8 Chapter 7
- It's burning. - Ganz said muffledly, looking at his right hand darkened after the blow.
Ichigo, quickly moving away from the blow, lowered his hands, clenching them into fists. The blow, which he intentionally caught in order to feel the strength of the enemy, turned out to be quite strong and would have had disastrous consequences for both hands, if not for the dark energy that played for the "second skin".
The black reatsu, invisible to most ordinary people, swirl in a swirl in the arms of the former god of death, resembling black gloves. The inner voice, which was whispering to him as soon as possible again to stand in the fighting stance, now intensely continued to remind about this. Persistent training and fights, in which he took a special part after having lost the strength of the soul guide, left a certain pattern of actions inside his body, a worked out and tested sequence: catch a blow - stand up, and then answer or answer - finish it. The enemy must be defeated in any case.
- Perfectly. Ichigo said with a slight mockery, looking at the living rock. - For a long time I have not met anyone who could give me change. Eternally, some weaklings come across: either a conceited punks, or too arrogant geeks who can only wag their tongue.
Ganz stepped back. He subconsciously began to realize that something in his opponent was not right. An ordinary person who has just begun his ascent to the Tower cannot withstand the direct blow of a mercenary who has passed the twentieth floor. The stone giant glanced again at his burnt forearm. Burnt pebbles covered with soot continued to smoke faintly.
- What did you do? - Bass asked Ganz.
- Never mind. - Tearing away, Ichigo boldly said.
The tremendous speed that was achieved by strengthening the body with spiritual energy allowed the swordsman to instantly face Ganz. The first blow threw the giant rival back, pushing it shallow to the floor.
- "Strong." - The giant gritted his teeth, dropping his eyes to a faintly smoking chest. - "And very fast."
Some of the mercenaries swallowed nervously, unable to remember, so that someone could move a rock-man out of place, it would seem, with a normal blow.
Kurosaki bent forward a bit, again rushing at the enemy with amazing speed.
The first blow, tearing Ganz off the ground, was skillfully blocked by the big man's broad arm. A kick in the chest, immediately following the first one, threw the person's stone body one step back, but did not do much harm like the previous ones.
Having blocked the third attack, the mercenary smiled, showing yellow teeth. Although the blows of the new ally of their employer were quick, they lacked the physical strength to pierce the thick, stone skin. Skillfully dodging, Ganz was waiting for the right moment for a counterattack. And soon he waited for him.
Quickly conducting accurate attacks, Ichigo did not notice how the soil under his feet gave way to hard stones.
- Here you are! - The giant shouted joyfully. "I'll turn you into a cake!" - Clapping his hands, the man said confidently.
The two stone walls that appeared from under Kurosaki's feet touched with a deafening roar, raising a cloud of dust.
- Crushed like a bug! - Splashing with saliva, Ganz laughed, turning to his comrades.
"And really ..." A dark silhouette of Ichigo appeared behind the stone giant. - ... fun. - His right hand, brought to strike, was covered with a layer of black energy.
A moment and Ganz already turned to the red-haired guy, erecting a stone wall in front of him. For its size, he was extremely nimble, noted to himself the Shinigami, continuing to accumulate more reats in his palm.
- Sero.
The energy collected in the hand, an instant before the uncontrolled surge, gathered in a small ball at the tips of the fingers, immediately rushing forward with a wide beam, tearing down the stone barrier in its path. A loud whistle, which once gave off with bitter memories, made Ichigo give a weak grin, and then look at the place where Ganz's unconscious body lay.
- Horrific breakdown power. - With admiration came from under the black hood.
"Ganz is defeated by one attack?" The "octopus" got nervous. "When did this redhead activate the light? And where did he get it from ?!"
- Amazing. - Looking at Ichigo with wide eyes, he swallowed Blusom. - What is this power?
Taking advantage of the resulting confusion, Kurosaki went to the Shunpo, accumulating reatsu in both hands. The compressed spiritual energy, like the ignited gas from a burner, continued to accumulate destructive force.
- Regroup! - Shouted the captain of the mercenaries. - Everyone focus on the destruction of this man!
Eight lights that rose above the heads of several mercenaries lit up with a blue glow, portending a powerful attack.
"We will delay him." - Confidently said one of the anglers, behind which stood four spearmen.
Appearing right in front of the angler, Ichigo knocked him out with a blow to the neck.
The two men who stood behind the fallen unconscious man immediately rushed forward, exposing their blades.
Putting your right leg forward and turning the torso slightly to the right to get between the blades, and after grabbing the blades and using a splash of reatsu, break them in a matter of seconds to immediately step forward, instantly reducing the distance. And the next second, Ichigo's hands fell on the heads of the opponents. For a moment, and both anglers, breaking off the ground, swirled in the air, noisily falling to the ground with broken vertebrae.
Having escaped from the attack of several lights using the shinigami technique, Ichigo formed a blue reatsu blade in his hands.
- What do we do? - Panicking through the various escape routes in my head, one of the mercenaries behind the captain asked. - Ganz is defeated, but we do not have anglers that can resist him!
- We are pulling time! - Strutted the "octopus", clenching its teeth and fists. The situation got out of his control. He should have already understood this when Ganz lost, but pride, or rather arrogance, did not give him a chance to change his mind. - Hit him from afar. Otherwise, why the hell are you with lights ?! He shouted violently. - We are pulling time, nothing is left to the end. - He looked hopefully at the Clock. Yes, the end of this round is their only chance to stay intact.
Thirty seconds to go.
Dodging a few blue salvos that looked like demonic shinigami magic, Ichigo clanked in displeasure after seeing that the mercenaries were ready to attack again. It was clear that they no longer wanted to attack in the forehead, so they decided to keep their distance. This somewhat complicated the situation for him, since he did not want to reveal all the trump cards of his abilities.
"And time is running out." Kurosaki noted with annoyance, jumping to the side. "We need to grab the crown!" - He thought decisively, but suddenly froze.
The man whose face was covered with a hood stood on a huge throne. In his left hand he held an orange katana, and on the index finger of his right hand he twisted a cardboard crown, swaying from side to side.
"Hurry up or the game for you and your team will end here." - The shadow of the clothes could not close a wide, arrogant, but from that no less terrible smile. An unknown person enjoyed the attention allotted to her, continuing to arrogantly provoke a red-haired swordsman.
Ichigo looked at the Clock. Twenty seconds left.
- Mr. Kurosaki, leave him! - cried out by Bloom.
Observing the situations from the outside, he could not accurately determine the strengths and abilities of this mysterious man who instantly captured the crown. But the guide knew for sure that entering into battle with him would be a dangerous undertaking, which was unlikely to set them in the right direction.
"He can't hear you." - Poong said displeasedly, knowing that the distance separating them from Ichigo was too great for a person who was keen on battle to be able to hear them. "Ichigo is too far away."
The swordsman dispelled the weapon, breaking off, increasing the number of reatsu under his feet with each next step, so that he could immediately leave for the shunpo at the right moment.
With the orange blade in front of him, the man in the hood smiled, feeling the growing strength of his opponent. Taking the hilt of the sword in both hands and putting the crown on his head, he somewhere inside himself realized that he could not block the attack with one hand, whatever it was. A feeling unknown until now covered him with his head. Seeing in front of someone with such power ... This is beyond words. Watch how every second blue sparks break out from under the opponent's feet and understand that he is still holding back ...
- Everyone, attack the redhead! - Shouted the captain of the mercenaries, also activating his three lights. - Do not let this jerk go further! - He spread his arms wide, connecting his lights with the help of a tire.
Thirteen blue lights flashed brightly, emitting many deadly rays.
Out of the corner of his eye, observing the impending threat, Ichigo was already frozen to block the mercenary attack and forget about the crown, but the blinking inscription on the Clock said that he should not worry about anything. It seems that Tu Peri kept the situation under control ... partially.
