Chapter 434

2-in-1 chapter:

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At the same time, two new arms began to break free from the area around his shoulders.

Yhwach’s chest had caved in deeply, his entire presence carrying a ruined air.

The force behind Kaelith’s punch had far exceeded his expectations.

Through a thousand years of slumber, he had thought countless times about how to deal with Yamamoto’s ultimate strike.

He had thought, countless more times, about how to evade the Monk’s sealing ability.

Yet never had he imagined that someone could take such a “low-level” physical ability and wield it to such a terrifying extreme.

Looking at Kaelith’s strange smile and the way his eyes locked tightly onto him, Yhwach suddenly felt a wave of helplessness.

Was there truly someone in this world who could defeat him?

Was this man born solely for destruction?

He felt anger, and he felt sorrow.

He had given everything—unifying the western world, gathering the Quincy, creating the Empire of Light, waging war on the Soul Society, sleeping for a thousand years, waging war a second time…

Yet all of that effort had led only to more defeat.

He cursed this damned world, and he cursed the damned Kaelith.

The one he cursed was already charging toward him with an aura meant to end everything.

Was this the end?

Yhwach’s expression hardened. He gripped his spirit blade and readied himself for a final strike.

But just as he abandoned hope, a figure descended between him and Kaelith.

“?”

“?!”

Seeing Aizen standing before him with a faint smile, Kaelith’s eyes widened.

He tried to pull back his strength, but an almost full-force blow was not something that could be stopped so easily.

“Aizen Sōsuke!”

As Kaelith stared in alarm, Aizen extended a single hand to block his punch.

In an instant, the terrifying destructive force surged into Aizen’s body, blasting half of it apart.

The Hōgyoku buried in his chest was exposed.

Kaelith’s pupils contracted.

What relieved him, however, was that as the Hōgyoku flashed, Aizen’s body regenerated rapidly, returning to its original state in the blink of an eye.

He remembered then—after the fourth stage of fusion with the Hōgyoku, Aizen had become essentially immortal.

In the original timeline, Gin Ichimaru would have had a great deal to say about that.

Looking at the man blocking his way, Yhwach’s face showed puzzlement.

“Aizen Sōsuke, you…”

“Yhwach, go to the Soul King Palace.”

Aizen spoke in a calm voice.

Yhwach’s eyes widened; he could hardly believe what he had heard.

He looked at Aizen’s back, then at the Soul King’s left hand in the distance, and then at the Zero Division standing nearby without the slightest move to stop him.

A few seconds later, he smiled faintly.

Then, turning into a streak of light, he shot up into the sky and vanished into the distant horizon.

Yamamoto and Ichigo stared at the scene, momentarily unable to process what had just happened.

Compared to them, Kaelith was far calmer.

He raised his head and looked toward the direction where Yhwach had disappeared.

Once he was sure Yhwach had gone to the upper realm, he dropped his combat stance.

Seeing his reaction, Aizen chuckled.

“What, you won’t try to bring me down and go after him? Or at least ask me why I chose to do this?”

Kaelith folded his arms with a short laugh.

“No need. I don’t trust the bald Monk to handle things properly, but if you, Sōsuke, also believe Yhwach should go up there, then we’ll go with your judgment.”

At that, Aizen sighed.

“Hopeless.”

He turned and, like Kaelith, looked toward the direction Yhwach had vanished, mentally crossing out half of the grudges he had noted down against him.

Off to the side, the Soul King’s left hand suddenly twitched.

It stared at the group in front of it, clearly confused.

“What happened… Where is Yhwach? Why is it only you?”

Everyone turned to face it.

Looking at the reawakened left hand, Aizen wore a gentle smile.

Under its terrified gaze, he took hold of his Zanpakutō and walked toward it step by step.

Before long, he returned carrying a blood-dripping box.

“It’s about time. Let’s go.”

“Where to?” Kaelith asked.

“The Soul King Palace,” Aizen replied, lifting his head.

…….....................

........

.

Step.

One after another, figures landed.

The long outer approach to the Soul King Palace was perhaps, for the first time, welcoming this many guests.

Ichigo looked curiously around.

Although he had been to the Soul Society many times, and was even a descendant of one of the five great noble families, this was his first time seeing the Soul King Palace.

Yamamoto, however, had no such curiosity.

Although this was only his second time ascending here, his goal now was very clear—kill Yhwach.

Seeing Kaelith and Aizen, those two fools, let Yhwach go, he wanted nothing more than to throw them beneath a waterfall and train them for a hundred years straight.

....However, he held his sword back for the sake of his foolish disciple. He was now the captain commander, and he had the right to decide the fate of Seireitei weather for the better...or worse.

The five members of the Zero Division followed them onto the approach.

Just as they were about to speak, Kaelith turned back with a triumphant smile.

“Honored guests, welcome to the Soul King Palace.”

Senjumaru’s eye twitched. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on NovᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt

Guests, is it?

Just wait, boy—next time I’ll tailor you the Emperor’s new clothes.

Yamamoto glanced around.

“Where’s Yhwach?”

He should already be there.

The Monk raised his head, looking toward the spindle-shaped structure floating in the center of the palace complex.

The Soul King Palace was merely the general term for the entire upper realm.

The true dwelling of the Soul King was the spindle-shaped structure guarded by the five Zero Division residences—

The Soul King’s Great Inner Chamber.

Kaelith directed his gaze there.

As expected, he could sense Yhwach’s spiritual pressure emanating from it.

Their figures flickered as each displayed their own abilities, arriving within the Great Inner Chamber.

Kaelith’s expression turned slightly complex as he took in the scene.

Suspended at the center of the vast chamber was an enormous crystalline structure.

Inside the crystal was a person—or rather, something shaped like a person.

A head, a neck, a torso.

Only those remained.

The limbs had long since vanished without a trace.

Though there was no sign of the abdomen having been cut open, the texture of the skin made it clear the inside was hollow.

Most striking of all were the eyes.

In each eye rested four pupils.

Eight pupils in total, all gazing quietly forward.

“Kaelith…”

Ichigo edged a little closer, tension in his voice.

Though he feared nothing under normal circumstances, seeing something this grotesque was enough to rattle even his young heart.

Kaelith gave a slight shake of his head.

There was no doubt—this was the Soul King.

The five great noble houses—symbols of the bloody history through which the Soul Society rose to power—were also the maintainers of the balance among the three realms.

Before the crystal stood Yhwach, draped in a tattered black cloak, silently waiting.

Sensing the arrival of the others, he spoke.

“You have come.”

“Unfortunately, too late.”

“Now, there is nothing you can stop.”

“The world shall be reforged here.”

The instant his words fell, Yhwach gripped his long blade and drove it hard into the crystal, piercing straight through the Spirit King sealed within.

As his blade sank in, the Spirit King’s power surged wildly into Yhwach’s body.

Kaelith scratched his head as he watched.

They had already reached this stage, and still there was no move to stop him. What exactly was Sōsuke planning?

Then, he froze.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but as the Spirit King’s power drained away, Kaelith thought he saw the corner of the Spirit King’s mouth lift slightly, his gaze filled with relief…

“Whoa…”

Kaelith let out a sound of awe.

Before his eyes, the Spirit King’s power poured into Yhwach through the blade like floodwaters bursting from a dam.

In the blink of an eye, Yhwach’s strength swelled—and swelled again.

When the Spirit King’s final trace of power was gone, Yhwach gripped his spirit sword, lifted his head, and drew a deep breath.

Releasing the blade, he turned to face those pursuing him.

“Welcome, all of you Shinigami.”

“Welcome to witness the passing of an era.”

As he spoke, he opened his eyes.

Each eye now held an extra pupil.

Six pupils fixed upon everyone present.

It was a calm gaze, yet it pressed down on almost everyone with crushing force.

Kaelith scratched his head.

“This guy is no weaker than me now.”

“Sure, a good fight sounds great, but this is hardly the right place for it.”

“He’s hell-bent on destroying the world—normally you’d kill someone like that before his power was complete, to avoid trouble later.”

“In every story, the villain who raises the one destined to kill him never meets a good end.”

At that, Sōsuke glanced at him with mild surprise.

He had thought no one would be happier about Yhwach’s rise in power than Kaelith.

He had not expected him to be thinking clearly today.

After a moment’s thought, Sōsuke understood why.

Long ago, Kaelith had said that in the future he knew, Yamamoto Genryūsai would die at Yhwach’s hands.

This man might usually seem carefree, but the moment the safety of those around him was involved, his intelligence would suddenly sharpen.

It was, in fact, very much the typical behavior of a “protagonist” in a hot-blooded tale—though that was not meant as a compliment.

Under everyone’s gaze, Yhwach’s form began to change.

A layer of black, viscous spiritual pressure crawled up over his body like thick mud, coating half his face and torso.

From the black mud, eyes began to sprout.

Now, he looked like a creature out of a cosmic horror.

Ichigo furrowed his brow in discomfort.

Senjumaru and the others shifted into guarded stances.

From within the black mud covering him, Yhwach’s spiritual pressure erupted—

BOOM!

The violent impact tore the sky as if a hole had been punched through it, drawing down the Milky Way to crush everything beneath into pulp.