So Long as You Soar with Your Own Wings, No Height Is Beyond Reach

No bird soars too high, if he soars with his own wings.--William Blake<The Marriage of Heaven and Hell>(1790-1793)

The six ice pillars of the Thousand-Year Ice Prison are slowly closing in.

Those giant pillars, made entirely of pure ice, were each as thick as ancient trees, with a faint blue halo flowing across their surfaces.

As the distance between them shortened, the temperature at the center of the ice prison dropped rapidly. Ichigo's breath condensed into extremely fine ice crystals the moment it left his lips, and even the Reishi wrapped around his body began to frost over. Those usually active blue light spots were now like frozen fireflies, solidified one by one in the air.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

Ichigo Tensa Zangetsu in his hand, and a black and red torrent gushed out from the tip of the blade, crashing into the ice pillar in front of him with destructive power.

However, before the crescent moon touched the surface of the ice pillar, the dark red Reiatsu began to solidify from the edges. The front of the torrent seemed to be paused, stopping inch by inch in mid-air, and finally turning into a dark red ice sculpture hanging in front of the ice pillar. Cracks spread from the solidified Reiatsu, and the entire crescent moon shattered on the surface of the ice pillar, turning into countless extremely fine Reishi fragments that drifted down.

"Damn it, even a slash can be frozen? This is outrageous!" Ichigo gripped his twin swords tightly, his brows furrowed.

He could feel the ice beneath his feet continuing to spread, the cold creeping up his ankles. He twitched his toes; his legs below the calves were already losing all feeling. This was the only way Ichigo could check if his feet were completely frozen.

Outside the ice prison, Tōshirō was locked in a fierce battle with Hyōrinmaru.

The cold blade sliced through the air, each strike of Hyōrinmaru carrying a chill that could freeze the soul. Tōshirō raised his sword to parry, and the moment the blades collided, his wrist went numb from the shock. The chill traveled along the blades, covering his Shihakusho with a thin layer of Frost.

"Bakudō #63: Chain Binding!" During a gap in his parry, Tōshirō raised his left hand, and golden Reishi chains shot out from the void, coiling around Hyōrinmaru's body like several living snakes. The chains tightened, fixing him in place.

Hyōrinmaru glanced down at the chains binding him, his eyes expressionless. "Useless."

A blinding cold light suddenly erupted from his body, and the Reishi chains binding him began to freeze from the point of contact. The gold faded inch by inch, replaced by a deathly pale white.

Cracks spread from the frozen spot, and the entire chain shattered like a block of ice being broken, shards scattering at his feet.

As Tōshirō looked at the shattered chains, a plume of blood-tinged dust shot into the sky not far away.

The smoke was extremely strange—it didn't spread outwards like ordinary smoke, but instead tumbled and expanded in mid-air, with grayish-white, misty blades spinning wildly within it, engulfing everything around them.

Ichigo saw the plume of smoke through the cracks in the ice prison. "What's that?"

"Matsumoto!" Tōshirō's pupils contracted sharply. As Rangiku's captain, he naturally recognized Haineko's Shikai form.

The streaks of blood mixed in with the smoke indicated that Matsumoto had been injured by the Haineko's attack, and given the scale of the smoke, the Haineko was clearly serious.

Hyōrinmaru also saw the plume of smoke, but he didn't pay much attention to it. "I need to resolve this farce quickly and go find my true master!"

He raised his Zanpakuto, its tip pointing towards the sky. Above the battlefield, the once clear night sky was suddenly swallowed by dark clouds, and a biting, icy wind carrying ice shards surged in from all directions. The Hyōrinmaru shards spun rapidly around Hyōrinmaru, gathering more and more, until finally coalescing behind him into a gigantic Ice Dragon. The dragon's body was entirely composed of pure ice, and every scale gleamed with a dazzling cold light.

"Tōshirō!" Ichigo, trapped in the ice prison, saw this scene and looked tense.

"This guy doesn't look like someone who'll be easy to deal with at all!"

He unleashed Getsuga Tenshō once more, a torrent of black and red water crashing into the ice pillar, but this time the ice prison not only froze the strike but also contracted even faster.

The distance between the icicles had shrunk to only an arm's width, and the cold air felt like countless fine needles piercing his skin at the same time.

Hyōrinmaru glanced at the shrinking ice prison. The six ice pillars simultaneously emitted a low hum, no longer moving slowly, but crashing towards the center like six white lightning bolts.

The last gap between the ice pillars was completely filled, and the entire ice prison transformed into a huge, airtight block of ice, Ichigo inside.

"Stop! Hyōrinmaru, I'm your opponent!" Tōshirō charged at Hyōrinmaru, his footsteps making a faint cracking sound on the icy ground, his left fingertip aimed at Hyōrinmaru's chest.

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!"

A red Reishi energy blast shot out from his palm, carrying the Heat shockwave that hurtled straight at Hyōrinmaru's face.

Hyōrinmaru raised his left hand, his five fingers spread out in the air, and the Shakkahō was instantly enveloped by a thin layer of ice crystals the moment it touched his palm.

The red light sphere struggled for a few moments inside the ice ball before extinguishing completely, turning into an ordinary ice ball, which he casually tossed onto the ground, producing an extremely soft and subtle cracking sound.

"Don't you understand that this is futile?" The Ice Dragon behind Hyōrinmaru let out a deep roar, its massive body pressing down on Tōshirō like a collapsing iceberg.

Tōshirō raised his sword to parry, but the Ice Dragon's power far exceeded his expectations—the moment the blade collided with the dragon's claws, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the ground beneath his feet, and his knees involuntarily bent.

The Ice Dragon continued its charge forward, pressing him down. Its body rolled across the ground, carving a deep trench in the shattered stone slabs, and finally slammed him to the ground, exploding into a huge cloud of ice flowers.

Ice shards scattered everywhere, and in the center of that ice flower, Tōshirō was buried under layers of broken ice, motionless.

Hyōrinmaru glanced at the ice flower, then at the Tenth Division soldiers around him, shivering from the cold and barely able to grip their swords, before turning to leave—

"Getsuga Cross Blast!"

Ichigo's shout exploded from the depths of the ice prison, followed by a cross-shaped slash that shot into the sky.

It was Tensa Zangetsu swords—a black-red torrent and a scarlet torrent intertwined to form a massive cross, carrying destructive power as it crashed into the inner wall of the ice prison.

Countless fine cracks appeared on the surface of the icicle, from which black and red light burst forth.

Boom--!

The ice prison shattered.

Countless ice fragments scattered and flew everywhere. Ichigo emerged from the center of the shattered ice pillar, with a few ice shards still clinging to his head. His two Tensa Zangetsu hung at his sides, the blades still bearing the Heat from the collision of the two crescent moons.

He looked up, his eyes locked on Hyōrinmaru, a smile playing on his lips, "Finally out."

He cracked his neck, his cervical spine making a popping sound, "Hey, Hyōrinmaru, I need to settle this score with you for suddenly trapping me in this ice prison."

Hyōrinmaru turned around, a hint of surprise appearing in his cold eyes. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you actually managed to escape from the Thousand-Year Ice Prison."

"What's so difficult about that?" Ichigo Tensa Zangetsu on his shoulder, while the Black Tensa Zangetsu diagonally to the ground. "Since you can freeze one slash, I can just unleash two slashes at the same time—after all, I have two Tensa Zangetsu now."

He paused, a hint of smugness flashing across his face. "I really have to thank you for this. Thanks to you locking me up in that kind of place, I finally got a little used to—how to use dual swords."

He crossed the two Tensa Zangetsu above his head, and crimson and blackish-red Reiatsu rapidly condensed on the two swords at the same time. The sound of the two forces condensing was like two hearts beating in sync, and the rubble under his feet was lifted up by an invisible force, suspending in mid-air and trembling slightly.

Hyōrinmaru frowned slightly. He sensed that Reiatsu, which was not just a simple superposition of power, but a destructive force far greater than the sum of the two, generated by the collision of two completely different Reiatsu.

He Zanpakuto horizontally in front of him, with Ice Dragon coiling behind him. The dragon's mouth was slightly open, and cold air slowly condensed deep within its throat. Instinct told him that this move was very dangerous!

A blinding light erupted from the point where Ichigo's twin swords crossed, a chaotic curtain of light intertwining crimson and blackish-red, just as he was about to shout out the name of that attack—

"Etc!"

A voice came from within the ice flowers, Ichigo almost bit his tongue. The aura he had just gathered instantly crumbled, and he turned around to look.

Tōshirō pushed aside the layers of broken ice pressing down on him and crawled out of the huge ice flower. His Captain's Haori was cut in several places by ice shards, his short silver hair was covered with ice chips, and there were still red marks on his face from the frostbite. He was panting heavily, his hands supporting him on the ground.

"Tōshirō..." Ichigo looked at him, lowering the twin swords he had raised above his head slightly.

Tōshirō's condition was much worse—his whole body was covered in ice shards, the cuffs of his Shihakusho were frozen stiff, and even his eyelashes were covered in extremely fine ice crystals.

"Hyōrinmaru is my Zanpakuto." Tōshirō raised his head. "I must reclaim it myself."

"But are you really alright?" Ichigo's gaze swept from the frostbite on his face to his still slightly trembling fingers. Could Tōshirō really defeat Hyōrinmaru in this state?

Tōshirō gripped his Zanpakuto, the tip pointed at Hyōrinmaru. His arm was still trembling, but the light in his eyes remained unwavering. "It's alright. Who do you take me for? I'm the captain of the Tenth Division."

He turned to look at Ichigo, his voice tinged with stubbornness. "Matsumoto's side is probably more dangerous than mine."

Ichigo's pupils contracted slightly. "Matsumoto?"

"You saw that cloud of dust earlier, right?" Tōshirō's gaze swept towards the still-churning cloud of dust in the distance. "That's Matsumoto's Haineko. Matsumoto looks like she's been really messed up by Haineko —could you go help her? Please."

Ichigo looked at Tōshirō, at the unwavering stubbornness in those emerald green eyes. He remained silent for a moment, then sheathed the two Tensa Zangetsu at his sides. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Tōshirō wiped the ice shards from his face with the back of his hand, a smile playing on his lips. "It's alright, Kurosaki. You heard that voice just now, right? As long as I can Shikai, we still have a chance."

He Zanpakuto at Hyōrinmaru again, his voice regaining its usual composure. "So, Kurosaki, please go help Matsumoto. I'll take over here myself."

Ichigo gave him one last look, then turned away, his twin swords tracing two arcs in the night wind. "I understand."

He used his Shunpo to propel himself towards the plume of smoke, his figure darting through the ruins at high speed before disappearing into the depths of the night.

Hyōrinmaru watched Ichigo into the distance, the orange figure darting through the ruins and gradually swallowed by the night. "Is this a good idea? If you were to use Ichigo Kurosaki's power, you might still have a chance to defeat me."

"That's not the point." Tōshirō Zanpakuto horizontally in front of him, the tip aimed at Hyōrinmaru, assuming a fighting stance. "You are a very important Zanpakuto to me, so I had to come and reclaim you myself no matter what. Sorry to keep you waiting, Hyōrinmaru— "

He took a deep breath, a resolute light burning in his emerald green eyes. "Let's have a heart-to-heart talk!"

Meanwhile, Rangiku's side

The Haineko had completely gone berserk. The Catgirl brandished the hilt of her sword, sending grayish-white dust flying towards Rain like countless tentacles.

Her cat ears trembled slightly in the smoke and dust, her tail stood on end, and her cat eyes burned with undisguised rage.

"You dare to scheme against me, you stinking bird! Get down here!" Haineko swung his knife, and the dust turned into a gray-white whip that lashed towards Rain.

With a flap of its wings, Rain nimbly tumbled in the air, the trail of dust brushing past its tail feathers. "Scheming? I was merely relaying what you said to more people; how can that be called scheming?"

While dodging, it didn't forget to retort in that serious tone.

"Still trying to argue!" The Haineko's attack became even more frenzied, with smoke and dust surging in from all directions, trying to trap Rain within them.

However, her entire attention was focused on the Raven that had caused her so much trouble, and she was completely unaware that Rangiku and Sylvan had taken advantage of the opportunity to escape the battlefield.

Behind a broken pipe, far from the battlefield, Rangiku leaned against the cold metal wall, her right hand pressed against her left shoulder, blood seeping from between her fingers.

Her injuries from being enveloped in the smoke and dust were far more severe than she had imagined, but she couldn't care less about that now—her eyes drifted to the Haineko still chasing Rain in the distance. "Xiao Hu, the Haineko is not easy to deal with. Isn't it too dangerous to leave the task of dealing with the Haineko entirely to your pet? Should I go and help?"

"Rain..."

"Rain?" Rangiku repeated the name.

"His name is Rain." Sylvan pointed to the Blue-Violet figure still darting and turning in the air in the distance. "His name is Rain, not my pet, but I am Sylvan — Rain and I are both fragments of Amber."

Rangiku- nee, the Kou you know hasn't returned yet. If you want to settle scores with him, wait until he's fully back.

And to be honest, it was Gintoki who was stubborn and insisted on going to Aizen's side; it really can't be blamed on me."

Upon hearing this, Rangiku was momentarily at a loss for words. She opened her mouth, then closed it again, and poked Sylvan's forehead with her finger. "You... you were thinking about these things during the battle? You didn't pull me away from the battlefield just for this, did you?"

Sylvan's gaze drifted slightly. "That's part of the reason..."

"Well, you've finished what you wanted to say. I need to go back and subdue the Haineko. Honestly, worrying about these things during a battle." Rangiku turned to leave.

"But that's not the most important thing, Rangiku- nee." Sylvan grabbed Rangiku was about to leave.

Rangiku stopped and turned to look at him. "What was it for?"

Sylvan released his grip, raising his eyes. Rangiku's image was reflected in his silver pupils, and a white, eerie light began to burn from the depths of his pupils—the technique he used when he stabbed Ichigo. This white flame allowed his vision to penetrate the barriers of flesh and Reiatsu, enabling him to see things invisible to ordinary people:

"Rangiku- nee, it's about resolving the issue concerning your body. We all heard what Haineko said earlier— Rangiku -nee, you have a part of Gin's soul inside you, which is why you can't Shikai your Soul Pulse even after your soul has recovered."

Rangiku's expression stiffened slightly. She subconsciously raised her hand, her fingers gently resting on the center of her chest.

She could feel something throbbing there, something that didn't belong to her, yet it reassured her more than her own heartbeat.

She withdrew her hand, tilted her head back, and let out a hearty laugh, "Hahaha, that guy Yin has always been like this since he was little! He's usually quiet, but once he gets into trouble, it's something really serious."

She patted Sylvan's shoulder with such force that he staggered forward half a step. "Sylvan, it's alright. This little thing is no problem for me. Even if I can't Shikai, I have many other ways to deal with that cat demon. Don't worry about me."

"Rangiku- nee." Sylvan looked up, his burning silver eyes meeting Rangiku's. "I mean—what if I had a way to resolve this?"

Rangiku's hand froze in mid-air.

In those silver eyes burning with white flames, Sylvan see the piece of soul in Rangiku's chest. That piece of soul was incompatible with Rangiku's own Reiatsu —it was colder, sharper, and had jagged edges, as if it had been forcibly torn from something and then shoved into this place that did not belong to it at all.

But it still works desperately, completing tasks that it shouldn't have been able to do for the part of Rangiku's soul that she lost, clumsily filling that void with itself.

It's like a faulty part being roughly cut and forcibly installed into another machine. There's always a half-inch difference between the part and the machine's gears. Although it can barely operate, the power doesn't reach the expected level, and it also makes a harsh friction sound.

"Silver's gentleness is so willful and forceful," Sylvan murmured, the white flame in his silver eyes flickering slightly. "Completely ignoring the incompatibility between souls, forcibly fitting together and working desperately at the gap. Is this Silver's talent? No, rather than calling it Silver's talent, I'd rather believe—it's the Miracle caused by Silver's soul-deep love for Rangiku."

Rangiku's hand froze in mid-air, her knuckles slightly curled. The cheerful expression on her face vanished, replaced by a faint sadness that had crept in from nowhere. Her eyes reddened slightly, and she said very softly, "Then we can't just take that thing away like that."

"Rangiku- nee, you overestimate me." Sylvan shook his head. "Amber might be able to extract Gin's soul without harming you—but at most, Sylvan can only make you completely connected to that soul."

Rangiku paused for a moment, a glimmer of tears welling in her eyes, as if a light had suddenly appeared before her.

Sylvan tilted his head slightly, a faint smile, unnoticed even by Rangiku herself, reflected in his silver eyes. "Want to give it a try?"

Rangiku hesitated, "Will this take a lot of time? That Haineko guy is not easy to deal with."

"Taking her down might be difficult for Rain, but dealing with her shouldn't be a problem." Sylvan twirled his cane, the fine lines on it gleaming faintly in the night. "Besides, Rangiku- nee, after completing her Integration, should have an easier time dealing with Haineko."

Rangiku took a deep breath and stretched out her injured left arm. "Alright, let's do it!"

Sylvan gripped the hilt of the Blade of Power with both hands, the tip pointed at the clearly defined soul mark on Rangiku's chest. "Rangiku, don't worry, the pain will only last a moment."

Immediately, the Blade of Power was thrust directly into Rangiku's chest. With a familiar surge of energy, Rangiku and Sylvan entered Rangiku's Inner World together.