Flames of Duty

Chapter One: Rebirth

As the upper part of his body, severed from the rest, fell to the ground, a single thought crossed his mind.

I'm not dead yet...

He was losing a lot of blood, he was sure. It was a miracle that he was still conscious at that point, but he couldn't and didn't want to give up. He had a duty to fulfill. His vision was blurred and he didn't even feel anything anymore, but it didn't matter. Because he was still alive.

"You're a fool." that calm and cold voice. He would remember it forever "Time has made you weak, that's why I never considered you as one of the war potentials. A thousand years ago you would have been at the top of the list, but by now you are just a shell of yourself."

I'm not dead yet...

His right arm moved with an unthinkable speed for someone reduced like him, but he still managed to grab his opponent's ankle, slowly starting to crush it with all the strength he had left. He didn't even notice the moment when his arm was cut cleanly at the elbow, making him completely limbless.

He could still hear that voice, his enemy was in front of him, yet he could do nothing about it. After a few seconds, he saw a blue glow grow larger and more intense. Even in the state in which he was reduced, he could see that it was an attack. A very powerful attack against him.

Is this my limit then? When the attack was close to destroying him, he finally closed his eyes, accepting the cold embrace of death. Oh the irony...

With a violent explosion, no trace of him remained.

Only a broken and scorched sword was left as evidence of his loss.

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FLAMES OF DUTY

Chapter One: Rebirth

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You can open your eyes now."

Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, former Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, suddenly opened his eyes, surprised by the voice he had just heard. Looking around, he realized he was inside an oriental-style room, with a polished wooden table in front of him and only a large parchment hanging on the wall to his left, above which was the kanji for 'Order'.

"You look disoriented, but I think it's normal after all that's happened to you." said the other occupant of the room, currently sitting on the other side of the table, intent on pouring tea into two cups "However, I can tell you that after a few minutes, the feeling of nausea you may experience will disappear."

Yamamoto shifted his gaze to the man who had just spoken and his eyes widened in surprise "Ichibē Hyōsube! W-What happened?!"

Ichibē would have found it interesting to see the infamous Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 behave that way, however he had a mission to accomplish and little time was available, so he passed a cup full of tea to Yamamoto "Yhwach has happened. You fought him, or you fought against a Quincy that you thought was him. But when the real one appeared, he managed to defeat you and kill you in no time. This is what the Soul King told me."

Yamamoto seemed surprised and distressed by the discovery but managed to conceal his emotions by looking down, being surprised again to see that he had both arms now. Raising his left arm, he tried to move it and felt nothing strange, as if he had never lost it in the battle against Aizen.