Chapter 142: Justice Descends from Heaven
Wandenreich, Ice Palace.
Originally, this had been a deep and silent world where every structure was either silver-gray or pure white.
Now, none of those buildings remained.
To say that only ruins were left on the ground would have been an understatement.
Even the atmosphere itself was scorching hot, and all tangible things had already been reduced to ash by the burning.
So even the so-called ruins had mostly been burned away as well.
At a glance, what lay before the eye was a world that resembled the surface of a planet.
Craters were as numerous as hairs, while basins and canyons crisscrossed in every direction.
And then... the entire world was glowing.
Like a moon reflecting the sun.
The light it emitted was extremely similar to the reishi flames of the Quincy, except that this was a silver-blue radiance that seemed to purify everything.
The flames were flawless and dazzlingly bright.
It made this deep world unbelievably luminous.
If this was Mugen Hell, then it was far too sacred.
It did not feel like a world rushing toward destruction, but rather the opening of a new age, sublimated to the utmost within endless light and heat.
Even Yhwach thought so.
He looked at his subordinates.
He watched Gerard transform into a giant of light and Lille Barro transform into a monstrous bird.
He watched them both get pinned down beneath the towering Karasu Tengu, unable to move.
He watched the Karasu Tengu pierce Askin with one hand while still holding a sword, while its other hand gripped Haschwalth tightly in its palm.
He watched it clamp half of Lloyd's body between its jaws.
And in Lloyd's arms, the "brain vessel" was held with desperate care, not daring to loosen even slightly.
That was Gremmy's true body.
From the very beginning, that blond youth had never truly existed. He had merely been another product of imagination.
But to force him back into that original state was no different from killing him once.
Clearly, over these past few days... Takeru had actually done it.
He had forced Yhwach, who had opened his "eyes" and claimed possession of The Almighty, to break his word.
The King of the Quincy had failed to protect his subordinates.
His plan, built over days, had fallen apart.
The situation had been reversed.
Haschwalth and the others had been forcibly suppressed one by one.
There was almost no possibility of escape.
Because the Karasu Tengu was wrapped in black-red lightning.
All things exist upon space, and the essence of that black-red lightning... was a tyrannical, irrational power capable of distorting even space itself, thus dominating all things.
"Black Flash... what a fitting name. It shines as brilliantly as your fate as a Shinigami clad in a shinigami uniform. Even my vision grows blurred beneath it... But everything in this world, even the sun itself, has a day when it goes dark. That is precisely why a new world must be created."
"And you are undoubtedly the final obstacle on my road to that new world. If I do not eliminate you, then the future I see will never arrive."
Gremmy had lost his ability to fight.
Haschwalth and the others had as well.
But the Karasu Tengu could not free its hands either.
Logically, this should have been the perfect opportunity to kill the enemy.
However... Yhwach himself could do nothing as well.
He and Takeru, nearly sealed inside the diamond-shaped space within the Karasu Tengu's brow, were choking each other by the throat.
Each used his other hand to seize the other's wrist, trying to cut off the flow of power.
At the same time, each was trying to exert force, crush the other's throat, and tear off the other's head.
Their purpose, their actions... were completely identical.
In terms of raw strength, Yhwach held the advantage.
But the radiant spiritual light blazing behind Takeru's head fundamentally suppressed Yhwach's spiritual power.
Then there was the black-red lightning coiled around the wrist at his throat...
And the Kido Aura beneath their feet just so happened to trigger double damage along with its various buffs.
All of it combined forced even Yhwach's The Almighty into a hard-fought stalemate.
But that was not what offended him most.
What truly made him unable to accept this was that... the young man before him had already lost consciousness, and yet still relied purely on instinct to suppress Haschwalth and the others, kill Gremmy, and hold him to this point.
Clearly, his only intention was to drag everyone, together with this world, into destruction.
"How long do you think Black Flash can last?"
"You know this, and yet you gamble that it can continue until the world perishes... Takeru, do you love Shinigami that much? Do you want to protect this twisted world that badly?"
Yhwach's voice sounded as though it were being squeezed out from between clenched teeth.
Faced with an opponent who could neither hear him nor answer him, he spoke like a mourner before a grave, hoarsely questioning and seeking an answer that was doomed to be misunderstood.
His words still carried lingering hatred and anger.
But that hatred was not directed at Takeru himself.
It came from the Soul King.
From the actions of the Five Great Noble Families.
And from the twisted world they had created.
"You should have possessed eternal life. You should have guided all those lost within endless life forward, like an everlasting sun, toward a future without end."
"And yet now, for the sake of these absurd things, you oppose me and struggle in futility, forcing me to make the decision I will regret most."
"That is... to kill you with my own hands."
"The former Soul King, and now you. The very ones who should have been least expendable have instead become the sacrifices that mark the beginning and end of this world. How truly heartbreaking."
Yet the moment those words fell, a great hole opened in the sky.
A black vortex spun there, pouring in a vast storm of reishi and changing the heavens over the world.
For an instant, the wind screamed.
"?!"
Yhwach looked up in shock, only to find members of the Gotei 13 being spewed out amidst the storm, crashing downward like meteors.
At the same time, Takeru's Bankai suddenly released.
His smoke-like hair turned black again, the spiritual light vanished, and the scales on his body flowed away like water, revealing his original shinigami uniform beneath.
The world, now nearly drained of reishi, gradually dimmed.
Shunko Susanoo also dispersed.
At that same instant, the Zanpakuto Endonemī, which had been fused into the world's reishi cycle, materialized once more in its Fairy Tale Dragon form. Though it bled from all over, its feathers stained red and its body grievously wounded by The Almighty, it still forcibly snatched its master away from Yhwach's grasp, then lost control and crashed down toward the ground.
Boom!
The enormous Divine Bird sank into the earth.
The shock made the surrounding area for several kilometers tremble, as though every pane of glass in a city had shattered at once.
The Divine Bird lay on the verge of death at the bottom of the crater, but it still held its neck high, maintaining a posture that seemed designed to avoid injuring its head.
But in truth, it was doing everything it could to protect the Takeru held gently between its sharp beak.
"That's... the Gotei 13?!"
"They really made it back...!"
"No! Wait... how did they even get in here?!"
Without the Karasu Tengu's suppression, Haschwalth and the others also broke free.
Lloyd, in the worst condition of all, had only his upper body left, still clutching Gremmy's brain vessel. Gerard caught him just in time.
Haschwalth's face darkened, and he instinctively looked toward Yhwach.
Only to discover that His Majesty, the man who should have been able to see through the future itself, actually wore a stunned expression.
That was not the face of someone who saw all things.
"Could it be... that His Majesty did not foresee this? How is that possible...?"
But more urgent than that question was the chance at victory still before them.
Haschwalth immediately charged toward the Divine Bird.
Askin and Lille Barro, having suffered bitter losses one after another, also regarded one person as too dangerous to leave alive. Without a second thought, they launched their attacks as well.
One created a gigantic horn of light in the sky, then blew it like an angel proclaiming the end of the world.
This was Lille's Divine Trumpet. The soundwaves that burst from it were so terrifying they were enough to penetrate and annihilate half of the Seireitei.
The other hurled a giant ring from the ground. During its flight, it shrank to the size of an ordinary ring, becoming nearly invisible with astonishing concealment.
This was Askin's Poison Ring, an ability that condensed the notion of a "lethal dose" into a single point, instantly killing one specific part of the enemy's body.
The three of them surrounded and tried to annihilate the Divine Bird and Takeru from different directions.
"Stop!"
Suddenly, a figure descended from the sky, swinging a broadsword.
A golden crescent hundreds of meters high stretched across the heavens, brilliant like the sun itself, and the passionate fury roaring from its user's voice was even more chilling.
"Getsuga... Tensho!"
The crescent moon crashed against the soundwaves of the trumpet, dyeing heaven and earth in gold.
Two more figures appeared in front of the Divine Bird.
Powerful spiritual pressure erupted from them, so intense it felt as though their very garments might be torn apart.
"Mugen Shunko Kai!"
"Shunko Raijin Senkei!"
A hurricane and a storm of thunder and lightning fused together into a vast tempest that swallowed up the hidden Poison Ring and then swept toward Askin, whose face changed drastically.
Gerard reacted at once. He held Lloyd in one hand while the other transformed into a blade-like shape. Wings of light spread from the back of that hand, making it look as though he intended to fire his wrist like a divine arrow.
Yet before he could do so, he was intercepted.
"Bankai... Daiguren Hyorinmaru!"
"Bankai... Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"
Frost and a sea of petals surged forth together, drowning the battlefield and obscuring all vision.
"Bankai! Ryumon Hozukimaru!"
"Bloom, Ruri'iro Kujaku!"
Azure vines lashed around Gerard's wrist, greedily absorbing reishi, while at the same time a giant axe smashed down like a meteor and forced his attack off course.
And then—
"Devour, Nozarashi!"
"Bankai... Kokujō Tengen Myō'ō!"
Someone swung a giant blade like an executioner's guillotine, and together with a massive armored samurai, struck Gerard's neck from both front and rear.
Boom!
A storm of spiritual pressure erupted. Haschwalth's long hair and clothing whipped about violently. One figure after another appeared before him, each unleashing release commands and abilities or coordinating other attacks.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"
"Hado No. 58, Tenran!"
"Smash him, Gegetsuburi!"
"Reap, Kazeshini!"
"Bloom, Tobiume!"
"Babylon Cannon!"
"Growl, Haineko!"
The attacks came one after another, fierce and overwhelming.
Any other Sternritter would likely have already accepted death.
But Haschwalth simply raised his shield and neutralized them with ease, then swept out his longsword and shattered the entire defensive line in one stroke.
Such simple movements carried unimaginable force. It was skill that could only be called divine.
No matter how many lieutenants joined forces, even those who had reached Bankai early, they were still no match for the Grandmaster of the Sternritter.
And yet, Haschwalth still found his advance halted.
"..."
His eyes swept coldly across the battlefield.
He had been surrounded once more.
And the scene felt strangely familiar.
An old pair of partners wielding twin blades, joined by a woman who looked gentle on the surface and a mad scientist with an unmistakably sinister air.
This was not a group he could cut apart with a single swing of the sword.
Watching from the sky, Yhwach calmly punched through Takeru's chest.
Distance, space, timing... for him, who could see and rewrite the future, such things were meaningless.
He could determine everything through nothing more than intent.
If one insisted on comparing him to Gremmy, then only an Einstein-level Gremmy might possibly stand on his level.
Yet in the very next moment, the target in front of him changed.
The one whose heart had been pierced was Lloyd, still protected in Gerard's hand.
"This is... an illusion?! Since when!"
"If I had to say... from the moment you failed to notice my arrival."
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
Yhwach turned his head at once and saw an elegant man in glasses walking slowly toward him.
"Aizen... Sosuke."
"Should I say it is a pleasure to meet you? King of the Quincy, are you satisfied with this little greeting of mine?"
The light reflected off Aizen's glasses concealed his eyes completely. The faint smile playing at his lips was just as unreadable.
"I did not expect your illusions could even affect me. It seems... because of your existence, I was unable to foresee the moment of your arrival?"
"Perhaps. But is that truly the only scene you failed to foresee? Along with what happened just now? The future arrives every moment, including this very instant in which you are speaking to me... the future I concealed has already arrived so quietly."
Sensing something, Yhwach suddenly looked up and manifested a great sword of reishi, swinging it toward the sky.
Boom!
A sea of fire exploded outward.
An old man stood at its center, bare chest covered in scars, white beard flaring, eyes overflowing with murderous intent. Holding his sword with both hands in a jodan-no-kamae, he brought the blade crashing down.
With that single strike, flames erupted like a volcano and swallowed both the reishi greatsword and Yhwach whole.
"Is it over?"
"Don't be ridiculous, brat. If he were that easy to deal with, I would have killed him a thousand years ago."
Using the recoil, Yamamoto Genryusai landed beside Aizen.
As the figure within the sea of fire gradually became clear again, there was not the slightest disappointment on his face.
"Indeed... even if one cuts off his head while his eyes are closed, that does not necessarily mean death. Resurrection remains possible, let alone now, after he has activated the ability he prides himself on so much..."
Aizen pushed up his glasses again, his voice eerie and calm.
"To force him to this point is not something that can be achieved through effort alone. It requires the resolve to wager everything and set it all ablaze. Takeru... nearly succeeded."
"If we had arrived two days later, I suspect all that would remain for us to find would be Yhwach in Hell."
"The world in which I still remain has not yet fallen so far that the young must be buried together with evil."
Yamamoto Genryusai gave a cold snort.
"True. Such a world would be despair itself."
As Aizen spoke, he slowly drew his sword from its sheath. He removed his glasses and tossed them aside, then brushed his bangs back.
His eyes remained the same.
His expression remained the same.
And yet, he now carried a sharper edge than before.
Like the blade in his hand, he radiated an unmistakable fighting spirit.
"So... things must change."
"Not in some distant future."
"But right now."
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Germany: The Thousand Year Empire
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