Chapter 1 - Turning Tides
Where Yhwach challenges Ichibe.
As I promised, I reworked my old fanfic. (For the best I hope) - A lot changed, but the overall plot is sort of the same.
This fanfiction follows the manga up to this very point. From here on, the narrative shall be entirely new, and none of the posterior occurrences in the manga are taken into account, except when stated otherwise.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. All of it belongs by copyright laws to Tite Kubo
I hope you enjoy it!
Once in the transcendental realm, the leader of the Quincy found himself staring the blue. There, on the horizon, all five shinigami bases raised in the sky. Small and insignificant they seemed at a distance, but he knew such couldn´t be farther than the truth.
As he stared, a smile emerged on him. Not one of excitement, neither those of happiness, but rather the kind that briefly hints a powerful sense of nostalgia of a long forgotten past. It has been one thousand years after all.
The wind then breezed on his face, and his hair swayed around. All too soon his smile vanished, and he lifted his head, gazing obliquely the horizon. There, in the corner of his eye, a shinigami standing above a reishi plateau grinned as wide as the whole space between the two characters.
"Ichibe" Yhwach voiced, lowly, prompting the shinigami to send out an ascendant interjection, well suited of surprise.
"To call out a person by his name like that" the shinigami asserted "Are you truly aware of the consequences?"
The Quincy didn´t reply. Instead, darkness grew on his gaze, and from his mouth, an ever so slight laugh flew. As a response, Ichibe widened his own grin.
The wind would billow through their faces if it was to blow. The Quincy had, however, his clothes quivering up and down ever so slightly. Not unaware of it, Ichibe frowned. But he didn´t have to wait long for the reishi around the Quincy soon concentrated around his arms, spiraling there all too bright before forming a spiritual blade.
"Soon enough there won´t be consequences at all" Yhwach finished.
The words were yet in the air when he stepped forwards. A second step then followed, and one another after that. At this instant, he burst with momentum, and for a second he seemed to disappear, reappearing onto the opponent shortly after. The monk, despite mildly surprised by such speed, wasn´t slow either, and as the enemy was yet waving his blade, the shinigami ducked under it, avoiding the swinging line, only so barely, before he sent his own sword rotating against the opponent.
Terror glowed in Yhwach´s eyes as the striking pain reached his brain. Only then he could react, jumping away, to avoid the fatal wound, albeit narrowly.
In the ground now, he stared at the crimson ever so enlarging pool around the ripen clothes near his belt. But he didn´t seem to mind it. No, not at all. Instead, he clenched his fists, pumping reishi all over his veins. A blink of an eye and the flow of blood was no more. He then smiled, full of himself now, as he faced the shinigami, who looked interested in whatever had just happened.
"How unusual" the monk declared, scratching his chin, in thought "I really aimed for a kill, yet you stand before me…and what was all that healing skill just now?"
A crashing sound interrupted him, and briefly he then he threw a look down there, at the Sereitei. As of the moment, chaos ruled it. Brief explosions, all too shiny, erupted here and there, and random silhouettes wandered around each other, only too far to realize who had the upper hand. Far away, the battling extended as far as his sight allowed him, and it was with a sigh that he returned his attention to the Quincy.
"Yes, I see now. They could not defeat you indeed" Ichibe declared, pausing as his mind raced to a sudden thought "That boy, Ichigo I think... yes, he has the potential to overpower you, or even me I believe, but he still is young, and you are too much of a threat for a boy like him to handle..."
But he wasn´t allowed to proceed for the Quincy soon laughed upon such words.
"Ichigo, you say?" Yhawch asked, rhetorically, with the smile still on his face "Yes, he is something, but if you think he could overpower you eventually... then there is nothing else to be told. You have no chance to beat me either!"
With this, a bright aura surrounded the Quincy, all scattered in lines of pure blueish energy. The pressure in the air, as if it wasn´t already too high, rose by a hundredfold, and not even the space itself could avoid but shiver upon the massive burst of power emanated. Upon this, Ichibe lost his carefree stare, and focused now, he unsheathed his zampakuto.
They then disappeared. Shapeless dust escaping from their feet, from the burst of speed they performed, not dissipating before they reappeared, upon each other, with a vertical switch from Yhawch connecting a horizontal blow from Ichibe. The steel sounded around, and sparks burst out from the clash. Only then they gazed at each other. Their faces, not more than a few inches distant, grinned excitedly.
Their stances strengthened and the pressure on their blades increased even further, for they now generated random bursts of shockwaves all around, pulverizing the smaller pebbles nearby in the process, and even some rocks. A wall from behind also collapsed into ruins, but all of it seemed of no importance to the two warriors, whose pressure on their blades couldn´t stop increasing.
Such strain handled by each blade was unimaginable. Yet there they were, at a stale, no fancy tricks or skillful parries. No, this was a contest of raw strength alone. Nothing else.
Their feets dragging themselves on opposite sides, as even the ground itself started to break apart. Debris, along with some smaller stones, was now floating around the clash. A single tiny mistake of one was more than enough to prompt the other into obliterating him. And as such, they couldn´t allow themselves to any sign of imperfection. Suddenly, however, a smile widened on Yhwach´s face, and all too quickly, a burst of his already immense superstrength sent the briefly surprised shinigami through the air afterward.
In the sky now, the shinigami´s feet dashed through a dense concentration of reishi, just gathered by him, for he could control his movement. He brushed himself off afterward, once he stopped.
"I have to brag the Gotei 13" he exhaled, under his breath "For keeping you out of me for this long... however"
The ever so usually smile of his faded away, and for the first time, he revealed his darker bloodthirsty nature.
"I..."
"Am not..."
"The Gotei 13!"
His lips were yet moving when the aura around him raged like a wildfire, after a burst of spiritual pressure, powerful enough to render his enemy at a loss of speech, even if only for a moment.
"Kuromeyo - Ichimonji!"
Yhawch could only notice, all too briefly, the over widened grin the shinigami performed, before the night itself enshrouded him into oblivion. Blinded by the black, Yhawch jumped away, and from there he stared as the black dropped around the shinigami like leaves in the Autumn. For the first time in a thousand years, he had someone to test his full self. All sort of emotions raced through his mind, but above all, he was excited.
It was now that the shinigami´s sword broke through the veil, only to dissipate it afterwards with a swing. The Quincy locked his gaze in the blade, but much for his surprise, fell upon the sight of a brush instead. His mind raced, trying to make sense out of it, but as of now, he could not yet. He hesitated, for a fraction of a second, before seeking distance once again.
What he couldn´t yet realize was that distance didn´t really matter. No, once he landed, he was quickly interrupted. A strong sensation prompted him to look right, and oh how did he wide his gaze after noticing a blast of ink rushing the space between them at full speed. Only instinctively could he react, dodging the shot, only too narrowly.
At midair now, and as he stared the previously ink blast coloring the floor in black, an unsettling feeling stroke the Quincy and he turned around. But nothing could have prepared him for such a sight. On the horizon, this cloud made of ink blasts, all packed together, covered the sky, as they rushed all against the Quincy at once.
Not even him could not hesitate as he faced the sheer power of the raging spell. But he clenched his fists instead, strengthening his resolve, and created a plateau of reishi beneath his feet, for him to reach higher skies with it. Only then could he realize the full size of such a spell. Yes! The spiritual pressure in the area spiked and all he saw on the horizon was the massive horizontal rain of darkness, that in the form of a cloud, moved in his direction. This one could not be dodged.
Yhawch knew it very well, so he did the only thing he could do. He wasn´t however doubtful. No, he looked eagerly forward to match his strength to that of the enemy´s. A smile even showed up in his face, before the flow of reiatsu around him gathered itself, to form a second blade at his free hand. All too quickly, a burst of reishi exploded behind him afterward, and now with increased speed, he charged in towards the massive darkness.
A second later, he found himself immersed into this vast sea of darkness. There, he dodged all blasts he could, as he sliced in half all the others he could not. As he rushed ever further, the cloud seemed denser but so was his speed increased as well.
One could even say he acted recklessly. But the truth is that he wasn´t given enough time to think about it. All it mattered was to break through the massive explosion of reishi that has been filling the sky in black for some time now. And he had the resilience for that. Yes, despite the sheer pressure exerted on his body, his physical prowess had not dimmed the slightest, as he dodged and sliced everything thrown at him. All the same, there was this scent he could not avoid but notice impregnating his blade, now dark and darker upon every slice. No good could come from it, but it was too late to turn back, even more now that in the horizon, breaches of light emerged randomly.
He was indeed close to an end. In fact, not long after, the firepower ceased. Only there, in the ground, he could take a deep breath, but a presence prompted him to stay on guard.
"Impressive" Ichibe declared, cross-armed.
Yhwach turned around, only to find the opponent delivering him the most careless of the smiles. Rage pulsed through him momentarily, and half a second later, he reappeared above the shinigami, sending his blade spinning against him.
The strike connected, only for the Quincy to fell at a loss of speech upon a sight he could not believe in. He would blink so to make sure that was it if such a timeframe wasn´t enough for him to get killed, but the truth was, the shinigami had blocked his strike... with a single finger! His brain couldn´t process it. Not a chance! Hesitation blocked his movement, and only instinctively could he then jump back far away.
"Names are such an amazing thing, don´t you agree?" Ichibe asked. His arm pointed at the blade the Quincy wielded. "Tell me, right now... what is the name of it?"
The answer was nowhere to be found, and Yhawch gazed bewildered at his blades upon his realization. They had indeed no name anymore.
"That is more fitting, don´t you think?" Ichibe asked. "Afterall, the first time we met, you were nothing but a nameless brat"
Memories of a distant past echoed in the Quincy´s mind.
And suddenly, he was a young man once again. Stopped he was, staring a house, now consumed by the raging flames. Everything else was fuzzy as if he couldn´t remember it well, but the burning house was as realistic as it could be. All sounds were fuzzy as well, except for this one.
"You! Turn around" it sounded.
And the young one obeyed. As he turned, the reality constructed itself, fuzzy all around except for one face. A black one stared him coldly and a long forgotten word didn´t sound. Instead, a second face showed up.
"Genryuusay" the black man voiced "There is one left in here"
Despite the murderous hint in the air, the Quincy deflected his look with resolve, where a second shinigami constructed itself out of memories.
"What´s your name?" He asked.
"People used to worship this Yhwach god to me. So that´s my name" he replied, clenching his fists.
"Yhwach it is then" Yama declared, narrowing his stare upon the man´s clenching "Apologize me if I am wrong" he finished as the raging flames returned to his sword "I believe, however, that if I am, a stronger will would eventually prove me otherwise... You don´t seem defenseless at all, pick your weapon!"
Yhwach glanced the ground, where the crimson drops falling from the shinigami´s blade echoed around. And then they rushed against each other, as the whole reality blurred in.
Suddenly, he was a grown-up man once again.
"So you remember me" Yhawch stated, on the edge of his emotions "You!" He growled "The one who couldn´t let the blood of the Quincies fill his hands. The one who had to order Yamamoto for the onslaught, all because he was too pride for something so shameful. Had you taken care of me back then, and we wouldn´t be here right now. My powers had just awakened when I fought Yamamoto, and fortunately for me, Yamamoto wasn´t fast enough to kill me before I could set up a future where I was revived. That´s why you´ll fail. The mistakes in the past are only to happen in the present. The way you divided the whole existence into Hell, Hueco Mundo, Soul Society and the Human World, only for the shinigami not see themselves as equal to any other. Tell me, what have you so special compared to everyone else?" he finished.
"Its simple" Ichibe replied "The shinigami couldn´t coexist with the Quincy, if nothing else, the whole spiritual world would collapse irreversibly. The linchpin shall not be endangered by any means, I believe you understand this"
"Don´t act like I don´t know the whole truth behind that" Yhwach replied, acidly, at which Ichibe seemed aroused "Yes" Yhawch proceeded "I know what shinigami have done in the past. All their ego, their fear, and your linchpin. The name shinigami itself is an insult to that very same word. To think you have built a society based solely on lies, and for all this time... NO!" He shouted "I aim for a clean world, a fresh start for everyone. Kurosaki Ichigo called me out for this as an excuse for the evil, and honestly, he may be right. But compared to what have you done" a laugh sounded, almost too forced, for a moment "It´s nothing. Nothing but a necessary evil to expurgate the sins of the sinners. You should be grateful, shinigami. That I am cleaning your name out of everything you did"
Shots of anger then pulsed through his veins and Yhawch clenched his fists. Shortly after, a roar disrupted the tension already high in the air, and the Quincy surged against the opponent, at a blinding speed.
Half an instant later, Yhawch revealed himself above the shinigami. His spiritual blades arced diagonally, performing a blurred crossed line in the air as the blow flew through, but all of it seemed to happen in slow motion for the shinigami, who just taunted the opponent with his usual grin. Only now, for him, there it was, in the corner of his eye, the first blade racing the sky against him. But he didn´t seem fazed. No, instead, he nonchalantly ducked a movement under the swing, dodging it all too easily. Then, as the blurred line of the earlier strike was yet to vanish, the second sword came down upon him...
"I guess I´ll give you that for using a black blade against a black man" Ichibe declared, blocking the sword with his brush, only for a clashing sound to roar in the sky, just for a second, before the blade shattered into scintillating fragments, falling around between the sight of the bewildered Quincy and the grinning shinigami.
Yhawch was rendered without a thought, but the adrenaline pumping through his veins had turned him into pure instinct. Thus, with no hesitation, he followed up and gathered reishi around his hand to form a blade, which was immediately sent waving wildly against the enemy, but by then it was over. Right before the strike connected, the Quincy´s vision started to blank out. Even before he could understand, the striking pain reached his brain. His mind raced slow now, and for the next second, he stared the ground where a shapeless pool was colored in crimson. It was at this moment that the pain was no more, and his vision faded out even further. All too fuzzy, a drop in the red focused his remaining senses to it, another one then sounded and he followed the drop´s movement backwards, all the way up to the tip of a brush, pierced in his body from behind.
"I apologize for this crude behavior of mine" Ichibe excused. The words contrasting with the vast grin on his face "It saddens me to see you go, I truly do. But the word collapsing and all that, I am afraid I had no choice"
The words were yet in the air when the shinigami pierced the brush even further through Yhwach. Some more blood erupted from the impaired one´s mouth and an ever so slight moan disappeared even before it sounded. But even then did Yhawch refuse to give up. He, with the last bit of his strength, attempted to reach his hand at the piercing brush, but he couldn't. All his strength leaking from him at every effort. All too quickly, white was all he could see, and in defeat, the Quincy dropped his arms.
The shinigami sighed and removed the piercing brush. With no support, the lifeless body dropped to its knees, and the shinigami waved his zampakuto, so to send the unfit red in there flying all over the way to the ground. Only then, as the blood sounded in the floor, a thumbing noise echoed from behind. The body had finally collapsed!
Yes, it was dead. Ichibe confirmed. Nothing else he could do there, so he turned around.
Or so he thought.
Or at least wanted to think.
Or to believe.
The shinigami was already quite far away when his senses skyrocketed all of a sudden. His sight widened open now as he turned around, slowly. There, in the horizon, and much for his surprise, he fell upon the sight of a powerful aura now surrounding his enemy. His eyes expanded even more as the aura did too, and soon enough he jumped away, just in time to avoid the searing veil of yellow reishi that burst ever so brightly around the area.
Despite far, Ichibe had to cover his face, for as long as the aura brightened. It took some time, but it eventually stopped shining and concentrated around the lifeless body instead. Gradually then, it was absorbed by the very corpse itself.
Except it wasn´t a corpse anymore.
In its place, Yhwach stood. The hidden gaze of his contrasted with the vast grin he performed. A step forward then he made, and his blade he waved, vanishing the blurred line of reishi still around him.
"As I have foreseen" Yhawch declared, all too confident "I had no chance to defeat you without my Schrift!"
Slowly then he returned his stare to the enemy, as the wounds all scattered around his body magically began to heal themselves. And as they were yet healing, a thin veil of light engulfed him, and his eyes brightened, all within a second, before their very shape came to a change. His true self was finally revealed, and his irises, in the plural, rolled around in their orbits.
"It´s now clear to me" he claimed. A laugh surged in as the irises in his eyes rolled over "Your death… right there, where you stand!"
The shinigami raised his eyebrow and stared the ground below him. Somehow it made him smile.
"Here, you say?" he asked, all too happily "Very well, let me make sure to remember this spot"
As he sounded, he whirled around in a full circle, drawing a line on the ground with his zampakuto. Once the black connected, he contemplated his own art.
"Is this good?" He asked. Taunt filling his voice.
Yhawch sighed as a response, and a smile then followed, only too briefly, before bloodlust reached his eye. His blades then shone ever so brightly, and suddenly they were no more. Now bladeless, he rushed against the shinigami. At mid-distance, however, his speed increased even more and, much for Ichibe´s surprise, he seemed to vanish. A tenth of a second later, a blade surged out from the horizon. It came down pretty quickly against the shinigami, who just had the time to barely block the strike with his own zampakuto.
They jumped away, and in no time they rushed in for the second time. As they left their place, they vanished, only reappearing upon each other. Ichibe was the first to move and waved his brush diagonally. Much for his surprise, however, Ichibe merely shifted the stance of his body ever so slightly, perfectly dodging the swing, as if he knew exactly where the brush would land.
But Ichibe wasn´t done yet, and charged in once again, for Yhawch sidestepped, a bit too easily, to unleash a vertical blow, now from behind, piercing the shinigami´s shoulder. A burst of blood spurt from the wound, and to the ground it fell. Oddly enough, however, the piercing spot turned black and the blood from it leaked darkened as well. Suspiciously, Yhwach stared at it as the question tone emerged in his voice.
"What is this?" he asked.
But the shinigami didn´t reply. Instead, the whole body burst itself into darkness, spreading itself all over the place, including the Quincy and his blade.
"I wonder if you did see that too" the sentence sounded, from behind.
Yhawch followed the sound, only to find out the enemy stepping out of a landscape painting façade, that blended perfectly with the reality itself. Only after he snapped his fingers one could see such landscape melting away in black, revealing the exact same sight behind it.
"You should take your time to appreciate my art" Ichibe declared, in his usual carefree way.
"You shouldn´t worry too much about time" Yhawch retorted. His irises rolling around "For I´ll have all the time I need already"
Suddenly, a burst of power spiked near the shinigami. Ichibe couldn´t understand what it was, but he jumped away nevertheless.
At the same instant, a bright spot emerged out of thin air, and quickly it exploded, engulfing the shinigami within it. The debris was fast to cover all the area, but the shinigami was even faster to crash against the nearest wall, crushing it in the process.
All bruised now, he stood up, only to brush himself off afterwards. He then took a good look all around, the dust was still somewhat dense, so he narrowed his look. He could also perceive the Quincy far away, with a smile tearing through his face. His only response was to smile as well, and with the same smile, he returned to the battlefield.
"What was that?" Ichibe asked, still all too nonchalant despite all that happened.
"A bomb I will drop" Yhawch simpled replied before a burst of speed rocketed him against Ichibe.
Another clash sounded in the air, right before they vanished again to reappear a second time, and a third, and a fourth.
"Will?" the shinigami asked, now forced to increase the pressure exerted on his brush, if he wanted to withstand this blow.
Yhawch widened his smile.
"You shall see soon enough" he replied.
And so he further increased his pressure on the blade, at the same time as the second dot of lightning emerged out in a burst, right below the shinigami. This concentrated sphere of reiatsu scorched the shinigami´s clothes as it expanded more and more. Ichibe tried to leave, but the overwhelming pressure from above made sure to annihilate the opponent as soon as he dimmed his focus on the blade.
Ichibe knew a second explosion was imminent, so he risked everything into a single moment, as he allowed himself to increase his shunpo speed to god-tier levels, dodging the powerful blade that was sent wildly upon the ground as soon as the pressure on the brush was no more. The spot in the whole fabric of reality disappeared as well, but Yhwach grinned, and his irises rolled over one more time.
Far away now, Ichibe had just landed, but so did the bright spot reappear around him. His eyes expanded ever so wide, quickly enough, the explosion sounded with a flare, casting the shinigami vertically far away.
In midair, however, the monk regained his stance, and for some reason, delivered a smile. There, his hand glowed brightly, and all too soon a supersized hand summoned itself in the heavens.
The shinigami then held his arm up high and from his mouth, the words sounded.
"Senri Tsutensho!"
Meanwhile, Yhwach, in shock, attempted to avoid the impact radius, but by then, the shinigami had already dropped his hand ever so hard, prompting the divine fist to follow and to rocket itself towards the ground. Upon contact, the impact was massive, and the crackling noise sounded all around. The debris then followed to fill the empty space, waving around weightlessly.
From the sky, Ichibe contemplated all of it with the usual grin of his. Seconds later, and as the debris dissipated, the landscape was no more, and instead a crater was all there was. Only then could the monk perceive the tiny body lying right at the center, unmoving.
"I wonder why you couldn´t see that" Ichibe picked up, tauntingly as ever, while the Quincy stood up.
As he sounded, he shifted his body to a stance and sent his brush waving in the air. Triggered by it, blasts erupted all at once, before plummeting against the still recomposing Quincy.
There, on the ground. Blurred lines of a blueish white reishi gathered around Yhwach, almost geometrically, before the converging lines shaped themselves into a bow. The outstretched finger pulled, and then it loosed, casting away three shining arrows that burst into speed towards the enemy for countless times until the blurred lines of silver filled the air.
Not long was it before the once pure silver blended with the once pure black, blinding the whole space between them into oblivion. Random sparks ignited here and there, all too bright, but that was it.
The rain was yet on the other side, when Ichibe engaged once more through the chaos, deflecting the incoming fire that he could not dodge or parry. Quickly then he reappeared above the enemy with a vertical swing of his brush. Only at mid-strike, however, did he fell upon the sight of a smile and the bouncing pupils within Yhwach´s orbits. An instant later, and a sudden pressure triggered around him, only to ignite all at once in the shape of an explosion, casting the shinigami away into the distance, all the way before crashing and rolling on the ground.
All the same, he stood up, breathless now, before realizing the black against the silver had already come to an end. Slowly then he shifted his eye to the enemy.
"I did see that" Yhwach replied, to the almost forgotten question "I just couldn´t understand what I had seen, that´s all!"
"Couldn´t understand, um?" Ichibe asked as he recomposed himself "I see..."
At this instant, Ichibe vanished with a shunpo. Yhwach, on the other hand, covered in black now, due to the earlier chaotic battle, stayed unmoved, as his irises scrutinized the future once more. Only once they stopped, did the Quincy turn around, blocking the sword that had just reappeared moving diagonally.
"It´s useless" Yhwach stated "For I can see wherever you aim even before you do it. Such is the power of the...!"
Yhwach fell in disbelief upon the name that never was. Ichibe retorted with a grin instead.
"I wonder if you could really see through my strike even with that nameless ability of yours"
The shinigami suddenly melted away, in black, and quickly from behind, the real monk reappeared with the supersized fist right before the mighty punch.
"Senri Tsutensho"
With no time to react, Yhwach was thus tossed far away through the air. Meanwhile, Ichibe had just vanished from where he was, only to reappear above the Quincy half a second later, at midair, with the enchantment sounding in his words.
"Hado nº88 - Hiryugekizoku Shintenraihou"
Yhwach´s eyes widened as the glowing sphere upon the shinigami´s hand burst into power, before thundering towards him at full force, pushing its way against the ground afterwards, where the explosion flared brightly.
In the ground now, Yhwach overflowed with rage, before the mighty roar increased the spiritual pressure around him.
"Ah" he sounded "I´ll give you for taking away the name of it, even if only for a moment. However, it seems that I had taken countermeasures for it in the future, for the Almighty shall arise once more... Sprenger"
Ichibe felt something. But he couldn´t understand what until it was too late, and soon the monk found himself surrounded by five lines of reishi, all converging towards him. The seal was then complete, and Ichibe was rendered unmoving.
"Oh, I have heard of this" Ichibe voiced, briefly surprised "But I wonder if such a seal is enough..."
At his words, he finally let it all out, and the pressure in the area skyrocketed to unbearable levels. Breaches then quickly found their way to the pentagon-shaped seal, but Yhwach didn´t seem to mind. No! Instead, a gesture of his performed and the underneath seal activated.
"Quincy - 300 No yari no seinaru or!"
The words sounded and the seal shattered, allowing it to quickly reshape the reishi in the air into a spiky cage, trapping Ichibe inside.
"Usually such a combo requires a lot of time for preparation" Yhwach declared "But time pales in comparison to what the Almighty of mine has to offer, for I am going to unleash you some technique that its sole activation would need 10 days"
"Sprenger - Decagon!"
The flux in spiritual particle roared around inside the seal earlier performed, and five more lines joint to converge as well, engraving a decagon in the ground. Ichibe felt powerless before the igniting reishi gathered and the light converged exploded all at once in a bright geometrical shape.
"As I predicted" Yhwach declared, as the blurred lines of reishi were yet vanishing in the air "In none of the futures I saw... you die!"
In fact, the bright was yet dissipating when the shadow of the shinigami stood from behind. Only once the light was no more, Yhwach could see how damaging his spell was.
"Oof... that was dangerous" the monk claimed. His smile contrasted with the blood from his once gone arms spouting all around "For a moment, such power outclassed that of my own, for even with the name of Unbreaking Will, my arms ended up gone"
But for some reason that didn´t seem to worry him, not the slightest.
"But it is odd, isn´t it?" he then asked "How could I have lost my arms if their name is not lost at all?"
Shocked, Yhwach stared as the shinigami´s arms suddenly popped out magically, now rotating up and down.
"Worry not Yhwach" Ichibe finished "For I am making sure miracles like this won´t happen again"
The shinigami then rushed in against the Quincy and soon the steely resolve sounded. There, his faces distant a few inches from each other, showed how of a strain each one handled. In the end, however, Ichibe finished with a jump, waving there his zampakuto, prompting the darkness that had just gathered around its tip, to roar out against the opponent.
The Quincy parried all too easily and jumped high towards the shinigami, who merely smiled as he signaled him to turn back.
In fact, Yhwach´s senses skyrocketed and as his stare widened up, he turned around, finding out the earlier spell now targeting him from behind.
"Mōmoku no uzu" Ichibe noted "It strikes down the enemy, wherever it is marked with my Ichimonji. And unfortunately for you, all I see around you is black"
Yhawch lifted his sword up high, to drop it in an arc afterward. From it, a wave of reishi was then released, and the two spells clashed, only for a second, before, much for the Quincy´s surprise, the ink proceeded towards him once again.
"I told you, didn´t I?" Ichibe asked "It can´t be stopped until they finally connect with my own ink. There is no other way to block it, but you surely have seen it already, didn´t you?"
Yhwach seemed to understand and, for a moment, he remained unmoved. There, and as the upcoming spell was yet raging against him, he focused himself. Suddenly, lines of reishi enshrouded him and soon they converged all within him. Half a second later, the aura around the man with the mustache overflowed completely, roaring into a storm that whirled around him. The dust, once settled, roamed in the skies and Ichibe had to cover his face for the brief boost of pressure in spiritual energy.
"It matters not" Ichibe declared "For when the black touches you, it shall feed itself from you until nothing else remains... it´s the end!"
Yhwach didn´t reply. Instead, reishi kept converging towards him, and eventually, Ichibe fell silently upon the sight of his black slowing down the closer it whirled towards the Quincy, until stopping completely when connected with the very aura itself that surrounded the Quincy. In the end, the aura collapsed into Yhwach´s body and all that remained was absorbed by him, even the darkness.
Ichibe then stepped back. His face hinting terror upon the sight he could not believe. Yet there he was, the enemy pressuring the whole reality, powerfully enough to make it shiver. Even Ichibe, despite far away, seemed to struggle to breathe. His brush looked heavy now, and his enemy almost unreachable, but he recomposed himself either way.
"What did you just do?" he asked, under his breath.
"What I was told to do" Yhwach replied, facing the shinigami "The Almighty has told me that I needed to absorb the unusually concentrated particles of reishi in this area for I could avoid that spell of yours. I died in many ways in the process, but for as long as there is one future where such won´t happen then I shall not die"
His fists clenched, bursting into power, only for a second, as the Quincy contemplated his own strength, pleased.
"I must thank you however" Yhwach proceeded "This overflowing power of mine was much that I could imagine"
Suddenly, he aroused and stopped. A brief deflection of his gaze to the enemy revealed a smile, but only in the sky he could watch the purest of the dark poisoning the very reality itself. At a loss of speech, he returned his gaze to the shinigami, whose zampakuto, now held up high, enshrouded itself with this dark mist, all too fuzzy, that spiraled all the way up towards the darkened sky.
"You seem to be right indeed" Ichibe asserted "That isn´t a power I would like to see roaming around, and this is why I present you this last ability of mine...Mōmoku Bōfūu!"
Like a thunder, he then descended his brush. The sky followed with rage, unleashing the very darkness itself, like a madness storm.
"It´s the end" Ichibe stated "Once the black touches you, you are mine"
An insight into the Quincy´s mind revealed the futures spread all around, like sand. This one was dark, however. The second was too, and so was the one after that, and the next, and the next. Millions of eventual futures then scrolled through his mind like pages of a book, but for every single one of them, darkness was all there was.
"I apologize you" Yhwach´s voice sounded in his mind "It seems I´m not returning back"
Suddenly, the choices were no more, and only one remained. A bright singularity, all too small, contrasted with the sheer black all around. But even that soon vanished. The now all dark future was then picked nevertheless.
Outside, the black stormed upon him, and only when too near, he snapped out of it.
"Blut vene, akhallen!" he shouted.
The barrier expanded, opening its way through the darkness all around. At this, Ichibe stared in surprise, as he saw his spell unable to push further beyond.
"I am amazed, it´s the first time I witness something like that" he declared "Blut vene, akhallen you said, am I right?"
But Yhwach didn´t reply. Instead, a roar was all there was upon the strain needed to maintain the barrier.
"Let´s see" Ichibe proceeded, in thought "Blut vene is too long of a name for a spell like that, don´t you agree? I believe a simpler name will fit it the most, so what do you think of it to be called..."
A second passed, and only then the word sounded.
"Blu!"
Immediately after, multiple breaches broke their way through the barrier and despair glowed in Yhwach´s gaze. But he wasn´t allowed himself to give up, and an even louder roar filled the skies, doubling the power exerted on his shield. And as the veins stamped in the barrier thickened, the breaches gradually healed themselves to no more. Outside the rain kept on falling and the continuous sound of many individual clashes suppressed the one coming from the Quincy.
Open-eyed, Ichibe gazed such persistence truly surprised. Nevertheless, the grin on his face arose once more. "That´s truly impressive indeed. Even after cutting its name, it still is enough to contain my Black Tempest, but it´s futile, can´t you see? The more I cut the original name of something, the less powered it becomes" he then explained "I believe your Schrift is the letter A... so let´s call that barrier of yours... B!"
And as soon as the shinigami sounded, the once all mighty barrier shattered itself into pieces, and Yhwach soon was rendered defenseless against the dark rain that proceeded to blind him from existence.
"Farewell, Yhwach" Ichibe finished...
The whole place was covered in black.
The shinigami then turned around. He as well was covered in black.
Shortly after and the black brush was sheathed.
Yes! The whole place was covered in black...
Except for a tiny single singularity...
Very well. This is the end of the first chapter.
I opted to start with a battle because that's where the shifting point between the manga and this fanfic occurs.
Either way, as you have noticed, I basically rewrote the whole Yhwach vs Ichibe in this first chapter. The second part of it, however, shall be significantly different when compared to the manga´s counterpart, and from there, I will try to set up the grounds for a different storyline.
Lastly, I don´t usually ask this, but for the first few chapters, I would appreciate any type of criticism towards my writing, length of battles, etc. etc. Thanks in advance.
This last section will be reserved for the eventual new created spells, where I post their English translation below. (I don´t know, I just feel the Japanese one flows better in the story. Oh, the Japanese names were found with the translator so, if anyone happens to have a better understanding of Japanese and wants to point out anything, feel free to do so.
1- Quincy- 300 No yari no seinaru or! ( Quincy- Holy cage of the three hundred spears ) - Just made it up. Some seal spell used by Quincies.
2- Mōmoku no uzu - Blind vortex
3- Mōmoku no Bōfūu - Blind Tempest
Also, I changed slightly the way the Almighty works.
SPOILERS
(For the ones who simply need some quick recap of all that happened in the manga up to this point. If you didn´t read the manga yet, I suggest you avoid this part )
Ichigo has Quincy powers
Yamamoto dies at his attempt to kill Yhwach
Unohana dies as she reveals her true self to Zaraki, allowing him to reach Shikai
Byakuya, Renji, and Rukia are trained personally by the Zero division squad
Yhwach is the Quincy chief. He had planned the Vandereich invasion a thousand years ago
Kmomamura turned into a dog after his ultimate sacrifice - (Not sure if I will touch this later)
Ichibe is the commanding shinigami of the royal guard. His powers are based on names and darkness.
The Soul King is alive. (I will try to deliver a much deeper understanding of what the Soul King is and how its sole existence affected all that happened in the anime)