*Gasps for breath as he pulls himself out of the water. Looks around before grabbing some random reader.*

"What date is it? How much time has passed? What? Three months? Oh god. Here, just take it. Take it!"

*Falls back into the water once more to continue writing.*

Yeah, three months… Longest wait so far, but also what is probably the longest chapter of the story. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did.


Protector Of The Fairies


The Final Stand Against The Almighty

The sight of a sword, barrelling towards the city with all the subtly of Etherion firing from above, should have been shocking. To most watching, unaware of the incoming arrival of the Celestial Spirit King, they had little idea what was going on before the blade slammed into a corner of the city, collapsing the surrounding buildings with shockwaves that knocked most of the mages trying to get back to their feet straight off them. But to the two clashing at the centre of the current battle, the sword was nothing more than a momentary obstacle. Neither had been in any danger of being caught by its large form, despite its sudden arrival, when they could see it hit before it even arrived. Instead their attacks shifted to encompass it. What could have been a precise slice of energy, intended to weather a storm of energy and break through any barriers put before it, was changed up for a wide sweeping strike of darkness, blanking as much of the space between the two as possible so that the barrier the sword suddenly created between the two of them wouldn't stop his offensive. For the other, the blade that had been made to catch and contain the incoming energy was reshaped into multiple rays of light, each firing off and bending around the blade as it arrived, following aims that their wielder could no longer see but knew would be accurate. Neither attacks truly reached their targets, the dark energy too spread out to deal any significant damage and the rays of light too small to break through the vast quantity of magic in their way. But each still served their purpose, not letting the other have a chance to let up or gain any true advantage.

Twice more they clashed, Ichigo pulling himself round the blade and ignoring the damage it caused one of his hands as he forced the distance down to nothing to keep up the pressure. But each strike was deflected just as quickly as the last, Yhwach stepping into a gap he knew was open and lashing out with one palm, energy focused so tightly that when he thrust it out it tore a chunk out of Ichigo's shoulder as he tried to dodge. The wound was paid for in equal measure when he just ignored the pain like it was nothing, his left arm lashing out and gripping Yhwach's wrist in place. Two more strikes between their blades happened in quick succession as Yhwach tried to pull free, preventing a potential killing blow right there and then, and before any other chances could be attempted he cut off his own arm and detonated the energy he used to do so right afterwards, forcefully creating space between the two of them.

The Celestial Spirit King arrived at that moment, his hand latching onto his giant blade and swinging it right at full force. Space ruptured in its path as he roared out, his blade seeming to swing that tiny bit faster as he cleaved away what little resistance that stood in his path. But before the blade could reach Yhwach, the man was already healed and looking ahead once again. Attempting to stop the blade was a futile endeavour, its size alone would make any barrier not tied down to the ground in some way to go flying, contents included, and with the magic being wielded around it currently, it could potentially cleave through the barrier too, regardless of its strength.

No, it certainly would Yhwach quickly released. He could already see it happening, and from that he understood it completely. The energy around it, that was helping increase its current swing speed, was a result of it travelling through a different set of space. The Celestial Spirit King's mere presence was warping the reality they were in with his own, the magic of Spatial Aurora constantly emitting waves of its own grand magic at Zera's commands, and the rules applied in that small zone were not the same as those outside of it. Whatever barriers rose up against that sword this time, they would not hold. Not when they would be placed in one realm of reality while the sword would be passing through another.

Instead he moved to follow the path with the highest chance of success. Down was too risky, the monk below truly did think he was unseen to him currently it seemed, but staying in the air left Ichigo with little hesitation when it came to choosing his attacks. But even if they were dangerous, they were still the same at their core. They were still easier to handle.

Of course there were two more variables to also account for. One single future, that was all he had seen of Natsu's presence so far, and it had put him in too precarious of a position to risk following along. Even with his powers, the flames of E.N.D. were dangerous. The more common variable in the other futures was from the gathering clouds, and the lightning that was to follow. Keeping an eye on it was starting to become a pain, and with a growing number of factors to consider, along with Ichigo's constant pressure preventing him from properly mapping out a desired path to the future he wished for, it would be easier to force Laxus into the open by creating an opportunity that he would not be able to resist striking in.

Gathering energy beneath his cloak, he kept it tight across his back as he dodged the Celestial Spirit King's blade, his eyes briefly locking onto Ichigo's form as he crossed the gap between the two of them. The blade being swung though swiftly shifted form as his own rose to block, the end widening until it was more like an executioner's axe being swung down at him. But its form had yet to stabilise, something he easy took advantage of by lashing upwards with one arm and reinforcing his blut vene as he knocked the blade out of the way. It caused the still stabilising weapon to shatter, leaving Ichigo weaponless for a moment and trying to back away. He immediately moved after him, appearing to push his own assault, and began to whip his other arm forward, his sword aimed for Ichigo's chest to at least catch a glancing blow.

Before it would ever hit, a bolt of lightning fell from the sky, the roar of a dragon almost deafening him as Laxus took physical form right before him, a fist being swung up at his chin with lightning coating every bit of its surface. Knowing it was coming, it would be easy to have dodged. But he didn't, instead letting the attack connect while ensuring his blut vene remained strong to reduce the damage. As he expected the attack lifted him up high into the sky, and in the process he left the energy he was hiding behind, giving it just the spark it needed to lash out like a bomb. It was a far cry from applications done by the traitor Bambietta with her scrift but he had seen it long enough to replicate its effects on a rudimentary level, enough to make a small bomb like this.

The force wouldn't be enough to even harm someone with the scales of a dragon though. They were too tough to breach with normal magic. They resisted it too well. But the energy still made for a great blinding spell for those looking straight at it, and for a few moments Laxus would be entirely blind to the world and Ichigo would be too far away to respond in time. Seeing such short term futures meant that Ichigo would have known to look away, not what would follow or be in a position to stop what would follow.

Reaching into the powers he had taken for his own use, he easily found the pattern that resembled dragon slayer magic from the time he had absorbed Laxus' own attacks. He even had a record of the modifications he had made to ensure that it would be recognised as foreign energy, despite being copied from the man it was being used against, and the energy he brought forth through the Almighty, saturating the air around him, would be enough to let him act swiftly. Energy was restructured to match the desired outcome, any imperfections wiped out before they even had a chance to show themselves, until he had a smaller version of the man's own legendary spell.

It might not have the same kick, it was merely a replication of form with energy condensed down within, but the impression it would give would be demoralising enough. And it would certainly penetrate the scales that would stop ordinary magic.

With the makeshift arrow of dragon slayer magic ready, he held it in his hand for a moment before letting it shatter, briefly allowing his focus to turn to Ichigo in time to create a barrier against the wave of darkness launched upwards. Based off previous patterns, it would be a way of hiding Ichigo's approach. But what direction he would know strike from was a guessing game, involving who could see the latest future and react in time. Countless possible ways Ichigo could come from and each time he latched onto one he knew the future had changed once again as Ichigo shifted his plans. So when Ichigo suddenly launched himself downwards from the top of the mass of energy that had snaked its way above him, he was slower to react that he would have wished for. And this time Ichigo had a weapon already fully stabilised, a giant broadsword that he was forced to block with two blades of his own, catching it as he thrust both blades up in an x shape.

The weight of the blade above alone almost shattered his own blades but he couldn't afford to dwell on it. Locking blades with Ichigo was something immensely dangerous because it left the blade in close proximity, and as he expected he could already see the waves of energy being unleashed from the blade itself.

"GETSUGA… TENSHOU!"

Unlike other times, his freefall here wasn't a willing move. The energy struck so quickly that he hardly had time to react before he was flung downward, and in that moment he felt the heat for the first time as Natsu began to make his move. Barriers would be pointless. Blut vene would be pointless. He had mere moments to identify the direction the attack was coming from and move. His vision was too obscured right now but it was easy to peer ahead to what would be. Multiple dead ends, some risky paths, but a fair few where he took the safest path out. This was only a single attack it seemed, one focusing on sheer power over any attempts to trap him or limit down his movements.

Wait another second and a half, lash out with a blast of energy to one side, freefall for another zero point six seconds, and then spin round and throw up a wall of magic before the flames hit. The barrier would crumble in zero point eight seconds but that would be enough time to finish dropping to get out of their path.

It almost did go perfectly but Ichigo appeared to have been following him quite closely, as if prepared for someone like this. It was too early for them to have organised some kind of plan and clued him in on all of it. He had showed few signs of communication with anyone since the fight had begun, with the few he had seen appearing to be directed at Lumen Histoire, not Hibiki Lates. So was this like the other times before? Doubt that the attack had done much? Or was it impatience? The latter had begun to seem more and more possible over time.

As the barrier dropped, he was knocked downwards once again, a makeshift blade deflecting the thrust of Ichigo's own but doing nothing to stop the overwhelming force from behind it. His back hit the ground hard but he couldn't recover just yet. Immediately he was forced to dodge out of the way as a spear of dark energy slammed down into where he had been, unleashing a flood of magic all around it that left a dark mark across his leg when it was a moment too slow at moving away. His eyes drifted across everyone he could see, those he couldn't being mapped out from possible futures he had witnessed earlier and their potential distance from himself. Only when he knew it was absolutely safe did he bring the future in which he was at full health into the current timeline, immediately moving to make a new copy of his physical state to replenish the one he had used. Wounds vanished, energy was recovered, but most importantly was that a new future had been created.

It was a shame though that he was never the first one to peer ahead into it. The moment he was healed, all the possible paths from his point onwards were created anew. And the one they were on right now was seen instantly by the man before him, rushing to close the distance in the moment that he was using to save a healed state of himself and before he could see any futures himself. Ichigo's spear work left much to be desired, there was no true technique there, but the extra reach wad dangerous in the hands of someone who could constantly correct himself on his approach. A thrust aimed for the head was almost certain to hit if he used his full speed, and even with all his experience and abilities to predict the outcomes of his enemies, it still wasn't entirely unavoidable. He felt the point of the blade tear across where his left eye had once been but the wound was too shallow to be of any threat to his life at the moment. It was one he could easily deal with, and it let him grab onto the spear with one hand and pull an off balanced Ichigo forward.

The chance he had wasn't to be used though. He used his full force to pull Ichigo forward, forcing the man to go sailing past him as he took a step away and lunged at the lightning that he had already witnessed heading his way. He abandoned his sword for a moment and let his palm stretch out as Laxus began to materialise and strike, the same arrow he had created earlier and destroyed now reappearing in the palm of his hand, as quickly as blinking. Laxus realised the danger a moment too late. As fast as he might be, neither his speed nor his ability to change to an elemental state would help him against an attack of concentrated dragon slayer magic.

And yet before the attack could make contact, it vanished in the same amount of time that it took to appear in the first place. All that was left was an empty palm, pushing the air forward at Laxus harmlessly.

He didn't have time to dodge Laxus' own strike now. Letting it hit, he used its force as he kicked backwards to fling himself away from any further strikes, stabilising himself quickly by adjusting his position in the air while his eyes scanned the battlefield. And that was when he saw her, trying to hide away but being a moment too slow to avoid detection.

Wendy Marvell. The girl who could ruin everything. When he returned to the past, he would need to ensure that Nirvana forever remained out of her reach. Such a power would need to be destroyed, and she was proving to him why every time she used her power. So long as she was around, he could not effectively rely on generating power through the Almighty. Not if she remembered what the world was like before he created the new future and switched it back at the worst possible moment.

Countermeasures were needed. Already he was saturating the area around him with magic, rapidly adjusting the signature that countless pieces of energy gave off. It was a simple technique, if taken to the extreme, which made it hard for individuals to get a lock on the caster's magical signature. In turn, they would sense countless 'dummy' signatures instead but with enough in place, and with them all rapidly being adjusted to prevent them from being remembered and learned, then she would be unable to directly influence himself again. The future might be malleable but she would find it a lot more difficult to try and warp his location again like she had done once before. He could not risk being sent too far away and losing the chance to keep Ichigo away from Lumen Histoire.

Still, these were annoying odds. One as strong as he was in his output of magical power, who surpassed him in physical ability and was keeping up with his attempts to control the shape of the future. One who was reaching up and actual posing a significant threat in both areas, and far more difficult to damage than the first. One with magic that would kill him if it caught him unaware. One who was hiding and could end the fight if he acted at just the right moment. One who was too tall to miss and was just as dangerous as the first. And one with the power to throw any carefully laid plans into disarray if he tried to create a new future for them.

Six enemies. Six extremely dangerous enemies.

He'd faced far worse odds. This was still nothing. It was merely dangerous, not impossible.

"Congratulations. This is the second time I have been forced to use this power today," he stated, reaching into his cloak while forming a sword with his free hand, using it to deflect the thrown spear from Ichigo as the man tried to close the gap and stop him in time. There was no shock in the man's face when he saw him pull a familiar medallion design out. Ichigo was being so hasty because he understood just how dangerous it was if he had a medallion containing a Bankai. "Bankai: Zanka no Tachi!"


Protector Of The Fairies


"It's hot!" Zera complained, clinging to the Celestial Spirit King as he quickly backed away from the inferno that was a single man. "Hot, hot, hot!"

"Zera, you don't feel heat."

"And you don't complain about it. Come on, you have to be boiling in that stuffy armour of yours! Smash him into the ground before you die of overheating."

"If you think our blade can hold up against those flames, I'll be happy to try," he shot back in turn, glancing once at his blade and noticing how some of the surface of the blade was already dripping from the blade. "Change the properties of the Celestial Spirit World Zera. Decrease the temperature to absolute zero."

"You want us to freeze to death instead?"

"Is this really the time for complaints!?"

"Just want you to loosen up a little," muttered Zera, doing as he asked and adjusting the temperature within their space. He let out a sigh of relief in turn, the actions she took ensuring that he didn't feel like he would be burnt alive by being near Yhwach anymore. "Is everyone else okay?"

"I am now," Wendy called out, carefully hovering in the air beside Zera as she made herself known. The Celestial Spirit King only had to glance to the left to see what remained of her old hiding spot, the building having crumbled when Yhwach had lashed out with the sword he wielded and burnt away its supports in a single swing. "Is the heat getting worse?"

"You don't feel it?"

She shook her head. "I'm redirecting it away from me and up into the sky. You might not want to fly too high up. I've already thrown a lot up there. I don't even want to imagine how dry the air is going to taste later."

"I'll be careful then," he replied, gripping his sword tightly for a moment when he noticed Yhwach about to move. But before he needed to act, Ichigo rushed through the gap and lashed out with a new blade of darkness, as if he wasn't even feeling the heat, and forced Yhwach to keep his focus on him. The blade only held up for a single clash though, unable to handle the power contained within the zanpakutou granted to Yhwach by the medallion's contained power, and even when it was the one swung down it was still the one that ended up cleaved in two.

"That was foolish," Yhwach stated as he reached out with one hand, brushing against Ichigo's arm as he retreated back and incinerating both the cloth and skin beneath it, exposing the bone before dark energy had a chance to spread back over it, reforming the lost cloth and the skin beneath it. "But you will not be able to touch me now. Not unless you wish to burn away to nothing."

"He might not be able to but I can!" roared out Natsu, firing himself forward towards Yhwach's left side. Whereas for Ichigo he had been able to ignore the heat, for Natsu it was like stepping foot into a relaxing resort. Each breathe he took filled his body with energy. Wrapping his fist in the strongest flames he could gather, he wasted no time slamming them straight forth towards Yhwach's chest. An arm lashed up, redirected his blow just off to the side but the flames remained tightly wrapped around him. He wasn't going to allow them to be wasted so easy if he could hold off on the attack for one moment more. While he had the advantage, while he was still this close, he quickly spun back around and lashed out once more, putting as much strength behind it and using the force of his flames to keep Yhwach suppressed. Each punch brought him closer and closer, forcing Yhwach back a moment, and then, when Yhwach tried to make some distance, he unleashed the flames he was storing in one giant wave.

They weren't meant to do any damage. They weren't focused enough, and from the flame guard he could feel surrounding Yhwach, he knew they wouldn't overcome it without his help. But for a moment, the entire area around them both would be surrounded in flames that devoured magic.

This was a gamble, one he wasn't even sure would work. And normally he doubted he would have ever gotten the chance to try. Using this bankai had given Yhwach a brief sense of invincibility, what with it neutralising the effects most of them even had at close range. And if he was to guess at a reason why he used it now, it was because he was trying to buy some time to look further into the future. To get a better idea of possible scenarios and outcomes.

He didn't know how that power worked. Smarter people than himself had guessed at it and all they had were the words of the man before him along with some theories based on them. But if that eye had multiple pupils to see the future in, even he was smart enough to know that there was an element of sight to it. He had to see it through that eye, but even a smokescreen wasn't enough. Not when Yhwach had already proven how futile it was.

But what if the smokescreen not only obscured Yhwach's eyes but also eat away at any energy trying to reach out from him? If Yhwach's power had to reach out from his body and travelled through any space in their reality, even if just a tiny amount, with this many flames he knew he could break that link temporarily. It wouldn't be for long. Just as long as these flames blocked any magic that couldn't overcome it from actively leaving.

Without letting any words slip, he simply delved deep within himself and pulled at E.N.D.'s power, letting more of it immediately flood to the surface. Then, before he could lose the chance he was betting on, he raised one palm upwards. There was no time to try and counterbalance it, nor could he afford to with it having such a high chance of catching the others back in the centre of the city in the crossfire. Instead he dug his feet into the ground as best as he could, hoping he would be able to stabilise himself long enough, and let all the energy stored within, ready to be unleashed, go wild.

A massive vortex of flames erupted forth, almost sending him flying in the first moment. It was enough to completely cover the entire area where Yhwach had been, wide enough that there would have been no room to dodge easily without taking some kind of damage in the process. But Yhwach hadn't dodged. He could sense the man's presence too, feel the heat coming off the flames of the stolen bankai, and the first sign that someone was beginning to go wrong was when he saw some of his flames beginning to part.

It was slow going but he could see his flames beginning to part down from the top. Had Yhwach used that sword he had gained to split his attack down the middle, just enough to create a small space that he could minimise the damage to himself? He wanted to believe it was impossible, but he also knew from seeing them how strong a bankai could be. And when he had first seen this one, it had reminded him a hell of a lot like Ichigo's. It was one that compressed its power down, and that meant that right now that blade must have most of the bankai's sheer power running through it. His flames were powerful, they could eat away at the very magic fighting against him, but one could overcome them the same way one would with magical barrier particles. They merely had to overcome it with a few magnitudes of force greater than the attack itself.

How much damage would that sword do if it hit him? Beyond the blade itself, how much damage would the flames do? He'd only faced flames that he had actual feared once before, against Zancrow with his Fire God Slayer Magic, and back then it had been because he couldn't devour those flames and because they could harm him. The latter was certainly applicable here, while that armour of flames or whatever Yhwach might wish to call it that wrapped around his body, was someone he could overcome, even getting it near it made him feel like he was going to burn himself. If he couldn't neutralise it to some degree he knew he wouldn't even be able to stand this close but whatever advantage he had wasn't going to be enough against an actual strike with the bankai's full force behind it.

But what stood out the most of him was the knowledge that if he could barely stand these flames, what was it like for everyone else? How could they reach Yhwach when he was like this? What could they even do? So long as Yhwach had those flames around him, he wouldn't be able to be approached.

So perhaps he should take them away?

Taking in a deep breath, he let his magic reach out and latch onto every source of fire nearby. And then he pulled, sucking it all back in and having it swirl up before him like a vortex. But when he felt the first drop of fire enter his mouth, he almost chocked.

It hurt so much. He was tasting blood in his mouth for the brief moments it lasted before being burnt away. He could feel pain as the fire rushed down his throat, each bit torture to swallow. The flames were too hot. He couldn't absorb them fast enough. If he kept eating, he felt like he might die.

But he continued anyway, pulling away the armour of flames that surrounded Yhwach. The sword was swinging at him faster now, the flames within sealed too tightly for anything but those being unleashed on the surface to be eaten, but he couldn't when the armour was still there. If he could just hold on for a moment or two more… Just a tiny bit more…

Yhwach's eye suddenly looked away from him, the knowledge making him realise that his flames had parted enough to allow Yhwach's Almighty to work again, but the man was pulled out of it instantly by the danger approaching. Ichigo hadn't missed the opening, crossing that distance in the blink of an eye and lashing up with a sword against Yhwach's right arm. The blade and the hand that held it went flying, Yhwach's giving up the limb for a chance to instantly retaliate by lashing out with his other hand, the medallion still clenched within, and unleashing a blast of energy large enough that it tore a hole through Ichigo's body and sent him flying back, one of his arms now hanging by a threat.

In that moment, no one else was close enough to interfere with Yhwach. It was the only moment Yhwach could take to look to the future once more. And so once more, his eye closed to the present. The pupils within darted widely around their socket, seeing more than they wished him to and would show him more than enough to ruin any plans they might throw in the next few seconds.

That was how it should have been. Even as Laxus shot forward and as the Celestial Spirit King moved to swing his sword, even as him himself tried to push himself forward and lunge at the medallion, it was all pointless. Yhwach was already moving out of his way, his movements having been too easily seen already while the others were being plotted out to their last detail. Yhwach's left arm came back, flames appearing to erupt around his hand once more as the flames that had been lost began to reform from the bankai's power, and then his eye snapped back to the present, his grip on the medallion twisting to shield it.

Yhwach was a second too late. The medallion shattered to pieces as a gunshot run out across the battlefield, dark purple energy left harmlessly impacting against the hardened blut vene of Yhwach's skin.

Where had that attack come from? Even as he found himself glancing towards the direction the bullet had come from, he couldn't tell. How far away was the shooter? Had that been that silvered haired spy? Gin or something? His timing was brilliant though, and with it he forced fire out from his outstretched hand and blasted himself back the way he had come, getting him out of the way as Yhwach's lightning encased fist slammed down into the ground, missing Yhwach by an inch but causing the whole ground to shudder for a moment before being caved in when the Celestial Spirit King's slash tore it apart even further.

Yhwach moved to retaliate, dozens of arrows forming, now laced with dark purple energy as the energy fired at him was absorbed and incorporated into his own arsenal, but as they fired Ichigo was in their way, his body fully healed as he swung out with a wave of energy. Some of the arrows got through first, slamming against him but he could only watch as their effects were shrugged off, the wounds they inflicted and the poison that they flooded into Ichigo's body being pushed aside with the mere shifting of dark energy across Ichigo's body.

Pushing himself up, trying to push through the pain from that bankai's flames, he found it easier with each step, doing his best to chase after Laxus as the older dragon slayer went on the assault. The damage he had suffered from the flames was slowly diminishing he noticed. Was someone healing him like they had with Acnologia? Was it Levy? She hadn't been in the best condition. So if not her… Was it Zeref?

It felt like a question he wasn't sure he wanted answered. So he'd settle for being thankful for small mercies like this. With the damage lessening, he could instead focus on the massive influx of energy flowing through his body from the flames he had devoured. Their power wouldn't last, power like this was limited to the amount of flames he had absorbed and the more he used them the faster they would be blown out. And when he fought all out, the amount of flames he tended to summon forth normally would mean a power that could have one sustained him for an hour of pure fighting would now be lucky to last a few minutes.

The fight might be decided in a few minutes though with how fast of a pace they were all moving at. A few minutes was enough.

"KEEP UP THE ASSAULT!" he heard the Celestial Spirit King roar out, slashing out with his giant sword once more and causing the space it travelled along to be ripped in half for a few moments until reality pulled itself back together. "DON'T LET HIM RECOVER! OTHERWISE WE'LL BE BACK TO SQUARE ONE!"

The Celestial Spirit King was right. If Yhwach reverted himself back to a saved state of himself, it wouldn't be just his injuries that would be undone. So would the destruction of that medallion. Everything would be as it was before. They had to finish this right here and now.

But even with Ichigo charging in to catch up to Laxus, the two of them set to almost reach Yhwach, he could see that it was too late. Yhwach's body healed once more, his condition returning to normal, and in his left hand he held an undamaged medallion, its power ready to emerge once more.

It should have done. They wouldn't have reached Yhwach in time. But then Ichigo was there, a sword lashing up from his right hand from behind Yhwach. He… recognised that move. Wasn't that Ichigo's Phantom Step?

Wait. Had he been holding back his speed for a moment like this?

He wished it could have been the move to end it but Yhwach was still fast enough to react, beginning to spin to the left as he moved himself away from those charging at him. But a single eye still saw it happen faster. As Yhwach tried to escape, a left hand lashed out now, with a golden knife pulled from within his cloak as it slashed down across Yhwach's wrist. The medallion fell lose as Yhwach's grip failed, his other hand shooting out to grab the medallion. His fingers merely grasped around empty air however, his eye snapping towards the one reason for that.

He couldn't help let his eyes follow the sight too, spotting Wendy high above with the medallion held within her outstretched palm.

"This was destroyed," she simply stated towards Yhwach, her grip tightening slightly as black and white energy began to emerge through the gaps in her fingers. "And that's how it should be again."

And in what was merely a blink of an eye, the medallion returned to nothing more than pieces once again, and the remnants of the power within flowed away like embers, being blown away by the wind.


Protector Of The Fairies


"How frustrating," Yhwach muttered, flexing his wrist a few times as he dodged the giant blade of the Celestial Spirit King. His left hand hardly responded to his commands. The knife had cut far too deep. Only his blut stopped the blood from spilling but it would require constant focus to keep it at bay, an easy task to do but an annoyance when having to balance so many other factors. It wouldn't have been so bad if that was all there was to it but his fingers weren't responding to his commands. He would have to use ransoutengai to keep full mobility but even with that it would be a fraction of a second slower than before. Against any other opponents it wouldn't even be noticeable. But these lot were dangerous enough that even a small weakness was a dangerous one to have exposed.

Under normal circumstances, he would have simply brought in the future where he was unharmed and that would be that. But Ichigo's actions had forced him onto the defensive in the brief moment he had after recovering from his previous injuries. It had been foolish to forget that old technique of Ichigo's but due to the high intensity of their clashes, he had believed that he was seeing the limits of Ichigo's speed. And, likely as a result of Ichigo seeing the future like he was, the Shinigami had waited and purposefully delayed utilising that technique for such a moment. By willingly choosing to never use it in any timeline that currently existed, Ichigo had ensured that he never even saw it coming, using that to his advantage in the brief moment where he was unable to read ahead to catch him by surprise.

He supposed he was lucky it was only his wrist that had taken such damage. But it wasn't the flesh would in itself that was the most painful loss. By losing his grip on the medallion and letting it slip from his grasp, it had fallen beyond the area his magic was constantly blanketing. And in doing so, it entered the space that Nirvana could reach.

A two pronged assault, unlikely to have been coordinates but done by two individuals seeing and acting on an opening without a single moment of hesitation. And as a result, he had an injury that would be constantly on his future states in this fight as well as never having access to Yamamoto's power. It truly was frustrating. But…

"Is this really all you've got?"

He knew how that poison god slayer magic worked after having felt the energy. He had a record of it. But that element wouldn't be effective enough. Too many variables to consider. How long would it take to affect someone with the constitution of a giant or a dragon? How quickly would it be noticed in the air by the girl above? And would it even affect Ichigo at all when the heat of Yamamoto's bankai hadn't made him flinch, even if it had damaged him?

No, he needed something stronger. Shame he hadn't managed to properly analyse the magic of Deliora but Gray had not been an enemy he could hold back against with how dangerous his ice was, and Yamamoto's bankai had made it impossible to do so regardless. It was a pity as pure slayer magic could have had some devastating effects, but the raw power of god slayer magic would still be enough here.

Now then, what elements to use. His eyes briefly checked the future and used the knowledge to shift his path to force Laxus to begin to make other movements. Ichigo kept up, keeping the pressure up, but he allowed himself to begin to get boxed in as he deflected another blow of Ichigo's, a small barrier taking off some of the pressure of the magic being fired his way while his blut handled the rest.

Fire from Karin Kurosaki. It was powerful though he had only a faint understanding from the energy he had glimpsed. Not enough to fully utilise but if he filled in the blanks with the other more common instances seen throughout his battles today, he could make it work. He would have to find some stronger magic to work with in the future but it would suffice.

Water next. He had seen a few water mages around but none he could accurately replicate to the state he wanted. He had bits and pieces here and there but they were too fragmented.

Okay. Work backwards to it. Those ice constructs he had seen earlier, he had taken enough note of them to get a rough understanding. The form wasn't helpful though but he could shape the magic the right way. Follow the chain down. Ice could become water so what was the feeling? Perhaps adding in the properties of fire? No, that would make steam. Heat then. Control the temperature aspect only.

It was workable. Slow but workable. For a normal attack it wouldn't help but it was enough here.

Lightning shot down at him and darted from side to side, blows raining all around him as he struggled to dodge or deflect them all. The attacks only stopped for a brief moment when the giant sword came down from above and, using the dust that it threw up into the air, Natsu shot forward and tried to unleash a swarm of flames straight at his face, and would have done so if not for his quick actions to step forward, grab the man by the head, and swing him round and release him straight into Laxus' path.

Earth now. That was easy. Jura alone was enough. His legendary spell was nothing but it, and while the spell might be beyond his grasp the foundation of the magic was not. He already had everything he needed there.

That only left air. A much rarer type of magic, he needed something that fell under the three major disciplines. Wind, air or sky? He had glimpsed a bit of the first in his fight against Shunsui but he hadn't been able to take the time to focus on anything but ensuring he was following the future to the letter in that battle. Not without giving anything away.

That left him needing something to work with. He would only need to go up to find a user of sky magic but he doubted he could make a move towards her without the others getting in his way. And pushing through was not an easy task, and certainly not one he could risk doing if it meant letting Ichigo have free reign to make a run for Mavis. So far he had kept him in check purely because they both knew that so long as Mavis had her barrier up, there would be a time delay involved. The moment she began to take down her barrier, both of them would react instantly. Ichigo would go to secure her while he would move to intercept. And regardless of who got there first, the barrier would never be able to fall in time to prevent both of them from reaching her.

That would change if he went after Wendy, so it was already an idea that was out of the question. And with her keeping her distance, her attention focused on the magic of Nirvana and likely looking for another opening to exploit, any attempts of obtaining even a glimpse of sky magic would be difficult to achieve.

No matter. There was another source. Changing tactics, he rushed at Laxus, reshaping the magic around him and blasting it forward as a dozen arrows, most bouncing off the armoured parts of Laxus' skin harmlessly. It was certainly enough to make the man retaliate though, letting out a large roar as a storm of lighting and wind erupted forth from his mouth.

Did Laxus expect it to hit? Was it a move to force him into the path of another? The end result seemed to imply the latter in countless futures, but those weren't what he was chasing right now. He let the attack slam against his outstretched palm, doing his best to ignore the pain as he began to absorb only what he needed. Analysing the energy rapidly as it struck him, comparing it against the record he already knew to be Laxus' dragon slayer magic, adding the surface level understanding he had of Natsu's own dragon slayer magic when he had been utilising wind magic to fan the flames, and then finally locating the similarities that the two shared. Bit by bit, however small, would add up. The two might have been too closely entwined to separate out normally but when compared, it was far easier to determine how the sky magic that ran through both of them was before it had fused with the other elements.

As soon as the lightning cleared up, he was on the move, dodging flames and dark magic as they tried to close off his escape routes. It forced him into the air, leaping off platforms of magic and at one point the flat side of Yhwach's blade as he propelled himself away, only ensuring that Ichigo was giving chase.

Did Ichigo know what he was up to? Unlikely. If Ichigo could choose to not use the Phantom Step in any future, he could do the same with this magic. To not utilise it in any future but the one he would create.

Take each of the four elements. Understand them. Analysis them. Then modify them with the properties of god slayer magic from Gin's annoying magic. Then find the correct four futures. He let himself heal immediately, purposefully discarding the other stored futures he had as he grabbed hold of three of the futures while preparing the other within the present. Then, as one, he brought all four instantly to life.

Fire, water, earth and air. All four elements formed around him, taking the points of a compass. He could actual feel a bit of strain occurring from having fuelled one of them, giving it enough magic to level a small area. And now he had four of them manifested at once thanks to the Almighty, at no extra cost.

He could see the exact moment when Ichigo realised what he was planning, comping to a complete stop and shooting back the other way, shouting out some kind of warning to the others. But it was pointless. Fire, water, earth and air. That should have given it away much faster but he wasn't surprised Ichigo had recognised it considering this technique had been seen and used by others before, even if never to this scale. After all, these were the four elements that made up Abyss Break.

The magic circle formed before him, connecting to the four elements and giving him the appearance of being protected by a gigantic barrier. They said the power of Abyss Break was proportional to the size of the magic circle. Unless the process was compressed down, it was the general case most applications of the spell seemed to follow. But when you added god slayer magic into the mix, even compression could only take the power so far. A spell that would destroy everything completely, fuelled by the power to kill gods. It would be all it would take to ensure that Magnolia, and likely everything for miles around, would be nothing more than a smoking crater. Well, except for the one being inside a barrier strong enough to outlast anything and everything.

He saw Wendy rushing down towards the others, and even from this distance he could make out the sense of urgency she must have felt. Nirvana was powerful but she had never shown the ability to redirect raw force without actively preparing a barrier or willingly stepping before the blast. And as fast as she was trying to be, she was simply not fast enough.

"Let us see you all try to stop this shall we?"

A sheer force of magical power erupted forth, falling towards the earth. And yet even facing what could be certain death, the mages below rose to try and face it.

"GETSUGA TENSHOU!"

"DRAGON SLAYER'S SECRET ART: STORM MULTIPLYING HALBERDS!"

"HEAVENLY FLAME DRAGON'S ROAR!"

"STARS GUIDE MY BLADE! ALL OF SPACE, BEND TO MY WILL!"

What had to be all the strength Ichigo could quickly muster rose up to face the blast. Hundreds of Laxus' legendary spell formed alongside them, abandoning individual piercing power in the knowledge that they needed to cover as large of an area as possible. A vortex of flames rose with them, delayed just enough that they would act as a second wave, meant to handle and devour the energy not blasted away by the first two attacks. And finally there was the flash of the Celestial Spirit King, having in one move cut a large gap through the entire attack, transporting the incoming energy into another space where it could harmlessly fizzle out.

He couldn't afford to stand still and wait on his attack. Not when a hole had been opened up that would undoubtedly be filled with the magic from below that passed through the now empty space. And so he charged down, getting closer to the clash of all their strength. In all that time, he let his eyes see what was to come. There was more than enough time now, letting him clearly see far further. And so when the energy did finally weaken enough on both sides for him to slip through, he was not disappointed. It was praiseworthy that they had even been able to stop his attack and save the lives of everyone within the city. It was also a task that had drained away what precious strength they had.

He turned his focus first to the dragon human hybrid. As powerful and vast as the being's magic had become, allowing him to reach strengthens he could never have dreamed off before this long war had begun, event that great power could run dry. And generating such a sheer number of versions of his earlier legendary spell, it would inevitably take its toll. Before he could be stopped he closed the gap and swung his fist up, letting the summoned energy of a dragon slayer be unleashed to knock Laxus upwards. Grabbing him mid-air with his other hand, he spun round and swung the large man straight towards the flying form of Wendy Marvell.

He couldn't count on her vision being clouded so long as she was capable of reading the atmosphere with Nirvana but at the very least her sight would be impacted. Nirvana's usage should still be something she had yet to fully assimilate and he could use that to his advantage where possible. But first he needed to move on another. He had slipped past Ichigo to launch this attack, using the fact that his gaze was locked forward to ensure he was not spotted attacking the others behind him, and a chance like this was limited. There was no doubt that Ichigo had heard the commotion and would be going for his throat at the first opportunity. So first he had to take down a giant.

Tearing a hole through his attack hadn't taken out as much strength as he had hoped from the Celestial Spirit King. The power Spatial Aurora had, along with the reserves of magic it held within, were enough to offset much of the power that the giant expended in battle. But the giant had been forced into a wide swing to cover as much area as possible, and that left him exposed. Strong and powerful the giant may be, he was not fast. Not as fast as he was at least.

Gathering all the energy he could in the short space of time he had, moving forward while doing so, he kicked back off the ground once and flew straight up towards the giant. Having seen his approach, the Celestial Spirit King managed to recover and swing his sword back down through sheer force. It would have been impressive if it hadn't been exactly the action he had been luring out of him. Dodging at the last moment, he slipped up through the gap that the swing opened up in the giant's defences and swung one arm straight against the wrist of the hand holding onto the blade, hitting it with enough magical force that forced the giant's grip to break. Then, before the giant could take a single step forward to reach his sword before it slipped away, he unleashed the remainder of the power he had gathered with a swing of his other hand, blasting the giant away and sending him crashing through what little remained of homes in Magnolia.

A shame he hadn't had more time. He would have liked to go and move on E.N.D. next but he knew better than to push his luck, turning his full focus towards Ichigo for a moment as the Shinigami came rocketing down from above. The sword he formed in time almost shattered under the weight of Ichigo's own blade, the dark construct larger than normal and being pushed down by a massive ton of magical power. But as strong as it was, and as fast as Ichigo was, there was still a difference.

"You've still got power to spare? No, I hardly believe you do after such a large show of force before. I was prepared to only get half as much as I wanted done before you caught on. You were slow to chase me. Are you starting to tire? Just how long can you really maintain this level of strength for I wonder?"

Ichigo just glared him down for a moment, the pressure being brought down increasing for a moment. Then, Ichigo muttered a few words towards him in response. "Three instances, right?"

He frowned, confused for only a moment before he understood what those words meant. He didn't even let his expression budge but it seemed there was little point of doing that. Ichigo hadn't been expecting a confirmation. He already understood.

It seemed as much as he was whittling away them, they were too slowly beginning to piece together his own abilities. How annoying.


Protector Of The Fairies


"It's quite scary you know," Ichigo stated, testing whether he could break through Yhwach's block while making sure to keep an eye out for any changes to the future or any actions he might need to take to avoid any nasty surprise attacks. "Abyss Break. Never have to face a version as devastating as that one might have been though, nor did any of them have such an overwhelming presence. Were you trying to rush things? Or simply trying to make an opening? Either way, you showed your hand a bit too much Yhwach."

"I couldn't work it out until now," he added, letting the energy around his blade expand before firing off in a massive blast. It could have been deadly if Yhwach hadn't already known it was coming, reducing the strength of his defence and allowing the blade to swing down as he moved away, causing the released energy to impact against a smaller area that was more easily covered by a hastily constructed barrier. "How many futures could you hold? Considering that you've delayed healing in the past but have still brought other futures into our timeline, I knew you had to be capable of storing or manipulating at least two. But was that your lower limit? No, you were too fast on occasion with the futures you manipulated. But how many?"

Dodging a wave of arrows, his dagger slashing up with one hand while his other formed a similarly sized blade from his magic, he narrowly dodged the assault and get pushing forward, not allowing Yhwach to get much breathing room. "But I did realise something once you lost that medallion. You can't store more than instance of your 'healthy' state. I was worried for some time that you could, thinking that perhaps you were simply hiding that card to spring on us eventually. But we've pushed you far enough that you would have used that card by now. You're limited to only one, and even that takes a brief moment to replace once used. Otherwise Wendy and I could never have permanently separated you from that medallion considering how short of a timeframe we had to act in."

"And remembering that, what do you think I saw when you used Abyss Break?" he asked mockingly, swinging out with the dagger of energy and allowing the blade to immediately expand, causing Yhwach to act quickly to leap over the blade. He narrowly avoided a slash intended for his eye in turn, the blade instead catching his check and leaving a large cut across it. He hardly even noticed, and as he spoke it quickly was covered up by his magic as the skin reformed before Yhwach's eye. "I saw you, healing up then manifesting the water you needed for that spell."

"Why did you heal yourself at that moment?" he asked Yhwach. "Your injuries weren't as dangerous as they have been in the past, and that moment wasn't the safest. Yet you did it anyway, then immediately focused on bringing Abyss Break into reality. Except that for a version that powerful, there's no individual future where you could have made it without me seeing and stopping you. You know that, you're smart enough to know that, so you created one of the elements and relied on other futures to create each other element, then used your power to bring them all into this current timeline."

Discarding the dagger of energy, he let the energy it dispersed back into the energy gathering around him and get reshaped into a bow as he quickly kicked back, using his greater speed to make the distance he needed. Yhwach made a move to chase after him, sending arrows of light in the meantime, but it was an easy task to avoid the incoming projectiles, even as they began to multiple mid-flight as Yhwach brought more of them into the future. The distance wasn't yet great enough for Yhwach to multiply them so much that he had no room to move. Hiding away the golden dagger he had once more in his sleeve, the energy within gripping it tightly to keep it ready when he needed it, he used his now free hand to form a thin arrow out of darkness, the energy that made it up being condensed down and focused to an immense degree.

He didn't remember ever successfully doing this before. His Edolas self had tried to teach him a few times but it hadn't ever worked out that well. But there were memories in his head that he knew weren't his. There was experiences he was pulling from that he never had. And as he pulled back with the power, it was like another was guiding his every move.

Having realised he wasn't going to reach him in time, Yhwach changed tactics swiftly and threw up a series of barriers, one after the other, while preparing a blade. All small enough to cover his person, with their power packed in them as densely as possible. So Yhwach had already seen the kind of counter he would need to protect himself against this arrow. A shame, but he would use it anyway. He just had to follow after the arrow and let it lead him through the barriers as it shattered them.

"Why even generate one in the first place? Why not summon forth all four? It would have been less intensive on your magical power. We may have expended a lot of strength but you did too, and even if you can recover your energy it's not as fast of a process as it once was. So why take that risk anyway if it wasn't necessary? The answer? Because it was. You could not hold all four of the futures that you needed at once."

Letting the arrow fly, he immediately made chase while forming a second one, widening it this time as he focused on raw explosive power over unparalleled piecing power. The arrow he was just keeping pace with immediately slammed into the first barrier before shooting straight through, and before the barrier could even try and regenerate, if it even had that capability, he slammed the second arrow forward and let the energy packed within shoot forward. Yhwach chose that moment to move, shifting his body to one side as he narrowly avoiding the arrow that not even a single one of his barriers was capable of fully stopping, before spinning back into his previous position and slashing down, unleashing a wave of energy that cancelled out the energy of the second arrow as it followed through the holes left by the first.

"I actual thought that perhaps you might have been bluffing," he called out, circling round the barriers and looking for an opening to strike Yhwach at as he abandoned the bow and reformed it into a more familiar sword. "That you were faking the limit you had. Except you healed first. You expended that stored instance and then made your play. Even if you wanted to bluff about your true limits, you wouldn't waste such a future when you've already seen how valuable it can be. You used it because the other choice was to abandon it entirely. Because so long as you held onto it, you would only be able to store two other futures."

"That's your limit," he finished as he darted in, striking out a few times as he forced Yhwach back a few steps before he had to retreat a few of his own to avoid the hail of arrows coming down from above. "Three futures at any one time, with only one of them capable of being an instance of yourself. I guess the latter is because any more would begin to conflict right? But then it doesn't matter much the reasons of why you can only record one. All I need to care about is that you can't store an indefinite number of futures and keep throwing them out there without end."

"I used to be able to store more," Yhwach finally spoke up, a faint trace of annoyance presence in the man's voice. "With both eyes, I could have both witnessed the many futures that would occur, bring them into reality, and still see the present all at once. Don't feel proud of yourself for being able to keep up with me when I've been handicapped since that traitor pushed her luck too far."

"Besides," Yhwach added, a sinister tone to his voice, "You think you are the only one to realise the limitations of his opponent's strength?" This time it was his turn to control his emotions as Yhwach continued on. "The way you heal, the way you use your magic, they aren't even close to how you used them before. This is not regeneration or restoration through your old methods. You don't feel the pain of your wounds like before. They close up as your own energy washes over them, turning every cut and scrap into unblemished skin. But it isn't about the skin being healed or restored to an old state. It's about the injured parts of your body shifting back to energy and then returning to flesh and bone exactly how your body remembers it should be."

Yhwach raised a hand momentarily, shaping the energy in a showy way before lashing out with it towards him. It was easy to block but the power behind it still forced his assault to halt for a moment. "I couldn't place it at first. Your abilities had changed too much. From the power you can unleash to the control you have over it, none of it matched perfectly to what it should have been. The remnants are there, it could hardly be mistaken for your way of using it, but the control you have over it has changed too much. Not just in how you willingly use it. But in how you don't."

"Just look at how your body heals itself," Yhwach stated as an example. "The control for that has appeared subconscious from the start. But more than that, your ability to reshape the energy around you and use it in weapons or for attacks almost made me believe it to be an adaptation of your quincy powers. But it isn't. It's far purer than that. You aren't forming weapons, you'll merely needing them and adjusting the same energy that you use for everything else to give you what you need. Even a quincy isn't so skilled, but then you aren't acting as a quincy with this. You'll acting as a god."

Yhwach chuckled briefly, appearing to ignore the severity of the situation even as he deflected some of his attacks. "It's a shame the power of one is lacking. It's easy to remember control because nothing has to change. That control is no doubt a remnant of your experiences as the host of magic itself. The aftereffects of having wielded the power to reshape the world with a snap of your fingers. After handing that kind of power, manipulating such small amounts of energy must be so easy. But even then, it still seems so innate. Like the energy you are manipulating is a part of yourself."

"And that's when I realised," Yhwach added, closing the gap himself this time and altering the future they were in to bring forth a massive ton of magical power, all condensed into one large blast. He barely had time to lash out with an attack of his own but there wasn't enough time to block it all. He could feel his leg get torn away as he was flown back, caught by a blade that had followed down through the attack, but as he flipped and brought one foot down, he was already to bring the other down too, without even a scratch on its appearance as the old one broke apart into fragments of energy. "It's because it is."

"Just look at what you're doing," said Yhwach as the man gestured at the dispersing energy, that multi-pupiled watching as it naturally drifted back towards him and got absorbed into his clothes. "Where once you pulled out the essence and strength of magic from your soul, now you pull from the magic that is wrapped around it. I should have been faster at realising it but those friends of yours made it hard to focus on such small details like this. And when you and Mavis first separated, I was too happy to have received such good fortune. I didn't even stop to consider why you two split in the first place until I could begin to think clearly again and ask myself why I never saw anything like what you are showing now in the futures I saw."

Yhwach shook his head lightly. "It was staring me right in the face, all this time. How disappointing it was to have not seen it sooner. But when you and her formed that entity, you were in a rush. A rush because of me I might add. You two weren't stable. But more accurately, you weren't stable. I don't know whether it was the fighting that made it worse but the two of you split because the two of you became untangled, neither able to maintain their focus. It was too soon for either of you two too fight. And it was too soon for you to be spat back out. You weren't finished being stabilised by her."

"Still, you took away something from that bond. A ton of energy, enough to easily fuel you for the time being. But without a body, it would be useless. Unless one is already familiar with handling such devastating losses. You merely had to reshape the energy around yourself, use it as an anchor to keep your consciousness safe here, and like that you could fight."

"But there lies your problem," Yhwach added, taking a few steps towards him as both sides looked for an opening for their next move. "To fight means to expend energy. To expend energy means to loosen the cage holding your soul here. With how much energy you've thrown away in this battle so far, just how much longer can you even maintain this form before you slip away again? A few more minutes? Less? I suppose it doesn't matter. All it means is that very shortly, you will simply die once-

Before Yhwach could finish his words, the two found themselves locked in place, neither able to move their feet from the ground. As both struggled against it, blue light began to shine across the ground, trailing out to five major points where the energy began to rise upwards like as pillars. And at one of them stood a man dressed in all white, his normally immaculate appearance now messy and unkempt.

"Well this would have been a surprise if I hadn't already seen your arrival, quite rude to strike while I'm speaking." Yhwach muttered, "But I'm impressed. I didn't even see you prepare this. Sprenger isn't it?"

"I'm hardly surprised you're aware of it," said Ryuuken as he revealed himself. "It's an old technique that most might have forgotten about but to you it must have been quite common place."

"Actual the opposite. It was never a technique that managed to grab the attention of most. Too many quincy preferred to train their archery over anything else. And those that would fight on the frontlines, they weren't ones to care for such a difficult technique to implement. They would prefer to blast their foes away rather than setup a trap to finish them off in one blow."

"But you made a grave miscalculation," Yhwach stated, magic being manipulated by his fingers as it began to stretch down towards the bonds holding him in place, the energy that made up the small solid pentagram surrounding him and Ichigo being the source. "Tell me, do I look like one of those people to you?" he asked coldly, his left foot budging a small amount as the magic began to take hold.

"Are you sure you wish to try this?" Ryuuken asked, drawing out a small capsule from his pocket and holding it within the energy rising up, above one of the small blades that was gathering all the necessary energy and funnelling it into the barrier. "Move and I'll detonate the spell," he stated, tipping the capsule a small amount so that the liquid within almost flowed out.

"Go ahead. Give it a try. That is if you think you've gathered enough energy," Yhwach shot back. "It was smart to use such a spell that grows in strength the more energy there is in the atmosphere for it to absorb. But it still requires time. For all the power those towers of magic show, it's a show of force, not an actual measure of it. You're supplementing your own energy into the mix to buy time for them to draw in enough. But it won't work. I already know how this will end."

With a show of defiance, Yhwach moved his left foot forward, taking a step towards Ryuuken as the man began to sigh as he turned to catch Ichigo's eye. For a moment Ichigo thought that Ryuuken was about to activate the spell there and then. Until he heard the man's urgent words.

"Sprenger is a technique brought about with careful planning and is one that even the weak can use. And based on what I have heard, that should fit with the techniques that other version of you knows correct? So he should know just as much about this technique as Yhwach if he had studied it so intensely."

His Edolas self? If he thought carefully, he believed he could remember small bits. He could hear words being whispered to him from within his soul, the knowledge he needed the most at this moment becoming clear. Then, without a moment to lose, he crouched down to the ground and pressed his hand against the dense amount of magical power coating the ground while keeping his eyes firmly locked on Yhwach. So when Yhwach made to take another step, the quincy king found himself unable to even move his foot.

"What… Ichigo!" Yhwach's head snapped back towards him, the man's sole eye furious as Yhwach realised what he was doing.

Magic bound them both. Yhwach was taking control of if it, weakening the bonds and using that as his chance to move. So all he had to do was watch and see the future about to occur and then take the measures necessary to counteract Yhwach's own efforts.

It was easier than he expected honestly. Even the advice being given to him from within had stopped after the first few moments, having realised he didn't need any further help. Yhwach had been right. His experience with wielding all of magic had changed him, and for this moment he was so thankful for that. Because it meant he was the one in control, not Yhwach.

"YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO HOLD ME HERE! KNOW YOUR PLACE!" Yhwach roared in anger, his patience snapping as he waved his hand forward. It was still an easy matter for the quincy to tear away some of the energy holding them in place and use it against him, throwing forth a barrage of arrows. He could already see that there were no spots to dodge through, so instead he generated a blade with his free hand and used it to make sure each and every arrow was deflected away from his body. All the while he kept his other hand to the ground, ensuring the spell all around them could continue to build up power while Yhwach was trapped.

"Will this hurt?" he called out, getting a sigh back from Ryuuken and a nod. "Alright, thanks for the warning at least. DO IT!"

"This should be long enough. Very well." With a tilt of his wrist, the liquid energy within the capsule began to fall, dropping down onto the blade digging into the earth and sending a blue cross of energy down its sides. "Ichigo, please try not to die. I wouldn't like to explain this to Isshin afterwards if you do."

The released energy rushed in so quickly it was like a flash of light suddenly appeared before his eyes, then immediately he could feel the energy attacking every bit of his body that it could reach. The pain was so easy to ignore that he could simply push it to the corner of his mind. That didn't change the fact that his body was getting injured with every moment. Its current nature made it too easy to break from attacks like this, pieces of himself getting blown away before being reformed as energy was expended to plug up the holes being made.

It only took a moment to slip up though, his inability to see Yhwach any further preventing his ability to counter the man's actions, and he knew immediately that the man was on the move. All he could do was try and chase him, pushing through the energy until he was finally out the other side. Only to see Yhwach standing over Ryuuken, the man pinned to the ground with a sword through his gut.

"The last Quincy," Yhwach stated calmly, his gaze shifting towards him briefly. Any moment now Yhwach would heal. The man was only waiting to try and find the right moment, as the distance between them was too small to risk without an opening of some kind. "Funny little title that Ryuuken. By one interpretation, it might mean that the individual will be the last Quincy to live. That the knowledge they carried forward would allow them to survive and kill all others, until only they are left. But there are other ways to be the last. You simply hide away, sealing yourself off from everything like a scared animal."

"All your skills, all your techniques, there is no doubt you are an impressive mage. But how much of that is even your own strength?" Yhwach asked. "You're a master of technique and practice, but you hide away and refuse to fight. It's a waste. I expected more from an individual whose inherited experiences should surpass even my own. You should at least have been worthy of being seen as a threat. Such a pity."

"But now we can continue with fewer interruptions," Yhwach added as he turned back towards him. "Shall we finish this Ichigo? I would prefer for you to die by my hands rather than simply wasting away, though I fear so long as you keep resisting there will be no other alternative."

He glanced briefly to one side, seeing the Celestial Spirit King making his way back to them. Laxus and Wendy wouldn't be too far behind he hoped. He'd lost sight of Natsu but Yhwach hadn't sent him flying so he was probably close by, and since Ryuuken didn't give any warning to Natsu he had to assume the dragon slayer wasn't caught in the blast like he was.

At least for a moment or two, he was on his own.

"Getsuga…"

"Such a predictable move Ichigo." Arrows were being fired at him before he had even begun to raise his sword. The energy needed was already being wrapped around his half formed blade though, and it was far too easy to simply unleash it as it was and blast away all the incoming projectiles.

"Tenshou!"

It wasn't exactly what he wanted. He was safe from harm, the attack didn't take up much energy, and he was free to move forward unopposed. But that opening had been the chance Yhwach needed. The man was healing in that very moment, all his wounds from Ryuuken's attack being wiped away like all the times before. Immediately he saw the future that was to come, preparing to move instantly to try and aim for Yhwach's neck with his blade to end this battle in one fell swoop. It would probably be blocked if he was being honest. He might have a brief advantage but Yhwach's own reaction speed and his speed at reading the future was enough to change what might be certain death into a possibility if the cards lined up a certain way. But he still had to try anyway.

That was why he wasn't even sure what was going on when, unseen to that eye, another figure appeared right before Yhwach, as if he had been standing there the entire time. Neither he nor Yhwach even had time to fully process what they were seeing before the blade the man was wielding, a silver dagger that must have been in motion long before he appeared, stabbed straight into Yhwach's chest.


Protector Of The Fairies


It hurt. What was this? What on earth was this pain?

Silver? No. Not silver. Silver didn't hurt. Not normal silver anyway. But a certain type could, if harvested from the body of a quincy whose power was stolen.

"I'm impressed," he heard the man before him say. That face. He recognised it. Uryuu Ishida. He knew so much about the man. So why, in the entire duration of this battle, had he not even considered the existence of this man even once? "I was revealed for a split moment before my attack hit, and even with all of that you still were able to try and dodge."

He could see a broken dagger in the man's hands, one of his own reaching up to his chest and ripping out the remains of the silver. The poison was already in his veins though. He couldn't change that. It was already setting his blood alight, ripping its way through every inch of his body and weakening him physically and magically.

But he was still alive. The dagger was short. Even if he hadn't moved, he wasn't sure if it could have reached his heart like Uryuu had tried to aim for. But with his actions it had moved from an immediately fatal one to a lethal one instead.

He had to heal. He had to heal now. He immediately pushed himself away from all the enemies he could see, Ichigo appearing to make chase for a moment until Uryuu swung his hand up to stop him.

"It's useless. You're already dead Yhwach."

His body began to heal, the future being overwritten with his will. The saved state of the past, held for this moment took hold and… pain. Pain from the same point, beginning the process all over again as he immediately realised what had occurred and recorded a new state down.

"It was hard to wait and watch like I did. My father no longer remembered me and I could hardly reveal myself to him and risk allowing you to remember my existence. I had to wait and watch, which is rather hard when every bit of land is a potential minefield with the attacks the lot of you throw around. But it was worth it to see the time it would take you to heal and the moments in which you would likely try and record that saved state of yourself during."

"I couldn't risk my chance you see," Uryuu added, glancing at the broken pieces of the dagger he had used in annoyance. "My father said I would barely get one shot and he was right. He had to harvest this from a long dead corpse. One you made I might add. But even more than that, I could not afford to waste my one chance on an attack that would be wiped away once you were finished healing yourself. I couldn't be sure on how your power might interact with the silver poisoning your blood so I had to be sure it would stick. So I waited. Waited until you scattered everyone else. Waited until you were focused on purely Ichigo, no longer constantly watching everything around you like a hawk. Waited until you took a chance to heal yourself so you could fight at your full potential. And then I struck."

"This power," he growled out, realising what it had to be. "A Scrift of some kind. Like Ichigo, you had an essence of power left that I failed to take."

"Afraid so. It's nothing so grant as many of the powers you must have desired," Uryuu stated. "It's a power I think you'd hardly even desire. It's simply a power to become… unknown. Unknown to everyone. No one can remember me. No one can perceive me. You can look at me dead on and not see anything. Even your precious ability to see and change the future would have witnessed me, of that I have no doubt. But no matter how many times you gaze would have fallen over me, you wouldn't even register a single bit of it. Until the moment I chose to strike, to interact with the world once again, you didn't even know I was there."

He had to do something. Perhaps if he healed himself and then tore out the infected areas? No, the wound was in the wrong place for that. To tear out all the infected areas, he would end up leaving a wound large enough to kill himself anyway.

"You lose Yhwach."

Lose? That couldn't be. He couldn't lose. After fighting so many foes, after moving them like chess pieces and making them dance to his tune, after surviving long enough against that fused state of Ichigo and Mavis when he thought it might be the end, after fighting the remains of the strongest adversaries Ishgar had left, this was how it was going to end? The single strike of an archer who had settled into the role of an assassin?

Any other time he might have thought the idea humorous. It wasn't uncommon for kings to be slain by assassins. But such a thought of it happening to him had never occurred. It simply wasn't possible, not when he could see it all coming. Even before that, he had never been one to let his guard down even when surrounded by those he trusted. And yet now his reign was going to end before it could begin again? In such a common way, as if he was an ordinary man? If he died here, what would become of the future he wished to create? What hope would there be for the world he would create?

But there was no way out. He knew too well how deadly this poison was. The best he could hope to do would be to fight it off as long as possible.

"No matter what I do, I will die. Is that it, Uryuu Ishida?"

His power began to rise as he felt the restraints he kept on a particular power begin to snap. If he was going to die, then he would risk everything. Until now he had never risked even attempting to use his Vollstandig. The last time had been when he had been forced to fight Yamamoto, wielding it until the moment when he reached the point that allowed him to ensure he could steal away the man's bankai successfully. Since that day it had been successfully suppressed by the same power he had stolen, and for good reason too.

However much energy he had, however much power he possessed, he would not have enough to maintain it indefinitely. But that was fine. He was already heading to death's door. So if the limit was how long his life would last for, he would use this power for as long as he could before he himself expired.

He might die, but so long as he obtained Lumen Histoire in time then there would still be time to win. He did not need to live in this body in the past. If he could reach the body of his past self, at the moment when he fell into that four hundred year slumber, he could overwhelm the mind within and take that body for himself, escaping his dying one and ensuring all the tools he would need would be carried forth with him.

Everything came down to time. But at least with his Vollstandig, that would be something he would hardly be in short supply of.

"Vollstandig," he muttered softly to himself, letting his tight control of his magic slip and blast away any trying to sneak attack him with sheer force. The energy lashing out was quick to be pulled back, clinging to his body as it forced it through chains, his sight expanding to far more than what he was used to seeing. "Omniscience of God."


Protector Of The Fairies


The very world felt different from the moment Yhwach took that form. The energy that the man had unleashed had entirely morphed the man's original appearance, twisting his form to one that was made up of a majority of shadows. Only parts of his flesh, the hands and lower half of his face, were still recognisable. The rest was like a void at first, covered by pure darkness. Until part of that darkness parted, opening up from two sides to reveal a single eye.

At first there was merely one, present on the left side of Yhwach's chest. Then a second appeared, opening up on Yhwach's right left. Then another on the top of Yhwach's head. Then another, then another, until countless eyes were covering every inch of darkness that cloaked Yhwach's form.

It didn't even seem like the eyes were limiting themselves to just the energy that covered Yhwach's body. As energy leaked out around Yhwach, trailing off like an oversized sleeve on his right side, eyes followed and opened up across the stream of energy, peering off into countless different directions. Some of them were watching him Ichigo noticed. Others were watching Uryuu. But one thing was clear. They were covering every possible angle, leaving not a single blind spot left.

Almost immediately Ichigo found himself almost doubling over in pain, his weapons dispersing themselves back into energy as he clutched the left side of his face and tried to pull his vision away from Yhwach. The more of those eyes opened, the more rapidly everything he saw changed. Now it was nothing more than static, the future he was seeing shifting so rapidly that it hurt to even look.

"I see it," came Yhwach's voice, echoing around as the sky began to fill with arrows at an alarming rate. Even the sounds Yhwach produced were being repeated and brought across as the futures shifted countless times, the amount of arrows being duplicated repeatedly without any signs of stopping. "I see it all. But do you?"

Clutching his left eye in pain, forcing it shut to avoid looking at the futures approaching, Ichigo made sure the energy he had on hand was packed together strongly into a single blade, keeping it ready as the barrage began. Unlike before he could not rely on his knowledge of the future to correct himself if he noticed danger approaching. All he could rely on was his own instincts, using every bit of strength he could quickly muster to swing his blade back and forth, deflecting every arrow that tried to reach him away from him and the quincy who had taken to hiding behind him.

"Why on earth did I listen to you when you stopped me?" he growled out in anger. "I should have pushed forward and finished him then and there."

"He would have been in pain but that would have hardly given you the opening you would need. And I thought he was out of cards to play. Considering he's never used his Vollstandig since this war began, and from the passing comments he's made about it in the past, I assumed he wouldn't use it at all if he hadn't already. But if he's using it, it means we've pushed him to a point where he has no choice if he wishes to survive."

"And that's good how?"

Uryuu sighed in frustration, pushing the bridge of his glasses up as he began to explain. "For him to use Vollstandig of all things means he is out of cards to play. There is nothing else. This is the last technique he has. Overcome it and we win."

"Yeah, that's not happening," he growled back in response, beginning to struggle to stop the endless stream of arrows Yhwach was firing. He wouldn't even be able to move from this spot without being pelted from all sides. "I could barely stay even with him before, and that was a five on one. And I could counter his power by seeing ahead of him. But whatever this form does, it's made it impossible for me do that anymore."

"I see. So he's changing the future that rapidly then? This might be a larger problem than I anticipated."

"YOU THINK?"

"Regardless, time is on our side still," Uryuu continued, ignoring the outburst. "All he can do is change the present using new possible futures or stored presents. But he has nothing stored up from when he was healthy currently, nor does he have any futures where he survives that dagger's poison. The silver it's made of will eat him away, slowly devouring his magic and life until he's nothing more than a husk."

"And that will take how long exactly? Because he certainly doesn't feel like someone who is having his magic devoured. He's not weakening from what I can tell."

"I don't know how long," Uryuu muttered. "A few minutes? Twenty perhaps at worst? No matter how much he tries, he will never be able to make a future perfectly matching the exact state he's after he heals himself. The new healthy state might only be a fraction of a second ahead of what it was before but that's still moving him closer and closer to death's door. We either need to force him to it faster, perhaps by forcing his body to reach its limit to absorb magic, or damage him enough. Both will keep forcing him to heal up and if we can keep the pressure up we could whittle down the time he has and try and cut this short."

"One problem though," he pointed out before Uryuu could go any further. "How much did you catch of Yhwach's conversation to me?"

"About your strength dwindling too?"

"Yeah, that. Got probably two minutes at most before I exhaust too much energy to be able to keep this form stable. Once that happens I'm gone."

"And we'll lose the best person we had at keeping Yhwach in check. Damn. What if we could get you back to Mavis?"

"What do you think I've been trying to do?" he shot back in anger. He wasn't sure whether it was the pressure of the attacks or Uryuu's words that was making him more and more irritated. Probably both. "Yhwach won't give me an opening."

"But if you can make it to her, can you win?"

He paused for a moment, weighing up the chances he believed he would have against Yhwach in this state. "I want to say yes. Without this form, Yhwach couldn't even slow me down. With it… I'd probably still win through sheer raw strength, provided I stuck fast enough. I don't want to imagine how many barriers he could replicate currently nor see if it's enough to stop my attacks."

"Alright. I'll try and find you an opening."

"Wait, don't be so reckless," he cried out in warning, reaching out to pull Uryuu back and throw him to safety as the man tried to slip away in what appeared to be a point of calm in the storm of arrows. His actions avoided Uryuu being skewered as the number of projectiles in the area tripled in an instant. He wasn't so lucky, having exposed himself to cover Uryuu for a moment and paying the price with a dozen arrows sticking through his body, holes covering his whole left side.

Who had he just saved? Why had he just done that? His eyes wanted to glance towards a particular direction but each time they tried his mind found something more pressing to focus on. Like avoiding taking any more damage. Not that it would help much now he realised as he swiftly used the chance to make a retreat to avoid the endless storm of arrows. After that much damage, he probably had thirty or forty seconds.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Natsu threw himself through the air, flames flying everywhere as he incinerated every arrow coming down towards him. It used to give Yhwach pause. It wasn't so effective when Natsu was suddenly slammed away by a giant blade of energy, barely managing to weaken the blow with his magic so that it merely swatted him instead of bisecting him. No sooner had the strike been done had Yhwach crossed the distance down after him, seeming to teleport forward so suddenly.

Perhaps he had. Perhaps the man had grabbed a future where his position had been altered and brought that into reality, just as he was doing with everything else. It was close to catching him off guard, especially as it had brought Yhwach into striking range already swinging. But he was still that bit faster, his sword just reaching in time to catch Yhwach's own and hold it in place.

Except at that exact moment the blade in Yhwach's hand was allowed to shatter while a second one instantly formed in the man's other hand. The force of his own swing had thrown his sword up and he barely managed to shift the dagger he had down and grip it with his free hand, blocking the second blow but still being knocked backwards from it. His dagger didn't crack but the force behind it had almost made him let go, and he could swear one or two of his bones had cracked in that clash. The force had been unlike any other strike Yhwach had used. Had the man overlapped multiple futures and used that to amplify the force? God he hoped not.

The major problem was that he was running desperately out of time and he didn't even have time to think properly. Before his eyes Yhwach had extended both hands out to the side, multiple smaller, but still dangerous, versions of Abyss Break rapidly forming before he even had a chance to do anything. He didn't even know how bad the blast radius might be because he certainly couldn't stop them all. But he could try. Slamming one foot against the ground, he prepared to charge forward and try and intercept them all before they could be scattered-

Only the next moment he had to pull himself to a stop to avoid slamming face first into the ground.

"Sorry," he heard Wendy mutter above him, familiar magic healing what few wounds hadn't already been closed shut. Additionally, he could also feel his magical power being recovered slowly, Nirvana's power doing wonders, and while it might not change much, it was enough to halt its loss. "I didn't have as much time as I wanted to focus on all the coordinates for you."

"Who took my place?" he wasted no time in asking, knowing he couldn't have been moved unless someone had been ready to take his place. He glanced around rapidly, noticing they were a bit further away from the fight than before, but even at a distance he could hardly mistake the giant form of the Celestial Spirit King, the giant's cloak wrapped around his body like a shield that seemed to have helped halt the barrage of Abyss Break. "Never mind, I've got my answer. Was this his idea?"

"Um… mine and his," Wendy muttered quietly, causing him to have to strain his ears to hear her for a moment thanks to the loud thundering sound of Laxus' magic as his friend rejoined the fight. Not that it did much do when dozens of barriers intercepted his strikes. "He agreed to buy us some time."

"Us? You got something planned? Teleporting me to Mavis might be hard if we can't coordinate properly, and that is if Yhwach doesn't even see it happening."

Wendy quickly shook his head rapidly, drawing his focus properly and causing him to notice the strained look on Nabura's face. Alongside that, Wendy's eyes had taken on odd traits. Was this what happened when she used Nirvana now? He knew she was more deeply tied to it than before but seeing it in action was something else. "I think… I think we might be able to break Yhwach's Vollstandig."

That was enough to make him pause for a moment. Enough to let him hope it was possible, even for just a moment. But reality was too cruel to let him believe it. "He's got control of far too many futures. He'll see anything we try to do and-"

"He didn't see it when I got rid of his sword. He didn't see it when I took away his medallion." The way Wendy spoke those words, there was not a single bit of room left to doubt them. She spoke them as pure absolutes, as facts that couldn't be disputed. "Like how the futures he creates aren't visible to you until they occur, the future I revert things back to isn't easily visible either."

"Alright, I'm listening," he said, briefly glancing back to the fight to see Yhwach sending the Celestial Spirit King to the ground only to halt on a follow up attack from a rain of arrows from close range. Ah, that was Uryuu. The man was making clever use of his Scrift it seemed, though it made it a pain to remember that he was doing so. "Be quick. We won't have long."

"Well since he realised I could affect him with Nirvana, he's been cautious. I can't read his presence fast enough before it shifts. It makes trying to keep up an impossible task and makes him essentially untouchable to Nirvana."

"I'm waiting for a but here."

"This is only happening because he's making it impossible to actively affect him whenever I want. It's a different matter if I was to focus down on one particular instance. So long as a clear instance of him is retained, even if it takes time it's possible to unravel the distortions he's causing."

"So theoretically you could send him miles away?"

Wendy shook her head, much to his dismay. "He's too far removed," she explained. "His current self and his past self are far too different to allow me to alter his present self based on such old values. But with his old self decoded, it becomes possible to fully revert back to the future he shifted away from."

"And in doing so you can revert him too," he muttered in realisation. "This snapshot, when did you take it?" he asked urgently. "Was it before or after Uryuu stabbed him?"

"Before," Wendy answered immediately. "Quite a lot before actually."

"I see. That's… good," he muttered, carefully thinking over the possibilities. "He'll be healed from the poison… but he'll also be removed from his Vollstandig state. Would he still have that bankai?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"No, that's good. It would take time for him to discard it if he wishes to return to his Vollstandig state. What about his position? Would changing him back to a previous state throw him somewhere else entirely?"

"Not unless I was to be very specific. By default I'm simply returning him to a state he was in right before he healed from a few minor injuries. It won't slow him down unfortunately but I couldn't afford to find a replacement snapshot with how much time had passed."

"No, it's fine," he muttered to her, eying Yhwach for a moment as he began to imagine the potential clash. "Same position, sudden strength change… He'd still act fast enough to avoid a killing blow, he has done before, but if timed right… This could work. How long do you need to complete decoding his past state?"

"Oh it's ready anytime," Wendy said with a smile, tilting her head slightly towards Nabura. "Gramps has been analysing it from the beginning. We originally planned to save it as a way to destabilise him for a second or two to create an opening but… well, we thought this was a better time to use it. But it took a while to do this so we won't get any other shots. Just one."

"One is more than enough. Yhwach would never give us the time to try again if we did fail so we have no choice but to make this count. So, what do you need me for? You wouldn't have gotten the Celestial Spirit King to buy us time if you didn't need my help in some way. Not if you're already ready to go."

"That's… the problem," she muttered quietly. "We're getting quite far away from the point I'll be reverting Yhwach back to. And while I can keep him in the same position as he was, I can't determine the right moment for that."

"It's more than that," Nabura interjected suddenly. "We know every bit of detail that makes up what Yhwach is like in the world at that moment in time. There's far more than we can put into words. But if you could see it, you would understand the exact situation he'll create and can manipulate him into a position that best suits you for when he gets reverted. And we can't simply transfer the information as it is, you aren't familiar in the slightest with how Wendy and I see the world. But if your magic and hers can resonate for a moment, we can use your magic to transfer it in a way you would be able to perceive."

"My magic?" he asked before a hand subconsciously went up to the eye he was keeping shut. "No, Mavis' you mean. It's not exactly a future but it is a point in time, and my eye is a gateway to view it. Is that correct?"

"Roughly. We need to hurry though. The Celestial Spirit King will not last against Yhwach alone."

He could believe that. The few glances he was sparing were revealing just how much punishment the giant was taking, his strikes unable to reach while his body continued to suffer until a rain of punishments delivered from Yhwach up high. "Alright, let's do this. Be careful so he doesn't notice."

"I'll do my best," Wendy stated nervously before grabbing his hand, the magic of Nirvana briefly flaring up. He noticed how Yhwach's figure in the distance seemed to freeze at that moment so he knew right then and there that subtly was all but out. But before the man could do anything the space between the two of them was ripped up, courtesy of a large slash from the Celestial Spirit King in an effect to buy them just a little bit more time. So that meant he had to do his part too.

There wasn't much of Mavis' power left running through his system that he could easily draw upon. Their connection was still shaky, but what he did have still had the same traces. He had just been filtering it into the form he needed but this time he allowed it to return to the form it was most familiar with, golden light interacting with the black and white lights that Wendy was emitting. He forced his right eye open and ignored the pain he felt in his head as static from countless shifting futures tried to fill his brain. Instead he did everything he could to push through the static, taking the window to time he had in his eye and willing it to peer towards another point.

The mere act felt almost impossible. He had no idea how Mavis could handle this power so easily. Second nature? Experience? He felt like if his focus slipped then the gateway would return straight back to normal, but he kept pushing forward with it as he felt a pulse of magic from Wendy hit him, information beginning to flood his brain as a sight filled his right eye.

He was barely able to maintain the vision he was seeing for more than a few seconds. But that was enough to get what he needed. The way Yhwach stood, the expression on his face, the magic he wielded, the weapon he wielded, the swing he was making, and the actions he would need to take considering all of this if he wanted to make it to Mavis.

"Wendy, I want you to switch him back when I shout out five," he stated, breaking the connection as he took a step forward to ensure he stood between her and the slowly restoring space. "Do you understand?"

"Five? Why five?"

"It's the amount of seconds I'll have left before I disappear if I don't reach Mavis. Even if I shout that, Yhwach will think I'm trying to hurry everyone up. He won't suspect you to act in this way. Now move and keep away from him." Without waiting for a response he shot forward, kicking back off the ground and rushing through the distorted space.

Instantly he found himself in an unfamiliar landscape, filled with odd planets of various small sizes and an array of stars hanging in the sky around him. The next moment he was back in the reality he knew, seeing far more of the same cracks and rips in space in various points. Was the Celestial Spirit King trying to unleash his world with Spatial Aurora? If so, Yhwach was making quick work at his attempts and preventing him.

"LET'S GO!" he roared out, catching the giant's attention and giving him a signal that he had completed his talk with Wendy. That was all the giant needed to hear before a giant smile burst across the giant's face, his sword being swung up and raised up high, energy being drawn in from the stars within the cracks in space and coating his blade with an ethereal glow.

It was good that the giant had this kind of strength to spare still. Because he only had a little over twenty seconds to work with. Though that was about to fall down drastically very soon.

As the Celestial Spirit King swung his blade down, he stuck close to the slash it unleashed to help close the gap. The attack might be easy to see but the way it was composed made it harder for energy to be leached away or for attacks to disperse it. Unfortunately a lot of these assumptions he had were based on the Yhwach of old. They couldn't apply to this one he realised when the attack shifted into two, as if split down the middle yet without losing any power, and missing Yhwach by a wide margin.

Damn. Where he was now wasn't good. And Yhwach would be seeing his every move. So… he just had to force an optimal path to exist. Locking his thoughts on what he sought to do if he was preventing from going right, he took the plunge and moved to circle Yhwach. A dozen blasts of magic shot out to meet him but he couldn't back away, not when he had known something like this was coming. If he had gone any other way, he would have unleashed a getsuga tenshou straight back in retaliation.

Each one was easy to bat away with a blade, though each served a singular purpose. It was to chip away at his remaining energy, reducing the time he would have left. Yhwach wanted to force this to an end just as much as he did, and was taking whatever measures he needed to do to ensure it. But that was fine. So long as he was in position, nothing else would matter.

Half way there now, but with only sixteen seconds left with the time taken and the energy lost. He would barely make it at this rate. Not if Yhwach began to switch tactics. Dismissing the blades he had, he let a few of the arrows sent his way pierce through his body, losing himself another two seconds. They reformed just how he needed them to though, a bow forming with them as he condensed another second's worth of power down into the tiny projectile and unleashed it.

That arrow never would have hit. No barrier was raised to try and stop it because Yhwach knew they would do nothing. Nor was he planning to chase after the arrow so there was little need to have such blockers. But with its position, Yhwach would still have little choice but to move or try and overpower it. And whether it was because Yhwach simply could afford to or wanted to bait him into trying again, Yhwach redirected the attacks he was unleashing to intercept the tiny projectile and smash it into a million pieces.

Perhaps in some cases he would follow up with another strike, in an attempt to push his luck. Honestly speaking, the last few seconds he would have with his power if Wendy's magic didn't kick in were unknown to even him. He'd probably just try and wing it, so perhaps something he was going to do in the current timelines was influenced by this sight right here. He simply couldn't tell, but he'd be thankful for this chance anyway. With ten seconds to spare, he was at the angle he needed. Just not the distance.

He had to focus now. Too far and he'd never reach his goal. Too close and he'd arrive too early. This had to be perfect, and to do that Yhwach needed to take the bait. With two blades forming, he wasted another two of his precious few seconds and slashed out, timing his attack with the movements he saw coming from the Celestial Spirit King.

An arc of energy being swing out so wide that the very slash itself would hit on both sides. A giant blade coming down from behind. It all was to force Yhwach one way. Forward. And the fact Yhwach chose to do so meant that it was the most optimal path to his victory. Only it wasn't enough for Yhwach to simply do that. In one move he simply shifted an arm towards the Celestial Spirit King, and a barrage of magic rained down from above, brought into their timeline in an instant, and smashing through the giant's armour, his sword slipping from his hands and digging into the ground at an angle at the end of his swing as his body fell to the ground. With his other hand, Yhwach brought out barriers to circle him on all sides, adjusting them as he charged forward and rendering the slashes at each side pointless.

Forming a new blade as he sped forward, he pushed what little energy he could spare for this into it and swung as Yhwach came into range, his blade's size increasing in an attempt to reach the man and cleave him and the barriers he had in two. But it simply changed forms as Yhwach shifted his left hand, turning into a simple dagger that missed entirely, its short length not even close to reaching the man and instead leaving him completely exposed. In the same action that left hand swung up, the barriers disappearing instantly as a sword appeared in Yhwach's left hand instead, and with that he found his entire arm severed in one swift move.

He didn't bother trying to reform it. He actively suppressed that. He only had this last bit of energy left. So instead he dragged some of the excess from his body, uncaring on how it made him look like chunks had been suddenly ripped out, and formed another blade in his other hand, solidifying his thoughts to only this weapon.

But Yhwach wasn't to meet him with another clash like before. His right hand was held back but he could see the energy that had suddenly formed in the palm of Yhwach's hand, a visible storm of magic ready to overpower what little magic he had left if he was caught unprotected by it.

He knew what this was for. If he struck out, he wouldn't be able to land a killing blow. Not before this attack eradicated him. But he did still have enough power to weaken it if he threw up his sword in defence and used it to soften the blow. And with that, he would lose any initiative and be left with no time left.

Perfect.

With no time left to spare, he threw open his mouth as he shouted out the words that would give him the only chance he had left.

"FIVE!"

And with that, Wendy acted. And the world shifted once again drastically as the power of Nirvana took hold and returned reality to what it once was.


Protector Of The Fairies


Vollstandig. For any quincy it was their trump card. For him, it was a sort of prison.

He hated it. When it came to power, there was nothing greater. He could see everything, and with a single thought he could bring them all into a single reality. When it came to knowledge, he could see so many countless futures that there was almost nothing that would not become obvious in some variation of the timelines.

No, if it was from any of those then he would have never hesitated to use it. He hated this power because using it meant he had been forced to rely on a strength that surpassed countless gods. And anyone would could force him to use such a power meant that they had been strong enough to overcome his countless plans and methods with the Almighty as it was normally. And using it meant moving away from fighting indefinitely so long as paced himself to throwing it all up to bet on anywhere above a few minutes. Maintaining it any longer was simply impossible in fights that truly taxed him to his limits. His body would accumulate too much damage over time, even if miniscule thanks to his rapid healing from future instances, from all the magic he would be rapidly drawing in to replace the sheer amount lost to maintain such a form.

Only once had he been forced to such a state. Yamamoto had done it through sheer raw strength. True, his strength had not yet been at its peak during those early days, but he had never forgotten the fear of knowing that if the fight wasn't won in those short few minutes then it would all be meaningless.

It had been a fight like his where he had actual felt that fear once again. He was dying. It was unavoidable. He would soon perish. So when his Vollstandig finally did end, there was a moment where he was terrified. Without it, he could never keep the poison at bay and fight off Ichigo before him. And yet what greeted him was not pain.

His blood felt normal. His magic responded with ease he wouldn't have expected from the strain he had just been putting his body under. Even his magical power felt high considering he had just been thrown out of his Vollstandig.

There was a faint sensation in the air. Magic, one that was so dangerous that he had made sure to recognise its feel. This was Nirvana's work. And that sensation was coming from his whole body.

That wasn't possible. He had been protecting himself to prevent this very possibility. And yet right when he had been about to unleash a storm of magic at Ichigo, he had lost access to all that power in a single moment and returned to a previous state. A state where he had yet to be poisoned.

Had she been spending all this time unravelling his magic so she could finally affect him in some way? Was even these countermeasures not enough? No, they certainly were. The fact she was only doing this now revealed much about how long it took her to be able to affect him. And while he might not have the power he had been about to use, he had the advantages of his current form. The girl had made a mistake in recording a form of him with a blade, the perfect weapon for right now. So as Ichigo tried to strike with his one remaining arm, he stepped forward in the air, dodging the strike while tearing straight through Ichigo's body at the waist with his blade.

As Ichigo began to fall past him, he took the brief moment to collect his bearings. The Celestial Spirit King was still down for the count, lying on the ground with his sword stuck deep in the earth. Ichibei was still nowhere to be seen so he still had him to worry about. Laxus was buzzing about like a pest while Natsu was hurrying up towards him, shouting out profanities that he quickly filtered out.

All in all, manageable odds. He only had to reclaim Mavis. Who… Ichigo was falling towards.

It was a trap. He spun round immediately, lunging for Ichigo before the man's upper half of his body could fall out of his reach. But Ichigo was already prepared for him, two familiar words being spoken before he was face to face with a massive blast of energy, courtesy of what little Ichigo even had left.

He wanted to heal. He wanted to put up a barrier. He did neither, relying on his blut to negate some of the damage while bearing with the rest as he shoved himself through. He could not afford to allow Ichigo to get away. Not when he had obviously been waiting for a moment. He had been careful to ensure that Ichigo never got a chance like this to reach Mavis first in their fight so far, it had taken a complete reversal of his physical condition to make him forget where he was, but all this would be for nothing for them if he crushed this plan here and now. With Ichigo's condition, they would have nothing left to play afterwards.

Ichigo had a bit of a head start on him, that much he could see as he broke through the energy. But he would have been worried if Ichigo had his legs. Right now he was merely using the released energy as a form of propulsion, propelling himself towards Mavis like a rocket. It was slower but it was all Ichigo had at this moment, and if it was that then he could easily cover the gap in time.

That was when Laxus struck.

Not a sound cloud be heard over the deafening thunder as it rained down from above, Laxus unleashing everything he could muster in one giant breath attack, widening its range so much that there was nowhere that he could have dodged to even if he had a chance to see it coming. The attack hurt, his body refusing his orders as he felt the lightning paralysing his nerves as it tried to keep him within the storm. It would likely hold him in place until the storm began to weaken or until his body could adjust or until he could deploy some magical countermeasure. Either way, he would lose precious seconds. That was not allowed.

With the storm running around him, any magic he would attempt to manipulate to move his body would be damaged, if not destroyed entirely, before it could do its job. That only mattered if he wrapped it around his body externally however. As it stood, he had countless channels that magic ran through naturally in his body like any mage, alongside the pathways his magic had formed for blut. He merely had to take control of all the energy running through them. Halt the running of magic, then adjust his body as necessary through massive shifts in the flow.

In practice, it sounded simple. In reality, it was like performing surgery on your own body from the inside and hoping that nothing broke. But through fast glimpses, focused only on the exact next instance of his actions, alongside his own well practiced skill, it was possible. It still hurt, and it was a far cry from the effortless movements of Ransoutengai when bound correctly, but it was enough. He didn't seen seamless movement. He just needed movement.

His arm snapped upwards, and as it did he reached out for the formation he needed to shift energy to and let it shoot upwards. He had long since remembered the necessary steps to form dragon slayer magic now, and he just about could make out the cry of pain as the lightning stormed, knowing that his blow had hit home.

That was the problem for these dragon slayers. A breath attack might be seen as one of their trump cards but it also made them something else. An easy target.

Still, the wound he had delivered wouldn't be lethal. It would only delay Laxus, for how long he had no idea, as he could hardly count on good aim with the extreme measures he had been forced to take. But that dragon slayer was a matter for latter. Immediately he was kicked off the air as control naturally returned to his body, pushing himself straight after Ichigo.

He had lost time. Too much time in fact. The barrier that had held Mavis away from his grasp was down. She was lunging out for Ichigo, and he could see Ichigo trying to do the same as parts of his body continued to break away.

But they wouldn't make it. If Laxus' attack had been a second longer, it would have been over. His hand snapped out, reaching out desperately and grabbing Ichigo by the shoulder, preparing to pull him away. Only for that same shoulder to break away, its form being discarded as Ichigo abandoned what little energy he had left to avoid being flung away.

It still wouldn't be enough. Shifting a body part to energy would only work once. He let his hand continue down, magic springing forth and letting him grip onto what he otherwise would not be able to grasp, and then threw Ichigo back without a second look. Ichigo tried to stop him, energy exploding out that blocked his view for a moment, but even through that he had kept his arm moving, ignoring the burns it left across his arm. They were nothing more than a minor inconvenience. His other hand shot forward as he crossed the last bit of ground needed, preparing to claim the prize he had long sought. Mavis Vermillion was right before him, without even a hope at all of escaping. Just another step and he would win.

And yet as his hand wrapped around her neck, his magic ready to tear out the secrets of Lumen Histoire and destroy the will of the consciousness until it was nothing more than a tool that would obey, the image before him broke apart, leaving his eye to widen in shock as he passed straight through her. And then in horror as his head snapped back round.

It had been an illusion. If he had been looking into the future, it would have been clear. But he hadn't had a moment to. His condition and state being restored to a past version, the urgency he was forced to act under to prevent losing entirely, it was probably all for this moment. A moment where he would not have the time to spare to look into the future and see what was to come, not without potentially losing a precious window that he had to act in.

And now as he saw Ichigo where he had flung the man to, hanging in the air with so little of his body left, his form more like a shade with a face and the barest amount of an arm, he saw the form of Mavis hanging there, mixed in within the darkness in a similar state, golden energy intermixing with the existing darkness.

That was how they did it wasn't it? It wasn't just Ichigo whose body was unstable. Hers was too. The clear difference would have been who had the majority of the magical power, but if she willingly allowed her body to turn to a similar state then a mere bit of contact was all the two ever needed. It must have been the briefest of touches but if their hands had touched, even if just for a moment, or perhaps even just had their fingers brush against one another, they must have been able to connect their energy to one another once again. With that, all she would have needed to do would have been to turn to energy and get pulled back with Ichigo himself, to rearrange her being in a different location.

It was over he realised as he leaped away, his eye having glimpsed the future and seen nothing but a stream of darkness filling the streets around him. That couldn't have been Ichigo and Mavis, he knew his eye would not see them, but rather Ichibei's actions instead. Staying down there would have risked being affected by the man's magic, and in desperately he did attempt to stop the man as he finally emerged from hiding. A dozen arrows shot out, stabbing into the man's flesh. But it wasn't enough to stop the monk, who appeared to have scarified protecting himself to do a single job. To write out a new name.

This was how they were stabilised in the futures where he had arrived late and where Ichigo had been present. It made sense, as in no future had Ichigo been unstable like he had been in this fight. A name to bind him and Mavis together as a single existence, to tie him back to the mortal plain once again, and even if he tried and stopped it then it still would not matter. Ichigo and Mavis would still have fused, and they would not make the same mistake as last time.

It was over. He had lost. His dream was falling out of reach, and he would never be able to make it a reality once again. Not without the power of Lumen Histoire. And he could not do that against the monster being summoned. There would be no future where he would win.

So then perhaps it was worth throwing everything away. He wasn't going to win so he would walk the path of death for whatever scrap he could get anyway. Even if it destroyed his body. Even if it tore him apart.

Yes. It wasn't over. Not until he burnt out every last bit of his life away. Until his heart stopped beating, until his magic ran dry, he would still fight.

And so with those thoughts in mind, he broke the one taboo he knew he would never recover from. With the medallion recovered through Wendy's actions to return him to a previous state, he let the power of Yamamoto's bankai flow forth and channelled it out through his body. Then, even as his magic and body screamed out in warning, he shattered the medallion and ensured the energy was trapped within his body still.

One could not use vollstandig with a stolen bankai. But that wasn't strictly true. In reality, a quincy could not use vollstandig not because the bankai locked it away but because the medallion did. It was nothing more than a safety mechanism, allowing a quincy to contain and harness a shinigami's power through a medium that treated it as a pseudo-vollstandig. Destroy it and the energy was unleashed, allowing the true vollstandig to be wielded once again.

But, if for some reason one was capable of holding onto the stolen energy of a Shinigami, even if only for a short while, it would be possible to use both powers. He was probably the only one with the control and the abilities to do so. But even so, nothing changed the fact that he would be wielding the pinnacle of both Shinigami powers and quincy powers at once. The two powers that were far too incompatible with one another.

He would die. But that was going to happen anyway so what difference did it make adding more certainty to that. Because even if he was to die, he could still try and win first.

No. He would win first. He would accept nothing less. That was what was necessary to reach his ideal future, even if only his past self would be able to realise it.


Protector Of The Fairies


"Hear me, being within."

So loud. Who was that calling out to him? He was already having enough time trying to keep everything straight, thousands of memories muddling up inside his head. He remembered being alive a hundred year ago. He remembered playing as a kid only a few decades past. He could see recent memories from two sides, the perspectives too different to have come from the same source. And he could even see memories that he couldn't quite recognise at all, a face he felt he should remember. A face that felt so familiar, in a time he could not even begin to place. Whose memory was this even?

"A mixture of entities old and young, a form of power that exists as a shell for the two. Oh pitiful being without a name. Let that change right now."

Pitiful? At least he didn't feel much confusion when it came to the emotion he was feeling right now. Everything within him was in unison about wanting to shout back at the man. Unfortunately he was still struggling to find a voice to use. How was he meant to sound? How had he sounded? Or better yet, how was he even meant to look? Where was his mouth for words to be spoken from?

"Here now, as a witness to your existence, I christen you under a new name. Let this form be known by a single name. Let all that make it up find stability as a singular existence for as long as they wish."

Was something hitting him? His limps, if they could be called that, felt heavy. Was it from a lack of strength yet distributed in them? Or was something weighing him down? They felt like something was clinging to them, and it wasn't limited to purely them. His whole body felt like it had been coated in something.

"I name you now. Come forth, Getsuga!"

Getsuga? That… was his name.

Ah. Things were clearer now. He was Getsuga. He was an entity made up of three beings. Four perhaps if he regarded the spirit of the zanpakutou of one of the entities as a separate personality. Though he had to admit, it was amusing to be known as this name. One part of him had been crying out this name for most of his life, clinging to it as a cornerstone for his strength. Perhaps it was fitting that this name would be his name. He was strength to be relied on to do the jobs needed to be done.

As his vision began to clear, what appeared to be ink sliding down from his body, he took his first breath of the world around him, wishing he could pause and marvel at it a bit. Memories were helpful to understand but this experience right now was new. If only it was more peaceful.

Turning to the man he recognised from his memories as Ichibei, he nodded his head briefly in thanks. "My mind has cleared. Thank you for your assistance."

"It's no problem," the monk replied, looking like he had seen better days. Holes littered the man's body, and it looked like it was taking all the man's remaining energy to stand, using his brush as a cane to keep himself upright. "If you wouldn't mind helping me a moment though. A favour for a favour?"

"Of course." His memories more than told him what he needed to say. "Ichibei." It was rather fascinating to see how the man's body instantly began to heal, and if he really focused he could dedicate the small transfer of magical power that occurred to help facilitate such regeneration. "You waited some time to act. Were you waiting for my arrival?"

"I hardly had the magic to spare fighting Yhwach outright," the monk replied, looking much better now. "I used up what little power I had left to give you a name. I might be able to squeeze a few drops more if pushed, but I can hardly do anything that could be a sizable threat to Yhwach anymore."

"It's fine," he said simply, turning his gaze towards the man in question. Well, man was a hard way to describe the quincy now. What he was looking at was more like a mixture of a burning corpse and a corrupted angle. The left side matched up with the memories of Yhwach's previous form, enough to tell him that this was the man's vollstandig. But it looked to be close to breaking out of the man's own control, the energy spreading out wildly with countless eyes, some seeing clearly while others were bleeding black ooze, snapping open and shut at what he could only assume were random intervals.

The right side was little better. This bankai was the same one he had seen before, and back then it had been like Yhwach had been wreathed in flames. It had been like a second layer that he wore, perhaps even like a second skin. But however smooth it might have appeared before, now it was a far more gruesome sight. He could smell the stench of burning flesh in the air, Yhwach's own skin being charred black. Quite rapidly it would shift back to a pristine state, right before his eyes, but no sooner would it do so would the process begin all over again.

"Not nearly as majestic as a phoenix's regeneration is it?" he muttered in disgust. Individually both sides are formidable. To use both at once means creating a cycle of dying and reversal it seems though. What changed? Managing a bankai and a vollstandig is hardly a difficult matter."

"A Hybrid such as yourself can't be the judge for such difficulties," Ichibei shot back half-heartedly. "You understand that I assume? Shinigami and Quincy powers cannot mix and be expected to stay in a state of equilibrium. One side must be victorious, but to try and maintain both in parallel? It's a death sentence."

"I'm alive."

"Because you had a medium that broke that deadlock. You're hardly managing a bankai and a vollstandig but rather one singular power that can be shaped into either or both." Ichibei glanced up warily at Yhwach before shaking his head. "But this situation is worse than merely trying to balance the two powers. That bankai is not his. He's trying to maintain the magical power of a man long gone from this world, and he's doing that by feeding it his own magic and shaping it into the closest equivalent form. But he's doing that while trying to multitask. In exchange for what must be great power, he's burning away his own life." The monk slowly let out a sigh, taking a step away as if to place himself behind him. "He has become truly desperate."

"It doesn't matter. Pull everyone back. I'll finish this."

"Are you sure?"

"He is capable of manipulating countless futures in which that bankai is still going to be active in. The sky is about to burn, and everything nearly will be reduced to a crisp. That is merely a possibility that I can see if nothing changes, and it has already begun to change countless times since I began speaking. Move everyone back. They won't be able to withstand the heat, nor the power Yhwach will likely exert."

"Natsu will likely protest."

"I don't care."

"And fighting by yourself, it is-"

"Let me be clearer," he stated impatiently, turning his head to glare at Ichibei. Which personality was this coming from he briefly wondered. Was it that king from another world? Was it the viciousness formed from a hollow made zanpakutou spirit? Or was it merely some mix that manifested in himself? "I cannot fight as I want if you are all hanging around. You will all simply be liabilities."

"Is that so?" Rather than look insulted, Ichibei instead looked relieved. "I can tell you aren't lying. There isn't arrogance in those words you've spoken either. Trust me, I would be able to tell. It's pure fact to you isn't it? That's a relief to hear."

Turning to withdraw, Ichibei paused only briefly to add a single warning. "Be careful at least. A man at the end of his rope is dangerous. Desperation can lead to a surprising amount of strength. And Yhwach is truly desperate now if he has truly meant to throw even his own life away."

"I already know that," he muttered as he turned back to face the quincy king, hearing the monk's footsteps quickly vanishing. Other magical signatures nearby looked to be on the move, some trying to converge with him before they began to turn away, some faster than others. Still, he didn't care much as long as they kept their distance. But he could tell he would get a headache if he didn't take precautions.

Extending a hand out towards the way of his allies, he merely had to will the magic within to fulfil his wish. A golden barrier, large enough to shield everyone within the city still alive, sprung up from the ground, encircling everyone he wished to protect.

Yhwach didn't make any moves to stop him. He wondered if that was because Yhwach couldn't, didn't desire to, or whether it was because he was simply needing the time to manage his own power. If it was the latter, this would be the last opportunity that he would grant.

With the barrier made, he moved his right hand out to the side and let a small stream of darkness take the rough shape of one of the blades he had in his memory. He didn't bother letting it take any physical shape, merely keeping it as energy. With how dense it could be packed in, there was little benefit to adding a physical form when it had enough presence to act in the same way. "Getsuga…"

Ah. That might be annoying. He couldn't very well go calling out his own name every time he wanted to attack. And merely referring to these attacks as 'Tenshou' felt wrong, like it was missing a necessary piece. Was there another name he could use?

No. There was no point even thinking on this. All he needed to do was gather the energy and swing. Such an attack was a basic as any technique, so it hardly needed a name to stand out. Words would just be wasted so he made sure to shut his mouth and abandon any attempts to find a replacement name.

Then he swung. It was hardly an arc of energy like his memories showed it being used as. Instead it was more like a giant wave of darkness was risen up along his blade's path and tried to swallow everything in its path. He supposed it was a good think that the area was already so ruined. At this point he was merely cleaning up part of the mess by ensuring none remained.

But it didn't appear such a simple swing was enough to simply end Yhwach there and then. An unstable vortex of flames shot out, barely missing him as it hit the ground next to him and simply burnt away the area it touched from existence. A powerful attack, he would admit that. But it was slow. Slow enough that he had been able to see it and realise he had no need to move to avoid it.

"Is that all Yhwach? I'm disappointed."

Taking a step forward, he swung his arm a few times, releasing wave after wave of darkness. Each was split in two by repeated attacks, strikes that he could easily dodge still. A few of the attacks did multiply right before they reached him, Yhwach obviously trying to catch him off guard, but the second he tried that he had leapt up into the air, sailing high above them and getting a clear view of the quincy down below.

Without giving Yhwach time to track him, knowing he would have to do it manually now with so much magic distorting his normally shape senses and with his eyes being unable to perceive him in the future, he shot straight back down from above, slicing down with a blade of darkness against Yhwach's own unsteady one. Yhwach's grip almost failed entirely, the arm bending back as if his strength was about to run out. But then Yhwach healed once more, the strength being restored for that brief while until the flesh burnt away again. But that seemed to be hardly a concern to Yhwach, not when the flames around him were swelling out to greater sizes.

It must have been boiling being this close for anyone else. Though perhaps turning off his sense of heat wasn't the best move to take, even if it made it more comfortable to fight without. He had no idea how dangerous these flames could be from sheer proximity, and it probably wasn't a great sign that he could see parts of his body burning away.

Deciding not to press his luck too much, he used the opening Yhwach inevitably created before healing, the moment where his body would be at its weakest, and lashed out with a leg, sending the man flying to one side. The process destroyed his knee and left his leg hanging by only a few tendrils of energy but the cost of repairing it with magic was hardly a concern. If it cost anything at all, he could hardly notice it.

"Guess short range isn't going to be the easy way to end this huh? That's fine. I can just wear you down from a distance if I need to. If this is all he's capable of stopping, one final attack of significant strength should do it."

Raising his hand up, he let the energy begin to gather, not caring as some of it leaked out into the air around him in his rush to contain it all. Then, with a single swing, he unleashed enough energy to cover half the city in darkness.

It should have been it. It almost was. But right as he had begun to swing, Yhwach had reappeared right in front of him. It hadn't been speed, Yhwach wasn't close to being fast enough that he wouldn't be able to track him. The man had simply appeared, the tell-tale signs he could easily recognise now that showed that time magic had occurred. And as he swung down, Yhwach lunged forward, being caught by part of the energy as it passed and tearing a chunk out of the man's left side. However that was hardly a concern for Yhwach when the damage healed instantly with another burst of his magic, and before he could act he had been grabbed by the throat by a newly reformed and outstretched left hand, the right arm swinging out with a blade intent on cutting him down a few inches.

That wasn't too much of a concern however. Instead he let it happen, swinging his body up as his legs vanished beneath him and unleashed a storm of energy directly. The act was enough to force Yhwach to break his grip, trying to protect himself, and as he finished flipping over he already had a pair of new legs where the old ones had been, the energy still shifting as it tried to finish its work in restoring them.

"Give it…"

"Huh? Didn't quite catch that? Bit hard to hear you over there."

"… to me… Give it… TO ME!"

Yhwach burst forward through the lingering energy, countless eyes widening as he brought his sword back. The act of swinging it brought hundreds of strikes into reality, each closing off countless points of retreat. The fastest method to put distance between himself and them was to kick backwards off the air, flying away from them and down towards the ground as a new blade of energy formed in his right hand. He let it widen for a moment, packing more energy into the strike, but rather than using it to unleash a stream of energy that might be cut through he instead held it back to the last moment and used the energy to shatter a cluster of flame slashes to give himself an opening to dodge through.

In the time he had taken to do that, Yhwach had not been resting patiently though. A barrier of thousands of arrows rained down upon him, each imbued with the same energy of the bankai the man was using, and the result was nothing short than a downpour of fire. He could feel his body being burnt away as each arrow landed, the ground boiling and melting all around him, but he didn't feel any of the pain. He simply swung his hand up and let the magic he unleashed blast away one of the volleys. Unlike the slashes, they didn't possess anywhere close to the power needed to slice through his own attacks.

It seemed though that even all of this was a smokescreen for Yhwach to move in closer, grabbing him once again by the throat and slamming him back against something. He could feel a familiar magic against one of his palms before he realised he was being pressed against the very barrier that was shielding the others?

"For someone who can't see the future anymore, it seems you can still control your enemies quite a lot if you brute force it. You've got me. So? What's your next move?"

"Your power… Lumen Histoire… mine… MINE!"

He could feel the effects of a familiar magic, tugging at his own power and trying to snatch it away. And it made him sigh. "So this is your final play is it? You want to steal away the very power of Lumen Histoire. But even if you could, you would have barely enough magic to go back a few minutes by the time you are done. Or do you intent to steal my magical power too? If so, sorry but I don't intent to offer you a chance to try."

Switching focus to the barrier behind him, he grabbed a section of it and let it open it, the wall that he had been pressed against vanishing suddenly. The result had him being pressed through the gap, and before Yhwach could pull away in time he shut the barrier once more with a snap, severing the man's left hand and leaving it within the barrier with himself. He gave it a brief kick as he got his footing back properly, enjoying the sight of it not being reformed on Yhwach when the man healed. "You really thought I wouldn't be taking measures already to limit your healing? The edge of this barrier is like the edge of my knife. That which is cut will stay cut until it heals. No time magic shenanigans will change that, but please feel free to try as much as you want." He paused for a moment, seeing the scathing look Yhwach was giving him but realising it hadn't changed with any of his words. "Ah, you can't hear me. Suppose the barrier does make it harder doesn't it? But go on, hit it as much as you want. It won't-"

He paused in shock as Yhwach swung down at the barrier, and the sensation of countless timelines being merged into this one was unmissable. It was even more so when he saw the barrier begin to crack, flames leaking the gaps. How many futures were behind that attack to actual damage the barrier? He supposed opening it like he had would have reduced its structural integrity somewhat but this kind of damage was still worrying. This barrier was to keep everyone safe while he fought. He could not afford to let Yhwach near it though if it was no longer as secure as he liked.

As Yhwach raised his sword once again, the barrier opened up once more and he shot out, intercepting the second strike by catching the man's wrist and holding it in place. Then, with his own hand, he clenched it into a fist and swung up, slamming it straight into Yhwach's chest and sending him flying backwards as his grip on the wrist broke. With a swipe to the side he let the energy making up his body heal away the damage done by the flames and quickly made chase after Yhwach, knowing that the man would not be down for long.

It seemed though that even rushing had been unnecessary. Yhwach was struggling back to his feet, far from the gracefulness he had shown in past encounters. The rate that he was healing at was slowing down massively. The flames that had once been limited to one side of the man's body were spreading further, while the power of the vollstandig was coating areas of dead flesh on the other side. It might look like it was trying to form a unison of some kind but all it was doing was hastening the man's demise.

"Just stop it already. This is just sad."

"Not… yet. I can… still win…"

"No you can't. This isn't about winning or losing. What, are you upset you can't create your precious empire again? That you can't wreck four hundred years of history all for your precious ego?"

Yhwach didn't take too kindly to his words, lashing out with the sword in his remaining hand and unleashing a wave of flames that would have caught him if he hadn't moved out of their path sharply, shooting forward while Yhwach's arm was overextended from his swing. Yhwach didn't appear to want him to have an easy time of it, the power of the Almighty forcing Yhwach's arm back as a future where the sword hadn't been swung came into their reality. But even if it was there to block his strike, it didn't stop him from unleashing the energy that made up his blade and sending Yhwach skidding back along the ground.

Sighing, he slowly followed after the man, keeping a close eye on him as he struggled to get back up. "What did you think would happen? That you would create some kind of utopia? That everything would go happily ever after? News flash, it fell apart even under your rule. It may have dismantled itself after your death but you lead your people in a war against the Shinigami. That you must have glimpsed. What? Did you realise too late to prevent it? Or was it simply how things had to be, and that no even the countless futures you could see could help you prevent that?"

"Be… quiet."

"No. Do my words hurt? I hope so. They are meant to. Baraggan went to war for pure vengeance. Zeref had a mixture of goals that he wanted to achieve and an axe he wanted to grind with me. But I'm pretty confident those two understood the gravity that this war represented. They just weren't as concerned with the loss of life. But understanding what your goal is, did you see any of these casualties as real?" He scoffed as he saw some of the eyes Yhwach had on his body glaring up at him. "So I hit it on the head huh? No matter how much is lost, no matter how sad it might be, it's all for the purpose of creating a so called brighter future, and in doing so it will wipe away everything that was lost to make it."

"Changing the past… will always destroy the future… You know that."

"I do," he admitted, kneeling down beside Yhwach for a moment. "So I'm quite glad this power ended up in my hands instead of yours. Ichigo here, he's kind of like you when it comes to how desperately he might pursue something. Yet he had enough to sense to reach this cliff edge and know that jumping off it won't do any good. You though? Well so long as you believe there to be a prize at the bottom, I'm sure you wouldn't even hesitate. Though being technical here, you are probably more the type to push someone off first to make sure it's safe and then follow after then,"

"ENOUGH!" Yhwach roared, lunging out with his sword and almost stabbing it through his head. His arm even shifted as multiple futures came into reality, but it made little difference when all that happened was Yhwach's hand shifted places with a broken hilt, the rest of the blade held within a small barrier of golden light.

"Predictable," he muttered, patting the barrier to one side and letting it take the majority of Yhwach's blade away from them. "And with that, the last of your blades is broken. You can try and manifest this bankai's power through another but will it be able to maintain itself in the same way this one could?" He shook his head and got back to his feet, turning his back to Yhwach as he began to walk away. "I doubt it. It's over. Accept it."

"Never!" Yhwach roared out, struggling to his feet. He threw his head back to look at the quincy for a moment, noticing blood trickling out of the man's mouth as the flames and vollstandig tried to spread their influence further. It seemed in Yhwach's desperation, he was pushing it all to its limit in the hopes to gain something out of this.

"But what can you even gain?" he muttered, a blade of dark energy slowly forming in his right hand. Bit by bit he poured his strength into it, making sure to create the distance he wanted so that his body wasn't constantly having to regenerate as the flames lashed out. "Bladeless with one arm, your strength slowly killing you, it's over. But you still struggle on regardless, chasing after you goal without care for your own life. It might be somewhat admirable if it wasn't built upon such a horrible foundation."

"This… is not… how it ends! I will reach the past… I will! I will! The future… the past… all shall be… as I degree!" Yhwach lunged forward, flames expanding as they abandoned any attempt at remaining close to the skin like a second skin and instead just lashed out at everything within a few metres, leaving nothing behind. The world itself kept warping, countless futures changing the present and filling the space with dozens of projectiles and magic, all showing the tell-tale signs of a last ditch effort. So this final attack was the combined efforts of all them he reckoned.

"The past," Yhwach roared out, stretching forward with his right hand, "The present, and the future. None of it will interfere. For the sake of peace, I will do whatever is needed."

"Finally something we can agree on," he said as he turned round, swinging his arm up and letting the energy pour forth. "Mugetsu."

Bringing his arm down one final time, he didn't hold back anything this time. This was all Yhwach had left. There was nothing else to fear. No tricks to be wary of, no traps to be caught by, and even if there had been he had seen the limits of Yhwach against him. So with one final attack he brought night to the land before him, the single slash unleashing so much energy that all anyone could see ahead of him was darkness. The magic that had been brought to bear against him, the flames that were trying to burn away his attack, all of it was smothered by the sheer density of the magical power unleashed.

"Goodbye Yhwach. You can go back to sleep, and this time you don't need to wake up again."

And as the darkness began to clear, all that was left was a dying flame, quickly being blown at by the wind. Yhwach was no more.

It was over. It was finally over.


Protector Of The Fairies


Well… hi everyone. Yeah, been a bit. Does a chapter about 3 times the normal length make up for it?

Honestly, I could have released some of this earlier. But the problem that kept me away for a while was rather simple. Writer's block. Last time it happened this bad, I didn't write for weeks on end and burnt through dozens of my stockpiled chapters. This time I didn't even manage to get started on this chapter until about a month after the last one, and it was hard going in some areas.

Additionally, I did not know how long this final part against Yhwach would be. I knew the defeat of Yhwach had to be the end of a chapter but I couldn't very well release part of it without knowing how long the next chapter might be. And eventually that became the desire to wrap up the whole fight in one chapter. Except I wasn't going to compromise it by cutting it short in that case. This was to be the final battle, and while I enjoyed Acnologia's battle a lot more this one did have some fun moments. When it wasn't giving me writer's block of course. A battle with individuals seeing the future is a pain to write. Who would have thought?

Put I finally managed it, and tried to give a bit of screen time to a few people. Natsu had a bit of a decent showing against Yamamoto's bankai, the Celestial Spirit King got some revenge for his previous defeat, Laxus tried to mess with Yhwach where he could, Ichigo is fairly self-explanatory with half his stuff, Uryuu showed up finally for a quite good moment to strike if you ask me, and then there is Wendy, who essentially gave them the opening to win.

Hoping the fight lived up to people's expectations, especially with the wait. Feel free to let me know what you thought of it, I'd really appreciate it, especially with only two chapters to go until the end. Next chapter we deal with the aftermath with the war finally being over, then the final chapter will be the epilogue.

Anyway, till the next time. I've been Takei. Thanks for reading.