Ichigo’s mouth twisted sourly as he exhaled sharply through his nose, irritation bubbling beneath his skin as he glared at the offensively blue form of the Demon Ipos.

Because of course, of fucking course!

He would be in the middle of doing something as straightforward and routine as hunting down Sinners only to stumble upon one of the original Demons in hiding!

Gah! Why did he always have to have the worst kind of luck! This was no better than when he ran off to save Rukia only to stumble into a century long conspiracy in the making! Or the time Sirzechs sent him off to find a familiar only to run into a hostile Dragon King!

Well… actually, the latter example did have a happy ending, but still! The sentiment remained!

His miserable fortune always had a way of circling back on him like that – things were never simple when he was involved!

Resisting the urge to pull at his hair in frustration, Ichigo willfully shifted his attention back towards the immensely powerful Demon.

His gaze settled fully on the creature that had emerged from the lake, and his frown deepened as he took in its form. It was a very odd-looking thing, resembling a mismatch of animals; what with its body of a lion and the head and neck of swan. And the very many wings that sprouted from where its arms should be.

But he recalled what Gremory had said before they had come to Malebolge: Ipos had once been an Angel, one of the higher ranks that had followed Lucifer during the Fall, before fully committing itself to the Devil and corrupting itself into one of the first Demons. He briefly wondered if the eldritch winged form was some sort of mocking call back to its angelic origins.

Still, he found it an odd choice of appearance. Demons could make themselves look like whatever they wanted, though Ichigo and most of the ‘modern’ Demons chose to resemble their birth bodies. Why in Hell Ipos chose to look like a mutated smurf was beyond him. He briefly cast a glance at Gremory and her luscious red locks and beautiful features and gave himself a mental shrug. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder, he supposed.

Ichigo stopped that line of thinking immediately.

Hells no! He was, not ever, going to sexualize Sirzechs’ grandmother! The thought alone nearly made him puke!

Giving a shudder of disgust, Ichigo’s expression flattened as he forcibly pushed all such thoughts and deleted them from his mind. Refocusing, Ichigo let his awareness expand again, taking in the weight of the space around him and the pressure that now saturated the air. He could sense Ipos from every iota of this dimension, the Demon’s presence infused potently in all directions.

A Demon’s Inner Sanctum was an extension of its very being – in all likelihood, they’d have to fight, not just Ipos, but the localized reality. And fight they probably would. Ichigo could hardly allow a Demon to exist outside of the authority of the Satans. If Ipos didn’t bend knee, they would inevitably come to blows.

But he was broken from his belligerent thoughts as Gremory stepped forward to his side, her lips curling into a soft, almost affectionate smile as she regarded the creature. “Brother, you wound me,” she cooed, her tone light with feigned hurt. “To think you hid yourself all these centuries. It does my heart warm to know you still breathe.”

The response came as a warped sound that grated against the ear, something caught between a lion’s roar and a swan’s cry, and Ichigo felt his brow crease faintly as he registered the emotion threaded through it. Indignation, sharp and immediate.

“The only thing that needs be done to your heart is to have a dagger driven through it, Gremory.”

Ichigo’s frown deepened as he felt Ipos’ contempt reverberate through the space around them; it carried with it a current of dark, invasive power. The Demon’s voice manifested its malice, weaving it into the air that pressed noticeably against his senses.

And Ipos spread its colossal wings, the effortless motion sending a ferocious surge of azure wind that tore through the dimension with a strength far beyond hurricane force winds.

He noted not just the scale of the effect, but the sheer physical power unleashed by the Demon through a simple gesture. The gale alone would have registered as a destructive elemental spell standing well into Ultimate-class territory. Had this not been the Demon’s own realm, he imagined the destruction would have been immense.

But then, Gremory clicked her tongue, her expression untouched by the display. “Oh, dearest Ipos, you say such hurtful things. I was so distressed when I sensed your demise… how did you manage that?”

“As I have ever done,”  the Twenty-Second Pillar sneered, “through cunning guile and magical genius. While the rest of you perished in droves during the Great War, I spent centuries structuring the rites required to sever myself from your accursed sight!”

Gremory’s laughter was soft, edged with dark amusement. “Hiding away while the rest of us fought tooth and claw, what a magnificent coward you are, Ipos! I always did admire that about you.”

Ipos’ feathers ruffled, and the black of its beak deepened, the air growing heavier as its presence swelled.

“And you - ever the slavish whore, sister.” A goose’s honk edged with a demonic warp and obvious mockery escaped Ipos. “I alone saw through the Sins’ mad folly in their crusade against the Heavenly Father and all that he wrought. And as they fell, one by one, it became all the easier to escape the wretched bindings that tied me to them.”

Gremory inclined her head slightly, her smile widening. “Oh dear, pitiful Ipos, the Sins are returned. The Crown Princes enthroned once more. And they are more powerful and more terrible than ever before. Will you not bend the knee, brother?”

She gestured toward Ichigo with theatrical grace, dipping into a shallow bow that made him roll his eyes in exasperation.

Ipos’ dark gaze turned on him fully for the first time.

And Ichigo met the dark being’s eyes without hesitation, his posture relaxed even as his shadow and mythic weight descended through the folds of Ipos’ reality. The hostility that pressed against him was immediate and intense, but beneath it, there was something else, something quieter and far more telling. Fear. Subtle and buried beneath layers of arrogance and rage, but all too present, nonetheless.

The other Demon’s wings spread wide once more, the force of its movement escalating as the winds tore outward, but this time tinged with his demonic magic. They were strong enough to force Gremory to sheath herself in a layer of protective aura. The pressure rolled across Ichigo as well, but it broke harmlessly against his Hierro, leaving him entirely unmoved as he continued to observe.

A cascading aura of blue erupted from Ipos as his power swelled hugely, blanketing the sky in an eldritch indigo light that seeped with malignant rot and festering demonic miasma.  

Ichigo’s grip on Zangetsu tightened. Ipos’ strength swelled beyond even Gremory’s beyond the norm of what the modern system labeled as a Satan-class powerhouse. His eyes narrowing, Ichigo realized that the Twenty-Second Pillar was probably as strong now as the original Sins had been.

This is not going to be easy, Ichigo thought to himself.

“I will never be a slave again!” Ipos roared, its voice shaking the dimension as its aura flared. “For an age I have labored silent within my kingdom of Malebolge! I have stolen and siphoned the energies of the Dead Realms, bolstering my strength beyond you and the other Pillars! Through dreadful rituals I have forged fiendish legions! Through my words alone I tempted the souls of Sinners into obeisance! I, who—”

Ichigo moved.

One moment he stood where he was, and the next he had already crossed the distance between them, reappearing directly before the ancient Demon as Zangetsu carved a clean arc across its gargantuan torso. The cut split through flesh and bone alike, sending a tide of blue blood outward as Ipos recoiled with a sharp, startled cry.

Ichigo lowered his blade slightly as he looked at the creature with annoyance. “Why does everyone have to monologue?”

But then Ichigo’s gaze sharpened as he watched the arc of blood Zangetsu had carved from Ipos fail to reach the ground. Instead, it froze in place before thinning into a drifting mist that dissolved into the air.

Then the jagged cut on Ipos’ chest near-instantly closed and the Demon was whole once more. Ichigo gave an appreciative look; it was rare for him to encounter someone with regeneration that nearly equaled his. Then again, they were in Ipos’ personal dimension. It would be incredibly disappointing if Ipos couldn’t even do that much abetted by his own realm.

But before the Demon could right itself, Ichigo twirled Zangetsu in one hand while his free hand came up in the same motion. His fingers flexing as invisible force gathered, he then threw out his hand and a compressed wave surged forward: a telekinetic blast driving forward with enough power that it vaporized the surface of the cerulean lake beneath them.

Ipos responded immediately as a translucent sweep of blue energy unfurled from its wings and the two forces met in a violent collision that sent a concussive shockwave tearing across the realm, flattening everything within Ichigo’s line of sight.

But he stood perfectly still as the resultant blast rocked over him, absorbed effortlessly into his Hierro. Within the same moment, Gremory moved into place beside him, her presence rising in a sudden surge as deep crimson power bled into the space around her, pressing outward in raw, oppressive waves that warped the air itself as both of them advanced together.

Ipos launched into the air and unleashed another explosion of blue demonic energy, pulsing in every direction with tremendous power.

His body leaning forward into the momentum as his foot found purchase on the air solidifying beneath his feet, and he pushed off it and rushed toward Ipos once more. His blade came around in a tight arc, lightning crawling along its edge as he cut through a sudden cluster of descending blue orbs that had formed above him. Each half of a cut orb fell and sent a cascade of explosions rolling outward, annihilating the mountain ranges made of crystals that traced the horizon of Ipos’ realm.

The Demon flapped its wings once more, and several feathers shot out, each quickly morphing into colossal pillars of wind tinted with the same hues as everything else in this accursed dimension, surrounding Ichigo and Gremory and crushing them under their might.

But Ichigo swiped Zangetsu with a simple flick of his wrist, and fire surged into existence and fanned outward in a wide sweep that burned through the spiraling vortexes forming, his own demonic fire easily tearing through Ipos winds and consuming them until nothing remained. And immediately, Ichigo took advantage of the opening, using a single twist of magic to cross teleport next to Ipos and stabbing Zangetsu through the Demon’s head.

Unfortunately, the air shimmered, and Ichigo looked on with a touch of surprise as space folded unevenly and Ipos was suddenly far away from his reach. And Ichigo felt a thick resistance manifest through the air as he tried to advance; the distance ahead of him stretching in defiance of his forward motion.

Before he could make sense of what had just happened, Gremory’s power erupted behind him.

Crimson bled against the cerulean world in thick, roiling currents that surged outward from her form, the raw force of it crashing against the shifting reality and forcing momentary fractures through its structure as entire sections of the terrain warped under her influence. Ichigo moved through those openings immediately, his body threading through the instability as Zangetsu carved forward, the strike driving toward Ipos, but again the space between them stretched unnaturally and a great distance was put between his target and his soul-sword.

He felt Gremory’s mind brush against his. Ipos is Willing space to ensure our assaults never touch him. We will need to wrest control of the localized reality, my Prince.

Ichigo frowned, he had realized the same thing even as Gremory had spoken the words. Sadly, they were inside of Ipos’ Inner Sanctum, even with both him and Gremory together, it wouldn’t be easy to take control. Not just the chimera-looking creature, the very dimension they were currently in was their enemy. This world was Ipos, and they would have to somehow subdue all of it in order to subdue him.

But Ichigo was taken out of his thoughts as abruptly, from every shifting angle around him, immense blue lances ignited and hurtled toward him. Their paths bending through warped space as they converged on him in a tightening weave of annihilating light. With a few light steps, he managed to evade them all, but then Ichigo’s eyes widened when he felt reality shift again and he found himself back where he was and the blue bolts hurtling towards once more.

And his expression became stunned as he was momentarily immobilized by Ipos power. Before he could do anything, the lances of energy collided against his being and detonated in blinding blue light that consumed everything around for thousands of miles. Ichigo felt an immense pressure crush against him, like the weight of the moon collapsing onto his shoulders and searing against his very being.

“My Prince!”

Momentarily surprised at Gremory’s bout of concern, Ichigo grunted and powered through the overwhelming blue light and appeared right beside her.

“I’m fine,” he said with a frown. He looked down to see his body very lightly injured, minor scrapes and bruises, even a part of his shoulder that had actually been wounded enough to draw blood, but they were all instantly healed through his high-speed regeneration. At the same time, however, he felt a deep irritation that was quickly bubbling into rage under the influence of his Sin.

If he were being honest, Ipos was nowhere near being a genuine threat to Ichigo: all it would take would be for him to unseal Zangetsu and take on his true form and Ipos would be on a one-way trip into Hell.

Unfortunately, Ichigo unleashing his full power would easily tear through, not just Ipos’ realm, but the very adjacent Malebolge and the Underworld. And Sirzechs and the other Sins were too far removed from the Fallen’s territory to contain him. The consequences of him taking on his true from right now would mean his Reavers would be instantly annihilated, along with the legion of Fallen waiting on the outside. The former would be very hard to replace, and the latter would crumble the alliance forged at the Summit and most likely restart the Great War.

Ichigo withheld an immense sigh. The irony wasn’t lost on him; he had become too powerful.

“Focus on supplanting his miasma with yours,” he commanded Gremory. “I’ll try and keep most of his attention."

And his red eyes glowed bright as the world beneath them began to buckle under the pressure of his Will: the vast blue lake below churned and collapsed into molten magma, its glow shifting into a searing orange that spread outward in expanding waves. The air itself grew hotter, heavier, as his aura pressed onto every surface it could reach, and beside him Gremory mirrored his efforts.

Her crimson power flooding into the cracks he created as mountains darkened into blood-red masses and the sky bled into a deep, oppressive scarlet. Across it all, Ipos’ overwhelming blue surged back in resistance, the clashing colors grinding against one another as the realm itself warped under the strain of three competing dominions.

This battle would be a contest between Demonic Wills.

=======

Shemhazai stood at the forefront as magic and corrupted light layered before him, his many wings held taut as they imbibed his power into the vast sealing array that stretched across the dimensional fissure made by the young Satan.

Meanwhile, Baraqiel anchored the outer edges of the sealing array they were forging together, his presence reinforcing the structure as currents of holy lightning threaded through the defensive weave.

With a near forlorn sigh, he said quietly into the now ash choked air of Malebolge, “That’s Ipos.”

“So it would appear,” Baraqiel answered him grimly.

“T’would seem his demise was greatly exaggerated,” Shemhazai then added in a huff.

“We never did find a body,” Baraqiel said offhandedly. “Our brother was always a shrewd planner, even before the Fall.”

“He is no brother of ours,” Shemhazai snorted derisively. He held nothing but the lowest contempt for those Fallen who had utterly forsaken themselves and followed Lucifer into his infernal madness. It was one thing when they all turned their backs on Father, it was a completely other thing when Lucifer and his ilk chose to invite Hell itself into their beings and twist themselves into desolation.

Demons were vile and repugnant things, especially the original ones. At the very least, these new ones seemed to hold a modicum of reason and sanity.

He sighed to himself shaking his head.  “That being said, this does raise the point that Ipos has been sitting here under our noses for centuries. We’ll have to do a deep scan of all our territories to ensure nothing else unwanted is hidden away.”

“I shudder to think what we’ll find,” Baraqiel said dryly, causing Shemhazai to snort in response.

But his attention was then riveted back to the fissure and the immense powers pressing against his and Baraqiel’s own mythic weight. He frowned considerably: three Demons warring with each other deep in their own territory.

This was not good.

“I assume you have relayed all this to Azazel?” Baraqiel asked.

Shemhazai gave another sigh. “He’s here right now. I’ve opened a psychic channel to him, he’s seeing everything I am.”

And, as annoying as he found it to have his oldest friend rummaging about in his head, it was quite necessary given the circumstances.

“Nevertheless,” he continued, “first Gremory, now Ipos. So many ancient headaches all in the same day.”

Baraqiel let out a deep hum. “I was curious as to what brought Gremory here. I wonder if she had an inkling of Ipos’ survival?”

He shrugged in response. “Who knows. If we’re in luck, they’ll kill each other and save us the trouble. Wouldn’t that be lovely? Ah, well, except for the young Satan. I think I like him. He was polite, which is unheard of for his kind. Would that all his foul kin be like that.”

Baraqiel brows furrowed and his brother gave him a profound look.

“What is it?” he asked curiously.

“I cannot help but feel that the Dark One is responsible for this,” Baraqiel said, causing Shemhazai to look at him in surprise.

“You think our young, potential, friend is the reason for Ipos’s survival?”

“Of course not,” Baraqiel shook his head. “But I have sensed the weight of Destiny heavy on his shoulders. Gremory has long since ignored the Underworld. The Crimson Lucifer is her own grandchild; she needs no greater hold. But now she steps out into the folds of our mythos once more, and under the banner of the newest Crown Prince? And, in their wake, Ipos’ centuries hidden survival is suddenly revealed? It is far too much for coincidence.”

Shemhazai regarded him for a few seconds before letting out a leaden breath. “You think him the focal point of Destiny?”

“When considering all that has happened around him these past few months – Kokabiel, the Summit, the Infinite Ouroboros, now this? It makes sense,” Baraqiel said plainly.

Sehmhazai shook his head and let out long defeated sigh. “Sors immanis.”

=======

Sirzechs sat on his throne in Yfel, all the other Sins were present as well, seated on their own thrones as they overlooked the Empire. And, although not unusual, this was a rather sudden session, given the remarkable circumstances.

Serafall stared wide-eyed at a visibly disgruntled Ichigo. “Ipos is alive?”

“Sadly,” Ichigo grunted. “I’m trying to remedy that.”

“I assume he refused to swear loyalty?” Sirzechs asked with raised brow.

“Gremory basically asked him to, well half mocked him, really,” Ichigo said with a frown. “But I doubt that even if given the most diplomatic ‘fall in line’, Ipos would have sworn allegiance.”

Ajuka pressed the tips of his fingers together. “Can you destroy him?”

“I-“ But then Ichigo closed his eyes and went silent. A few seconds passed and the Sin of Wrath opened his gaze one more, irritation and anger sparking within him. “Sorry, his Inner Sanctum is actively working against me. Projecting my mind into Yfel while also trying wrest control of reality from him is… straining. Sorry, what did you ask, Ajuka?”

“I was questioning if you could permanently destroy him?”

Ichigo’s expression turned contemplative and he looked away for a moment, no doubt trying to push the information through and against Ipos’ reality.

“Fuck,” Ichigo cursed. “No, I can sense he’s bound himself to the Underworld just like Bael, Gremory and the other Demons have. Hmm, I sense most of his essence is anchored in the depths of Malebolge… I could, maybe, destroy him if I released my true form and blasted Malebolge in the process.”

“And risk destroying the Underworld in the process?” Falbium said wryly. “Please don’t.”

Ajuka pursed his lips. “Not risk, it would be a certainty. Malebolge is anchored to too many planes of the Underworld. It’s destruction would lead to a catastrophic chain reaction.”

“Then what are our options?” Sera questioned as she put a finger to her lips. “We can hardly have a Demon of the Old Empire openly vaunting their defiance. Especially what with Sirzechs’ plans to utilize Malebolge to lure the Old Satan Faction into a trap.”

Several seconds passed and Sirzechs leaned his cheek into his fist, lost in his own thoughts. The problem of the Old Demons had long haunted his Empire, but they were – mostly – content to stay dormant and allow his generation to reign. But Ipos, an openly hostile and defiant Demon, was unacceptable. It would be politically disastrous for their image and a major military liability to allow him to continue to exist unimpeded.

And on top of that, he was also left wondering what his grandmother wanted out of all of this. Did she know that the Twenty-Second Pillar was still alive and hidden away? And if so, what did she want with her infernal sibling? He doubted that Gremory would betray him and his Empire… but, nevertheless, a hint of doubt crept into his mind.

There was no telling with the old Demons. Treachery was inherently ingrained in their beings.

“I have an idea,” Falbium said with a yawn.

And they all turned to him expectedly, even as the Sin of Sloth shifted in his throne and gazes at them blankly.

“Well? Out with it!” Sera said with a huff.

“Hmm?” Falbium briefly jolted up, causing Sirzechs to roll his eyes in exasperation. “Oh, yes. Outright destroying Ipos is impossible, but it should be quite easy to seal away his entire Inner Sanctum in a temporal containment field. It won’t kill him, but it would lock away the old bugger until we’ve found a surefire way to be rid of our parasitic ancestors for good.”

Sirzechs blinked at him surprise. “…that’s a surprisingly good idea.”

“Good job, Falbi!” Sera said enthusiastically. “I always knew you had a brain!”

“Oh, bite me, the both of you,” Falbium said scathingly. “I am the head of our military.”

“Though there is one glaring issue with your plan,” Ajuka said pointedly.

Sirzechs turned to him with a frown. “What would that be?”

“That I don’t know how to set up a temporal containment field?” Ichigo waved at them incredulously.

Sirzechs frowned at him. “How inconsiderate of you, not being able to cast a dimensional scale temporal stasis lock! How dare you call yourself my apprentice!”

Ichigo stared at him slackjawed for a moment, much to Sirzechs’ amusement, before he put on his trademark scowl. “I don’t call myself your apprentice, you asshat! No one does!”

Meanwhile, Falbium gave a slight shrug and then said, “Ichigo’s lack of magical mastery aside - ”

“I’m still new to this compared to you living fossils!”

“ – I’m sure Gremory is more than capable of casting the necessary magicks. While not as powerful as Sirzechs and Ajuka, that relic is a formidable sorcerer in its own right. She could probably give old Mephistopheles a run for his money.”

Ichigo’s protests immediately died and he pinched his chin in thought. “…yeah, that could work.”

“Though I doubt Ipos would simply allow grandmother to cast uninterrupted,” Sirzechs pointed out.

“You will need to be a sizable distraction for her, Ichigo,” Ajuka added.

Ichigo nodded at both of them and then turned to Falbium as the Sin of Sloth gave another careless shrug. “That’s even easier, just give him a bit of Hell.”

=======

Deep within the abyss of Ipos Inner Sanctum, Ichigo held himself strong as he spat blood off to the side. Hellfire bled from him in heavy waves, the heat of it pushing back against the suffocating blue that filled every inch of the sky.

He had already had countless exchanges with Ipos, and the Demon’s strength was not to be underestimated. Even with Gremory by his side, Ichigo had been wounded and struck numerous times, luckily his regeneration fully restored his physical body with ease.  

Still, this battle was proving to be quite cumbersome. And though Ichigo knew himself to be significantly stronger, the swan-like Demon was heavily bolstered by his realm while Ichigo was continuously hindered.

Ichigo’s expression settled into a hard, focused scowl, shoulders drawn slightly inward as he grounded himself against the constant distortion pressing at his senses.

His grip tightened on Zangetsu as he forced his Will outward, bent on corrupting reality to his whim. Beside him, Gremory burned like a crimson star, her power spreading in vast, oppressive tides that clawed into the Sanctum’s structure, staining the endless blue with deep red fractures that refused bend or break.

But Ipos pushed back immediately, the storm thickening as his presence surged through it, and Ichigo felt the crushing weight of the very folds of time and space trying to reject him. However, his jaw set firm as he continued to expand his power and leveled his gaze forward.

His aura rising exponentialy, Ichigo pointed defiantly at Ipos and his fanned wings, and an orange-white power sparked at his fingertip. The fabric of reality around his finger warped as the weight of his soul and the sear of Hell spiraled into a dense sphere of choking ash and demonic power.

“Cero Ceniza.”

The beam tore through time and space, ripping apart the dimension and utterly blasting away Ipos’ will as it surged towards the opposing Demon. Ipos let out a terrible roar and flapped all of his wings at once, unleashing a gigantic beam of deep cerulean energy several times larger than the Demon itself. The two beams collided and erupted into a radiant flash brighter than the Sun, staining Ipos realm in a bright white light. Reality gave way around the point of impact as the clash ground forward in a slow, brutal contest of the two Demons’ wills.

Ichigo sneered, his arm steady as he forced more power into the beam. This may be Ipos’ world, but even he would be hard pressed to equal Satan in might. Even with Ichigo storing away the vast bulk of his power for fear of the Greater Underworld, he would hardly let someone several times weaker get the better of him. Not again, never again.

Luckily, at his flank, Gremory unleashed her own power, her arm lifting as vast arrows of crimson energy coalesced and launched in rapid succession, each one curving through the storm with deliberate precision before striking into Ipos’ beam from multiple angles. The interference tore through its structure, fracturing its cohesion just enough for Ichigo’s Cero to surge forward.

It struck Ipos head-on and erupted, the detonation swallowing the sky in a blinding bloom of orange-white fire that expanded outward with the force of a star, vaporizing everything caught within its reach.

And even as Ipos’ entire form was blasted away, Ichigo did little to relax his posture. His eyes remained narrowed, his stance still braced as the storm returned and filled in the vacuum from the fading explosion.

Ipos’ laughter echoed cold from every direction.

“Foolish little child, playing at being a Satan. You predecessor would have known better than to enter another’s Sanctum uninvited.”

Ichigo raised an unimpressed eyebrow and gave Zangetsu a casual twirl.

“And you, Gremory. Surely you must realize by now there is nothing you can do. You are powerless before me. I cannot be killed in my own realm, and so long as I am anchored to the Underworld, I can draw upon its endless mystical energies to renew my strength. I am inexhaustible.”

“You keep thinking that,” Ichigo said calmly.

The clouds swirled and spun into one point, collapsing and coalescing back into the form of Ipos. “Child Satan, you should know that a Demon cannot be felled in its Sanctum. Soon enough, I will wear you down and break your physical forms, banishing you back to your own fonts of power.”

'He is not wrong,' Gremory said into Ichigo’s mind. 'We cannot continue this indefinitely.'

'We don’t have to,' Ichigo responded back, just as the fragment of his being in Yfel related everything it had discussed with the other Sins. 'Think you can cast a time-lock around the entirety of Ipos’ Sanctum?'

He felt a flicker of surprise through their mental link before Gremory answered. 'Yes, that is quite doable. But I will need time. Time that Ipos will not allow.'

'Leave that to me,' Ichigo thought to her assuredly. 'I can easily keep him occupied, Hell, I’ll even put him on the defensive. But it’ll be up to you to stay out of the way and out of sight.'

'Your every wish is my command, my Prince.' And Ichigo had to keep himself from shaking his head at the underlying sensuous tone in her mental voice.

'Seriously? Now is hardly the time.' Ichigo thought with a hint of exasperation.

'Whatever do you mean, sire?' Her mental voice came perfectly innocent, and she even dared to look at him with wide, confused eyes.

Ichigo gave her a small glare.  

“If you’re quite done,” Ipos’ growl reverberated through the world.

Ignoring the other Demon, Ichigo gripped Zangetsu and touched the latent divinity within his soul. “Oh, and Gremory,” he said out loud, not caring if Ipos heard his next words. “Protect yourself.”

The confusion in her eyes turned real. “I can assure you, my Prince, I already am.”

“I meant from me.”

=======

Gremory tore herself across the expanse in a single step as the Crown Prince’s power surged beyond its prior bounds, the pressure of it spreading through the Sanctum with a horrifying and suffocating weight as she turned back toward him. Her green eyes widened despite herself as she felt it clearly now, that unmistakable thread of divine authority interwoven with the searing malice of his Sin of Wrath, and it pressed against her being with a terrible allure, something ancient and absolute that beckoned her to yield, to fall into submissive and slavish worship under his dark authority.

She felt her breath hitch slightly as Satan made himself known, if even for a brief moment.

But not just her, she could also sense the flicker of unease and uncertainty now lacing through all of Ipos and his dreary realm. He may be unkillable inside of his realm, but that did not mean he could not be hurt. And if there was one thing Gremory knew about the Sins, it was that they excelled in hurting others. In the past, there were times where she enjoyed the hurt at the hands of her Father… but there just as many times where she fled to avoid the wrong kinds of hurt, the kind that left scars on Demons as powerful as even her.

She shivered as the Crown Prince’s aura continued to grow and he became a shining beacon, a pulsing star within Ipos monotone blue world. She felt a near delight in the expression of his absolute Demonic power. It was so… intoxicating.

Getsuga

And with that one word that now echoed, her expression immediately fell and every single sense she had screamed at her to flee. Even she felt the call of mortality in whatever new power the Prince was molding. Because in those distant licks of fire and brimstone, she could see golden strands of divinity burn furious.

Gremory summoned her magic, she wove the most powerful defensive barriers around herself, wrapping her form in a cocoon of monstrously powerful protective magicks. And despite her best efforts, despite millennia of spell crafting perfection, a part of her mind still treacherously whispered that it wasn’t enough. Not to stop whatever horror that the Prince was about to unleash.

“Have you gone mad!” Ipos rage shook the world. “You would destroy yourself as well!”

She watched as Ipos, in his desperation, unleashed vast beams, collapsing funnels of winds, and falling meteors of blue fire in relentless succession, each cataclysm crashing against the burning engine of hellish light that was Crown Prince. But the Sin’s power radiated outward, he created a bubble of reality of his own, where all that existed was his fire and his indomitable will.

Tenshō

And Gremory’s world went gold.

Her vision flooded with gilded light, the world stripped of its entire vastness as every surface, every iota of space and every moment time gleamed beneath an overwhelming radiance that pulsed with terrible majesty. Threads of black power flickered through it, writhing at the edges of that brilliance, yet all of it bent toward a single presence that filled the Sanctum entirely. Nay, obliterated it. There was no Sanctum, there was just… him.

She felt the Crown Prince everywhere at once, absolute and inescapable, and the weight of him pressing against and straining all of her considerable magic,

She hadn’t felt so overwhelmed and awed since the time she had witnessed her grandson cast aside his physical form and rise as the Crimson Lucifer for the first time.

Such power…

Such glorious power! If she could have such power, if she could possess such unfiltered raw destructive might. The things she could do, the things she would do. She sucked in a cold breath, and slowly, her fingers gripped the sides of her head even as her red lips split apart, the flesh sculpting her face near breaking as a manic look of raw desire overcame her.

Because all she could think about were those burning red eyes that were sometimes brown. All she could think about was that orange hair that was messy yet elegant. All she could think about was that dreadful glare and that boyish smile.

I want it… I want him… I want it I want him I want it I Want Him I I want IT I Want HIM IWantIT IwantitIwaNtHiMIwaNTiTIWanthiMIWaNtiTIwanThiMiwaNTiTiwANTHImIWanTItIWANtHimIWANTIWANTIWANTIWANTIWANTIWANTIWANT!!!

Ah.

But priorities. And her smile dimmed until it was polite and dim, even as the all-consuming terror that was a golden Satan receded and left behind naught but an endless black. She blinked, not comprehending as all her senses left her and the very idea of being, of existing, suddenly felt very alien and distant to her.

Her lips slightly parted as she realized with mild horror just what the Crown Prince had done.

He hadn’t just destroyed Ipos’ physical form – no, the Demon Lord had consumed his entire Sanctum and rent it onto Oblivion. She was in the Void. She was in the Nothing. He had absolutely annihilated the entire dimension and Ipos along with it.

She pressed her legs together… Oh, but this is getting dangerous for me, she thought with a wicked smile.

'Best get that magic started,' the Prince’s voice rang with authority in her mind.

Whatever you desire, my Lord. Whatever you desire.

=======

Ichigo stood still… or rather, he remained suspended within the Void. He couldn’t see or hear or sense anything, but that was mainly because there was nothing to perceive. He was literally surrounded by nothing. It was an odd sensation, but strangely, not unfriendly. Quite the opposite, he felt rather safe. Almost welcome in the Void.

And, for the briefest second, Ichigo imagined phantom lips pressing cold against his.

Huh, weird.

Nonetheless, he could still feel Gremory at the edges of… thought? He wasn’t sure how, but he felt her magic moving with purpose through the Nothing he had created.

But he took a moment to feel a sense of faint satisfaction settle in as he acknowledged the scale of what he had just done. While still far from the strongest miracles and the nigh-omniscient sight of the True Immortals of the Fourth Dimensions, that he could erase an entire dimension with a single, divinely charged Getsuga was something to be proud of. Even if it was a pocket universe and not a true infinite dimension, it was still quite the accomplishment on his part.

At this point, Ichigo was left wondering how much farther he had to go before he was equal to Sirzechs and Ajuka. A small part of him told him that the two older Demons still edged him out by a margin. But he was certain it was much smaller now than it previously was.

But, lost in his thoughts that he was, and utterly outside of Time too, Ichigo waited for Ipos to gather his bearings. He knew what to do next, but he also knew he had to wait until the Demon reformed itself by siphoning off the energies of the Underworld. Actually, there was this nagging little notion in his voice that he had to wait, or else.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Ichigo felt space and time began to reassert themselves as Ipos slowly began restricting reforming, and his Inner Sanctum along with him.

It was strange having reality reform around him, watching the endless black recede as Ipos monotonous blue world began to reassert its own existence, but it was fascinating to watch all the same. It wasn’t every day someone got to see existence form, after all.

Nonetheless, Ichigo could see that the newly reformed blue dimension was not the same as the previous one. It seemed more fragile. He could sense that the space-time was not as firmly held together as the previous one.

It seemed Ipos’ boast of being inexhaustible were quite empty. Clearly the Demon was exhausted. Even with the Twenty-Second Pillar siphoning power out of the Underworld itself, it obviously could not renew its own strength eternally. Ichigo deduced that, while Ipos’ was intrinsically tied to the Underworld, if he continued to destroy it and its Sanctum, the Demon would lose so much of its energy and essence that it would fall into a coma.

It would survive, but its mind would be so fractured, and its essence so scattered it would, theoretically, take millennia for it to reform a consciousness.

He filed that point away as for future discussion among the Sins.

But quick enough, Ipos’ miasma thickened and the Demon’s rage lashed out through the entire realm, causing it to shake and tremble under its power. Though Ichigo knew it to be empty bolstering.

“You…,” Ipos seethed, its voice echoing through the whole world. “You impertinent whelp! You have cost me dearly! My army is easily overlooked! But centuries of power gathered now scattered away! I will see you dead for this!”

“Yeah, about that,” Ichigo drawled.

And this time, when he reached into his soul, he went past the immortal strands and the rivers of black Wrath. Instead, he touched upon that most dreadful thing that gave even Demons nightmares.

Ichigo raised a hand, and behind him existence itself shuddered in revulsion as twin doors the size of mountains tore their way into being. And with a single, mental command, the twin skeletons embedded into those dark doors heaved at the dreaded handles, cracking open the titanic slabs just a fraction to reveal the dark glow of the First Flame in all its fury.

“Wait,” And Ichigo held back a gim smile as he could practically taste Ipos’ terror infusing every inch of his realm. “What are you doing!? No! Stop! I command you stop!”

But Hell cared little for Ipos’ protests, all it knew was this was a Demon promised to it long ago in its bargain with Lucifer, and it would gladly collect.

“No! Stop this at once!”

Slowly, the blue demonic miasma that was the very essence of Ipos, was sucked into Hell.

And far above, the Demon reformed its lion-swan body, its visage twisted in fury and horror. With a roar, Ipos fell upon him with the force of a comet, and Ichigo smiled as he slashed Zangetsu against the Demon’s wings.

Finally, a real fight without any of the metaphysical, magical bullshit, he thought.

The impact rang out with a reverberating clang, the force traveling up his arm as he held the clash for a fraction of a second before twisting his wrist and forcing the blade along the length of the feathered edge, carving through it in a clean, brutal line.

Blood arced and filled the air, and Ipos recoiled and lashed out immediately, taloned feet snapping forward in a grasp meant to tear him apart, but Ichigo shifted in the air just enough to slip inside the reach, his shoulder rolling as one claw scraped along his side without purchase. He answered with a driving kick that slammed into the giant swan-like head, the impact folding the creature backward before he followed through with a tight, controlled step and drove his fist into its face once, then again, each strike snapping its head aside with audible force.

“I’m taking a shit ton of frustration out on you, asshole,” Ichigo snarled gleefully.

And Zangetsu flashed again, the blade cutting across Ipos’ torso as blue blood spilled and stained its edge. And Ichigo felt a savage satisfaction rise beneath his focus as he pressed the attack, each movement efficient and deliberate, each blow meant to be lethal and decisive. It was only Ipos regeneration that had kept its body from breaking apart.

And as much as he was enjoying beating the crap out the original Demon, Ichigo could sense the frantic desperation and terror growing inside of it. Especially given how more and more of Ipos’ essence was being dragged into Hell by the second.

Even if Ipos was anchored to the Underworld, he was now permanently diminished. Ipos would never be able to regenerate that portion of its very being that was now locked away and burning inside of Hell. A burning that would last for the rest of its miserable existence.  

In a seemingly last-ditch effort, Ipos gathered all of its power at it’s beak, creating a gargantuan orb of energy several times its own size. Bolts of azure lightning arced over its surface and through the air in lightning strikes that cleaved chasms dozens of miles long.

“I will never be a slave again! I will never be defeated! You! Vexing and rotten child! Pretend Satan! I will cast you down and with your death, forge my own dynasty!

Ichigo gave a slightly offended glare. “Pretend? I’ve literally been kicking your ass and even summoned a giant-effing door to Hell itself! What more do you want from Satan? Oh, whatever.”

“Die-rrgh!”

Ichigo teleported right in front of Ipos and dove Zangetsu right through its neck, and then, with a single swish, severed the swan-like head.

With a wave of his hand, Ichigo then took control of the mass of demonic energy and sent it towards the Hellgate, adding more fuel to the Eternal Fire.

'My Prince, it is done.'  

“By all means, don’t wait on my account,” Ichigo said both out loud and in his mind.

And at once, Gremory released the spell she had been weaving, her power surging outward in a vast, suffocating tide that spread through the nascent edges of the rebirthed Sanctum just as Ipos’ form began to pull itself back together. The Demon’s presence sharpened immediately, awareness flaring with sudden urgency as it recognized what she had set into motion, and its reforming body twisted as it attempted to assert control over the space once more.

Ichigo’s soul flared and his own Demonic essence clashed against Ipos’ without hesitation, his titanic Will battling the exhausted Demon. Reforming his realm, warring against Ichigo, fighting the constant pull of Hell had drained the Demon and kept its focus and attention too split to allow it to confidently counter Gremory’s spell.

And as Ichigo saw Time itself begin to slow to a halt and all of Ipos Sanctum consigned to perfect stasis, he turned and reached through impossible distances and grabbed Gremory’s wrist.

“Come on,” he said briskly. “Let’s get out of here.”

And as Ichigo willed them away, he felt Ipos scream in rage and lash out against him, trying to reach him and drag him down as well, but Ichigo easily pushed back and soon enough, he and Gremory were once more standing in Malebolge, under the Underworld sky again.

=======

Nearly an hour had passed since their return to the Underworld, and Ichigo had spent the better part of it standing in the sky while locked in three different conversations. In his mind, he was having a full-blown meeting with the other Sins regarding Ipos and the ramifications of this going forward. And the fact that there was no way to keep this secret given that one million plus Fallen legionaries had witnessed the whole sordid affair.

The second conversation was between him and Shemhazai: the Vice-Governor of the Grigori was asking him some pointed questions – even if it sounded like he really didn’t want to – about what happened inside Ipos’ lair. Apparently, Shemhazai was holding his own mental meeting with the other Cadre.

Which led to the third pseudo-conversation taking place. Aside from whatever he and Shemhazai were discussing, they were also conduits between the two governments as Sera and her counterpart were arguing back and forth about the numerous logistics for the inevitable clean up in Malebolge.

Apparently, when Azazel had given permission for Ichigo to lead his army through Malebolge, him terraforming the dead inhospitable wasteland into a volcanic inhospitable wasteland wasn’t a foreseen ending. The Fallen had designs for the territory, meaning to take full advantage of Ichigo’s march through the realm and later use it for their own goals. Ichigo had, quite spectacularly, ruined all of those plans.

Sirzechs was quite pleased.

Meanwhile, Gremory and Baraqiel had come together to weave countless seals and barriers over the Ipos realm, to keep it locked away and isolated from the rest of the Underworld. This way no unscrupulous individuals could take advantage of the frozen in Time Ipos and steal away his power. Or worse, set him free.

Azazel had mentioned he’d stop by and add his own protections and barriers. And if there was one thing Ichigo knew about the Fallen Lord, he was a genius that could nearly rival Ajuka. Ichigo felt secure in knowing that Ipos’ imprisonment would certainly be a lengthy one.

Regardless, Ichigo was quite mentally drained from everything. This had been quite the adventure that had gone awry. And the worst part was, it still wasn’t fully over. He so dearly wanted to go home, get some chocolate and cuddle with Tiamat.

Letting out a sigh, he idly glanced down at the ground and watched as his Reavers merrily tore through the corpses of fiends and ate to their hearts content. He let out a snort, well, at least some good came from all of this. His Reavers got their fill of violence and food.

As he watched a particular band of his simpleton monsters sit around and munch on fiend limbs, one of them looked up and caught his eye. That Reaver then looked over to its friends, made a sort of grunting noise and then pointed into sky in his direction. They all looked up, and within seconds, they were waving at him. One of them even lifted a severed leg as if to offer it to him.

Ichigo let out a small laugh and waved back before returning his attention to Shemhazai and all the voices both in and outside of his head.

“Right,” he said, cutting off all conversation. “We can continue this later; I still have some things left to do in Malebolge.”

And as Sera’s irritation began to bubble, Ichigo cut off their mental link before she could fill his head with cries of outrage. They had phones and advanced magical communications that could cross universes; there was literally no further need for Ichigo to be a psychic telegram.

“You can continue this with Serafall and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Ichigo said to Shemhazai who nodded at him, looking just as done as Ichigo felt.

He then caught Gremory’s eye, and she gave a small nod of her own before returning to heavy magics she was weaving.

Running a hand through his hair, Ichigo took a single step and crossed the entirety of Malebolge until he stood at the very edge of the realm: until he stood on the black sands of the riverbank and dark grey waters that ran quietly into the horizon beyond.

Cocytus, the River of Lamentation.  

And as he beheld the opposite shore of the river and looked past it, there was a wall of swirling white mist that obscured his sight, and above the wall was a vast, endless dark that swallowed all light. But nonetheless, Ichigo could sense past those mysterious depths and the very rich spiritual energies that ran immeasurably powerful within.

Energies that were constantly shifting, constantly moving, as they carried the weight of all the mortal souls that did not sit upon the thrones of Heaven nor burn in the flames of Hell.

These were the lands Lands of the Dead, the infinite realms and universes that were ruled over by the Dead Kings. But they were not Ichigo’s concern. Not at the moment.

No, he was more focused on those hidden paths on the other side of the Cocytus, those near invisible roads of spiritual energies that the Khaos Brigade were using to travel to and from the Underworld unseen and unheard.

Ichigo could sever those roads, cut the dimensional paths that connected the Underworld to the Chthonic realms, and Zangetsu briefly hummed in response in his soul. Ichigo frowned just slightly. Perhaps, sometime in the future, he would do so, but for now, for Sirzechs’ plot to work, they still needed those roads open.

Speaking of Sirzechs’ plan…

Ichigo held out one hand and allowed a thin strand of black and red energy to emerge: a fragment of his Sin. Slowly, Ichigo allowed it to fall to the ground and watched it burrow itself into the banks of the Cocytus. That sliver of Sin would be enough for Ajuka to reach out and move and influence this region unseen by other powers. It would allow him to build the teleportation waystation that they could use to dupe the Old Satan Faction.

As he watched as his Sin dug its way deep into the ground and nestled safely, Ichigo nodded to himself and turned away. Or, he was about to, when there was a sudden shift in the white mists on the other side of the river.

Ichigo blinked as he detected something vaguely familiar. He watched curiously as a silhouette darkened and became a humanoid shape and came closer and closer to the river. And as the mist parted, Ichigo looked surprised at the sudden appearance of a Shinigami, one of the psychopomps of his homeland.

Except…

His eyes widened as he sensed the absolute gargantuan heights of the Shinigami’s spiritual power. He couldn’t ever recall having sensed a Shinigami this powerful before. Granted, his senses were rather horrible for most of his days a Substitute Shinigami, but still… this level of power was well beyond anything he had ever felt from Soul Society. Save for, perhaps, old man Yama and Aizen.

“Greetings, Kurosaki Ichigo. I am Senjumaru Shutara of Squad Zero. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”  

Ichigo was broken out of his stupor and looked away from her power and at the woman herself. She was an incredibly beautiful Japanese woman, with long strands of silken black hair. She had a strange golden apparatus behind her head, and six golden arms sticking out of the back of her white robes.

Ichigo stood a little straighter and gave her polite nod. “Nice to meet you,” he said switching to his native Japanese tongue. “Have we met before? You seem to know me.”

She gave a small smile, the red of her lipstick catching his eye briefly. “You are somewhat of a celebrity in our corner of Creation, after all.”

“So, I seem to gather,” he said wryly. “Sorry, you said Squad Zero? I didn’t know there was a Squad Zero in the Gotei Thirteen. Fourteen, I guess.”

Amusement danced in her eyes even as she stood perfectly still. “We function independently of Soul Society. Squad Zero is the Royal Guard, we exist to protect the Soul King and obey him, and him alone, in order to protect the balance of worlds.”

Ichigo looked at her for a moment before nodding to himself. “That makes sense. I know that the Gotei Thirteen are largely kept ignorant of the greater Supernatural World, so I always wondered how they managed to keep outside beings from interfering and collapsing the system. I assume that's where the Royal Guard come in?”

“You are correct,” she said, the same mysterious, small smile staying in place. “Ironically, we of the Royal Guard are Shinigami who have become so powerful that we ourselves have become a threat to that balance. As such, we are only ever deployed for existential emergencies.”

That made perfect sense to him given the level of power he was sensing from this undead behemoth. At the same time, Ichigo’s thoughts twisted sourly. The Soul King had multiple monsters like her in his direct servitude? How was that even remotely fair?

But then, Senjumaru’s lips twitched as she said coyly, “Existential emergencies, perhaps, such as three immensely powerful Demons battling uncomfortably close on the borders of the Lands of the Dead?”

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Uhh, sorry about that. I really wasn’t planning on it.”

A mechanical golden hand came to cover her lips. “I’m sure you didn’t.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you. But I kind of have things to be doing.” Ichigo gave her another polite dip of his head. “Oh, and you might want to keep an eye on the Cocytus in the very near future. I, uh, ‘foresee’ a lot of living traffic coming through.”

She returned his polite nod and said, “Thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo. I look forward to meeting you again sometime soon.” And as she turned and her visage was swallowed by the mists, Ichigo heard her muse out loud to herself. “Who knows, perhaps it will be you who I will be guarding next time?”

He looked at her retreating shadow in surprise but then shook his ruefully. “Doubt it’ll be any time soon,” he said.

And Ichigo took off home.

=======

A/N: Apologies for the delay of this chapter, work has been very demanding. I had another 24+ hour shift at the hospital and basically came home and crashed.

Fun chapter, I've always wanted to explore a fight where Ichigo is too strong for his own good and actively has to hold back in risk destroying everything around him. "BANKAI! Oh shit, there goes the Earth." Wouldn't that be a fun way to end Bleach?

Anyways, Malebolge is over and now Ichig returns to Infernity. The next arc is the Youth Rating Games and the climax of the Devil Civil War.

As for Senjumaru and the Royal Guard, I literally made up that scene on the spot, it was not in my original notes. Nevertheless, I thought it would be a fun inclusion. See you next week.