Chapter 303: Chapter 258
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[Adam C. POV.]
I sealed my Bankai, dropping into the ground exhausted, sweat dropping down my face, my breaths
heavy and ragged. The world around me seemed to blur, the edges of my vision turning fuzzy as my energy drained away.
Using the Void form, was... incredibly taxing, both on my soul and my body. I hadn't even used the whole minute, and I was having problems standing upright.
"Fuck..." I muttered, as my legs gave way, and I collapsed onto the cold, hard earth beneath me. With what little strength remained, I turned my head to assess the situation. I had defeated Yhwach, and without him, the war the Quincy had brought upon the Soul Society was bound to fail now.
I could still feel everyone fighting, some winning, most of them losing. At this point, if the Shinigami actually lost the war, after I took all the powerhouses... well, let's just say they deserve to be defeated if that comes to happen.
As I mused on the absurdity of us losing the war, a shift in the air catches my attention. It's subtle, almost imperceptible, but to me, it's as clear as the light of day. A familiar change in the energy around me, my family.
The ones I explicitly instructed Urahara not to involve.
Pushing myself up with a herculean effort, I managed to sit, my gaze locking onto the shifting energies that heralded their approach. My heart sank. Urahara's disobedience meant that the battle was far from over, and my family's safety had been compromised.
"Goddamnit, Kisuke..." I growled under my breath, grabbing my Zanpakuto tight. "They have no role in this."
As I raged at the implications of my family being here, in a war they had no obligation to fight, the sound of approaching footsteps breaks my thoughts. I tense up, ready to spring into action, but my body protests with a sharp jolt of pain. It's Yhwach, standing before me, seemingly unharmed.
"Congratulations," he said, his voice carrying a hint of respect, "Your power is that... form, was so immense, that it forced me to rewrite the future just to stand here. Though I guess it would be more accurate to say, that it forced me to write a future, instead of rewriting one, seeing you left nothing to rewrite."
Glaring at him, I pushed myself up the ground, every muscle screaming in protest. I might not have a lot of energy in me right now, but I would not falter... not now.
"Round two, I guess." I said, getting into a stance as I braced myself for another round, only for Yhwach to raise his hand, signaling a pause.
"As fun as that would be, we don't have the energy for another bout," he admits, a rare glimpse of vulnerability in his eyes. "I can barely walk, and you're not faring much better, brother."
Confusion swirled within me, as those words left his mouth. Something here didn't make much sense... I mean, if his current state was similar to mine, why did he even come? "Why are you here then?"
Yhwach's brows creased as he looked up at the darkening sky, his eyes filled with a mix of anger and apprehension. "We may not see eye to eye in our ideals, brother, but right now, we have a common enemy... so you ask why I'm here? Well... the answer is simple, to avoid total annihilation, we must unite against our father."
Our father...
The Soul King?
The supposed guardian of balance and order? The linchpin of this reality?
Could it be the Soul King was after some sort of revenge for what the noble families did to him?
No... That didn't make much sense... after all, according to Urahara, he allowed them to do everything they did to him, giving no resistance. He knew he was going to be sealed, betrayed, butchered, and put away.
There's no revenge, in a willing act. He can't be angry or resentful for something he allowed others to do, while having more than enough power to stop it; in the first place.
"I can understand why he would want to kill you," I replied, taking a deep breath. "Your entire plan was to kill him, eat him, and take his place... but why would he want to kill me? And that's an honest question, because I fail to see how I wronged the guy, if anything I am doing him a favor by stopping you."
Yhwach's gaze held mine, a humorless chuckle escaping him. "You're right... but the thing is, you're his son as much as I am, though you refuse to acknowledge the blood that ties us," he said with a bitter edge to his voice. "Our father does not discriminate between us. He sees both of us as perversions, unworthy aberrations that taint the order he seeks to create, to him, we are nothing more than two sides of the same flawed coin."
"Realistically speaking, what our chances of defeating him..." I asked, looking at him, because despite the fact I didn't like him, at all... I was starting to believe he wasn't lying to me, and if that was the case... well, I had a feel we were fucked.
Yhwach's tired eyes scanned the horizon before settling back on me, his expression grim. "I won't sugarcoat it," he began, his voice low. "Even together, at our full power... our chances are basically non-existent."
I blinked, staring at him for a moment. "So much for avoiding total annihilation."
Yhwach's lips curled into a smirk, as he nodded solemnly. "Our father is the embodiment of a primordial force, the very essence that maintains balance between the human world, the spirit world, Hueco Mundo, and Hell... his power is beyond our reach."
"So... what you're saying is, we are going to die, so we might as well... die fighting?" I raised an eyebrow, a wry smile tugging at my lips despite the direness of our situation. It seemed absurdly human of him, this determination to blaze out rather than fade away.
"Precisely," Yhwach replied, standing up straighter. "We may be doomed from the start, but it's better to challenge destiny than to cower before it."
"You are being surprisingly friendly for a guy I tried to kill a few minutes ago," I remarked, the absurdity of our newfound alliance not lost on me.
Yhwach allowed himself a dry laugh, the sound echoing hollow in the empty space between us. "Circumstances make strange bedfellows," he said. "Besides, I've always respected strength and resolve, even when it's aimed at me. We are, after all, cut from the same cloth; crafted to be warriors in a war that predates our existence. The very least we can do is face the end with dignity."
Face our end with some dignity... what if I didn't want to face any end at all?
"How much time we have?" I asked, knowing the answer might be just as bleak as the rest of our discussion.
Yhwach sighed. "A few hours at most before he gathers his strength fully. Not that he needs his full power to do so, if anything... the reason he still hasn't come for us, is that he's probably admiring creation one last time, before he unravels it."
A few hours.
Surprisingly more time than I had expected.
Meaning I have more than enough time to send everyone I care back home.
"Anything that might increase our life expectancy?" I asked, sheathing my blade.
"Ikomikidomoe," Yhwach replied, letting out a sigh. "A hollow of immense power sealed long ago by the monk who calls the real name. That beast might buy us a few extra seconds."
I chuckled, well, at least he's being honest. As depressing as it was.
"On that note, can you call off your people... I see no point in everyone fighting, when... you know who is coming," I remarked.
"Very well," Yhwach nodded.
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