He drew his sword back and jumped away from the two of them. Then he held it with both of his hands and put it above his head.
"Pahale Aga," he said.
The black longsword lit up in blue flames. He stepped forward much like how a fencer does, and he slung the sword down.
Ichigo pulled out his zanpakuto and deflected with equivalent force to that of Bihumada's strike.
The longsword was deflected left of Bihumada, but some of the flames were left on Ichigo's zanpakuto, which was pretty small compared to Ichigo's previous clever-shaped Zangetsu.
Ichigo stared at the flames. Then his eyes widened as he realized what it was. "Shit!"
"Burn in the flames of first fire that gave birth to the universe," Bihumada said as he took out a cross from underneath his clothes, which were black trenchcoat like Kenji's. "Naraka aga."
Instantly, Ichigo's right arm and his zanpakuto instantly went up in blue fire. The flame did not spread but the intense light produced by the fire blinded many.
And Ichigo writhed in pain through hisses.
"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted.
Ichigo growled angrily as he grabbed his shoulder. And with cold emotions equal to Byakuya's, he ripped his arm off.
Rukia screamed briefly before covering her mouth as he threw his arm away.
Then his arm regenerated.
Rukia's eyes widened as she saw the arm same as the one that had been there before. She gulped. It was then she truly saw Ichigo for what he was: an arrancar.
The horned mask began to appear once more on his head. "What the hell was that?" he asked, slightly grinning, slightly frowning. He was going ... slightly crazy. "You're actually really strong. I guess ... I don't need to hold back."
'What's happening to him?' Rukia thought.
Bloodlust was surfacing up within Ichigo.
Why was he expressing this much ... violence?
Ichigo himself didn't know. All he wanted to do was kill the bastard who threatened to kill his friends and himself. "Fight? You got one!" he said as the mask-helmet covered the entirety of his head and he aimed a bala at Bihumada.
The said Brahman, who was actually a brahman by heritage not by his choice of religion, used his sword to slam the bala away.
And it was effective.
Only this time, his sword was far away when Ichigo appeared before him with his zanpakuto in his hands, which he probably got it with a sonido, and struck Bihumada.
The zanpakuto sliced through all of the bones and muscles starting at the right shoulder blade and came out clean at the lower left chest; he was literally cut in half.
He died instantly from the shock.
Kenji frowned as he saw his friend die as it happened while his rapier was toying with the rest of the shinigamis, rounding them into a corner.
But what he forgot to remember was that there was Tesla, who had just sonido'ed right up to him and brought his zanpakuto down.
Kenji took the hit.
And he disappeared like fog.
"Where are you aiming?" he hissed as he appeared behind him with dual pistols.
Then he unleashed multiple shots.
Normally, hierro of Tesla's level would withstand most projectile from pistol bullets to tank shells.
But the bullets from Kenji's guns pierced right through his body.
"GAH!" Tesla yelled as pain surged throughout his body. He quickly sonido'ed away and reappeared some distance away from the skyscraper where Kenji and the rest of his kind were. 'What the fuck was that...?' he thought as he coughed up some blood.
"My bullets are made so that they eat reishi and reiatsu like a parasite," Kenji said with a smile as he looked at his gun. "But I only got you because it was a surprise attack."
Then he looked at Tesla and aimed his gun, two of them. But did not fire.
Something underneath his jacket moved.
The coat opened on its own and pistols were flying out. Then as if they were soldiers, they all lined up next to the dual pistols he held, ten on each side, all aiming at Tesla.
"But can you dodge twenty bullets?"
Tesla's eyes widened.
"Didn't think so."
Rukia looked at Ichigo with wide, scared eyes. This is the arrancar form that Uryu had warned her about.
This was the terror that had taken down Aizen and many of the Espadas.
This was the horror. A monster.
Her friend ... was a monster.
But all those thought ... vanished when she felt a sharp pain in her chest.
She froze and looked down.
A sword...
Ichigo turned around when he heard the sickly sound of the muscles ripping and his eyes narrowed as he saw the blade through Rukia's chest. Specifically, her heart.
She only muttered a bit before the sword pulled out and she fell into Ichigo's arms.
Ichigo caught her gently and turned his eyes to the hovering rapier.
He charged a cero and fired, incinerating the rapier to dust.
Then he turned to Kenji, the wielder of the rapier, just as he fired all his guns at the same time.
And Ichigo saw Tesla die too.
-
