Part 2: A Blade that Protects.

Yoruichi stared down the hulking colossus in-front of her. Her blood was boiling after not having a decent fight in a very long time.

"Well are you going to fight me or not" She goaded the demi-god.

With a roar, Heracles charged at the Flash goddess.

His giant fist smashed down toward her head. Yoruichi didn't dodge, she put up a cross guard and took the hit head on.

The ground beneath her cracked at the force of the punch.

As Heracles reeled back for another punch, Yoruichi pointed her finger at his eye.

"Byakurai"

A bolt of white lightning shot out from her finger and pierced his head through his eye socket.

Heracle's lifeless body fell backwards onto the ground.

"Stop playing around, I know all about your God Hand ability." She said teasingly to the demi-god.

God hand is the passive ability that Heracles has, it gives him 12 lives and with each life taken, he becomes immune to the way he died previously.

"I'm curious to see if you became immune to my kido, Byakurai specifically, or damage to your brain."

"Shall we experiment some more?" She said sadistically.

Heracles regenerated from the damage and stood up again. He showed no hesitation, the madness consuming any hesitation or strategic thinking he would normally have.

Yoruichi disappeared from her spot, she shunpo'd above him him and dropped down with a thunderous kick to the top of his head, dropping him down to one knee.

Before he had a chance to react, she once again Shunpo'd behind him, slamming her right heel into the side of his left temple. Which she followed up, with lighting speed, by shifting her pivot foot to her right and swung her left leg towards his right temple connecting in the same manner.

Heracles fell to the ground, his brain completely shaken. He had died for the second time.

"Get up big guy, I have a lot of issues to work out and a lot of pent up frustration" She said with a wide smile.

Again, Heracles stood up with no hesitation.

Yoruichi held out her palm in-front of her, "Hadou no. 88: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho" she chanted.

A burst of electrical energy fired out from Yoruichi's palm in a large beam.

The beam of lighting connected with the demi god which resulted in a large explosion.

Several moments later after the dust settle, Heracles stood there unaffected.

"So that's it, your God hand is rather narrow in what it chooses to become immune to" She mused.

"You aren't immune to kido, lightning, or brain damage. What you became immune to was specifically lightning damage generated from kido"

"I can see why some of the heroic spirits would be hard pressed to deal with you, they don't have a very good variety of attacks." She said.

"It's been fun big guy, but I'm going to start killing you faster now" An evil smile creeped up on her face.

"Bakudo no. 61: Rikujōkōrō" She chanted with a finger pointed at the berserker.

Six rods made of light encased the hulking monstrosity in a prison and brought him to his knees.

"I'm going to break you" She said as she slowly walked towards Heracles.

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Saber was focused on the fight between Yoruichi and one of the berserkers.

Shirou was still unconscious, undergoing his reincarnation and she was stuck still so she could only watch the fights around her.

For the first time, she felt sorry for berserker. Each one was systematically taken down. The once proud demi god was killed 36 times within the span of minutes.

She looked away as Yoruichi finished off the last of her berserkers lives, she dared not to watch anymore , so she turned to look at the other girls.

The one her size, Rukia , figured out the same thing as Yoruichi but her style involved more the use of her blade and ice, though she showed proficiency with that magic they seemed to possess.

Apparently, there are plenty of different ways one can freeze to death.

The other girl, Tier Harribel, surprised her the most. Her abilities completely countered Heracles. She truly felt sorry for the former hero at this point.

He drowned, twelve times.

She could only guess that being drowned did not register as an attack to trigger his god hands immunity.

Tier merely encased the monster in a sphere of war where he could not escape. She looked bored throughout the fight.

These new comrades of hers were strong, ridiculous so. She would need to get stronger as well.

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"Kurosaki Ichigo, the substitute shinigami, I remember who you are now." Alaya said after Cu Chulainn admitted defeat.

"Even if I never gained a foothold in that world, I would still watch it and others from time to time."

"I'm curious how you are still alive, with your world being gone and all." She asked the Shinigami.

Ichigo only smiled, opting not to answer her question.

"Hero of the winter war and the thousand-year blood war. The man who cut down the transcendent being Sōsuke Aizen…" She added on.

The stoic heroic spirits finally reacted. They knew how Alaya was using the word "transcendent" in this context.

Alaya was a transcendent being. And this boy cut down someone who was her equal.

"For a brief moment, through your own efforts, you broke through all shackles placed on you, so you could stand against him. You willingly gave up your powers for a single attack, in that single moment, you stood on the same level as that man and by extension you were my equal."

"He cheated in his ascension, he used that abomination to force his evolution, but you did it through sheer willpower and determination."

"You are truly one of the greatest heroes I've ever witnessed Kurosaki Ichigo, and for that reason I will give you a chance."

"You versus the strongest hero in my Throne, if you win I will not come after you and you can take Artoria and Shirou, if I win I will keep them both and you will become my counter guardian." Alaya proposed to the Shinigami.

"I accept." He stated.

"I invite all the heroes within my throne to watch this battle" She said as hundreds of portals open in the surroundings. All the members of the Throne of Heroes present.

Saber was finally freed from her restraints as she watched the Shinigami stand in the open field, waiting for his opponent.

On the opposite side of the field a final portal opened, the portal radiated gold.

Out stepped a man with blonde hair and red eyes. His armor adorned in gold.

"Gilgamesh, King of heroes" Saber whispered.

She knew him all to well. He almost killed her Shirou.

"Avalon" The King of Heroes said in surprise as he exited the portal.

He looked around to see the entire population of the Throne here. His eyes fell on Alaya that was next to his Artoria, and finally they fell on the orange hair boy who stood at his opposite end of the field.

"He Is your opponent" Alaya said talking to Gilgamesh and gesturing towards Ichigo.

"I am not your servant" He declared towards Alaya.

"He wishes to take Artoria away" Alaya said, knowing full well how the king felt towards the girl.

"And what qualifications does this mongrel have that would allow him to take away my Queen" The king said in anger.

"He once stood on equal footing with me" She replied dryly.

"oh?" The king was surprised at this.

"Very well, ill do you both the honor of beating him in battle" He declared arrogantly.

"Tell me your name boy" He said, finally recognizing his opponent.

"Kurosaki Ichigo" Ichigo said.

"He who protects, That's a good name." The king gave a rare compliment.

A golden ripple opened near Gilgamesh and a nameless noble phantasm shot towards Ichigo

Ichigo swung his smaller blade to meet the flying sword, his blade completely shattered the nameless noble phantasm on contact.

Gilgamesh raised at eyebrow at this and opened dozens of ripples simultaneously. Swords shot at Ichigo by the dozens. And they all shattered upon meeting his blades.

More and more nameless blades rained down on Ichigo, he never retreated, he met all the blades head on. His arms blurred with speed with which he connected Zangetsu with each flying sword.

Sparks enveloped his person.

Hundreds, thousands, those watching lost count. They stared in awe at this boy's power. Not a single wound was seen on his person, his cloths still in pristine condition if only a little bit of dust.

"What are the name of your blades boy, they are not ordinary and I've never seen them before" The king said as he stopped his onslaught.

"Zangetsu, he's forged from my soul. They're called a Zanpakutō. " He replied as he put the blades away on his person

"Slaying moon" The king whispered to himself, until he noticed the boys action.

"Are you looking down on me?" The king shouted in anger.

Ichigo responded to his words by materializing his bow into his hand.

"An archer as well?" the king said in surprise.

"I thought I would play along with your game, since all you want to do is stand there and fire projectiles" Ichigo said as he raised bow.

Ichigo gathered a large amount of reiatsu before he uttered the name of the attack.

"Licht Regen" He said.

Gilgamesh's eyes widened as the words were spoken, his instincts screamed at him for the first time.

Over a thousand ripples appeared and shot out to meet the attack that was coming.

Thousands of light arrows blotted out the king's vision as they came at him, he tried to meet each

one with a blade but it was proving difficult. A single blade could handle an arrow with ease but there were just far too many arrows.

All the true archers watching could only feel a sense of envy at the feat the boy performed with apparent ease.

Just as the arrows were upon the king he finally spoke.

"Alright boy, you earned the right to see my full collection." He said as hundreds of more rippled opened up. This time the noble Phantasms were not nameless. The various heroic spirits would recognize them. Legendary weapons surrounded the king blocking all the arrows with ease as the arrows shattered into particles upon meeting the blade wall.

"Done playing around?" The young Shinigami said in a teasing tone.

The king could only sneer at his comment.

"Very well" Ichigo said as he pointed two fingers at the king.

A strange sound emitted as a red ball of energy coalesced. The sound had a strange feeling accompanied by it, it caused everyone present to shiver, as they are beings made purely of their souls.

"Cero" He called out as the red ball of energy fired off in a straight line towards the king.

Gilgamesh for the first time felt fear. It was primordial. It was came from the furthest corners of his soul, it was telling him that if this attack connected, he would die. A true death, it would destroy his soul.

He sent all the surrounding blades to meet the attack head on, seconds felt like eons as the red light finally dissipated after taking dozens of legendary weapons with it.

Ichigo was taking this battle leisurely, he felt no threat from the man before him. He let his guard down, he got arrogant. The same mistakes his enemies made against him the past, and it was about to bite him in the ass.

"Enkidu" The king called out before the dust settled.

Golden chains shot out from dozens of Ripples that surrounded Ichigo.

They wrapped him up, not allowing him to move his arms.

"You have earned the right for me to use my strongest weapon boy, be honored, it took a weapon capable of killing the world to defeat you." He said as he pulled out a sword that could only be described as grotesque.

In the Throne of heroes, the blade held its full power.

Ichigo felt it, that creeping sensation that he always sent towards others. It crawled up his spine.

Death approached. That weapon can kill him. He would smack his own head if he could move his arms. He was so stupid, when had he become so arrogant?

"To recognize your arrogance and overcome it was an important moment Ichigo" The old man spoke for the first time in many days.

"I want to meet his blade king, that abomination, I want to destroy it." Zangetsu spoke as well.

Ichigo smiled, it was not an arrogant smile. It was a confidant one. He was going to use it for the first time since reincarnating.

"Lets see which is stronger, your blade that destroys, or mine that protects." Ichigo said with provocation towards the King of Heroes.

He released the reiatsu he had been keeping locked up.

A large torrent of power burst forth from him, the chains that bound him shattered. A pillar of blue energy shot towards the sky.

It slowly fell down as it began to form in a dense layer around the Shinigami.

He pulled out both blades and lightly touched them together.

He spoke the word that caused miracles to happen.

The word that could echo across a noisy battlefield. It caused all the Heroic spirits to kneel. The full weight of his soul brought down upon all those in the area. The only ones unabated were Alaya and Gilgamesh due to his sword taking the brunt of it.

This word would forever echo through the Throne of Heroes.

"Bankai"

A black energy with a red outline burst forth from Ichigo, covering the entire area. It swept up in all directions as it started to dissipate.

There he stood. His blades merged into one. A hard to describe shape, it was like a large cleaver with a chain that connected from the hilt to the tip that looped around the back.

He had a bone-like horn pointing forward from the left side of his head. He had a black mark

covering his new yellow left eye that went down his face and merged into the new hole on his chest.

His hair was pushed back in a devilish manner.

"Tensa Zangetsu" He declared to the surroundings.

The people watching could only gape in shock, his aura flared up 10 times over.

"Come king of Heroes, Show me your strongest attack and ill pierce right through it. " He said.

For the first time, Gilgamesh was not angry, he was focused. This creature before him was a worthy opponent that deserved his respect. He would not belittle his claim with needless banter.

"I shall offer this one strike as the ceremony of separation"

"I speak of the beginning. Heaven and earth are divided, and nothingness celebrates Creation. My sword of Rupture rends the world apart."

"The vortex that turns the stars, this heavenly hell signifies the end of the eve of genesis. Subside with death!"

"Enuma Elish" He finished as he swung his sword at the Shinigami.

The attack was hard to describe, space was tearing as It approached Ichigo. He could only measure the distance by the feeling of death that creeped up on him.

Ichigo planted his feet firmly, he gathered all his reiatsu into Tensa Zangetsu, it was reminiscent of his final attack against Byakuya.

Wind and black Reiatsu began to swirly around his blade.

He held Tensa Zangetsu up, pointing towards the heavens. The Energy shot up into the sky and began to take the shape of the familiar blade as it towered above the clouds.

He moved Tensa Zangetsu downwards as the gigantic energy blade followed. It took the shape of a crescent moon as it was released from his blade.

"GETSUGA TENSHŌ" He roared.

The sky turned dark as the black energy blade swept down towards the king of heroes.

It was as Ichigo said, it pierced right through his strongest attack. His Enuma Elish only slowed it down a bit before it came at him with its full fury.

He could only hope to block it with the blade itself.

He was enveloped by darkness.

A full minute later and the dust finally settled. He stood there, the King of Heroes defeated.

He suffered no wounds but to his pride and his sword.

"WHY IS IT NOT REPAIRING" he yelled in anger. His most prized possession was shattered into pieces.

His gate of Babylon had the ability to retrieve and repair any weapons that it housed.

"The ability of Tensa Zangetsu" Ichigo spoke in response. "Any damage caused by this blade is irreversible, even if you altered time, the blade would remain broken."

He was about to rage even harder until a familiar portal took him in and he disappeared.

"Well fought Kurosaki Ichigo" Alaya said.

"Claim your rewards, and never invade my Throne again" She finished before disappearing.

A portal opened beside Saber that connected to where their friends were.

The crowed finally recovered from the spectacle they had just witnessed. A slow clapping started before a they all erupted in applause and cheering.

Ichigo walked towards saber and helped her to her feet.

"Ready to go home?" He said towards his new comrade.

"I've been ready for a long time" She replied before they both stepped through the portal.