Snow began to fall.
From the highest point of the sky—
soft, silent, and endless.
In a matter of breaths, the world turned silver.
"Ice Heaven… Hundred Flower Funeral."
Kairos' voice was low.
The sky darkened instantly.
Heavy clouds swallowed the light, spreading across sea and land alike.
"What… is this?!"
Everyone within tens of thousands of meters felt the sudden drop in brightness.
The sea's weather was unpredictable—
but not like this.
These clouds hadn't formed.
They had appeared.
Then—
the sky above Shiki split open.
A pillar of blinding white light poured down.
And within it—
snow.
An overwhelming torrent of it.
It descended like a collapsing heaven.
Boom!
Shiki had already sensed the danger.
Not a single snowflake was allowed to touch him.
The black lion behind him moved first.
With a roar that shook the sky, it raised its claw and swept upward, tearing through the falling snow.
Bang!
The claw cut a path through it—
But in the next instant—
ice flowers bloomed across its surface.
Crack.
The Armament Haki coating its claw shattered.
The frozen fragments broke apart and were swallowed back into the falling snow.
The avalanche grew heavier.
Shiki's gaze hardened.
He moved.
The blades at his legs flashed, sending crescent slashes cutting through the air.
Even without his Devil Fruit—
he was still a top-tier swordsman.
His attacks, combined with the lion's other arm, carved through the snowfall again.
But it didn't matter.
More ice flowers bloomed.
Across the lion's body.
Across his coat.
Across his skin.
Delicate.
Beautiful.
Unstoppable.
"What is this…?"
Shiki looked down.
He couldn't remove them.
Not with strength.
Not with his ability.
Above—
the snow kept falling.
The flowers spread faster.
Layer after layer, they connected sky and sea, forming a massive pillar of ice.
Thousands of meters tall.
Shiki—
and the black lion—
were sealed inside it.
Frozen.
Locked in place.
Kairos lifted his head.
His gaze was calm.
Focused.
Clang… clang…
The sound of metal echoed.
The thousand frost swords behind him began to tremble.
At his will—
they moved.
A thousand blades shot forward at once, cutting through the sky toward Shiki.
But halfway through—
they changed.
One became three.
Each blade split into intersecting arcs.
In an instant—
three thousand slashes filled the sky.
Swallow Return.
The air was torn open.
Vacuum formed in their wake.
Three thousand crossing blade lights surged forward like a storm, making the entire world hum beneath their passage.
Shiki's pupils shrank.
He couldn't move.
The ice had already locked him down.
Even a monster from the previous era—
couldn't break free in that moment.
The sky split.
Clouds shattered.
Everything in the path of those slashes broke apart.
Even the frost blades themselves began cracking under the strain—
But they still struck.
Boom!!
The ice pillar exploded.
A wave of freezing cold erupted outward, instantly icing over half of Fire Country's capital.
At the same time—
the frost swords shattered into fragments and vanished.
Shiki reappeared in midair.
Frozen solid.
Ice covered him from head to toe.
Even his golden hair had turned white with frost.
Then—
three lines of light appeared across his body.
They lingered—
glowing faintly.
And shattered.
Kairos remained in the sky.
Silent.
Calm.
His ice wings beat slowly, scattering frost into the air.
Shiki looked at him.
His pupils contracted—
Then he laughed.
Wild.
Unrestrained.
"Jihahahaha! Kairos… you're stronger than me!"
"In my eyes—this era will belong to you!"
"Roger… so this is what you were waiting for…!"
The next instant—
the sword-light detonated.
Boom!
Golden Lion Shiki was blasted away like a cannon shell, tearing across the sky until he vanished into the distance.
Silence fell.
Then—
a cold mechanical voice echoed in Kairos' mind.
"Ding: Host has defeated Golden Lion Shiki. Reward obtained: Byakuya Kuchiki Card — Complete Bankai Version."
Kairos didn't react.
The ice around him began to break apart.
The clouds dispersed.
Sunlight returned.
He slowly descended.
After two battles in a single day—
his body was already at its limit.
Right now—
he only wanted one thing.
Rest.
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