Dangai.
This is a different dimension located between the Living World and Soul Society. The flow of time is chaotic, filled with endless [Koryu] and dangerous spatial faults.
If an ordinary Shinigami accidentally wanders in, they will instantly be devoured by the Koryu or lost in the currents of time.
But now, this different dimension, which should have been dead silent, had become the crucible for the highest level of showdown.
Two figures, like gods and demons, crisscrossed within.
Every collision triggered rampaging Koryu, shattering space, and ripples in time.
Various energy storms illuminated the dim Dangai in a grotesque and bizarre fashion.
Every attack from Omega Shenron carried the terrifying power to annihilate matter and erode the soul.
He had already regarded this battlefield as an excellent breeding ground to absorb 'destruction', intending to completely devour Setsuna here.
"Negative: Life Erosion!"
Omega Shenron opened his mouth and sprayed out a dark torrent. This was the embodiment of his destructive essence, acting directly on life itself, ignoring most defenses.
Faced with this near-instant-death attack, Setsuna had no choice but to use his long-unused Bankai.
After being reborn, he could no longer infinitely resurrect like he could in his soul state.
Just like Edo Tensei, while 'rebirth' restores one to full power, it also loses the characteristic of infinite resurrection.
Of course, the ability of Setsuna's Zanpakuto originated from the essence of the Phoenix Cloth, far surpassing things like Edo Tensei.
He simply couldn't coordinate with his Shikai for unlimited resurrection anymore, but as long as his own energy was sufficient, a certain number of resurrections could still be achieved.
The dark torrent accurately hit Setsuna. His body rapidly dissolved and decayed in the torrent, finally turning into nothingness.
But the next moment…
At the location where Setsuna had 'perished', a silver-gray spark ignited out of thin air.
The spark grew rapidly. In just a second, Setsuna was reborn from the flames, standing quietly in place.
"What?" Omega Shenron's pupils contracted sharply.
"Negative: Dragon Swarm!"
"Negative: Causal Annihilation!"
"Negative: Apocalypse Roar!"
Not believing his eyes, Omega Shenron successively unleashed ultimate killing moves of even more terrifying power.
Under these attacks, large swaths of the Dangai's space permanently annihilated, turning into pure 'nothingness'.
Each time, Setsuna was completely 'killed' by these terrifying attacks… his body shattered, his soul dispersed, his traces of existence erased.
But each time, he would return in the next instant, from the void, from the residual energy embers, from some kind of record within the Dangai itself... in various incredible ways.
His aura did not diminish at all... instead, with each death and rebirth, it became faintly deeper and more unfathomable.
"Impossible!" Omega Shenron roared in anger. "I don't believe your resurrection has no cost! Even resurrection via the Dragon Balls can't be like this!"
Facing Omega Shenron's questioning, Setsuna simply looked at him calmly.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning seemed to strike Omega Shenron's destruction-filled mind.
He suddenly realized something and stared fixedly at the reborn Setsuna. "You're absorbing my energy in battle? You can even absorb the 'negative energy' contained in my attacks to support your resurrection?"
This discovery made him feel a hint of fear.
The essence of his power was 'destruction', the end of all things. Logically, it should have the strongest 'exclusivity' and 'corrosiveness', acting as a 'poison' to other power systems.
But Setsuna could actually absorb and utilize this 'poison' as a 'tonic'?
"Your reaction isn't too slow." Setsuna's tone was calm.
The Appetite Demon NEO had grown from a 'beneficial beast' into an ultimate existence that devoured millions of life-bearing planets. Its strongest point was naturally devouring.
And after he devoured NEO, the devouring characteristic of his Gourmet Cells had become immensely powerful, capable of making even 'negative energy' into food.
"Damn it!" Omega Shenron immediately changed his tactics. "Since energy attacks can be used by you... then I'll use the most pure physical attacks to completely beat your existence into the most basic particles. Let's see how you resurrect then!"
He condensed his power within his body, launching close-quarters combat, attempting to use absolute power to dismantle Setsuna to the point where he could not reconstitute.
Each of his attacks was simple and crude, yet contained the terrifying kinetic energy to shatter a star.
Setsuna also condensed his power and faced him head-on.
At first, the two seemed evenly matched.
But soon, a look of incredulity once again appeared in Omega Shenron's crimson dragon eyes.
Because he discovered that Setsuna's power, speed, defense... were all growing at a visibly rapid pace.
The force of the other's fists and feet grew increasingly heavy, his movements increasingly unpredictable, and he even began to anticipate and guide its attacks in return.
"How can your power be growing so fast?!" Omega Shenron blocked a heavy punch, feeling his dragon claws slightly numb, both shocked and angry. "I am absorbing the power of destruction and death from the battlefield and growing, yet you are growing faster than me?"
This completely violated common sense. He was the one who fed on 'destruction' and grew stronger in battle.
Setsuna calmly narrated, "Even though I am just a clone, I equally possess the power to release my limiters."
"As long as I am in a combat state, I can continuously 'evolve' and infinitely 'grow' as the battle progresses."
Omega Shenron's eyes twitched wildly, thinking that his host was truly a bit too fierce.
He was an existence that had destroyed a universe, merely reclaiming his former power.
Why was the speed at which he restored his power slower than the other's speed of growth?
For the first time, Omega Shenron realized that he might truly be unable to defeat this monster.
He took a deep breath. "Hmph, I was taking this too seriously. As long as Yhwach defeats those small fries outside and comes to help me, the outcome still won't change."
But just then, the already battered space of the Dangai was suddenly torn open.
A youth, covered in blood and with his Shihakusho in tatters, staggered in. His left hand was dragging a figure.
"Setsuna-senpai!" Ichigo looked up. His face was a mess of blood and sweat, but his eyes were startlingly bright. "I defeated him! What do I need to do to extract my mother's soul fragment?"
Omega Shenron's face froze. His eyes fixedly stared at Yhwach, who looked like a dead dog, then slowly moved to the disheveled-looking, but indeed accomplished the feat of 'king-slaying', orange-haired youth.
"How is this possible? How could a mere mortal defeat a near-divine existence like Yhwach?" Omega Shenron roared insanely.
He couldn't understand, wondering where had his plan gone wrong.
Why couldn't he defeat a human? Why was Yhwach also defeated by a human?
This was simply too unreasonable!