Chapter 676: A NEW AWAKENING
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, Tentodjigoku*."
(*T/N: Twins Moon Fang, Heaven and Hell)
Ichigo discharged the combined Getsuga which completely ripped through Yhwach's body. Yhwach's blood splattered all over the floor as the giant gash that ran across his left shoulder all the way to his right hip kept opening up to the point where Yhwach was almost split in half.Impossible...I...lost?
Yhwach's seemingly lifeless and halved body fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Ichigo kept huffing and huffing, completely out of breath. "I won...I WON!!!" Ichigo yelled out. Finally, it was all over!! No more bloodshed. No more fighting. He had defeated the King of the Quincy and now... no more lives of the Shinigami were in danger. The World of the Living... the Soul Society...Hueco Mundo...they were all safe now...
"Not yet...I haven't been defeated yet... my son."
- A moment earlier, in Wahrwelt Castle -
Haschwalth stopped in his tracks and looked directly up at the ceiling where His Majesty's Throne Room was located. "His Majesty...I can't feel his reiatsu anymore!" he spoke aloud, panic taking hold. Could Ichigo Kurosaki have truly killed Yhwach? Such a question was simply a scenario based in the realm of impossibility for Haschwalth. To him, Yhwach was a man that should be unbeatable.
"Where do you think you're looking at, eh?"
Isshin swung his Zanpakuto and Haschwalth narrowly missed the blade. He was going to go straight to the Throne Room before feeling...it.
"It seems it's almost time..." Haschwalth muttered.
"Time? For what?" Isshin questioned, still in a stance. The barrier around Uryu began to dissolve. The Quincy blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. He got up, trickles of blood coming down.
"Ryuken...Kurosaki's father? Why are you-"
"Isn't it obvious? We came because all of you messed up badly by letting the Soul King die." Ryuken answered.
"Well that's-"
"Enough!!" Ryuken snarled, his voice so easily contrasting his usual calm attitude. "It's one thing for you to talk back like that to your own father. It's another for you to try and defend yourself after youletthe Soul King die!! If you don't want me to put you down, then shut up, stand up and fight!!"
Uryu was left speechless. His father was so calm, so collected. He presumed his father wouldn't even bat an eye even if Uryu was killed in front of him. "Yikes, tough love, huh?" Isshin commented.
- Outside Wahrwelt Castle -
Kenpachi laughed wildly, spinning Nozarashi in the air, spots of blood still dropping out what's left of his left arm. "Hado #58, Tenran!!" Izuru got behind the goliath and used 'Tenran' to expose his skeletal back, usually covered by his spirit energy.
"Hyorinmaru!!!"
"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, Ougi: Ikka Senjinka."
"GET THE HELL OUT MY WAY!!!!!!!"
Thousands of pink-coloured swords along with a massive white ice dragon collided with Gerard's back. Kenpachi brashly swung Nozarashi and split the 'Miracle' in half.
- Inside Wahrwelt Castle, near Yhwach's Throne Room -
"Brazo Izquierda del Diablo*."
(*Left Arm of the Devil)
Chad slammed his left fist right through the golem and pinned it against the wall. A giant skull shape was suddenly left carved into the wall after the golem was crushed.
Ganju breathed a sigh of relief and sat back on one of the golems. "That's the last of 'em, eh!! I bet you're grateful I teamed up with you, Chad!!"
"Mhm." Chad nodded, not really listening.
"Hey, what is it? We cleared the way back. Now all that's left is for Ichigo to come, right?"
"Yeah but...he should be done. Yhwach's reiatsu has disappeared. So what's-"
Chad's musing was cut off as they both felt a massive surge of power. "W-What is this?!"
- In another part of Wahrwelt Castle -
"What is-" Uryu exclaimed.
Haschwalth smirked. "It seems His Majesty has finally gotten control over it. The Soul King's Right Hand, that is."
- Throne Room -
Ichigo's eyes widened as he saw the scene before him. A black sludge seem to come out of Yhwach's body. It put together the halved Yhwach and slowly began to surround him. The black sludge was now on Yhwach's right arm, left leg and the right quarter of his face.
Within that black sludge, yellow eyes opened up. "How truly marvelous your Bankai is, Ichigo!! But, compared to this, it's child's play!!" Yhwach laughed before stretching out his arms. A faint blue ring appeared in front of each hand.
- Where Uryu Is -
A blue pillar engulfed Haschwalth. The Sternritter choked as he felt his whole power be taken from his body. "Auswahlen!!" Ryuken recognised the damned technique.
The blue light vanished and Haschwalth laid on the ground, on his back. He looked over at Uryu's face and was a bit taken aback by his expression. "What is that? Pity? Don't need it. You might think I'd feel betrayed...but it's the exact opposite. The fact that...His Majesty...saw it fitting...to siphon my power away...and not yours...proves...that in the end...I truly am the only one necessary for...His Majesty..."
Uryu nodded. "I see."
"Let's go." Ryuken ordered, moving away. Isshin sheathed his sword.
"Wait." Haschwalth wheezed. "Uryu Ishida...before you go...transfer your wounds onto me. I am about to die...whether or not I have a few wounds on me won't change that outcome."
Uryu stayed still, stunned. "Why?" he asked. "Earlier, we both tried to earnestly kill each other. So why...?"
"You said it yourself. You put everything you had on those scales of yours. Because if you merely followed others...while being lost and adrift yourself...without ever truly weighing your desicion and consequence...then you may just come to regret everything." Haschwalth recounted, consciously comparing himself to Uryu while saying so.
"In light of that, weigh this as well. Put it all on your scales...Uryu Ishida. You must go...and save your friends!!"
Uryu gulped. He reaffirmed his resolve before activating his 'Antithesis'. All the wounds he had endured were suddenly gone and they appeared exactly on Haschwalth's body...as he died.
Uryu walked over to Ryuken and Isshin. "Ryuken, Yhwach is-"
"Most likely, gaining power almost on par with the Soul King." Ryuken finished it off.
"Exactly. Knowing the kind of man you are, you probably knew this would happen. And you're not one to appear on the battlefield without a plan. So..."
Ryuken sighed, annoyed and impressed at his son's observations. He reached into his inner pocket and brought out a silver arrowhead. "When 'Auswahlen' is used upon a Quincy, a silver blood clot forms in their heart. I forged this arrowhead from a silver blood clot from your mother. I heard Souken say that, if it is fired and pierces the one who activated the 'Auswahlen' then for a little while, his powers can be surpressed. This is how we'll stop Yhwach."
He placed it in Uryu's hand. "The one to fire this will be you."
- Outside Wahrwelt Castle -
The four Shinigamis stared as the light particles that formed Gerard's body disappeared and left behind a giant skeleton. "This giant source of power we're feeling...it's most likely Yhwach." Byakuya said.
"Damn it. Let's go and..." Toshiro huffed before fainting.
"Captain!!" Izuru exclaimed.
"Hmph." Kenpachi grunted.
"It seems he overexerted himself. Kira, patch him up. Me and the baboon will go to the castle."
"Roger."
"Who the hell do you think you're calling a baboon?"
"Did I stutter?"
- Throne Room -
"Getsuga Tensho!!!" Ichigo wrapped his black Getsuga around his blade, charging at Yhwach. Yhwach summoned a blade made of reishi and clashed with Ichigo. The clashing of reiatsu was too heavy and Orihime cast 'Santen Kesshun' to protect herself.
Ichigo got pushed back and skidded across the floor. "Now then," Yhwach started, his black sludge encroaching the floor and walls around him. "Let me show you true despair, Ichigo."
Is all hope lost?
To Be Continued in Chapter 677: HORNS OF SALVATION III