(The Seireitei/Silbern)
Shock reigned supreme among the Shinigami as darkness seemed to burn away reality itself, replacing the familiar Japanese architecture with buildings that resembled ice and stone of a European design. Even a number of the captains were surprised by the change in the world around them, though a few retained their composure. Mayuri watched the change with indifference before digging out a remote switch and pressing the button on it, flooding the Shinigami R&D with light and preventing the loss of valuable equipment. The Soul Reapers were desperately trying to regain their bearings to repel the inevitable attack but were too slow as spirit arrows began raining down on them from all directions no matter where they were. It didn't help matters that Lille, Pernida, and Gerard were already going on the full offensive. The abominable form that Lille called 'divine' was already firing beams of light and tearing the Silbern apart to kill the Shinigami that fled from him.
"Despair and rejoice Soul Reapers." Lille spoke with a booming voice as he fired continuously to bring down destruction in total apathy to who died under his assault. "For now your holy cleansing has come and your sins shall be burned away by the light of God. These are the holy words of his chosen prophet." While the Sternritter did busy himself to his mission of destruction, he was not blind to the lone robed figure with a simple black broadsword that stood upon a tower at eye level with the Quincy.
"There is only so much heresy one can suffer to hear." The man known as Hassan said to the 'prophet' who stopped to study the man that was not a Soul Reaper. "My mood has already been soured by the loss of a dear friend of mine and you dare to speak of your blasphemous mission as 'pure and noble' before me?" Lille's owl head tilted in confusion at the old man's words.
"Do you not see my pure light? Are you not awed by my divine form?" The centuar beast asked while readying more beams of light. "I am the first Quincy, the closest to his majesty, a truly divine existence, and you dare call me blasphemous? You are the heretic here, old man."
"There is no greater heresy than to preach of salvation while only bringing damnation." Hassan returned as blue fire engulfed his being. "Though your faith is to be commended, you will find no salvation on this path for you will die here by my blade." Lille actually laughed while Hassan's robes turned into black armor and a horned skull became his face.
"There is no power or weapon that can slay me foul sinner!" The Quincy roared out, holding out his arm and firing a beam of light that was split in half by Hassan's blade with the man himself still glowing a bright blue.
"You knew of no such blade or power because you had yet to meet me." The assassin said while repositioning his sword for another swing. "So attend, false prophet, and know my name. From the mountain's abyss, I come, and only death do I bring. I am the Old Man of the Mountain, the first Hassan-i-Sabbah!" A skull of ghostly blue fire flashed before he jumped at Lille, the thing backing away at the instinctual sense of fear before thrusting his head forward with a ball of light gathering above his eye.
"Nothing can harm me!" The Quincy yelled out before firing at the Hassan, who proceeded to cleave the beam with his sword. The next thing that Lille knew was pain as vision from the right side suddenly turned black, followed by pain on his left as he felt himself losing his wings on that side and falling to the ground with a shaky landing that knocked him off balance.
"Your flight, omniscient sight, and holy light shall all be cleaved by my might." Lille turned his good eye to the armored Hassan, raising his hand to summon his ultimate attack as one thing coursed through his veins. Fear, a sensation he thought he had long since lost. While the Quincy kept Hassan in his sight, the assassin suddenly vanished, completely and utterly vanished, terrifying Lille before he felt cut and slashed all over his being as he screamed out in agony. The Hassan moved so quickly and silently that all anyone could see were lines of blue slashing the Sternritter to pieces. At the end of it every limb was severed, never to be restored, the Quincy was blinded by his eyes being slashed open, and his wings were just gone.
"You... foul... sinner!" Lille managed to growl while listening to the armored footsteps of the Hassan, footsteps he allowed the Quincy to hear. "How dare you strike at god's prophet!?"
"I have already said why." King Hassan said, standing before the owl face and serpentine neck of Lille Barro. An all too perfect final cut for an executioner. "Only death do I bring." He said before immediately beheading the elite Quincy.
(With Shunsui)
"Well, there goes most of our major traps and countermeasures." The current captain commander sighed as the whole of the Seireitei was replaced with the Silbern. "Should've tried to restore that barrier instead, make it harder for them to break in. Nanao, send word to start plan 'Severance'." Both Nanao and himself held their cool while footsteps alerted them to a new presence, turning to find Jugram and Uryu. "Anything new?"
"There's no reason to assume that his majesty doesn't already suspect us." Uryu immediately said. "We've done everything we could to try and keep him in the dark but I don't know how much he actually knows."
"We've been operating under the idea that he knows and has just been bidding his time this whole while." Jugram added. "He does not have his true sight yet so he can't use it without crippling his still loyal forces." They were interrupted by the sounds of breaks and crashes, turning to see a giant of light laying waste to the city. "And no, it wouldn't do any good against him."
"That's unfortunate." Kyoraku sighed as he unsheathed Katen Kyokotsu. "Well, let's try to keep up appearances." Jugram brought out a sword and shield while Uryu manifested a new bow. "And if everything works out, Yhwach will still lose out on a trump card." The three combatants immediately attacked each other while Nanao went about her part and starting 'Severance' with a quick message to the one in charge of it.
(With Rukia)
The Vizard lieutenant watched as the Seireitei and Silbern switched places with each other with the rest of her sister wives, each one immediately going to their strongest state to get ready for battle. Neliel turned into her Hogyoku enhanced form and Orihime brought out all of her spirits while the Shinigami girls activated their Shikai, with Rukia donning her Hollow mask and Tatsuki activating an aura around herself. Rukia immediately drew a circle around the group with her Sode no Shiraiyuki as they were quickly surrounded by Quincy, who had yet to fire a single shot.
"Well, well, well." They looked up to find Bambietta and Candice looking down on them, both wearing smug expressions. "If it isn't Ichigo's many girlfriends. Looks like a couple are missing though." The Explode said, keeping a cocky smirk on her face.
"Well, we do have that filthy Hollow in our prison over there." Candice said, pointing a thumb over to what looked to be a palace. "The other one, with the really big tits, she's dead." The casual dismissal ignited an anger in most of the girls that knew Rangiku and were still hurting from her passing, while Rukia and Esdeath saw Bambietta and Candice send them a subtle wink.
"Ma'am? Why are we taunting them instead of killing them?" One of the Soldats asked while Rukia readied a dance.
"Oh please, what can they do?"
"Some no Mai: Tsukishiro!" Rukia called out, creating a giant ring of ice between them and the Quincy, and trapping themselves within. "Orihime, Senna, wind barrier! Esdeath-"
"Already on it!" The blue haired sadist said as she stabbed her Tsundora Akuma into the ice while Orihime had the wind spirit Ventus create a dome above their heads with Senna helping with her Mirokumaru. They heard the cackle of electricity immediately before a large lightning bolt slammed against the barrier of wind, dispersing the electricity before Senna changed the flow of wind to concentrate the power and turn her staff into a lightning blade.
"This should be good." She smirked, looking over her new weapon. Soon the wall of ice surrounding them exploded, a result of the bombardment of Reishi arrows and Bambietta's own unique ability. As the ice fell apart Esdeath took control of the fragments and shot them like a shotgun blast at the Quincy, tearing apart buildings and many of the Quincy Soldats while the Sternritters dodged.
"MOVE!" Rukia shouted as they all made their way toward the Quincy palace. Nel led the charge, the Reishi in her lance burning with power and spinning like a drill as she bulldozed her way on the ground and plowed through Quincy and buildings alike. Everyone else were jumping from rooftop to rooftop with their respective speed techniques. Rukia and Esdeath used flashstep to move about quickly, occasionally blasting beams of cold and ice to freeze Quincy or cutting through them as they passed. Esdeath wore a bloodthirsty smirk as she indulged in every kill while Rukia held a look of determination.
Orihime and Senna were flying on wind currents with Bambietta and Candice following after them. The Explode fired a barrage of Reishi bombs at the duo but Orihime used Terra and Aqua to create a barrier of rocks and ice to absorb the Reishi and explode harmlessly away from them while Tsubaki was getting ready to clip the wings of the Sternritter. Candice tried firing lightning but Senna would always absorb it with her Mirokumaru and would attempt to counterattack the Thunder with her own lightning attacks. Both sides weren't really aiming to hurt the other, but they had to make it seem like it was a serious battle.
Tatsuki became like a ball of fire, surrounding herself in an aura that exponentially increased her speed and strength. It wasn't like Shunko, less powerful but more stable for her to use, and she used that to shoot around like a comet and hit like one as well. They continued their way toward the Silbern palace, cutting their way through whatever Soldat that got in their way, until the reached the palace gates with Neliel reaching it first with Rukia and Esdeath showing up immediately after.
"Is that her?" Rukia asked as they saw a woman in a Sternritter uniform as Tatsuki appeared with Orihime and Senna continuing to run interference/distraction with Bambietta and Candice. Nel nodded with fury in her eyes at the Quincy responsible for taking her sister-wife. The Sternritter was Berenice Gabrielle, a slender woman with pink chin length hair going to purple on her right side and wore dark eye shadow, and she was looking at the challenging Shinigami and Arrancar with confidence.
"Are you-" She started before Neliel interrupted.
"Ready to die?" There was no pause for any answer, Rukia and Esdeath just immediately fired beams of ice that instantly froze the Sternritter followed by a barrage of stone and ice that quickly exploded and a massive bolt of continuous lightning that was replaced with an equally massive column of fire and all finished off with a powerful Cero from Neliel. The girls looked over the destructive evidence of their handiwork as Orihime, Senna, Bambi, and Candice landed next to them.
"I think we got her." Tatsuki said as they all ran inside, with the Sternritters leading the way.
"Yhwach is outside waiting for Ichigo to show up," Bambietta explained as they went through the winding corridors. "I think he was planning on using Harribel as a trap to lure in Ichigo while he ascends to the Royal Realm but seems to have a different idea now. What that is, we don't know." Rukia bit her tongue, as if not saying what she fears would somehow prevent it from being what is. Besides, she couldn't feel Yuzu or Karin anywhere in the Silbern so that meant either another separate dimension or they were cloaked by a much greater Reiatsu.
"Down here!" Candice called out as they suddenly turned and went down a few flights of stairs, coming to a corridor of prison cells. Passing many that had splotches of blood on the floor and walls, evidence of Yhwach's 'mercy', as they headed for one in particular. One that had a certain dark-skinned Arrancar hanging by her wrists.
"Tia!" Orihime called out, ready to summon her healing shield before Nel held an arm out as she marched in front of the cell.
"What are you doing here Tia Harribel?" She asked in a rather harsh tone.
"I... doubted... my king." She answered, sounding utterly ashamed of herself.
"Do you think he cares?"
"I... don't-"
"DO YOU THINK ICHIGO CARES?" Nel repeated, more forcefully.
"I can't-"
"WHO ARE YOU!? Some pathetic Hollow that lucked out on becoming an Arrancar, or a proper Vasto Lorde? Are you loyal to the King of Hollows or are you nothing? Is your faith in your king so weak that you'd think he'd discard you over something so stupid? Who are you!?" Harribel began to glow yellow.
"I... am... Tia Harribel. Knight and consort to his majesty, the King of Hollows, Ichigo Kurosaki. I am his servant and I will sacrifice my everything to protect all he holds dear!"
"Meaning?"
"I WILL NOT DIE HERE!" Harribel then exploded in a flash of light and transformed before them. Her blonde hair turned ashen gray and she gained rock like black and gray armor on her knees and left wrist while her right arm was armored ending in a blade of Reishi. Her chest was only covered by thin strands of yellow Reishi and she gained shark fins and a tail that was burning with Reishi with her Hollow hole exposed where her womb would be with a sphere floating inside, showing that she was in her new Hogyoku enhanced form. "I will die by my king's side, or not at all!" She roared with power, tearing herself free of her prison to join her sisters. "Now... let's go. I have to apologize to our husband." They all smiled, happy to have their family back, which was interrupted by the whole of the Silbern suddenly shaking.
(With Gin)
The moment the Seireitei began to shift, he was on the move. Gin had a mission, one that always seemed to define him no matter how much time had passed, and he was always determined to see it through no matter how long or what it would cost. Revenge. He waited for over a hundred years to get his revenge on Aizen for hurting Rangiku, the only person he ever really cared about, and now he had a new target; the Quincy that killed her. He kept flashing around, already using his Bankai to quickly snipe the different Quincy that he passed along the way, constantly on the look out for the Sternritter that matched the description Toshiro gave him. Narrow icy blue eyes, short black hair, and a scar on the left side of his mouth.
'Where is he?' The silver haired fox wondered as he stopped for a moment to scan his surroundings. He was brought out of his train of thought when he sensed an attack coming from behind, turning to find a large snake head comprised of Reishi heading for him with several bright points reminiscent of Lict Regen ready to fire at him. The squad 16 captain raised his Zanpakuto while manifesting his fox like Hollow mask and brought it down while extending his blade to its limit as he charged a Cero in his other hand. He cut the serpent in half, making it fly around him harmlessly, but felt his blade stop.
'Is this Blut Vene? No... too solid for that. Is this the Iron?' He thought while going over what intel they had managed to get, anything to help him find and kill the Sternritter responsible for Rangiku's death. He held out his Cero and fired it to wipe out the wall of arrows that were flying at him and to strike at the Quincy on the other side. He poured quite a bit of power into that blast but the arrows wore it down greatly, however it still served its purpose and provided a distraction. He immediately flashed to their location and got in front of the Sternritter, still bracing himself from the Cero. He wasted no movement, instantly analyzed how many Quincy were around them, and with his Kamishini no Yari, effortlessly killed them all before being stopped by the Iron on Cang Du when Gin tried to cut off an arm.
"Hi there." Gin said in a friendly tone with a smirk and aura that radiated hate and murderous intent, the Vizard's mask fading from his face. The Sternritter tried to jump back but found himself caught as Gin grabbed his coat and proceeded to force him into an arm-bar. "I have a few questions. Hado #11, Tsuzuri Raiden." The captain said before electrocuting the Quincy for a few seconds with the Kido he infused with Hollow Reishi, bypassing the Sternritter's defenses and making him cry out in pain. "Now, question one: do you remember any of the Shinigami you have killed?"
"Really?" The Quincy managed to breath out when the Kido ended so Gin could ask his question. "Do you remember every Quincy you've slain Gin Ichimaru? You don't even care about your own allies." Gin's expression didn't change as he kept his smile.
"Yeah, I don't." He began electrocuting Cang Du once again, making him scream in pain again, and this time Gin stabbed his Zanpakuto into a non-vital area and slowly let his Bankai dissolve into Cang's body. "But there is one that I care about... or rather, there WAS one that I cared about. So answer me, do you remember any Shinigami you've killed?"
"Did... did I kill... someone you... cared about?" Cang Du was in pain, but he was willing to suffer through it to try and escape. The idea was that he'd use his power to break off the Zanpakuto and leave Gin weaponless. "Why should... I care?"
"Because quite a few people loved that person." Gin answered, twisting his blade in Cang's body. "She was a friend, family, someone that made an effort to make others around her happy, a light in dark times. And you snuffed out that light." To Cang's shock, Gin pulled the blade out and tossed his Zanpakuto aside and changed his hold to grab him by the chin. "And I'm the last person you'd want to find you." The silver haired captain leaned in and whispered in the Quincy's ear. "Yukkuri Korose, Kamishini no Yari." And Gin released him, much to Cang's surprise again, but the Sternritter refused to go back a failure a second time.
"You fool." Cang summoned his spirit claws and turned toward Gin, Blut Arterie coursing through his veins. "How about I help you reunite with your precious friend?" He suggested before readying another attack, just as blood started dripping out of his nose, ears, and eyes. "Wh-what?" Cang started coughing up blood as he dropped to his knees, watching his body slowly dissolve. "Wh... what did you do!?" He demanded as his body fell apart, Gin's friendly smirk never leaving his face.
"I simply used the true power of my Bankai, except I said to take its time in killing you." Cang dropped to his stomach, fear and shame filling his being as the realization of his death was finally dawning on him. He reached out for someone, anyone, he just wanted someone to help him. Gin responded by taking his hand and easily ripped it off, opening his eyes to look directly into the Quincy's. "Her name was Matsumoto. Rangiku Matsumoto." Gin told him, now dropping his smile as he coldly watched Cang Du literally dissolve before his eyes.
(The Left Hand of the Soul King)
"Well, this is bad." Kisuke stated as he was soon surrounded by towering left arms, each one as tall at the buildings around them. "I thought there were more of you, not that I'm complaining." He quickly reviewed the information that they had on the sentient limb, able to manipulate any solid matter that its nerves touch and can learn and adapt to whatever it touches. A difficult foe to combat but not impossible and the mission here was to capture and contain Pernida, not to kill, which is much harder. "I've some questions for you, before we get started, do you have memories of when the Soul King was whole or do you not? Are you aware of the dangers Yhwach presents or do you simply not care?" The hands looked to each other before one with two pupils in its eye palm leaned down to Urahara.
"No. I have no memories of this Soul King. Pernida Parnkgjas was always Pernida." It said to the captain while the other hands had red nerves hanging from their fingertips and slowly making their way to the Kisuke. "It is this arrogance of the Shinigami, to call the Quincy a danger, that led to this war."
"I didn't say the Quincy were a danger, I'm actually fond of the few Quincy I personally got to know." Kisuke quickly countered while taking out his Zanpakuto. "I specifically said that Yhwach was the danger, not the Quincy. I personally prefer the chance for coexistence that was denied both sides. But for Yhwach, the Quincy only exist to further his petty goals and that is what I'm insulting. Bankai, Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame." The female mannequin form of his Bankai manifested just as the nerves reached his legs. He immediately jumped up as Pernida used his powers to twist and shift his legs into a bloody mess before they split open and were immediately restored. As he began to drop he pressed a button on the heels of his shoes and small Reishi platforms appeared under his feet. 'Nice job Mayuri.' Kisuke thought as he looked at the confused Pernida.
"Did you copy my abilities?" It asked before its copies began to split apart and get sown back together, twisting around spastically as if they lost full control of themselves.
"It's similar, but not quite." Kisuke admitted before spinning around rapidly. "Hado #78, Zangerin." From the edge of Benihime came a blade of Kido that sliced the Pernidas, separating the top halves from the lower halves. Pernida actually grunted in pain as his head landed, Kisuke leaning in to examine his work. "You know, for a sentient limb of a god, I was expecting a bit more." The moment he said that the many clones immediately shot their nerves into Kisuke's body and tore him apart, dragging the chunks to their waiting maws.
"From someone considered a special war power by his majesty, I was expecting a bit more." The main head taunted as it rose back to its full height, coming into eye contact with Kisuke and Mayuri as the latter was watching the clones with great interest.
"Thanks for your donations to science." Mayuri said with true thanks as the many different arms began to either rot or mutate. "I've packed that decoy full of many different test drugs that I never thought I'd get the chance to use. So thank you for this!" The main head severed itself from its body as the infection flowed to it before the bodies split open and seemed to expel all of the drugs.
"No matter what you do, I will overcome-" Pernida began to say before its nerves began to shoot toward the main body and converge into a massive hideous blob of limbs and fingers.
"That bit of restructuring was a little tricky." The squad 12 captain said as Tessai and Hachigen arrived, hands glowing as they activated a new Kido spell: time regression. "Making your nerves return and attack you, it was hard. But Mayuri had the genius idea to make a virus out of his blood and nerve endings to create what he calls a 'marionette' virus."
"Frankly I only had a small window to actually use it, so my drugs were used to distract you." The amoral researcher added as the hideous blob shifted into its previous form of a sentient limb. "But that now brings us here."
"The power of Evolution, facing its natural counter: Regression." Urahara continued as the Kido continued its work. "But, I doubt it's important to tell you any of this now. Considering you're now just an arm." Pernida could say nothing, it pupils moving about dumbly as it failed to collect any information, immediately being reset with any amount of data erased. "Mission accomplished. How's it going on the other end?" The four looked to see Gerard now boxing against an equally giant entity with six arms while smaller light flew about the giant Quincy.
(The Heart of the Soul King)
"Stay strong! Don't give up!" Komamura roared, in a human form with long hair and furry forearms, as he used his Bankai, now without armor and looking quite demonic, to try and restrain the giant Gerard with its bolas and ropes. While other, more Kido and technique oriented, Shinigami engaged in false battles with the remaining turncoat Sternritters and actual enemy Quincy, the heavy hitters of the Gotei battled the Heart of the Soul King as it continued to grow in size and might from all the damage. Starrk, Grimmjow, and Ulquiorra launched Cero after Cero at his head to keep him blind while everyone else attacked the body. Everyone else was acting in teams: Kenpachi and Unohana stayed closed together with the Squad 4 captain healing her husband as he tears apart his own body with his Bankai's power while they attacked the arms and chest, Kensei and Mashiro had their masks on and focused on the legs with Kensei using his Bankai, Tekken Tachikaze which took the form of knuckle blades and purple wrappings around his arms to protruding off his back, and letting the vibrations of his punches try to knock Gerard down by destroying his legs with Mashiro attacking his knees, Yoruichi and Yuushiro clad in Shunko of lightning and explosive flames focused on the joints of the behemoth.
That left Komamura and Hisagi to try and restrain the Quincy with their Bankai, Hisagi's own Fushi no Kojyo taking the form of a noose made of chains leading to a large orb of tangled chains wrapped around his and Gerard's neck. Hisagi's true power was never an offensive power but a healing one, his Shikai's chain being able to heal him from any injury so long as he had the Reiatsu to spare and his Bankai automatically healed both him and his designated opponent until one of them ran out of Reiatsu. Using his Bankai, Hisagi negated Gerard's Miracle ability by healing him before it activates and thus kept Gerard from getting any stronger. Unfortunately, Gerard seemed to have limitless Reiatsu so Hisagi had to abstain from fighting to make sure he kept Gerard in his noose. This was how the fight had been going since Gerard appeared and he was showing no signs of getting weaker.
'I'm running out of Reiatsu.' Komamura thought as he growled while pulling on the spirit ropes. 'Damn it, should've expected this much from the Soul King's heart.' He was facing Gerard's front while the others attacking pushed him back.
"Need a hand?" Sajin took the chance to look to his side, seeing a shirtless Yasutora with a metallic disk in his chest with the number twenty in digital lights in the center. "My turn. Diablo Gigant: Asura." Chad said as he slammed his fists together, giving a low growl before shifting to a roar as his Reishi flared, rising to match the height of the Quincy before taking the shape of his Giant Devil form with four additional arms. "La Muerte." He said before throwing his attacking arms into Gerard's stomach, each sending a damaging pulse throughout the Quincy's body. The force of the blows lifted Gerard off the ground, forcing the Shinigami and Arrancar to concentrate their attack on sending him back to the ground.
"You damn Soul Reapers!" Gerard managed to yelled out, sounding warped and layered like some inhuman thing, as he was dropped to his knees by the attack. He may have been as fast as he is strong, but his large size and the many distractions made him clumsy compared to the more agile forces attacking him. "I'll kill every last one of you!" He roared out, throwing a rather clumsy punch which Chad deflected before slamming another three fists into Gerard's chest, throat, and face.
"You're too used to you sword, shield, and arrows." Chad chided as Gerard attempted to attack him again only for the Fullbringer to bob and weave out of the way. "You have no skill in hand to hand fighting." Chad proceeded to rapidly punch the giant Quincy in the face and chest with matching speed and power. "Something I excel in!" A punch was followed by a sickening crack. "Because my fists are for protecting my comrades and I get plenty of practice!" Chad's arms began to blur, leaving the Fullbringer unaware as Gerard speared his hand to the devil's side. Despite getting cut off by Zaraki and knocked off course by the Shihoin siblings, it still cut through Yasutora's side before healing.
"You say that, but none of your punches hurt." Gerard said as he tried uppercutting Chad before tackling him. Before either fell down, the Fullbringer brought all six hands together and slammed them down in the strongest hammer blow he's ever thrown, making the entirety of the Silbern/Seireitei shake. The two continued to fight, giving some of the others fighting Gerard a chance to rest, only a few people took notice of the hole appearing in the sky.
(Son of the Soul King)
'So you've finally arrived.' The Quincy emperor thought as a hole appeared in the sky, the man immediately turning his attention to the hybrid that came before him. Ichigo Kurosaki stood there, wearing some white armor bands crisscrossing over his body with red scale plating on his left shoulder and right hip, silently unsheathing a rather familiar Zanpakuto. "Do you plan to honor Yamamoto by killing me with his sword? Or are you going to insult both him and myself by using inferior flames?"
"Reduce all creation to ash," Ichigo said as the entire field was engulfed in fire, "Ryujin Jakka." Yhwach felt the heat of the flames that wrapped around the both of them, reaching out a hand and letting the flames lick his flesh before sighing in disappointment.
"I was actually hoping for something better." The emperor said before creating a massive bow in the sky and shot down a large Reishi arrow in the form of a broadsword. "But what should I expect from a broken sword?" Ichigo slashed at the Quincy, sending a wave of intense flame which Yhwach cut through and dissipated, noticing that the hybrid disappeared from sight. The Quincy then noticed a glow from underneath him making him jump aside as a pillar of flame erupted from where he stood, then he sensed an attack coming from behind and turned to block a slash from the larger Zangetsu blade. While he was held there Ichigo's eyes glowed with power before firing two small Cero Cornea at the Quincy, striking him in the forehead and sending him back.
"Die you bastard!" The hybrid roared out as he pointed his blade at Yhwach and charged a Cero. Yhwach glared at the oncoming blast and caught it in his hand. At that same moment, he used Sklaverei to tear apart the Cero and absorb it along with much of the surrounding area into a series of bows and arrows around Ichigo.
"I was expecting better out of you." He said before unleashing a barrage of spirit arrows at the hybrid, forcing Ichigo to block and deflect each one while Yhwach created a glowing X with a line through it on the ground and began levitating upward to the hole in the sky. "But you did open the way for my ascension. I was expecting some to stand by my side, but how many of my children did you and that ungrateful brat turn against me?" The attack ended and Ichigo looked tired, but not harmed. He was about to chase the Quincy emperor before having to dodge more arrows, finding himself surrounded by Quincy in skull masks reminiscent of the Exequias that guarded the interior of Las Noches. "I shall let them deal with you." Yhwach said as he passed through the opening in the sky, heading for the palace of the Soul King. 'In the meantime, I shall take what is rightfully mine.' His hands glowed as he began to use his Auswahlen to take away the powers he gave to the Vandenreich, leaving only one Sternritter and the two pieces of the Soul King as he attempted to strengthen Pernida, only to find something was wrong. All of his treasonous children still lived.
(Plan Severance)
Ginjo was in Mayuri's private lab, monitoring hundreds of thousands of camera drones that were spread throughout the Silbern after the lieutenant activated the defense system to keep the R&D labs with them when the Quincy switched out the Seireitei with their Silbern. The Fullbringer watched as they managed to restrain Pernida, kept Gerard at bay, and staged a dozen fake battles in an attempt to fool Yhwach while Tsukishima did his part of a risky gambit to save the majority of the Sternritter and weaken Yhwach. Tsukishima himself was connected to a machine that connected his life force with a tank full of artificial souls to take the heavier cost of a Fullbringer using the fullest extent of their respective abilities.
Tsukishima's was called Scribe of Eternity and it seemed like whatever was written inside was made the truth. Members of the Vandenreich would think Uryu was an agent of theirs all along and now was what he did for 'Severance', writing that the Sternritters were no longer connected to Yhwach. The cost of using this power was severe but Tsukishima was willing to pay that price on the chance that it would work and from what Ginjo was seeing, it did. The Fullbringer's phone began ringing, prompting him to answer it.
"Yes Head Captain, Severance was a success." Ginjo said as he answered his phone. "It seems like the only Quincy left are those with the rank of... what the?" He paused as Quincy Arrancar began swarming all around. "Sir, are you seeing this?"
"You mean the sudden army that's popping up everywhere? Yes." Kyoraku responded.
"I'm scanning for a possible origin point." The man said as he spotted a tower that seemed to be taken over by a pure white plant of some kind with hundreds of thousands of budding... skulls? "Kyoraku... there seems to be a tower that's... growing them. Does that sound familiar?"
"Sounds like Rudbornn Chelute, one of the two main guardians of Las Noches. His Resurreccion was to gain branches from which he'd spawn soulless soldiers. Seems like Yhwach liked this power and gave him an upgrade."
"Do I need to head out?"
"If you want, but I think Shinji can handle this."
"Then I guess I'll stay here... I need to say goodbye anyways." Ginjo said as he hung up, turning to behind him where Tsukishima laid dead. "Sorry that this happened. I was hoping for something happier, like we'd go out into the world and find more Fullbringers together." He got out of his chair and over to his friend, looking at the device that was supposed to protect him but only lasted long enough for Tsukishima to severely weaken Yhwach. Hopefully it was enough, but Haschwalth thinks they're running out of time before Yhwach's 'eyes open'. Whatever that meant. "I'm gonna miss you kid. Goodbye." The former Substitute Shinigami said as he took Tsukishima's book and bookmark. "But I'll always remember you."
(Elsewhere)
The whole of the the Seireitei/Silbern erupted into chaos from the sudden explosion of the Quincy Arrancar, attacking anyone they came across in a mad frenzy. Omaeda took this chance to finally cut loose, unleashing all the anger and hate he was feeling from his captain's death upon the enemy, slamming the spiked ball of his Gegetsuburi into one Arrancar after another while flashing about the field with speed befitting the lieutenant of the 2nd division. Byakuya was in the center of a pink hurricane of blades while Renji took out the few stragglers that evaded his captain's wrath. Toshiro shot out waves of ice and frost, instantly freezing and killing anything in his path while Bazz-B unleashed torrents of flame at the same time. All the Sternritter were using a mix of their archery and Schrifts to hold off the swarming enemy, Liltotto ate dozens with every bite, Menias bulked up and crushed any that got too close, and Giselle was reanimating each Arrancar Quincy that was still together enough to be a useful zombie to them. Some treating this like a battle for survival while others embraced the chaos and just had fun with it.
"Thirty-eight! Forty-one! For- I'm starting to think I'm losing count!" Achilles yelled out as he continued swinging his spear in wide arcs and cutting down multiple Quincy Arrancar with each one.
"You just got to... fifty-three and rising." Cu Chulainn yelled out while still swinger his own spear and casting multiple fire spells. "I'm at eighty-two, Atalanta's at one-hundred and six." Atalanta fired another four arrows at once. "One-hundred and ten."
"You guys are still playing?!" The huntress roared as they continued to fight. "And seriously? I know why I can keep track but you? That's impressive." The Irish warrior shrugged his shoulders.
"My master was incredibly rough but effective." Cu answered, looking over to find Scathach sitting atop a twenty foot tall pile of bodies and casually waving at him. "Very effective." He turned to return to his fights to find Ikkaku swinging his massive blades with an aura of draconic claws around them.
"Mind if I join this game?" He asked with a savage grin.
(With Shinji)
"You want me to use my Bankai!?" The vizard captain of squad 5 yelled into his cell phone while Momo used her Shikai to shoot down any of the Quincy Arrancar with Robert Accutron using Reishi pistols to do the same. "Are we even sure that might work?"
"The target seems to be an Arrancar named Rudbornn Chelute," Kyoraku answered over the phone. "It isn't an army, it's one person that can create drones to fight for him. Get to him and the rest will follow." There was a pause as someone spoke but it Shinji couldn't hear it, having to fight a few that got close while Kyoraku did the same on his side. "Haschwalth says that Rudbornne was 'reborn' as Sternritter L, the Legion. Happened after the attack on Las Noches and he wasn't told until after the first attack ended."
"So they took the Arrancar that could make an army and cranked that to a thousand?" Shinji looked to the tower where all the Quincy Arrancar were coming from. "Then ripped off the dial? Maybe I am the only one that can stop this."
"Not without backup." Shinji turned to find Rose, Izuru, Lisa, Hiyori, Isshin, and Masaki. They all had determined looks and there was no time to argue, Shinji had to move and quickly.
"Once I get to that tower, get away as fast as you can." He said before flashing away with everyone else following after him. Shinji focused only on reaching the tower while the others kept the drones off his back until he landed at the top of the tower. Once his feet touched down, a flower like construct formed from beneath him while his ringed sword turned into a ringed staff. "Bankai, SakashimaYokoshima Happofusagari." He said as the sounds of battle ended, replaced with the sounds of flesh being cut, crushed, torn, and burned. "Guess it worked." Shinji said, releasing a breath he was holding before looking around and finding Rudbornn... or what became of him. The man was now literally the trunk of a tree that had roots entangling the entirety of the tower they were on.
"Protect.... must.... protect...." It was quiet but Shinji still heard it wheezing out of Rudbornn's throat. The Vizard took a closer look at the Arrancar to see what was done and the cracks on his mask and scars on his scalp made it clear that Rudbornn didn't betray his master willingly. If the torture didn't make him turn then cutting out some chunks of his brain turned him into enough of a puppet for Yhwach's whims. Just enough of his head was left to keep him alive with the new Resurreccion cannibalizing everything else.
"You poor bastard." The Vizard whispered before quickly snapping the Arrancar's neck. With that action the tree and vines began to break apart into dust along with all the drones. "Well, that's that then." Shinji said before disabling his Bankai. It was a troublesome power, inverting a person's idea of friend and foe. Could turn best friends into mortal enemies and vice versa, but it never changed anyone's personality so if that person had no problem attacking an ally then he'd still be vulnerable. Shinji got ready to move when three pillars of light struck down; one at where Pernida was fighting Kisuke and his team, one on Gerard, and finally one at where the Shinigami R&D building was.
(With Uryu)
"So... he's starting?" The Quincy asked, looking right up into the sky as the three targets began to ascend. Pernida; the Left Hand of the Soul King, Gerard; the Heart, and Mimihagi; the Right Hand. Those were the main targets of the pillars of light as they slowly climbed into the heavens. He was surprised to hear that Ukitake kept one of the limbs inside his body, sustaining him to live as long as he did, but it was time to return it. With Mayuri making a set of replacement organs, Ukitake could expect to live a longer life, but at the cost of being crippled from combat duty. Not a bad time to retire, Uryu thought as Ichigo's double walked up next to him.
"Yes. Guess he felt like waiting." The double said before shimmering to reveal herself as Kyoka Suigetsu. "But now he's calling. Are you ready?" Uryu reached into his pocket to feel two important blades that he got from his father before this war started. He nodded, keeping his gaze locked on the closing gates of the Royal Realm. "Then hang on." The humanoid form faded away, leaving only the Zanpakuto sword that Uryu grabbed onto before it shot toward the sky.