So this will be the last "fight" chapter of the Quincy war thing, but there will be another for the aftermath of it; after that, we will move on.
I did 'some' research but I won't be using all of the Quincy abilities that both king and 'B' have. As I said me no likey this part so… sorry…
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Chapter 20: Balance vs. balance
Haschwalth blinked as he watched Ichigo obliterate their forces with no effort on his side, the man, however, did seem ever so slightly off.
"Go."
Looking behind him, the blonde haired man looked at his king and nodded. "Yes, your Highness."
"Show him the power of the Quincy. Show him why he should join us. We will spare those he loves if he does."
Nodding once more the blonde was gone in a blink of light.
He appeared before Ichigo who paused in his massacre to look over at him, he got a once over before Ichigo straightened up and looked at him with barely held back rage. Something was seriously angering the man and he had to try and appease the man.
"You are indeed very formidable. I have never seen a hollow with so much power."
"Cut the bullshit," Ichigo growled, his mouth barely showing as he talked.
"I know that you know just what I am. Don't even try and make up some bullshit story about how you Quincy just wanted to live and so on. You had your chance. You ignored the Shinigami's warnings and please to stop what you were doing. You were tipping the balance." Ichigo spoke, his wings flapped now and then; keeping him in the air.
A lone hand rose pointing a deadly looking claw at the blonde man, behind him a distance away Yhwach stood and watched with narrowed eyes.
"You… I am so sick of people with their high and mighty attitudes, those who think they can just take and take all because they are stronger than those around them. I am so… sick of pride and what it makes people do. I am so fucking sick of all you Quincy ways and I am so… ready to bring you all down. I will die trying if I have to. You won't control me, you won't fool me. My eyes have been opened. You call me hollow but I am more than that. I am like no other being out there. I am a protector and that is what I will do until my dying breath."
Haschwalth had no time to counter as Ichigo rushed at him and knocked him back into one of the few standing buildings. The rubble fell down as he got up and unsheathed his blade. He barely got his sword up before Ichigo's clawed hand was swiping at his face. The force of the blow was incredible.
"I hate you all for what you did to me." Ichigo hissed as his eyes hardened and the force pushing at him increased as he was pushed back. Ichigo lowered his hand and looked over his shoulder. Following his stare Haschwalth saw he was looking at Yhwach, returning his stare to Ichigo he arched a brow when he saw Ichigo was frowning heavily.
With that said Ichigo's reiatsu spiked higher making many small cracks form on the buildings and debris and even the ground.
Out of nowhere Ichigo charged at the blonde male and a flurry of blows was aimed at random spots making it hard to block, if he were a lower level Quincy he would have been badly hurt by then.
He gasped as he was suddenly kicked, he went flying a distance but righted himself mid-air and stopped spinning to land neatly on the ground to look up at Ichigo who was still mid air looking down at him.
His eyes were dark red making them hard to read from where he stood.
"Get ready asshole. I am going to maim you good." Ichigo stretched out the last word as he slowly got into a crouching position.
Haschwalth narrowed his eyes in concentration, his eyes stayed locked onto Ichigo's every move. The smallest twitch in muscles in hopes of reading the man's moves.
It proved to be in vain as Ichigo quickly got him on the defence by just going at him like a hollow would only with small calculations and a whole mass of power behind each and every blow.
All the blows seemed at random till Haschwalth glanced at Ichigo's eyes and felt his own go wide. The man held no mad look in his eyes. In fact, there was a look of pure determination that screamed that this person was dead set on doing something.
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Inside Ichigo's mindscape, El Fuego looked at the mass of Quincy energy, it was waking.
Both his master and the blonde man figured that it would awaken when he was surrounded by more Quincy, the King most likely but this man was having the same effect on Ichigo.
He narrowed his eyes and relayed this news to his master in their mental link. He hoped Ichigo would finish this soon lest the part wake fully and become permanent.
Outside the fight suddenly stopped.
Ichigo kicked Haschwalth harder sending the man flying further than before. Ichigo looked off to the side as he listened to his sword's spirit. His eyes narrowed and snapped to the blonde haired male.
"What are you?"
The question took Haschwalth off guard as he frowned at the red head before he arched a brow in question.
"You are waking the parasite in me." Ichigo growled lowly and to the amazement of the blonde he watched as Ichigo's pupils actually change shape, they were narrow before but the suddenly developed into three drop shapes similar to a lizard's.
"What the fuck are you!" Ichigo bellowed out.
Biting his inner cheek, the blonde looked over his shoulder to see his King, the man made a shrugging motion telling him it didn't matter to him.
"I am the 'B', I am the one who balances with the king, when he sleeps I take his place till he wakes. I can also grant powers, that would explain why you are waking your Quincy side."
Ichigo looked thoughtful for a minute before a very unfriendly look came over his face. His mouth may have been hidden but his eyes turned brutal with their intensity, the hungry look that suited the eyes of a vicious hunter.
They were solely on the blonde haired man.
"So what would happen if I were to kill you? Doesn't matter really as I will be killing all of you." With that, Ichigo roared and sent out a shockwave of power that forced Haschwalth to block his own view with his arm.
It was just what Ichigo wanted the man to do.
The next moment Haschwalth felt Ichigo's reiatsu vanish, too faint to pick up and his arm crying in excruciating pain. Snapping his eyes open and to his arm, he nearly gawked at what he saw. He thought the mask of Ichigo's was just that, a mask but he was shocked to see it could open and said mask's teeth were buried deep into his arm.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed what could be assumed a smile.
The next moment shocked even the great King of the Quincy.
Ichigo formed a Grand Rey Cero point black, the ball of energy forming at the crook of Haschwalth's elbow.
"Grand Rey Cero." Ichigo whispered and the sudden white explosion engulfed them both blinding the rest.
Once the blinding light faded it revealed Ichigo holding the long haired blonde by the throat as he used his free hand to push in some of his pure hollow reiatsu into the open wound near the man's shoulder as his left arm no longer existed.
"Just to make sure you feel a small fraction of the pain you caused." Ichigo hissed; his eyes murderous.
And pain he felt. It was horrible, the burning pain never lessened and the blonde swear he could feel the taint of hollow reiatsu running into his bloodstream causing more pain. Ichigo laughed wickedly and kicked the blonde man into the air and spread his wings to jump up into the air, he grabbed the man by the long blonde mane and flew into a lesser populated area.
Yhwach was shocked at what he saw, Ichigo had tainted his right hand, he tainted his other half. He could now no longer share power with the man as the hollow reiatsu in his blood was wreaking havoc inside the man's soul.
He knew why Ichigo did it, or could guess at least as the man's own mother was tainted.
It was a form of revenge.
A well played out one.
He could no longer see the two men but Ichigo had his reiatsu well hidden, so well hidden it was easy to lose track of it before it randomly spiked up and then went down again.
There was an explosion of debris and dust as something slammed into a few buildings.
Ichigo walked out of the cloud closer to where Haschwalth made a panicked attack that made its mark and sent the redhead flying but it was clear to see that Ichigo had instant regeneration and all his wounds just healed itself but up as he had so he could spare a bit to heal.
"That was kinda cool, those bows are kinda neat if I have to admit one interesting thing about you, Quincy." Ichigo cocked his head and looked at the heavily sweating man in front of him.
"I have something to show to you too." Ichigo's eyes went wide and the pupils shrunk making them a small wiggle in his eye surrounded by blood red.
"When one of us rips off a piece of our remaining mask we get stronger, it is a risk for the weaker ones however and there is no guarantee that it would work but who knows?" Ichigo shrugged and
his eyes narrowed in what was a smile of some sort.
A feeling of dread filled Haschwalth's stomach.
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"My-my-my he sure has grown."
Eyes went to Gin who was sitting down with a slightly out of it Matsumoto leaning heavily on his shoulder, occasionally snuggling into his shoulder.
"How so?" Asked Byakuya, there were no longer any more Quincy to take care of as Ichigo had killed the bulk of them and the rest were easily picked off and there never came more. It was safe to assume that they would be watching the other male more closely for a chance to get the upper hand on him no doubt.
Gin looked to those around him.
"Ichigo was powerful when he first started as the Cero no doubt about that but… well, let's just say Ichigo has improved in leaps and bounds. The waking of his Shinigami side probably helped. Ichigo was also always so in tune with the balance of the three worlds it was rather scary at times how he would just know something and he always said it was just instincts.
In fact, he knew the moment all those hollows came to the word of the living before even Szayel's scanners could pick it up. I have also seen Ichigo talk to his blade while he cleaned and sharpened it. He has a good relationship with his sword spirit and that made him even stronger I reckon.
But my guess as to why he is so powerful is rather simple."
Everyone was looking at him now with faces that clearly screamed that he should just get on with it. He smirked and looked back to where the fighting was off in the distance.
He was about to open his mouth when Ichigo's ever powerful reiatsu shot up expectantly and it was horrifyingly powerful but it still didn't feel like that much of a difference as to when he wasn't wearing the bandages and his eyes went wide when he connected the dots.
"He… broke his remaining mask fragment…"
Hitsugaya looked at him sharply.
"What?"
"…Arrancar are hollows who have removed their masks. Starkk is the only one I know of who did it on his own but see there is always a small piece that remains… if the Arrancar would remove it he has a small chance to grow even more powerful. Ichigo hasn't taken off the bandages as he is in his release from, it is impossible for him to do so but his mask fragment is… well, you get the idea… he broke his mask… Ichigo is now… maskless."
The area was deadly quiet as the reiatsu of Ichigo no longer fluctuated as badly as it did before and was now a constant hum in the air as was the faint tint of amusement and anger bleeding together to form the man's general mood.
"What were you about to say?" Asked Ukitake looking at Gin who still looked on in the distance.
"Ichigo as far as I can tell has endless potential."
That small seemingly ordinary sentence shocked the Shinigami to their cores. No one had endless potential it was impossible, there had to be a limit somewhere.
There was, however, no time to say this was Ichigo shot into the sky with Haschwalth's leg in hand making the man see the world upside down. Much like he manhandled Aizen. They all gasped when they saw the man missing an entire arm.
"Well… okay then." Shinji said with an arched brow.
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The blonde watched in horror as Ichigo's clawed hands went to each side of the mask and violently yanked a few times before a mighty yank broke the mask in two as well as off the well-sculpted face.
Power shot out from the red head, the boost was significant enough for his pain-stricken body to start trembling.
Haschwalth could now see the full expression of Ichigo as he gave the man a bone-chilling grin that hid nothing about what Ichigo wanted to do to him. Ichigo was on a war path and his death and the king's death would be the only thing to sate the monster before him.
In a flash he was on his back with an angry looking Ichigo over him, he didn't have time to react as he was pummelled with the two pieces of mask fragment. It hurt a hell of a lot as his torso was was subjected to many well-powered punches that veered now and again to his face making it snap in the direction the incoming fist's direction.
The red head stopped punching when the fragments broke in his hands and his own fist were the ones now touching his skin. A few punches after that Ichigo rose and spread his wings shadowing the blonde below him.
Ichigo's face was hard as a marble carved statue.
No words left the man's mouth as he crouched over the blonde making his dragon-like body more animalistic. A low growl thrummed over the blood, with little energy to move he opened his eyes only to widen as he looked into slightly mad eyes.
"It's almost awake." Ichigo whispered and sneered as if seeing something disgusting.
"It's waking up; I can hear the fucking parasite screaming at me to let it out of its cage!" Ichigo roared in his face.
Haschwalth frowned. "Parasite?"
The blonde's voice was but a whisper as he had no real strength to actually do much.
Ichigo sneered at him before he snarled. "My mother's Quincy side in me is waking up, becoming awake. I. Don't. Want. That. Parasite. In. Me. Understand now?" Ichigo hissed.
Again Haschwalth frowned only deeper.
"You would reject your mother's blood? You would reject the talents she has given to you?" He asked in a last ditch attempt.
The growl Ichigo released was more than enough for an answer but Ichigo still spoke.
"All Quincy abilities come from the same source, all Quincy came from the same man. My mother… she was so… pure… she was the sun of my family. She was attacked by a hollow and paid the price. She got her soul corrupted but my father with the help of another Shinigami… saved her. She… none of those who's powers were stolen and killed deserved what happened to them just because one FUCKING MAN deemed them filthy or impure. "
To the blonde's horror and amazement Ichigo's white sclera was slowly turning black. The red standing out more, looking far more dangerous.
"I am constantly rejecting it. I will never accept the curse the man has been giving out. I will not be a puppet for that man, I will stop him in whatever mad quest he has. I will destroy him and rid the world of the Quincy plague."
Without warning Ichigo roared high into the air and gripped Haschwalth by the ankle and burst into the air. With a mighty heave, Ichigo slammed Haschwalth into the ruined ground just a few meters away from Yhwach. Landing with a hard impact that made the ground crack and form a crater Ichigo didn't take his eyes off of Haschwalth.
"You." Ichigo hissed and looked at the man who caused all his pain.
Yhwach looked on as Ichigo's released form was deactivated and in a flash of reiatsu he was back to normal with the only difference of his missing mask fragment over his eye. His eyes, however, were still black and red.
"You should know young one, that you do not posses the power to face me."
Ichigo barked out a laugh that was near hysterical. His face morphed into what was a vicious snarl as he glared at the man with eyes full of poisonous hatred.
"I have a trick or two up my sleeve." Ichigo gave a half sneer half grin and raised both hands to the black cloth wrapped tightly around his stomach and with a quick yank the material came loose as did the half reserves had been locking away. It caused a massive explosion that made the ground tremble as Ichigo screamed as the power flooded his system with a feeling of liquid fire.
The reiatsu rushed back and into Ichigo who had lost his coat due to the blast, a few tattered pieces hung off his shoulders.
A grin even a devil would fear crept onto Ichigo's face as he took off his gloves to reveal something that made all who were close enough to see visibly react by making their eyes as wide as possible at the sight of a Quincy cross on the man's right hand, the cross wasn't on his skin but on a white piece of metal that curved around his hand.
Ichigo's other hand went into his pant pocket and revealed to everyone's shock the crumbling orb. The grin turned smug.
"I think I will return a so-called gift." Ichigo hissed and jammed the crumbling orb into the palm of his right hand.
Yhwach's eyes went wide when he saw and felt Ichigo's just woken Quincy reiatsu slowly drain out of his body and into the palm of his right hand near the crumbling orb.
"This orb… has one useful ability I would gladly use; you see…" Ichigo looked up from where he was studying the orb that now glowed with all the energy of his Quincy side. It did hurt but he wouldn't allow the Quincy to see it physically hurt to rip one part of his soul out. He knew he wouldn't have long before his body would give out on him to fix the damage done by himself but he needed to do this. He didn't want this power if it linked him to the man who took his mother away from him.
"You were not supposed to die."
Ichigo arched a brow.
"I did plan on taking your Quincy power along with your mother's but… for some reason you resisted me. Never before has someone resisted my call. I then planned to kidnap you to insure that you would waken your Quincy side first. You were to be my heir. It can still happen. You may reject my gift but there is no way to fully cleanse a soul of a marker in its make up and even if you do I have ways to make you accept them again. Killing you would be a waste."
All the while Ichigo spoke everyone got as close as they dared to watch what would no doubt be a thriller of a fight.
Ichigo glanced at all the faces around him and sighed.
"I really really…" Ichigo said and snapped his eyes at the man, said man was looking at him with a look of curiosity in his dark eyes.
"HATE YOU!"
Ichigo screamed and went into a bow stance that shocked even the half out of it Haschwalth.
What shocked them, even more, was the fact that Ichigo was ripping out the last bits if the Quincy in his soul thanks to the crumbling orb, without it; he wouldn't be able to remove the parasite from his soul. He could hear the male voice of the Quincy side in him screaming for him to stop before the shouting stopped and there was silence as El Fuego watched on.
The world inside of his master had the signs of what pain, the pillars all have large cracks but they all stood strong.
Outside Ichigo's nose and mouth allowed blood to flow out, the body taking a slight knock in damage. Ichigo's eyes glowed a fearsome orange before all of the Quincy power was forced into the arrow he would release and in so all his Quincy powers with it.
Everyone was shocked and some even stood in horror as the two men before then were stronger than their head captain.
What fascinated the king of Quincy was that Ichigo's power wasn't coloured the typical light teal blue but a shockingly bright shade of orange.
"Take back your fucking gift. I don't want it." Everyone thought Ichigo would release it at the king but an evil glint filled the glowing red eyes.
Just before Ichigo released the arrow he turned his waist to aim it at the blonde male who had gotten onto his feet but too drained to move anymore. "Revenge is empty but then again I am already empty the day I died. The day you killed my mother."
Ichigo said in a dead voice and released the arrow and the roaring energy of pure power and Quincy slammed into Haschwalth's chest. Yhwach and the other Quincy watched horrified as their 'B', their other ruler was obliterated in one massive attack that sent all who were too weak tumbling back while others struggled to breathe for a few minutes.
The attack exploded before it turned into a massive pillar demolishing the ground it was spread over.
Once the attack finished and died off with the last remnants of Quincy power whispering into the air before they too died, they all saw the state of what was once the Quincy king's other half.
There was nothing.
It was just a large crater in the ground.
All eyes returned to Ichigo who was looking at the Quincy king with unveiled disgust and hate.
"I'd rather die than be a pawn to the likes of you. I would gorge out my own stomach to escape being your heir." Ichigo spat out with a twinge of something in his voice that was too faint to hear.
"Because of you, I lost my sun as a child! You took away my mother! Just because she was seen as impure by you! Who gave you the right! BECAUSE OF YOU I DIED! BECAUSE OF YOU…" Ichigo was crying, tears trailing down his cheeks as he glared at the man who tore his life to shreds.
"Because of you, I am hollow."
Ichigo unsheathed his sword and got into a two-handed stance and regarded the Quincy king.
"And I will kill you or die trying."
Yhwach unsheathed his own blade and in a matter of milliseconds, the two were at it. Their movements too fast for anyone to pick up.
Inside his head Yhwach cursed. The last bit that could have been used to aid him in battle was gone. Ichigo had nothing of the Quincy in him. There was not even a small trace he could have latched onto.
Nothing that wouldn't allow Ichigo to attack him.
What was worse was Ichigo's increase in power, as it stood they were equal and rapidly destroying the area around them.
With each strike, Ichigo seemed to increase his speed as if he was a fire gaining strength and heat the longer it burned and more fuel it got. Problem was that Ichigo was a flame not easily blissed.
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Chad and Renji had to physically hold Shinji back when Ichigo started to take on the Quincy king. He knew Ichigo was strong but he wasn't that strong surely?
He was proven wrong when Ichigo took off the bandages and all around gawked openly.
Then to the shock, amazement was added when they all watched as Ichigo ripped a part of his soul out like it was nothing.
Then the real fright was when Ichigo went into an archer's stance and continued to shoot the mass of pure energy at the blonde male he had fought before obliterating said man into nothingness.
Ichigo and the Quincy king the went to fight one on one and the results were devastating, the area around them started to crumble and crack under the combined reiatsu. The blows sent large quantities of leftover reiatsu from each attack that worsened the state of the area around the two fighters.
They all watched as the two monster powerhouses continued to trade blows in what was one of the best swordfights any of them had ever seen but soon the two men clearly started to become agitated at the pace of the fight and started to pour more into the fight.
Blood soon started to fall but both men had good healing abilities and were quickly healed, the two men also had large reiatsu reserves and could go on pretty much for days at the pace they were going by.
Then The Quincy king did something, no one could see how or what he said but suddenly Ichigo was in the middle of a large Quincy cross. Said res head stumbled a little before his eyes went blazing.
"I WON'T LET YOU STEAL ANYTHING MORE FROM ME!" Ichigo yelled and his reiatsu skyrocketed and the resulting force seemed to cancel the attack on him and when Ichigo was free he roared inhumanly and launched himself at the Quincy kin in what was a blurr of movements.
The reiatsu started to rise to a point it was undetectable.
Ichigo seemed to have snapped and was yelled at the king, they could hear what the man screamed.
"What more do you want to take from me? You just wanted me as a fucking puppet, a slave to use against the people who protect the balance from parasites like YOU!"
The fight continued with Ichigo taking notably fewer hits than the Quincy king.
"What the hell is he?" Hisagi asked from where he was sitting. Everyone was thinking it but he was the first to say it. It was true as Ichigo just seemed to gain reiatsu, sadly the Quincy king being a Quincy could absorb energy from around him and thus also gain power but Ichigo's was a steady gain while Yhwach was in bits and bobs.
"He is Ichigo, one of a kind." Shinji said where he sat next to Karin who was huddled up against Chad looking at the fight with big, worried eyes.
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"Man Ichigo's a beast!" Nnoitra yelled they were given permission from Ichigo to send sensory droids so that they could watch the fight and come and help if need be.
Didn't seem that way until the last scene silenced the entire of Las Noches.
"NO!" They all cried in unison.
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The fight had gotten even more vicious. Ichigo had started to glow in his reiatsu and the Quincy king was barely keeping up.
"How is it that you are so powerful?" he asked when they stood a little apart from one another.
Ichigo's grin was barely visible.
"El Fuego is lending his power to me, all of it. He and I are one in the same being. I can call upon his powers in time of need. I sure need it now. I haven't felt so alive in a long time you see, no true opponents to fight with. Sad that you are the asshole you are. Oh well, I can always spar with old man Yamamoto."
Yhwach growled and narrowed his eyes at Ichigo who just grinned at him.
"Let's end this in one blow." Ichigo hissed as he practically vibrated with energy. Yhwach nodded and summoned all his power into one final blow.
Ichigo did the same and the two charged at one another and when the blows made contact the energy was too much and caused a great white out of all those watching's senses. They could hear nothing, see nothing, smell nothing and they couldn't feel anything.
When everyone got their bearings about themselves back they looked up and frowned. Both men stood deathly still.
It was almost in slow motion as the Quincy king's head slowly slid down his neck and fell to the ground. All around them they could hear Quincy troops screaming in shock.
They were all about to cheer when a mighty splatter of blood erupted from Ichigo's chest, the man slowly fell face forward and onto the ground below him. Shinji was up and there within mere seconds.
"Ichigo!" He screamed and rolled him onto his back and gasped. A hand flew to his mouth to keep himself from sobbing loudly.
Ichigo's chest was cut clean and symmetrical. It was a deep cut and some of his innards threatened to come out. A shaky hand went to the male's throat but he couldn't feel a pulse. In fact, Ichigo was paling by the second and his chest wasn't moving.
"SOMEONE HELP HIM PLEASE!" The hysterical Shinji was pulled back and all available fourth squad and Orihime rushed forward.
"Stand back I can heal him!" The redhead teen yelled.
"That won't be needed, dear." They all froze dead and looked to see who spoke and jaws dropped.
"What…" Karin arched a brow.
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So… I hope I didn't to too back but well… yeah…
I apologise if this was a disappointment but… I couldn't really get into this one cause I am not reading it.
…. Oh well… Okay, so I have a poll on the go for what happens next=
Sword rebellion or Bounts up to you guys, I'll give ya'll till Friday.