Yhwach's Defeat!

"Boom!!"

As Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni softly uttered the word 'Bankai,' an endless blaze transformed into a battle robe, gently draping over Yamamoto. The Zanpakuto in his hand became entwined with an infinite, blazing light. The temperature of that Zanpakuto was immeasurable, so intense that it had lost its fiery form. The reason Araki and the others could still perceive flames was merely an illusion created by the Spiritual Pressure overflowing from Yamamoto's Spiritual Body!

"Old Man Yama's Bankai is like a star radiating endless 'brilliance' and 'energy' condensed into a tiny Spiritual Body! In terms of destructive power, it's arguably the greatest in the Soul Society…"

As Yamamoto activated his Bankai, Araki's eyes involuntarily squinted, overwhelmed by the blinding white light. He watched as the residual energy from the Bankai alone continuously obliterated the surrounding reishi, like the sun descending to the earth. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he thought of the 'Sword of Fiery Might,' which, with the passage of time, would incinerate the entire Soul Society even if he stood still.

However, before the sweat droplets could fall, they were evaporated into steam by the infinite high temperature, dissipating within the Soul Society…

"Haha…"

"You activated your Bankai without hesitation, just because you knew I was your enemy?!"

"Even though your 'Bankai' is clearly a far greater threat to the Soul Society than I am! This boldness, it truly befits the man who single-handedly established the Gotei 13 and reformed the Seireitei…"

Yhwach burst into laughter as he gazed at Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, who, despite knowing his Bankai could potentially destroy the Soul Society, had resolutely and unhesitatingly activated it. He admired Yamamoto's ruthless approach to enemies; only such an opponent was worthy of being called Yhwach's adversary.

"Come on! Let's settle this here and now, Yamamoto!!"

As Yhwach spoke, he gently pulled back his black cloak, revealing the white knight's uniform beneath. Ignoring the wounds he sustained from fighting Araki, he firmly drew the cross-shaped longsword from his waist…

At this moment, Yhwach's eyes blazed with fighting spirit, ready to completely settle things with the leader of the 'Gotei 13' assassin organization, the man who could be called the 'uncrowned king of the Seireitei,' Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.

"Boom!"

Yamamoto Genryusai heard Yhwach's words and had no intention of wasting time. He simply raised the 'Sword of Fiery Might' high in his hand.

"Here it comes…"

Yhwach's pupils trembled slightly, preparing for a counterattack.

"Pfft…"

It was precisely at the moment Yhwach focused all his energy on Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni alone that, accompanied by the sound of flesh being torn, a Western sword pierced directly through his chest.

"Hmm?!"

Yhwach felt the pain in his chest and instinctively looked down.

"Sizzle, sizzle…"

He saw the Western sword still flashing with bolts of lightning.

"No sound?!"

Yhwach used a fraction of a second to quickly think. He then remembered that he had sealed his own ears to counter Araki's Bankai!

And the reishi he had used to seal his ears had, at some unknown point, gathered around his ears again. Because it was his own reishi, Yhwach hadn't noticed. And across the entire battlefield, only one person could achieve this—Araki, who possessed the ability of Reishi Manipulation!

"You damned Araki!!"

Yhwach's cold eyes, filled with boundless rage, glared at Araki, who was slumped on a stone stool in the distance, and roared.

"Hehe~"

In response, Araki gave Yhwach a 'benevolent' smile.

"Lord Genryusai, now!"

It was precisely in the instant Yhwach was distracted that the person standing behind Yhwach, a man with short gray hair holding a sword of thunder that had pierced Yhwach's chest, shouted loudly to Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, who was not far away.

"Boom!!"

The man's answer was a sword of flames descending from the sky!

Genryusai said nothing, pouring all his flames into a single strike, descending from the sky!

"Ah!!"

With Yhwach's unwilling roar, a massive fiery mushroom cloud, like a great sun, rose within the Seireitei! It seemed to illuminate the entire Soul Society in an instant.

"It's over!"

Araki watched the scene unfold and finally let out a sigh of relief, collapsing backward in exhaustion.

"Araki, are you alright?"

"Araki, are you okay?!"

The moment Araki fell, two figures shimmered into existence behind him, catching him as he leaned back.

"Oh, it's you two, Retsu and Saito!"

"Don't worry about me. I'm just a little tired because both my 'Spiritual Pressure' and 'stamina' are completely depleted. I just need a good sleep and some rest!"

Araki spoke, closing his eyes in their embrace, and began to fully recover his 'stamina' and 'Spiritual Pressure.'

"Hmm…"

The moment Araki closed his eyes, the two women standing behind him, Saito Furofushi and Unohana Retsu, narrowed their eyes slightly.

"Oh dear~"

"Isn't this Captain Saito of the 'Sixth Division'? As 'Captain of the Sixth Division,' shouldn't you be going to assist your 'own Division's' Division Members? You know, they're waiting for 'their Captain,' you see~"

"As for our 11th Division's Captain Araki, leaving him to me, also from the 11th Division, is quite sufficient~ You don't need to trouble yourself with this, Captain Saito!"

Unohana Retsu looked at Saito Furofushi beside her with a smile. Her words, with their rising and falling intonation, seemed to carry a hidden meaning, as she simultaneously snatched Araki from Saito's arms.

"Heh heh…"

"How is it I never knew Captain Unohana had the ability to care for others?"

"As far as I know, Captain Unohana, you seem to be useless at everything except fighting, no?"

Saito countered Unohana, pulling Araki from Unohana's arms into her own.

"Heh heh…"

Unohana, however, showed no intention of letting go. Her slender, pale hands at that moment were as strong and firm as rebar, tightly gripping Araki's body, preventing him from moving an inch from her embrace.

"You!"

Seeing this, a flicker of anger burned in Saito's heart, and a dangerous glint appeared in her eyes.

"Uh, Captain Saito, Captain Unohana!"

"I'm here on the Captain-Commander's orders to retrieve Captain Araki. The Captain-Commander will send the Soul Society's best Kaido medical practitioner to treat Captain Araki!"

Just as Saito and Unohana were wrestling over Araki, causing his face to gradually turn green, a Division Member from the Gotei 1st Division approached them, kneeling on one knee and respectfully addressing them.

"Huh?!"

"Are you saying my Kaido can't heal Araki?"

Saito roared at the 1st Division Member before her.

"Oh my~"

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that, can I?"

Unohana Retsu likewise displayed a faint, serene (and murderous) smile at the Division Member.

"Uh, um, I didn't mean that, I'm just following orders…"

The 1st Division Member panicked at her words. He looked at the two Captains before him, wanting to cry but unable to. He was just an employee; couldn't they let him off the hook?

As for Captain Saito and Captain Unohana's Kaido proficiency, how was he supposed to know Captain Unohana and Captain Saito even practiced Kaido?!

"Hey! You two, stop it! This is an order directly from the Captain-Commander!"

Just as the 1st Division Member was about to faint from the combined aura of Saito and Unohana, a low voice suddenly rang out, stopping Unohana and Saito.

"Captain Obana Danjirō!"

The 1st Division Member looked up at the sound and saw that Obana Danjirō, the Captain of the 5th Division, had arrived by their side at some point and had kindly spoken up for him. The 1st Division Member immediately cast a grateful look at Obana Danjirō.

"Tch~"

Saito Furofushi reluctantly gave up her claim on Araki.

"Hmph~"

Unohana, however, gave Saito a disdainful look, then personally handed Araki over to the 1st Division Member before her.

"Thank you, Captain Saito and Captain Unohana, for your understanding! And thank you, Captain Obana Danjirō, for your help! I'll be taking my leave now!"

The 1st Division Member said, then, supporting the sleeping Araki, disappeared from the battlefield.

"Boom…"

Meanwhile, accompanied by a series of rumbling sounds, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni sheathed his Zanpakuto. He walked expressionlessly towards the Soul Reaper Division Members who had come to greet him.

"The war is over! We won!"

Chōjirō Sasakibe, who followed closely behind Yamamoto and was the man who successfully ambushed Yhwach with his Sword of Fiery Might, loudly declared to the Soul Reaper Division Members before him, announcing Yhwach's failed invasion and that Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni had defeated Yhwach!

"Oh!!!"

As Chōjirō Sasakibe's words fell, cheers of victory from the Soul Reapers echoed throughout the Seireitei.

"Victory?!"

On the other side, when Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni heard the word "victory," he quietly looked at his hands. He had indeed struck that final blow, and he had indeed burned Yhwach's body to ashes with the flames of his Zanpakuto. But Yhwach, facing the endless flames, had not pleaded; instead, he had smiled…

Finally, Yhwach seemed to have said something to him, but the roaring of the surrounding flames was too violent for him to hear clearly! Yet, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni inexplicably had a premonition. He felt that Yhwach had not truly died and would one day return.

If the day truly came when Yhwach, who should have been slain by him, returned, and he himself was old by then, who in this Soul Society could contend with such a monster?!

"Araki!"

As Yamamoto thought, a name slowly rose in his mind.

"Never mind! Let the future generations deal with the future! When Yhwach returns, I might not even be the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13 in the Seireitei anymore! Then, everything will be up to the younger generation to handle!"

Thinking this, Yamamoto's mood seemed to lighten considerably. Unlike in the original story, the current Yamamoto was not alone; he had a successor capable of taking on the heavy burden of the Gotei 13.

Within a pitch-black space…

"Your Majesty!"

A handsome young man with short, smooth golden hair, a face so beautiful it was hard to distinguish his gender, and a pair of azure eyes, stood respectfully before a charred, unrecognizably deformed 'corpse' and spoke softly.

"Haschwalth?"

The corpse, upon hearing this, suddenly spoke, a sound that sent shivers down one's spine.

"Your Majesty, everything has proceeded as you instructed. While you fought the Soul Reapers, we Quincies created this world within the shadowed space of the Seireitei…"

The handsome young man named Haschwalth stood beside the 'corpse' and spoke dispassionately.

"Hahaha… Excellent!"

The corpse let out a booming laugh at his words.

"Your Majesty, the Soul Reapers are celebrating their victory in Seireitei. Our comrades, following Your Majesty's temporary 'setback,' some have joined Your Majesty in this world of shadows, while others have returned to the Human World."

Haschwalth continued.

"Let them go! From today, the 'Lichtreich' is gone! From this moment on, we will transition from 'light' into 'shadow.' Our empire shall be called… the 'Wandenreich'!"

The corpse spoke again.

"As you command!"

Haschwalth nodded slightly at his words.

"Jugram Haschwalth! Go tell the subjects of my empire that I have not been defeated! The future is on our side! In a thousand years, I will bring true peace to the entire world!"

As the corpse spoke, its eyes suddenly snapped open. A pair of eyes that reflected three pupils, seemingly capable of seeing the future, spun continuously within the corpse's eye sockets. Yes, this charred corpse was none other than the Quincy 'King,' Yhwach!

"I will regain my heartbeat in 900 years! My consciousness in 90 years! My power in 9 years! Then… I will reclaim the world in just 9 days!"

As his voice faded, Yhwach's voice suddenly vanished completely. Along with it, the god-like eyes within Yhwach's eye sockets also disappeared.

"..."

The young man named Jugram Haschwalth looked at Yhwach, who seemed 'dead' before him. He instinctively reached for the cross-shaped longsword at his waist. After a slight hesitation, he shook his head as if giving up, murmuring to himself, With my power, I cannot stand against His Majesty.

At this point, a holy anthem echoed throughout this Invisible Empire.

Countless Quincies, filled with anticipation for their King, sang loudly: "The sealed Quincy King! Regains his heartbeat after 900 years, regains consciousness after 90 years, and regains power after 9 years…"

If Araki, who was sound asleep at this moment, were to hear this millennium-old anthem, he would surely add a few lines: "…reclaims the world in just 9 days! Then gets betrayed by Uryu in 9 hours! Is sliced in half by Ichigo after 9 minutes of fighting! And finally, is used by the Monk for 9 seconds to create a brand new Soul King!"

Yhwach, a sage who was willing to dedicate a thousand years of effort to be made into a 'Soul King' that stabilizes the three worlds!

One more chapter, then a new arc begins.