Chapter 46

Boom!!

As Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni softly spoke the two words "Bankai", endless flames transformed into a battle robe, lightly draping over Yamamoto's body, and the Zanpakuto in his hand was further entwined by boundless blazing light; the temperature of that Zanpakuto had become immeasurable, even losing the form of flame under such extreme heat, and the reason why Aramaki and others could still see the flames was merely an illusion produced by the spiritual pressure overflowing from Yamamoto's spiritual body.

Yamamoto's Bankai is nothing less than condensing a star that emits endless 'brilliance' and 'energy' into a tiny spiritual body! In terms of destructive power, it can be called the strongest in Soul Society...

As Yamamoto's Bankai unfolded, Aramaki's eyes were blinded by the white light, involuntarily narrowing; he saw that the light's aftereffect from the Bankai continually destroyed the surrounding spirit particles, like the sun from heaven falling to the ground, and as time passed, even standing still would burn the entire Soul Society to ashes—the Blazing Fire Sword—causing a few drops of cold sweat to appear on his forehead.

However, before the sweat could fall, it was evaporated by the endless heat into water vapor, dissipating within Soul Society...

Hahaha...

Upon learning that I am your enemy, you didn't hesitate to unleash your Bankai?!

Even though your Bankai poses a greater threat to Soul Society than I do! This determination is worthy of the man who single-handedly founded the Gotei 13 and reformed the state of Seireitei...

Youhabah looked at the person before him, knowing full well that his own Bankai might destroy Soul Society, yet he resolutely and without hesitation unleashed his Bankai—Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni—and suddenly burst into laughter; he admired Yamamoto's merciless attitude toward enemies, and only such an enemy was worthy of being called his opponent.

Come on! Let's settle this here! Yamamoto!!

Youhabah said, lightly flicking his black cloak to reveal the white knight's garb beneath, ignoring the wounds inflicted by his battle with Aramaki, he firmly drew the cross-shaped longsword at his waist...

At this moment, Youhabah's eyes blazed with fighting spirit, ready to completely settle things with the leader of that assassin organization, the Gotei 13, hailed as the 'uncrowned king of Seireitei'—Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.

Boom!

Yamamoto Genryūsai hearing Youhabah's words, without any wasted talk, he simply raised his 'Blazing Fire Sword' high.

Here it comes...

Youhabah's pupils twitched slightly, having prepared for a counterattack.

Pfft...

Exactly as Youhabah focused all his energy solely on Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, accompanied by the sound of flesh flying, a Western sword pierced straight through his chest.

Huh?!

Youhabah felt the pain coming from his chest and instinctively lowered his gaze.

Sizzle, sizzle...

Only then did one see that the Western sword was still flickering with lightning's electric light.

No sound?!

Youhabah, in a few tenths of a second, quickly thought with his mind, and then recalled that he had sealed his own ears to counter Aramaki's Bankai!

And the spirit particles he had originally used to seal his ears had, at some point, reaccumulated around his ears; since they were his own spirit particles, Youhabah did not notice, and the only one on the battlefield capable of doing this—controlling spirit particles—was Aramaki!

Damn you, Aramaki!!

Youhabah's cold, dark eyes filled with endless anger as he gazed at the distant Aramaki, slumped on a stone pedestal, and he roared.

Hehe~

In response, Aramaki gave Youhabah a smile full of 'goodwill'.

Genryūsai-sama, now!!

Exactly at the moment Youhabah zoned out, the person standing behind him with gray short hair, wielding a Thunder Sword, who had stabbed Youhabah in the chest, shouted loudly at the not-so-distant Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni.

Boom!!

The man's response was a flaming sword descending from the heavens!

Genryūsai, without any wasted talk, directly staked all his flames on a single strike, falling from the sky!

Ah!!

Accompanied by Youhabah's unwilling roar, a huge flame mushroom cloud rose like a blazing sun within Seireitei, as if in an instant illuminating the entire Soul Society.

It's over!

Aramaki watched the scene, finally exhaling in relief, his fatigued body collapsing backward.

Aramaki, are you okay?

Aramaki, are you alright?!

Exactly as Aramaki fell, two figures appeared in a flash behind him and caught his collapsing body.

It's Retsu and Saito, you two!

Don't worry about me; I'm just a bit fatigued because my spiritual pressure and stamina are both exhausted—let me get a good night's sleep and rest, and I'll be fine!

Aramaki said, leaning against their arms, closed his eyes, and began to fully recover his stamina and spiritual pressure.

Hmm...

Exactly as Aramaki closed his eyes, the two women standing behind him—Saito Bu Lao Bu Si and Maozuhua Lie—narrowed their eyes slightly.

Ara~

Isn't that the captain of the Sixth Division, Saito? As the captain of the Sixth Division, shouldn't you be going to help the soldiers of your own division? After all, they're still waiting for 'you as captain'~

As for our Eleventh Division's captain Aramaki, leaving him in my care as a fellow Eleventh Division member is enough—no need to trouble you, Captain Saito~

Maozuhua Lie glanced at Saito Bu Lao Bu Si's face beside her, a faint smile appearing; her tone rose and fell, hinting at something, and she snatched Aramaki from Saito's embrace.

Hehe...

I never knew Captain Maozuhua had the ability to take care of others...

As far as I know, Captain Maozuhua seems good for nothing besides fighting~

Saito countered Maozuhua, and pulled Maozuhua's embrace of Aramaki toward his own arms.

Hehe...

In response, Maozuhua had no intention of letting go; her slender, fair fingers at this moment were as hard and strong as rebar, firmly locking Aramaki's body so he couldn't move an inch from her embrace.

You bastard!

Seeing this, Saito felt a spark of anger ignite in his chest, his eyes flashing with a hint of murderous intent.

Captain Saito, Captain Maozuhua!

I am here under the orders of the Captain-Commander to retrieve Captain Aramaki; the Captain-Commander will dispatch the finest healer from Soul Society to treat Captain Aramaki.

Just as Saito and U no Hana were constantly fighting over Araki, to the point that Araki's face gradually turned bluish-black, a First Division division member approached them, knelt on one knee before Saito and U no Hana, and spoke respectfully.

"Huh?!"

"You mean my Return Way can't save Araki?"

Saito, hearing this, roared at the First Division division member before him.

"Ah la~"

"I can't just pretend I didn't hear that."

U no Hana Retsu likewise showed a faint, peaceful (filled with killing intent) smile toward the division member before him.

"Er, this, that, I didn't mean it that way; I'm just following orders..."

Upon hearing this, the First Division division member panicked, looking tearfully at the two division captains before him; he's just a part-time worker, please spare him!

As for the Return Way cultivation of Captain Saito and Captain U no Hana, how could he not know that Captain U no Hana and Captain Saito can use Return Way?!

"Hey! You two, stop this—this is an order personally issued by the Commander-General!"

Just as the First Division division member was about to faint from the aura of Saito and U no Hana, a low voice suddenly sounded, stopping U no Hana and Saito's actions.

"Captain Hanabira Tarou!"

Upon hearing this, the First Division division member looked up and saw Fifth Division Captain Hanabira Tarou having arrived beside everyone at some point, who kindly spoke to him; instantly the First Division division member looked at Captain Hanabira Tarou with grateful eyes.

"Tsk~"

Saito the Undying, hearing this, reluctantly gave up his claim over Araki.

"Hmph~"

In response, U no Hana glanced at Saito with a hint of contempt, and personally handed Araki over to the First Division division member before him.

"Thank you, Captain Saito and Captain U no Hana, for your understanding! Thank you also, Captain Hanabira Tarou, for your help! Then I'll take my leave!"

The First Division division member said, supporting the sleeping Araki, and disappeared from the battlefield.

"Boom—"

On another note, accompanied by rumbling sounds, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni sheathed his Zanpakuto, his expressionless face walking toward the welcoming Soul Reapers.

"The war is over! We won!"

Close behind Yamamoto was Jakotsu Jiro, who also successfully ambushed Yhwach using the Lightning Blade, loudly addressing the assembled Soul Reapers, announcing Yhwach's invasion failure and also announcing Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni's victory over Yhwach!

"Oh!!!"

As Jakotsu Jiro's words fell, the entire Seireitei echoed with the Soul Reapers' cheers of victory.

"We won?!"

On another note, upon hearing the word 'victory,' Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni silently looked at his own hands; that strike he indeed delivered, and indeed he used the flames of his Zanpakuto in hand to completely burn Yhwach's body to ashes, yet Yhwach, facing those endless flames, did not beg but instead showed a smile…

Finally, Yhwach seemed to have said something to him, but the surrounding flames' roar was too violent for him to hear clearly! However, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni inexplicably felt a premonition that Yhwach had not just died like that, and that someday he would make a comeback.

If one day, the Yhwach who ought to have been slain by him makes a comeback once more, and by then he has grown old, who in this Soul Society could stand against such a monster?!

"Araki!"

Yamamoto thought of a name, which slowly rose in his heart.

"Forget it! Let future generations handle future affairs! When Yhwach makes a comeback, the Commander-General of the Seireitei's Gotei 13 may not be me anymore! By then, let the youngsters handle everything!"

Thinking of this, Yamamoto's mood seemed to improve considerably; unlike in the original story, the current Yamamoto is not alone—he has successors capable of shouldering the main beam of the Gotei 13.

In a pitch-black space……

"Your Majesty!"

A handsome youth with soft, golden-yellow short hair, a visage so beautiful one cannot tell gender, and a pair of azure eyes stood before a charred corpse unrecognizable as human, showing reverence and speaking softly.

"Haschwalth?"

The corpse, upon hearing that, suddenly opened its mouth in a shocking manner.

"Your Majesty, everything is as you said; during your battle with the Soul Reapers, we Quincy, in the shadowy space of Seireitei, have shaped this world……"

The handsome youth named Haschwalth stood beside the corpse and spoke lightly.

"Hahaha……Very good!"

The corpse let out a loud laugh upon hearing that.

"Your Majesty, the Soul Reapers are celebrating their victory in Seireitei; our companions, following Your Majesty's temporary 'defeat,' some have followed You into this shadowy world, while others have returned to the living world."

Haschwalth continued speaking.

"Let them go! From today onward, the 'Empire of Light' disappears! Effective immediately, we shall shift from 'Light' into 'Shadow,' and our empire shall be called……the 'Formless Empire'!"

The corpse continued speaking.

"As you command!"

Haschwalth lightly nodded in response.

"Yu Gelan Haschwalth! Go tell the subjects of my empire that I have not been defeated, the future stands with us! After a thousand years, I will bring true peace to the entire world!"

As the corpse spoke, its eyes suddenly opened; a pair of eyes reflecting three pupils, as if able to see the future, kept turning in the eye sockets of this burnt corpse—yes, this charred corpse is none other than the Quincy King, Yhwach!

"I will regain my heartbeat after 900 years! Regain my consciousness after 90 years! Regain my strength after 9 years! And then……take back the world in just 9 days!"

As his words fell, Yhwach's voice vanished completely, and with it disappeared those godlike eyes in his eye sockets.

"……"

The youth named Yu Gelan Haschwalth, gazing at the seemingly dead Yhwach before him, instinctively reached for the cross-shaped sword at his waist, hesitated slightly, then shook his head as if giving up, murmuring in his heart: 'With my power, I cannot oppose Your Majesty.'

Thus, a hymn to the Holy Emperor echoed within this formless empire.

Countless Quincy, full of anticipation for their Majesty, loudly sang praises: 'The sealed Quincy King! After 900 years, regain the heartbeat; after 90 years, regain the consciousness; after 9 years, regain the power……'

If the sleeping Araki were to hear this millennium hymn at this moment, he would surely add a few lines afterward: '……Take back the world in just 9 days! Then be turned against by Uryu in 9 hours! After 9 minutes of battle, be cut in two by Ichigo's blade! Finally be used by a monk to forge a new Soul King in 9 seconds!'

Yhwach, a sage who spared no effort over a thousand years to be made into the stable Three Worlds' Soul King!

There is still another chapter; the new arc is about to begin.

(End of chapter)