But before Gerard Valkyrie's laughter could spread through the air inside the Ice Crystal Palace…
The plot flipped again—
Right then, on the screen…
The Soul King Yhwach had gone completely insane!
He rampaged without restraint, driving that surging torrent of darkness into a violent upheaval of spiritual pressure, turning the entire scene pitch-black!
Even…
Ichigo Kurosaki's figure—
After facing the Soul King Yhwach alone once again—
Because the gap in power was too great, he couldn't withstand the corrosion of that dark torrent. Half his body was on the verge of being swallowed whole!
But—
Just as despair was about to descend…
Suddenly, the camera whipped around, locking onto the Three Mounds.
On the ruins of those collapsed buildings—
A sharp rush of wind split the air.
Then—
Uryu Ishida appeared.
He raised his hand, drew the bowstring, and as three blue cartridges activated in rapid succession…
He fused in that single Still Silver blood-clot core and fired a sacred Quincy arrow!
From behind—
At beyond sonic speed—
It was about to hit the Soul King Yhwach at any moment!!!
The moment that happened—
As the ranking video played and carried the scene into the real world—
It instantly detonated a massive uproar.
The viewing atmosphere exploded again, the audience boiling over once more!!!
"Ah… this…"
"I never thought it'd be me—the one to carry out the most crucial strike!!!"
Reality.
Karakura Town, in the city district, inside a certain high school.
Uryu Ishida—still wearing his high school uniform, and not yet transferred schools—
Behind the silver-rimmed glasses,
His expression was grim, the pressure crushing.
Because at this point in time…
To the powerhouses of the world of the Shinigami, Uryu Ishida was nothing more than a passerby.
If the ranking video hadn't exposed that in the future he would become Ichigo Kurosaki's companion—and multiple times take part in those iconic battles—
Then even Uryu himself wouldn't have dared imagine it.
With the pathetic rookie strength he had right now, how could he possibly end up with so many important scenes in the future?!
And what made him feel the most urgent pressure…
Was this very moment!
"Thump—thump—!!!"
His heartbeat spiked.
His pulse hit its fastest.
Even if it was his future self firing those three shots…
Once he put himself in it—
As the person involved, Uryu Ishida trembled all over, so tense his heart felt like it might leap straight out of his throat!
"I won't miss… right?"
"If it goes wide, or if that dark torrent knocks it away, then…"
"This time, Ichigo Kurosaki—he'll really die!!!"
He clenched his fist.
Uryu bared his teeth, his thoughts roaring nonstop.
No matter what—
That Still Silver bolt has to hit!!!
——
At that moment.
Inside the video—
"Shiiing—!!!"
With absolutely no suspense,
The arrow launched and struck dead-on.
Under the gaze of the entire world—countless eyes watching—
From behind the Soul King Yhwach…
It pierced straight through him, like a bullseye, driving into the region of his heart!
At the same time…
As the camera shifted—
Cutting to a long-range shot of Uryu Ishida striking a cool, confident pose—
He narrowed his eyes and said in a low, assured voice:
"The silver produced by Auswählen is called Still Silver!"
"Once it mixes with the blood inside someone who has activated Auswählen, their ability will vanish—briefly!!!"
Then—
The next scene made the audience shudder again, stunned down to the bone!
"This is…"
"Holy—every last one of those dark torrents is retreating!"
"Yhwach's original form, the pathways of blood inside him, and his weak point—everything got exposed all at once!"
In that instant,
The entire world of the Shinigami erupted in an uproar.
Countless cries of shock rang out, unbroken, from every corner of the world.
Finally.
At long last…
Real hope appeared!
The Soul King Yhwach—All-Seeing, All-Knowing—
For the first time was no longer invincible!!!
"Heh…"
"Still Silver, huh?"
"Give me three years—this won't be hard to research."
"If we can mass-produce it…"
"Then from that day onward… pure-blood Quincies will be countered forever!!!"
Inside the First Division.
Watching the scene unfold—
As a mad scientist, Mayuri Kurotsuchi's eyes flashed with a fierce light beneath that blue-and-white mask.
The urge to explore, to dissect, to prove—
Made him excited, itching to act immediately!
And around him—
The other captains—Toshiro Hitsugaya, Byakuya Kuchiki, Shunsui Kyoraku, Sajin Komamura, and the rest—
All visibly let out the breath they'd been holding.
Smiles bloomed across their faces at last, a long-missed relief and genuine anticipation.
"Thank goodness…"
"This means every sacrifice in the future won't have been in vain."
"Next, as long as Ichigo Kurosaki picks up Zangetsu and swings with everything he has…"
"Then it's all over!!!"
Among them,
Jushiro Ukitake felt the most comforted.
As the substitute for the Soul King's right arm, the weight of his responsibility was no less than the Captain-Commander's!
He was one of the captains who most wanted to protect Soul Society.
And from the earlier footage,
Ukitake understood clearly that in the future he would offer up his life and die alongside the Soul King's right arm.
So—
To have the chance to truly witness it with his own eyes—
That evil Soul King Yhwach…
Was about to die for real—
In that moment,
Ukitake felt that everything had been worth it.
Once this bloody, world-shaking Thousand-Year Blood War—
That had wounded and killed countless powerhouses, and spread calamity across the entire world—
Finally ended…
Then the world of the Shinigami would at last welcome true peace.
A new era where war would never return.
——
After that,
Inside the video,
Uryu Ishida's urgent shout rang out:
"Kurosaki… now!!!"
Those words—
Weren't only his.
They were also the shared voice in the depths of every viewer's heart—
Everyone except the pure-blood Quincies!!!
But not long after—
Just as Ichigo Kurosaki's figure moved—
On the other side…
The Soul King Yhwach,
From that brief moment of panic,
Shifted into fury, his expression turning cold and arrogant again:
"Hmph… you're thinking too much!"
"So you made my power disappear for a short while—so what?!"
In sync with his voice—
On Yhwach's body…
Those blood vessels exposed by Still Silver were visibly restoring at a speed the naked eye could track!
At this rate—
That weak point was about to vanish again!
But at that exact moment—
After Ichigo Kurosaki gripped the blade of his Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, with both hands—
He used a supreme Shunpo (Flash Step).
He flickered straight in front of the Soul King Yhwach—
And swept his blade forward!
The black-and-white blade,
In the camera's dynamic close-up—
Was only three steps away from Yhwach's body!
As if…
In the very next second—
It would recreate the earlier scene—
And split the Soul King Yhwach cleanly open from the waist!!!
"Will Ichigo Kurosaki… succeed?!"
"There's no way Yhwach can still counter in time, right?!"
"It has to end! This battle is massive enough, tragic enough—Soul Society's already been wrecked to this extent!!!"
Countless viewers—
All held their breath.
Every person stared at the screen without blinking, eyes locked, unyielding.
It could be said—
Since the ranking video first appeared,
This was the most gripping, the most nerve-shredding moment of all time!!!
——
And then—
"Bang—!!!"
Even though the Soul King Yhwach raised his hand—
A huge palm wrapped in tangible, dark spiritual pressure—
And he seized the oncoming blade with brutal force, crushing Zangetsu's edge—
Still…
It was only the outer edge.
Only the white portion of the blade's "shell" splintered.
A cracked outer casing did not mean the core of Zangetsu had been destroyed!
Therefore—
The arc of the slash…
Not only did it not vanish—
The black blade became even more lethal!
"It's over…"
"His Majesty couldn't stop it!"
"Was it because of that 'dream'—was he set up?!"
"Damn it! Why?! His All-Seeing, All-Knowing power was about to return!!!"
Inside the Ice Crystal Palace,
The pure-blood Quincies of the Wandenreich—
Every one of them went ashen, trembling with fear.
From the beginning until now,
As this segment played out,
Their emotions had been a roller coaster—
Tense, then relieved,
And now plunging into panic again—
So terrified they no longer had the courage to keep watching!
"T-This…"
"His Majesty… Yhwach…"
"Is he really… going to be ended?!"
Up on the high platform,
Jugram Haschwalth spoke in a low voice, his expression complicated.
His heart felt impossibly heavy.
Even though the ranking video omitted Yhwach's inner monologue—
And never told the audience outright—
Why he suddenly grew careless and failed to treat this already-foreseen scene as something to guard against—
The reason was…
The Soul King Yhwach had been misled.
When he exchanged power with Haschwalth, he mistakenly believed it was all only a dream—something false.
But who could have known…
It was also—
A future seen by the All-Seeing, All-Knowing power!!!
"Sigh…"
Lille Barro let out a long breath.
His gaze was hollow—
No longer arrogant or overbearing,
Only lost, drowned in doubt and self-denial.
Yes.
All this time,
As the first pure-blood Quincy to be granted a Schrift,
Lille Barro had always boasted that he was the most outstanding creation!
But now—
Even Yhwach—
The one who granted him power,
The one he had admired and worshiped for a thousand years as an invincible god—
Because of this ranking video…
Was about to be cut down in a single stroke—publicly executed.
Watching it with his own eyes—
For Lille Barro, it was a fatal blow.
It shattered his mentality on the spot!!!
And of course—
It wasn't just him.
Around him, the other Sternritter powerhouses were equally consumed by despair.
A suffocating shadow of hopelessness pressed down on everyone's heart.
The facts were right there.
Even if each of them raised a cross and prayed—
There was no chance…
No chance at all…
Of rewriting the outcome:
Zangetsu's black blade was about to split the Soul King Yhwach apart!!!
In other words—
Once this slash came down—
The world of the Shinigami, the entire Thousand-Year Blood War…
Was truly about to reach its grand finale!!!
——
At last.
The most thrilling moment of all…
Played out on the transparent light screen—
"Shraaash!!!"
One slash fell.
Zangetsu's tip rose from below—
And along the black cloak—
In a freeze-frame, magnified close-up—
It cut cleanly, decisively—
Right down the middle!
Yhwach's body was split in two!!!
And in the next instant—
His aura, that dark presence, and every roaring current of spiritual pressure—
Collapsed completely.
Because the Soul King Yhwach's life had been ended—
Those world-ending forces dissolved, no longer a unified whole, vanishing along with him!
From the moment Yhwach—
Inside the Soul King's bedchamber—
Devoured the Soul King's power,
The crushing oppression he had continuously projected through the transparent screen—
That suffocating feeling—
Also disappeared, gone without a trace!!!
"So it…"
"It's real!!!"
"That monster Yhwach… really got killed!!!"
Inside the First Division,
Even the Captain-Commander—
With his aged body—
Was so excited his hands nearly slipped free of his cane, his feet stumbling as if he might fall!
And if even the Captain-Commander reacted like that—
Then needless to say, the captains below…
Every one of them looked as if a burden had finally lifted.
Beneath their white haori, their bodies relaxed at last, no longer rigid with tension.
Only after the Soul King's pressure vanished
Did the captains finally breathe fresh air again—
No longer crushed beneath that invisible weight!!!
"Hah…"
"One slash—straight into the ending!"
"Ichigo Kurosaki… nicely done!"
Kenpachi Zaraki grinned, the corner of his mouth lifting.
His single uncovered eye—
Not hidden behind the eyepatch—
Carried unmistakable approval as he stared at the screen.
His gaze fixed on the silhouette of Ichigo's back as he swung the blade, and he said from the heart:
"I admit it—Ichigo Kurosaki is even more ferocious than me."
"He's the true king of basic swings!"
"The world of the Shinigami… its eternal savior!!!"
——
After that,
More clips played in rapid succession.
But before death claimed him, Yhwach's final words rang out:
"The road has been sealed… Ichigo…"
"The World of the Living, Hueco Mundo, Soul Society… in my eyes, they should have been merged into one."
"Life and death should have been mixed—fused together into a single whole!!!"
By the end,
Yhwach's voice was weak—
Like a sigh—
Filled with regret, filled with unwillingness:
"But thanks to you… all of it failed."
"Life and death cannot lose their form."
"All living beings will continue to fear death—forever!!!"
When those words fell—
The curtain dropped completely.
Yhwach, and the future he sought to build—
Along with that dark torrent—
Was declared utterly defeated.
(End of Chapter)
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