Before Barragan could speak, the old man who had turned into bones spoke first. He slowly stretched out his hand towards Barragan, and then, under the extreme power of 'aging', he slowly turned into dust.

"do not want!"

Barragan wanted to save the constantly shattering skeleton before him, but he stopped just before his hand touched the swirling dust. Staring at the dark power of 'aging,' a sudden fear gripped him. Just as the dead old man had said, if Barragan was invincible, why did this invincible power of 'aging' also affect him?!

After witnessing 'himself' being killed by his own power, Barragan suddenly had a premonition that the old man's death was his own fate. He was both made and destroyed by the power of aging. Everything was predetermined!

Thinking this, Barragán suddenly roared hysterically, shouting, "This is absolutely not my end! None of this is real! None of this is real!! You despicable Grim Reaper, you lied to me! You deceived me!"

"Destroy it!!"

As soon as Barragán finished speaking, the endless power of 'aging' directly destroyed the entire clock tower.

"Hahaha! Hahahaha..."

After destroying the clock tower, Barragán suddenly burst into laughter, declaring that what is false will always be false, and what is false will never become true! He had his own destiny in his own hands.

"Boom~Boom~Boom..."

However, the instant the clock tower was destroyed, another bell rang out…

Looking up, Bailergang saw the old monk, who should have died, reappear in the bell tower, calmly swinging the 'bell hammer' to strike the ancient bell.

"..."

Bailergang fell silent, just watching the old monk in silence, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

However, the old monk who had been ringing the bell seemed to have noticed Bailergang. He stopped ringing the bell and gave Bailergang a kind smile.

"boom!"

It was this old monk's smile that made something seem to explode in Bailergang's head. He suddenly felt a chill and an endless sense of unease rose in his heart.

"Destroy it!!"

Without further hesitation, Barragán once again unleashed his 'aging' power, completely annihilating the clock tower.

"Boom..."

Before Barragán could even catch his breath, the bells suddenly rang out! This time, the bells didn't come from in front of Barragán, but from all directions around him.

Barragán looked around and saw one bell tower after another appearing around him, and in each bell tower was the same old monk, all of whom were showing him a 'kind' smile.

"..."

When Barragán saw this scene, a chill seemed to run down his spine. He saw no kindness in the faces of these old monks; he only felt an eeriness.

"Destroy them! Destroy them! Destroy them!!"

Barragán roared, unleashing his 'aging' power in all directions, wanting to see how long the clock tower could continue to chime...

In an instant, endless darkness enveloped the entire Pure Glass!

"Bailagan, have you 'realized' it?!"

No one knows how much time has passed. The same bell tower, the same old monk. Bailergang still stands in the bell tower, facing the old monk. But this time, the old monk does not ring the bell. Instead, he looks at Bailergang and asks softly.

"Hmm?" Upon hearing the old monk's voice, Barragán gradually came to his senses. He looked at the old monk and asked softly, "What did you just say?!"

"Bailagan, have you 'realized' it?"

The old monk struck the wooden fish in his hand, and it seemed that some nameless scripture was slowly entering Bailergang's heart. At this moment, the old monk asked Bailergang the same question he had asked before.

"'Enlightenment'? I can't 'enlighten' it!"

Upon hearing this, Barragan gave a bitter smile. He had lived in this world for 'ten thousand years', and in those ten thousand years he had witnessed countless annihilations of himself. He was now completely confused, unable to distinguish between the Hueco Mundo where he had lived before and this Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli, and whether this was the real world!

"I can't tell the difference! I simply can't tell the difference!"

Barragán's voice betrayed his helplessness; he was no longer the same Void King he once was.

"Byrgang, when you can't understand, you've already understood! When you can't distinguish, you've already distinguished!"