Why Do You Think You’ve Reached Reality?

If the fifth-stage Aizen had discarded his Zanpakuto and fought entirely with his overwhelming Spirit Pressure, then at the sixth stage, he had reclaimed Mirror Flower, Water Moon, which had always been the embodiment of his power.

Having sensed that something was wrong, Fox Jiu immediately swung his claws.

Screech—!

The claws, gleaming with cold light, instantly tore a massive scar across the earth.

But it was useless. Such a simple attack clearly could not harm Aizen now that he had reached the sixth stage.

Crack—

As a crisp shattering sound rang out, the entire world seemed to turn into a mirror.

The great fox, a Master Grade being, immediately caught a strange scent in the air, yet he could not identify what was wrong.

Then, Fox Jiu suddenly sensed an incomparably sharp aura attacking from his right.

He turned his head and saw a blond-haired youth, wrapped in a black, ominous aura, charging at him with a blade in hand.

Naturally, the Demon Fox would not simply wait to be captured. One of his tails immediately descended from the sky, blocking the attack for him.

In Fox Jiu’s eyes, the blond youth’s attack struck directly against his tail, only to be sent flying away in the next moment.

Yet soon, the Demon Fox noticed something exceedingly strange. After blocking the attack, more than half the fur on that tail had been scorched black, as though it had been burned by extreme heat.

That clearly did not match the abilities of the blond youth’s card from their previous exchanges. Instead, it was more like—

Fox Jiu shifted his gaze toward Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto in the distance.

The huge fox face gradually darkened. "Something is wrong."

"Zero, did you notice anything?"

The situation was already faintly slipping beyond the Demon Fox’s control. Yet only minutes ago, he had thought he was back on his feet.

The immense contrast tore Fox Jiu apart inside.

"Illusion." Zero remained as concise as ever. As half an observer, he could naturally make a rough judgment of the current situation.

Fox Jiu’s expression worsened upon hearing that.

Unlike Zero, the great fox had practically invested all his skill points into his physical body, so he had not noticed anything wrong at all.

Without further hesitation, Fox Jiu swiftly made his decision. "Zero, you take over from here!"

"Alright."

As Zero’s voice sounded within his mind, the Demon Fox’s body instantly changed owners.

Only after switching to Zero’s perspective did Fox Jiu finally discover what was wrong.

This world was like flowers in a mirror and the moon in water, filled with an unreal sensation.

Having successfully gained control of the body, Zero immediately lunged toward Aizen, whom he saw as the culprit.

Faced with this, Aizen merely raised his right hand without haste and lightly tapped the empty air.

In the next moment, a thin purple beam shot from his fingertip toward Fox Jiu.

Screech—!

Its terrifying speed made the air emit a shrill howl. Though the purple beam never touched the ground, it still carved out a horrifying trench.

Watching the killing move rush straight toward his face, Zero’s expression did not change. He merely tilted his head slightly and avoided the attack.

But it was not without cost. A huge patch of fur vanished from the right side of Fox Jiu’s head, making him look utterly comical.

Still, this was a battle, and even if it were not, this body did not belong to Zero in the first place. Naturally, he did not feel the least bit distressed.

Ignoring Fox Jiu’s impotent fury within his mind, Zero had already arrived before Aizen.

He leaped into the air, spun one hundred and eighty degrees, and smashed all nine tails down at the brown-haired man like falling meteors.

Boom—!

A massive impact rang out, splitting the earth open into an abyss.

As for Hancheng?

There was no need to mention something that had long since disappeared.

Lu Su even felt that if the battle continued, turning the peninsula into a true island would be an easy matter.

Watching the fox viciously attack empty air in the distance, he turned to Aizen beside him, who should have been fighting the opponent. "Laolan, when do you think he’ll realize something is wrong?"

Aizen’s expression remained indifferent. "I was already somewhat surprised that they could see through the first layer."

"If they can see through this layer as well, then I might think more highly of them."

That was right. From beginning to end, neither Fox Jiu nor Zero had escaped the influence of Mirror Flower, Water Moon. Everything had merely been their wishful thinking.

Lu Su nodded slightly, then lowered his gaze to the communication device in his hand.

Bai Yueming: Xiao Luo, Great Ming has changed. Return at once.

Bai Yueming: Be careful.

Both messages had been sent several minutes ago, around the time Fang Wenlong had left.

The first had been sent by Bai Yueming in his capacity as a Master Card Master of Great Ming. The second had been sent in his capacity as a teacher.

Lu Su lowered his eyes and took a light breath to calm the emotions in his heart. Then he said, "Let’s end this quickly."

"Alright."

On the other side, Fox Jiu looked at the few remaining cards before him and could not help but sneer inwardly. "What Lu Su? Looks like he’s nothing special!"

"Tempest actually lost to him!"

He had completely forgotten how his tail had been severed during his first encounter with Lu Su, as well as how he had been considering fleeing just moments ago.

However, Zero could not feel happy.

Too weak.

As an experiment from the City within a City, he naturally knew more about Lu Su than Fox Jiu did.

And the battle that had just taken place had gone far too smoothly—so smoothly that it was as though the heavens themselves were favoring them.

With that thought, Zero raised his head and swept his gaze over the devastated ground around him.

Then, he looked toward Kurosaki Ichigo and the others in the distance, who were staring at him intently.

"I see."

Zero let out a long breath, then closed his eyes.

"Don’t want to fight anymore? Then let me take over!"

Seeing his actions, Fox Jiu, who did not understand what was happening, became eager to try. After all, he was confident he could defeat these old, weak, wounded opponents.

But Zero ignored him and maintained a firm grip over the body.

Crack—

The crisp sound of shattering rang out again, and the Demon opened his eyes.

Looking at the cards surrounding him, all completely unharmed and staring coldly at him, Zero murmured inwardly with a faint smile, "Almost… fooled."

Fox Jiu naturally realized what had happened as well.

Through Zero’s vision, he stared blankly at Lu Su’s cards, none of which had suffered any losses, and roared inwardly in disbelief, "That was an illusion too?!"

"Yes. Two layers."

After receiving Zero’s confirmation, Fox Jiu could not help feeling lingering fear.

If he had truly taken control of the body again just now, he might not even have known how he died in the end.

"Why are you brainy types so damn underhanded?!"

"I’ll leave the rest to you, Zero."

Fox Jiu retreated again. He had resolved to leave all subsequent fighting to Zero. Unless his life was in danger, he would absolutely not show himself again.

Zero naturally had no objections.

The battle resumed, but this time, the intensity increased considerably.

Yet that only confirmed Zero’s suspicions.

"The world… real."

While thinking, he had already clashed with Lu Su’s cards.

It had to be said that although Fox Jiu’s offensive power was somewhat inferior to Demons of the same rank, his defense and life-preserving methods were far stronger. Not to mention that he now had Zero’s enhancements.

Thus, even though the cards’ attacks could injure him, they were no more than a scratch to the Demon Fox’s enormous body.

Of course, Lu Su possessed a terrifying number of cards, and Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto could summon the undead slain by his blade. So even scratching became quite troublesome for Zero.

As the battle dragged on, more and more wounds appeared across the fox body controlled by Zero.

In the end, after sacrificing two tails to neutralize two Mugetsu attacks, Zero felt the scales of victory had already tilted toward his side.

"Won."

In his eyes, Lu Su, who had exhausted every means at his disposal, had no possibility of turning things around.

After all, even the method that had caught Tempest off guard and could reset the cooldowns of other cards had been forced out by him.

Thinking this, Zero looked toward Lu Su, who stood alone in the distance, and spoke with a hint of praise. "You… are strong."

Although Zero was an experiment that had only been born recently and had not seen many beings of the same rank, there was no denying that the youth in the distance was among the very best at Master Grade.

Even though, in Zero’s perception, the other party was merely a Diamond Grade Card Master.

But that was not important, was it?

Fox Jiu had not expected the day of his revenge to come so quickly. When they had first clashed today, he had thought he would have to sacrifice a tail to survive again.

The great fox said eagerly in his heart, "Zero, let me handle what comes next."

"You know it. I have a grudge against him."

Hearing this, Zero paused.

Perhaps because he considered that the City within a City and Fox Jiu would still cooperate in the future, he hesitated only slightly before returning control of the body.

Sensing that he had regained control, Fox Jiu was overjoyed. "Good, good, good! Zero, I knew I hadn’t misjudged you!"

"We’ll call today’s matter even!"

After speaking, he did not care about Zero’s response. He simply walked step by step before Lu Su and lowered his head.

Fox Jiu bared his savage fangs, and a foul, fishy wind blew from his mouth. "Kid, didn’t expect this, did you?!"

"Hehehehe."

"Today is the day you die. Not just you—your companions, your elders, your lovers…"

"…will all become my food."

As Fox Jiu spoke, he observed the youth before him, who was infinitesimal compared to himself.

Unfortunately, Lu Su disappointed him. He looked as if he had been scared senseless, showing no reaction at all.

Seeing this, the fox found it somewhat strange but did not think much of it. Instead, he began muttering about Aizen, because the brown-haired man had truly put him under enormous pressure just now.

"That card of yours nearly scared me to death…"

"Unfortunately, he still wasn’t strong enough. He could only use those petty tricks. There was no way he could defeat me."

"Something about how it was thanks to me that he entered his truly perfect form."

"How laughable."

By this point, seeing that Lu Su still had no reaction, Fox Jiu no longer wanted to say anything. A one-man monologue was truly rather boring.

Just as he opened his mouth wide, preparing to swallow Lu Su whole, a cold voice suddenly rang out across the battlefield.

"When did you develop the misconception that you had already reached reality?"

Upon hearing those words, Zero instantly realized that something was wrong.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

"Fall. Sink into confusion, disorder, and in the end, shatter like Mirror Flower, Water Moon."

Crack—!

The sound of glass shattering, proclaiming death, rang out.

The scene before Fox Jiu instantly became chaotic. Countless fragments of mirrors reflected the scenes of their previous battle.

The sudden change made every hair on the Demon Fox’s body stand on end, while the shadow of death began spreading through his heart.

In utter panic, he called the other Demon’s name inwardly. "Zero?!"

Yet Zero seemed to have crashed, remaining silent for a long time.

Only when the mirror fragments surrounding Fox Jiu reflected the scene of him swallowing Lu Su whole did he finally speak in a somewhat dry voice. "Still… an illusion."

"…??"

Before Fox Jiu could think through the meaning of Zero’s words, the mirror fragments around him abruptly vanished. Then, an abyss swirling with purple stars swallowed the entire Demon Fox.

In the next moment, all the damage inflicted by every attack from the time Aizen entered the sixth stage until Fox Jiu swallowed Lu Su rebounded onto Fox Jiu.

Whether it had been attacks launched by Lu Su’s cards or attacks launched by the Demon Fox himself.

"Awooo!"

A heaven-shaking howl instantly resounded across the world.

Within only a few breaths, Fox Jiu’s tails had been reduced to just two.

The scent of death lingered beneath his nose, and the Nation-Destroying Fox Spirit’s heart was completely drowned by fear.

"How can I die in a place like this?!"

"I’m going to become Hall of Fame Grade!"

He could not believe that one day, half his foot would step into the abyss called death. Since advancing to Master Grade, this was the first time he had been forced down to only two tails.

At this moment, Fox Jiu had no will to fight left.

He only wanted to flee—flee somewhere that the monster across from him, even more monstrous than himself, could not find.

Faced with this, Lu Su’s expression remained entirely calm. Beside him stood his cards, all basically in perfect condition.

He let out a quiet breath and waved his hand. "Kill him."

As soon as he finished speaking, the cards began chasing after Fox Jiu, who had already fled into the distance.

Deafening wails continued to ring out across the skies, while a drizzle of crimson blood fell over Goryeo.

Near Suicheng County, Jin Yubin and the resistance fighters stared blankly at the enormous Demon Fox in the distant sky, now dyed red with blood, as well as the cards pursuing him.

Only after every figure disappeared from sight did they gradually come back to their senses. "…Was that a Master Grade Demon?!"

No one had expected that on such an ordinary day, they would witness the fall of an arrogant Master Grade being.

Compared to the others, Jin Yubin saw more.

The image of the youth standing atop the giant wooden man with his arms folded flashed through his mind, and he unconsciously murmured, "Benefactor."

Meanwhile, Lu Su and his cards had already chased Fox Jiu into the small country under his control.

At this moment, the people of the small nation, who had lived under the Demons’ bloody rule for who knew how many years, all raised their heads in confusion, staring at a sight in the sky that should never have appeared under normal circumstances.

Gods could bleed too.

As the only Master Grade Demon in the small nation, Fox Jiu naturally stood at the top of the food chain. Within this nation, he was the supreme god.

But not until today did the humans of this land realize that gods could be wounded too, and even

die.

And the one responsible for everything before them seemed to be human, just like them.

The spark called hope silently ignited in some people’s hearts. They realized they were by no means the livestock those man-eating monsters had claimed they were.

As for the Demons in the small nation, all that remained for them now was fear.

After all, even Lord Fox had been reduced to such a miserable state. Lackeys like them certainly would not meet a good end afterward.

In the sky, Fox Jiu fled all the way until he finally saw the secret realm where he had been born.

He plunged straight into it and roared in every direction, "Everyone, come protect me!"

Having established himself in the small nation for so many years, the Demon Fox naturally had subordinates loyal to him.

Unfortunately, even the strongest among them was only Diamond Grade.

It was at that moment that Lu Su and his cards entered the secret realm as well.

The youth glanced at the Demons surrounding the fox and curled his lips in boredom.

"A futile gesture."