Orihime quickly ran to his side and made a 'Santen Kesshun' just in time to negate the 'Soldat Drachen's' assault. As the 'Santen Kesshun' was being peeled away, Ichigo looked at Orihime. "Thanks." he said.
"Ichigo...in that moment, all I could do was hold on to a bit of your clothing and you still looked back to me." Orihime huffed. "That look you gave me...will be forever ingrained in my memory. That's why I know there must've been some reason..."
"Pretty much..." Ichigo smiled. "I needed quite a bit of time in order to absorb all that Quincy reiatsu..."
Orihime glanced at Ichigo's bigger Zangetsu and realised the tip was white and that the white was spreading. "Your Zanpakuto..."
Ichigo took a few steps forward and looked at Yhwach. "Sorry to make you wait...let me show you now." Ichigo raised his smaller Zangetsu and it vanished. He pointed the bigger Zangetsu at Yhwach. The blade was now all white.
Ichigo inhaled.
"BANKAI!!!!"
Chapter 674: HORNS OF SALVATION
"Bankai...?" Yhwach repeated. "So, your endgame was this...?"
The King stared as black reiatsu spilled from Ichigo's longer Zangetsu and covered around Ichigo, eventually shooting up towards the sky and destroyed part of the roof.
A few moments before Ichigo unleashed his Bankai
- In Wahrwelt Castle -
Uryu drew back his bow, still huffing and huffing. He slowly aimed his 'Heilig Pfeil' towards Haschwalth. In response, the lightly-blonde haired Sternritter simply stared. "Now, may I ask you something?" Uryu asked, keeping his aim on Haschwalth. "Why are you so concerned about what kind of human I am? You've never struck me as the kind of guy that would be interested in such an abstract and existential topic. Furthermore, I'm certain you've realised the fact that the only reason I started to fight you here was to buy Kurosaki some time so that he could go fight Yhwach. So instead of peppering me with all these questions, wouldn't it be in your best interest to save every precious second you can by eliminating me as quickly as possible and return to His Majesty's side?"
Haschwalth sighed, tired of continuously having to explain the same thing he mentioned when they started their fight. "I feel like a broken record...I told you, I've already 'seen' the result. Your allies will perish, no matter how long or how quickly I pass time with you here. I will not be allowing His Majesty to be exposed to any kind of perilous situation..."
"Hmph. But the future, the result that you've 'seen' can be changed, no?" Uryu rebuttled. "Like how you were caught off guard by my most recent change!"
Haschwalth chuckled. "You are correct. After all, when I use the power of the 'Almighty', I am but a vessel, borrowing His Majesty's power. But when it comes to His Majesty, it's a bit different. Let me say this: what can make the 'Almighty's power so terrifying are two things. The first is that when it lies with His Majesty, it does not merely see the future. And the second, is His Majesty himself. And his tremendous power."
Haschwalth's words began to unnerve Uryu. "What do you mean by that?" Uryu asked, nervousness now beginning to take hold of his body.
"Oh, I'll tell you all about it once we finish up here." Haschwalth raised his sword with his right hand. He presented it horizontally before himself and used his left hand to touch the back of the sword, near the tip. "Now then, Uryu Ishida, the time has come to place everything you are against the scales. The thing that blocks you from the road you'll never again return from...YOUR BROKEN SCALES!!"
- Outside Wahrwelt Castle -
"HYORINMARU!!"
"Senbonzakura."
A huge white ice dragon smashed into Gerard's upper half while hundreds of thousands of cherry blossom petals surrounded his lower half. The petals tried to cut his legs apart but failed. 'Hyorinmaru' ended up getting smashed through without Gerard freezing.
Toshiro raised his right hand towards Gerard. "Bakudo 63: Sajo Sabaku*!!"
(T/N: Binding Spell 63: Winding Binding Chains)
Golden chains formed from his hands and wrapped around the behemoth, restraining him in place. "Kuchiki, now!!" Toshiro ordered. Byakuya raised his hilt and the petals reformed into his blade. Earlier, he had almost exhausted himself and had to revert to his Shikai.
Byakuya then turned the sword upside down, the hilt pointing up, the blade down. "Bankai." Byakuya said, letting go of the hilt. The blade sunk through the ground creating ripples and huge blades came out of the ground in two rows behind the Sixth Company's Captain. "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
The huge blades all then simultaneously turned into cherry blossom petals. "Gokei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
(*T/N: Throat Scene)
The now millions of petals swirled around the still-trapped Gerard, formed a gigantic sphere of cherry blossoms. However, Gerard easily smashed through the chains and broke through 'Gokei'. "Will this monster go down?" Toshiro huffed, annoyed at Gerard's strength. At the same time, Gerard raised his right arm to deliver a massive blow onto the two captains. "Bakudo 81: Danku*." Byakuya summoned a huge clear wall that repelled the Miracle's attack.
(*T/N: Splitting Void)
"So, Kido* works, eh?" Toshiro observed. He summoned his wings and flew straight into the air. "Hado 63: Raikohou*!!" Toshiro shot a huge bolt of yellow electricity straight through Gerard, creating a huge hole in the middle of the giant's body.
(1*T/N: Demon Spell.)
(2*Way of Destruction 63: Thunder Cannon)
"Yes!!" Toshiro cheered before seeing the huge hole close up.
"He's nothing but a mass of reiatsu now. So obviously he'll use the reiatsu in the atmosphere to heal himself." Byakuya explained.
"Yeah, yeah!!" Toshiro replied, annoyed once again.
"I can't believe it...two captains are struggling with one opponent. But I guess this is how powerful those 'Schutzstaffel' guys are, huh?"
Toshiro and Byakuya both looked behind them to see, in shock, Kira Izuru. Vice-Captain of the Third Company. During the Quincys' first invasion, he was attacked and ended up getting a portion of his right chest and arm blasted away. Now, he had, in the hollow portion of his chest, a big chunk of what looked like wood and wires of some sort along with a new, black metal arm. In that metal hand, he held his Zanpakuto.
"Kira...how the hell did you get here?" Toshiro asked.
Izuru shot him a cold, dead look. "I went to Captain Kurotsuchi's laboratory. I managed to trigger that gate you guys all used to get here." Izuru explained. "I encountered Hisagi on the way here. Seemed like he was taken down so I patched him up. Then I saw this guy and came straight over. Seems you need help."
Izuru jumped straight up and held up his Zanpakuto. "Raise your head, Wabisuke*!!"
(T/N: The Penitent One)
His sword shifted to create a blade that bended 90 degrees three times to resemble a hook of some kind. "Wait, Kira, stop!! You can't cut that guy, it won't be effective, he doesn't have a body!!" Toshiro warned.
"Of course he does. Almost all living things need to have a body of some kind." Izuru countered. "Hado 58: Tenran*."
(T/N: Orchid Sky)
Izuru created a tornado from his left hand and directed it at Gerard. The wind kept hitting up against Gerard's right shoulder. "If you use a destructive kido like 'Raikohou' then obviously it'll go right through him. But if you use one that is just less in destructive force like 'Tenran', then it should be easy to go past the reiatsu and reveal the body without destroying it."
At that moment, the reiatsu of Gerard's shoulder was pushed away and revealed bones of a shoulder. "He does have a body!!" Toshiro marveled.
"Now then, would you like to do the honors...Captain Kenpachi?"
"HELL YEAH!!"
Kenpachi suddenly appeared in the sky. His right arm still missing from fighting Gerard earlier and using 'Bankai'. In his left, he had his Zanpakuto. "What the- I thought he lost consciousness after he turned into that...thing!!" Toshiro gasped, landing next to Byakuya.
"He truly is a monster." Byakuya commented.
"Swallow, NOZARASHI*!!" Kenpachi shouted out his Zanpakuto's name as his blade transformed into a giant axe/war cleaver hybrid with a tassle on the top and a long, bandaged hilt.
(T/N: Weather Beaten)
Kenpachi smiled with glee and brought down his Zanpakuto, completely slicing off Gerard's arm. The goliath screamed in pain and converted his left hand into a sword made of reiatsu and clashed with Kenpachi's 'Nozarashi', knocking Kenpachi into a building. "What the hell? Your attacks were much harder than that earlier." Kenpachi groaned in disappointment, walking forward to the hole created by him being knocked through. "Do I need to slaughter you more?"
Kenpachi charged at Gerard and they began exchanging blows with their swords.
"At this rate, we'll just have to leave it to Zaraki." Toshiro said.
"You should know that that wild animal isn't going to be able to handle him. You saw how much he was beaten around before, right?" Byakuya pointed out.
"I know. Just joking. Can't let him hog all the fun." Toshiro smiled.
From his blade, he created a couple of ice shards. Byakuya raised his hand and summoned millions of petals.
Izuru readied yet another Kido.
Suddenly, a rumbling shook the ground and they could all see a black pillar of reiatsu breaking through the Wahrwelt Castle.
"This reiatsu...is it Kurosaki? If so, then why the hell...?" Toshiro questioned.
- In another part of Wahrwelt Castle -
"Rukia!!" Renji called out to the black-haired Shinigami in front of him. "It's him, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is." Rukia answered. "It's Ichigo!! But this reiatsu...it feels so dark. So deep. So...cold. Can it really be Ichigo?"
- Near the Throne Room of Wahrwelt Castle -
"Kurosaki!!" Uryu exclaimed, feeling his comrade's reiatsu.
"Don't look away!!" Haschwalth warned, charging at Uryu. Just by a hair, Uryu managed to dodge Haschwalth's strike which would've sliced him in half.
- Throne Room -
Smoke arose throughout the room. Small pieces of rock crumbled from the now broken part of the roof, over Ichigo. The smoke slowly cleared revealing Ichigo in his now new Bankai. He had donned a long-sleeved black Shihakusho. Tufts of red around the neck, wrists and the usual ragged ends of his Shihakusho also had these tufts of red. His Zanpakuto was now a long sword that had a white chain, black hilt, white tsuba and black blade. The white chain was quite long and reached the floor. Along the blunt end of Ichigo's sword was three protrusions and on the actual blade were five diamond-shaped holes. Ichigo's Shihakusho was now closed and showed a hole in the middle of his chest and it had markings come out of it resembling the markings of Ichigo's Hollowfication form against Ulquiorra Schifer. Instead of sandals, he now had black boots. Not only that, but Ichigo now had a white horn coming out of the left side of his head and his left eye was like a hollow's: a black sclera and yellow pupil.
"Impressive." Yhwach chuckled.
Orihime stared from the back, speechless...and terrified. Ichigo's reiatsu felt completely different. It was like how it was when he lost control aginst Ulquiorra. And that scared her. "I..chi...go...?" Orihime called out, shaking. Ichigo turned his head around and looked at her. He gave a smile.
"Yo." he greeted. Orihime then stopped shaking. She smiled and breathed a huge sigh of relief. "You can relax. This time, I'm still 'me'."
"Your resemblance to a hollow is somewhat striking." Yhwach commented. "So this is your Bankai, huh?"
"Yeah." Ichigo answered, turning to face Yhwach. "Shin Tensa Zangetsu*."
(T/N: True Heavenly Chains Moon Slayer)
"The Shinigami powers from my father, my inner hollow...the Quincy powers I inherited from my mother, the old man..." Ichigo started. "Previously, these two used to oppose each other and fight for dominance. But now, they've finally gained balance and as Zangetsu, I reforged them both. If the balance between them is maintained, then they'll be under control. But in that case, it stands to reason that they should come forth if the balance is destroyed. Up til now...whenever I tried unleashing my Shinigami powers to the full extent, the times when I was unable to unleash them...this thing always came out. My inner hollow. That's why my form changes like this. By temporarily putting aside my Quincy power, I am able to fully bring out my Shinigami and Hollow powers to the full extent, merging them both together to form my Bankai. That's what that guy (referring to his inner hollow, Zangetsu) taught me. But...the thing is, Zangetsu is wild. When it comes to trying to get him to use this Bankai, it's hard. I need to bombard him with my reiatsu and force him into Bankai, which is why the longer Zangetsu turns white. But I haven't been able to master it completely yet so I made sure to keep taking your attacks, to use your reiatsu to force Zangetsu awake. You have my thanks."
Yhwach simply continued to smile, overjoyed. "Orihime..." Ichigo addressed.
"Y-Yes?"
"I'm gonna force him out of that Vollstandig thing soon enough, okay? Until then, you'll be unable to use 'Santen Kesshun' so please, stay away as far as you can. I don't want you getting hurt."
"Understood."
Suddenly, before he knew what happened, Ichigo grabbed Yhwach's face with his left hand and threw him against the wall. The Soldat Drachen came to attack him but Ichigo quickly flew up and with one stroke, chopped them all into bits. "Interesting, my son." Yhwach laughed, coming out of the wall. "Let's test the extent of this Bankai of yours now, shall we?"
Yhwach raised his hand and the five dragon heads suddenly grew necks and charged at Ichigo. Ichigo quickly went up to avoid their assault and they followed. One dragon head managed to push him through the roof and then the rest caused the roof to collapse. Ichigo raised his sword. "Getsuga Tensho."
Ichigo let out a black 'Getsuga' and destroyed one of the heads. Then, Ichigo grabbed the chain of 'Shin Tensa Zangetsu' and began to spin it around, decimating another one of the heads. The three remaining heads then all gathered to form one giant dragon head, preparing to send out a huge blast of energy. "Letzter Schrei der Drachen - Asche des Altars*. They'll send out one last final wave of energy that'll engulf you in blue flames. Let's see you overcome this, Ichigo!!" Yhwach grinned.
(*T/N: Last Scream of the Dragons - Ashes of the Altar)
Ichigo once again held the hilt of his sword and the dragons discharged a massive pillar of blue flames at Ichigo. Simply sighing, Ichigo raised his left hand and swiped it across, completely negating the huge attack. He then launched another 'Getsuga' straight through the giant dragon head, destroying it, and the 'Getsuga' continued and hit Yhwach. Yhwach just about managed to hold back the 'Getsuga' with his two hands. "Getsuga Tensho?!" Yhwach scoffed. "Old trick, same resul-"
Yhwach stopped mid-sentence as he saw Ichigo cut his hand and the blood rose up near his horn and seemed to be creating something.
"Gran Rey Cero." Ichigo smiled, sending a huge white Cero straight through Yhwach.
The unrelenting Cero blasts right through Yhwach!!
To Be Continued in Chapter 675: HORNS OF SALVATION II