Chapter 145: Space Removal

When Scarlet World activated, time froze across the inner world. No person or object could move—except Scarlet Angel, the Bankai spirit who triggered it. Yet, impossibly, Yamabuki Haruto grabbed her wrist. The shock mirrored Jotaro Kujo’s hand twitching during Dio’s The World in another tale.

Scarlet Angel’s pupils contracted. She released her crimson short blade, caught it with her left hand, severed her own wrist with a backhand slash, and retreated swiftly.

What just happened? she thought, frowning at Haruto. How could he move in absolute stillness?

Time resumed flowing. Haruto’s hand exploded, flesh and bone shattering into fragments. “A hand for a hand! My plan worked!” he said, grinning triumphantly.

Scarlet Angel snorted, extending her right arm. Her Super Regeneration, fueled by Haruto’s Soul King fragment, restored it instantly. “How can you move in stopped time? It’s impossible!” she said, eyeing him warily. The turn of events defied her expectations.

Haruto’s Super Regeneration repaired his hand. Smiling, he faced Scarlet Angel. “It’s simple. You can do it too.” He extended a finger, conjuring a ten-centimeter space sphere. “All my abilities, you have. You know this technique, right? A space sphere is an independent void—absolute vacuum, no matter, no energy, no laws. Time and space don’t exist within it. By encasing my hand in one, it’s isolated from this world, untouched by time.”

Only Haruto could pull this off. His Silver Angel was the sole space-attribute Zanpakutō, and Super Regeneration made the self-damaging tactic viable.

“Clever,” Scarlet Angel said, her smile cold. “But this self-mutilation won’t defeat me. Our memories are linked; I know what you know. I’ve only shown a few time abilities—there are more.”

Haruto’s grin faded, replaced by a solemn stare. Time-based powers were never ordinary. In other stories, Dio’s The World, Kira’s Bites the Dust, and Diavolo’s King Crimson tormented their foes. If Scarlet Angel’s control over time included such powers, he was outmatched.

Before he could process, Scarlet Angel swung her blade with a faint smile. Haruto’s upper body was severed, and she appeared behind him. “This is…” His expression darkened. Not time-stop—his body would’ve reacted. A new time ability.

Haruto surged reishi, regenerating in seconds. But instantly, his body was dismembered again. “Ouch, ouch, ouch!” He hadn’t seen her move.

Is this Zanpakutō too outrageous? he thought.

“You want to control me? It’s ten thousand years too early!” Scarlet Angel fired a crimson Cero from her fingertip. Haruto cast Dankū, but the barrier tore like paper. The inner world blazed blood-red from the explosion.

Haruto regenerated at the last moment, using Spatial Movement to escape the blast’s core. Scarlet Angel, cloaked in crimson, laughed maniacally and swung her blade. Haruto blocked, but her swing was already complete. His arms were severed cleanly.

“Time Erasure?” Haruto’s forehead dripped with cold sweat. Like Diavolo’s King Crimson, it skipped time. If you pick an apple, bite it, and return it, erasing the bite’s moment leaves you unaware of the action, yet the bite mark remains. Scarlet Angel had erased the moment of her cut.

How do I fight this cheat? Without Super Regeneration, he’d be dead a hundred times over. Haruto collapsed, tempted to surrender. Time control was godlike, beyond his current strength.

Scarlet Angel laughed, her voice like Silver Angel’s but unhinged. She squatted beside him, poking his cheek with her blade’s tip. “Giving up this time?”

“Guess!” Haruto drew Silver Angel. Scarlet Angel met it with her crimson blade. His body sank, movement sluggish, like wading through a quagmire. “Time Flow! I slowed your body’s time to a crawl. Fun, isn’t it?” she said, her blade inching toward his chest.

Haruto resisted, but his body moved slower than a snail—a Shinigami version of time dilation. The blade pierced his skin, muscle, nearing his heart. Half an inch more, and the trial would end—everything would end.

Only one method left. Haruto closed his eyes, unleashing all his reishi. A moment later…