Ichigo gasped. He'd been ambushed, nearly finished—but his Quincy training had saved him.
He looked ahead—
The debris was blasted aside by a surge of spiritual pressure.
"You…!"
Beelzebub, bloodied, emerged—wearing Ichigo's face.
"What did you just do?! What was that power?!"
"I understand now," Ichigo said quietly. "You can only copy abilities others have already shown. Bankai, Hollowfication—you saw those, so you could use them. But this Quincy power is new. You saw it just now, but you can't use it properly yet."
"Heh heh hahahaha!" Beelzebub laughed. "You're clever! But now you've shown it to me. Want to see me use it?!"
"No need," Ichigo replied. "Didn't you just say it yourself? When two people are otherwise equal, the one in better condition wins. After all your injuries, do you think you can still beat me?"
Beelzebub's expression darkened.
"You really dare to talk, you little—… Forget it. I was going to play with your body, but since you're so stubborn… I'll show you despair."
He raised his head, voice echoing—
"Call forth… King of Flies!"
Boom!
Beelzebub's body twisted grotesquely, swelling and warping. His human features faded; compound eyes and wings appeared.
He became a monstrous, giant fly.
On his forehead, an antenna pulsed.
Ichigo involuntarily stepped back.
"Are you scared?" Beelzebub mocked, voice booming. "Don't worry. Something even worse is coming!"
He seemed to lay eggs, spawning countless small flies—each with a human face.
Ichigo saw his own face among them, and Inoue's, Rukia's, Renji's, Byakuya's, Urahara's… and many others.
Flies with human faces—a grotesque, horror-movie scene!
"Kill him!"
The flies, each the size of a child, swarmed toward Ichigo.
"Getsuga Tensho!"
Ichigo's crescent moon attack was met by identical attacks from the flies.
Some spat ice, cherry blossoms, beams, lightning—powers of his friends and enemies.
His Getsuga was shattered. The attacks rained down.
"Tenbu Renshin!"
Ichigo's blade split into multiples, blocking every attack—crescent, cherry blossom, lightning, wind, Cero—all were shattered.
But the effort left him clutching his head. His Hollow mask began to crack.
Not good. Time's up!
His mask shattered. His power faded. And the flies closed in.
Flies with Yamamoto's face spat flame; Kenpachi's face slashed at him with wing-blades.
Ichigo dodged, but the onslaught was relentless. Some flies even healed others with Inoue's powers!
How can I fight like this?!
Despair crept in. The monsters were endless… and they could heal each other.
No! I must break through—kill the leader!
Beelzebub, in his monstrous form, hung back. If he died, would the flies vanish?
Ichigo looked for an opening, but the flies swarmed too tightly.
Boom!
Flames and lightning forced him back.
He roared—
"Getsuga Tensho!"
But the flies countered with their own powers.
He Hollowfied again, his mask returning.
With a surge of strength, he blasted a path—slipping through the gap.
"Hmph, do you think you can escape?"
The flies spoke!
Soi Fon and Yoruichi-faced flies grew sharper, stronger, unleashing attacks of their own.
Ichigo turned, detonating their attacks midair, using the blast to propel himself even faster.
He charged at Beelzebub.
Beelzebub opened his mouth, firing a Cero—
Ichigo met it with a giant black crescent moon.
The crescent sliced through the Cero, slamming into Beelzebub's body.
"Agh!!!"
Beelzebub howled, his monstrous face splitting, his body gashing open.
The flies arrived too late.
Ichigo struck again, swinging his blade.
"Wait—wait! I surrender! Don't kill me!"
But Ichigo didn't hesitate.
A second Getsuga Tensho slammed into Beelzebub, carving two massive wounds—blood pouring, dark reishi leaking.
Ichigo himself was struck by lightning from the Yoruichi flies, engulfed, battered, his mask shattering, falling to one knee.
He looked up. Beelzebub's body twisted, reverting to its original form.
"You're used to stealing others' faces, others' skills. Without them, you can't fight at all… You're just a puppet, hiding in borrowed skins."
Ichigo stood, battered but resolute.
Beelzebub, desperate, took out a fragment from his antenna.
"Don't… don't kill me. I'll give you the Key to Life fragment. Just don't kill me!"
Ichigo hesitated, but as he reached out, Beelzebub unleashed a sudden Cero.
"Hahahahaha! All who see my true face must die! I won't let anyone see me—not you, not that woman! I'll kill you all!"
The Cero struck Ichigo head-on—
But Ichigo didn't even flinch.
"You don't even know how to fight as yourself. You despise your own face. You don't deserve to talk about true appearances!"
Enraged, Ichigo raised Zangetsu.
Beelzebub, terrified, transformed again—this time into Kurosaki Masaki, Ichigo's mother.
"Please, don't kill Mom…" Beelzebub pleaded in Masaki's voice. "Ichigo, Mom is in so much pain…"
"No… no, you're Beelzebub!" Ichigo gritted his teeth, but that hesitation let Beelzebub escape.
He retreated, then reverted to his true form—fleeing into the distance.
"Just you wait, Kurosaki Ichigo! I'll make sure you never find peace! I'll become everyone around you and take everything from you!"
Ichigo wanted to pursue, but other Arrancar blocked his way.
Beelzebub ran, desperate to recover. He sensed Rukia's weakened reishi—
If he could devour her, he could recover and kill Ichigo!
But as he left Las Noches, a sense of dread overtook him.
A black figure appeared before him.
"Finally… it's fully incubated."
Beelzebub's eyes widened in terror.
"Wha—?"
The black figure's hand pierced his chest.
Pfft!
Beelzebub stared, the figure's words echoing in his ears.
"Your original appearance is truly ugly."
Beelzebub's body crumbled to ash, vanishing on the wind.
Only a black orb remained in the shadow's hand.
The orb shone with holy light, purified from within—
The Evil Node transformed into the Sacred Node: Wisdom.
Now, Yoshio had two Sacred Nodes, with half the Evil Nodes purified.
The journey was halfway done.
Angra gazed at the Sacred Node, then vanished.
…
Soon after, a surge of energy erupted from Rukia's body.
A mask reappeared on her face—bull horns sprouted from her head, a Hollow hole opened in her chest. She looked just like the Bull-Head Hollow!
Though she had just used Bankai to 'kill' Dark Rukia, Dark Rukia was a part of her.
As long as Rukia lived, so did Dark Rukia.
Now, Rukia was a true Bull-Head Hollow!
A powerful reishi burst forth.
ROAR!
Bull-Head Rukia roared, Cero condensing between her horns.
She fired it into the sky, piercing the clouds.
Afterwards, the Hollow features faded. Rukia's mask shattered, revealing her face.
She collapsed again.
A while later, her hand twitched.
She woke up.
"I… I'm not dead?"
She looked around at the icy field. It was real.
Strangely, her body was completely recovered. Her reishi was restored.
Was it all an illusion? No… the field is real.
What had happened?
She thought of Yoshio, of the Bull-Head Hollow.
Was it inside her now?
And what of the Parasite Hollow?
Too many questions.
She realized—she had to see Yoshio again.
Only he knew the truth of all this.