"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.

(T/N: Hollow King's Doom Blast)

Yhwach spewed up blood as he fell to his knees, a gaping hole in his chest.

Chapter 675: HORNS OF SALVATION II

THE REVIVED BURNT-OUT FLAMES

Ichigo landed back into the Throne Room, sword in hand. He looked at Yhwach, who was now slightly recovering. He saw how he was using reishi to try and close the wound of Ichigo's 'Gran Rey Cero'.

"Well done, my child." Yhwach congratulated. "It seems your power is tremendous."

Ichigo stared at him. "I've already told you, I'm not your son."

"Hmph. No matter how many times you may try to deny it, the result is the same. But, very well. I must reward you for reaching such a power anyhow."

Yhwach reached into his back pocket. On instinct, Ichigo raised his sword in a stance and prepared himself. "This is how I'll deal with you." the King said, with gleaming eyes meeting Ichigo's own. He raised his hand to show a medallion.

"That's...!!" Ichigo immediately recognized what it was.

"Bankai..."

- In Wahrwelt Castle -

Uryu laid his back against a rock, blood streaming from the side of his head. From his left shoulder, from his right arm, from his left ankle, from his right knee. He couldn't keep this up much longer. "The Schrift that His Majesty granted me was 'B', the 'Balance'." Haschwalth mentioned, walking towards Uryu with his sword and now with a shield.

"By allocating the misfortunes that befall upon my domain, to the fortunate...I maintain harmony in the world. And..." Haschwalth raised his shield. "All misfortunes that befall me can be redirected to this Freund Schild*. You don't stand any chance, Uryu Ishida. To be honest, at this point, there isn't anything you can tell me." Haschwalth spun around his sword so that he held the blade down. "If you refuse to talk, then so be it. Your life ends here..."

(T/N: Sacrifice Shield)

"Wait!!" Uryu interrupted, still huffing. "Don't you...want to know what my Schrift is?"

"Oh, please." Haschwalth scoffed. "Don't try to delay the inevitable. If it was enough to beat me, then you would've used it already."

Uryu smiled. "It's actually the opposite. Now's a good time to use it."

"What?"

"My Schrift is...'A', the 'Antithesis'."

Suddenly, wounds appeared all over Haschwalth's body. The Sternritter stumbled a bit before kneeling on the ground. He looked up to see a standing Uryu, fully recovered.

"The 'Antithesis' is the ability to reverse events between two designated points." Uryu explained. "For example, just now, I simply reversed the events of our wounds."

"I see." Haschwalth understood and gave a smile. "What a magnificent power. It's no wonder His Majesty took an interest in you. The power to reverse events that have already taken place...perhaps you are the only one capable of challenging His Majesty's power."

"What do you mean?" Uryu asked, confused. "Can't you tell from the reiatsu? Kurosaki has Yhwach pinned down. He can rival his power."

"Oh, really. I wonder..."

Feeling worried over Haschwalth's words, Uryu immediately began to run in the direction of the Throne Room. "Where are you going?" Haschwalth questioned. Uryu didn't turn around but felt his back be inflicted with wounds and he fell down.

"Your 'Antithesis' is truly remarkable." Haschwalth praised, getting up. "But it's a poor match up to my 'Balance'. I've told you, I can allocate misfortune. All the misfortunes that occur onto me are redirected onto my 'Freund Schild'. In other words, the good fortune of you inflicting and injuring me, has rained down upon you as misfortune in the same amount."

Haschwalth relaxed and eased up a bit when his wounds suddenly disappeared. His shield ended up being cracked. "I can redirect my misfortune onto my 'Freund Schild' and it will rain down further misfortune onto you." Haschwalth finished explaining as Uryu got injured more. Still on the floor, the Last Quincy struggled and crawled. "Why don't you give up? You're a smart man. You know you can't beat me or His Majesty."

Uryu still struggled and Haschwalth had enough. He used 'Hirenkyaku' and appeared by Uryu's side. "It appears I saw you wrong. You are...exactly like those foolish humans."

Haschwalth raised his sword to completely slice Uryu in half.

"A silver rod strikes the five-fingered stone bed, Gritz!"

Suddenly, someone threw 5 ginto bottles at Uryu and encased him in a barrier. "Sorry, but, I have to ask you to leave my foolish son alone."

"You're...Ryuken Ishida." Haschwalth stared at the white-haired Quincy as he walked, nonchalantly, towards Haschwalth. "What business do you have here? Answer me."

"The answer's obvious, ain't it?" Isshin asked, behind Haschwalth, with his Zanpakuto raised.

"You're...!!" Haschwalth turned around.

"GETSUGA TENSHO!!"

Isshin swung his sword and a streak of yellow energy struck Haschwalth.

- Throne Room -

"Bankai..."

A mountain of flames erupted from Yhwach's medallion before they all disappeared. Instead of having a medallion in his hand however, he now had a Zanpakuto. It had a purple hilt, a brown oval guard and, instead of a steel, metal blade, was a charred out blade. Yhwach grinned. "This was Head Captain Yamamoto's Bankai, Zanka no Tachi*."

(T/N: Long Sword of the Remaining Flames)

Yhwach then charged at Ichigo and they clashed swords. They continued to do so for a while. With each strike, Ichigo kept wondering what 'Zanka no Tachi's powers were. Kyoraku, the current Captain of the First Division and Head Captain of the Gotei 13, never offered him any details as to what 'Zanka no Tachi's abilities are. For a solid minute, Yhwach and Ichigo kept going back and forth with their sword clashes. Ichigo kept trying to gauge what it might be and so, stayed on the defensive until he knew what 'Zanka no Tachi' could do.

"Are you curious to know?" Yhwach asked, as if reading Ichigo's mind. Ichigo got backed into a wall and Yhwach was about to stab him in the neck. Ichigo dodged and the tip touched the wall. Suddenly, the wall was completely blown away. "Zanka no Tachi, East: Kyokujitsujin*. The flames are concentrated to the tip and whatever it touches is blown apart by the flames."

(*T/N: Rising Sun Edge)

"I see." Ichigo understood. "So, in that case, I should just dodge the tip and avoid it."

Ichigo thought he knew all there was to it and swiftly appeared behind Yhwach to stab him in the back. As soon as the tip of his 'Shin Tensa Zangetsu' touched Yhwach however, Ichigo quickly backed up using 'Shunpo'.

"To think that as soon as you felt the contact, you instinctively moved back." Yhwach chuckled, turning back his head to see Ichigo's Zanpakuto's tip smoking a bit.

Instantaneously, flames were visible, coming off of Yhwach's body, surrounding him, almost like armor. "Zanka no Tachi, West: Zanjitsu Gokui*. The flames covering my body currently reach up to temperatures of 15,000,000 degrees. Think of me as the embodiment of the sun itself." Yhwach inwardly laughed as he repeated the words of the former First Division Captain and former Head Captain of the Gotei 13, Genryusai Yamamoto Shigekuni.

(*T/N: Remnant Sun Prison Garb)

- Outside Wahrwelt Castle -

"This sensation is..."

"Most likely Yhwach using the previous Head Captain's Bankai, 'Zanka no Tachi'."

"Who the hell cares about that?! All I want to know is, when the hell are we gonna slaughter that guy to pieces?!"

"Zaraki, you're acting like an idiot!! Right now, he can't find us, we have the element of surprise!!" Toshiro whispered.

"Indeed." Byakuya added.

"Peh. Who the hell cares?!" Kenpachi growled.

- In Wahrwelt Castle -

Isshin kept up his flurry of sword strikes. Haschwalth made sure to try and dodge or even reflect the strikes back with his sword.

"Hey, you're good at this!!" Isshin smiled.

"You're sluggish." Haschwalth replied.

"I guess." Isshin snickered, still keeping up his flurry of attacks. This is bad. Haschwalth began to think. He keeps pushing me back like this and I have no choice but to defend. Not only that, but unless he inflicts a strike, I won't be able to use my 'Balance' to disrupt his 'fortune'.

"Thinking deeply while in battle. That can be very deadly." Ryuken commented in a monotonous tone. He held up his bow at Haschwalth and struck him through his chest. Haschwalth quickly activated his 'Balance' and tried to inflict damage upon Ryuken. But nothing happened.

"How...?"

"'Blut Vene' is easily able to block something as powerless as that."

Isshin raised up his sword and Haschwalth summoned his Freund Schild to block it. He stepped back but using 'Shunpo', Isshin got behind him and landed a ton of slashes upon Haschwalth's back.

"Don't get cocky. I can easily transfer these wounds onto my Freund Schild." Haschwalth's back wounds disappeared instantaneously. Isshin smiled.

Suddenly, Haschwalth's 'Freund Schild' shattered into pieces.

"If I inflict so much damage that you need to redirect it to your shield, then I just need to do enough to properly that shield of yours." Isshin explained cockily.

"Don't get so arrogant, Isshin Kurosaki." Haschwalth warned.

- Throne Room -

How? My body is covered in a 15,000,000 degree heat!! It's as if I'm wearing armor made of the surface of the Sun!! Yet, why...how is he still able to inflict damage upon me?!!

Ichigo moved swiftly behind Yhwach and dealt another blow, striking him across the back.

"Is this all you got?" Ichigo smiled, mocking Yhwach.

"Not even close!!" Yhwach smiled back, refusing to show any signs of weakness. He then stabbed 'Zanka no Tachi' into the ground. "Oh, corpses, ashes of the dead scattered by this blade." Yhwach began reciting. "Lend me your power. In exchange for the pleasure of battle, defend me till your bones turn back into dust."

The ground beneath Yhwach and the Zanpakuto began breaking. "Zanka no Tachi, South: Kaka Juumanokushi Daisoujin*!!"

Springing out of the ground, black, smoldering skeletons arose, growling and seeming angered. "These are all the dead, burnt by the Head Captain's flames, revived only to serve me and kill you!!"

(*T/N: Great Burial Ranks Of The Ten Trillion Fire Dead)

The skeletons began charging at Ichigo. "Santen Kesshun!!!" Orihime summoned her triangular shield and stopped the skeletons in their tracks. "Koten Zanshun!!"

Orihime then sent out one of her Shun Shun Rikka, Tsubaki, to destroy a few of the skeletons.

Ichigo jumped up, over 'Santen Kesshun' and discharged a black 'Getsuga Tensho' which destroyed a lot of the skeletons in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, Yhwach took this opportunity to charge up 'Zanka no Tachi, North: Tenchi Kaijin*'. A move which concentrates all of 'Ryujin Jakka's flames into one sword stroke which incinerates anything it touches out of existence.

(*T/N: Heaven And Earth, End In Ashes)

Just as Ichigo was destroying a few more of the skeletons, Yhwach unleashed 'Tenchi Kaijin' which caused a huge flash of fire which incinerated the wall behind Ichigo, the 'Santen Kesshun', the rest of the skeletons and presumably, Ichigo.

The smoke cleared and Yhwach was shocked to see Ichigo still standing, as if nothing hurt him. "How...?"

"It's all over now, Yhwach." Ichigo sighed.

He began to run around Yhwach fast, creating an illusion of a thousand of him running around Yhwach. "Oh, please!!" Yhwach huffed. "A cheap trick like this? I can tell where you are by your reiatsu!!"

Yhwach stabbed an Ichigo with the tip of his blade and it burned a hole right through him. Yhwach smiled but the Ichigo he stabbed suddenly disappeared.

"Wrong one." Ichigo commented as he was above Yhwach. The King looked up to see what looked like white reiatsu gathering around Ichigo's 'Shin Tensa Zangetsu'.

A white...'Getsuga'?

"GETSUGA JIGOKUSHO*!!!"

(*Intended T/N: Moon Fang Hell Piercer)

The white 'Getsuga' was launched at Yhwach who tried to block it with 'Zanka no Tachi' but the charred blade was completely broken, which nullified the Bankai. Has he truly surpassed...Genryusai's Bankai?

Ichigo landed and summoned both his black and white-coloured 'Getsugas'. They both wrapped around his sword, creating a black and white spiral of reiatsu. "It's over. Soseiji Getsuga, Tengokutodjigoku*."

(*T/N: Twins Moon Fang, Heaven and Hell)

Ichigo discharged the combined Getsuga which completely ripped through Yhwach's body.

The Black and White Getsuga...

To Be Continued in Chapter 676: A NEW AWAKENING