Chapter 41: Crossroads
Soul King Palace — Yhwach’s POV
'Curse that abomination!'
Yhwach repeatedly cursed the being known as Caius Aurelius in his mind as he finally arrived at the Soul King Palace, only to find the Royal Guard already waiting for him.
Well, all except Ichibe Hyōsube.
The monk was most likely guarding the entrance to his father's mutilated corpse further ahead since he could clearly see that this wasn’t the real Soul King Palace and instead was an illusion.
The sight didn't surprise Yhwach in the slightest. They must have panicked just as he had when that abomination's attack completely shattered the barrier separating the Soul King Palace from Soul Society.
At the very least, it had spared him the trouble of using other, far more time-consuming methods to reach the palace.
Time was the one thing he could no longer afford to waste.
That abomination had already grown too powerful for him to contend with in his current state.
He needed to kill and absorb his father as quickly as possible.
As things currently stood, he couldn't even defeat Kurosaki Ichigo.
That realization alone was deeply unsettling.
While Yhwach had always foreseen the boy becoming powerful, perhaps even reaching a level where he could rival him, never in his wildest expectations had he imagined Ichigo surpassing him in both Reiatsu and physical strength.
The most shocking discovery, however, had been his complete inability to steal Ichigo's powers.
Until today, Yhwach had believed there was nothing in existence that he couldn't claim for himself.
Yet the moment he tried...
Nothing. He had been completely repelled as if there was some other force protecting him.
It only served as further proof of the countless ripples that creature was creating through his mere existence.
Yhwach had no doubt Caius Aurelius was somehow responsible for that as well.
As if that weren't enough, he had come to an even more horrifying realization.
The power he had bestowed upon his Sternritter wouldn’t return to him if Caius devoured them. The first time it had happened back in Hueco Mundo he hadn’t paid much attention due to being injured and that was clearly a mistake.
As it stood, he had only managed to reclaim the power of a handful of his Sternritter.
The rest...
Were gone forever.
When all those factors were combined, even Yhwach had been forced to act.
He had immediately activated Auswählen before that creature could rob him of even more of his power and made the decision to head straight for the Soul King Palace.
“Long time no see, Yhwach.” Senjumaru Shutara greeted him with unmistakable condescension.
Yhwach ignored her entirely as she wasn't his objective.
None of them were.
His only concern was Ichibe Hyōsube.
A moment later, his shadow spread across the ground, and several figures emerged from within it.
His Schutzstaffel, or rather, the three that remained after he had left Pernida and Askin behind to delay that creature, along with Jugram Haschwalth.
Uryū Ishida.
Gerard Valkyrie.
Lille Barro.
Although it disgusted him to abandon Pernida, doing so had been unavoidable.
Leaving behind a piece of the Soul King meant giving Caius Aurelius the opportunity to devour it.
However, Yhwach had judged Pernida to be the Sternritter most capable of delaying the monster with the help of Askin.
That alone made the sacrifice worthwhile.
“Deal with them quickly,” Yhwach ordered without hesitation. “Hold nothing back.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Without another word, he flew upward toward where he could sense Ichibe in the distance.
He hadn't traveled far before his path was blocked.
“Not so fast!”
A woman's voice, Kirio Hikifune, rang out as an enormous cage of living wood erupted around everyone present, attempting to trap them.
Yhwach didn't even slow down.
“Uryū.”
The moment he called his name, a silver badge shot past his head and exited the wooden cage.
An instant later, Antithesis activated.
Yhwach and the badge instantly exchanged positions, allowing him to escape the prison without breaking his momentum.
Without sparing so much as a glance behind him, he continued flying toward his destination.
He had no time left to waste.
=====
With Caius
With the Bambies and Bazz-B safely stored inside my Imaginary Space—where they could watch everything through my eyes thanks to Astra—and Nelliel, Tier, and Starrk keeping an eye on them after meeting them shortly after they agreed to join me, I was finally free to do as I pleased.
The first item on my to-do list before joining Ichigo and devouring the Left Arm of the Soul King was, of course, taking advantage of all the chaos to acquire a few more useful abilities.
Once everything was over, we would be leaving this universe for good.
After that, I wouldn't have another opportunity to do this. Everyone would either be panicking over my actions or trying to kill me, so there was no better time than the middle of a war.
My first targets were naturally the remaining Lieutenant- and Captain-class Shinigami who had been incapacitated during the invasion.
Or at least, some of them.
Spotting my first target buried beneath a pile of rubble, I immediately appeared beside her. After pulling Rukia free, I absorbed her into my Imaginary Space.
'Do your thing, Astra,' I instructed happily, immediately receiving a happy reply since she was even more excited about this than I was, the little skill maniac.
“Yes, Caius-sama~ ...And I'm not a skill maniac!” Astra replied cheerfully before her tone turned adorably pouty after hearing my teasing.
'Whatever you say, dear,' I replied with an amused smile as Astra immediately began a full analysis of both Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki.
While she worked, I moved on to my next target.
The same scene repeated itself several more times as I found Rangiku, Tōshirō, Shinji, Soi Fon, Rose, Byakuya, Kensei, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji, and Momo, all of whom had been left unconscious and heavily injured throughout the battlefield.
Once Astra finished analyzing them, I searched for a suitable location before releasing them from my Imaginary Space one by one.
Rukia was the last.
Every one of them had been completely healed.
Knowing the complications it would cause if they awoke immediately, I made sure they would remain unconscious for several more minutes with the help of Asmodeus’s Biokinesis subskill.
By then, I intended to be long gone.
'Consider this a small consolation prize for what I'm about to do,' I thought silently as I looked down at the unconscious Shinigami.
My gaze lingered on Rukia for a moment before briefly shifting toward Renji as well due to our shared past.
After everything we'd been through together, it felt appropriate.
Just as I was about to leave, however, I suddenly came to a stop.
An annoyed expression briefly crossed my face.
Slowly turning toward a nearby rooftop, I sighed.
“Show yourself,” I said flatly. “I know you're there.”
Several seconds later, the clown finally revealed himself.
Mayuri Kurotsuchi.
This time, he had somehow managed to outdo even his previous fashion disasters by wearing an outfit made almost entirely of bright golden light, complete with a ridiculous headdress that resembled a sunflower.
Standing a short distance behind him was Nemu.
Unlike her creator, she remained completely expressionless as she quietly observed me.
Mayuri, on the other hand, wore a look that made me seriously consider ripping his head off.
“Kuhuhuhu... What do we have here?” Mayuri mused as he slowly stepped forward, seemingly unconcerned by my presence. “A wanted criminal willingly revealing himself in the middle of a national crisis? Isn't this my lucky day?”
His gaze briefly shifted toward the unconscious Shinigami behind me.
“I do wonder...” he continued with obvious curiosity. “What exactly were you doing with our dear Lieutenants and Captains just now?”
“I'll only say this once clown,” I replied blankly, my expression completely devoid of emotion.
“Fuck off.”
I paused just long enough to let a small amount of killing intent seep into my voice.
“Or else.”
Of course, the insane lunatic ignored me and continued walking forward sealing his fate.
“I don’t think I will.” Mayuri said with an amused shake of the head only to suddenly blink as the me he had been observing closely suddenly disappeared from his sight and senses.
“Whe—”
That was all he was able to get out before he froze completely with wide eyes as slowly a line ran from head to toe before a second later the two halves of his bisected body fell to the sides.
“I told you.” I muttered now behind him letting my sword disappear back into my Imaginary Space and quickly devouring the remains of Mayuri in the next moment.
‘Make sure to isolate all his memories of things we could use and erase all other memories, Astra.’ I instructed calmly as while Mayuri might have been a psychopathic and deranged madman, there was no denying that the man was a genius and we could use his inventions in the future.
“Leave it to me.”
“Mayuri-sama!” Nemu yelled in shock and despair watching the scene before she ran at me with killing intent in her eyes.
She wasn’t able to do anything before she was similarly devoured by Beelzebuth and the area became quiet again.
With her complete devotion to the psychopath, I knew that Nemu wouldn’t be able to live without him and would most likely commit suicide if she survived this when her creator didn’t.
At least this way she could join her creator as morbid as that sounded.
“…Mr. Slime.”
Hearing a groggy voice speak I turned around and saw Rukia attempting to get up as she came to from her forced unconsciousness.
Smiling at the petite woman I walked up to her and helped her stand immediately noticing that she hadn’t witnessed what had occurred not a minute ago since she wasn’t looking at me in horror.
“T-Thank you. You healed us right?” Rukia muttered with a thankful tone as she looked at the gathered Shinigami besides her before turning to me with a smile.
“Don’t mention it.” I shrugged calmly as I stared at her silently for a moment making her slightly blush while I thought that this was probably the last time I would ever see her again.
With that in mind, I smiled and patted her head rubbing it gently causing her to squak in surprise.
“Take care of yourself, Rukia. Despite everything, I’m glad I got to meet you.” I said with a friendly smile taking her by surprise by my words as she stopped trying to swat my hand away and looked at me curiously. “And keep an eye on that Strawberry will ya?”
“W-Why are you saying that all of a sudden as if you were leaving?” Rukia asked in confusion.
In return I just shook my head and pulled my hand back before I pulled out something I had been working on my spare time from my Imaginary Space and threw it at the girl startling her and causing her to panic as she struggled to not drop it.
“D-Don’t just throw things at me!” Rukia yelled in anger before pausing as she blinked as she got a good look at what I threw at her before her eyes turned all starry eyed and a huge smile grew on her face as she hugged a plushy of an exact replica of my slime form to her chest.
“Did you make this?” Rukia exclaimed in happiness as she raised her head only to blink as silence greeted her.
I had taken the opportunity of her momentary distraction to teleport out of the place not wanting a sad goodbye.
‘I’m going to miss that midjet.’ I thought silently as I quickly made my way to Ichigo’s battle.
====
With Ichigo
After delivering the finishing blow to Askin, there was no way he was even going to attempt to remember the man's full name, having never been particularly good with names, Ichigo finally turned his full attention to the last remaining Quincy and by far the most troublesome of the three.
Askin's ability had been absurdly dangerous, revolving around poison and lethal doses, or at least that was the brief explanation the Quincy had proudly given during their battle.
For some reason, however, it had been completely ineffective against Ichigo.
The first time Askin had poisoned him, Ichigo had genuinely panicked. Yet just as the poison began taking effect, he could have sworn he heard a woman's voice calmly reassure him that everything would be fine. A second later, the symptoms simply... vanished, much to Askin's complete disbelief.
Not wanting to risk giving such a dangerous opponent another opportunity to adapt, Ichigo had hardened his resolve and finished him off without hesitation.
The creepy guy with the two tongues had been considerably easier to deal with.
While his ability to redirect attacks had been annoying, all Ichigo had to do was put enough force behind his strikes. Eventually, the Quincy had been unable to redirect one in time and was swiftly taken out first.
That left only Pernida.
Or rather...
The gigantic left hand.
The thing possessed a terrifying ability that allowed it to regenerate and multiply every part Ichigo severed, making it incredibly difficult to put down permanently.
Its most troublesome power, however, was the countless nerves it could fire in every direction, each capable of forcibly controlling anything they touched.
He had learned that lesson the hard way.
After letting his guard down for a brief instant while dealing with the other two Quincy, one of Pernida's attacks had reached him, grotesquely twisting one of his arms into the shape of a pretzel.
Fortunately, Orihime had restored it almost immediately, allowing him to avoid the barrage that followed. Even without her, his Hollow regeneration would have eventually healed the damage, though it certainly would have slowed him down a bit.
Now, as Ichigo stared at the more than dozen gigantic left hands surrounding him, the result of Pernida's constant multiplication, he couldn't help but frown.
If he wanted to end the fight once and for all, he would need to unleash an attack powerful enough to wipe out every last one of them in a single blow.
The problem was...
Orihime was still standing behind him.
And there was no telling how many injured Shinigami remained scattered throughout the battlefield.
It left him with a difficult choice.
Just as Ichigo steeled himself to somehow lure Pernida away from the battlefield before finishing it off, he suddenly paused.
In the span of a single instant, every one of Pernida's gigantic hands was cleanly bisected before a familiar void appeared and devoured each severed piece.
Feeling the overwhelming presence behind the attack, Ichigo couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
There was only one person he knew capable of treating monsters of that caliber like children playing in a sandbox.
Sure enough, Caius appeared above the battlefield just as the corpses of Nianzol and Askin were similarly swallowed by the same black void. The white-haired teen then turned toward him with his usual carefree grin.
“Nice job, Strawberry. Ready to bring this war to an end?” Caius asked casually as he walked toward him with relaxed steps, looking as though he were taking a stroll rather than standing in the middle of a battlefield.
A determined expression crossed Ichigo's face as he nodded and sheathed Tensa Zangetsu for the time being.
“Let's end this.”
Behind him, Orihime quickly hurried over, relieved that the fighting had finally come to an end.
“I like your confidence,” Caius replied with a teasing grin before suddenly turning toward the side, causing Ichigo to do the same with a curious expression. “You guys coming too?”
At his question, several familiar figures stepped forward from the surrounding ruins.
Kisuke.
Yoruichi.
Shunsui.
Sado.
A fully healed Kenpachi.
Behind them stood the remaining Visoreds who were in the World of the Living during the invasion, Love, Lisa, Hachi, and Hiyori.
“Hahaha, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mister Caius,” Urahara greeted with his usual easygoing laugh, his folding fan covering the lower half of his face while his striped hat hid his eyes.
“Sure,” Caius replied with a casual shrug. “Looks like everyone's here, so let's not waste any more time with introductions.”
He turned around, giving everyone his back as if fully intending to leave.
“Before that...” Shunsui spoke up.
Stepping forward with a relaxed smile that contrasted sharply with the seriousness in his eyes, the Captain asked the one question everyone had been thinking.
“May I ask... what exactly are your intentions regarding the Soul King?”
The moment those words left Shunsui's mouth, Ichigo felt a chill run down his spine.
The atmosphere instantly grew tense.
Silently, he watched Caius, relieved to see that the slime still appeared as calm and relaxed as ever.
“…Hoh?” Caius replied, sounding more amused than offended as he glanced over his shoulder.
“Curious are we?”
He didn't answer the question.
Instead...
He answered it with another question.
Ichigo could only watch in silence as Caius's warning from months ago resurfaced in his mind.
'If any of them come at me...
...I will respond with lethal force.'