章節 81: Chapter 81
Harribel could feel every part of her body roaring in pain. Each step she took practically caused her muscles to twitch or spasm. Needless to say, but she was still adjusting to the effects of Askin's attack even after undergoing her second release. She was just barely managing to hang on by forming two distinct layers of spiritual energy around her: One to act as a barrier, and the other to ward away excess spiritual energy that her body was gradually getting adjusted to.
What Harribel was doing was careless, but for the first time, her rational mind was being overpowered by an unrelenting surge of emotion.
She tore away at the remaining cloth that clung to her, and glowered at the figure of her 'savior' in the distance all while focusing her energy.
One part of her refused to cooperate with the likes of Shinigami, but the other and more pressing part of her, was more concerned about getting to Shirou than wasting time on a conflict she could settle later.
Harribel shut her eyes, recalling what Kisuke had asked of her. It wasn't even particularly difficult to begin with, but cooperating with the Shinigami that tried to kill her left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Focus.
She shut her eyes and planted her shark-fin sword into the ground, knowing that she wouldn't need to see in order to accomplish what was required of her. Gently, she raised her hands, her fingers splaying out as if pressing against a wall.
Gradually, droplets began to form in the air ravaged by wayward explosions of spiritual energy and ceros. From these droplets no bigger than beads of sweat, they began to proliferate and conjoin into a vast sheet that stuck upon surfaces like mist to a windowpane.
Harribel channeled her spiritual energy, the dull rushing and ebbing of water echoing in her ears like listening to the tide of a sea.
Water was her domain, and she, the shark that dwells in wait beneath the surface.
Soon, the sheet of water she was forming turned into the white waters of turbulent waves cascading across the entire battlefield. It struck the side of Hikifune's cage of life, but more importantly, soaked into Senjumaru's cloth before terraforming the area into a veritable wetland.
Allies and adversaries alike were soaked to the bone without discretion.
Senjumaru frowned from behind the sleeve she used to create several sheets of cloth as a barrier to ward off the water. At first, she'd expected some sort of trick or ability unique to Harribel in the water, but found that it really was just simply a huge volume of water. Humming to herself, she knit her brows the moment she breathed out and suddenly noticed the fleeting white mist of her breath.
The temperature was dropping?
"Sit upon the frozen heavens."
The sound of freezing water rapidly echoed in Senjumaru's ears, but more than that, her pupils dilated as she stared at her cloth in morbid resignation.
Water expands as ice when frozen.
"Hyorinmaru!"
A winter storm immediately descended over the area, dragons of ice and snow freezing the water that acted as a catalyst to further destruction. As the ice expanded, it pulled on the bindings of Senjumaru's cloth. It wasn't enough to outright break it, but Senjumaru understood that it could damn well weaken it.
It was often easier to break a solid object then it was to force apart something with tensile strength.
"Cero."
Senjumaru flicked her sleeve in a bid to counter the shot she knew was coming, but her soaked cloth was frozen and impeded before it could interfere. She grimaced and yelled out for assistance. "Hikifune!"
A giant spoon came over to intercept the Cero Apacci had blasted over towards Baraggan's restraints, but it was intercepted by Kisuke. Worse, Ichigo and Karin didn't waste the opportunity to attack the restraints around Silent and the Quincy simultaneously.
Dammit.
Senjumaru knew what was coming, but was essentially forced to watch things in slow motion.
Both attacks made impact with Senjumaru's frozen restraints, and the audible sound of a crack echoed throughout the battlefield.
As the smoke receded from Appaci's cero, the tiniest of holes could be seen over the restraints binding Baraggan. Through it, the red gleam of spiritual energy flickering within murderous hollowed eyes chilled the hearts of all who saw it.
"Respira."
Purple miasma rushed out of the hole, clinging to the surface and forcibly tearing apart the hole until it grew wider and wider.
Senjumaru vanished from her spot, appearing in front of her cloth's breach to administer immediate repairs, but a hole was all that Baraggan had needed. Seen in his grip was the charged Noble Phantasm that Shirou had given to him long ago.
Swinging out, an explosion blasted apart the cocoon of cloth around Baraggan like breaking an egg from the inside.
Swept in the shockwave, Senjumaru was forced back.
By the time the smoke cleared, Baraggan was free, and with that, an immediate expulsion of decaying mist erupted all around.
"Rot the tree!"
A voice called to Baraggan all at once, and it infuriated him to no end. He was pissed off enough to be held back by those he perceived as weaklings, and now for a King like himself to be bossed by some nobody?
Braggan would never stand to be ordered and immediately struck in the direction of the voice with impunity. Unlike Harribel, there was no room for discussion at all. However, this all seemed to fall exactly into Kisuke's expectations as he was already standing with his back to Hikifune's cage of life. All this said, it meant Baraggan's attack was aimed exactly where Kisuke had needed it.
"No!" Senjumaru, Hikifune, Nimaya, and the others immediately reacted, erecting defenses to stop the decaying mist.
In truth, it was effective to slow it down, but in the end, a wisp still made contact with Hikifune's seal.
The opposite of life was death and decay.
The moment the miasma touched the bark of the tree comprising the cage of life, it immediately began to rot and open a rapidly enlarging hole.
Unexpectedly though, radiant light abruptly pierced through and exploded out.
/-/
-Moments prior.
What was it that he was fighting for?
For the longest time, this question was one that both plagued Shirou's mind, but also served to be his driving force.
As if resonating with his thoughts, the sword in his grip pulsed with a steady thrum, sending forth a warmth of energy through his exhausted body. Dried river beds depleted of energy began to course once more with a yellow hue. The circuit-like patterns of blue that emitted from the pathways beneath his skin had shifted into soft gold, growing ever stronger with each pulse that ran through him.
A slouched back, broadened.
Sunken eyes regained their luster.
A rusted sword, reclaimed its gleam.
All along, the spirit of the weapon that had always stuck the closest to him had been by his side, lying in wait for the moment he would need it most. Forever waiting, always waiting, that whose meaning and strength was discarded for the sake of others, would shine all the more.
His body housed the sheath.
His bond called forth the sword.
Even without the energy of his soul's Reality Marble, and the various feats he was able to accomplish in this new world with mechanics different from his own, the basis of what drove him was enough.
A hero's duty was never done. The dream inspired in his youth, and the steps he'd made to accomplish that were what shaped and defined his very soul.
Black ink abruptly splattered over Shirou, covering him from head to toe, and yet that ink could not taint his existence. Like steaming mist, the ink sizzled and evaporated off, letting the bronze gleam of his eyes shine through.
"That's not possible," Ichibei muttered, aghast. It was one thing for his ink to fail to alter the properties of the Golden Sword of Promised Victory, but it was another to not even effect a soul- no.
Ichibei widened his eyes, sensing the anomaly before him.
Shirou's soul was more akin to that of a Zanpakuto. A sword's spirit unsheathed and tempered across numerous battlefields. Coupled with the Golden Sword of Promised Victory, and the protection of an Ever-Distant Utopia, the light of his soul was shining at its brightest.
With trembling arms that gradually eased into an overhead slash, Shirou's focus reached its zenith.
The balance that the Shinigami and Ichibei had fought for, what was it if not to maintain dominion over the world's realms?
Balance is a state of equilibrium. You can't have it if one side overpowers the other, and that was generally understood. However, it's most basic meaning is uniformity symbolized primarily by the weights of a scale, but this in itself was misleading.
Shirou took in a breath, kindling the tranquil energy roaring from within him.
Balance is still balance if everything is the same, no good, nor evil. Cut off one side of the scale, and all you have left is balance. It was rather crude and barbaric, yet it was also a type of solution.
Still, just because it was correct, doesn't mean that it was right.
Shirou sought not only victory, but an end to this conflict.
If conflict was born from distinction, then what would happen if that distinction was removed?
Why was it that the stronger a Hollow became, the more humanoid they evolved?
Hollows evolve from a chaotic and beastly state, into something more refined and humanoid.
Why was it that a Shinigami's Bankai was a release of their repressed inner worlds?
In contrast, Shinigami gain strength from the release of their Zanpakuto, manifesting the representation of their inner selves in their Bankai.
Perhaps, there was already an answer no one had been willing to acknowledge.
Both have a tendency to evolve closer to the other, and in a way, it made sense.
In Shirou's former world, spirits were simply that, spirits one and the same.
Hollows and Shinigami were both derived from souls to begin with, both seeking out what they were missing. Departed souls become Hollows due to lingering attachment and emotion, seeking out fulfillment of these things to close the hole in their souls. Shinigami, accordingly, possess the opposite problem. Their souls do not suffer from a hole caused by lingering attachment or emotion, but instead vie for a release of suppressed emotion and inhibitions.
Hollow and Shinigami.
This marked difference could be attributed to their natural tendency.
Shirou already had a template in mind.
Spirit Origin, the basis of Heroic Spirits.
Whether they be Hollow or Shinigami, it was just a matter of alignment. In Heroic Spirit terms, Hollows were essentially Alters, while Shinigami were originals, either neutral, or lawful.
He would directly deprive the Shinigami of their purpose in the genocide of all Hollows.
A new balance would be made; a new world order where even if conflict and grudges exist, it wouldn't be from some overhanging sense of righteousness or justification.
The determination that bled into him only further resonated with the sword in his hands. Victory was something found beyond the precipice of defeat. It was the action of attaining all virtue and all honours in what could only be described as the prevailing of one's conviction over another.
So long as Shirou knew what was required of him, and the purpose it would serve for those that relied on his protection, then the sword of his soul would never know of defeat.
The final foe stood before him. The last obstacle.
"Ready yourself!" Shirou spoke hoarsely, throat dry, yet features growing firm as he prepared a swing to cleave the way beyond a misted veil.
"No. NO." Ichibei grasped tightly onto the handle of his brush, and immediately channeled the full brunt of his energy. "True Blade!" He intoned.
Space rippled before Ichibei's brush faded into a circular band of smoke that revolved around him. In its simplicity was the right to imbue all with a written name that could rewrite all properties through the power of words.
Let kings be reduced to the strength and bearings of ants. Let mighty oaks and evergreens be nothing more than twigs.
Thus was the overwhelming law Ichibei's True Blade had sole sovereignty over.
"Dog!" Ichibei swung his hand down, but Shirou made no attempts at evasion.
Words of ink formed over Shirou's skin, creating distinct text and writing that began to heavily cover him, but he remained unblinking. Like trying to stick tape over a wet surface, the words would stick, but would no sooner ooze and slide off.
"Cat!" Ichibei swung again.
"Squirrel!" And again.
"Ant!" And again.
"MONKEY!"
The ring of smoke around Ichibei continued to constantly swirl, and yet the existence before Ichibei remained firm and unaltered. It was as if a sanctuary stood erect, unable to be tainted or marred.
Again, and again and again, Ichibei would strike, and through it all, nothing would be achieved.
Shirou opened his mouth.
"The light of this soul will never break or change, just as the will of this sword in hand has already concluded the outcome."
The tone was neither hostile, nor gloating, rather, it was merely said in a factual sense.
The golden motes of light that had long begun to emit around the sword's blade began to converge and revolve into a pillar that extended from the sword's tip.
"Some fight for the sake of lofty ideals. Others fight for the sake of survival."
Images flashed in Shirou's mind of the times he'd spent when he'd first arrived into this world.
"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand, but," Shirou glanced at Ichibei with neither hate nor disparagement. Only wry unabashed pity that didn't seem truly directed at anything, but a world where the desperate were on the brink of extinction.
"In this life, fear of change is engraved into every deed and action."
He could picture it vividly. Every experience and doubt he'd ever had since arriving in this place as himself, and then as the Vasto of White. These tiny nuances that encompassed his thoughts and actions were what derived his character.
"The tide cannot be stopped forever."
The current balance was nothing more than the dam constructed beyond the world's natural course. Even without the elaborate ploy to have the Soul King act as an anchor, the world would have continued on.
"Like water flowing from melting ice over a mountain, in the end, everything pools back down to the surface where the lake's waters will recede from the rivers into the sea."
Ichibei flinched, but roared in defiance. The ring of smoke above him magnified and seemed to encompass all, but could still not suffocate the glow of the adversary before him.
"Your ink may alter and change the properties of any person or object, but not its existence. A man can be as weak as an ant, but he is still a man. A sword can be as brittle as charred paper, but its purpose still remains."
Shirou's muscles tightened, his grip over the hilt of his sword gaining strength as his fingers curled into optimum position. The energy within him began to thrum in accordance to his will while his eyes tracked everyone of Ichibei's movements.
"Prepare yourself." This strike would not miss. "This sword will bring about the end."
Ichibei's breath hitched, an arm raising to guard from violent wind and a deluge of searing heat. It was as if he was standing before the radiance of a sun.
"Its glow is the light of aspiration, a weapon forged beyond mankind."
Peering towards Ichibei, a tranquil gaze sung of finality.
"Having been imbued with the concept of dreams, it fills all that looks upon it with the same yearning."
Shirou's biceps bulged, veins popping over his skin.
"Friend or foe alike, pause in its wake."
Memories understood from the history of the sword itself filled Shirou's thoughts. What this sword symbolized, what it carried, and the purpose it served were all known to him. The memories encompassed the beginning and the end of a weapon forged with the intent to embody the principle of a law forever firm.
"Hear of it, and know of the miracle held before you!"
Spiritual pressure exploded outwards, compacting the ground underfoot as it began to crater.
"No matter the past, the present, or the future, it speaks of the glory that lies beyond the horizon!"
Ever brighter, ever stronger, what had begun as a glow had shifted into a luminous star.
"That which bids the loyalty of the faithful."
Wisps of spiritual energy began to stir, sweeping away sand and debris.
"That which carries the duty of purpose, spurring mankind's valiance."
The days of prejudice and genocide would end here.
"From shaken hearts."
Cracks began to form in the cage enclosing the space, Baraggan's rapidly taking effect.
"From broken bonds."
Shirou craned his stare up to meet with Ichibei's wavering eyes.
"The eternity of despair will be illuminated by a light that guides us towards a distant sky."
Colour seemed to vanish, replaced only by white and traceless shadows.
"Golden Sword of Promised Victory!"
The sword in Shirou's hands could no longer be seen through its golden intensity, the energy emitting from it, distorting the air.
"The breadth of the stars shines through the veil!"
The light itself formed an endless aurora.
"Cleave it through!"
The Last Phantasm that stood at the World's End was ready to deploy.
"EX-"
The sword swung down to open the way to a new horizon.
"-CALIBUR!"
The light was unleashed all at once, pressing forward in a massive towering column that was far too wide to avoid even if Ichibei wanted to.
Forever and always, Excalibur was the Sword of Promised Victory.
Be bathed in its light.
Hastily, Ichibei raised up his arms and formed numerous defensive kidos to act as shields, but it did little good to stop the swing's onslaught. The light continued to eat away at each defensive structure like a knife cutting through loaves of bread until finally, Ichibei was enveloped.
Neither pain nor agony befell Ichibei at this moment, rather, all excessive thoughts and shadows seemed to flee his mind all at once. He glanced at himself and could see flecks of his skin peeling off, followed by pieces of flesh and bone incinerated into ashes in the wind.
He was dying. There was no doubt as to what outcome was awaiting him, and yet it was in this state of near death that clarity returned to his addled mind. It was as if everything had just suddenly become clear like a final epiphany.
The effect of Excalibur's light wasn't merely sheer magic energy released into heat values, but the energy itself was composed of the brilliance of dreams.
Ichibei saw it now. He'd been blinded.
The string of the prayer beads around Ichibei's neck snapped, the necklace breaking apart piece by piece.
A scene of the beginning appeared in Ichibei's mind, back before lofty ambitions and titles elevated his sense of values. He sat upon a sandalwood porch, a hand stroking the head of an animal he'd named dog. In front of him, animals, people, and objects alike awaited their turn to be named. Meanwhile, the sound of his boisterous voice halfheartedly chided for order before breaking into hearty laughter.
He was Ichibei, the Smiling Monk who Speaks of the True Name.
It was a simple duty and lifestyle. In the end…when had he started thinking that it hadn't been enough?
How ironic. For a man said to perceive all, he'd failed to discern the nature of his own hubris.
Ichibei closed his eyes, and vanished in the golden ray of the sword that stood at the world's end.
However, one's end can also mean a new beginning.
/-/
Once a break occurred in Hikifune's cage of life, the light that was already bursting at the seams from within, detonated and shattered everything else. A rush of spiritual wind and pressure buffeted the area before a golden pillar erupted far into the clouds as it gradually broke away into motes of energy.
Like glowing sand, the energy then rained down over all, Hollow, Shinigami, Quincy, and Human alike.
Senjumaru, Hikifune, and the remaining Royal Guard shuddered, staring down at the growing transparency of their bodies. They were fading away.
Shirou's final strike wasn't aimed solely at Ichibei, but at the final concept Ichibei and the Royal Guard embodied as the last vessels of the Soul King. Their blood and bones had become that of the Soul King himself after ingesting the Soul King's flesh.
Under Excalibur's light, the vestiges of the old balance maintained by the Royal Guard were broken. No longer was there a Soul King, Yhwach, or Shirou himself to try and preserve the old order. As such, the Royal Guard who were directly tied to the Soul King were now also vanishing.
They each had only a brief moment to understand what was going on before they hung their heads and no longer bothered with anything else.
This was the end.
In the blink of an eye, the Royal Guard was no more, leaving only the Hollows, Shinigami, and the lingering Quincy at odds with each other. However, this too, wouldn't remain the same.
Excalibur's light not only poured down over the members of the Royal Guard, but everyone. As the serene warmth of Excalibur's glow touched upon the malefic energies of the Hollows, a reaction occurred in accordance with Shirou's intentions.
"W-What's going on?" Apacci panicked as the fragments of her Hollow bone mask began to fall off to reveal unblemished skin. More shockingly, her Hollow hole was rapidly filling. "This light?"
Apacci's case wasn't an isolated incident, but rather the beginning, the most complex of which was Aaroniero, but that was an incident for another time.
Harribel, Barragan, Nel, and every Hollow present were losing their animalistic characteristics and bone fragments. Even the violent nature of their energy that made them Hollows grew to be more subdued yet whole.
Yes indeed. The light was directly filling the holes in their hearts.
In the end, spirits were still spirits.
As Yamamoto and the other Shinigami stared at the Hollows in shock, it was suddenly apparent that everything that they knew before would no longer be the same as time seemed to freeze.
The cause of it all was standing at the origin of the descending light.
Shirou panted for breath, finding it difficult to continue standing, but doing so anyway. The golden sword in his hands began breaking away into motes of spirit energy that reformed into the lady spirit, a warm smile spreading across her face as she moved to support him.
Almost as soon as the lady spirit appeared, the Shinigami all fixated their sights on her, but she herself knew that she didn't have long in corporal form.
The Zanpakuto Spirits were able to materialize as a direct result of Shirou's own abilities. By this point, Shirou's vision was already beginning to spin and blacken, leaving the lady spirit little time left.
Taking in a breath, the lady spirit closed her eyes, and reopened the way to Avalon as she then disappeared and took her leave. In the end, she was content that her role was concluded.
Staring up at the people regarding him, and the ever-distant utopia that opened up in the skies, Shirou allowed himself to fall onto his back in exhaustion. His eyelids felt heavy, his body sore all over, however, the edge of his lips curved upward just thinking about the future.
The new order was complete.
A road to heaven, a path to hell, and the human world as the middle ground where humans and spirits could settle their differences.
His eyes gradually closed even as he heard panicked steps and voices dashing towards him.
It sounded a lot like home.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票