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The recap video continued.
It wasn't affected by anything happening outside.
Even as the entire world of the Soul Reapers trembled under the sheer, heaven-defying power of those two, this clash between gods pressed on without pause.
"Zing!"
High in the air, white shockwaves roared and churned.
The already shattered Omotesando looked like it could collapse at any moment under the pressure.
Between the gigantic brush and the broad spirit-forged blade locked against it, two pairs of ferocious eyes met, neither willing to yield.
"Hyōsube Ichibē…"
"You seem to have forgotten something. I am a pure-blood Quincy. The ocean of reishi within the Soul King Palace doesn't exist solely for you. I can just as easily turn this place into my home field."
With his throat restored, Yhwach's voice had grown deeper.
Every syllable slipping past his teeth carried an unshakable certainty. He would seize the Soul King Palace, no matter what.
"Heh heh…"
The response came as a cold, bottomless laugh from the big-eyed monk.
"At your age, you still love running your mouth. Allowing a lowly creature like you to step foot in the Soul King Palace really is my greatest failure in thousands of years…"
With a sharp swing of his arm, Hyōsube Ichibē thrust the brush forward. The thick shaft, weathered by ages untold, swept straight toward Yhwach's head.
It felt as though…
The moment the brush tip so much as grazed him, Yhwach's head would be dyed pitch-black in an instant, just like the cloak he wore, the red long since fading away during the battle.
"Useless!"
"Cheap tricks like ambushes aren't exactly fitting for the head of Squad Zero, are they?"
Yhwach sneered with absolute confidence. He caught the brush shaft barehanded and slammed it aside with brute force.
Boom!
The power compressed within his reishi erupted, blasting the massive brush back. The remaining force surged along the shaft, forcing Hyōsube Ichibē to retreat.
As he stepped back, ink splattered wildly, dripping from the air and staining the once pristine Omotesando, as if leaving an indelible blemish upon the Soul King Palace itself.
That sudden reversal only seemed to fuel Yhwach's confidence.
The corners of his mouth curled upward, revealing a savage, cruel smile.
"So what if you stop fighting barehanded? Even with a weapon, you still can't do a thing to me…"
His cloak, half red and half black, snapped violently in the overwhelming pressure of his arrogance.
The tide had turned completely.
Fortune had changed hands. This time, Yhwach held the advantage.
"This is bad. Yhwach's momentum is rising. Just like he said, the vast amount of solidified reishi in the Soul King Palace is actually becoming his greatest weapon for counterattacks!"
"At this rate, the Eye Monk is in serious danger…"
Watching Hyōsube Ichibē being forced back, Chōjirō Sasakibe felt his heart sink, a shadow flickering in his eyes.
The big-eyed monk was the final line of defense of the Soul King Palace.
If even he fell, the so-called divine guards of the inner sanctum would be nothing more than empty names, destined to be trampled by Yhwach.
Which meant…
If the monk failed to crush Yhwach here, then the Soul King Palace was doomed to fall.
And the Soul King, once the god of the three realms, would inevitably be devoured by that wicked man.
"Chōjirō, calm yourself…"
The Captain-Commander's composed voice came from behind him.
"Aren't you underestimating Hyōsube Ichibē a little too much?"
"Did you notice?"
"Just now, the inked end of the brush touched Yhwach's arm."
"What do you mean?" Chōjirō asked in confusion. "Wasn't that something Yhwach did on purpose?"
"Exactly…"
"Charging in without fully understanding your enemy's ability, and even daring to grab their weapon with your bare hands. That's always been his dumbest flaw."
The Captain-Commander's low voice carried undisguised contempt and hatred for Yhwach.
At the same time, on the screen, the big-eyed monk himself provided the explanation.
"Yhwach, you're right. My brush can't cut flesh. But it doesn't need to."
His round eyes rolled as he grinned.
Despite the smile, the killing intent seeping through it made one's skin crawl.
"What do you mean?"
Yhwach froze, a powerful sense of unease rising in his chest.
"My brush cuts names, not flesh."
"The moment you touched the brush tip, the original 'name' of your arm was split in half."
"From now on, it's just an arm."
…
He grinned wide, the whites of his eyes showing.
When the camera abruptly zoomed in on the big-eyed monk's face, the mask of pretense was gone, fangs bared in full savagery.
At the same instant, Yhwach's expression changed violently.
"That's impossible! What did you do just now?!"
He tried to lift the arm holding his sword, but it barely moved.
Yhwach cried out in shock, as if proving the monk's words true.
"Good."
"Finally, that arrogant look is gone. That's how a thief should look."
"Right, Yhwach? You sewer rat who snuck into the Soul King Palace."
As he spoke those words of condemnation, Hyōsube Ichibē glared fiercely and swung the brush again.
This time, it was different.
The black ink clinging to the tip had grown even darker, like a twisted black hole devouring all light in the world.
"Tch… I don't know how you did it, but…"
"You have no idea what my true power is!"
Even though the sudden loss of strength left his mind momentarily blank, the pride of the Quincy King and the memories of his resurrection after a thousand years still gave Yhwach unshakable resolve.
He swung his blade again without hesitation, trying to recreate the counterattack that had knocked the massive brush away earlier.
But then—
"Huh? What's going on?!"
"He raised his arm with such overwhelming presence, so why is Yhwach's swing so slow? It's like watching something in slow motion!"
Before the transparent screen, countless powerful figures gasped in unison.
They stared in disbelief as Yhwach's movements became more than twice as slow as before.
The enormous, razor-sharp reishi blade had barely reached above his shoulder.
Meanwhile, the ink-laden brush swept straight down from above, violently painting a thick, jet-black line along his body from head to toe.
"Hehehe…"
"This time, it's not just your arm that's lost its name."
"Your power is halved. Your stamina is halved. Your weight is halved. Even your name has been cut in half."
As those chilling words echoed through the air, Hyōsube Ichibē gave the brush a gentle push.
He didn't seem to use much strength at all, yet the thick shaft struck like a brutal lever, blasting Yhwach backward and kicking up a massive white shockwave that sent the camera shaking violently.
"Look! Yhwach got blown away again!"
This time, the scene felt like a grim reflection of the earlier moment.
Yhwach was swept aside, sent flying as he smashed into the ground again and again, blood streaming, until he landed like discarded trash beyond the very first forbidden line the monk had drawn.
He lay there, gravely wounded, unable to rise.
"A Quincy leader with only half his power…"
Leaning on the brush with one hand, the whites of Hyōsube Ichibē's eyes slowly returned to black.
But the killing intent in his voice surged toward the heavens.
"If you were knocked out of the Soul King Palace and fell back into Soul Society…"
"You'd be completely shattered, wouldn't you?"
"..."
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