Boom! Boom! Boom!
A Reiatsu, vast as the ocean and powerful enough to suffocate, violently erupted. The ice created by Hyorinmaru shattered. Boundless flames broke free from the ice's restraint and blazed fiercely again.
"Roar!"
A deafening roar sounded. A fiery red dragon, dozens of meters long, soared from the cave below into the sky, confronting Hyorinmaru from a distance.
Its head like a camel, horns like a deer, eyes like a rabbit, ears like an ox, neck like a snake, belly like a mirage, scales like a carp, claws like an eagle, palms like a tiger, with a pair of huge fire wings on its back.
Unlike the previous fiery dragons condensed from flames, which were only vague outlines of dragons, this fiery dragon was lifelike, like a real divine dragon.
Except for its fiery red color, different from Hyorinmaru's ice blue, in other aspects, whether its massive size or its draconic appearance, it was very similar.
Hyorinmaru could feel that this was definitely not like the previous fiery dragons condensed from Ryujin Jakka's flames. Moreover, the intense pressure emanating from it gave her a guess about its identity.
"Ryujin Jakka?"
Hyorinmaru looked at the fiery dragon confronting her and suddenly spoke.
"That's right, it is I. Are you Hyorinmaru?"
Ryujin Jakka said in a deep voice.
Unlike Hyorinmaru's gender, Ryujin Jakka's voice sounded like that of a weathered, steady and dignified middle-aged man.
"Ah, that's right. Less talk, let's decide the outcome! Let's see who is the strongest Zanpakuto!!"
Hyorinmaru declared loudly.
"Hmph, little one. You're still millions of years too early to challenge me!!"
Facing Hyorinmaru's challenge, Ryujin Jakka roared disdainfully.
Indeed, Ryujin Jakka had existed for several thousand or even tens of thousands of years, while Hyorinmaru had only awakened a few decades ago. In terms of age, Hyorinmaru was indeed a 'little one' in front of Ryujin Jakka.
Seeing Ryujin Jakka's disdainful attitude, Hyorinmaru, whose personality was usually extremely cold, couldn't help but get truly angry.
In the original work, Hyorinmaru was already the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto.
However, because the original Toshiro was too young to truly unleash Hyorinmaru's power, the Strongest Ice-type Zanpakuto's performance was barely satisfactory, paling in comparison to Yamamoto's Strongest Fire-type, Ryujin Jakka.
But the current Hyorinmaru was different from the original. Not only had she fused with the power of the Ice Dragon Orb, but her master, Toshiro, was also not weaker than Yamamoto, so her level of development was incomparable to the original.
In Hyorinmaru's mind, no matter how you looked at it, her chances of winning were greater. Even if Ryujin Jakka was the Strongest Fire-type, he could only barely compare to her current self.
But a guy who could only barely compare to her dared to boast and underestimate her. Hyorinmaru, with her extremely proud heart, was truly angered.
"Ryujin Jakka! Strength isn't calculated by age. Rather, it's disappointing that you've lived for so long but only amount to this."
Hyorinmaru retorted sarcastically.
"Damn it! Little one, you've angered me!!"
"Roar!"
Ryujin Jakka let out a tremendous roar, then flapped his pair of fire wings and charged towards Hyorinmaru.
Similarly enraged, Hyorinmaru also flapped her huge ice wings and charged at Ryujin Jakka.
Seeing the other charging towards them, neither Hyorinmaru nor Ryujin Jakka showed any intention of dodging.
Then, the hundreds of feet long ice dragon and fire dragon, without using any abilities, simply collided with their immense bodies.
Boom!
Like a meteor hitting the earth, the moment Hyorinmaru and Ryujin Jakka collided, the entire world seemed to fall silent.
Then, after what seemed like an instant or an eternity, accompanied by a tremendous crashing sound, a powerful shockwave violently erupted, instantly destroying everything in its path and sweeping in all directions.
Due to the immense force of the impact, both Hyorinmaru and Ryujin Jakka's colossal bodies were sent flying backwards.
"Roar!"
Stabilizing herself in mid-air, ignoring the feeling that her body was about to fall apart, Hyorinmaru flew fiercely towards the nearby Ryujin Jakka.
Shing!
Hyorinmaru opened her huge mouth and bit off one of Ryujin Jakka's wings. Instantly, Ryujin Jakka's blood, like scorching magma, sprayed out. The moment it hit the ground, it melted small holes in the earth.
"Roar!"
In pain, Ryujin Jakka roared and swung his tail, striking Hyorinmaru and sending her flying.
Then Ryujin Jakka roared again and actively charged at Hyorinmaru.
Clawing, biting... their fight had no elegance whatsoever. It was nothing but savage brutality.
If an uninformed person saw this scene, they would never imagine it was a battle between the strongest ice and fire Zanpakuto. They would only think it was a fight between two dragon-shaped beasts.
Bang!
Colliding again, they were once more sent flying. But this time, neither immediately pursued the other for another attack.
"Haah... haah..."
Both Hyorinmaru and Ryujin Jakka were breathing heavily, white vapor shooting from their nostrils… freezing mist from one, scalding steam from the other.
Their earlier close-quarters brawl, while not consuming much Reiatsu, had been a considerable burden on their stamina.
After catching their breath, Ryujin Jakka attacked first.
But this time, Ryujin Jakka didn't engage in close combat like before. Instead, he opened his mouth and spewed a massive pillar of fire.
Seeing this, Hyorinmaru didn't choose to directly confront it. She flapped her huge ice wings and agilely maneuvered in the sky, dodging Ryujin Jakka's attacks.
Ryujin Jakka turned his head, following Hyorinmaru's movements, continuously spewing scorching pillars of fire.
But Hyorinmaru, like Toshiro, excelled in speed. Her seemingly bulky body consistently nimbly evaded Ryujin Jakka's attacks, causing them to miss.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ryujin Jakka's missed pillars of fire struck the ground. The terrifying power contained within violently erupted, blasting immense craters in the earth and forming small magma pits.
"Damn Hyorinmaru! Stop dodging like a coward and fight me!!"
Ryujin Jakka roared angrily.
"Hmph! If you want to fight head-on, fine. Now taste my power!"
Hyorinmaru snorted.
Then, like Ryujin Jakka, she opened her mouth and spewed a massive beam of freezing light.
Ryujin Jakka met it with his own pillar of fire.
Boom!
The scorching pillar of fire and the freezing beam of light collided instantly.
Extreme heat, like the sun, and extreme cold, capable of freezing everything, met. The two completely opposing immense forces clashed. For a moment, the very fabric of space seemed to distort.
Then, a blinding flash of light passed, and an immense, unprecedented explosion thundered.
Boom!!!