What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?
What immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful symmetry? -- William Blake, Songs of Experience (1794)
White Ichigo hooked his fingers onto the chain behind the hilt of the Tensa Zangetsu, and swung the entire sword around.
The pure white blade traced an arc in the air, and the chain at the end of the handle emitted a very faint metallic scraping sound.
"Ichigo, I have a question for you." White Ichigo tilted his head, his black and white eyes locking onto Ichigo, "What's the difference between a king and a mount?"
"What did you say?" Ichigo wiped the blood from his face and climbed out of the shattered glass.
"I'm not asking you a childish riddle about the difference between two legs and four legs." White Ichigo stopped the swinging Tensa Zangetsu and held it in his hand.
"If there are two beings who are exactly the same in terms of appearance, ability, and power, one acting as a king to dominate the battle, and the other as a mount to add to the fighting force, what is the difference between the king and the mount?"
Ichigo remained silent; he had never thought about this kind of question before, and naturally, he couldn't come up with any answer.
White Ichigo, brandishing his sword, walked step by step toward Ichigo, the tip of the sword leaving a deep scratch on the glass curtain wall.
There's only one answer, and that's instinct!
His speech quickened, his voice grew louder. "What a king needs is an absolute desire for battle! A relentless pursuit of power! The most primal fighting instinct hidden deep within our souls!"
"And you didn't!" White Ichigo Tensa Zangetsu, the blade drawing a pure white line through the air before thrusting straight at Ichigo. "Using a sword still in its sheath, who can you possibly cut down! That's why you're weaker than me, Ichigo!"
The white Tensa Zangetsu pierced Ichigo's chest, the tip of the blade grazing the edge of his heart before penetrating his body.
Ichigo froze on the spot, the white blade piercing through his chest, the red Reiatsu on the blade slowly seeping into his body, turning his black Shihakusho white from the wound.
The white color spread out from around the blade, inch by inch, from the chest to the shoulder, from the shoulder to the arm, and from the arm to the fingertips.
"I can't bear having a king weaker than me riding on my back and ordering me around." White Ichigo stood in front of him, his face expressionless. "If you're weaker than me, then you can be my mount, and I'll be the king."
Just as the white erosion was about to spread to Ichigo's neck—a cloud of sky-blue magical particles suddenly floated up in the sky above the world.
The particles, like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind, slowly rotated around Ichigo and White Ichigo, forming a blue trail in the air.
"What is this?" White Ichigo looked up at the things that had never appeared in his Inner World before.
His brows furrowed, and crimson Reiatsu surged from his body, attempting to disperse the particles—but the magical particles were only slightly shaken by the Reiatsu before gathering back together and continuing to slowly rotate around the two of them.
"Hadō Chapter 78: Zanka no Tachi!"
A steady voice came from above White Ichigo's head.
He suddenly looked up—
It was a large, somewhat frightening Raven, its two Blue-Violet wings fully spread, each feather seemingly shimmering with a ghostly blue halo.
And now, golden edges, sharp as blades, appeared at the edges of those wings!
The Raven performed a rolling maneuver in the air, and two golden slashes erupted from the sides of its wings, drawing two arcs in the air as they slashed towards White Ichigo.
White Ichigo Shunpo to retreat, pushing off the building's exterior wall with his foot, and launched himself out like a white lightning bolt.
The Zanka no Tachi exploded where he had just stood, kicking up a thick cloud of smoke.
As the smoke slowly dissipated, two figures appeared where White Ichigo just stood.
A young man, so thin he was almost skin and bones, wore a black sleeveless vest over his frail body. His right arm was adorned with a dark blue, Featherlike Pattern, and he held a jet-black cane in his hand.
On his shoulder, the Blue-Violet Raven was slowly folding its wings, its silver pupils shining brightly in the blue-white halo.
White Ichigo looked at the two uninvited guests, the smile on his lips fading slightly, "Who are you?"
Sylvan held up his cane with one hand, the tip pointing at White Ichigo: "Just a passerby."
"No one would ever step into someone else's Inner World!" White Ichigo charged at Sylvan.
His Tensa Zangetsu is still stuck in Ichigo's chest, infecting Ichigo's consciousness, which means that he is now completely unarmed.
But his speed was still astonishing—almost in the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Sylvan: "You can die if you barge into someone's Inner World. Be careful next time!"
Just as White Ichigo's right fist, imbued with crimson Reiatsu, slammed towards Sylvan's face,
"Beast bones scattered everywhere! Spires, crimson crystals, wheels of steel. The wind moves, the sky stands still, the sound of clashing spears echoes throughout the void city! Hadō #63: Raikōhō: Raikōhō!"
A circular energy ball crackling with electricity appeared before Rain's beak. The next second, a cannonball carrying destructive power shot out from the energy ball, heading straight for White Ichigo's fist.
The moment the lightning collided with the fist, the shockwave shattered all the glass windows of the building between the two.
White Ichigo was pushed back several steps by the lightning. Just as he regained his footing, Rain's second Kidō followed. "Bakudō #75 - Gochūtekkan!"
Rain's figure swept over White Ichigo's head, and five huge iron pillars fell from the sky, smashing around White Ichigo and sealing him between the pillars.
Meanwhile, Rain hovered overhead and began the next incantation of the Kidō:
"At the edge of a thousand hands, one cannot reach the darkest hand, nor illuminate the archer of the heavens. The path where light falls, the wind that ignites the spark, when we gather, there is no need for confusion, but follow my guidance—Light Bullet, Eight Bodies, Nine Strips, Heavenly Scripture, Swift Treasure, Great Wheel. The gray turret draws its bow into the distance, and vanishes in a radiant glow."
White Ichigo slammed his fist into the iron pillar, causing fine cracks to appear on its surface. Looking at the bloodstains on his fist, then at the raven hovering in mid-air, preparing its next Kidō Raven, a more sinister smile twisted his lips, "Interesting!"
He pounded the iron pillar with his fist, and the cracks multiplied until the pillar finally shattered with a loud bang.
But he emerged from the shards of the iron pillar too late; Rain's next Kidō was already prepared.
"Hadō #91: Senju Kōten Taihō!" Several beams of light emerged from Rain's body and fired simultaneously, forcing White Ichigo to retreat continuously.
Suppressed by the continuous barrage of light cones, unable to lift himself, White Ichigo shouted, "You stinky bird! You think you can defeat me with your half-baked Kidō?! Once your Reiatsu is exhausted, I'll tear you apart alive!"
Taking advantage of the lull in Rain's fight with White Ichigo, Sylvan turned and walked towards Ichigo.
Ichigo was pinned to the spot by Tensa Zangetsu. The white corrosion had spread to his jawline, his breathing was shallow, his eyelids were drooping, and even the light in his eyes was somewhat empty.
Looking at Ichigo in his current state, he could only sigh, "It seems that it's too difficult for Ichigo at this stage to defeat White Ichigo on his own. No wonder he needs the Visoreds to help with his training."
But what should we do next? If we don't deal with White Ichigo, we can't stop Ichigo's physical Hollowfication into Ichigo. What should we do...?
Just as he was pondering how to help Ichigo defeat White Ichigo, the blue magical particles around him began to activate again.
They no longer floated around, but instead converged on Ichigo, forming two small vortexes on his body, marking two positions—one in front of the other.
The vortices formed by the particles at those two locations were extremely bright, as if indicating something.
The remaining magical particles drifted toward the Blade of Power in Sylvan's hand, coiling around its tip.
Sylvan looked at the two marked locations, then looked down at the magical particles still faintly glowing on the tip of the sword, before looking up at Ichigo's face, which was now covered in white stains that had reached his jawline.
"We have no choice but to take the risk and try."
"Ichigo, it might hurt a little bit from now on."
He gripped the hilt of the Blade of Power with both hands, aimed the tip at the Ichigo's face, and plunged it in hard.
As the Blade of Power pierced through both points, blue Reiatsu erupted from Ichigo's body.
The white Tensa Zangetsu's erosion of Ichigo began to change. The white, which had been eroding Ichigo's skin and Shihakusho along with him, began to become more orderly, no longer eroding his skin, and started to move towards the right half of Ichigo's body.
Ichigo quickly regained his senses. The confusion and helplessness he felt when being corrupted by White Ichigo's power were rapidly fading, replaced by an unprecedented clarity.
His Shihakusho was in a half-black, half-white state, with the left half being the original black and the right half being the same white Shihakusho as White Ichigo.
He drew the Tensa Zangetsu directly from his chest—the pure white blade trembled slightly in his palm.
When Ichigo picked up the white Tensa Zangetsu, his half-black, half-white Shihakusho began to transform.
The white portion on the right side extends as if pulled by an invisible hand, stretching from the shoulder to the knee, transforming into the hem of a white trench coat that flutters in the breeze of the horizontal world.
He glanced at the Tensa Zangetsu in his hand, then raised his head, his gaze fixed on White Ichigo, who was still locked in combat with Rain.
Without saying a word, he shot out like a black and white lightning bolt.
Hearing the sound of wind breaking, White Ichigo turned around abruptly—and what greeted him were Ichigo's rekindled brown eyes, his unusual posture, and his signature Tensa Zangetsu.
"How is this possible?"
As the blade slashed down, White Ichigo, could only raise his arm to block. The blade struck his forearm, leaving a deep wound.
He took a few steps back, blood trickling down his fingertips from his arm, but his face still wore that shocked expression.
He looked at Ichigo's half-black, half-white Shihakusho, and at the Tensa Zangetsu in his hand, which was wrapped with his own crimson Reiatsu.
"How could it possibly have this form? This is impossible..." White Ichigo murmured.
However, before he could react, Ichigo's second strike came, this time a horizontal slash, the blade cutting towards his side.
White Ichigo hastily dodged, the blade grazing his white trench coat. Unarmed, White Ichigo was no match for Ichigo and was forced to retreat repeatedly. But White Ichigo looked at Sylvan, and only then did he realize what was going on.
"That guy forcibly merged my Reiatsu with Ichigo's from Tensa Zangetsu, and even took away his right to use Tensa Zangetsu! That bastard!"
Tensa Zangetsu cleaved through White Ichigo's left shoulder, piercing his entire body, and exiting from his right waist. White Ichigo's body was split in two, the upper and lower halves slowly separating.
He looked at Ichigo, at those brown eyes that were now only inches away from him, and said something that he himself couldn't quite define—whether it was anger or resentment:
"What kind of nonsense is this! Using someone else's power to defeat me! Can you really accept that, Ichigo?!"
Ichigo gripped Tensa Zangetsu, the blade still bearing traces of White Ichigo's Reiatsu. He looked at White Ichigo's defiant face and shook his head.
"Of course I can't accept it, but I'm sorry, I'm really in a rush. But please believe me." Ichigo promised White Ichigo, "After things are over outside, I will definitely defeat you fair and square with my own strength. I promise!"
White Ichigo looked at Ichigo, and perhaps because they were originally one, White Ichigo still believed Ichigo's promise.
He scoffed, and the usual smile returned to the corners of his mouth.
"Tch. I'll forgive you this time, and we'll put our duel on hold for now. But remember this: since you've used my power, don't you dare lose to anyone else. I can't afford to lose face like that!"
His body began to shatter, turning into countless extremely fine black particles from the edges, as if swept up by an invisible wind, drifting one by one towards the shadow beneath Ichigo's feet.
The shadow grew deeper and darker, until finally it returned to silence...
Meanwhile, on the High Bridge outside...
Sylvan suddenly opened his eyes, immediately pulled out his cane, and stepped back.
Just as he was about to leave, Hollow Ichigo let out an extremely shrill the Roar, his Reiatsu exploding from his body like a volcanic eruption, shattering all the white floor tiles beneath his feet.
Ukitake sensed the change in situation and immediately stopped fighting Zangetsu. He Shunpo moved to Sylvan's side, Zanpakuto horizontally in front of him, his gaze fixed on the white figure who was howling to the sky.
"Sylvan, has it failed again?"
"No." Sylvan straightened up, his fingers gripping his cane still trembling slightly, but his silver eyes reflected the white figure undergoing change in the distance, and a faint smile appeared on his lips, "It's done."
As if to prove Sylvan's words, cracks began to appear all over Ichigo's body.
The cracks began to spread from the edge of the Hollow Hole in his chest, extending in all directions along the texture of his white exoskeleton—the cracks became more numerous and denser, eventually covering his entire body.
A blinding light shone through the deepest crack. Then the entire shell shattered like an eggshell.
The white fragments peeled off piece by piece, turning into Reishi debris in mid-air.
In the center of that shattered white expanse, a figure is slowly standing upright.
He wore a half-black, half-white Shihakusho, the left half being the original black, while the right half was transformed into white, representing the power of Hollows, fluttering in the night wind.
The Zanpakuto he held in his right hand transformed into the white Zangetsu, a color completely opposite to Zangetsu's. He raised his head and looked at Zangetsu standing on the broken stone pillar opposite him.
"There's been a slight mishap." Ichigo hoisted White Zangetsu onto his shoulder, grinning with his usual wide smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Uncle Zangetsu."