"Boom!"

A thunderous explosion split the battlefield as Yhwach—now a swirling black shadow—appeared before Araki in an instant. Before Araki could even react, Yhwach's sword had already pierced his chest, slicing clean through him and splitting his body in two.

"It's over! That Shinigami is dead!"

"No one can survive His Majesty's blade!"

Cheers erupted from the Sternritter in the distance. Their fists clenched in reverence. To them, this only proved what they had always known—their Emperor was invincible.

But—

"Huh?"

Yhwach's eyes narrowed. Something was off.

For one, he hadn't intended to kill Araki—only subdue him.

And second... the sensation when his blade met flesh—was wrong.

It hadn't felt like cutting through a human body. It felt like slicing through mist.

"What are you thinking?"

"How could I die that easily?"

As the Quincies celebrated, the bisected body dissolved into a swirl of thick mist, then reformed above Yhwach's head into Araki's complete figure—untouched.

"W-What?! He was clearly cut in half! How is he alive?!"

Before they could react, Araki had already drawn his Zanpakutō, his blade gleaming as he slashed down at Yhwach.

"Interesting."

Yhwach's pupils flashed with curiosity. He raised his arm and blocked.

"Clang!!"

The sharp ring of steel meeting steel echoed through the air, followed by a gust of explosive force that swept up rocks, trees, and buildings in its wake.

Araki's strike had been stopped cold.

"The Blut Vene?"

Araki frowned as he felt the resistance down the blade.

"It's harder than steel."

"Your sword can't hurt me," Yhwach said calmly, unwavering, his tone heavy with certainty.

"Is that so?"

A glimmer flashed across Araki's eyes. Suddenly, his blade was shrouded in a thick coat of Advanced Armament Haki, streaked with black lightning and laced with Conqueror's Haki.

"Zzzt..."

Threads of lightning danced as the blade bit down—this time, blood sprayed from Yhwach's wrist.

"Hngh?"

Yhwach's eyes trembled. He leapt back, the pain confirming what instinct had warned him—this power was different.

"Fascinating... This power is neither Shinigami nor Quincy in origin... nor does it come from my father."

"You possess a unique power system that even I don't recognize."

"There's more to you than I imagined, Araki."

"Now I truly look forward to the day you submit to me."

Yhwach's interest sharpened like a blade.

"Didn't you just say I couldn't hurt you?" Araki sneered.

"Then why are you running? Are you afraid of a power you can't understand?"

But Yhwach didn't answer. Instead, he raised his hand—and with a pulse of Reishi, a dozen glowing spirit arrows materialized around him.

"It's His Majesty's Holy Annihilation!"

The Quincies gasped as Yhwach drew his spiritual bow.

"BOOM—!!"

With a deafening thunderclap, the arrow streaked toward Araki like divine punishment.

"Tch—Too close!"

Araki vanished in a blur of Shunpo, narrowly dodging the blast. Thanks to advanced Observation Haki, he could perceive even that godlike attack and respond.

Yhwach's lips curled slightly.

"You didn't use that mist-escape this time. I see..."

"That technique—your mist—can dodge physical slashes, but not explosive spiritual attacks like my Holy Annihilation."

Even without using his All-Knowing, All-Powerful ability, Yhwach's tactical mind pierced straight through Araki's trick. In fact, his caution was more deadly without it—no overconfidence, no reliance on fate.

If only he'd fought Kurosaki Ichigo with such caution back then... perhaps the ending would've been different.

"Tch... A troublesome opponent."

As spirit arrows rained down, Araki found himself dodging endlessly. He had no choice—engaging meant death.

"Hah! Look at him run like a rat!"

"Just like that fool Shubert! Refusing His Majesty is always a mistake!"

The Sternritter mocked Araki, comparing him to the recently slain Shubert. None of them had intervened when Araki killed Shubert—not because they couldn't, but because Yhwach had already deemed Shubert useless.

Now they watched as Araki danced on the edge of death.

"Araki! Give up!!"

Yhwach's voice thundered like divine decree.

With a surge of spirit particles underfoot, he vanished—appearing above Araki in an instant. In his hands, he now held a massive spear, formed from condensed Reishi far greater than the Holy Annihilation.

"This is no longer an arrow... it is judgment."

"Our Hirenkyaku is faster than your Shunpo!"

"Nowhere left to run, Araki! Surrender!"

The glowing spear shot down like a comet, roaring toward Araki.

"I can't dodge this—!!"

Araki's pupils contracted. Just as Yhwach said, he had no space, no speed to escape.

And yet...

"...Heh."

From high above, Yhwach saw something strange.

Araki was smiling.

And then, Yhwach's mighty spear pierced through Araki's chest—

But there was no explosion.

No impact.

The spear passed through as if Araki were air.

"What...?"

Yhwach's eyes widened.

"My arrow should have exploded the moment it touched spiritual matter... but it passed through?!"

This spear had been specifically designed—using spirit particle tethering—to bind and destroy any spiritual substance it contacted.

And yet...

Nothing.

Even if Araki was atomized, the spear would still explode the moment it encountered any of his dispersed spirit particles. Therefore, as long as the spear didn't make contact with his reishi, it wouldn't detonate…

That was the logic Araki had deduced.

He had opened a gaping hole in his chest—precisely large enough for Yhwach's spear to pass through without touching a single atomized spirit particle. It was a maneuver reminiscent of how Katakuri, during his fight with Fourth Gear Luffy, used advanced Observation Haki to reshape his mochi body and let Luffy's armament-hardened punch phase harmlessly through.

Such a tactic requires a body capable of elemental transformation, as well as mastery of advanced precognition—and Araki possessed both.

"Yhwach… did I ever say my atomization couldn't evade your arrows?"

Araki's calm words pierced Yhwach's momentary confusion. He leveled his Zanpakutō at the Quincy emperor's chest.

"K·ROOM — Piercing Wave!"

Araki didn't wait for a reply. He struck just as Yhwach finished hurling his spear.

"Hmph!"

Yhwach raised his arm in defense. Though Araki's strikes could bypass his Blut Vene defenses in strange ways, a single blow wouldn't be enough to wound him fatally—or so he thought.

"What?! It phased through my arm?!"

To Yhwach's shock, Araki's blade didn't clash with his arm—it passed through it, cutting directly into his chest. A titanic blade of light erupted skyward from Araki's swing, piercing Yhwach's body and stretching tens of thousands of meters high—visible from over ten reishi-miles away.

"Your Majesty!!"

Panic erupted among the Quincies as Araki's blade struck true.

"Crack it apart—!"

With that cry, Araki unleashed everything: his reiryoku, Haki, and Devil Fruit power surged together. This wasn't a reckless attack—this was the culmination of three careful tests, each probing whether Yhwach had truly awakened his all-seeing eyes.

Araki recalled it well. In Bleach, during Baz-B's flashback from a thousand years ago, Yhwach was shown with three pupils. A haunting image hinting at omniscience.

But manga is fiction. Araki, now fighting in reality, couldn't gamble on what he read—he had to confirm it himself.

The first test: He cut down Yhwach's horse, showing the "lengthening blade" ability without revealing the piercing effect. If Yhwach understood its true nature, he wouldn't have tried to block it with his arm.

The second test: He infused Haki into his strike. Yhwach still relied on Blut Vene, failing to perceive the enhanced nature of Araki's attack.

The third test: Araki deliberately evaded Yhwach's arrows. If Yhwach could truly see the future, he wouldn't have wasted time firing them.

Three trials. One conclusion.

Yhwach had not opened those dreaded eyes—not yet.

"HAAAH!!"

Enraged but still alive, Yhwach burst with radiant blue energy. Quincy crosses spiraled into the sky as he bellowed with fury.

"Tch—"

Araki clicked his tongue and vanished—but not via Shunpo. He activated ROOM, swapping positions with a distant Quincy observer.

"Huh?!"

The unsuspecting Quincy found himself within Yhwach's kill zone.

"BOOM!!!"

With a thunderous explosion, the unlucky soldier was instantly obliterated by the massive Heilig Pfeil barrage meant for Araki.

"Araki… you've truly enraged me now!"

Yhwach wiped blood from his lip, his fury boiling over. His voice echoed with divine wrath as he raised his power once more.

"BOOM!!"

Yhwach's spiritual pressure surged, shaking the entire Soul Society. Wind howled. Buildings cracked. The sky itself trembled.

"So… he's finally serious."

Araki gripped his Zanpakutō tighter.

"Bankai."

He didn't hesitate—he called forth his trump card.

"Hmph…"

Yhwach narrowed his eyes. He had anticipated this. Or so he thought.

"The World of Medicine Master's Lapis Lazuli…?"

His voice dripped with disdain. But that quickly changed.

"...The World of Medicine Master's Lapis Lazuli!"

At the moment Araki released his Bankai, radiant blue light burst outward in all directions. He stood at its center—divine, serene, untouchable.

A Sacred King Wheel emerged behind him—etched with thirty-two major marks and eighty minor ones, radiant with celestial authority.

Araki shone like the very incarnation of the Medicine Buddha—his body a vessel of divine law, his blade an extension of sacred order.

"What… Bankai is this?!"

Yhwach's eyes narrowed. The intel he'd gathered on Araki was wrong. This wasn't the same Bankai he had previously analyzed.

"Hahhh…"

Araki exhaled slowly. His pressure flooded outward like divine judgment.

He had used Bankai during his duel with Unohana once—but incompletely. The consumption was too great. Back then, Guanyin had been enough to defeat Rakshasa.

But now…

He stood against YHWH himself.

So this time—

"Let the Eastern Lord descend."

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