Visionary!
The moment Ishikawa saw the young man, information about him already surfaced in his mind.
Although most people in the Wandenreich possessed abilities that could be called 'rules,' this young man named Gremmy, his ability undoubtedly transcended rules, even truly reaching the realm of gods—creating life out of thin air!
Just like the bug-eyed man who had just died by his hand, he was a life created by Gremmy's imagination.
A being that, no matter how one looked at it, was a true living entity. Even Ishikawa couldn't imagine how he came into existence. And after being created, this life even possessed a past, memories, experiences, and superpowers, completely unaware that he was merely a toy of someone else's fantasy.
Ishikawa hadn't noticed anything unusual until he grabbed him.
But the moment he grabbed him, Ishikawa felt something unusual about him; a lack of origin!
Ishikawa had once consumed his spiritual body to analyze the origin in order to restore it, discovering that everyone in this world, whether Quincy, Shinigami, Hollow, or human… possessed a certain origin within them. That was also the main component of the Hōgyoku. Ishikawa had used this origin as an adhesive to repair his crumbling and disintegrating spiritual body.
However, the incessantly muttering fellow just now did not possess this origin.
So he was a living being, but not one that should exist in this world.
"Isn't it interesting?"
Seeing Ishikawa observing the corpse at his feet, Gremmy chuckled lightly: "I only need to imagine, like writing a novel, and I can create a new character out of thin air. And this character will live on forever, like a real life, regardless of whether I still exist."
"This is the strongest ability: imagination!"
Gremmy spoke while walking towards Ishikawa with his hands in his pockets, appearing as if he were taking a leisurely stroll, not putting Ishikawa in his eyes at all. Instead, he observed Ishikawa carefully from head to toe, as if exploring.
Ishikawa looked at Gremmy in front of him, not attacking. A peculiar glint flashed in his eyes, then a smile suddenly appeared on his face:
"Then how about we make a bet?"
A bet?
Gremmy was slightly startled, looking at Ishikawa with some confusion.
"Since you say imagination is the strongest, why don't you try to kill me with your 'imagination'?"
After speaking, the light smile on Ishikawa's face gradually turned into disdain:
"Don't worry, I won't take advantage of you with my power, nor will I interrupt your imagination. Instead, I will stand here without any resistance, allowing you to fully and freely unleash your imagination. If I resist, I lose."
Upon hearing this, Gremmy's eyes narrowed, and a gloomy glint flashed in his slit-like eyelids.
"A boring provocation."
"Do you see it as a provocation?"
Ishikawa looked down at the blond youth in front of him, shaking his head slightly: "No, this is just a fact. No matter how you unleash it, the limit of your imagination is far from enough to kill me."
"Limit?"
As if he had heard a joke, Gremmy sneered, stepping back with a stomp of his foot:
"My imagination has no limit whatsoever."
Whoosh !
Almost the instant he left, Ishikawa was suddenly enveloped by cube-shaped seawater. Inside, Ishikawa even felt the immense pressure of the deep sea; every pore was constantly bearing the external pressure.
However…
It was too light.
Ishikawa, inside the seawater, neither broke out of its confines nor shattered it, just as he had said, offering no resistance whatsoever.
Suffocation?
Ishikawa's physical enhancement was not simply about strength and defense, but encompassed the reinforcement of his bones, flesh, and even all internal organs, combined with terrifying self-healing ability. Wanting to suffocate Ishikawa to death was undoubtedly a fantasy!
Gremmy looked at the increasingly intense disdain in Ishikawa's eyes at the center of the ocean, and a strange anger suddenly welled up in his heart!
I am the strongest!
There was no doubt about this, and no need to prove anything, because anyone who heard of his ability, unless they were an idiot, would instantly realize the terror of his power.
Even His Majesty considered him a threat, always keeping him imprisoned in a cell, fearing his abilities and not daring to let him fight for him!
But now, this guy, who had luckily survived His Majesty's hands, actually didn't put him in his eyes at all.
Arrogance?
No, this is hubris!!
Gremmy's eyes opened, without a powerful spiritual pressure fluctuation, nor terrifying energy ripples.
But the entire world, at this moment, seemed to fall into an apocalypse!
The sky, at this moment, became dim and overcast.
Lightning illuminated the earth, as if the Thunder God was enraged. A giant lightning bolt, nearly a hundred meters thick, like a heaven-piercing pillar of thunder, covered Ishikawa.
Rumble—!
The earth vibrated wildly, and the ground where the lightning struck instantly collapsed, forming a giant depression hundreds of meters in diameter, with no end in sight.
As the lightning pillar continued, this depression grew deeper and deeper!
"You will be completely pulverized by this lightning from the sky, your body tissues will completely disappear, not even a speck of dust will remain."
The violent winds raged, but when they reached Gremmy, they seemed to consciously part, causing him no harm whatsoever.
Gremmy stood at the edge of the giant pit with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the bottom of the pit with a sneer.
Under such terrifyingly powerful lightning, a person without spiritual pressure, no matter how strong their physical body, would absolutely not be able to survive.
However…
"Are you an idiot?"
Under the deafening roar of thunder, a voice clearly and distinctly reached Gremmy's ears.
"If you had seen the information provided by your Majesty, you would know very well that natural energy created by Kido like wind, water, fire, and lightning, unless they are strong enough, simply cannot cause any harm to my body."
"This intensity is completely within my tolerance. It seems I overestimated you. If this is already your…"
"Limit of imagination. Then there's no need to continue this bet!"
Gremmy's smile froze, and then his handsome face became incredibly distorted.
"My imagination has no limits!!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a figure appeared beside Gremmy. It was a young man identical to him in appearance, clothing, and expression.
The reason for his strong reaction was partly because Ishikawa had hit a nerve.
The intensity of the lightning was already the strongest that 'one of him' could imagine, yet it couldn't cause any harm to Ishikawa.
But…
Just as Gremmy said, his imagination had no limits.
Because Gremmy could not only create life, but also create another himself.
Not a clone, but a true self in every sense of the word.
When two Gremmy's imagined together, the power of imagination would simply double!
Rumble—!
The terrifying pillar of lightning expanded again, completely covering several streets in North District 1, and also several streets in the Seireitei starting from the Black Ridge Gate.
The energy, born entirely from nature and without spiritual pressure augmentation, caused the walls made of killing-stone to collapse with a roar. Even the Soul Sealing Membrane could not block the terrifying quality of the lightning's impact.
Everything enveloped by the lightning pillar was instantly reduced to dust.
And at the center of the light pillar, with no spiritual pressure to serve as defense, Ishikawa was now shirtless.
The lightning caused his body surface to turn black, and faint cracks even appeared, but they quickly healed as if time was reversing.
This made Ishikawa's eyes grow brighter, and a faint purple glow subtly appeared on his body surface. If one looked closely, they would notice that the faint glow was emitted by tree-like Reiatsu Crest, so faint as to be almost invisible.
Not enough.
Although the intensity had reached a point where it could harm him, this level was far from enough!
Unlike Ishikawa's dissatisfaction, Gremmy, outside the range of the lightning pillar, looked at the faint figure within the lightning, feeling the unyielding life force, and his face was already subtly pale.
How is that possible?
Such an attack, without any spiritual pressure, was endured solely by physical body?
If his spiritual pressure hadn't disappeared, how strong would this person be?
If he hadn't been sealed in a cell when the other party invaded the Wandenreich, and had faced this person like the others, what would happen to him now?
Would… would I die?
Thinking of this, Gremmy's face grew paler, and a feeling he had never experienced before rose from the depths of his heart.
This feeling was…
Fear!?
"Didn't you say your imagination has no limits?"
Just then, Ishikawa's voice came again, making Gremmy, who was lost in fear, pause. Then, the trembling on his body gradually subsided, and the paleness on his face also receded.
He's right…
My imagination has no limits!
Figures appeared beside Gremmy, one by one. They were all Gremmy's, and their total number directly increased fivefold, resulting in ten identical Gremmy's.
"I should thank you!"
The ten Gremmy's smiled confidently and spoke in unison: "For a moment just now, I truly fell into the fear of not being able to kill you, and almost imagined my own death. But you reminded me… my imagination has no limits!"
Just like now…
Gremmy looked at the 9 versions of himself around him, his smile growing wider.
Although the power of imagination increases with each self created, it doesn't include the original self. This means that no matter how much imagination is multiplied, the number of 'selves' that can be created is fixed!
Before, he could only create a maximum of 6 selves, making a total of 7 including himself!
But now…
The number of selves created reached 9.
This further proved that…
His imagination has no so-called limit!
As Gremmy became ten people, the lightning pillar did not expand again, but its colour rapidly changed.
White, red, blue, purple…
In just a few seconds, the colour of the lightning changed continuously, and the temperature within it even made the Reishi in the atmosphere incredibly hot.
Finally, it turned black!
Unlike the faint electrical arcs that appeared during spatial tearing, what appeared in the Seireitei at this moment was a black lightning pillar over a thousand meters thick.
And Ishikawa, who was in it, instantly charred.
This charred layer constantly peeled off.
At this moment, the speed of destruction had completely surpassed Ishikawa's self-healing speed.
Even…
If one were to peel open Ishikawa's body, they would find that his internal organs were all in a charred state!
The shadow of death gradually enveloped Ishikawa.
But…
On Ishikawa's carbonized face, where his features were no longer discernible, beneath the faintly visible brow bone, his eyes became incredibly bright.
Physique: Top (930000 / 1000000) (Cannot be improved)
Physique: Top (930001 / 1000000)
Physique…
In the system interface in his mind, the extreme barrier that Ishikawa could never break through, no matter how much he honed it, was now slowly growing under the influence of external forces.
It couldn't be said to be entirely reliant on external forces, because on Ishikawa's charred body surface, the faint purple Reiatsu Crest became increasingly concentrated at this moment.
It was not composed of spiritual pressure, but energy born entirely from the natural environment, containing no one's will.
While Ishikawa's Reiatsu Crest could devour Reishi and other energies, the energies it devoured were those present in the atmosphere, and it could not devour spiritual pressure that originated from other people's souls and contained their soul aura.
In other words…
Ishikawa could only dodge or endure attacks composed of spiritual pressure, but he couldn't use Reiatsu Crest to devour them.
However, this kind of attack was different. It did not contain any soul aura and was energy condensed from nature through imagination.
And the inspiration gained from Cirucci and others allowed the Reiatsu Crest to merge with his physique, appearing on his body surface. This allowed Ishikawa to integrate this natural energy into his physique and evolve by imitating them.
Without spiritual pressure, enduring such a level of natural energy was also extremely dangerous for Ishikawa's physique; he could even die if he was not careful.
But it was worth the gamble!!
After proficiency reached 900,000, every 10,000 point increase…
Whether it was for the physical strength represented by physique or the spiritual body strength represented by spiritual pressure, it was an evolution at the level of life itself.
And this evolution, when manifested in techniques like Zanji Kenki, Kido, and others, was an extreme extension and transformation of skill.
Crack, crack, crack —
The charred bits peeling off Ishikawa's body became more and more intense, and the severe pain made Ishikawa's eyes turn bloodshot.
Is this the limit?
With this thought, Ishikawa, who had remained motionless, suddenly moved!
His right fist, almost devoid of flesh, clenched tightly, and then…
Boom!
He threw a punch upwards.
Pure power, stirring up terrifyingly huge ripples, swept away all the lightning in the area around Ishikawa.
However, in just a few seconds, the continuous lightning descended again.
But in these few seconds, new flesh had already grown on Ishikawa's body!
Just then, wild laughter came.
"Hahahahahahaha…"
Gremmy laughed wildly, his face full of fanaticism and excitement: "You resisted… Hahahaha… You lost!!"
"It's too late!"
Looking at Ishikawa, who was once again enveloped by lightning, Gremmy's excitement in his eyes almost materialized:
"If you had counterattacked earlier, you might have been able to escape, but now it's too late."
Yes, he lost!
Ishikawa did not deny this point.
But…
He never said that the bet included 'committing suicide if you lose'!