Chapter 135: Vijñapti-mātra - Mystic Eyes of Death Perception! (Bleach Ending) (Patreon)

The atmosphere was heavy and deathly still.

For a moment, no one could shake off the shock and impact of the world-ending Great Flood.

Suddenly, Ren spoke.

"He's here!"

Everyone snapped back to reality.

They understood what they were doing now, and what Ren's words meant.

Instinctively, they turned toward the shadows.

They saw a humanoid shadow emerge from the darkness, taking the form of Yhwach.

Yhwach's face darkened.

When the Great Flood descended, he had been at a critical moment in absorbing the Soul King's power.

Fortunately, he had set up a barrier in advance, buying him the crucial time he needed.

Though he ultimately succeeded in absorbing the Soul King's power, he had been unable to save the Wandenreich.

The Quincies of the Wandenreich were his "backup batteries." In times of crisis, he could activate them through Auswählen.

But now, those batteries had been destroyed. How could he not be furious?

"Yhwach! Give me a good fight!"

Kenpachi Zaraki's battle-hungry voice rang out.

He Shunpo'd directly before Yhwach, swinging his blade with savage force.

Under everyone's watch, Kenpachi's slash cleaved Yhwach clean in two.

But before they could react, Yhwach had already restored himself to full form.

Though they had been forewarned of Yhwach's Almighty, witnessing it firsthand still shook them.

Only Kenpachi grew even more excited, raising his blade for another strike.

Yhwach simply fixed his gaze, with its dual red pupils, on Kenpachi and said coldly,

"An ant."

As he spoke, his hand pressed lightly against Kenpachi.

Without any visible action, Kenpachi's body exploded, spraying blood everywhere. He collapsed, his fate unknown.

Yhwach paid him no further attention.

Previously, Kenpachi had been one of Yhwach's marked Special War Potentials.

But now, Kenpachi was nothing more than an ant to him.

Yhwach's gaze swept across the area, as if confirming who was present.

His eyes lingered only briefly on Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto and the three Zero Division members before settling on Ren Kurogami.

To Yhwach, Ren was the greatest variable in his conquest of the Three Worlds, and he had to be eliminated.

"Bankai - Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū!"

"Bankai - Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"

"Bankai - Daiguren Hyōrinmaru!"

"Bankai - Tekken Tachikaze!"

...

"Bankai - Zanka no Tachi!"

Yamamoto and the other Captains of the Gotei 13 all released their Bankai.

Just as planned, they were creating an opportunity for Ren.

The three Zero Division members couldn't use their Bankai due to the Blood Oath Seal, but their strength in their normal state already surpassed the Captains' Bankai.

Without hesitation, they charged toward Yhwach.

Ren opened Gate of Babylon.

Golden ripples filled the sky.

Then the Chains of Heaven emerged from the golden ripples.

He had already tested them on Sōsuke Aizen. The Chains of Heaven were effective against Soul King Factors.

That meant they would also work on Yhwach.

Especially now, after absorbing the Soul King's power, they should be exceptionally effective.

But Yhwach possessed the Almighty. The Chains of Heaven alone could never capture him, so Ren used them only as a distraction.

Yhwach ignored the Captains' Bankai. Even the Zero Division's attacks were completely disregarded.

With the Almighty, he could converge futures in which he was neither injured nor killed into reality.

So he simply walked through their assault, step by step, toward Ren.

He saw the Chains of Heaven surrounding Ren.

He sensed no Reiatsu fluctuations from them, recognizing them as another type of Noble Phantasm.

That made him cautious.

Though he had become the new Soul King, his power was still rooted in the Reishi system. Power based on the Magical Energy system still gave him pause.

CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

With the sound of rattling chains, the Chains of Heaven, as though they had minds of their own, all shot toward Yhwach.

Yhwach's expression flickered.

He had observed a future where he was captured by the Chains of Heaven.

To his shock, he found that he could not break free from their binding shackles.

Fortunately, he could converge futures in which he was never captured into reality, allowing him to avoid them.

"Ryūsenka!"

Tōshirō Hitsugaya's shout rang out.

A wave of devastating cold struck, freezing Yhwach solid.

But in an instant, Yhwach returned to normal.

Together with the Chains of Heaven, everyone's attacks continued to rain down upon Yhwach without pause.

Ren had already activated Sha Naqba Imuru.

Through its starlight, he knew the time was right.

He immediately activated the Random Retrieval ability.

The next moment, a special Noble Phantasm named Vijñapti-mātra - Mystic Eyes of Death Perception was summoned and fused directly with Ren's body.

To avoid alerting Yhwach, Ren softly chanted its release incantation.

"Lines of Death carved into all things, reach as far as my sword can strike!"

"Vijñapti-mātra - Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!"

As the chant ended, the colors of the Root flashed in Ren's eyes.

At that instant, everything that possessed the concept of death appeared before him densely packed with Lines and Points of Death.

Yhwach was no exception.

Though he could converge futures in which he did not die into reality, he still possessed the concept of death, meaning his Lines and Points of Death could still be seen by Ren.

If Ren severed Yhwach's Lines of Death, he would erase Yhwach's existence at its very root.

Even the Almighty could not rewrite death on a causality-level phenomenon.

However, the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception had one flaw. Ren had to personally sever Yhwach's Lines of Death.

Therefore, he first had to land a strike on Yhwach before he could truly kill Yhwach.

And he could only use Vijñapti-mātra - Mystic Eyes of Death Perception once, so he had to land the hit in a single strike.

One chance... only one!

Ren kept his eyes locked on the deadlocked battlefield.

Shinji Hirako, Kensei Muguruma, and the other Captain-class Shinigami with Third-Class Spiritual Might had already fallen into pools of blood, their fate unknown.

The remaining Captains had all suffered injuries to varying degrees.

Finally, Ren seized the opening.

He Shunpo'd behind Yhwach and, wielding Divine Void, cut through Yhwach's Line of Death.

Yhwach's expression froze.

A look of disbelief surfaced in his eyes.

Under the gaze of everyone still conscious, he crashed to the ground, utterly silent.

......