One of the Soldats raised a sword. "These three are Hueco Mundo's last defence. We must preserve this world until His Majetsy comes back!! Now, kill-"
A sudden flash of yellow energy went by, knocking away many of the Soldats. "Th-This reiatsu!!" Mila Rose gasped.
"Could it be?" Sung-Sun's eyes lit up.
Apache began tearing up as a figure emerged.
"You three, you've done well."
The Tres Bestias all bowed. "W-Welcome back...Lady Harribel!!"
Harribel gave a slight smile and nodded. "Thank you, you three. You've done well in protecting this world. Now then, for starters, let's get back our Hueco Mundo!!" The Tres Bestias proceeded to then surrounded Harribel and questioned her. "How the heck did you escape? Last we saw, you were completely dragged away by their boss!!" Apache said.
"Well, I certainly took quite the beating." Harribel closed her eyes. "I regained consciousness only a few days ago. When I woke up, I was able to break out their restraints and killed the ones that came after me. I left one alive and made him tell me how to get back to here. I ended up using what he called a 'Sun Gate'. That's how I came back."
"Ah, as expected from you, My Lady!!" Mila Rose smiled, still elated over the fact that their Queen was back.
"What about their boss? The one they keep calling 'His Majesty'? Was he there?" Sung-Sun asked.
"No. Surprisingly, only the common soldiers were left at their base. Apparently, their boss and all his knights, the ones they called the 'Sternritter', went to invade Soul Society."
"Soul Society, huh?" Apache huffed. "Sheesh. I wanna say they deserve it, but..."
"The fact that they were able to completely destroy Hueco Mundo means that Soul Society must be on its knees." Mila Rose followed up.
"So in the end, the Shinigami are in the same state as us Arrancar? What a bad joke." Sung-Sun hissed. "Anyways, what will we do, Lady Harribel? Las Noches was reduced to rubble and-"
"We can always rebuild Las Noches. What's important is freeing the remaining Arrancars. There are still many about that are held captive by the invaders. Actually, come to think of it, how did you three evade capture?" Harribel asked, curious.
All three of them shifted a bit uncomfortably before Apache spoke. "We fended off a lot of them and then went after the guy in charge of the whole 'hunting other Arrancars' gig."
"We were soundly beaten, even after summoning Ayon." Sung-Sun admitted.
"If it weren't for that Shinigami showing up and the Princesa healing us, we'd be dead." Mila Rose said.
"Princesa? You mean the woman that Aizen brought from the World of the Living?" Harribel opened her eyes now.
"Yeah. Her and that orange-haired Shinigami that beat down Grimmjow and Ulquiorra showed up. It was because of them we were saved. Though in the end, I guess Grimmjow was the one who killed the guy." Apache sighed, regretting that they had to be saved by other people, their former enemies, no less.
"Orange-haired Shinigami?" So it's the one whose reiatsu was very similar to us...
"Was he strong?"
"Dunno, since I got knocked out." Apache said.
"He was. He fought with that guy in charge and kept pushing him back like it was nothing." Mila Rose confirmed.
"I see. Alright. It's clear to me now. The fact that their boss hasn't returned to make sure Hueco Mundo is trampled means he's still battling against Soul Society. And without a doubt, that orange-haired Shinigami is the one facing him. After we've freed the majority of the Arrancars, we're heading into Soul Society."
Apache's eyes lit up. "Ooh, nice thinking!! Crushing the Shinigamis and those other bastards in one move-"
Harribel shook her head. "No. We'll be helping out the Shinigami." All three were taken aback. "While traversing through Hueco Mundo, I couldn't find the reiatsus of either Neliel or Grimmjow. The most logical answer, knowing how strong those two are, is that they went off to fight against the invaders in Soul Society. We'll follow their lead."
"But why?!" Apache asked.
"Well, for starters, you three owe a debt to that orange-haired Shinigami and the Princesa, right? They saved your lives. Besides, I have a feeling that at this rate, if we don't do something to help the Shinigami, everything is going to collapse. Once we've gathered sufficient troops, we'll head into Soul Society and support the Shinigami."
Chapter 683: DARKNESS FOR ALL THREE WORLDS
- Soul Society -
"Woah. So this is Rukia's Bankai?"
Ichigo and the others watched as the whole battlefield around Rukia and Yhwach was now ice. The ground. The surrounding decimated structures. "Yes. Hakka no Togame is a Bankai that explosively releases all of the cold Rukia can produce while in a state of absolute zero. Its area of influence is quite large. However, that blast radius just now was smaller than the one she used against Äs Nödt. She probably tried controlling and refining it better." Byakuya explained.
"It is certainly a magnificent Bankai." Aizen complimented, which caused both Byakuya and Renji to glare at him.
"Anyways, if it is absolute zero, won't Yhwach have been frozen to the core?" Isshin shivered, the cold air getting to him.
"No. I can still feel a faint trace of his reiatsu. He's still alive." Ichigo confirmed.
Byakuya gripped the hilt of his blade a little tighter. "Let us go. While in a Bankai state, Rukia is immobile. If Yhwach breaks out then..."
On the battlefield, Yhwach's body looked like it was made out of ice. Rukia stood, motionless. Her looks had changed dramatically. She wore a white sleeves ankle-length kimono with lined patterns, ornate designs on the collar, edges and shoulders. Long flowing ribbons tied at the back, an ice flower present on the center of her chest and a halved ice crown on the left side of her white hair which extended to the back. Her blade became complete ice as well, becoming see through as a result.
Rukia began disengaging her Bankai and began melting the ice on her body. The ice covering her hand began cracking. Slowly, Rukia...take it easy.
Rukia listened to the voice of Sode no Shirayuki in her head and began taking it slower. At this point, the ice covering the Quincy King began cracking and he soon broke out, his dark matter spilling all around him. "Not bad!! Not bad at all, Rukia Kuchiki. But my movements cannot be slowed by ice like this!!!" The dark matter on the icy ground turned into giant spikes that charged at Rukia, who was still melting the largely remaining ice.
"Goukei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Cherry blossoms blocked the spikes' attack and surrounded Yhwach at all angles. Yhwach batted them away as Ichigo landed, a white energy wrapped around his blade. "Getsuga Jigokusho!!!" He swung and pushed Yhwach back a bit with the discharged white 'Getsuga'. He looked back at Rukia who was now at least, 70% done, with melting her Bankai.
"Rukia, after releasing all that energy at once, while still being injured...you must be tired out." Ichigo said. "Stay back and heal yourself. If you can, find Ginjo and Tsukishima and patch them up too. Got it?"
Rukia was gonna argue but stopped as she realised that she wouldn't be able to keep up with the fight with the amount of energy she had left in her.
"Got it." Rukia used shunpo to find Ginjo and Tsukishima and began healing herself with kido.
Meanwhile, Isshin and Aizen appeared behind Yhwach and brought down their swords. Spikes extended from his back that pushed the two back. "Hado 88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho*!!"
(*T/N: Dragon Strike Heaven-Shaking Lightning Cannon)
From Aizen's left palm, blasted a huge wave of spiritual and electrical energy. Yhwach created a wall with his dark matter that blocked the attack. "Aizen. I can't believe you. Wasn't unifying against a common enemy the actions of the losers that you so detested?!" Yhwach grinned. Ichigo took this opportunity to wrap his black 'Getsuga' around his blade and went for Yhwach who grabbed the blade.
"Even if I can't see the future, your moves are as predictable as ever, Ichigo!!!" Yhwach mentioned. Ichigo then used his free left hand and grabbed Yhwach's head. A faint red light appeared as Yhwach realised what it was. Cero!!
A giant plume of smoke appeared as both Yhwach and Ichigo moved away, the move proving to be ineffective as Yhwach dodged at the last moment. Yhwach then created a blade made out of the dark matter and cut off Ichigo's horn that was sticking out of the left side of his head.
Using Sonido, Ichigo got behind Yhwach. Everyone followed suit with Shunpo. Isshin and Aizen arrived at the front, Byakuya sent Senbonzakura attacking at the side and Renji was in the air. They all brought their blades down upon him but Yhwach created giant pillars of darkness around him that pushed back the warriors.
"No matter what you do, it won't work!! I am-"
Yhwach got cut off as a blade was pierced through his shoulder. "Won't work? Then what the fuck do you call this?!" Kenpachi grinned. He brought his sword up, taking it out of Yhwach's shoulder, creating a gape. Yhwach stuck back together and Kenpachi instinctively moved back as the darkness began creeping up on him.
However, a strand of darkness latched on and wrapped all the way around Kenpachi's left leg, stopping at below the knee. It began tightening and tightening until Kenpachi's left leg was wrenched off. Kenpachi gritted his teeth as blood spurt from his missing limb and he landed back on one knee. "Kenpachi Zaraki. You were ranked second in my Special War Potentials because of your limitless fighting strength. It seems like that all ends here."
Instead of the reaction Yhwach expected, Kenpachi started laughing. "No right arm and no left leg. This should be a big enough handicap for you." Kenpachi raised his sword. "Swallow, Nozarashi." His blade quickly transformed into its shikai form.
Kenpachi charged at Yhwach and horizontally sliced with his giant axe/cleaver hybrid. Yhwach easily stopped the attack and shattered some of the blade. "I told you: this is your limit, Kenpachi Zaraki!!!" Yhwach jumped up with his blade and like Kenpachi earlier, swung horizontally. The attack was blocked by the petals of Senbonzakura which also pushed Kenpachi back.
"BANKAI!! SOUOU ZABIMARU*!!!" Renji flung himself into the air and performed Bankai. His blade transformed into a giant smokescreen and Renji came out with his Bankai. On his right hand was the top portion of a snake's skull with a sword extending out of it and cowl of red fur at its base. A long, bony tail juts out of the back of the skull and trails around him, wrapping around his waist. Additional bone-like cords hang from his waist. He also has pair of pauldrons and a large cowl of green fur extending out and hanging off of his left shoulder.
(*T/N: Twin Kings Snake Tail)
"HIHIOU*!!"
(*T/N: Baboon King)
From the cowl of green fur, it extends into a large arm and a skeletal hand appears too. Following the movement of Renji's left hand, the giant hand aimed to slam down at Yhwach who countered by kicking back the hand with a lot of force, pushing Renji back. "Now then..."
Yhwach immediately sensed the presence of another and looks to see Ryuken, standing near the open gate with his bow drawn, pointing at Yhwach. "Ryuken. If you're here, Uryu is also coming, isn't he? Let me guess, you've come to get revenge for Katagiri. Try all you want but you won't succeed."
Ryuken stayed silent. Ichigo, Isshin and Aizen surrounded Yhwach while Ryuken, Byakuya and Renji stayed more back to prepare for longer ranged attacks. To this, Yhwach couldn't help but keep smiling. "Very well!! All of you, come and be cut down by me!!!" Yhwach proclaimed as he created another sword of darkness.
Six-on-one!!! The ultimate clash with the King of the Quincy begins!!
To Be Continued in Chapter 684: Hope For All Three Worlds