บท 72: Do You Know Mathematics

"Another one?" The Hollow said with a smile once the smoke dissipated, and Muyang's figure emerged from the smoke.

"You look very strong, unlike those weaklings earlier. They taste pretty bad too, but you should be different!"

"Did you eat them?" Muyang said with a cold glare.

"Yeah, they're pretty bad, but it's still more delicious than most souls out there! I will never forget that taste......aahhhh!!!"

The Hollow suddenly screamed while holding onto his right hand, where blood was gushing out. Although he had a mask on his face, it couldn't contain his scream.

"How dare you cut off my arm, Shinigami!"

The Hollow glared at Muyang hatefully. His right arm was lopped off, and blood didn't stop gushing out from the wound.

"Zi~Zi~"

The Hollow's hand twitched, and in the next second, it grew back so fast that it was visible to the naked eye. It pointed its newly-grown hand toward Muyang and said, "you're so dead, Shinigami. Blame yourself for pushing my buttons!

"High-Speed Regeneration!" Muyang said with one eyebrow raised, "That's more like it! It'd be boring if you die so easily!"

"As if the likes of you can kill me!"

"Play your melody, Shiun!" After blocking the attack with his Zanpakuto, Muyang mocked the Hollow: "Is this all you got?"

"Hmph, don't push your luck, Shinigami!" The Hollow relentlessly attacked Muyang instead of responding to Muyang's provocation.

"Dāng dāng dāng dāng"

Muyang swung his Zanpakuto calmly, blocking all the Hollow's attack without even taking a step from where he stood since the very beginning.

"If this is all you got, this is gonna be over before you know it."

"Don't get too cocky, Shinigami!"

The Hollow couldn't even land a single attack, and Muyang's words definitely got under his skin. As a result, he roared in anger and pointed his fingertip at Muyang, where a red Cero was condensed. Unlike his Cero earlier, its power this time was on a whole different level that Suzuki Kusu was trembling even though she was hiding.

"Cero!"

Even though he saw the Hollow was ready to fire Cero at him, Muyang didn't even budge, as if he had no intention to dodge it at all.

"Captain !!"

Seeing Muyang didn't budge from his spot, Suzuki Kusu realized that he planned to take it head-on and couldn't help but yell out of worry due to the immense Reiatsu she felt coming from the Cero.

Muyang did not even raise his Zanpakuto to block it. Instead, he simply raised his left hand to stop the Cero.

"What! Does Captain plan to stop that Cero with one hand??"

Suzuki Kusu felt like his heart almost stopped beating. She knew that her Captain was really strong, but was it really wise to stop that Cero with one hand?

"Even a Vasto Lorde can't stop my Cero with one hand. It seems that you really want to die that bad, Shinigami!"

The Hollow's pride was in tatters seeing Muyang tried to block his Cero with one hand.

"bang!"

The Cero hit Muyang's arm, but it was immediately repelled toward another direction, destroying a big tree in its path.

Suzuki Kusu was in awe as Muyang actually repelled it with one hand.

"Impossible... How did you...?"

Hollow looked at Muyang in disbelief. He at first thought that the power of his Cero was lower than usual. However, his assumption was proven wrong as the ground where his Cero was repelled to was razed. In terms of firepower, it was, in fact, more powerful than usual, yet how did the Shinigami before him repel it with one hand and remained unscathed?

The Shinigami before him easily blocked all his attacks, including his devastating Cero, and with one hand, no less. Moreover, the Shinigami lopped off his arm, and he didn't even see him coming. From all those facts, the Hollow concluded that the guy in front of him was not an average Shinigami that he normally preyed on!

The Hollow glanced at the white Haori Muyang was wearing. He didn't pay attention to it a moment ago, but upon seeing the white Haori...

"You are a Captain?"

"Oh? You actually know about Captain?" Muyang asked with raised eyebrows.

"I have heard about it from my companions before, but I haven't seen one before. I didn't expect to meet one here."

"I see." Muyang nodded, then raised the Zanpakuto in his hand, "Play your melody, Kaze no Sora!"

Following Muyang's chanting, the shape of his Zanpakuto changed again. The hilt suddenly turned into azure blue with one meter-length blade. In addition, it had thorn-like small blades on its edges around 30 cm from the tip.

Following the change in his Zanpakuto, Muyang's Reiatsu skyrocketed again. Sensing Muyang's massive Reiatsu, the Hollow fell into despair. He was no match against Muyang earlier, and now that Muyang's Reiatsu skyrocketed once again, it might be asking too much just to run away.

"Is this the so-called Bankai? It sure seems strong."

"Bankai?" Muyang sneered. "Don't overestimate yourself. I don't need to use Bankai to deal with the likes of you."

"Not Bankai? As far as I know, a Shinigami Zanpakuto can be released twice, namely Shikai and Bankai. You have released Zanpakuto once before, yet you're saying that is not Bankai?"

"This is not Bankai. It's just another Shikai, that's all. Well, since you won't understand anyway even if I explain it to you, feel free to consider it as a Bankai. Many people think so as well."

"I don't really have to go this far to defeat you, to be honest. The only reason why I show you this form is only out of respect for my men that you killed in cold blood." Muyang's tone was getting more and more terrifying.

"Goodbye, Shinigami." Hollow poked his fingertip into thin air, and Garganta was slowly opened. The Hollow stepped into Garganta with one foot and the other still outside before turning toward Muyang and said arrogantly, "I will spare you this time out of pity, but remember that the next time we meet will be your end, Shinigami!"

"Who gives you the permission to leave?" Muyang raised Zanpakuto in his hand and swung it at the Hollow's direction gently.

An azure compressed air blade was discharged from Muyang's Zanpakuto, cutting off one of the Hollow's legs that was already in Garganta. After lopping off the Hollow's leg, the compressed air blade seeped into the Garganta, and then the Garganta gradually became unstable, forcing out the Hollow before vanishing.

"Damn you!"

The Hollow's leg twitched before growing back just like last time, and he glared at Muyang. Obviously, he didn't expect that the Shinigami could cancel out Garganta.

"It's a relief that you didn't die by that attack earlier. Fortunately, you are not as fragile as I thought." Muyang composedly said as he saw the Hollow's High-Speed Regeneration, but his next sentence immediately made the Hollow shudder, "I won't let you die that easily."

"High-Speed Regeneration really is a convenient ability." Muyang praised the Hollow's regenerative ability.

Muyang's words and tone right now made him the most dreadful existence in the Hollow's eyes.

"Can you do a simple math? You know, just simple addition and subtraction." Muyang asked the Hollow out of the blue.

"What do you plan to..."

"bssskk~"

The Hollow's chest was stabbed, and blood was gushing out of it.

"I'm asking whether you can do simple math or not," Muyang asked menacingly.

"I... I do."

"Very good." Muyang sounded less intimidating after hearing a satisfying answer, "Oh, the wound on your chest is already closed? As expected of High-Speed Regeneration!"

"Now, what is 1000 minus 7?"

"993 ." The Hollow obediently answered this time.

"Very good." Muyang nodded as he was satisfied with the Hollow's answer, then suddenly... "Rikujōkōrō!"

Six thin, wide beams were slammed into the Hollow's midsection, restraining the Hollow's movement.

"What are you planning to do? I know I am no match for you, just kill me already!"

"You want to die? I won't let you off the hook that easily! You killed 24 of my men, so I have to kill you 24 times!" The Hollow felt like he heard the voice of a demon.

"Next, I want you to keep subtracting the result by 7 starting from 1000 minus 7. Otherwise, it will be more than 24 times!"

Before Muyang proceeded, he used Shunpo and suddenly reappeared in front of Suzuki Kusu, using a Kidō to put her to sleep. It'd be better for her not to see what was about to happen.

"Okay, let's get started." Muyang looked down at Hollow kneeling on the ground. "Let's do it again from the top. What is 1000 minus 7?"

Muyang's face was like that of a demon!

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