"Brother!"
Rukia cried out urgently, her eyes full of worry.
"Do not linger here."
Byakuya Kuchiki stared straight at the golden giant ahead, his cool voice echoing through the raging wind.
"What Ichigo Kurosaki faces is the key to the survival of the Three Realms. Your battlefield lies ahead."
Renji pressed a hand against Zabimaru at his waist and gritted his teeth as he grabbed Rukia's sleeve.
"Understood, Captain Kuchiki, Captain Hitsugaya. Please take care of yourselves!"
Renji Abarai shouted.
The two figures used Shunpo to leap high into the air, racing along the shattered walls toward the uppermost level of Wahrwelt.
"You think you can flee before a warrior's eyes?!"
Gerard's mountain-sized head let out a roar, and the Holy Shield in his hand whipped up a storm as it swept through the air to intercept them.
"We are your opponents."
Tōshirō Hitsugaya, now in the form of a young man, stepped forward, his slender figure turning into a sharp streak of ice.
Hyōrinmaru slashed horizontally through the air, unleashing a surge of bone-white cold.
The law of extreme cold instantly spread over the forearm Gerard used to swing his massive shield, freezing the heavy metal shield in midair.
"Senbonzakura Kageyoshi: One Bite, Thousand-Blade Flower."
Byakuya Kuchiki formed a blade seal with his hands before him.
A full ten thousand solid, gleaming blades shimmering with cherry-pink light formed out of nothing, hovering densely around Gerard's body.
As Byakuya swept his long fingers downward, the ten thousand blades pierced inward from every direction at once.
The blades tore through Gerard's tough flesh, fashioned from sacred Reishi, drawing forth great dazzling cascades of light like molten gold.
"It hurts! This pain is exquisite!"
Rather than retreating, Gerard shattered great swathes of the surrounding clouds with his frenzied laughter.
The white frost