While Gabriel was having fun—while maybe or maybe not tipping the balance of the world, bringing the three realms closer and closer to collapsing—the balance of souls in the worlds was off. Very off. Too many people were dying, way too freaking quickly.
Somewhere else across the battlefield, another fight was happening—a fight between two powerful women. One being a member of the Royal Guard... the other being the Horseman of Conquest.
Senjumaru Shutara was a woman of precision. The way her thread moved around was something to behold. This was art, this was beauty. If you stared too long, you might even forget she was trying to chop your head off.
Val, however, was not easily fooled. She could not be beaten so easily.
She was a Horseman, and she refused to lose.
Under normal circumstances, even in her Segunda Etapa, she would in fact lose this fight—like badly. However, Gabriel had suppressed the Soul King's boost, or at least the vast majority of it. Since if Senjumaru only had the strength she had as a captain, she would be more cooked than a D1 black athlete going to an all-white girl party... one tear is all it takes.
The white woman tear was scary.
Even weakened, Senjumaru still thought this would be quite an easy fight. After all, the Royal Guard were stronger than the Gotei 13 put together.
And yet—
For the first time in centuries—
Her threads refused to weave.
Val'Zirrah Aeterna stood before her, the air itself bowing to the Arrancar's mere presence.
A suffocating, indomitable force pressed down upon Senjumaru's very soul.
Her fingers twitched.
Her mind remained sharp.
But her body—
It hesitated.
The Will of the Conqueror was absolute.
Senjumaru had fought countless foes in her lifetime.
But this was not mere pressure.
This was dominion.
Val'Zirrah's golden eyes gleamed with imperial authority, her regal presence exuding an aura of undeniable command.
"Bend."
Senjumaru's entire being screamed in protest as her knees shook against her will.
Hm. This seemed to be Val's Authority. She could practically mind-fuck anyone with a weaker will than her, and anything that came into contact with her Reiatsu and Reiryoku was forced to bend the knee to her.
This was proven abundantly clear when Senjumaru launched an attack at Val.
But the moment they neared Val'Zirrah—
They halted.
Val sighed a bit, her eyes filled with nothing but disdain. Using her Reiatsu, what seemed to be markings appeared on her weapon.
The threads—her own weapons—were now marked.
Val'Zirrah's power had already taken hold of them.
With a mere flick of her wrist—
The golden silk turned.
Against her.
'Impossible.'
Would be Senjumaru's first thought. But as her own threads bound her, constricting her even further—not even allowing her to breathe—she had to accept that anything marked by that woman's Reiatsu fell under her control.
But she wasn't called the Great Weave Guard for nothing.
In an instant, she did something that could be called asspully—Senjumaru broke reality. More like weaved one where she wasn't bound. The fuck.
The fuck.
She vanished, appearing above Val'Zirrah in a blur, thousands of woven blades cascading down like a storm of divine punishment.
Val'Zirrah smiled.
Maybe this bug was worth crushing after all.
And with a single word—
"Kneel."
Senjumaru's form stiffened mid-air.
Her own spiritual energy fought against her.
She landed, barely regaining control, her expression unreadable—but her mind raced.
This was no ordinary battle.
This was a battle of will.
And Val'Zirrah's will was an empire.
The air grew heavy.
The battlefield shifted.
And then—
Val'Zirrah raised her blade, golden radiance surging from her body like the dawn of a new age.
"Bow and Serve."
A blinding explosion of golden energy erupted from her, bathing the battlefield in imperial luminance.
This was her domain. Sol Imperium—and her Resurrección.
Yes, inside this place, Val would be buffed, while Senjumaru would constantly be getting nerfed and nerfed until even her own organs were no longer in her control, but instead in the control of Val.
Hm... since it had resulted in this—
"Bankai: Shatatsu Karagara Shigarami no Tsuji"
As those words left her mouth, the woman expanded her own domain.
The two domains fought against each other for dominance, with Val's domain trying to take control of Senjumaru's. However, as things stood, they were equal. The only thing that could change that was if the wielder of such a domain were to get severely damaged.
Val cracked her neck a bit, before summoning a longsword and a shield.
If it had come to this, she would not hesitate to throw hands.
Val was not young by any means. She was probably the oldest Hollow in Gabriel's army, being roughly 900+, maybe close to a thousand. She doesn't remember. What she did remember, though, was how Hueco Mundo worked.
The law of the jungle—you either got dominated or were the one doing the domination.
And she'd rather not choose the first option.
Her ring would glow a bit.
Giving her a power boost. Her body changed—what seemed to be Greek armor appeared over her body. More like Spartan body armor, with the breastplate, the shield, the sword, the helmet—even the sandals.
She was a warrior.
"You are one interesting Hollow," were Senjumaru's words.
Val looked at her opponent.
"And how so?"
"Someone with your conqueror-like personality choosing to submit yourself to someone else."
Master level of gaslighting and instigating in action right here.
"What's so intriguing about that? His Majesty is stronger." She swung her sword around a bit.
Senjumaru realized that most of her reality-busting, Gary Stu-level powers were being blocked. More like—the second they came into contact with Val's Reiatsu, they got dominated more than Denji when he's near Makima.
A/N....Yes, Senjumaru is nerfed.