I'm going to keep this author's note short. Here is the first chapter of my next story. I decided after posting Chapter 11 of Key through the Soul to go back to my roots as a Fanfiction writer and take a look at Bleach and Warcraft (which got me started here in the first place). Of course my first stories were terribly written and I cringe when I look back and read them. So I decided to write a different story in a new context. Instead of a group of Ichigo's friends going to Azeroth why not, i thought, just have Ichigo go instead? It took some time and a bit of outlining but I found a story line that works! I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review!

In related news I recently became a Beta Reader for JIMMYJAMSTER728 for his stories United against the Legion of Flames and Transcendence Take a look at his stories when you have a chance. You won't be disappointed.

Revised: November 5, 2013: I fixed the entire last section of the chapter as well as several other parts with Ichigo in order to fix his personality somewhat. Several members who PM'ed me said that Ichigo's reaction was not authentic enough given what happened. So I took a look at it and had to agree. Thank you for the help guys!

...

Rise of the True Death God: Chapter 1

Ichigo opened his eyes and quickly realized that he was no longer in his room. In fact, he wasn't even in Karakura Town anymore for that matter.

"Where am I? Is this a dream?"

At first he thought it might be a dream and he really wanted it to be one but everything seemed too real. In dreams colors seem muted, shapes are warped and things pop into and out of existence on a whim. Ichigo could see nothing of the sort happening. Everything about the forest he found himself in seemed to be real. From the birds chirping in the distance to the slight smell of the trees around him he could find nothing to say this was a dream. If he didn't know he had fallen asleep in his bed just the night before Ichigo would have believed he was actually in another world.

Taking a calming breath he decided to go over what he knew, "Ok, let's take a step back here and go over what happened. I remember lying in my bed, Rukia was off to who-knows-where on official shinigami business and dad was whining about something Karin said to him. I remember falling asleep and then nothing."

A few days ago Ichigo had asked Rukia about the shinigami and, among several other things, she had mentioned how all shinigami have an inner world where they converse with their zanpakuto. His initial reaction to Rukia talking about his zanpakuto as being alive was skeptical at best but eventually he came around to believing her. Apart from her terrible drawing skills Rukia wasn't one to lay or make stuff up like that. Still, Ichigo took a look around the forest, something about this place didn't seem as if it belonged on Earth or even part of his soul.

"Hurry."

"Who said that?" Ichigo spun around, his feet crunching on fallen leaves as he looked for the source of the voice. Seeing nothing he reached for where his zanpakuto would be on his back but found to his muted surprise that it wasn't there. Lowering his arm and glancing back and forth through the forest he looked for any sign, any evidence that someone was there.

"There is no time to waste Ichigo Kurosaki. Your world does not have much time left."

"What are you talking about?" That time the voice sounded as if it was coming from right next to him. Snapping his head to the left he looked around but once again found no one there. As if following some unconscious signal Ichigo began walking through the shadowy forest, up and over plants and around trees that he could not remember ever seeing before. The whole forest seemed to be giving off an extraterrestrial vibe that Ichigo felt was similar to what he felt when fighting hollows.

A blue ball of light whisked by Ichigo's head and he put his arms up to defend himself. It was all for naught as the ball of light simply orbited around him a couple of times before floating away into the forest. As it did so Ichigo could have sworn he heard a melodious voice whispering or laughing.

"This way Ichigo Kurosaki. You are running out of time. They are almost here."

Ichigo did hurry but it seemed that no matter how much he ran the voice was still the same distance away. One moment it would be right next to his ear, whispering into it, and the next it would sound as if it was coming from over the horizon. He didn't know how much time passed, it could have been minutes or even hours, for the sun in the sky seemed to be eternally setting to the west. Eventually he managed to breach through the edge of the forest and found himself standing on a cliff.

"Holy hell…"

Ichigo liked to think being able to see spirits, shinigami, and hollows helped to make him immune to being surprised by strange and mysterious things. Sure the first few days of fighting hollows were exciting but the novelty quickly wore off as his mind got used to it. All that experience was quickly thrown away at what he saw before him; or rather what he saw several miles away from him. Rooted at the top of a small mountain was a tree that seemed to reach up into the heavens. Its trunk alone had to be thousands of feet tall. Casting his gaze upwards he noted that the shadows surrounding the forest came from the canopy of the enormous tree overshadowing the land for miles around.

Carefully stepping to the edge of cliff, wary of loose rocks, Ichigo peered over and saw a sheer drop for over one hundred feet before reaching the treetops.

"I am relieved we are finally able to meet face to face."

Ichigo spun around and saw a cloaked figure standing behind him, his purple hood hiding his face, "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"I have failed humanity once," as the man spoke his features seemed to twist and distort like oily shadows. Slamming his staff down the man stared at Ichigo, "As for what I want…I would have preferred to never have met you Ichigo Kurosaki for you meeting me is perhaps the worst thing that could ever have happened in your life."

The seriousness in the man's tone stopped Ichigo from retorting. He couldn't explain it but something about the man made Ichigo believe him, "Fine then. You wanted to meet me so here I am. Let me ask you a question though. Are you my zanpakuto's spirit?"

Despite not being able to see the man's face Ichigo could sense he was smiling, "An honored notion but one that I do not deserve. I was once a guardian of my world and yet I failed in my duty when it needed me the most. The reason I have come here is to warn you Ichigo Kurosaki. The deceiver's eyes have fallen upon your world and as we speak the shadow of his army stretches over all that you know. You must find a way to flee your world before it is too late or all hope is lost."

A cold and stiff wind blew through the forest and Ichigo saw the sky fading to an inky blackness. Realizing he was waking up he shouted over the wind, "Who's coming?"

The man jabbed a finger at Ichigo and his voice seemed to carry over the roaring wind loud and clear, "Do not make the same mistake Arthas did Ichigo Kurosaki. Heed my warning and flee your world before it is too late!"

Desperate for answers Ichigo reached out towards the man but everything suddenly took on the consistency of syrup. The closer he got to the man the slower he moved. Just as he was about to touch the man's robes the world around him vanished and he was embraced by the dark hold of unconsciousness.

...

Ichigo gasped and sat up in his bed.

Taking a few labored breaths he looked around and realized he was back in his own room. Everything seemed be in their normal and proper places and he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Laying back down he noticed the door to his closet was open and frowned. When had Rukia left his room? Putting that thought away for later he stared up at his ceiling and tried to recall what his dream had been about but every time he seemed to be close to remembering the memories slipped through his fingers like water. The more he tried to remember the less he could until all he could recollect was a dark forest and a mysterious stranger.

"What a strange dream," Ichigo sat on the edge of his bed and yawned. His clock said it was almost seven in the morning, which meant Yuzu should have started making breakfast. Putting on his school uniform and stretching out several kinks in his arms he couldn't help but attempt to try and understand what his dream was about. Of course he has had several vivid dreams and nightmares throughout his life but something about this one seemed to call out to him. Ichigo couldn't explain it despite his best efforts.

"I know it was just a dream but it felt so real. If I could just remember more about it…damn it this is annoying. Perhaps Rukia might know something about this."

As he was about to leave his room and head downstairs he heard something shift and rustle in his closet. Curious he glanced inside and a moment later Kon appeared from within a pile of his clothes. Glaring down at the mod soul inhabiting the plush body of a stuffed animal he found in a trashcan, Ichigo noticed with veiled amusement that Kon's appearance suggested he had fled from Yuzu in the middle of the night.

"Kon," Ichigo glared down at the mod soul and firmly grasped the stuffed lion's head, "What the hell are you doing in my closet?"

Kon frantically tried to free himself but found his current strength to be somewhat lacking, "It was terrible Ichigo. Your sister is a monster! She takes me and dresses me up in all these girly clothes and even dares to call me Bostov! My name is Kon not Bostov! I swear your sister is worse than a hollow! If I were you I'd-"

He was cut off as Ichigo's other hand closed around his face in a futile attempt to smother the mod soul. Ichigo knew well enough that he couldn't kill Kon when he was in such a state but it helped him to relieve a lot of stress, "The deal we had was that you'd stay with Yuzu and Karin for the next few days. Yuzu's going to get suspicious when she heads back to her room and finds you missing."

"But Ichigo-"

Ichigo didn't give Kon time to complain. In one quick motion he left his room, opened Yuzu's door and threw Kon against the back wall. Just as the mod soul recovered and made a break for the door Ichigo quickly slammed it behind him. It was a good thing Kon was unable to reach the doorknob in his current body or he could escape.

"I should tell Yuzu and Karin to close their door at night. That way Kon won't be able to escape again."

With the problem solved to his satisfaction for the moment Ichigo headed downstairs to the kitchen. Letting out another tired yawn he pulled out a chair at the table and plopped down, "Morning. What's for breakfast?"

Yuzu Kurosaki beamed happily at her brother, "Good morning Ichigo! Today I made scrambled eggs, toast and waffles."

Karin, Yuzu's twin sister, grumbled angrily, "We would have had bacon but old goatface had to go and eat it all last night. I made sure to teach him to not do that again."

Ichigo nodded and was about to eat when he noticed the television was on. While that wasn't that uncommon in the morning, his dad liked to listen to the early news to see how Karakura Town was, the fact that the local program wasn't centered on his town was strangely curious.

"Turn that up."

Without even looking away from her breakfast Karin grabbed the remote off the table and pressed the mute button. Instantly the program restarted midsentence.

"…word on the cause of the blackouts and power outages across the world. So far the scope has been limited to only a couple of dozen cities and towns across the world but government officials are certain these outages are not the work of either domestic or foreign terrorists. One of this studio's sources, an engineer working for the Tokyo Electric Power Company, states that what happened is similar to an electric surge but says the safety of the nuclear reactors was not compromised by the unprecedented event. For more on how the world is dealing with this strange occurrence we go to our American correspondent in Washington."

The reporter disappeared and was replaced by a man standing in front of a government building, "The latest word from the American government is that the problems were caused by global electromagnetic interference similar to what caused the 1989 Quebec blackout. Authorities urge citizens to remain calm. They are certain that areas without power will have it restored before the end of the day. On a related note scientists at NASA are mystified as to how this could occur when no such solar phenomenon has been observed…"

Karin glanced over his shoulder at the television when she noticed Ichigo's transfixed gaze, "That's been all they've talked about since I turned it on. Apparently it's happening all over the world. I texted a friend who's in France and she says half of Paris is without power. Ruined her entire trip too."

"Odd…"

Ichigo couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was off about the whole mess. It was one thing to have an unexplained blackout in one country but for it to happen all over the world at the same time? The odds of that occurring were astronomical. For a moment he couldn't help but remember what he could of his dream and of the forgotten warning but in the end he simply shrugged and went back to eating. The problem was going to be fixed in a couple of hours so there would be no point in worrying about it.

"Well I'm off to school."

Grabbing his bag from the nearby counter he slung it over his shoulder and waved goodbye, "If you see dad tell him I might be a little late coming home tonight. I have a class project to work on with Chad and Orihime. I should be back around dinner at the latest."

After Yuzu handed him his lunch Ichigo decided he might as well leave for school. Although he usually left a couple of minutes later he had nothing better to do and he might even be able to take a nap once he got there. Leaving through the front door, and making sure it was locked behind him, he turned to walk down the street when he saw Orihime and Tatsuki waiting in front of his house. Initially engrossed in conversation, Orihime perked up when she saw Ichigo's orange hair and waved.

"Good morning Ichigo!"

Ichigo raised a hand in return, "Hey Orihime, Tatsuki. What are you doing here?"

Orihime opened her mouth to answer but Tatsuki quickly covered it with her hand, "Orihime wanted to walk with you to school. I tried to dissuade her but she was adamant about it."

"Whatever," Ichigo shrugged. He hadn't even been up for an hour and yet the day was turning out to be really weird. His only hope was that it didn't get any weirder or he might not make it through the day with his sanity intact.

...

"Can anyone tell me how you would solve problem ten on page 132?"

Ichigo gazed out the classroom window and tried to drown out his teacher's, Misato Ochi, voice. Usually he would be able to pay attention but something seemed off about everything today. He really couldn't describe it but it was almost as if the atmosphere was charged with energy and was set to go off any moment.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with that dream?" Ichigo was not one to believe in dreams predicting the future but he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going to go wrong. After fighting hollows that could shoot beams of energy, turn invisible, or even create living bombs he didn't take anything his instincts told him for granted.

"Alright then," Ms. Ochi slammed the textbook she was holding shut. It seemed that, as usual, no one had volunteered to give her the answer, "Ok then. Since you are all too lazy to raise your hands I'm just going to pick out one of her at random. Let's see here. Today's lucky student is-"

She was cut off as the lights in the room flickered twice before cutting out entirely. Amidst the muttering of his fellow students Ichigo sat at attention and glanced through the window. He was lucky that Ms. Ochi's classroom happened to face the street in front of Karakura High School because Ichigo could see the blackout wasn't just limited to the school. Every street and building as far as he could see was without power. In the distance he could hear the sound of cars breaking and horns honking as drivers desperately swerved to avoid hitting each other.

Back in the classroom various students were whispering to each other about the loss of power.

"It's happening here too?"

"Why would it affect Karakura Town now?"

"What's going to happen now?"

"That's enough!"

Ms. Ochi's voice boom with authority rarely seen in her classroom and it quickly shut down the various comments and whispers drifting around. With the full attention of her students focused entirely on her she glared at several particular students, daring them to try and speak out of line. When her gaze turned to Ichigo he simply rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Now that I have your attention," Ms. Ochi's opened her text book again, "It appears the building has lost power. Consider it a good thing that we have plenty of sunlight to continue the class. Now then, the lucky student to answer this question shall be-"

"Attention students and faculty," the loudspeaker positioned about the door sparked a moment before the principal's voice sounded, "As you have noticed the power in the school, as well as in most of Karakura Town, has been lost. Due to concerns with the timescale needed to restore power as well as the safety of the students all classes are hereby suspended for the rest of the day."

At the announcement most of the students began whispering excitedly amongst themselves about going home early. Foremost among them was Keigo, who had leapt out of his desk and into the air in celebration about having no school. Ichigo simply stared at him as a book sailed through the air and make contact with Keigo's face. Watching his friend slowly float to the floor unconscious Ichigo turned towards whoever had thrown the book. He might not condone attacking those too weak to fight back but he needed to congratulate whoever had managed to finally shut Keigo up before he could go into one of his rather annoying rants.

"Now then…" Ms. Ochi was visibly seething with rage at her class being interrupted not once, but twice. Lowering her outstretch arm from when she had thrown her textbook at Keigo she took a moment to compose herself before speaking. Hitting Keigo was one thing since everyone did it but trying to do the same to anyone else was bad, "Since it appears we will not be finishing class today I am assigning chapter 7 for homework tonight. I expect the homework on my desk first thing tomorrow morning! Someone make sure to tell Mr. Asano when he regains consciousness. I don't want him whining to me yet again."

As Ms. Ochi stomped out of the room Ichigo leaned back in his chair and sighed. This whole day was rather odd and it seemed to only be getting stranger.

"Hey."

Ichigo turned at the deep voice and saw Chad standing next to his desk, "Hey Chad. What's up?"

Before answering Chad looked across the classroom at Orihime, who in celebration of school being canceled had whipped out her custom-made lunch. Ichigo tried to get a glimpse of whatever she had conjured up but it looked nothing like any food he had seen before. As they watched Tatsuki try to avoid eating any of Orihime's culinary meals Chad continued, "Orihime…seems to be taking this in stride."

"Nothing ever bothers her," Ichigo folded his arms behind his head, "Besides it's just a power outage. It's not like the world is ending or anything. Remember last summer when we lost power? Same thing."

"I suppose you have a point," even when he admitted he was wrong Chad's voice still sounded bored, "Do you think the library will be open?"

"Unless books started to require power to read then yes."

Chad nodded, "Then I'll meet you and Orihime there around four. I have some things to do beforehand."

Ichigo watched Chad walk away before sighing and turning his attention to the clock on the wall. It was only eleven in the morning and yet he was bored. If Rukia had gone off to who knows where he could go out and hunt down some hollows. Although, propping his head on an arm and closing his eyes, without all the work of saving souls he could take a nap. Without Rukia's persisting voice and Keigo's annoying one he might finally get some decent sleep, especially after last night.

"Ichigo!"

Ichigo's face froze up at the familiar voice, "You have got to be kidding me? Did she wait for me to relax before showing up?"

The whole class turned towards the door as the sound of someone running grew louder and louder before suddenly growing quiet again. Everyone waited for bated breath for what was about to happen. A moment later and out of nowhere the door to the classroom was slammed open and Rukia Kuchiki, fellow student at Karakura High School and depowered shinigami, stalked inside with her gaze firmly set on Ichigo.

"Come on Ichigo! We have to go."

"Like hell I'm going anywhere with you, you midget," Ichigo turned his head even further away from Rukia. He didn't want to deal with this crap today and besides, Rukia's voice was giving him a headache, "Why don't you find someone else to go play around with?"

Due to having turned his head away Ichigo did not see Rukia's face turn beet red from embarrassment but he did manage to hear her incomprehensible muttering and curses before she sprinted over to him. Luckily for him he had spent the last few weeks as a substitute shinigami and so his reflexes, even in his human body, were several times greater than the average human. Just as Rukia reached him and went to grab his collar he leaned back and watched her sail harmlessly in front of his desk. For a moment everything seemed to freeze.

Then Rukia's other hand, the one he hadn't seen, reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt.

"You're coming with me!" with nearly superhuman strength Rukia pulled Ichigo out of his desk and started dragging him towards the classroom door.

"Hey! Let go of me you crazy midget!"

Everyone that was left in the classroom watched Rukia drag Ichigo through the door and down the hallway, his screams of protest continuing to grow dimmer by the second. While they all were wondering what that was all about it was Orihime, her mouth stuffed with what one could only hope was bread, to ask it out loud.

"Do you think Rukia and Ichigo are dating?"

...

Ichigo wanted to yell at Rukia for almost killing him. He was also playing with the notion of running her through with his zanpakuto for dragging him out of school and halfway across Karakura Town before using her glove to separate his soul from his body. For a girl not even half his size Rukia was surprisingly strong when she needed to be. The only thing stopping him was that as soon as she had removed his soul Rukia had turned around and began playing around with her Denreishinki, all the while cursing when it didn't work as she intended it to.

Standing several feet away, watching Rukia smack her Denreishinki a few times with her hand, was Ichigo with a deadpan look on his face. Scratching the back of his neck in confusion he looked around Karakura Town from the rooftop he was on but couldn't sense any hollows for miles. Usually he could feel their presence like a pinprick in the back of his mind but it usually took Rukia's help to pinpoint its position down. Today there was nothing out there, which meant Rukia had dragged him out here for an entirely different reason.

Decided to cut to the chance he asked, "What's got you all hot and bothered?"

Rukia pouted as she fumbled around with something on her Denreishinki, "It's the Soul Society."

"The Soul Society?" Ichigo had heard Rukia mention that place a few times. Apparently it was the afterlife where good souls go and the shinigami live, "Isn't that the place where you come from? What's the matter?"

Rukia ignored his stupid question in order to focus on trying to fix whatever was wrong with her Denreishinki. As her fingers danced on the keys Ichigo remembered when he had grown curious about the device and tried to see how it works. He had quickly found out that while it might look like a phone and could make phone calls there were a lot of features and functions that he couldn't make heads or tails of. One of which was a GPS like function that tracked down hollows but seemed to always go on the fritz whenever he opened it up.

When he had told Rukia this she simply laughed and told him to never touch her stuff again.

"It all started last night," Rukia's Denreishinki pinged a few times before going silent. Letting loose a curse from her lips Rukia sighed and closed the device, "I was in the middle of a call with the Soul Society when suddenly I could hear nothing but static before that too stopped. I tried calling back a few times but nothing."

"Are you sure your phone isn't just dead?"

A glare from Rukia shut him up, "You think I didn't think of that? That was the first thing I thought of! I went to Kisuke Urahara's shop and asked for a temporary replacement but that too didn't work. Whatever's going on in the Soul Society is not just affecting me. Anything and everything that usually came from there has stopped abruptly. What was strange was that I was able to get into contact with the shinigami on duty from the next district over. They said the same thing; all orders and reports from the Soul Society stopped suddenly after last night."

"Last night…"

This couldn't be just a simple coincidence anymore. Ichigo was sure of that. He could place his dream as being a result of stress from trying to juggle his shinigami activities with his schoolwork and the blackouts to be something way above his head. The problem with the Soul Society though, something about it just seemed wrong.

"I wonder if this is related," he muttered but apparently Rukia still heard him.

"Related to what?"

Ichigo grimaced as he was forced to answer, "The timing of your trouble contacting the Soul Society lines up with several major blackouts across the world. Several places, including Karakura Town, have lost power for no reason and no one knows why."

Rukia looked at his with one raised eyebrow, "It could be related but I fail to see how something could affect both the World of the Living as well as the Soul Society at the same time."

"What if it's not?"

"What do you mean?"

Ichigo folded his arms across his chest as he explained his theory, "What if the problem is not in the Soul Society? If something was powerful enough to knock out power across the world then couldn't it do the same to the connection your Denreishinki has with the Soul Society?"

Rukia's hand drifted to her chin as realization hit her, "That actually makes sense Ichigo. The problem is the amount of power needed to sever all connections between the two worlds. Knocking out human electronics is one thing but the Soul Society's Denreishinki do not run on simple electronics."

"You have a better theory?"

"No but there has to be a logical explanation for what is happening. The Soul Society has existed for millennia, it wouldn't just vanish overnight."

"Whatever," Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and turned towards the edge of the roof to leave. As he stepped onto the raised edge of the roof he felt a hand grab his shihakusho and quickly yank him back.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

Ichigo struggled to pull himself out of Rukia's surprisingly tight grip, "I'm heading home to get my body back from Kon. This pointless little detour has almost made me late to meet Chad and Orihime. You can find the way down from here can't you?"

Rukia stomped her foot on the roof, "That's not the point! You're the shinigami watching over Karakura Town so it's your duty to take on all my responsibilities, including the ones involving the Soul Society!"

"Like hell I am!" Ichigo crossed his arms in front of his body in an 'X', "I'm only doing this to keep my family and Karakura Town safe from hollows until you get your powers back! I'm not getting paid for this so you can forget making me do any extra work."

Before she could say anything Ichigo leapt off the roof and landed on an adjacent building. Pushing power to his legs he quickly made his way across Karakura Town towards his house. Hopefully he could make it back, remove Kon from his body, and get to the library before it was too late.

"Get back here!" before Rukia could respond Ichigo had leapt off the roof and onto an adjacent building. Rushing to the edge with a tick mark on her forehead she yelled, "You make a lousy shinigami!"

"I'm only a substitute so it doesn't matter what you think!" was Ichigo's nonchalant reply.

As he jumped from roof to roof, leaving Rukia far behind in the process, Ichigo couldn't help but feel something off about everything going on. He had accepted that his life would become a little stranger when he temporarily took over Rukia's shinigami duties after a hollow attacked his family but that paled in comparison to the strangeness hovering in the atmosphere. He couldn't explain why a simply power outage had his nerves frayed. It was something that happened but this time he couldn't help but feel something else besides a faulty power grid was the cause.

"I'm probably just over thinking things. No one said that being a shinigami was easy," Ichigo pushed off the edge of a shop's roof to land on a building several dozen meters away. As his sandaled foot touched the concrete roof he felt a pulse of power radiate through his body.

"What the hell?"

Skidding to a stop Ichigo looked around for the source of the power but found nothing out of the ordinary. Remembering the lesson Rukia had taught him about concentrating mentally to locate spiritually powerful beings Ichigo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. What would have normally taken only a split second to a competent shinigami took Ichigo several long seconds and even then he was unable to pinpoint the source as anything more accurate than coming from the east. Without a second thought given towards Chad and Orihime, Ichigo took off in search of the power source. Something about it felt off and he needed to figure out what it was.

When he arrived at the spot where he had last sensed the power Ichigo first noticed that it was quiet.

With a hand on his zanpakuto he glanced from side to side, "Where is everyone?"

The entire street was empty aside from several cars that seemed to have been abandoned in the heat of the moment. Walking past one of them Ichigo noticed that the car was still on and the keys still in the ignition. Whatever had happened here had been dangerous or important enough to cause people to leave their cars with the keys still inside. Turning the corner Ichigo nearly lost his lunch at what he saw.

"The fuck happened here?"

Ichigo wasn't one to curse. It was perhaps one of the few lessons his father had ingrained into his mind that Ichigo followed but the scene in front of him deserved nothing less. There were dozens of bodies littering the road and sidewalks and most of them seemed to have been sliced to pieces. Swallowing nervously and gingerly stepping around the bodies Ichigo stepped up to a body that seemed to be burning with a green flame. Putting his hand close to the fire he almost immediately recoiled when a sense of wrongness radiated up his arm.

"Wait a second. Where are all the souls?"

He learned an unfortunate part of being a shinigami a few days after agreeing to take up the job when he was came upon a major car accident that left seven people that included two children dead. Seeing their spirits that matched the appearance of their mangled bodies was almost enough to get him to give up his powers but Rukia had told him that upon being sent to the Soul Society they would be completely healed of their injuries.

Shaking his head to clear out the images of the desecrated bodies Ichigo looked down the street and noticed all of the people seemed to have been fleeing from a certain direction. Taking off in a light run he was determined to find what caused all this needless death and make them pay. He found the likely cause quickly enough. Four police cars and the bodies of nearly a dozen officers were gathered around an alley. Several of the officers seemed to have been skewered with a blade sharp enough to pierce through their kevlar armor like it was tissue while two others burned with the unholy green flames. Looking inside the alley, a hand on his zanpakuto just in case, Ichigo quickly found what was hopefully the cause of this mess.

Riddled with too many bullet holes to count was what appeared to be a woman at first glance but Ichigo quickly saw that she had four more arms than a person should ever have and was nearly twenty-five feet tall. The creature, for that was what Ichigo was going to refer to it until he could find out what the hell it actually was, was slumped against the far wall of the alley its six hands limply holding on to the shattered remains of bronze and orange swords. Carefully stepping over the bodies of the police Ichigo headed into the alley but not before taking a quick look around. As his feet stepped on spent bullet cases he reached the corpse of the creature and took a good look at it.

It was definitely female with light purple skin. Its chest and body structure could attest to that. Quickly skipping over the skimpy and revealing outfit that covered little more than her shoulders, chest, and nether regions Ichigo looked at her eyes and saw pure white orbs that glowed with the same green light as the fire burning some of the bodies he saw.

"I don't suppose you were the one that did that to those people?" he muttered down, or rather up, at the corpse. Standing back up and gripping his zanpakuto with one hand Ichigo turned to leave the ally. Rukia needed to know about this and fast. These creatures were tough and powerful but worst of all regular humans could see them. He hated to admit this but he was out of his league.

"If it took nearly twelve cops to take down one of these bastards then I hope there aren't that many more of them."

A series of explosions caused him to snap his neck in its direction. Unsheathing his zanpakuto he quickly ran towards the pillar of rising smoke in the distance. He wouldn't let any more people die to whatever these creatures are. As Ichigo leapt onto the roof of a nearby building he couldn't help but imagine the sky being a sickly shade of green.

...

It was chaos throughout downtown Karakura Town.

Tatsuki and Orihime had planned on down some light shopping after eating lunch. Despite Orihime's protests that she already had lunch Tatsuki would have none of it. What her best friend cooked up was not considered food by anyone she had ever met. They had just walked into one of the many department stores in search of something nice when Orihime looked up at the sky and pointed out how the sky is a nice shade of emerald green. Tatsuki had believed Orihime to be in one of her daydream fantasies involving Ichigo yet again when she looked around and noticed a lot of other people looking and pointing at the sky. Casting her gaze upwards Tatsuki gasped when she saw the sky was not only green but also seemed to be swirling around a center point much like a whirlpool.

They didn't even see it coming. One minute the sky was normal, except for the color, and the next green meteors were raining downwards and crashing into buildings and the streets. The worst was when everyone realized they weren't meteors but actually demons.

That was when the massacre started.

"Come on Orihime!" Tatsuki pulled hard on her friend's wrist as they ran down the street opposite of where the demons had landed. She knew they weren't running to safety. They had seen meteors falling throughout the entire city but Tatsuki was certain that they could hide from them if they stayed out of sight. The only problem was that one of the demons that had landed near the shopping center had shifting its entire focus onto them and had been following them for the last three blocks at a leisurely pace. The bastard was getting a kick out of seeing them flee in fear.

"God damn it," Tatsuki vaulted over a destroyed car and saw, to her surprise, Orihime leap onto the hood and back onto the street. Orihime was a lot more agile than Tatsuki gave her credit for, "We need to lose this guy Orihime!"

"How Tatsuki?" Orihime glanced back and saw the demon cleave through the car with one of its cursed blades as if the steel was butter.

"I don't know," Tatsuki didn't know how they could fight an actual demon but she needed to keep Orihime from panicking. Her friend was only a step away from a full-blown meltdown, "But I have an idea. We just need to lose this guy for a second."

"Ah!"

Tatsuki's eyes widened at Orihime's scream and she skidded to a stop. Turning around she saw that Orihime had tripped over the burnt remains of some poor soul and, while she wasn't hurt, it had given the demon enough time to catch up to them. Eyes wide in terror, Orihime watched as the ten-foot tall demon loomed over her body, its rune-engraved suit of armor and demonic horns only adding to the horror and fear she felt. As the demon cackled and raised a sword to decapitate her Orihime closed her eyes as she heard Tatsuki screaming her name.

"Please let this be painless…"

After several agonizing seconds of feeling no pain Orihime began to think that dying was completely painless. It was only when several shots rang out that she opened her eyes and saw the demon collapsing to the ground with several bullet holes in its head and chest. As her stunned mind tried to get a grip on what happened she felt a pair of hands pull her up off the ground.

"Are you ok?"

With terror-stricken eyes Orihime turned and saw that her rescuer was a police officer and behind him were nearly a dozen cars with three times that number of cops. Each of them was covered head to toe in ballistic armor and seemed to all have weapons that could blow a hole through solid rock.

"What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain," the cop herded her and Tatsuki towards the line of cars. Along the way they heard the roars of several demons attempting to reach them only to be cut down by the collective firepower. The Karakura Town Police Department had learned the demons were effectively immune to small caliber rounds and had given more deadly weapons to as many of its officers as it could.

The cop continued to push them forward until they had passed through the line of cars and officers. Waving over an officer covered in riot armor he said, "Take these two to the rest of the refugees."

The officer snapped off a salute, "Yes sir."

"Refugees?" Tatsuki struggled to turn around, "What the hell is happening here?"

"It's not just here," the officer escorting them answered, "These creatures have been appearing all over the world starting about ten minutes ago. We're evacuating Karakura Town before the Americans start their airstrike."

"Airstrike?" Tatsuki couldn't believe this was happening.

"Like I just said, this is happening all over the world," the cop shoved them inside a waiting van filled with other refugees. Closing the door and slamming his hand twice on the side he watched the van speed off towards the outskirts of Karakura Town. Giving them a silent prayer that they arrive safely he turned around and jogged back to the front lines.

...

Ichigo was starting to wish he had kept his mouth shut about everything being too easy.

He was brought out of his thoughts as what looked like a succubus snapped her whip at him. As it wrapped around his forearm she gave a lusty chuckle and tried to pull him off balance. It turned out that the succubus had severely underestimated Ichigo's strength because he didn't budge one inch. Instead he spun his arm around and gripped the whip before giving a hearty tug. The succubus cried out as she was pulled into the air. That cry quickly turned into a choked gasp as Ichigo impaled her through the chest on his zanpakuto.

Pushing the body of his blade with his foot he turned around and ignored the wet squishing sound the succubus's body made and the purple blood oozing over his zanpakuto. He couldn't afford to be squeamish when everything was on the line. It didn't help that these demons had an insane regeneration speed. He tried to simply disable them but their wounds would quickly heal and they would try and fight him again.

These demons were showing no mercy to those he had saved as well as those he had failed to rescue. The least he could do to avenge the fallen is to show an equal amount of mercy. That did not mean he didn't feel anything. Every demon he killed reminded him that power came with a cost and that if he hadn't been given Rukia's shinigami power he would be as helpless as those he saved.

"Damn it," he wiped a droplet of purple blood off his cheek. As powerful as the demons were, when they died they tended to do so violently, "Just how many of these things are there?"

It hadn't been long after finding that dead demon's body that Ichigo had run into still living ones. As he had made his way towards the source of the explosion he had been forced to dodge several meteors that suddenly began raining down from the sky. It was only when he had been forced to dodge several fireballs that he realized the meteors were actually demons and, what was worse, was that they were targeting anyone they found. Unable to let that go he had quickly leapt down to stop them.

A green glow to his left stopped his train of thought. Quickly leaping back as a wave of sickly green fire sprung into existence where his feet had just been Ichigo turned and saw a wrathguard staring at him from down the street.

Holding his zanpakuto in front of his body with both hands Ichigo taunted the demon, "Almost had me tough guy but I think your vision's bad."

The wrathguard didn't say anything as a low growling emerged from its throat. Ichigo watched as it reached for one of its swords, currently embedded in a corpse, and pulled it out with a wet tearing sound. Walking towards Ichigo, while making sure to give the dead body a kick for good measure, the wrathguard issued him a roar of challenge before sprinting at him.

With a shout Ichigo swung his zanpakuto upwards in an arc just as the wrathguard came down with its weapons. The two weapons met in a shower of sparks and Ichigo could have sworn he heard the demon growl angrily when his zanpakuto didn't shatter during the exchange.

"What's the matter?" Ichigo pushing more power into his attack and was relieved to see the wrathguard's arms slowly being forced upwards despite its muscles visibly straining, "Having trouble fighting one simple human? Not so easy when we fight back is it?"

The wrathguard roared and with a considerable amount of effort pushed Ichigo back before raising a clawed hand and pointing it at the substitute shinigami. Ichigo saw the attack coming and quickly leapt into the air as the wave of felfire crackled only inches from his feet. As he sailed through the air and swung his zanpakuto downwards the demon had no time to react or defend before its body was split in two nearly vertically, the soul blade searing right through both demonic armor and flesh like they were paper.

With a dispassionate look Ichigo rested his zanpakuto on his shoulder while he watched the two halves of the wrathguard fall to the ground, "These guys always seem to be so surprised when my zanpakuto cuts them."

It was odd how every demon seemed to think they were invincible right until they were killed. It was almost as if they thought he couldn't hurt them. Momentarily free from combat Ichigo looked up at the swirling green sky. It was becoming painfully obvious that unless something was done about the sky the demons would simply keep raining down onto the Earth. Cursing as he witnessed several meteors lands close by Ichigo turned and began running down the street. If he was lucky he could reach the demons before they had a chance to hurt or kill anyone.

A series of hauntingly familiar laughter down the street caused Ichigo to leap back. It was fortunate that he did so because not even a second after his feet left the ground a bolt composed of actual shadows crashed into the pavement.

Skidding to a stop Ichigo saw stalking towards him in a very disturbing manner a demon similar to the one in the alley except she was nearly five feet taller, had pale gray skin and was much more modestly dressed.

"This is a much…unusual occurrence," the demon's voice spoke in almost an erotic tone, "So what shall it be…business or pleasure?"

Ichigo didn't answer as he held his zanpakuto in front of his body. Somehow he knew this fight would be much more difficult than his previous ones and that wasn't taking into account the exhaustion he could feel creeping into his bones. As the demon laughed and ran towards him Ichigo only hoped his friends and family were able to make it out of Karakura Town safely.

...

Kil'jaeden was greatly displeased with how the invasion of this world was going.

After the last two debacles by the Burning Legion, neither of which he was in charge of, that resulted with Archimonde's death he had shifted his policies around when invading new planets. Rather than simply attacking with overwhelming force like they did in the past he would send several Nathrezim to the planet to check for any threats to an invasion. They would be specifically ordered not to engage in any covert or overt activities. There were to do nothing more than try and find if there were any sources of resistance that might hinder the invasion. If Azeroth had taught the demon lord anything it was better to be safe than sorry. He may have an infinite number of demons under his control but his pride couldn't take a loss. If there were issues with the planet he would hold back on the invasion until plans could be made for taking out anyone in their path. What he found on this world was no different.

Over two thousands years of planning and yet he is forced to limp back to the Twisting Nether with massive injuries and burns.

"Whichever Nathrezim said the Soul Society would be simple to invade is going to face a painful eternity of torment."

The first part of the invasion, destroying those that called themselves captains or whatever, proceeded normally and according to plan. While several of the so-called captains possessed interesting abilities such as conjuring giants to fight for them, summoning ice dragons and even reflecting attacks back at their opponent it was nothing Kil'jaeden could not handle with sheer overwhelming force. While skill and technique is important when dealing with a being of equal power these shinigami were far from being a challenge to the eredar demon lord. Even that one captain who could cast near perfect illusions deserved no more than a footnote in his thoughts. An illusion is just an illusion no matter how powerful it is and Kil'jaeden had fought enough beings that could wield such magicks that he easily tore apart the illusions before a simple Armageddon spell put an end to the man. What nearly killed him was the old man in charge.

Kil'jaeden didn't get where he was by underestimating his opponents. He knew the old man was the leader of the Soul Society and thus he had to have enough power to keep the rest of his army in line. Therefore Kil'jaeden decided to honor the old man the only way he knew how – overwhelming power. He had rushed forward, arcane magic sparking across his clawed fingers when he saw the old man draw his sword and utter a single word. Kil'jaeden had not been able to hear it but instantly the entire world began to feel hot despite the lack of flames. The last time he had felt such heat was in the presence of his master. It was only on instinct that he moved to the side as the old man swung his charred blade. The devastation from the attack reached across the Soul Society and led to the deaths of thousands of his demons. While that was but a drop in the metaphorical ocean it was still more power than Kil'jaeden would like to admit. Unwilling to let the old man get another clean shot Kil'jaeden began summoning the vast reservoirs of arcane and fel magic at his disposal.

The battle that followed not only killed the old man and left Kil'jaeden greatly injured it also completely destroyed most of the Soul Society, rendering it useless to the Burning Legion in any way. Kil'jaeden knew his master would be furious at the loss of such an asset after years of planning but Kil'jaeden did not worry. The death of the old man was enough of a consolation prize to save him from any punishment. The man could have been a thorn in the Burning Legion's side if he ever managed to reach another world. Pragmatism dictated he take action to alleviate such worries.

The fact that he also destroyed the city hiding under the Soul Society was a nice touch if the eredar demon lord could say so himself. Those pesky humans he discovered down there had tried to fire bolts of magic at his demonic troops. While a noble and intelligent effort it was futile. He made sure his demons massacred each and every one of them. If what he could skim from their minds they would never bow down to the Legion even if they were corrupted. Kil'jaeden wasn't going to take any chance of betrayal but when he felt a presence similar in strength to the old man he quickly pulled out of the shadow world and collapsed the dimension.

He may be a demon lord but he was far from stupid. The odds of winning the fight against this second opponent were still stacked in his favor but he could no longer guarantee victory. Collapsing the dimension would make sure to do the job. He had to give credit to their leader. If he hadn't created the dimension in the first place then Kil'jaeden couldn't have collapsed it. A post-mortem thanks would be all the man received.

The creatures in that other plane, hollows his Nathrezim called them, they were of some interest to the eradar demon lord but in the end he had destroyed them all the same. While the millions, perhaps billions, of hollows could have been an asset to the Burning Legion the fact that most of them were mindless and were as likely to attack his own demons as much as his enemies made them a liability. Even those that could speak and think weren't worth the effort of recruiting so he simply destroyed Hueco Mundo and moved on. He had taken a small amount of pleasure in destroying that one hollow who deemed himself a god just because he could speed up and slow down time. Kil'jaeden had destroyed him without so much as a second thought for what was 100 years of aging to someone who had lived over 25 millennium already?

Relaxing his body in the comfort of the Twisting Nether as he recovered from his injuries, Kil'jaeden began to mentally command his more…devastating forces towards this world. With all the significant resistances eliminated there would be no need to hold back his valuable troops any more.

"The brief hope of victory this world may have had is gone…all that is left is death and destruction…"

...

In one of the quieter parts of Karakura Town where the demons had already rampaged through and killed everyone that remained there were a series of explosions. Out of the last explosion, which burned with the familiar color of fel corruption, Ichigo leapt into the air and onto a nearby roof. While he was not injured physically his shihakusho had seen better days. His entire left sleeve was missing and parts of his legs were exposed when he had bee forced to bear the brunt of a demon's magical attacks.

With an angry shout Ichigo thrust his zanpakuto through the stomach of the demon in front of him. The demon, a shivarra it had called itself, had spent the last two minutes toying around with him. More than once it, or she, would make him think he was about to get a clean hit only to dodge or parry the strike. It had taken him everything to get the demon in a position where it couldn't dodge and the shivarra's eyes widened in shock at the pain radiating from her wound. Sputtering out saliva mixed with purple blood she tried to grasp his blade with two of her free hands.

"But I…wasn't finished…"

In a desperate move to take him down with her the shivarra raised a trembling arm but before it could get more than a few inches off the ground her strength failed and she slumped unmoving. Ichigo watched her still-impaled body for several seconds before pressing a foot on her chest and pulling his zanpakuto out with a wet squish. With a quick flick his zanpakuto was cleaned of the purple blood coating it.

"Damn it," Ichigo wavered as exhaustion began creeping up on him. The fight against the shivarra had taken more out of him than he would admit. She was much stronger, faster, and smarter than the other demons he had fought. She had to have been a commander or something because when she decided to fight the other demons surrounding him backed off in fear. Taking a cold look at her cooling corpse on the roof Ichigo only hoped her death would cause the rest of the demons to either hesitate to fight or flee entirely. Taking a few deep breaths to regain some of his stamina Ichigo began walking towards the edge of the roof when he realized something was terribly wrong.

The sun had disappeared.

Looking upwards he gasped as he saw that it wasn't the sun that had disappeared but a large meteor was hurdling towards the earth. He watched as it sped overhead and crashed into the far reaches of Karakura Town with a much lesser impact than he would have assumed. He saw quickly that the reason it hadn't destroyed everything for miles around it was because it wasn't a meteor but an extremely large demon that towered over nearly every building in the city. The demon was unlike anything he had seen before. It's body resembled a mutated and deformed lizard with two pairs of small, vestigial wings erupting from its back that were each larger than his house. What was troubling him the most was the large sword held in the demon's hands.

With a sadistic chuckle the annihilan pit lord began swinging the massive blade around, destroying several buildings every swing. Swallowing nervously out of fear Ichigo quickly gathered his courage and began trying to figure out how he would take something like that down. While its height was comparable to the Menos Grande he had fought there was no doubt that this demon was both smarter and stronger than the hollow. Despite the odds stacked against him Ichigo believed that defeating something like that would most likely end the battle.

"Do not be foolish Ichigo Kurosaki."

The familiarity of the voice startled Ichigo. Turning around he saw the man from his dream slowly walking towards him, his staff gently tapping on the concrete, "Do not confuse bravery with foolishness. You must know you do not stand a chance against an annihilan."

"I don't care what you think I can do," Ichigo turned away from the man and glared at the pit lord cutting a swath of destruction in the distance. Gripping his zanpakuto almost to the point of drawing blood he said, "I'll find out whatever you know after I'm done dealing with that thing."

If Ichigo was expecting the man to be put off by him he was surprised when the man's gaze simply shifted away from him and to the pit lord, "That 'thing' as you call it is what is known as an annihilan pit lord. Unlike the rest of their demonic kin the annihilan do not possess endless numbers. Their appearance on your world is an indication that the Burning Legion has destroyed any and all worthwhile resistance it might have faced."

"People are dying you bastard! I have to do something!" Ichigo tried to leap off the roof towards the pit lord but found his feet stuck to the roof. At first confused as to why he couldn't move, his confusion turned to anger when he saw the man's palm pointing at him and glowing a faint bluish-purple, "Damn it! Why are you stopping me from helping those people?"

"You will listen to what I have to say Ichigo Kurosaki. If you decide to embark on such a suicidal fight afterwards I will not stop you."

Ichigo tested out the bonds holding his legs to the roof. Whatever it was that was preventing him from leaving was similar to Rukia's kido but at the same time was more powerful, "How can you expect me to just stand here and talk while these demons are destroying my world?"

"I expect you to think Ichigo Kurosaki," for the first time the man's tone had a hint of anger and it hit Ichigo like a stone. The sheer authority and power the man possessed was otherworldly, "This is not just a random demonic incursion from the Twisting Nether that can be repelled with numbers and power. The Burning Legion's numbers are infinite. For every demon you cut down today twenty more has taken their place."

"Burning Legion?" Ichigo tried to push spiritual pressure into his legs like Rukia told him to increase his strength but the magic holding him did not budge.

"I had hoped my warning would reach you well in advance," the man seemingly ignored Ichigo's question, "I had hoped to speak to you weeks ago but I underestimated the distance between your world and my own. Still, that would not have caused such a large change but it wasn't until I physically arrived minutes ago that I realized how this happened. Kil'jaeden the Deceiver, one of the leaders of the Burning Legion, is here spearheading the invasion personally."

"Kil'jaeden?"

The man sensed the intent behind Ichigo's question, "Do you intend to face Kil'jaeden? The Deceiver's strength is akin to a god. He could personally destroy an annihilan with but a wave of his hand. If you could even reach Kil'jaeden you would be nothing more than an ant to him."

The man tapped his staff on the roof and released Ichigo from his magic, "I regret to say that there is nothing that can be done at this point to save your world. I do not know how or why the Deceiver came to your world but the fact remains that he did and now your world's time has come to an end. He will show no mercy as he kills every living thing on this world until nothing remains but rock and ash."

Even though he was free to leave Ichigo didn't even think of doing so as he collapse to his knees, the weight of what the man just said pressing down on his soul. Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth he said, "Who the fuck do you think you are to say that? How can say that all the demons I killed and every person I saved amounted to nothing in the end? What kind of person are you?"

"Do not confuse my honesty for apathy," that man's voice seemed insulted by Ichigo's question, "I did not say what I did out of a need to crush your spirit or resolve. I said it in order to make you understand what is going to happen. Sugarcoating the truth will simply harm you in the end."

Ichigo did not move or say a word after the man finished speaking. His mind was still trying, and failing, to come to grips with what was happening all around him. Memories of his family and friends kept appearing in his head and how they were all dead were beginning to tear him apart.

"Get up Ichigo."

In his despair Ichigo hadn't noticed the man approach him, "I cannot say that I understand your pain even though I have felt similar anguish in the past. It is one thing to be the cause of your pain but it is much worse to fail in the end after doing everything you can. You need to accept what has happened this day."

"Are…" Ichigo took a moment to gather his thoughts, "Are you saying to just forget about them?"

"Memories are a precious thing," The man turned from Ichigo and pointed his staff across the roof, "Death is never easy to come to terms with. The weak always think death comes for them while the strong believe they can outwit it. Do not ever forget those you cared for Ichigo Kurosaki. Cherish your memories for as long as you can."

A purple bolt of magic shot from the man's staff and flew through the air before abruptly stopping and expanding into a portal. When the man spoke it was a voice filled with regret, "Through this portal lies my home world. I cannot say what you will find on the other end or where you will even end up. The choice is yours Ichigo Kurosaki. You can take the portal to Azeroth, which has thrice defied the Burning Legion, or stay here and meet up with your family in the afterlife."

With a pained grunt Ichigo managed to pull himself back onto his feet, "What kind of damned choice is that? Flee like a coward or suicide? If you could create a portal to your world why didn't you do it earlier or better yet, why didn't you save my friends?"

"My power here is limited," the man's words were punctuated by a loud roar from the pit lord in the distance, "Teleporting myself to your world drained most of my mana and creating this portal took the rest. As much as I would have wanted to help those close to you I could not and I will live with that burden until my soul is finally claimed by the embrace of death."

Ichigo was conflicted on what to do. One part of his mind was advocating taking the portal and living to fight another day. Another, louder, voice was suspicious of the man's intentions.

"Why are you helping me?" the question caught the man off guard and Ichigo pressed his advantage, "There are dozens of people that you could have chosen so why me?"

"I chose you because you're the only one that could."

"What?"

"I cannot say any more. Make your decision Ichigo Kurosaki."

"What choice do I really have?" Ichigo looked forlornly at what remained of Karakura Town before turning to the portal, "My family would never forgive me for dying a pointless death just to be with them. Dad would kick my ass in the afterlife for even thinking about giving up and dying."

Even though Ichigo couldn't see the man's face he could sense the sad smile on his face, "So you have decided then?"

Ichigo nodded and began walking towards the portal but before he could enter it he felt a hand on his shoulder, "A few words of caution. Once you step through the portal my magic will convert your spiritual body to one of flesh of blood. While most of your powers and abilities will remain at your disposal your new body will have the same limitations as those you meet so be careful and know your limits."

Experimentally pressing a hand against the surface of the portal Ichigo noticed that it felt like water. As he stuck his hand and then his entire arm into the portal he heard the man speak again, "My world is a place full of magic and wonder, both good and bad. What is evil to someone could be considered necessary to another. Do not let your judgment be clouded by millennia old prejudices. All is not as it appears. Look underneath the surface for the answers you may find may be but a masquerade."

Before disappearing completely in the portal Ichigo asked one final question, "Who are you?"

"I am Medivh. I urge you to keep your arrival on Azeroth a secret. There are those that will take advantage of such information."

Medivh watched Ichigo disappear through the swirling magic for a few seconds before walking away, "A hero is not born nor are they manufactured by others. A hero comes about when an ordinary person does the right thing. Ichigo Kurosaki…I may have failed in my duties during my life but perhaps allowing you to arrive on Azeroth will help relieve me of some of my debt."

As Medivh walked away from the portal he began to slowly fade away until there was nothing left. There was no evidence that the once guardian of Azeroth had ever visited Ichigo's world except for the faint traces of arcane magic but that too began to disappear and within minutes nothing remained.