Defeat

Snowflakes swirled and fell among the marble ruins.

The pure white blade gleamed with a chilling, icy light, and a thin layer of brittle white frost condensed on the side of the broadsword.

Ichigo Kurosaki blinked in surprise, looking up at the petite figure blocking his way.

Rukia?

"Lying there like a rotten strawberry that's been drained of all its moisture, look at you in such a sorry state."

Rukia Kuchiki gripped the hilt of Sode no Shirayuki tightly, without even turning her head.

"If this is what you call a high-level showdown, then Renji and I might as well stay down here and sleep a little longer."

Ichigo Kurosaki's lips twitched slightly, and he coughed up a small amount of saliva.

"Hey, who gave you permission to describe me as a strawberry?"

Ichigo Kurosaki himself on his knees, slowly lifted himself off the ground. "And where 'Renji? How come you're the only one who got up here?"

He was clearing out the remaining spirit soldiers and finding his way.

Rukia Kuchiki her head slightly, her eyes glancing at Ichigo's blood-stained clothes out of the corner of her eye.

"And stop spouting nonsense."

"If you can move, get up and roll away quickly."

Before the words were finished, a soft sound came from the surface of the broadsword covered in white frost.

The ice crystals instantly turned into fine powder.

Yhwach's expression remained unchanged, and he slightly pushed the Long Sword forward.

The chaotic force, like overlapping waves, instantly slammed from the sword into the side blade of Sode no Shirayuki.

The white stone slab beneath Rukia Kuchiki's feet shattered inch by inch, and she was thrown back several feet by the shock.

She steadied herself firmly, her white dress billowing in the wind.

"Another overconfident moth has arrived."

Yhwach stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the two of them.

"Having another vulnerable person standing in front of you only adds another blemish to the scene; it serves no purpose whatsoever."

Whether it's a mixed color or not is not for you to decide!

Ichigo Kurosaki exerted force with both legs, reigniting the remaining Reiatsu within him.

He gripped the long sword tightly with both hands and rose up from the ground on the side.

"Rukia, stop him!"

"I don't need you to tell me what to do, you idiot Ichigo!"

Rukia Kuchiki took light steps in the void, her white sword drawing a perfect circle in mid-air.

"Second Dance - White Ripples!"

Vast expanses of ice and snow roared forth from the tip of the knife like raging waves, spreading out a frigid storm above the main hall.

Where the storm passed, the spread of the black liquid suddenly stopped, forcibly sealed on the surface of the stone steps by the thick Dark Ice.

Using the frost as cover, Ichigo Kurosaki had already charged forward to within three feet of the steps.

On the blade, the interwoven black and white spiritual light surged to tens of feet in length.

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

The enormous black crescent moon, accompanied by a fierce storm, hurtled straight toward Yhwach's face.

Behind them, Orihime Inoue, lying in a pool of blood, managed to prop herself up.

She channeled all her remaining spiritual power into the hairpin.

"I refuse to Koten Zanshun!"

The Tsubaki transformed into a sharp, orange-yellow light, piercing out close to the lower edge of the black crescent moon, aiming straight for Yhwach's wide-open side.

The three forces combined their attacks, sealing off all avenues of retreat.

However, faced with this perfectly coordinated offensive, Yhwach only let out a soft sigh.

"So naive it's laughable."

Yhwach didn't even swing his broadsword.

The black fluid surrounding him boiled instantly, transforming into several swirling, shadowy spears.

The spearhead, carrying an irresistible repulsive force of the laws, collided head-on with the Getsuga Tenshō and the White Ripple Storm.

A deafening roar erupted in the center of the hall.

The extremely cold ice crystals and the black Reishi annihilated each other in an instant, turning into rising white mist.

The moment the light from the Tsubaki touched the surface of the shadow, it was repelled by the violent shockwave and dissipated into faint starlight in mid-air.

Orihime Inoue felt a sweet taste in her throat, coughed up another mouthful of bright red blood, and collapsed weakly into the pile of rubble.

Immediately afterwards, two jet-black, liquid whips swept out from the depths of the white mist.

The speed was beyond perception.

The first whip lashed directly at Ichigo Kurosaki's sword, the immense force causing it to deflect.

The second long whip lashed out and struck his chest.

The boy's half-white armor suddenly disintegrated, and his body flew backward, smashing through two palace pillars.

Rukia Kuchiki's expression tightened, "Ichigo!"

She was about to raise her sword to meet the attack when Yhwach's figure appeared in front of her without her noticing.

There was not a shred of pity.

Yhwach swung his sword hilt backhand and struck Rukia directly in the abdomen.

Rukia Kuchiki arched her back, letting out a painful groan, and rolled backward, her Sode no Shirayuki, slipping several meters from her grasp.

Within moments, all three who had joined forces lay dead in pools of blood.

Only the howling wind and the crisp sound of falling stones remained inside the hall.

Yhwach stood at the top of the steps, his gaze looking down at the broken bodies scattered on the ground.

"So-called friendship, so-called ties, in the end, are nothing more than an excuse for the weak to band together and head towards destruction."

Yhwach's voice was steady and deep, resonating throughout the empty temple.

Look at the state you all are in now.

"A half-finished product cobbled together from foreign bloodlines, a self-righteous adopted daughter of the Kuchiki Clan Grim Soul Reaper, and a mortal girl who lacks even the basics of combat awareness."

"All your desperate struggles are futile in the face of true power; they can't even leave a speck of dust on my clothes."

"This is the established law of the world: the weak can only crawl in the dust, waiting to be completely washed away by the tide of the new era."

No one uttered a word of protest in the empty ruins.

Rukia Kuchiki pressed her broken ribs, her knuckles turning white, but she had no strength left to even stand up.

Yhwach's words echoed like sharp awls between the empty stone pillars.

But amidst these words of belittling and mockery, a faint rustling sound of fabric rubbing against each other echoed at the edge of the hall.

Orihime Inoue did not look at the black figure on the steps.

She completely ignored those condescending pronouncements, not even sparing them a glance.

The girl's neat white dress was now soaked with blood and dust, and dark red liquid kept sliding down her cheeks from her forehead.

But she just pursed her lips, using her elbows and knees to support herself as she crawled little by little toward the direction where Ichigo Kurosaki had fallen.

The fingernails rubbed several shallow scratches into the hard stone slab.

The pebbles pierced her palm, leaving tiny bloodstains, but she seemed completely oblivious to the pain.

Her gaze was fixed solely on the orange-haired boy lying motionless on the edge of the broken pillar.

Finally, she managed to climb to Ichigo's side with great difficulty.

The trembling fingers rose, a faint orange-yellow light flickering erratically at the fingertips.

"The Sōten Kisshun... I... refuse..."

Her voice, trembling with sobs, was barely audible, yet it carried an almost stubborn resolve.

An extremely faint, soft light enveloped Ichigo Kurosaki's wounds, attempting to stitch up the deep, bone-revealing cut once more.

Yhwach, standing atop the steps, frowned.

The eyes that swirled in the black liquid all turned and fell on the girl's back.

"Blind obsession."

Yhwach's indifference deepened. "To blow on embers destined to be extinguished is nothing more than adding to their ugliness."

"Since you're so eager to send yourself to your death here, then I'll indulge your ignorance for now."

Yhwach raised his right arm.

The black liquid rapidly elongated in his palm, transforming into a sharp spear exuding an aura of annihilation.

The spear tip was pointed directly at Orihime Inoue's slender back.

Just then, Ichigo's Reiatsu Reiatsu began to rise slowly on the ground, filling Ichigo sky above the Wahrwelt. At this moment, Orihime was Ichigo, began to have difficulty breathing under the influence of this Reiatsu.