webnovel

New Sternritter

A month passed and the group was about to go to Soul Society to save Rukia. Urahara brought Yoruichi to a private meeting while everyone was saying their goodbyes.

"Why did you give her your Zanpakuto and that letter? Helping her grow is one thing, but this—"

"What do you know, Kisuke? I spent a month teaching her and I naturally know her personality. She isn't some pawn. I will prove it to you. And even if she is being controlled by Him, I'll save her."

"I hope you don't regret this later…"

"I won't."

However, several months passed and Orihime was seemingly captured by Aizen. She assisted him in completing the hogyoku. Although she joined in the defense later, Urahara wasn't convinced. Her behavior was suspicious. She had the strength, but didn't use it. This was clearly the behavior of someone plotting something. When she followed Ichigo into the Dangai to train, Urahara simply looked at Yoruichi and didn't say anything. Although their reunion was pleasant, they both could tell that something was off about Orihime.

"I've been watching the show you put on in the Soul Society. Although a bit bland since I could only see with Reiatsu." Aizen said with a smirk on his face. Orihime stood in front of him very relaxed and not bothered by his words. She had suspected that he was the 'leak' that allowed Yamamoto to discover her the last time she was here.

"So, do you know why I'm here then?" Orihime asked in a slightly threatening manner.

"Despite your tone, I know it is not to kill me. You need me to defeat Him after all." Aizen said smugly. However, deep down he was afraid. With his growth, he was considerably stronger than her. However, he was currently sealed so half of his powers were suppressed.

"Although I did consider killing you, now that I'm here, I can see that it won't benefit me." Orihime had been watching him closely since arriving. She contemplated killing and absorbing his consciousness into her. However, the pressure he exuded was similar to her own. She wasn't confident that she could wrestle control over the primary consciousness with him swimming around. She was also unsure of the interactions there would be with the different hogyoku.

Orihime raised her fist and struck down at the chair under Aizen. It exploded in a rain of shrapnel and the pressure in the room suddenly increased exponentially. Aizen walked forward, still donned with the sealing clothes that suppressed a fraction of his power. It was nowhere near the level that the chair affected him, and it seemed to protect him from the Soul King's influence so he kept it.

"That's very reckless of you, Orihime Inoue. You didn't even make a deal with me first. I could run away now and you would never see me again…" His wicked smile was especially evil at that moment.

"I don't think you will run. Yhwach is already at the Soul Palace. My subordinates are dealing with the Sternritters in Soul Society. How about we pay a visit to the father and son duo and deal with them once and for all? Maybe I'll even let you be the next king."

However, Aizen frowned at that. His ambition was once to become the king, but ever since he was sealed and his thoughts became his own, he realized that it was not his will. The only thing that mattered to him was becoming the strongest being, but the Soul King position was the ultimate prison. He would rather stay in the bottom floor and serve out his sentence.

Orihime saw his expression and gave him a knowing look. She waved her hand and a portal to the royal palace opened up. The Oken in her bones allowed her to freely access the Soul Palace. When Aizen saw this, he lamented. Destroying the sacred ground of soul convergence, which was Karakura town at the time, was his plan to create the Oken for himself. Not only did he fail, but it even allowed Orihime to receive one with minimal effort.

Originally, she planned to deal with the Sternritter one by one, but seeing how powerful Aizen is, she decided to go straight after Yhwach. With this, the two stepped through the portal, leaving behind the dark and quiet room. The portal closed and the quiet prison returned to its previous stillness.

Hours earlier, Soul Palace Entrance

A large, bright portal opened. The edges of the portal burned like a flame and several Quincy in white uniform stepped through. Behind them, a man in black Quincy uniform stepped forward and smiled. This was the invasion force that was led by Yhwach himself.

"Your Majesty, the Sun Portal has successfully infiltrated the Soul Palace. It seems we are on the bottom level." One of the Quincy said. This was Lille Barro, designation X – The X-Axis. He was a weakling, but made for decent cannon fodder, Yhwach thought. Many royal guards suddenly appeared around the group of invaders and attacked without any word.

"You dare!" One of the Quincy shouted and stepped forward to receive their attacks. However, as their blades approached, they all bent and missed their target. The space around Nianzol Weizol seemed to have a barrier. He was the sternritter designated W – The Wind with the power of an aversion field. Also, a cannon fodder, but Yhwach didn't need them for their strength.

Suddenly, all of the several dozen royal guards fell to the ground, their bodies exploding in a fountain of blood. It happened so quickly; they didn't even know how it happened. One of the other Sternritters flipped the hood off his head and groaned. The two weaker Sternritter wanted to show off, but they were just wasting time. Therefore, he quickly controlled the lethal dose of Reiatsu for the guards and they died. This was Askin Nakk Le Vaar, designated D for The Deathdealing.

"Stop playing around with the small fry." Askin chided.

However, before they could continue forward, the sound of clogs echoed around them. A man with a large pompadour stepped into view with a pissed off expression. "Hey, you are trespassing here. Get the hell out!"

He released a large wave of his killer hot spring water and immediately attacked Lille Barro. The Sternritter tried to retaliate with the large bazooka-like weapon on his shoulder, but he overestimated himself. His body was quickly boiled alive by the scalding hot spring water and he became a pile of white bones. Although, this was because Yhwach retrieved his power from Lille as he was dying.

The water returned to Tenjiro's side, as he formulated his next plan. Just as he was about to attack again, a faint sword glint was reflected off his water. Before he could even blink, his body fell apart into two halves. The fight ended just as abruptly as it had started. It was almost a joke how poorly the royal guard performed. Although a Sternritter died, Yhwach wasn't upset. Instead, he was quite pleased with the performance.

Yhwach turned to the last Sternritter and smiled. Before arriving here, he picked up his heir from the world of the living. The ultimate convergence of all powers combined into a single entity. With the potential for limitless growth, he could break through the ceiling of this world. Because of this, he became the Sternritter designated A for The All.

"Well done, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo, wearing a clean, white uniform flipped his hood off. He stood with his sword in hand and only took a single glance at the fallen Royal Guard. His weapon had gone through a huge change after accepting his Sternritter power. It resembled his true Zanpakuto. However, instead of a secondary sword, a large bow was slung over his back. His eyes were vacant of emotion, as if he was simply swatting a fly.

"Of course, Your Majesty." Ichigo replied with a cold tone.

****************

I didn't make you guys wait too long, right? Anyway, here's the chapter that I had half-completed for the last several months. I am Voldemort MCU xover is going to be dropped, and I was pretty upset. That frustration made me realize how shitty it was for me to leave this story hanging so I'll take some time to wrap it up finally. There are only a few chapters left anyway. Sorry for the long wait XD

The heir is ichigo in the end! Holy moly what a twist. Honestly, I had to reread a lot of this story and remembered how I was setting this up with his slow transformation to being a cruel, cold person. But, what happened to Uryuu!?

Pill_Guycreators' thoughts