The Promise in Muken
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
The charred, broken blade slipped from between his withered knuckles and struck the scalding lava debris with a dull thud.
The burning Zanjitsu Gokui once blazed at 15 million degrees Celsius, was completely extinguished, leaving only wisps of smoke rising from the charred fabric.
Yhwach held the black and white interwoven Reishi greatsword in one hand, his long arm outstretched.
The sharp blade pierced through the old man's chest and abdomen, lifting Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai's body into the air.
His aged face was bowed, and his single, cloudy eye was completely unfocused.
The ancient lion that had guarded Seireitei for millennia had ceased to rise and fall.
Yhwach's expression was indifferent, and he casually swung his arm outward.
The broken, aged body flew out like a kite with a broken string, crashing into a pile of rubble dozens of feet away.
The rocks tumbled, stirring up a cloud of dry, grayish-white dust, before falling silent again.
Yhwach didn't even glance at the corpse again.
He slowly sheathed his Long Sword, the tip scraping against the broken stone slab with a dry sound.
A fierce wind howled through the gap in the broken roof, whipping up the Obsidian- like robes.
Yhwach turned around, his gaze falling on the empty ruins on the right side of the main hall.
There were only the collapsed half of a stone pillar and the lingering faint heat in the air.
Yhwach said calmly, "The promise I made in the Avici Muken still stands today."
A deep voice echoed through the empty ruins.
"This Three Realms, corrupted for thousands of years, should have been ruled by a new master long ago."
Yhwach's compound eyes flickered slightly, and he said calmly, "Is that so, Aizen?"
The moment the words fell, the previously calm void suddenly rippled like water.
In front of the once empty broken pillar, light and shadow began to distort and intertwine violently.
Sizzle.
It was as if a thin, invisible curtain had been forcibly torn open.
After that space was stripped away, a tall and straight figure slowly emerged.
Sōsuke Aizen, dressed in his specially made pure black Restraining Suit, stood calmly on the ruins with his hands behind his back.
His expression was calm and composed, with even a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Oh my, it can even see through Complete Hypnosis optical interference at a glance?"
Aizen tilted his head slightly and exclaimed in admiration, "The power you've displayed after absorbing the Soul King's Source is truly extraordinary and astonishing, Yhwach."
Yhwach stared expressionlessly at the man who emerged.
"In the Almighty world, the obscuring of optics, smell, or Reiatsu is nothing but a child's game."
Yhwach sheathed his Long Sword and said indifferently, "Shigekuni Yamamoto is dead, and the old world order has completely collapsed. Your appearance here indicates that you have already made a wise decision."
Aizen took a step, his toes landing on the shattered white jade bricks with a crisp sound.
"The end of Captain-Commander Yamamoto is truly regrettable."
Aizen glanced down at the dust in the distance and smiled, "Having clung to outdated rules for a thousand years, we can only become stepping stones for the times."
"The stubbornness of the weak is meaningless; going with Future flow is the wise choice," Yhwach said.
Aizen stopped twenty steps away from the stone steps and looked up to meet the gaze of the person on the high platform.
"The new world you described, without the boundary between life and death, is indeed far more interesting than that cage that forcibly separates the dead from the living."
Aizen's lips curved into an elegant smile. "I have no reason to object to ending this illusory Three Realms."
Yhwach closed his eyes slightly. "In that case, you should stand behind me and become the cornerstone witnessing the birth of a new world."
"Cornerstone?"
Aizen softly and shook his head calmly.
"Your Yhwach, you seem to have misunderstood something."
Aizen raised a finger and casually pointed to the dark throne high above.
"From the very beginning, I never intended to be anyone's vassal, much less willing to serve as someone else's stepping stone."
The black mist in Yhwach's eyes slowly shifted, and his tone turned cold as he said, "You want power on equal footing?"
"It's not really fair to say they're on equal footing."
Aizen stated the matter calmly and gently.
Empty promises are only good for amusement in the Muken.
"Now that you have devoured the Soul King and become the sole ruler of this world, a few words of recruitment seem rather weak."
"If you want me to reach an agreement with you, you'll need to show some real sincerity."
Yhwach gazed at the man before him, his eyes unfathomable in their depths.
"What kind of sincerity do you want?" Yhwach asked.
"For example, I will divide the portion of the law governing cause and effect that you extracted from the Soul King into three parts and keep them safe."
Aizen strode forward, his steps elegant and measured.
"Only when forces are in a state of mutual restraint do alliances have value."
"What do you think, Yhwach?"
As Aizen spoke, he stepped over the collapsed stone beam and steadily approached the Quincy founder on the high platform.
Ten steps.
Eight steps.
Five steps.
The distance between the two quickly closed.
Just as Aizen took the final step...
A strange glint suddenly appeared in Yhwach's densely packed compound eyes.
A deafening roar suddenly exploded in the void.
Without warning, the air at the top of the entire hall collapsed and contracted.
Buzz!
A colossal, pure Reishi spiritual bow, obscuring the sky, suddenly materialized in mid-air, its dazzling, sacred light illuminating the entire ruins.
An immense, Heilig Pfeil locked onto the aura, carrying the power to shatter dimensions, and roared down from the heavens toward Aizen's face!