C9 In the Midst of Drunkenness Their Relationship Became Closer and Closer

"Who's causing trouble here? You're asking for it!"

Abarai Renji charged ahead.

A simple prisoner uprising would be easy to quell.

But this time, the entire cell had been wiped out, vanishing without a trace.

That was a mess Abarai Renji couldn't afford to shoulder.

With Flash Steps, the dozens of meters shrank to mere inches.

He drew his Soul-Cutter Sword and brought it down on the shadowy figure before him.

"Burp..."

The previously unsteady figure let out a belch and toppled over to the left like a weeble-wobble, yet his feet remained firmly planted.

Thud!

Renji's Soul-Cutter Sword swung through empty air. He stared, stunned, at the figure who had nimbly dodged the attack.

"It's you?"

"What's this? You're cutting fruit, but isn't your sword a bit dull?"

Taku, sounding half-asleep and reeking of alcohol, suddenly straightened up and swatted at the Soul-Cutter Sword in Renji's grasp.

Renji's anger flared. The Soul-Cutter Sword was a Shinigami's pride—since when was it a subject of mockery? He quickly raised his sword to defend.

"Don't!"

Crash!

Renji was taken aback as the Soul-Cutter Sword felt like it had been struck by an immense force.

A sharp pain shot through his palm, and he was sent flying backward.

Simultaneously, the sword slipped from his grip and flew into a wall, burying itself to the hilt.

Reeling from the pain in his hand, Renji stumbled back several paces before coming to a stop, utterly bewildered.

He hadn't anticipated that Taku's casual slap would pack enough punch to disarm him.

For a Shinigami, this was an utter disgrace.

"Taku, get a grip! I'm Lucia. What the hell happened here? And where did you get that booze?" Lucia reached for the Soul-Cutter Sword embedded in the wall.

She was concerned—if that sword ended up in the hands of a drunken Taku, they might all be sliced up like fruit.

But after several attempts, Lucia realized that with her slight frame, she couldn't budge the sword one bit.

"Lucia, is that you?"

Taku massaged his temples, straining to jog his memory.

A look of recognition dawned on him, and he declared, "You're my betrothed. I've come to marry you..."

Renji had been on edge watching Taku struggle to remember, but he breathed a sigh of relief, hoping to get to the bottom of the Black Prison incident from Taku's own words.

But now, his only desire was vengeance!

They had only met twice, and already Lucia was being called a fiancée. What next—would they be expecting a child by their third encounter?

"Lucia, move aside. I'm going to draw my sword and end this. He's tarnishing the reputation of a noble!" Renji seized the hilt of the Soul-Cutter Sword embedded in the wall and yanked with all his might.

The intensity in his gaze mirrored his raging anger.

It wouldn't budge?

Renji was dumbfounded.

He, a Shinigami, couldn't pull out his own Soul-Cutter Sword.

"What's the matter? Are you all slicing fruit?"

Taku's voice echoed from behind Renji.

A chill ran down his spine, and soon he saw a hand swiftly latch onto the sword's hilt.

With a swift motion, the Soul-Cutter Sword was freed from the wall.

The gleaming blade in Taku's grasp gave off an ominous vibe, as if the Grim Reaper himself was beckoning.

Lucia, taken aback, wasted no time in reclaiming the blade.

Thankfully, Taku was somewhat gracious to his inebriated fiancée.

Lucia quickly snatched the Soul-Cutter Sword from his grip.

The thought of Taku's formidable strength and the sword's lethal edge made Renji realize they could have been sliced into nothing more than human skewers, no fruit peeling necessary.

"Wife, why do you look like triplets?" Taku tilted his head back for another swig of liquor, then waggled his fingers before him.

"Why does it seem like I have thirty fingers?"

Renji watched Taku sway, on the verge of collapsing.

He lost his composure.

Just moments ago, she was a fiancée, and now she was a wife?

The leap was absurd.

If Taku spoke again, would they be past the point of no return?

Bang!

Abarai Renji's grip on his Soul-Cutter Sword tightened as he charged at Taku once more, his approach markedly different from before. Strands of spiritual energy coursed through the blade, signaling his intent to unleash Shikai.

For a Shinigami of his caliber, the Soul-Cutter Sword was the source of the vast majority of his power.

Graduating from Shinoreijutsuin hinged on mastering one's own Shikai, and to ascend to the rank of captain within the Gotei 13, mastery of Bankai was essential.

In this moment, Renji's use of the Soul-Cutter Sword's power was a clear sign he was truly incensed. The goddess he had long pursued had been swayed by mere words—an affront to his pride.

Despite Taku's formidable strength in Renji's view, it didn't necessarily equate to being able to stand toe-to-toe with a Shinigami who wielded Shikai and Flash Steps.

"Renji, stop!"

Lucia's voice was laced with urgency.

But Renji, already a step behind, had vanished in a blur of Flash Steps, reappearing in an instant before Taku. The swirling spiritual energy around his sword hinted at the imminent release of Shikai.

"Well, well, I didn't expect to come back to such an interesting turn of events. Seems like my timing is impeccable."

A gruff voice cut through the air.

A massive figure quickly interposed itself, reaching out to intercept Renji's sword.

The spiritual energy Renji had mustered evaporated in an instant.

"Captain Zaraki?"

Shock flashed across Abarai Renji's face as his rage subsided.

He was not yet the vice captain of the noble division as depicted in the original story.

Recently, Aizen of the Fifth Division had deemed him unsuitable and transferred him to the Eleventh Division as the sixth seat.

To Renji, those ranked above him were nothing short of monstrous.

"Renji, you've let your emotions get the better of you. Resorting to Shikai against a junior—is this an admission of your inadequacy?" Madarame Ikkaku joined the scene, standing before Taku.

But there was no need for his intervention; Taku had already succumbed to sleep, oblivious to the confrontation.

Upon seeing the two figures who had suddenly emerged, Lucia's face shifted with alarm. She hastened forward and addressed them, "Captain Zaraki, Third Seat Madarame, there's been a misunderstanding. We have no idea how, but the Black Prison has vanished without a trace..."

She was confronted with an eerily empty space and prisoners strewn haphazardly across the floor. At a loss for words, Lucia struggled to explain the sudden absence of the colossal structure she knew could not have simply disappeared. The Black Prison was a formidable facility, used by the Eleventh Division to detain inmates awaiting trial. Its history was as old as the Court of Pure Souls itself, stretching back over a thousand years. Countless prisoners had been held within its walls, and yet now, it was gone. Such a phenomenon was almost too bizarre to believe unless witnessed firsthand.

Linking Taku to the disappearance of the Black Prison seemed far-fetched. Lucia looked down at Taku, who lay crumpled on the ground like a lump of clay, clearly inebriated. The idea that a drunken man could abscond with the Black Prison was preposterous.

The more she pondered, the more convinced Lucia became of her reasoning. Taku had earned his chance to be assessed, thanks to the promise and responsibility taken on by Ukitake of the Thirteenth Division. If the Black Prison's mysterious vanishing were to be associated with Taku, it could unjustly drag Ukitake into the mess. That was an outcome Lucia was desperate to avoid.

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