Chad and Geld felt a little nervous at the shape of Bulu's zanpakuto, as well as the power it was emitting.
"Hmm. At least the dome that was weakening us is gone." said Geld.
"True, but now he is more powerful than before. I never would have guessed that someone from the 11th division would have a bankai." said Chad.
"Oh, I'm not like that coward Ikkaku who prefers to hide it from everyone. As Captain Zaraki has taught us, in a battle you have to give it your all." began Bulu before grabbing his weapon with both hands. "And when I say 'all', I mean ALL." said Bulu before slamming the hammer into the ground, launching a wave that was shattering the ground in its path.
Due to the speed of the wave of destruction, Chad and Geld could do nothing but raise their arms in an X-shape to try to protect themselves, but although they managed to do so a little, they ended up being dragged far backwards.
By the time they looked up, they saw Bulu leap towards them as he quickly swung his hammer before swinging it vertically towards them.
Chad and Geld quickly dodged out of the way to avoid the hammer's impact zone, where an explosion occurred that sent them backwards.
Immediately, Chad began to emit energy from his right shoulder.
"El Directo!" shouted Chad throwing his fist forward, but Bulu reacted to it by slamming his hammer into his fist, causing an explosion that sent Chad crashing into a wall.
Geld was the next to launch himself into the attack trying to hit him with his fists, but Bulu blocked every blow with the club of his hammer and then, swung it at him.
Fortunately, Geld stepped back to avoid the hammer blow, but the moment the spearhead stopped in front of him, Bulu gave him a toothy grin before thrusting his weapon forward, causing the spearhead to strike Geld's chest armor.
That caused an electric blast to suddenly happen, shattering Geld's chest armor, much to his horror, which Bulu took advantage of to hit him with his hammer, sending him crashing into another wall.
Shortly after that, Chad and Geld began to get up with groans of pain and exertion.
"Would you mind doing me a little favor?" asked Bulu, much to the confusion of the other two.
"What kind of favor?" asked Chad.
"Oh, it's nothing complicated." began Bulu before setting about spinning his hammer above his head like a helicopter propeller as he went about emitting electricity. "I only ask that you don't die from this." said Bulu before slamming his hammer hard into the ground.
Suddenly, several lightnings erupted from the impact zone, striking several areas around and at a very high speed.
Chad and Geld started to move from one side to the other quickly to avoid the lightnings, but it turned out to be more complicated than they thought and in the end, a couple of lightnings struck close to them, causing strong explosions that knocked them down.
By then, the electrical attack was over and the result was that the street was completely shattered, as well as Chad and Geld who were lying on the ground and hurt.
"Good. Looks like you aren't dead yet. That's good. In the end, though, I'll kill you. I just hope to find strong opponents after you and if I have to kill cockroaches to find them, I will." said Bulu with his toothy grin of madness.
Suddenly, Chad and Geld began to tremble as they slowly rose to their feet with groans of pain and exertion.
"If you're going to do that, then, we won't let you through." said Geld before shedding all his armor.
"Even if you wreck our bodies, you won't wreck our spirits that we will use to protect the people of this city from guys like you." said Chad.
"Nice words, but as we say in the 11th division, things are shown by deeds, not words." began Bulu before grabbing his hammer that emitted electricity. "So come to me and show me what you can do in your state!"
"With great pleasure." said Geld before quickly charging towards the evil shinigami, who swung his hammer towards him, but Geld dodged it before starting to throw swift punches.
Unfortunately, Bulu dodged and blocked all of his blows before throwing his own, hitting the orc in the chest and pushing him back.
Bulu prepared to throw another punch when he suddenly realized that some sort of dark entity had latched onto his wrist with its mouth.
"What the hell…?" asked Bulu as he watched as the hand the entity was hooked on was corroding.
Not only there, but more entities had latched onto his other limbs, causing him to start groaning in pain as he stumbled backwards.
"Your stamina is impressive, but it can't do anything against corrosion." said Geld as several entities came out of his body like snakes.
"Hehehehe. You think this will stop me, I just have to take you down before I lose control of my own body!" said Bulu grabbing his hammer before launching himself towards the orc, who quickly dodged out of the way to avoid a hammer blow that set off an explosion.
It was then that Chad emerged from the smoke caused by the explosion and Bulu noticed that the fullbringer's left arm had transformed, having obtained a white skin with a dark red line.
"Brazo Izquierdo del Diablo!" shouted Chad before he started throwing punches non-stop and due to the sudden attack, Bulu couldn't dodge them and ended up receiving them directly.
After a right hook, before Bulu went to recover, Chad closed his left fist while charging it with electricity.
"La Muerte!" shouted Chad slamming hard into the evil shinigami, who let out a loud gasp before flying off backwards, having lost his weapon in the process.
Wasting no time, Geld grabbed Chad and threw him towards Bulu before running off to catch up to them and then jumping just as he and Chad were on top of Bulu.
Before Bulu could react, they both threw their fists at him, hitting him with all their might and sending him crashing to the ground, generating an explosion of smoke in the process.
By the time the smoke cleared, Bulu was seen lying in the center of a crater and his arms and legs had dead skin due to Geld's corrosive entities.
With a small groan, he opened his eyes and saw Chad and Geld standing over him.
Despite their situation, Bulu gave them the same smile he's been having all along.
"You finally made it. I can't move anymore. Go ahead and finish me off and take the victory." said Bulu dropping his head against the ground.
"Since you've accepted your death like a warrior, I'll smash your head in one blow." began Geld before clasping his hands together and raising them. "Any last words?"
"Yes. The day you die, be ready, because I will be on the other side waiting for you!" said Bulu.
The moment he finished saying that, Geld swiftly brought his fists down and slammed them against Bulu's head, crushing it to the point where it shattered it completely, creating a bloodstain on the ground.
With everything finished, Chad dropped to one knee as his arms returned to normal.
"Are you okay?" asked Geld.
"A little bit. That guy was hitting pretty hard. *Cough*" said Chad letting out a little blood in a cough.
"I'll take you to the infirmary for treatment." said Geld.
"No. I'll go by myself, you go help the others." said Chad as he stood up.
"Don't talk nonsense. I'm hurting too from the beatings I've been taking even with the armor. Besides…" began Geld before looking to the horizon. "I'm sure the others will be fine."
"Heh. Yeah, I am too." said Chad with a smile, as he trusted his friends and those with them.
"Be careful, Mr. Hakuro. When a shinigami unleashes his bankai, he becomes much more powerful." said Renji.
"So I've heard. Fortunately, we no longer have the problem of the dome that reduced our power." said Hakuro.
"While it is true that your power will no longer be reduced, that doesn't mean you are no longer in trouble." said Vighor before swinging his axe, launching a wave of wind.
The two swordsmen had to duck quickly to avoid the wave that cleanly cut through several buildings on the way.
The next instant, Vighor appeared in front of them via shunpo and swung his axe at them with murderous intent.
Hakuro quickly drew his sword to block the attack, but the force put into the swing ended up sending him backwards, although he managed to land on his feet.
Renji was able to escape the swing and when he appeared elsewhere, he threw his whip sword towards him, thinking that he wouldn't be able to swing it perfectly due to its size and possible weight.
However, he turned out to be wrong, as Vighor was able to quickly turn and use his oversized axe to repel Renji's sword, much to his surprise.
Soon after, Vighor launched another wave of cutting wind, forcing Renji to move out of the way to avoid it, but then Vighor appeared at his side via shunpo and hit him hard with his axe, sending him to the ground with a thud.
"Now that I have unleashed my bankai, you have no chance of defeating me." said Vighor.
"You seem to rely a lot on your weapon." said Hakuro.
"I do. I've been training for a long time to be able to unlock it. Which shows how powerful I am." said Vighor.
That's when they heard a chuckle and both turned their gaze to the same spot to see Renji getting up as he walked away laughing.
"Did it really take you long to unlock it? That's too bad." said Renji.
"Why do you say that?" asked Vighor.
"Because, unlike you, it took me less than a week to do it." began Renji managing to place his zanpakuto in front of him. "BANKAI!" shouted Renji as an explosion went off.
By the time the smoke cleared, Renji was revealed with an entirely new weapon.
His sword had become a giant snake-like skeleton whose cervicals were similar to shikai blades, plus a red mane on its head.
Renji also got a new look, as he now had a sort of baboon skin shoulder guard that extended to the wrist of the hand that carried the sword and a baboon skull imprinted on the side of his left shoulder.
"Hihio Zabimaru!" shouted Renji as his zanpakuto was coiled around him and with its head raised, like a real snake.
"Mmm. Impressive. I can feel the enormous power it gives off." began Hakuro observing the vice-captain's bankai. "Though I have a feeling there's more to it."
"I admit that while I knew about your bankai, I wasn't expecting that specific information, but while you were rushing to unlock it, I was perfecting it during that time." said Vighor.
"On that I agree with him. A good sword takes time to make properly. If you make it in a hurry, you can only wait for it to break." said Hakuro like a wise master.
"Whose side are you on? I may have unlocked my bankai earlier than expected, but I've had enough time and fights to be able to learn how to wield it properly. Like this! Hikotsu Taiho!" shouted Renji causing the snake head to open its mouth, where it formed a sphere of red energy that shot out in the form of beam.
By the time the beam was about to hit Vighor, he raised his axe and brought it down hard, managing to cut the beam that passed through both his sides until it was over.
Needless to say, Renji was surprised to see that his attack had been easily blocked.
Soon after, Vighor launched waves of cutting wind in a swift manner, forcing Renji to use shunpo to escape from the affected area.
When he appeared to the side, he sent the snakehead towards him with the intention of being devoured by it, but Vighor jumped to the side to avoid it.
However, the snakehead began to follow him back and forth until then, Renji appeared at Vighor's side by shunpo and tried to punch him, but Vighor easily avoided it before striking him with the guard of his axe, driving the spikes he had into him.
Renji let out a groan of pain because of it and despite that, he directed the snake head towards the evil shinigami, but he used shunpo to escape quickly.
After appearing elsewhere, Renji directed the snake head towards him, but before it reached him, Vighor hit him with his axe, sending the head crashing into a building.
Before Renji could retrieve his weapon, Vighor appeared at his side and threw a punch that knocked him down.
Suddenly, Hakuro stood in front of Vighor and tried to attack him with his sword, but Vighor blocked the attack with his axe.
The next instant, the two began a weapon duel and despite the size of the axe, Vighor was able to keep up with Hakuro, being able to block every attack of his.
Finally, the duel ended when Vighor found a small opening and used it to attempt to perform a vertical slash upwards.
Hakuro was able to throw his head back to avoid the axe, though a few hairs in his beard were cut off, not to mention the force of the wind resulting from that move pushed him backwards aggressively and though he was able to land on his feet, he had to put pressure on his feet and drive his sword into the ground to avoid going any further.
"Even with the dome destroyed you can't do much against me. This combat is about to end with your defeat." said Vighor.
"Of that nothing."
Vighor was slightly shocked when he saw Renji stand up while holding his abdomen area due to the wound caused by the axe guard attack.
"No way will I let this fight end like this." said Renji.
"Neither will I. I failed to protect the people of this city once and I don't plan to make that mistake again." said Hakuro remembering the first attack of the Falmuth Empire and his fight against that summoned one.
"Well I'm afraid it will happen again. You are nothing in front of my power." said Vighor.
"That's what you think, but… have you even seen the extent of my power?" asked Hakuro before he was enveloped in a sinister dark aura and then, a third eye opened on his forehead.
Needless to say, Vighor and Renji were very surprised, both at the sight of that eye and the power the elder kijin was emitting at that moment.
"You underestimate me, old man. I'm not going down that easily." said Vighor.
"No. It's you who underestimates me." said Hakuro before quickly disappearing and appearing in less than a second in front of the evil shinigami.
Vighor had to react quickly as Hakuro began to launch sword attacks at an overwhelming speed.
He was going so fast that Vighor couldn't even block all the attacks, so he was receiving small cuts all over his body, even on his face.
Renji couldn't help but stare wide-eyed when he saw the attack speed of the older kijin.
In fact, he came to wonder if he could really overtake his captain despite the skill of his zanpakuto.
Hakuro and Vighor continued their duel until, in the end, Vighor decided to use shunpo to get some distance.
"Damn you. How come you still have so much power after what happened with the dome?" asked Vighor.
"Again, you underestimate me." said Hakuro, to the frustration of the evil shinigami, who launched a wave of cutting wind, but then, as if everything was moving in slow motion, Hakuro waited until the wave was very close to him and then easily moved out of the way.
Vighor was shocked by it, something Renji took advantage of to attack him with his zanpakuto.
"Higa Zekko!" shouted Renji causing the segments that formed the weapon to separate, showing that they were still connected by a thick rope of energy.
The segments were placed on top of Vighor, who took notice and before he could act or think of how to escape, the segments fell towards him as they wrapped themselves in red energy to form needles that quickly stabbed into him before they exploded.
By the time the smoke from the explosion cleared, Vighor was seen standing, but injured and breathing heavily.
"Da… Da… Damn you!" exclaimed Vighor before slamming his axe into the ground, generating a destructive wave that traveled towards the vice-captain and the older kijin, who quickly moved out of the way.
Vighor began swinging his axe back and forth, launching waves of wind that were destroying everything they touched, as he already only cared about finishing off his opponents without thinking about who or what was in between, forcing Renji and Hakuro to quickly move back and forth to avoid the attacks.
"You wretches! How dare you stand in our way?! All we want is to bring about a better society! Where everyone can be happy! Don't you understand this?!" asked Vighor having lost his patience.
Suddenly, Zabimaru's segments detached and placed themselves around Vighor before a thread of energy formed between the segments and then, Vighor found himself unable to move, much to his frustration as he tried to free himself with his own strength.
"I understand perfectly." began Renji appearing in front of the evil shinigami. "But the path you are following isn't the right one. Just look around you. Your ambition has caused destruction in this city and you were planning to harm civilians. If that's the way you have of doing things, then I'd rather stick with the current system for another 1000 years."
"You…" began Vighor snarling in rage before he finally managed to break free of the bindings with a scream of exertion before he then lunged full speed at him with his axe ready to kill. "DIE!"
It was then that Hakuro appeared between them with his sword sheathed.
"Crestwater Slash!" shouted Hakuro swinging the sword faster than normal.
From Vighor's point of view, he watched in slow motion as the sword approached his neck without him being able to react.
"What… is that… monstrous… speed?" asked Vighor in his mind before the sword decapitated him completely.
As his body fell to the ground, his head flew off until, as he fell, Hakuro caught him by the top of his hand.
"Every action has its consequences. I hope wherever you go, you can come to understand it." said Hakuro.
Vighor's eyes widened from sheer shock and his mouth opened in an attempt to scream in pure pain, but it never came and his life was completely extinguished.
Even though Renji didn't like that method, he knew that, being that they were in a city with its rules, he had to accept it.
"Good. Now that that's settled, let's go to the others." said Renji about to take a step, only to end up kneeling on the ground and holding his bloody abdomen with a groan of pain.
"You're not going anywhere, Vice-Captain Abarai." began Hakuro as he threw Vighor's head to the ground. "In your condition, you can't do any more. I'd better take you to the infirmary."
"But… the others…" said Renji trying to excuse himself.
"Don't you think the others can handle theirs?" asked Hakuro.
That question made the vice-captain's eyes widen at the compression.
He knew his friends perfectly well and knew what they were capable of, especially Rukia and Ichigo and if they and the others had overcome various things, they could overcome that as well.
"Yeah, you're right." said Renji with a smile.
"Impossible!" said Rukia in shock.
"What's wrong?" asked Souei.
"That bankai… it looks just like Captain Komamura's!" said Rukia.
"Well, yes. If I'm being honest, I was shocked too when I unlocked it. You know? I can't wait to see that flea dog's face when he sees it. Being killed by someone with a bankai similar to his. Some irony, don't you think?" asked Kailung with a smile.
"You won't do anything to him!" said Rukia angrily at the humanoid bull's comment.
"That's right. Let's stop you right now." said Souei readying his swords.
"Well, let's see what my friend has to say about that." said Kailung before moving to attack, with the jade minotaur copying his movements.
The giant jade minotaur swiftly swung down one of its swords with intent to crush them, but they moved out of the way in time.
Rukia and Souei landed on the minotaur's arm and ran over it, which Kailung noticed, so he moved to wipe his arm, a gesture the jade minotaur mimicked.
Luckily, the two quickly moved out of the way and got off the jade minotaur.
"It seems that being mimics Kailung's movements." said Souei.
"Just like Captain Komamura's bankai. Which means that if we want to defeat that giant, we must finish him off first." said Rukia before she and the kijin ninja launched themselves towards the humanoid bull.
"Do you think I didn't have your intention in mind?" asked Kailung before making the jade minotaur attack with its swords.
Rukia and Souei started to move back and forth to avoid the attacks of the jade minotaur that proved to be very fast despite its size.
Souei created several clones and while they distracted the jade minotaur, the original one lunged towards the humanoid bull.
However, just as he was very close to him with his swords ready to kill, Kailung, with a cocky grin, swiftly swung an arm, causing Souei's eyes to widen in horror as the jade minotaur's arm suddenly struck him, sending him crashing into a building.
"Mr. Souei!" exclaimed Rukia with concern.
"You should worry about yourself." said Kailung.
Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Rukia and she looked up to be horrified when she saw a punch from the jade minotaur land on her.
She had to use shunpo to escape from the area affected by the impact of the punch.
The moment Rukia appeared elsewhere, she jabbed her zanpakuto at four points in a semicircular line in front of her, from which ice particles were emitted as Rukia took position.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" shouted Rukia releasing a large avalanche of cold air that headed towards the humanoid bull, but then, he made the jade minotaur cross its swords in front of him as a shield that protected him from the ice avalanche, though it froze in the process.
Soon after, however, the jade minotaur broke through the ice covering the swords and took position, much to the vice-captain's shock.
"That trick won't work twice." said Kailung before swinging his arms.
That caused, before Rukia could react, an arm of the jade minotaur to strike her hard, sending her crashing into a building.
"Now, for the final blow…" began Kailung preparing the arm for the giant minotaur to strike the vice-captain who was getting up with groans of effort and pain.
Suddenly, several threads wrapped around the humanoid bull's arm, preventing him from moving it, much to his surprise as he turned his head to the side to see Souei restraining them with his threads.
"Now that the dome is gone. Our strength can go back to what it was before." said Souei.
"True, but mine isn't like it used to be." said Kailung before moving a foot.
Souei felt something incoming and had to unravel the strings to move out of the way in time to dodge a kick from the humanoid bull.
Souei backed up until he was next to Rukia.
Kailung let out a snort along with a wicked grin before raising both of her arms, causing the jade minotaur to do so as well.
The vice-captain and the kijin ninja's eyes widened in pure fear as the jade minotaur swiftly swung its swords down towards them.
Fortunately, they were able to escape the impact zone, but the impact caused a loud explosion to hit them, sending them flying as a smokescreen was created.
By the time all the smoke cleared, Rukia was seen lying on the ground while Souei was hunched over and breathing a bit heavily.
"Congratulations, you survived, but I'm sorry to tell you it won't be for long. Although, if it's any consolation, you won't be here to watch the people of this city die." said Kailung.
In a small burst of anger, Souei threw one of his swords at a very high speed.
Kailung was surprised at that before placing the jade minotaur's arm in the way, causing the sword to hit him hard in place and bounce off.
In the next instant, Kailung let out a small groan of pain, something the kijin ninja noticed.
"So you still want to fight, huh?" asked Kailung.
"Of course I will!" began Rukia as she rose to her feet with groans of pain and exertion. "I, Rukia Kuchiki, vice-captain of the 13th division, will do everything in my power to protect, not only the Soul Society and the human world, but also this city and all its inhabitants!"
"Why are you bothering? As I said before, this isn't our world, nor our people. You shouldn't care what happens to them." said Kailung.
"That may be, but… even though we came from another world, even though we were humans, they all welcomed us, welcomed us without any problems and treated us kindly, so I plan to return the gesture by protecting them from you." stated Rukia with determination.
Needless to say, Souei was slightly surprised to hear that someone of high rank from a world outside his own would want to protect the city and its inhabitants.
"Very well. If you want to fight for them so badly, then, I'll make sure you die for them." said Kailung before swinging one of his swords, which the jade minotaur mimicked, but they avoided him by leaping towards the roof of a building.
"Just now, when I hit the giant, he reacted to it too" said Souei remembering what happened before.
"That means that just as it mimics his every move, he also feels the damage it takes." said Rukia.
"Dealing with a jade being, there will be no need to hold back." said Souei.
With nothing more to say, the two quickly rushed towards the enemy.
Kailung tried to stab them with the jade minotaur's sword, but they jumped away from danger and landed on the jade minotaur's arm before quickly setting about running over it until they reached the body.
Once they arrived, they started using their speed techniques to move back and forth while making cuts on it, causing Kailung to groan a little from the pain due to the damage they caused to his summoning.
Souei created a clone that grabbed him and spun him around before launching him towards the jade minotaur's head, who he kicked directly under the jaw, causing both his and Kailung's head to tilt upwards.
Rukia used shunpo to appear over the jade minotaur's snout and thrust her sword into it hard enough to pierce through the hard coat.
"Juhaku!" shouted Rukia creating a path of ice that reached the jade minotaur's eyes, covering them with ice, which made Kailung scream in pain while bringing his hands to his eyes, which the jade minotaur mimicked.
Taking advantage of this, the two rushed towards the humanoid bull and began to attack him with their swords, creating cuts all over his body.
In the process, Souei retrieved the sword he threw earlier and appeared in front of the humanoid bull with his armored arms in X position.
Before Kailung could react, Souei uncrossed his arms and then, Kailung's horns fell to the ground, much to his shock.
Rukia saw her chance and launched herself at full speed towards him with the intention of finishing it all.
Meanwhile, Kailung's shock was turning to anger as he was snorting more frequently.
Just as Rukia was half a distance away from him, Kailung let out a bellow of pure anger before slamming the ground swiftly, causing the jade minotaur's fist to hit the ground between him and the vice-captain.
CRAC
That not only caused a ripple that sent the ninja kijin and the vice-captain flying, but just before she was sent backwards, due to how close Rukia was to the jade fist, her sword impacted on it and consequently shattered into pieces, to her sheer horror.
Before she could go any further, Kailung appeared in front of her via shunpo and swung one of his jade swords at her, stabbing it into her shoulder in the process, making her scream in pain as she was lifted above the ground.
"You know what? I was planning to go after my former captain first, but after this, I think I'll go after your brother first and then I'll go after your dear captain so they can both meet you in hell." said Kailung.
"I… won't… let… you… get… close… to my brother…" said Rukia as she slowly raised her broken zanpakuto until she had it pointed at the humanoid bull.
"Really? Despite the state of your zanpakuto you're going to keep fighting? How cute." said Kailung with a smirk.
"San no mai, Shirafune!" shouted Rukia causing moisture in the air to gather from the missing tip of her zanpakuto, creating a blade of ice in the process.
In the next instant, the blade had fully repaired itself as it pierced the humanoid bull's shoulder and soon after, the area around the stabbed area was rapidly freezing.
Kailung had been paralyzed from shock as the sword pierced his shoulder until he noticed the expanding ice, so he let out a cry of surprise as he threw Rukia, along with her sword, to the ground, managing to stop the ice from expanding.
Kailung breathed heavily as he held the wound created by the vice-captain's sword with his hand before sending her a death glare.
"I'll kill you… I swear I'll kill you… I…" began Kailung having lost his sanity when he suddenly stopped quickly as Souei had moved behind him and held his sword very close to his neck.
"You won't. Because the only one who will die here… is you." said Souei.
Before Kailung could give a last word, Souei stretched his arm to the side, showing that his sword was stained with blood.
Soon after, Kailung fell to his knees before falling to the ground dead, leaving a pool of blood under his corpse.
After that, Souei approached Rukia and picked her up bridal style before he started walking.
Rukia let out a groan before opening her eyes slightly.
"Is it… over?" asked Rukia weakly.
"Yes, it has. Save your strength. You'll be with someone to treat your wounds shortly." said Souei.
"Thank you." said Rukia.
Deep down, she may have wanted to go see if the others were okay despite her injuries, but she knew they would be angry if they saw her in her state or if something happened to her in her attempt to reach them, so, she simply closed her eyes and smiled, trusting that her friends would be by her side when she opened them.
Orihime and Shion became a little nervous at the powerful and menacing form of Kasumi, who had been empowered thanks to the accumulated power of the dome.
"Hey. I don't feel my strength diminishing anymore." said Shion looking at her own hand as she opened and closed it.
"It must be because they removed the dome when she cast that spell." said Orihime deducing what happened.
"That's right and now our path to the goal will be easier." said Kasumi.
"Not as long as we are here to stop you." said Shion.
"I know and that's why… I'm going to eliminate you once and for all!" exclaimed Kasumi before extending an arm forward, causing 10 pink energy arrows to form around her. "Hado #91: Senju Koten Taiho!" shouted Kasumi as the 10 arrows shot out towards them.
"Santen Kesshun!" shouted Orihime generating a barrier.
The arrows hit the barrier, but the explosion it caused on impact was so large and so powerful that Orihime ended up being hit before rolling to a stop on the ground.
"That… that attack was powerful." said Orihime getting up with difficulty.
"And there are more like it. Hado…" started Kasumi before seeing Shion lunging towards her with her arm pulled back.
"The only thing to do is to attack you before you recite any spells." said Shion before he started throwing punches non-stop, but thanks to her empowered form, Kasumi was able to dodge the attacks.
Kasumi ducked to avoid another punch from Shion before placing a pair of fingers in front of the kijin woman's eyes.
"Shibireyubi!" shouted Kasumi as a flash happened at her fingertips, causing Shion to stop immediately.
"What… What's wrong with me? I… I can't move." thought Shion before falling to his knees.
Kasumi pulled herself completely upright as she looked at the kijin woman arrogantly.
"Normally, a spell like that wouldn't work on someone of great power like a captain of division or you, but now, with this form, your power is insignificant in front of mine." began Kasumi before pointing her palms towards her. "Bakudo #9: Horin!" shouted Kasumi as an orange-colored energy rope with yellow spiral patterns emerged from her index and middle fingers and coiled around Shion.
Then, with a tug, Kasumi had Shion thrown to impact against a wall to then, swing the rope, dragging Shion with it through the buildings and in the end, threw her upwards, where she undid the rope while Shion was still paralyzed.
"Hado #33. Sokatsui!" shouted Kasumi pointing her finger at her, from which a huge beam of energy shot out and hit the kijin woman directly, causing an explosion in the process.
Soon after, Shion fell hard to the ground.
Orihime couldn't help but put her hands to her mouth in shock at how her friend was taking so much damage.
"Now… Die!" shouted Kasumi preparing for another attack when…
"Koten Zanshun!" shouted Orihime sending one of her fairies flying towards the kido expert.
Kasumi noticed this and quickly moved out of the way, but the fairy ended up grazing her shoulder quite a bit, leaving a wound in the process.
"Grrr. Meddling again. Can't you see that if your 'friend' couldn't handle me, you much less?" asked Kasumi.
"I don't care. I'll keep on fighting you no matter what." said Orihime with determination.
"As you wish. Hado #31: Shakkaho!" shouted Kasumi shooting a sphere of red energy.
"Shiten Koshun!" shouted Orihime creating a triangular barrier of three triangles that blocked the attack before sending it back.
Kasumi had to duck to the side to avoid the sphere before launching the same attack as before.
For a while, Kasumi was shooting various spells, only for Orihime to return them all with her mirror barrier, and Kasumi had to move from side to side while casting spells to avoid the ones Orihime returned.
Just as Kasumi was about to move to avoid another attack returned by Orihime…
"Koten Zanshun!" shouted Orihime making one of her fairies jump towards Kasumi, who had to throw her head to the side to avoid the attack that came to cut some of her hair.
That was enough for the returned attack to hit right in front of her feet, causing an explosion that pushed her backwards and before she could react, Orihime undid the barrier and…
"Koten Zanshun!" shouted Orihime causing the fairy she threw earlier to fly back to try to attack the kido expert from behind.
"Bakudo #81: Danku!" shouted Kasumi raising a transparent barrier behind her that blocked the attack. "Alright. Your powers are really something to be reckoned with. If Aizen had never used you as a trap to lure the captains, you would have been very vital to his plans." said Kasumi.
"If I use these powers it's to protect those I care about, not to harm them!" said Orihime.
"Very well. Let's see if your power can handle this attack." began Kasumi before pointing her arm forward while using the other to grab it for support. "Hado #88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!" shouted Kasumi before shooting a giant beam of electrical and spiritual energy.
"Santen Kesshun!" shouted Orihime generating an oversized barrier to block the beam.
However, the power of the beam turned out to be more than she expected and Orihime had to put all her effort so that the barrier could hold, as she felt that, if that beam hit her and Shion, neither of them would survive.
Unfortunately, she felt that her strength wasn't enough and that sooner or later, her barrier would be destroyed and the next thing would be them or many more people, including her friends, dying.
Suddenly, she saw a pair of hands coming together with her own and she turned her head to see Shion looking at her with a smile.
"If your power isn't enough, then I'll lend you mine" Shion said.
Orihime smiled at her friend's support and they both turned their gaze forward before letting out a cry of exertion.
The beam continued to strike the barrier until finally, the beam exploded in a massive explosion that affected, not only the street they were on but also several surrounding streets.
It even created a mushroom-shaped plume of smoke.
By the time all the smoke cleared, the whole place had become a clearing clear of any buildings or anything like that.
Kasumi thought for a moment that she had finished off her opponents once and for all, but then, her eyes widened in shock when she saw Orihime and Shion standing unharmed by the explosion.
"Impossible! That was the most powerful kido spell in existence! One that only masters can learn! How could you possibly have survived something like this?!" asked Kasumi.
"Because we have something that you and yours don't seem to have." said Orihime.
"And it's the people we want to protect." said Shion.
"You two…" began Kasumi growling in frustration.
"Orihime, cover me. I'll go finish her off." said Shion.
"Understood." said Orihime.
Shion got into an athletic runner's stance and dashed at full speed towards the kido expert.
"Do you want to go to your death? Be my guest. Hado #33. Sokatsui!" shouted Kasumi shooting a beam of energy from her finger.
"Santen Kesshun!" shouted Orihime generating a barrier in front of Shion that blocked the attack which generated a smoke screen, through which Shion came out as she kept running.
As she saw that she was getting closer to her, a feeling of dread enveloped her.
"No… No… Get away from me!" exclaimed Kasumi before she started casting offensive spells, only for Orihime to create barriers in front of Shion that protected her from all those attacks as she continued running towards her target.
Finally, Shion caught up to Kasumi and prepared to hit her hard.
"El Escudo!" shouted Kasumi raising her arm to create a green energy shield that blocked the blow, but that didn't stop Shion as she went on to throw non-stop punches at blinding speed with the intention of breaking her.
Orihime knew that Shion needed more power, but she didn't know how to give it to him.
It was then that she noticed a glow beside her and turned her head to see Shion's sword, which had survived the explosion, and suddenly, a solution to the problem from before formed in her mind.
"Shion!" exclaimed Orihime.
Just as she threw another punch at Kasumi's barrier, Shion heard the call and turned her head to see her human friend, who had created a barrier underneath her sword like a platform.
"Take it!" exclaimed Orihime before moving the platform towards her.
When it reached her, the platform disappeared and the sword fell into the hands of Shion, who raised it high as she gave Kasumi a deadly look.
"This is for attacking Lord Rimuru's city." said Shion before bringing her sword down hard.
Kasumi tried to block the attack with her barrier and that worked for a few seconds until, then, Shion's strength and the weight of the sword ended up breaking it completely, much to the horror of Kasumi, who ended up receiving a diagonal slash across her chest that made her scream in pain as blood shot out of her wound.
A couple of seconds later, Kasumi stopped screaming and fell to the ground.
"Shion, are you okay?" asked Orihime from her place.
"Yes, I am" began Shion before turning around and letting out a sigh of relief. "Good that it's over." said Shion before setting off walking towards the young woman. "Come on, let's go see if Lord Rimuru needs help and…"
"Shion, watch out!" exclaimed Orihime pointing behind the kijin woman, who quickly turned around with her sword at the ready as she watched Kasumi get up from the ground with quite some difficulty.
"No… It can't end like this… All our effort… to create a fair society… can't be wasted this way. I refuse… I refuse… I REFUSE TO LET IT END LIKE THIS! IF I DIE AND SO DO OUR TARGET, I WILL TAKE YOU WITH ME!" exclaimed Kasumi as her body filled with bright red cracks.
Shion was horrified as he sensed something terrible was about to happen and dropped her sword to run towards Orihime, who prepared to activate her barrier.
"Hado #96: Itto Kaso!" shouted Kasumi, causing a brief shockwave and soon after, a huge column of red fire erupted from the ground in the shape of a katana tip that burst into an explosion that covered the entire area that had been destroyed earlier.
Soon after, Orihime opened her eyes as she felt that it was all over and saw that she was lying on the ground, with Shion lying protectively over her and both of them covered by an orange dome-shaped barrier.
Seeing that there was no danger, Orihime undid the dome and looked around to see that everything was still as destroyed as before, only now there was a burnt spot where Kasumi was, a sign that she had self-destructed.
"Shion. Shion." said Orihime shaking her friend a little to wake her up.
"Ugh. Orihime. What happened?" asked Shion opening her eyes and looking around.
"I'd say that girl self-destructed." said Orihime.
"Hmm. Well, I don't condone such cowardly methods as that, but I'm glad to hear it." said Shion, glad that the enemy was eliminated once and for all, before turning away from Orihime, only to groan from the pain.
"Shion, what's wrong with you?" asked Orihime before looking behind her back, only to let out a gasp of horror when she saw a serious burn mark, as it turns out, at the last moment, Shion used her body to shield Orihime from the blast before the barrier fully formed and protected them both. "My God, Shion, you're hurt!"
"This is nothing. We should go get Lord Rimuru before we…" began Shion trying to get up, only to let out another groan and fall to her knees.
"Don't move. I'll heal you." said Orihime before pointing her hands at her. "Soten Kisshun!" shouted Orihime creating a transparent orange cocoon around Shion.
Shion kept moaning from the pain before she started to feel better.
Turning her head, she could see how the wound on her back was slowly healing, which, surprised her a little.
"Wow. Thank you, Orihime." said Shion with a smile.
"You're welcome, but I insist that we shouldn't go." said Orihime.
"Huh? Why? Lord Rimuru might need us." said Shion.
"Don't worry. I may not know Lord Rimuru as well as you do, but you'll know how to manage, especially if he's with him." said Orihime with a confident smile thinking of a certain someone.
Shion had to admit she was right, for she knew what her leader was capable of, especially after becoming a demon king.
"Yes, you're right. Lord Rimuru will be able to handle anything." said Shion with a smile, fully trusting the one who held a special place in her heart.
Uryu and Benimaru raised their guard, for although Ruhood's new bow didn't look like much, it emitted a great deal of power.
"For a peculiar looking thing, I can sense a lot of power in it." said Benimaru.
"That's the thing about bankai." began Uryu before adjusting his glasses. "At least the dome that reduced our strength is gone." said Uryu.
"It's a pity. I like to finish things quickly and efficiently." said Ruhood adjusting his glasses.
"Same here." said Benimaru before launching a blast of black fire, but Ruhood used shunpo to escape.
Soon after, Ruhood appeared elsewhere and made an archer gesture, only for nothing to happen, much to the confusion of the other two, but then, several explosions went off above and around them, causing the two to be sent backwards, though they were able to land on their feet.
"What happened? If it hasn't launched any arrows." said Benimaru.
"Yes he has. It just happened to have shot them at a speed we couldn't easily see." said Uryu.
"I see you've figured it out. That's right, when my bankai is unlocked, I can shoot arrows at such a high speed that you won't be able to see when I shoot them or rather, where I shoot them from." said Ruhood with a wicked grin before using shunpo to immediately disappear.
Uryu and Benimaru went on high alert, as they didn't know from where he would attack.
Suddenly, Ruhood appeared and disappeared in less than a second, but that was enough time to shoot swift arrows that hit the quincy and the red-haired kijin again.
In the end, they had no choice but to move from one side to the other to avoid the multiple explosions caused by Ruhood who used shunpo to move from one side to the other so fast that he only stayed in one place for a millisecond.
They stayed like that for a while until the two ended up back-to-back.
"Tsk. At this rate, we're going to end up in real bad shape. There has to be a way to locate it." said Benimaru.
"I can try. Try to attack him the moment I tell you where he'll show up." said Uryu.
"You better not miss." said Benimaru.
"Same to you." said Uryu before closing his eyes to concentrate.
Everything around him disappeared completely and in its place appeared several white ribbons waving in a non-existent wind.
Uryu stayed that way until a ribbon appeared and waved more aggressively, causing the quincy's eyes to snap open before grabbing the ribbon.
"Over there!" exclaimed Uryu pointing to a spot just before Benimaru suddenly disappeared.
The moment Ruhood appeared elsewhere, before he went to launch his swift arrows, Benimaru appeared at his side, to his surprise, and tried to attack him with his sword wreathed in fire.
Reacting quickly, Ruhood used his own bow to block the attack and the moment he pushed him back, he used shunpo to escape and appear behind him and shoot five arrows.
By the time Benimaru turned around, the arrows were sticking into his shoulders, knees and chest, making him scream slightly in pain.
"Sutaffu!" shouted Ruhood causing the five arrows stuck in Benimaru to glow before giving the red-haired kijin a jolt of electrical energy that made him scream in pain before he was engulfed in an explosion.
Before he could say anything, Uryu appeared at his side and launched several energy arrows, but Ruhood shot his swift arrows, causing both attacks to impact each other.
Ruhood aimed at Uryu and shot, but Uryu used hirenkyaku to quickly escape from the blast zone.
The next instant, Uryu moved so fast that it was as if there were several of them around as he was shooting arrows non-stop, but Ruhood moved fast enough to dodge some arrows while the others he blocked with his bow that was spinning rapidly like a propeller.
It was then that Ruhood used shunpo to move away from the impact zone and then…
"Find that quincy and destroy it. Kuchiku-Kan Shika!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow in a random direction.
For a second, Uryu wondered what he was doing until he saw the arrow change its course and head straight for him.
He used hirenkyaku to escape, but as soon as he appeared elsewhere, he saw that the arrow had changed direction again to follow him.
Seeing the trick of that attack, Uryu started to move from side to side to try to escape the arrow, but no matter how many turns he made or if he used hirenkyaku, the arrow knew where to go.
As he kept running away, Ruhood took advantage of that to approach him and shoot his swift arrows at him which Uryu quickly countered with his own arrows, but after that, he had to move away to avoid the arrow that followed him.
Even when he attacked the trailing arrow with his own arrows, the arrow followed its course, to the quincy's frustration.
Before he could think of a plan to get rid of that arrow, Ruhood appeared half a distance away from him and shot five arrows at him.
Because Uryu was distracted with the arrow following him, he couldn't notice the five arrows that stuck into his shoulders, knees and back.
"Sutaffu!" shouted Ruhood causing the five arrows stuck in Uryu to glow before unleashing a jolt of electrical energy that made him scream in pain just before the trailing arrow hit him, causing a huge explosion that sent him to the ground and he rolled a bit before staying face down, looking badly wounded.
A smile of victory formed on the evil shinigami's face when he saw his opponent's fall.
"You know? I think I like the idea of being known as the one who took down the last quincy. Maybe even Alostrol will name me his right-hand man when we create the new society." said Ruhood.
Suddenly, he had to turn away when a huge wave of fire was launched towards him.
Looking to the side, he saw Benimaru glaring angrily at him and engulfed in black fire.
"You bastard. You're going to pay for everything you've done!" said Benimaru before suddenly disappearing and then appearing in front of Ruhood, who had to use shunpo to dodge a flaming sword slash.
Ruhood appeared elsewhere and shot his swift arrows, but Benimaru shot a burst of fire that hit the arrows, causing an explosion in the process.
Soon after, Benimaru stepped out of the smoke and attempted to attack the evil shinigami with his sword wreathed in black fire, but he dodged backwards to avoid it.
"Seek out that being and destroy it. Kuchiku-Kan Shika!" shouted Ruhood shooting an arrow that was headed for the red-haired kijin.
Ruhood thought that his first act would be to dodge it, which would cause a scenario like Uryu, who kept moving back and forth to dodge it.
However, to the evil shinigami's surprise, Benimaru summoned a spinning black fire dome and as soon as the arrow hit it, it exploded along with the black fire dome.
It was then that Benimaru shot out of the smoke and lunged towards Ruhood, who used shunpo to escape, but the moment he appeared to the side, Benimaru appeared in front of him to attack again, with the same result occurring.
For a while, Ruhood was forced to move from side to side to escape from the red-haired kijin who was demonstrating great speed.
Every time he attacked him with arrows, he used his fire attacks to shatter the incoming arrows.
Benimaru lunged towards Ruhood once again and tried to slash him with his sword, only for Ruhood to duck backwards, letting the sword pass well over his forehead just before using shunpo and disappearing.
Before Benimaru went to do the same, Ruhood appeared above him and shot five arrows that stuck in the ground around him.
"Sutaffu!" shouted Ruhood causing the five arrows stuck in the ground to glow before creating a line that traveled from them to Benimaru, who suffered a shock of electrical energy, causing him to groan in pain in an attempt to resist, but then, he was engulfed in an explosion.
As Ruhood stood on the ground and the smoke dissipated, Benimaru was seen breathing heavily with some wounds on his body and clothes.
"I must admit, you're pretty tough as nails. You would have been a very valuable asset to our cause." Ruhood said.
"I would rather die than serve disgusting beings like you! I am loyal to only one person and that is Lord Rimuru! So you can keep your offers and flattery to yourself!" said Benimaru.
"A most admirable loyalty, if I may say so. Anyway, if you don't want to accept anything I say, then, I suppose I should…" began Ruhood when suddenly both his and Benimaru's eyes widened in surprise as they felt a surge of power as well as a glow from the side.
Directing their gaze to the source of the glow, they gaped as they saw Uryu's sprawled body give off lines of energy and little by little, he was rising from the ground.
"It can't be. That technique…" began Ruhood in shock, for he knew what he was doing.
The lines of energy eventually became threads that wrapped around Uryu's body until they disappeared.
"I'm flattered to know that you know this technique." said Uryu.
"Believe me, if I hadn't heard about it from Captain Kurotsuchi, I would never have believed it." said Ruhood.
"I'm glad to know it. Because it will be the last thing you'll ever see." said Uryu before drawing his bow and shooting an arrow quickly.
Due to his shocked state, Ruhood was unable to dodge the arrow that stuck into his left shoulder, making him scream in pain before letting out a groan.
"Despite that technique, you can only shoot once." began Ruhood before taking up an archer's stance. "I'll take advantage of that to eliminate you once and for…"
Suddenly, Benimaru appeared with his back turned in front of him with his sword wreathed in black fire pointing diagonally towards the ground.
In the next instant, Ruhood's left arm was cleanly severed, leaving a black flame where it was connected.
Ruhood stood in shock before the realization hit him and he let out a cry of pain.
"It's over." began Benimaru before pointing his hand at him, causing a transparent dome to cover him. "For your crimes against the city and its inhabitants, I, Benimaru, commander-in-chief of the Rimuru Tempest forces, sentence you to death. Hell Flare!" shouted Benimaru before causing black flames to fill the inside of the dome, burning the evil shinigami who was still screaming in pain.
Soon after, the dome shrank until it disappeared completely, taking Ruhood with it.
With everything over, Uryu proceeded to take a step, but staggered a bit.
"Are you okay? What was that you did?" asked Benimaru as he sheathed his sword.
"It's about the ransotengai. A technique of high rank among the quincy that allow us to use our own energy to create strings from our mind with which to move like puppets." said Uryu.
"If you can still move, then go get your wounds treated." said Benimaru.
"Shouldn't we go help Lord Rimuru?" asked Uryu before adjusting his glasses. "He's most likely facing Alostrol, their leader."
"Heh. I appreciate that you care about our lord, but there's no way he's losing to a bastard like him." said Benimaru with a toothy grin.
Ichigo and Rimuru remained on high alert, for although Alostrol's bankai was… peculiar, so to speak, there was no denying the enormous amount of power he was emitting.
To Ichigo, it felt like when he faced Ulquiorra and his resurrection for the first time, while, to Rimuru, it felt like being in front of a Demon Lord, which, was ironic considering the evil shinigami's behavior.
"He doesn't seem to have any weapons on hand, but those rings are suspicious." thought Rimuru.
"Analysis. Large amounts of spiritual energy are detected in the rings." said Raphael.
"Just what I figured." thought Rimuru making a mental note to keep an eye out for those rings.
"Now I will make sure you receive the just punishment for your crimes against true peace." said Alostrol.
"Since when are you judge, jury and executioner?" asked Rimuru.
"I am only fulfilling the divine will to bring joy to all." said Alostrol.
"At the cost of others' suffering." said Ichigo.
"Enough of this meaningless talk. Shinken!" shouted Alostrol creating a white energy sword before lunging towards Ichigo, who swung his zanpakuto to block the incoming attack.
However, at the moment when it looked like the two swords were about to come into contact, Ichigo's sword went through the energy sword like smoke, much to the surprise of the substitute shinigami who ended up taking a sword strike, being sent backwards.
Rimuru had a slight idea of what had happened, so he wrapped his sword in black fire and lunged towards the evil shinigami, who swung his energy sword in response.
Rimuru threw his sword to block the energy sword, but then, the same result as before happened, to the surprise of the slime, who couldn't react when Alostrol hit him with his sword, sending him backwards.
"What the hell was that?" asked Ichigo.
"This sword was created with my pure, divine power. Only those who truly believe in my path will be able to touch it, while those who oppose it can only be touched by it." said Alostrol.
"Raphael, analyze that sword immediately." thought Rimuru.
"Analysis. The sword is composed of spiritual energy connected to the bearer." said Raphael.
"Which means that…" began Rimuru before discovering the truth. "That's not true. What happens is that you manipulate the sword so that it is touched only by those you want it to be touched."
"So much talk of pure and divine power and it was nothing but pure hypocrisy. Tell me, what do you think your companions will think when they find out you're only using them?" asked Ichigo.
"What does it matter if my sword thing is hypocrisy? I'm not using them. They trust me and my desire to bring a better world for everyone. If I have to use a lie to create that dreamed society, so be it, I don't mind carrying that weight." said Alostrol.
"Then carry this. Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy.
Alostrol used shunpo to avoid the attack before appearing in front of the substitute shinigami with his sword ready to strike.
In view of the effect the energy sword had, Ichigo had no choice but to use his arms as a shield before Alostrol hit him hard, sending him to the side, but in the next instant, Alostrol appeared beside him to hit him with his energy sword and send him to the other side.
For a while, Alostrol continued with the method of using shunpo to go back and forth and hit Ichigo, who was trying to defend himself, but his sword was useless against the energy sword.
Just as Alostrol was about to hit him again, a black lightning shot between them, forcing him to move away and direct his gaze towards Rimuru, who started shooting cutting water waves, but Alostrol was able to use his sword to cut off all the attacks despite the speed at which they were going.
After finishing off the last water wave, Alostrol quickly lunged towards Rimuru with his energy sword ready to attack.
Reacting quickly and knowing the capabilities of that sword, Rimuru covered his scaly arms and put them in X-position, being able to block Alostrol's attack, who kept hitting the scaly arms non-stop in an attempt to break them to no avail.
Alostrol prepared for another blow when Rimuru spat an icicle at the speed of a bullet, but Alostrol moved his head out of the way in time to avoid it, although he lost a few hairs.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave that forced Alostrol back quickly.
Soon after, Ichigo rose to be at Rimuru's level.
"Your fight is useless in front of me. No matter what you try, you can't stop the revolution." said Alostrol.
"Yours isn't revolution, it is terrorism." said Rimuru.
"If you don't realize that, you are very blind." said Ichigo.
"The blind ones are you for refusing to recognize it. Don't you understand? I have seen the future that awaits the Soul Society if it continues with the same system. Very soon a 1000-year war will happen that will bring the death of many and all because you refused to change things!" said Alostrol.
"If what you say is true, then I will fight that war to protect them all" said Ichigo.
"And how do you expect to do that, substitute shinigami?" asked Alostrol.
"Well like this." began Ichigo before pointing Zangetsu towards him. "BANKAI!" shouted Ichigo before there was an explosion of light followed by a smokescreen and when the smokescreen dissipated, Ichigo was seen in a different outfit and his zanpakuto had changed from large to a normal black katana with sharp segments over the counter edge as fangs and a short chain hanging from the tip of the handle. "Tensa Zangetsu!"
Rimuru couldn't help but stand there with his eyes wide open in shock, for he could feel how Ichigo's power had increased greatly.
"Analysis. Ichigo Kurosaki's power level is on par with Alostrol." said Raphael.
"I knew he possessed a bankai, but I didn't imagine he had that form." thought Rimuru.
"Tsk. You think I didn't know about your bankai? Even if you have that, you won't be able to against that future threat, let alone me. He who has been chosen by the gods will not be defeated by some heathens!" said Alostrol.
"We'll see about that." began Ichigo before dashing full speed towards him. "Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo as he wrapped his sword in black energy and swung it towards the evil shinigami.
Alostrol reacted on instinct and ended up raising his energy sword as a shield, being able to block Ichigo's attack, but was pushed back.
That surprised both Ichigo and Rimuru, as they now knew another facet of the energy sword.
"Rimuru, if we attack him, he won't be able to use that sword against us." said Ichigo.
"Understood." said Rimuru before quickly flying towards Alostrol, who was recovering from the attack earlier.
Once he reached him, he shot a purple-colored gas, but Alostrol used his energy sword as a propeller to repel the smoke, as he sensed that it could be a paralyzing or poisonous gas.
While he was with that, Ichigo appeared at his side quickly by shunpo and kicked him in the side that pushed him aside.
Rimuru was the next to attack by lunging towards him with his sword wrapped in black fire, but Alostrol used his energy sword to block the attack.
In the next instant, the two entered into a swift sword duel, blocking and dodging each other's attacks.
Suddenly, Alostrol noticed Ichigo lunging towards him to attack him from the side, but Alostrol used shunpo to escape.
At that moment, the substitute shinigami and the human slime quickly chased after the evil shinigami while clashing weapons with each other.
They moved back and forth so fast that they were like wakes traveling and colliding in the sky.
It was then that Ichigo used his own arm to block Alostrol's sword attack, much to the surprise of the evil shinigami.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo wrapping his sword in black energy and swinging it at him, hitting him directly in the chest which caused an explosion.
Alostrol was pushed backwards in consequence of the explosion and suddenly, Rimuru stood over him before shooting a thread that wrapped around him, restraining him in the process.
Before he went to try to break free, Rimuru caused black lightnings to run through the thread all the way to Alostrol, giving him a powerful electric shock that caused him to scream in pain before being engulfed in another explosion.
Ichigo and Rimuru braced themselves in case the fight was to continue and they were right, for when the smoke cleared Alostrol was seen standing upright with slight wounds on him.
"As long as I have the blessing of those above, I will continue to resist until our ambition is fulfilled." said Alostrol.
"Well, I won't let it be fulfilled, not if it entails the death of those in this city." said Ichigo.
"You should thank me. I am freeing those civilians from a Demon Lord of all things." said Alostrol.
"What would you know about Rimuru, you bastard?" asked Ichigo. "My friends and I may have only been in this place for a short time, but it has been long enough to see that Rimuru is someone wise, kind, and respectable."
"Ichigo." began Rimuru surprised to hear those words from the substitute shinigami. "You really are a great person." thought Rimuru with a smile.
"Besides, do you think a cruel Demon Lord would let himself be dressed like a doll? I have pictures to prove it." said Ichigo with a smile as he remembered when he and the others saw Rimuru dressed in that costume Uryu made with Shuna.
"Give me back my compliment!" exclaimed Rimuru with sharp teeth and white, slanted eyes.
"You know? I thought the same thing about the captain-commander, until I opened my eyes and realized he was nothing but a stubborn old man. Someone like him doesn't deserve to lead the shinigami!" said Alostrol.
"And you consider yourself more suitable? While others search for what they can take, a true leader searches for what he can give. Tell me, which one are you?" asked Rimuru.
"Mmm. That's a very good question. I guess I could be both. I take what I can and then give it to others." said Alostrol.
Ichigo and Rimuru prepared to continue fighting him, filling the atmosphere with a very tense air.
At least until, suddenly, the three of them sensed something very dangerous.
"Ichigo, watch out!" said Rimuru.
BOOM
The three of them quickly moved to escape a huge explosion that affected a large part of the city.
"What was that?" asked Ichigo with wide eyes.
"Looks like Kasumi decided to use that spell. I guess in the end, she lost." said Alostrol.
"Not only that. Ichigo, I can't feel any of the guys that were with Alostrol. They most likely fell in combat." said Rimuru.
Ichigo let out a small sigh of relief, for if he only said that, it meant that his friends were well and had triumphed in their fights.
What's more, it meant that Alostrol was the only one left to defeat and if they did, it would all be over.
"It really is a pity. Today, I lost more than you can know. But now is no time to mourn." Alostrol said.
"Doesn't it bother you that your teammates are dead?" asked Ichigo.
"It bothers me very much, but I won't let their sacrifices be in vain. Their deaths will serve to further our revolution." said Alostrol.
Ichigo gritted his teeth and his grip on his zanpakuto in frustration, for that reminded him of Aizen, who treated his own subordinates as disposable pawns that he could use as he pleased.
"As for what I said before. I will take whatever is necessary, whether from this world or any other." began Alostrol before destroying his energy sword. "And I will do it with these hands." said Alostrol as he took a fighting stance.
"Then, I'll cut those hands off!" said Ichigo before lunging towards him without thinking.
"Ichigo, wait!" said Rimuru trying to stop him, but it was too late.
Ichigo swung his sword for a killing blow as he was getting closer to his opponent, but then, just when he was very close to him…
"Ikkotsu!" shouted Alostrol throwing his fist forward, hitting Ichigo so hard in the abdomen that not only made him gasp with a great deal of force, but he was sent far backwards to the point where he was lost from sight.
"Ichigo!" exclaimed Rimuru with concern before turning his gaze towards the evil shinigami.
"Being in the 1st division under Genryusai Yamamoto, I've been learning a few things, like his combat techniques. I thought I would only have to use them against him, but I see that…" began Alostrol before stomping down on the invisible ground in the sky and unleashing a small blast of wind. "I'll use it against you" said Alostrol before suddenly appearing in front of Rimuru, who was too surprised to react.
"Sokotsu!" shouted Alostrol throwing his two punches at him, delivering a powerful blow to the chest of the human slime, whose eyes widened like saucers at the force of the blow before bursting into water droplets.
For a moment, Alostrol thought he had finished him off in the same way Genryusai finished off that arrancar that Aizen created to counter the power of his zanpakuto, but then…
"You should have known one thing before you fought me."
Alostrol's eyes widened in surprise before looking in front of him to see the water droplets gather to form Rimuru in his slime form.
"Unlike the others…" began Rimuru before shifting into his human form with his fist recoiled. "I'm immortal!" exclaimed Rimuru before giving the evil shinigami a punch in the face that sent him backwards.
"So it was true what they said about you. You're not a human, you're not even a Demon Lord. You're nothing but a monster!" said Alostrol.
"So what if I am? Since I became leader of this nation, I did things that would label me as a true monster." began Rimuru recalling when he annihilated Falmuth's army without contemplation, regret or mercy. "But I don't care. When you have a lot of people next to you, you have to do things you didn't think you'd do for the sake of making everyone happy. If it's for the sake of my people, I'd do it again!"
"Then why do you oppose me?! As you say, I'm doing this for the sake of my own!" said Alostrol.
"True. In other circumstances, we might have come to an understanding, I might even have helped you with your purpose. However…" began Rimuru before being enveloped in an evil aura. "You attacked my city and endangered my citizens, I would never ally myself with scum like you!"
"Fine. If you won't be my ally, then you will be my enemy and enemies of true peace deserve death. Shinken!" shouted Alostrol creating his energy sword and lunging towards the human slime. "This is the end of you, Demon Lord!"
Rimuru prepared to intercept him when…
"ALOSTROL!"
Alostrol had to stop as Ichigo launched himself like a missile towards him with his sword wrapped in black energy.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo swinging his sword at the evil shinigami.
Due to how fast he was going and how unexpected it was, Alostrol was unable to shield himself from the attack and ended up being hit directly before being sent backwards with a bang.
"Ichigo, are you okay?" asked Rimuru worried about the substitute shinigami, since, unlike him, he had a human body and could have suffered a lot of damage from that hit he took earlier.
"Yeah, don't worry. I've endured worse." said Ichigo.
Suddenly, Ichigo stepped aside to avoid a slash from Alostrol to then try to attack him with his zanpakuto, only for Alostrol to block it with his energy sword.
"Why do you always have to meddle in matters that don't concern you? You could have gone on with your life as a human." said Alostrol.
"You said so, but I prefer to meddle in other people's affairs. Especially if they involve my friends and people I care about." said Ichigo.
The two continued to push each other with their crossed swords until they pushed each other back.
"So, that's it then. It's time for you to face divine punishment." said Alostrol before raising his arms, causing the rings around him to shift until they were on top of the substitute shinigami and slime, one on top of the other.
Ichigo and Rimuru kept their gaze on the rings, having a feeling that something bad would happen.
"Warning. A large concentration of energy has been detected in the rings." said Raphael.
"I guessed as much. Whatever it is, it's powerful." thought Rimuru.
"Witness your end! Zettai-Tekina Handan!" shouted Alostrol causing the rings to begin to glow and then, a huge pillar of light erupted from the highest ring and passed between the others as it fell rapidly downwards towards Ichigo and Rimuru.
Reacting quickly, the two readied their swords and swung them at the pillar of light, being able to stop it, but the pillar kept pushing to continue downward as the two struggled to resist.
For a few seconds, the two used all their strength to withstand the attack, but they began to feel that they couldn't stay like this all the time, as the attack didn't seem to end and they didn't have enough strength to hold it for long.
"Ichigo, get out of here! Don't worry about me!" said Rimuru trying to get the substitute shinigami to save himself.
"No way! You think I'll let you carry everything? You may be a powerful Demon Lord, but you can't take care of everything by yourself! You have friends you can share that burden with, INCLUDING ME!" declared Ichigo with pure determination.
Rimuru couldn't help but stand wide-eyed at the substitute shinigami's words.
At that moment, he started to remember all the things he did since he reincarnated in that world and most of them, he didn't do it alone, he had the hobgoblin, the kijin, Ranga, Milim and Veldora with him.
Rimuru smiled at how true it was, for he would never have gotten to where he was now on his own, but did so thanks to the support of all his friends, the people he considered his family.
A family he was going to protect, not alone, but with the help of Ichigo Kurosaki.
"You're right. We can handle this if we work hard together." said Rimuru.
"Well said. It's time to get serious." said Ichigo scraping his face with one hand, creating a hollow mask that covered it completely.
Needless to say, that surprised Rimuru.
"What did he do?" asked Rimuru.
"Analysis. Ichigo Kurosaki's power has increased and his power has been mixed with a hollow-like energy." said Raphael.
"I don't know what he has done exactly, but I think it's good." said Rimuru.
It was then that Ichigo's zanpakuto was enveloped in a large amount of black energy while Rimuru enveloped his sword with a lot of black fire.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo increasing his thrust as did Rimuru.
Thanks to their combined effort, the two ended up pushing the pillar back until, with one swing of their swords, they undid the pillar of light, much to the shock of the evil shinigami.
"Now you go." said Ichigo.
"Pagans! It's impossible to escape divine punishment! Zettai-Tekina Handan!" shouted Alostrol shooting another pillar of light.
"Devour it all! Beelzebub!" shouted Rimuru extending his hand towards the incoming pillar, generating a black vortex that was devouring the pillar completely, to the surprise of the two shinigami.
"Impossible!" exclaimed Alostrol in horror. "You will pay for such sacrilege! Zettai-" began Alostrol about to launch another attack.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo wrapping his sword in black energy as he lunged towards Alostrol's rings.
Just as they were beginning to glow to charge the attack, Ichigo quickly slashed at them with his zanpakuto, shattering them completely, much to the shock of the evil shinigami.
"Now, without your rings, you won't be able to release that divine punishment of yours." said Ichigo.
Alostrol clenched his fists and teeth from the sheer rage he felt towards them.
"Damn you! Shinken!" shouted Alostrol creating his energy sword and lunging towards them, who did the same.
In the next instant, the three began to move through the air at high speed as if they were wakes, clashing swords with each other in the process each time they met.
A couple of seconds later, Alostrol ended up clashing weapons with the two and they were pressing against each other before they ended up pushing each other.
"I will finish you! All those who refuse to accept true peace will be eliminated! I will never be defeated! I am the one chosen by the heavens!" exclaimed Alostrol.
"Even if you are the one chosen by the heavens…" began Ichigo.
"Even if you wipe us out…" began Rimuru.
"We will never allow you to create that false peace of yours!" declared the two at the same time.
"DIE!" exclaimed Alostrol rushing towards them at full speed.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo wrapping his sword in black energy while Rimuru covered his sword in black lightning and fire.
They both quickly lunged towards the evil shinigami at high speed and all three readied their swords for what would be the blow that would end the fight and everything else.
The three let out battle cries as the speed increased and then, suddenly, both sides had their backs to each other after making their attack.
At first, all was silent, but then, Alostrol let out a cry of pain as two X-shaped slashes formed on his body, with one emitting black flames and sparks while the other emitted black energy.
"It… It can't be! My… My ambition! I… I was… supposed to… bring… peace to everything and everyone!" said Alostrol in pain as he raised his arm towards the sun.
Before he could say anything else, he was engulfed by the black flames until, in the end, the flames were extinguished, leaving no trace of existence of the evil shinigami.
"Analysis. No traces of Alostrol or any of his followers have been detected, as well as the hollows loose in the city." said Raphael.
"It's over. It's all over." said Rimuru relieved that it was all over.
"I'm… glad." said Ichigo as his mask unraveled before he leaned forward with his eyes closing.
Fortunately, Rimuru quickly arrived and caught him before they went to fall.
"Get some rest, Ichigo. You deserve it." said Rimuru with a smile.
"Heh. Thanks." said Ichigo with a smile.
"Let's go with the others. You need treatment and I'm sure you won't be the only one." said Rimuru.
"Right." said Ichigo.
With Rimuru's help, Ichigo was taken to another part of the city to treat his wounds, feeling better about the fact that they had won the battle and everyone was safe.
AN: And here end the battles.
I hope you enjoyed them.
Any comments are welcome.
See you in the next chapter which will be the last of this story.
