As alarm bells rang in Yhwach's mind, Makoto spoke, his voice calm: "The next second, you won't see me."

[Fixing Falsehood]

With that, Makoto stepped forward.

His figure vanished from Yhwach's vision.

Yhwach froze, his sense of danger spiking, pupils constricting sharply.

"Swish-"

A gust howled in his ears.

The world in Yhwach's eyes slowed to a crawl, every sense straining to locate the figure tearing through the air.

But he saw nothing.

Boom!

When the sensation hit, Yhwach's body was already hurled upward by an unstoppable force, his face gripped tightly, soaring into the sky. The wind in his ears turned to a sonic boom.

His speed...

His reiatsu...

The thought surged uncontrollably in Yhwach's mind.

The scenery blurred into vibrant streaks as he sped past.

A second that should've passed in a blink stretched endlessly.

Then, a black figure pierced the ground like an arrow, erupting in a cloud of dust that billowed skyward. Shockwaves spread, collapsing the ornate palaces around them like sandcastles.

Makoto stood outside the massive crater, glancing at Saito. "This should be far enough, right?"

Before he could think further, a tsunami-like surge of terrifying Reiatsu pulsed from the crater's depths.

Blue Reishi light roared upward like a reverse waterfall, rising like a beacon.

Yhwach emerged unscathed, stepping from the pit, his gaze fixed solely on Makoto.

"Parlor tricks."

"Is this your Zanpakutō's power? If so, I'm truly disappointed."

Makoto met Yhwach's approach with a low chuckle. "Getting hit by parlor tricks and you still talking big, huh?"

Yhwach's eyes sharpened, his voice calm. "Then let me show you."

As his words fell, his Hirenkyaku burst with radiant light. In a fleeting instant, Yhwach flashed behind Makoto, his reishi sword tracing an blue arc.

Makoto spun Oharai Gougi in a reverse grip, his eyes bloodshot, muscles and nerves taut to their limit, moving like lightning.

[Sokushinteigi]

Black and blue blades clashed, sparking a blinding flare.

[Zanjutsu +3]

[Transform, old man!]

Oharai Gougi's childish voice rang out.

Makoto ignored it, fully immersed in the fight.

Yhwach's cross blade reversed, slashing upward. Makoto's black nodachi clung to it, pressing down. His wrist shifted to a forward grip, stepping forward to thrust at Yhwach's chest amid a cascade of sparks.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The reishi sword recoiled, Yhwach retreating with the force.

Simultaneously, dozens of rippling distortions appeared in the air.

"Multiple Heilig Pfeil!"

Blue lights flickered like rain, dense arrows blanketing Makoto's area in an uncountable onslaught.

Makoto's Shunpo was startlingly fast, charging straight at Yhwach. Oharai Gougi danced like a black canopy, flawlessly deflecting the arrow rain.

Yhwach's brow furrowed, sensing something.

Before his thoughts could form, Makoto appeared before him, his black blade slashing down.

"Clang!"

[Zanjutsu +3]

[Turn into a cat-eared loli!]

Yhwach's strength faltered, his body dragged downward by the blade's immense force, feet sinking into the ground.

In just Shikai, he matched Saito's Bankai?

The gap between Shinigami was staggering.

But...

"Heilig Pfeil!"

Yhwach roared, his left palm conjuring a massive blue arrow, thrusting at Makoto.

Before it could pierce him, the arrow's surface flared.

Makoto's pupils constricted.

Boom!

The arrow exploded in a thunderous blast.

Makoto slid back through the blast's shockwaves, his geta carving a deep groove in the ground, hair slightly disheveled.

Yhwach swept his cloak, clearing the dust, and stepped from the explosion's heart, his voice low. "Daring to compare yourself to me? This level is far from enough."

"...Really?" Makoto stood, chuckling. "Then why keep your distance? What reason does a coward like you have to swing a blade?"

Yhwach's brow twitched, as if dismissing the taunt.

But Makoto's casual question took root in his mind.

Makoto closed the distance again.

Whether to prove himself or for another reason, Yhwach merely raised his reishi sword, ready to show this boy the dimensional gap between them.

"Swish-"

The black blade pierced the air.

Yhwach, with a hint of scorn, struck back.

But as their blades neared, he noticed the piercing whistle around Makoto's blade vanish.

"Splurt!"

The black blade passed through his reishi sword, unresisted.

"What!?"

Yhwach's eyes widened, staring at Makoto, inches away.

You...!?

Makoto ducked under the cross blade, his blade plunging into Yhwach's body.

A light slash.

[Sokushinteigi!]

Instantly, Makoto's earlier question consumed Yhwach's mind.

"Then why keep your distance?"

"What reason does a coward like you have to swing a blade?"

What... was this?

Before he could comprehend the mental shift, Yhwach's body instinctively charged at Makoto.

Yet, his right hand, gripping the reishi sword, trembled.

He couldn't swing.

Facing a righteous figure like Makoto, even a noble soul must set aside honor for a just backstab!

The black blade flashed.

Its razor edge aimed straight for Yhwach's heart.

Under the extreme threat to his life, Yhwach's entire being trembled, his soul quaking uncontrollably.

Splurt!

Blood sprayed, arcing through the air.

Yet, Yhwach's form had somehow retreated a foot.

A long gash stretched from his left shoulder to his lower right abdomen, deeper at the start, lighter at the end.

Blood oozed from the wound, soaking his black cloak and white uniform beneath.

The deepest part was less than an inch from his heart.

Had he not forcibly broken free from that eerie Zanpakutō effect with Reiatsu at the last moment, his heart would've been shredded.

Now, Yhwach's gaze toward Makoto was filled with the wariness reserved for a true adversary.

"A terrifying ability, Makoto."

"First, turning falsehoods into reality, then erasing the cause of an attack... Two entirely different powers."

"And more. When you blocked my Heilig Pfeil, you turned a one-meter radius around you into your own domain, boosting your speed and reactions."

"Your mind even withstands the immense pressure of that state."

"Altogether, you've displayed multiple abilities."

"But a soul can only wield one power. Even I cannot break that rule."

As he spoke, Yhwach raised his reishi sword, blue Reiatsu forming a faint holy domain. His gaze toward Makoto flickered with eagerness.

The gash across his chest healed from bottom to top, as if it had never existed.

Makoto's eyes narrowed.

"All of this is part of your Zanpakutō's ability, isn't it?" Yhwach continued. "World rewriting. That's the essence of your power."

For the first time, a smile curled beneath his heavy mustache, reckless and unrestrained.

He pointed his blade at the young man. "The world is truly wondrous. It creates a god like me, yet also a reformer like you?"

"Makoto. Show me the limits of what you can rewrite!"

As his words fell, fiery Reishi surged from the earth, encircling Yhwach and Makoto in a massive ring, blazing like a ritual array. Spiritual flames rose behind Yhwach, forming a towering blue cross.

A tsunami of Reiatsu roared, its pressure so intense that even Makoto, standing close, felt a faint oppression, his breathing slightly labored.

Yhwach's black hair and cloak billowed in the hurricane around him, his smile wild.

Makoto's expression grew heavy.

As expected.

Even without his 'eyes,' taken by the Monk, Yhwach was the born son of the Soul King.

From the start, he transcended all beings, surpassing the tier reiatsu scale, a 'Transcendent.'

Sword wounds, severed limbs, organ damage, fatal to ordinary Shinigami or Quincies, were mere Reishi disruptions to him.

He, no, It, was no longer human.

But.

Makoto faced the overwhelming Reiatsu, the holy domain blanketing hundreds of meters, and a grin, whether excited or arrogant, spread across his face.

This was why even Oharai Gougi was so fired up!

For a swordsman, cutting down a formidable foe was only natural!

Fueled by this blazing will, Makoto's Reiatsu began to stir, flickering like a spark in dry grass, growing from faint to radiant.

His pupils glowed with dark red light.

His black hair, tied loosely with straw, danced in the surging Reiatsu.

Behind him loomed a chained Hell Gate, flanked by cursed skulls.

His domain transformed into a crimson blood prison.

A faint sunset lullaby echoed, softly chanted.

Yhwach's sense of threat grew heavier, sharper.

In his eyes, Makoto's body emanated black mist like a beacon, within which skeletal forms and soul-piercing malice faintly appeared.

Makoto stood calmly, Oharai Gougi's black-red ribbon coiling around his arm like chains, tightening.

He looked at Yhwach, speaking slowly: "This ability isn't flashy and is dangerous, so I've barely used it since Shikai. But against an opponent of your caliber... I have no choice."

The mere act of speaking stirred an intense malice in Yhwach, his gaze toward Makoto tinged with crimson.

Kill him!

Tear him apart!

Defile his corpse!

Drain his life!

These aberrant thoughts flooded his mind, shattering his calm.

Makoto merely smiled, pointing his blade at the man, whispering: "Let's make a deal. The first to die suffers the ultimate humiliation."

As his words fell, the crimson domain around Makoto surged outward, engulfing Yhwach's blue holy domain.

Yhwach froze.

In his vision, a panel appeared.

[Dream Death: Abyss World]

[Magical Girl Hell Transformation: Abyss Archduke]

Magical girl?

What magical girl?

Who's the Abyss Archduke?

As he puzzled, gazing at Makoto, a nagging sense of wrongness crept in.

Noticing his confusion, Makoto smiled quietly, pointing at Yhwach's lower body. "Haven't noticed yet, Yhwach? I don't have many strengths. But I always keep my word."

Hearing the calm, malicious words, Yhwach realized reality had shifted fatally. His eyes widened, trembling as he looked at his delicate, pale hands.

Long black hair cascaded from his temples.

Cat ears twitched atop his head, quivering with shock.

A soft tail under his skirt snapped taut.

A fourteen-year-old cat-eared magical girl in a voluminous black cloak, face pale, looked up at Makoto, now a head taller, lips trembling.

Makoto's smile widened: "You've become a very cute girl, Yhwach-chan."

"..."

After a long silence, a shrill, delicate cry erupted in the crimson domain.

"I'll cut you to pieces!!!"

***

Hi guys, I hope you're all doing well! I want to share that I'm currently working on a new project related to Lord of Mysteries.

If you're interested, feel free to visit my profile and start reading. Below is a brief summary:

[Lord of Mysteries: Incarnation of Chaos]

Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone from a Lovecraftian world got isekai'd into another world built on Lovecraftian themes? Well, it's absolute chaos.

Meet Alaric, a human(questionably) survivor of the madness and chaos caused by a certain crawling chaos, who, thanks to the kindness of a certain bubble daddy, got isekai'd into the "fake it till you make it" world.

What will he do in this strange new world? Climb the ladder of power to become that impossible god unless you're just a pawn of a certain russian priest or a certain goth mommy?

Or become a cheshire cat, leaping onto the 4D chessboard to disrupt the schemes and mind games of these bizarre folks?

For Alaric, it's not a tough choice. But before he picks either path, he must, of course, uphold the time-honored tradition of isekai'd victims(questionably) that forms the foundation of this world.

What's that tradition?

Keeping a diary.

---

[Alaric's Transmigration Diary]

[Day 1: I encountered Amon. Used a special technique to summon a projection of the Ancient Sun God, who personally delivered a heavy slap to Amon. Hope Amon appreciates this weighty paternal affection.]

[Day 2: I received an invitation from the Aurora Order. Told them I want it all... looks, brains, and combat prowess... and invited them to join my newly founded Joker Club.]

[Day 3: I met Leonard and acknowledged Gramps Pallez. Declined Leonard's enthusiastic suggestion for the old man to move in with me, as I'd rather not have a old man critiquing my every move, even in private moments.]

[Day 4: I told Klein I plan to pray to a deity named The Fool. Watched his eyes widen in shock and kindly offered him some eye drops.]

[Day 5: I listened to Medici perform a two-hour comedy routine. Suggested he go professional and invited him to share a meal.]

.

.

.

[Day 666: I fully absorbed a certain crawling chaos fragment within me. From now on, I am the Fifth Pillar.]