Chapter 1299 It was the Premonition of the End

Stralit was struggling on the floor, feeling like her insides were being chopped and mashed together. Her throat lurched as the last of the black liquid exited her body and with a blurry consciousness, she looked up to see a bald man with his back facing her, '...Who?'

[A dangerous individual that has to be eliminated.] Unexpectedly, a woman's voice answered her question in an awkward accent, 'Now I'm hallucinating?'

[You're not. Hurry up and open your eyes properly. He's about to kill you.] The mysterious voice answered again.

Stralit did her best to refocus his blurry sight and found that the bald man was already looking at her with his eyes with two pupils each. Stralit shuddered when she stared at those eyes and felt like her whole being was revealed to it, 'W-what's that!?' It's not exactly an unfamiliar feeling since she has become Gwenn Yarwood's acquaintance but it's way worse than that.

Stralit could hear various voices filling the room, questioning the strange man. The man, however, didn't answer at all and just completely turned towards her direction.

Stralit did her best to get and sit up, hoping that she'll be able to stand up soon. She had a hard time because she was still in the handcuffs that sealed her ability, but she was not really worried because as of right now, this hall is the most secure place on this planet with the matriarch's presence.

However, those expectations were instantly dashed. Some of the councilmen started attacking the intruders for not answering their questions. Their shadows sprung up like blades and spikes aiming to behead and skewer him. But before they could reach him, a wide cup suddenly materialized on his left hand, and the surrounding shadows twisted peculiarly before moving towards the cup and turning liquid.

"!?" Everyone in the room was stunned and the mysterious voice inside Stralit clicked her tongue, [Tch, so he already managed to gather enough to use his authority.]

The strange man then crushed the cup he's holding, dousing his left arm with the liquified 'shadow'. Like a spot of ink on the tip of the brush, it spread to his entire arm before several eyes possessing the same two pupils opened on it.

He took a single step forward towards Stralit but didn't continue and muttered, "Danku (Splitting Void)"

A translucent barrier instantly materialized behind him, blocking a giant spear made out of shadow. The spear was momentarily stopped but ground on the barrier a bit and went through soon enough.

The strange man hurriedly turned around and slapped the spear away with his darkened arm. He then turned to its source and saw the woman standing on the highest point of the hall. It was a very familiar sight. It was the same future he had seen multiple times.

Designating her as an enemy, the strange man grunted and pushed his darkened arm forward towards her, "Senri Tsuutenshou (Heavenly Passing Palm of the Thousand Li)" A giant golden hand appeared from his hand and shot towards the woman.

The shadows surrounding the woman, including those of the councilmen, moved and wrapped around her. She didn't feel any threat from the palm so she just prepared to defend against it.

But as soon as the palm made contact, her eyes widened and an invisible force suddenly started pushing her back uncontrollably, blasting her through the walls of the hall and sending her towards the vast sky.

With the threat gone, the man turned back around to face the young lady frozen in fear.

"W-what?" Stralit questioned what just happened but everyone around her was just as clueless as her.

The man continued approaching Stralit while a glaive suddenly appeared in his right hand. She tried standing up but she only ended up slipping on the black pool.

It only took a few steps to reach Stralit and with some hesitation, the strange man lifted his glave and aimed it at her, intending to cut her down into two.

"Ah..." Stralit could only let out a voice of resignation and frustration as she watched the glint of his blade. She could try running away, but with how messy her body is, she won't be able to get far from him, not to mention that her [Shadow] was sealed for this trial.

[Don't worry. I'm already here.] She heard the mysterious voice once again before a blade suddenly shot out of the black pool, cutting her cuffs and deflecting the downward swing of the glave.

Two distinct sounds rang out in the hall flooded by shouting voices but all Stralit could hear was the angry voice of a woman inside her head, [What are you doing!? Stay focused and catch me!]

'Catch?' Stralit finally saw the spinning sword midair and that's falling towards her. She was trained in various weapons so it was easy for her to catch the sword's handle and immediately use it to block the second swing of the glaive.

Stralit was sent rolling back and it wasn't pretty when she smashed herself to the wall behind her. However, she's alive. She was saved by a sword that suddenly appeared. It was a sleek medium-sized sword. Its hilt's grip, which has a gentle black-decorative wrapping, bends forward at the end, with a pommel-shaped overlap three times, and a crimson tassel dangling from its base.

[Now call my name!] The mysterious voice yelled.

"...Name?" Strangely enough, Stralit knew exactly what she wanted her to do. Without standing up, Stralit gritted her teeth and released her Spiritual Power, "Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame!"

In an instant, various strings came out of nowhere and started attaching themselves to Stralit, controlling her body's movement.

The strange man was obviously furious by this and dashed forward with even greater strength.

[Do your part. Your [Shadow] is still attached to him and it's the only [Shadow] in the room that would work on him in his current state.]

'Shadow?' Stralit looked beneath her feet and into the black pool. Strangely enough, it's still connected to the strange man and it has hints of her [Shadow], 'Wait. That's not my [Shadow].'

[Who cares if it's yours or John Smith's!? You can control it! Bind him down!]

Stralit was startled when the woman's voice was raised up further but she did what she wanted and her [Shadow] sprung up from the black pool.

"!?" The man tried controlling it like the others but it didn't heed his command and wrapped around him, stopping him in place. The man's strength was enough to tear this [Shadow] away, but he knew he didn't have time, not when the giant woman mannequin behind the young lady started moving.

Stralit didn't realize that such an uncanny thing appeared behind her as her body moved on its own, lifting the arm that's holding the sword and pointing it toward the man.

The man struggled to free himself but Stralit saw a line being drawn from his forehead down to his crotch before it opened up like a zipper. She thought that his innards would spill out but what was behind the cut was an iridescent purple and red space.

"Here. You can have it back." Stralit unintentionally opened her mouth and started speaking a language she only heard from Draconic Deus.

Her arm then began moving and the sword she was holding started releasing ink from the tip of its blade, soon forming an unknown symbol for her [死].

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As soon as Ichibei emerged, the first thing on his mind was to cut off the path he took to reach here and it looked like the source of the strange shadow that he was trying to manipulate was the young lady drenched in the black pool of his own power.

But before he could even approach her, the incessant voices around him speaking in an unknown language stopped and were replaced by assaults using Spiritually Powered shadows, 'Just where is this place?' He asked himself while summoning the cup of his mausoleum. Thanks to the path he took full of his scattered power, he was able to access his authority once again. And since these shadows are [Black] it was easy for him to control them.

Ichibei gathered these and bathed his arm with it. He was not aiming for a gradual recovery right now but an immediate power spike and transformation to strengthen his ability to 'see'. But despite transforming his arm, he still couldn't see anything in the future, 'Is this still not enough?' Within this question, a fear slowly sprouted.

He shook his mind off of it and turned towards the young woman he had to eliminate to close the path. But as soon as he took the first step forward, he was startled to feel a massive Spiritual Power behind him and blocked it with Kidou. The Kidou didn't last long and he had to turn around to directly deflect the spear made out of shadow because he still didn't have enough power to directly manipulate it.

It was that moment when he looked up that he finally realized that this is the future he has been seeing, 'Huh? It was this close?' Fear further bloomed deep within his consciousness.

Seeing that the woman on top was the only threat, he immediately moved to remove her temporarily and he was successful.

Doubt started shrouding his mind as he turned back to the young lady and even if he lifted his glaive at her, Ichibei still wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing and hoping for his ability to see the future finally manifest.

But it all went downhill when a familiar Zanpakuto suddenly appeared in the young lady's hand and called its name.

If he was his normal self, this Zanpakuto wouldn't even be able to release herself to the world much less call her own name, but as it stands, only his authority over [Black] returned and not his [Naming] ability.

Ichibei was wondering where this ability had gone. Fortunately... or unfortunately for him, he was soon given an answer when the young lady drew [死(Death)] in the air.

Ichibei wanted to get away but the shadow that had been binding him was strangely tough and the Zanpakuto's ability opened up his essence. Soon the character flew out and went inside the cut that was made on his body and it was at this moment that he finally acknowledged what was really happening. It was the reality he didn't want to admit and the nutrition for his fear that had already fully blossomed.

It's not that his ability to see the future hadn't returned. It's just that there was no more future for him to see.

The future he saw was not an indication of him escaping, but an omen that there's nothing beyond it.

As soon as his cut began stitching up, could immediately feel the [Name] that was granted on his essence and the only thing he could do was to shout in defiance and despair, "URAHARA KISU..." It was, however, cut short when he was instantly melted into a pool of black, lifeless substance.

The giant mannequin behind Stralit slightly opened her eyes and watched the demise of her master's foe. Despite everything that happened, she and her own master still respected the first Shinigami to some extent. As a sign of that respect, Benihime engraved his last moments into her mind. He would, at least, not be forgotten.

'Now then... I guess that's still too much for her. If I don't do something, she'll have a gruesome death.' Benihime thought while looking down on the girl who released her true name and was now coughing and tearing up once again. But instead of the previous black substance, it was real blood this time, 'Well, it could have been worse.'