Chapter 385 - 384: The Second Stage
"It’s complicated, right? You probably don’t understand it."
Askin’s voice carried a teasing lilt, almost playful. Across from him, Ulquiorra stared blankly, the faint confusion in his emerald eyes enough to make the quincy chuckle.
"Don’t look at me like that." Askin continued, resting a hand on his hip. "I didn’t understand it at first either. It took me a long time to figure out the essence of my ability."
He gave a smug grin, as if lecturing a student. "Since you seem curious, I’ll explain it to you."
Maybe it was confidence. Maybe arrogance. Or maybe it was because he thought Ulquiorra was already as good as dead. Whatever the reason, Askin didn’t mind explaining his power in full. The Espada before him was, after all, a rare opponent — one worthy of understanding the method of his demise.
"To make it simple," Askin said, tapping his temple, "think about this. When more than half the blood in the human body is lost, the body dies. That’s the natural lethal dose. My ability lets me redefine that — I can reset what ’lethal’ means."
His smirk widened. "For instance, I can set a condition where, if my enemy’s blood level is too high, they die. The only way to avoid that death would be to lose enough blood. But..." He raised a finger dramatically. "If you lose too much blood, you’ll fall into the natural lethal condition again."
He spread his hands wide, satisfied. "In other words — left or right, up or down, it doesn’t matter. Either way, you die."
Ulquiorra’s expression didn’t change, but his silence made Askin’s grin deepen.
’Heh. He’s processing it.’ Askin thought smugly.
It sounded invincible — a perfect, paradoxical trap. But like all things, it wasn’t as absolute as Askin made it sound.
First of all, his ability couldn’t activate instantly. It needed the target to enter a defined area — his "death zone". Only then could he manipulate the conditions of lethality.