While Ichibē Hyōsube was crafting Pernida into the new Linchpin of the Three Worlds, the battle between Sora and Yhwach raged on.
Amidst the dust left by the explosions, the sound of metal clashing rang out incessantly.
Although the Greater Royal Palace had been shattered by Ittō Kasō, Yhwach had sustained no substantial damage.
Dense blue lines had appeared on his skin.
Yhwach was still extracting the Soul King's power from the shattered crystal.
However, due to Sora's interference, his extraction progress was abnormally slow.
Yhwach used his Reishi sword to block the endless stream of slashes while simultaneously trying to absorb the Soul King's power.
But Sora's blade was faster. Breaking through Yhwach's defenses, the Tenzui Shinkotsu constantly slashed apart the energy surging from the blue crystal.
The Soul King's power, slashed by the Tenzui Shinkotsu, didn't disappear completely but decomposed into raw Reishi, drifting into the air.
Ocean-like Reishi turbulence soon covered the entire sky.
The Soul King's power was almost boundless. If Sora slashed all of it apart with the Tenzui Shinkotsu, the decomposed Reishi turbulence would likely be enough to submerge the entire Soul Society.
In such a terrifying environment of Reishi turbulence, neither the Squad Zero members on the Royal Palace's Main Avenue nor Sōsuke Aizen could create footholds in the air to intervene in the battle.
"Even the summoned shadows possess such strength. If Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto released this Kidō personally, its power would be no greater than this," Yhwach said coldly.
Sora, in his Transcendent form, had summoned shadows of Gremmy and Yamamoto that were not inferior to the originals.
However, the shadow of Aizen he summoned could only display strength at the limit of a Shinigami.
"You really are that thief who stole the Quincy power." Yhwach noticed the Hirenkyaku technique beneath Sora's feet.
His slumber had been interrupted years ago because he sensed a portion of the Quincy power being completely cut off, failing to return to him. This was unprecedented, forcing him to wake up briefly ahead of schedule to rearrange his resurrection plan.
Unfortunately, his strength hadn't recovered at that time, so he couldn't "see" who had stolen his power.
"The Soul King was magnanimous, sharing his power with all living beings. Yet you view the Quincy power as your own personal property. You are the true parasite on the Quincies!" Sora mocked.
Although Yhwach claimed to be the Father of the Quincies, the true source of that power was the Soul King.
Yhwach's method of becoming the progenitor was akin to a vampire distributing his blood. He planted his power in the Lichtreich, and from then on, the Quincy descendants were influenced by him.
Therefore, to the Quincy race, Yhwach, who monopolized the Soul King's power, was simply a vampire.
"To become the cornerstone of the new world is their glory."
Yhwach was getting restless. Most of the released Soul King's power was being chopped up by Sora. He had absorbed less than one percent. At this rate, he would never reach the level needed to kill Sora.
He had to do something to restrict Sora's movements.
Raising the Reishi sword in his hand, he gathered the particles from the turbulence rapidly.
The Reishi condensed into countless sharp blades, rotating around his sword.
Soon, the turbulence turned into a massive blade storm.
The wreckage of the Greater Royal Palace floating in the air was swept into the storm.
Even the five Squad Zero floating island palaces surrounding the central pillar were dragged in, gradually disintegrating and collapsing.
Through his ability to control Reishi, Yhwach quickly whipped up a super-large storm.
Moreover, once the vortex started spinning, the storm's range expanded rapidly even without Yhwach's direct control. More Reishi from the turbulence was swept in, looking as if the storm was devouring the atmosphere itself.
Sora, located in the center of the storm, felt his spiritual body being constantly torn by terrifying forces.
However, even power sufficient to easily tear apart a Captain-class Shinigami was blocked by Sora's shadow clothing, unable to harm his main body.
"The environment of Reishi turbulence actually makes Yhwach's moves more powerful."
Sora frowned. With the storm blocking the way, the accuracy of his attacks dropped significantly. The resistance from the storm was high, and Heilig Pfeil constantly flew out to block his path. The blade beams slashed from a distance could no longer cut off most of the Soul King's power.
Just then, taking advantage of the reduced frequency of Sora's attacks, Yhwach extended his left hand. A surge of Spiritual Pressure containing the power of Hell poured out, thoroughly shattering the crystal and pulling out the incomplete body of the Soul King.
Dark blue Spiritual Pressure wrapped around the Soul King's body. As long as he absorbed this, Yhwach's strength would rise to an immeasurable level.
"Don't even think about it!"
Boom—!
A thunderclap suddenly rang out in the storm.
Lightning crossed the vortex, arriving in front of Yhwach instantly.
"Shunkō: Gyōrai Hidō (Thunder Flash Traverse)!"
Sora, wrapped in lightning and with air currents exploding around him, kicked Yhwach directly in the chest.
Thunder and Spiritual Pressure condensed on his legs, and another thunderclap rang out.
Boom—!
Before Yhwach could absorb the Soul King's remains, he was launched away by the immense force.
He was kicked deep into the storm he created himself.
The clothes on his upper body were shattered by the thunder, and the Blut Vene on his chest changed from bright blue to dark blue.
He had used the power of the Lord of Hell to withstand this blow.
"Just a little bit more!!!"
A trace of anger appeared on Yhwach's emotionless face. He had finally found an opportunity. With just a few more seconds, he could have absorbed the remains!
Even if he couldn't digest the massive power immediately, it would have been enough to gain the upper hand against Sora.
Unfortunately, Sora's reaction was extremely fast and gave him no chance.
Just as he wanted to return to the center of the storm, countless Reishi particles surged rapidly from there.
After kicking Yhwach away, Sora immediately used the Tenzui Shinkotsu to destroy the Soul King's remains completely.
Yhwach's last hope was dashed; he had been pushed to a desperate situation.
"The Soul King's remains are destroyed. You have failed. You might as well give up resistance and hand your body over to me."
The voice of the Lord of Hell rang from the bottom of Yhwach's heart.
Unlike here, the Lord of Hell controlling the First Generation Captains had already pinned down the current Gotei 13. Miyamoto Tetsuya, who had quietly infiltrated the core of the Seal Site, was also about to undo the seal.
He was about to reclaim his own body!
But after witnessing Sora's strength, he dismissed the idea that reclaiming his original body would be enough to defeat him.
Even if he regained his body, he probably still wouldn't be a match for Sora Katori.
He had to seize Yhwach's Quincy power to contend with him!
Yhwach ignored the Lord of Hell's temptation. He raised both hands and shouted:
"The slashed Soul King's body turned into Reishi. Then, can you withstand the power of all these gathered particles?!!"
He used all his power to control the storm turbulence, compressing it towards the center.
The Reishi transformed from the Soul King's power aggregated together. The power erupting instantly would be enough to destroy everything!