Ichibe said no more and immediately made his move. However, he found his ability incredibly difficult to use, as if he were mired in a swamp.
He looked grimly at Shin, understanding that this must be his doing.
Phantasmagoria Barrier's second ability, nullify the opponent's abilities.
Shin looked at Ichibe, whose expression was ugly but who remained motionless, knowing that Phantasmagoria must be working.
Teleport!
Shin's Nietono no Shana instantly vanished.
An alarm blared in Ichibe's mind, and he dodged the fatal blow by twisting his body.
But in the next second, an invisible slash bisected him at the waist.
World-Cutting Slash!
Shin knew that it would be difficult to deal with Ichibe with a single strike, so he immediately unleashed a combo move.
He quietly watched Ichibe's body, wondering if he could still revive.
As expected, Ichibe's body reassembled itself instantly, restoring him to normal the next second.
Ichibe said, "Shin, though I don't know what method you used, as long as there is darkness in this world, you cannot kill me."
Shin sighed.
He had initially thought that using "Phantasmagoria" might completely kill Ichibe, which would have saved a lot of trouble.
Now it seemed he could only use sealing, but this seal required extremely strong Reiatsu to activate. Originally, Aizen was supposed to do it, and his Reiatsu would have been more than enough.
But given the current situation, he could only wait for the battle outside the Soul King Palace to conclude and have the Shinigami perform the sealing.
"Come on, Shin, let me see how many times you can use that strange ability of yours."
With that, Ichibe surprisingly sat down.
Shin was a little speechless, only a fool would waste time with him.
With a thought, he activated Phantasmagoria's third ability, pulling Ichibe into an illusion.
Next, Shin had to wait.
—
Meanwhile.
Yhwach walked through the outer regions of the Soul King Palace, multiple pupils swirling in his eyes. The Divine soldiers who tried to stop him instantly exploded.
Suddenly, Yhwach sensed something amiss.
"Aizen."
"Oh? Did you notice?"
The void behind Yhwach shattered like a mirror, and Aizen appeared.
Yhwach said, "I thought we had a common goal."
Aizen asked, "A common goal? Are you referring to the Soul King?"
Yhwach said, "The Soul King Palace is right beneath us. Isn't overthrowing the Soul King what you've pursued for hundreds of years?"
Aizen, fully fused with the Hogyoku, was immortal. Yhwach didn't want to waste time on him now.
Aizen smiled. "It once was. Regarding the Soul King, I believe Shin will give me a reasonable explanation."
"Aizen! You, who claim to transcend Shinigami, why do you consider a human your comrade?" Yhwach questioned.
Aizen calmly replied, "Unfortunately, someone like you cannot understand."
Aizen's calm tone, tinged with pity, enraged Yhwach.
"In that case, I'll trample you first."
Yhwach summoned several Reishi arrows, controlling the debris of the surrounding buildings to converge on Aizen.
Bakudo #81: Danku!
Aizen completely abandoned incantation, simultaneously releasing four mirror-like defensive walls.
The two immediately began to clash.
Aizen's Kido attacks were effortless, and all were high-level Kido. He also used various techniques developed with the Hogyoku, such as the Super Reiatsu Wall.
"Aizen, my 'Almighty' has already seen the ultimate future, your obstruction is meaningless." Yhwach said while fending off attacks.
Yhwach was still unaware that he had been affected by Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu.
Although Aizen couldn't completely hypnotize Yhwach after he opened his eyes, affecting his perception was still possible.
Compared to the original timeline, the further evolved Aizen and Yhwach were evenly matched, neither able to defeat the other.
The Soul King was within reach, and Yhwach couldn't wait any longer.
Auswählen!
Finally, he activated Auswählen, stealing the powers of the four Schutzstaffel members and Haschwalth.
Aizen also retracted the Hogyoku's power from the four Espadas.
Yhwach's Auswählen instantly changed the tide of the war outside the Soul King Palace.
The Schutzstaffel and Haschwalth all fell.
Three of the Zero Division's Riden had already been destroyed by Ikaros.
Just as Shin had guessed, when the corresponding Zero Division Riden were destroyed, the Zero Division broke free from Ichibe's control.
Without the Schutzstaffel, Kaname and the four Espadas were freed and assisted Ikaros in destroying the remaining two Zero Division Riden.
Before long, all the Zero Division Riden were destroyed.
On the entire battlefield, only the Divine Soldiers were still stubbornly resisting.
Shin, sensing the changes outside, walked up to Ichibe and deactivated Phantasmagoria.
In an instant, Shin plunged Nietono no Shana into Ichibe's heart. Ichibe's tightly closed eyes opened at that moment.
A sinister smile appeared on Ichibe's face. He could clearly feel the release of his ability's restriction, thinking that Shin had run out of power and couldn't maintain it.
As for Shin's strike, it was merely a fatal wound, he would recover in a few seconds.
However, as Shin exited the barrier, he threw out a box and shouted urgently, "Captain Unohana, seal him!"
Unohana understood immediately. Using her Reiatsu, five cones of light pierced Ichibe's four limbs and heart.
Realizing the dire situation, Ichibe frantically unleashed the power of "Black."
Seeing that the seal was about to break, the other Shinigami also rushed forward, pouring their Reiatsu into the box.
"Shin—"
In the end, Ichibe let out only an unwilling roar before being completely sealed.
"Only you are left."
Shin looked at the Soul King Palace. He moved over and, with a raised hand, destroyed "Sever." Without Ichibe's power supporting it, it was like paper.
Yhwach and Aizen, locked in a fierce battle, stopped when they saw Shin.
Yhwach's face was grim. "Shin!"
Shin scoffed, "Now you know how arrogant you are, don't you?"
Yhwach had placed himself at the pinnacle, creating these Special War Powers, yet he couldn't even defeat one of them.
"Shin! Aizen! Do you think you've won? Under 'The Almighty,' no skill I know of can harm me."
"Let's try it then."
Shin activated Phantasmagoria again.
"Yhwach, can you still see your so-called future, or change the future, now?"
Yhwach's face showed shock. He felt as if he had returned to infancy, that feeling of powerlessness.
"King of the Quincy, farewell."
As soon as the words fell, a black fireball enveloped Yhwach, and in the blink of an eye, he turned into nothingness.
When the others arrived, they only saw Aizen and Shin.
Kisuke was the first to ask, "Nohara-san, where is Yhwach?"
"Dead, utterly dead."
Hearing Shin's words, everyone felt a moment of bewilderment.
The arrogant Yhwach had actually been eliminated just like that.
Ichigo regained his composure and couldn't help but ask, "Shin, what exactly happened with Hyosube and the Soul King?"
Shin glanced at everyone and slowly revealed the truth about the Soul King.
After a long while, everyone finally processed Shin's words. This was too different from what they had known in the past.
Aizen couldn't help but look towards the Soul King Palace. He hadn't expected the Soul King to still have consciousness, but it no longer mattered. The noble rule was ended, and the Zero Division was now a thing of the past.
"Hell, huh..." Unohana murmured.
The others also looked grim. They had thought that winning this war would stabilize the three worlds, they hadn't expected another great threat.
Shin gazed into the distance.
A new storm was approaching.