Pitch black~
As far as the eye could see, everything was a scene of absolute darkness, and within this darkness, there were ancient European-style buildings.
Gulp~
A swallowing sound came out. The young man looked at the surroundings, an environment that had always made him feel incredibly dull and boring, and he heavily swallowed.
"Did…did I come back?"
Even now, he still felt as if he were dreaming.
Bankai?
"Ha…haha…hahaha."
The young man, covered in his comrades' blood, knelt on the ground, a smile gradually spreading across his dazed face.
"…hahahaha—"
His wild laughter grew more intense, causing those around him, dressed in the same attire, to look at him with confusion.
"What good is Bankai? Before His Majesty's Schatten Bereich, it's still useless."
As despairing as he was before returning, he was now just as ecstatic. The moment that monster used Bankai, he thought he was certainly dead, but he never expected to return unharmed.
"No! It's normal that I could return!"
The young man's expression turned fanatical: "This is His Majesty's Schatten Bereich. Once it's deployed, it's not something a Shinigami can…"
Pfft—!
His fanatical muttering abruptly stopped.
The young man's eyes shifted downwards, staring at the grey blade tip piercing his throat, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"Don't be so dramatic. No one's interested in your thoughts."
The incredibly familiar voice plunged the young man's consciousness into complete darkness. Even in the last moment before his death, he still couldn't understand…
Why this Reishi space, hidden in the shadows, hidden under the Shinigami's nose for nearly a thousand years without being discovered, and where no one other than a Quincy had ever arrived, could be so easily invaded!
How did the opponent manage it?
"What happened?"
"Is that the Human World's subjugation force?"
The surrounding Quincy were already full of doubts about the young man's appearance, but when they saw him impaled by a blade tip that emerged from the void, a look of horror simultaneously appeared on everyone's faces.
What on earth happened?
The street…
No, more precisely, there was no such thing as a street in this pitch-black world.
Outside the pure white buildings, everything else was a deep, dark environment like a shadow, and the buildings themselves seemed to stand in the gloom.
Between heaven and earth, there was no color except black and white.
But at this very moment, on the pathway between the pure white buildings, behind where the young man knelt, a wisp of color that should not exist in this world appeared.
Purple!
Dazzling purple flames, blazing fiercely, expanded little by little like a flower of death.
This scene looked extremely bizarre.
The darkness seemed to want to extinguish the purple flames, but no matter how it encroached, the purple flames showed no sign of dying out. Instead, they began to encroach upon the surrounding darkness.
"What is this?"
At the same time, a pressure, different from Reiatsu, freely emanated from within the purple flames.
Not just those present, but every conscious living being in this pitch-black world, which was the same size as the Seireitei, felt it…
…
"Hm?"
Far away, inside an ice palace at the world's center, figures scattered throughout the palace simultaneously looked up and gazed towards one spot.
"What is this…?"
"Who!?"
"Such an exaggerated aura… Why would such an aura appear in the Wandenreich…?"
Exclamations came from various parts of the palace, and figures left their rooms, beginning to gather in the long corridor.
What on earth happened!?
…
Returning to the pathway, in just a moment, the purple flames had transformed into a purple mist, spreading out. It looked as if a door that shouldn't exist in this world had opened in the pitch-black void!
"Wh-…what's going on?"
A middle-aged man looked at the enormous door rapidly encroaching upon the darkness, swallowed, and his fear soared to its peak.
"This…what exactly is this…?"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Sounds of rushing air came, and dense figures appeared all around, but not a single person dared to approach the massive door formed by the purple mist.
Clang, clang, clang—!
And the pressure that permeated the entire world caused everyone to involuntarily tense their bodies, one after another condensing spiritual bows in their hands.
"What exactly is inside there?"
"I don't know, but it's definitely not…"
The uneasy murmuring stopped, or rather, was swallowed by a roaring sound that echoed throughout the entire world.
…The world was collapsing.
A purple pillar of light shot up into the sky, illuminating the darkness, like a sharp sword thrust into this pitch-black world.
Creak—
And beneath the light pillar, the door formed by the purple mist, accompanied by a heavy sound, actually pushed open to both sides like a real door, revealing a figure with black messy hair, dressed in black work clothes, holding a grey-bladed, white-hilted Zanpakuto with a pure white ribbon.
The next second, the figure stepped out from the door.
Tap~
The crisp sound of footsteps wasn't loud, but the moment he truly stepped into this space, The earth, the sky, time, space…
All began to tremble.
The newcomer didn't speak, merely scanned everything around him with eyes that seemed devoid of any emotion or thought.
Although he was only looking straight ahead, the moment their gazes met…
In the minds of everyone present, a pair of enormous eyes appeared, as if being watched by some creature they had never seen and was completely unknown.
If there was one word to describe the owner of those eyes, it would be:
—God!!!
His direct gaze had imperceptibly turned into an overlooking one.
The Quincy, dressed in white uniforms that sharply contrasted with the surrounding darkness, crowded together, whitening the pathway, but at this moment, before the figure in black work clothes, they…knelt down in unison!
They didn't even know when they had knelt. They even felt as if they had always been kneeling there, as if before him, they had no right to meet his gaze, only the right to kneel and be looked down upon!
Someone tried to stand up, but…couldn't move.
Tap~
The crisp sound of footsteps echoed again, and the figure from the door finally fully entered this world.
And the moment he truly entered this world, the entire Wandenreich… distorted. An irresistible Reiatsu wave swept out like a tsunami, spreading in all directions.
Thud, thud, thud, thud…
Dull thuds emanated, and those closest to the figure couldn't help but tremble. For the weaker ones among them, this trembling even reached deep into their souls, and explosive sounds came from within their bodies, as if their spiritual bodies were spontaneously combusting, and their kneeling bodies collapsed and vanished.
This was not intentional; it was merely because their spiritual bodies reached their limit and collapsed, unable to bear the fully released, unhidden Reiatsu.
"Finally… I'm in."
Ishikawa stood still and murmured softly.
Before seeing it, it was formless; after seeing it, it took form!
The process of analyzing the Schatten Bereich was not difficult; the difficulty lay in using the Schatten Bereich's movement channel as a catalyst to establish a channel for himself to enter here.
So, this is what it feels like to unleash my full power?
Ishikawa didn't immediately take action. Instead, before the kneeling Quincy, he slightly closed his eyes, carefully sensing the changes within himself.
Since his battle with Aizen, Ishikawa had never again fully unleashed his power.
Reiatsu: Top (930,000 / 1,000,000)
Nearly seven months, about 200,000 experience points, combined with Ishikawa's frantic training, allowed him to also raise Hakuda to its limit, thereby driving the improvement of his limit barrier.
Compared to his battle with Aizen, his Reiatsu increase, purely numerically, wasn't large, only 30,000 points.
But these 30,000 points…
Each 10,000-point increase could rival, or even surpass, Aizen's process of breaking through the barrier and evolving using the Hōgyoku. It could no longer be described by mere numbers.
Black work clothes, black messy hair, a refined face.
Ishikawa didn't seem to have changed much.
But just as Captain-Commander Yamamoto's Bankai caused even distant captains to feel their throats dry, just as all Zanpakuto of opposing attributes couldn't be used, just as all spiritual bodies couldn't bear his scorching Reiatsu…
Ishikawa's Bankai, that complete analysis which instinctively repulsed all conscious and unconscious life, was simply something these mere soldiers couldn't bear. In fact, before Ishikawa's Kokumei, they didn't even have the right to be analyzed; their souls would simply disintegrate from being overwhelmed!
This was…
—Kokumei Mijaku.
When one reaches the state of oneness with the universe like a god, it is better to let life and death blur into a void.
Ishikawa after Bankai…
He was a god!!
Most of those who survived the pressure couldn't even lift their heads before Ishikawa, trembling as they stared at the dark ground, their minds in a semi-blank state.
And those who had the right to look up at Ishikawa only had the right to look up.
Only…
The few figures who finally emerged from the central palace stood at the outermost edge of the crowd. They did not kneel, but instead stared directly at the figure standing there like a deity.
"That appearance…"
"Is that Ishikawa, one of the Special War Powers, whom His Majesty bestowed the title of 'Ominous'?"
"Why is he here, and at this particular time?"
"…"
These few figures were dressed similarly to the Quincy kneeling all around, but they all wore white hooded cloaks embroidered with 'Sternritter', looking somewhat like the Gotei 13's Captain's haori.
"The ones left…", Just then, a voice entered their ears.
"Is it only you few?"
The calm voice caused the pupils of the few figures in white hooded cloaks to shrink involuntarily.
Because…
Ishikawa had appeared in front of them.
Completely unnoticed!
He had been far away from them just moments before, yet silently, he had arrived so close to them.
It even made them feel as if…
Ishikawa had been standing there all along!
However, as members of the Sternritter, their reactions were extremely swift, and they scattered without hesitation.
Ishikawa did not stop them, but watched everything with indifferent eyes.
Killing was merely a side action, not the objective!
The deaths of his subordinates could not possibly draw Yhwach's attention.
No matter how many Quincy Ishikawa killed, to Yhwach, they were merely tools that could be created at will.
Ishikawa had only one objective in coming here!
To destroy the Schatten Bereich…
To make this world, hidden in the shadows of the Seireitei and of the same size as the Seireitei, manifest in the Human World!
Yhwach might not care about the deaths of his subordinates, but without his eyes opened, he would not choose to engage in a full-scale war with the Seireitei at such a time, without any retreat or preparation.
If he dared to do so, Ishikawa was confident that he could team up with Captain-Commander Yamamoto to nip the unopened Yhwach in the bud.
This opportunity, using the Quincy's return as a catalyst and Kokumei's analysis to establish an invasion channel, was one-time only. After this, any Quincy appearing before Ishikawa would not use similar abilities; even if they did, with Yhwach himself present, Ishikawa would not be able to enter the Schatten Bereich he had constructed and merged with.
Therefore, this might be Ishikawa's only chance to come here.
"Let's begin."
Ishikawa inverted the Kokumei in his hand, blade tip pointing down, and released his grip on the hilt.
The blade slid down, gradually disappearing as if sinking into water.
And the moment the blade completely vanished, a hint of purple suddenly appeared in the pitch-black space. Vaguely, the entire space where the Wandenreich was located began to twist.
Analyzing the world!
That will, which instinctively made living beings feel revulsion, enveloped the entire world.
"What is he doing?"
A man sitting on a tray-like object, with dark skin, a corpulent physique, and a white chest-length beard that ended in an inverted 'V' shape, looked at Ishikawa with a puzzled expression.
"Stop him!"
A sharp roar erupted, filled with disbelief: "He's going to make the entire Wandenreich manifest in the Seireitei!"
"What!?"
At these words, the faces of the several Sternritter members surrounding Ishikawa all changed drastically.
"Stop."
A figure appeared ten meters away from Ishikawa. This was a man with flaxen hair and black tips on his bangs. He did not approach Ishikawa but stood still, smiling as he raised an objection to Ishikawa: "You must stop what you are doing now. This is our objection."
His words were not forceful, nor was he solemn; his tone was as if he were chatting, simply stating his current dissatisfaction, simply raising his objection to Ishikawa.
But when these words reached Ishikawa's ears, Ishikawa had a momentary thought of retracting Kokumei.
It was as if, simply because he had raised an objection, Ishikawa had to discuss it with him to find a solution that satisfied both parties!
More than being compulsory, it was an influence, a thought that any rational person would naturally have.
Is this the Quincy's rule?
"What are you still waiting for? Why aren't you stopping? Didn't you hear what I said…?"
The flaxen-haired man's incessant words became more urgent, and the smile on his face grew somewhat rigid.
Ishikawa looked up at him, and the momentary emotion that flickered in his eyes was instantly covered by indifference.
At this moment, Ishikawa gave up controlling the Zanpakuto's influence on himself, allowing that state of oneness with the universe to dominate his consciousness, and then…
He raised his hand and made a virtual grasping gesture in the air.
"…I…"
The flaxen-haired youth seemed to have his throat squeezed, and he actually floated into the air at that moment.
How could this be!?
Although His Majesty had particularly warned about the six Special War Powers, he had never taken it to heart.
But in this instant…
He finally understood why His Majesty had particularly warned him.
His name was Berenice Gabrielli. Among the Sternritter, he was given the Holy Script 'Q' — Question!
But before the opponent, all his objections seemed like an ant grumbling before an elephant!
Too lazy to bother…
But could easily crush!
His Reiatsu furiously unleashed, but the invisible hand clamping him remained motionless, gradually tightening its grip.
Blood gushed from his mouth, nostrils, ears, and even his pores.
Completely powerless to resist!
Just as His Majesty's given meaning of 'Ominous' implied.
Ominous also means unknown; his 'ability' is unknown, his 'true form' is unknown;
When he is ominous, his 'existence' is ominous, his 'meaning' is ominous;
This person…
—The Ominous!
Bang!
Vibrant blood blossomed in the darkness!