This Time, I'll Protect You! (Continued)

"What... is this posture?"

Saitō Fuyōfushi, murmured to himself.

She had seen many Menos Grande, among which the most impressive to her were Lone Wolf, Barragan, and a mutated Menos Grande that had appeared in ancient times, once wreaked havoc in Seireitei and even defeated a young Yamamoto.

But none of them escaped the form of a "monster".

As Hollows evolve further, they tend to resemble humans more closely, but even Vastolorde still retain their beast-like features, and even Arrancar retain their masks and Hollow Hole.

However, this guy in front of me... has no trace of weakness whatsoever!

His coat transformed into a black and red cloak, his upper body was covered by white bandages, and a ribbon resembling that of Vajra Vidya King extended from his back, with eerie blue flames flickering Burning on it, making him both strange and sacred.

At this moment, Utsuro revealed his true appearance, looking like a handsome young man—but Saito didn't know that this face was extremely similar to Rama from another world, only more mature.

Furthermore, the most incredible thing is—

"That's right. After we reach the end of our evolution, the Hollow Hole will be filled, and we will ascend to become perfect life forms!"

The man opened his eyes, a pale golden rainbow light surrounding his pupils, radiating an unusual aura that made Saito feel a sense of weight even when only lightly glancing at them.

So strong!

Saito's expression was cold and stern, his nerves stretched to the limit.

This monster...

"It's not too late to talk big after you've truly defeated me."

Iori's calm voice dispelled Saito's unease.

The man stepped forward, holding his Zanpakuto.

"You appear in this form, and your power has greatly increased compared to before, but your Reiatsu fluctuation... although well concealed, have chaotic and disordered fluctuations, which are definitely not like a stable 'Resurrección'."

Your power—it can't come without a price!

Iori calmly analyzed, "Excessive power will eventually exceed the limits that the body can withstand. How long can you hold on?"

"Thank you so much for your concern!"

Xu grinned menacingly. "But I don't need you to remind me of this!"

With a flick of his right hand, dark spiritual pressure condensed into an exaggeratedly long sword. As the sword slashed down, a wave of Reiatsu fluctuation, like Cero, blasted out.

Buzz!

The top of the Tower of Babel was completely blown away, and three figures rushed out of the smoke.

In this chaotic moment, instead of adopting a defensive posture to avoid the enemy's attack, Iori took the initiative and charged towards the Hollow with the force of a meteorite falling from the sky.

Wang Xu curled the corners of his mouth, summoned a black blade with a wave of his right hand, gathered a massive amount of spiritual pressure and covered the blade, ignited a blue flame, and swung it down with all his might at Iori who was charging straight at him.

Buzz—Clang!

The Zanpakuto and the black blade clashed, and the Mirror Water was reversed and suppressed. The water ripples were impacted and rolled back, followed by Cero released from the Hollow.

Call!

High-density energy, carrying an overwhelming wave of hot air, swept out like thousands of sharp blades, tearing Iori's body to shreds.

Upon seeing this, Saito's heart leaped into his throat. However, the next moment, the mangled corpse suddenly disintegrated into countless water droplets, which instantly evaporated in the high-temperature atmosphere.

"Um?"

Xu Wei was startled, and the next moment he sensed an immense spiritual pressure gathering in the sky—

"The Five Dragon Annihilation!"

In an instant, the wind and clouds changed color, and the sky was dyed pure white, as if to Bleach all All Creation. Just as everything lost its shape, a blue Reishi dragon snaked out and stretched across the sky and earth.

"Cero!"

"Too slow!"

A torrent of pitch-black energy surged into the sky, but the blue dragon had already opened its maw and swallowed it whole, also engulfing the illusory figure in the process!

The shockwave traveled from the upper levels of the Tower of Babel to the ground, sweeping across the horizon like a real earthquake. The astonishing fluctuations could even be felt within the Las Noches.

Call!

Iori stood on an inverted pyramid-shaped platform constructed with Bakudō, while Saitō Fuyōfushi, flew far away with the power of his Zanpakuto to avoid being directly hit by the Hado #99.

"Shunfa's Five Dragon Annihilation has such power... Even Yhwach couldn't withstand this attack head-on!"

Saito's judgment proved to be absolutely correct. When everything calmed down, the Tower of Babel was broken in half, with a large section of the tower missing as if it had vanished into thin air.

He was suspended in mid-air, with a tattered Negación flashing with electricity in front of him, and his left hand and half of his chest cavity had disappeared without a trace.

"... Didn't I hit the main body?"

He glanced at his missing left arm; the flesh churned on the severed surface like mud, gradually reconstructing his body.

"Is this what they call 'the golden cicada shedding its shell'? I actually fell for it twice in a row..."

The first time was the Flash Step: Cicada Shell, and the second time was manipulating the moisture in the air to create a mirage-like illusion. It wasn't a particularly remarkable technique, but to be able to use such methods so leisurely in the midst of a fierce battle... Saito, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but smile, feeling proud of Iori.

She's barely a fraction of her age, yet her combat experience seems to surpass that of a captain who's been around for millennia!

Iori remained unmoved by Xu's sentiments, and with his left hand forming a sword-like finger, he thrust forward—

"White Lightning!"

Buzz!

A swift Lightning Bolt ripped through the sky, striking the Hollow with unerring accuracy. However, as the lightning dissipated, black patterns covered the Hollow's body. The powerful defensive effect of the Hierro neutralized Kido power, failing to cause it any damage.

However, Iori's attack was not over yet. After only a slight pause, the man's figure appeared above the void, and with a sudden burst of strength, he slashed the void's shoulder with the force of Mount Tai crashing down!

Boom!

The explosive wind pressure shattered the earth, and the King of Great Hollows was thrown backward in the blast wave. He reached out to Iori, who was trying to catch up, and fired a series of extremely destructive, thin Cero. Iori had no way to avoid them and was pierced through the shoulder.

But at the same time, the pressure of the sword flying from the Mirror Water also swept over the void.

"Cough!"

He landed on the ground, his expression unchanged, but a new wound appeared on his left shoulder, from which dark red blood slowly oozed, dripping onto the ground...

"Even with super-fast regeneration, I can't guarantee my physical strength under these circumstances... It's really amazing. After I released my Resurrección, my strength should have doubled. How did you keep up?"

He chuckled, "Shouldn't Bankai be the Shinigami's trump card?"

"The Zanpakuto is only a part of the Zan, Kendo, Ho, Ki's power. By combining all the techniques, one can naturally grasp the essence of the ultimate technique."

For example... Shunkyo Kai!

As steam-like white spiritual pressure was released from Iori's shoulders, his Shinigami uniform was instantly torn apart, transforming into a sleeveless style.

Boost! Boost! Boost!

A spiritual pressure no less powerful than the previous [Five Dragon Annihilation] was gathered on his shoulders and back, causing the surrounding light and shadow to sway.

This was originally a move that combined Hakuda combat with abandoning weapons, but at this moment, the Mirror Water in Iori's hand was also covered by the Kido power, which clearly indicates that it has been modified.

"Although his killing intent is not as great as that old Shinigami, his spiritual pressure is almost catching up... This pressure, which is enough to Distort Reality, even I have to start to be careful."

He stretched out his hands and clasped them together as if praying to Buddha. Then, several small balls appeared around him and flew in all directions at an extremely fast speed. Each ball then emitted a dark light in the shape of an hourglass, which quickly expanded into pillars of energy that reached the sky and the earth, as if the Cero had been solidified.

"Then let's just destroy Hueco Mundo! You know, breaking through the earth's layers is surprisingly easy, isn't it?"

Aren't you going to try to stop me, Death?

"Don't be fooled, Iori!"

Saito shouted, "He's trying to provoke you into a quick victory; there must be some kind of trap!"

"..."

Iori silently took a step forward, remaining unmoved despite hearing Saito's shouts.

"Iori? What are you doing?!"

"Saito, didn't I tell you? Leave this war to me."

"I've made my decision. I will protect you and the Soul Society to the very end—with this sword!"

Boom!

Iori's spiritual pressure surged again, even forming a sea-like illusion behind him—a manifestation triggered by excessively high spiritual pressure density.

"This will all be over soon!"

"Hahahaha—Great!"

The King of Great Hollows let out an unprecedentedly hearty laugh, and with a swift swing of his black blade, charged toward Iori.

Iori also didn't use Shunpo. His body shot into the sky and slashed with his sword, turning into a huge blue arc of light. The moment the two crossed, it was as if they had cut off the light and shadow, and the space itself was separated into a smooth cross section.

Boom!!!

"Come on, defeat me, crush me, kill me!"

"Come on, Death!"

What on earth is going on...? Iori's spiritual pressure...

Although he didn't know what method was used, that person always liked to act recklessly— Saito clutched his chest, staring blankly at the fierce battle in the sky.

Even the most chaotic Reiatsu fluctuation could not affect her mood and thoughts at this moment.

It's obvious that Iori used some forbidden technique to temporarily boost her combat power against common sense. Similar forbidden techniques are common among Great Noble, so it wouldn't be difficult for Iori to obtain them. Therefore, Saito is not surprised.

But this means he must be fighting at some invisible cost... Is he willing to go to such lengths to protect Soul Society?

That Zanpakuto...

I never expected that someone would compare me to the entire Soul Society — Saito's hand clenched tightly around his chest.

Me too... Iori, if it's for you, I'm willing to love this world too...

The battle is over.

It was a truly grueling battle. Both sides gave it their all. The scene was so intense that even the phrase "mountain collapse and tsunami" couldn't adequately describe its power. It even gave the impression that Hueco Mundo might crumble at any moment.

The King of Great Hollows, having evolved to a completely new Bleach, is undoubtedly a powerful being in the absolute sense.

But in any case, the ultimate winner is Iori!

The King of Great Hollows's regenerative abilities had reached their limit, leaving him with no strength to continue fighting. Of course, in a fight where one inflicts a thousand wounds on the enemy while suffering eight hundred wounds themselves, Iori's condition was certainly not much better.

"I never imagined I'd lose to Death..."

Xu chuckled, shaking his head as he looked at the injured Iori: "I lost this time, but next time—"

Pfft!

Suddenly, everyone in the room froze. Iori and Saito looked shocked, while Uroki stiffened and turned his head back in disbelief.

"You... Shitan, you bastard..."

"Oh my, is that surprising?"

A large hole was torn open in Xu's chest, and a hand reached out from it, grasping the constantly throbbing bright red organs, and then crushed them violently!

"I can't move... What did you do to me? You bastard!"

"How naive! Did you really think that the Miracle of helping you evolve to your current Bleach came without a price? I merely used you as a vessel to nurture the Hollow power... Now, it's time to return all of this to me!"

Tsunayashiro Tokinada withdrew his hand, and at the same time, the Hollow's body seemed to be twisted by a vortex, and with an unwilling roar, it decomposed into countless spiritual lights, all of which Shitan's body!

Then, a powerful spiritual pressure, visible to the naked eye, erupted from Shitan's body, enveloping his entire body like a chaotic egg.

"Not good!"

Sensing something, Saito instantly teleported to the side of the heavily injured Iori. Immediately afterward, the spiritual pressure egg that was enveloping Shitan suddenly exploded. The powerful shockwave created a deep crater on the ground, like a meteorite falling. Saito tried his best to strike the blade with his spiritual pressure and manipulate the airflow to resist the impact, but he could only barely protect the small area around the two of them.

Shitan reappeared, he was no longer the Grim Reaper. He had long, thin, dragonfly-like wings growing from his back, his face was covered by a fleshy white mask, and the clothes he wore seemed to have merged with his skin, with a strange silver sheen.

Most strikingly, a fist-sized Hollow Hole appeared in his chest...

"Tsunayashiro Tokinada, you've fallen too."

Saito stood in front of Iori, protecting him with one hand and holding a sword in the other to face the enemy. His single eye was as calm as an ancient well.

"If betraying Soul Society was just to become this grotesque, then I really have to question your taste."