He landed softly before the looming throne where Ulquiorra waited. The Fourth Espada sat calmly, legs crossed, arms resting on the arms of his dark throne carved from bone-like stone.
"I'm impressed," Ulquiorra said, emerald eyes fixed on him. "You had this power hidden. But it does not matter. This is where you will die."
Ichigo glanced at Nel. " Go wait somewhere safe" he said.
She nodded and immediately ran off, leaving the two in a cold stare off.
The chains of Tensa Zangetsu rattled with his movement — faint metal echoes in the vast silence of the chamber.
In a single flicker, Ichigo disappeared.
Ulquiorra's eyes widened.
He reappeared behind him.
"You better back your words," Ichigo said, his voice low, cold. "Because I'm not holding back like I did with Grimmjow."
And in the very next second, he was standing exactly where he had been — as if he had never moved.
Ulquiorra remained motionless, but a single bead of sweat trailed down his temple.
'He… could've killed me,' he realized, jaw clenched.
The heavy silence of Las Noches was suffocating, disturbed only by the faint sound of Tensa Zangetsu's chains clinking against Ichigo's cloak as he moved. Nel hid behind a broken column, peeking out with wide, anxious eyes. Ichigo stood before Ulquiorra, gaze steady, blade resting on his shoulder like it weighed nothing.
Ulquiorra stepped away from his bone-carved throne, cloak trailing across the cracked stone floor. "You seem confident," he said coolly. "But confidence is not strength."
Ichigo didn't answer. The stillness between them fractured as the two vanished simultaneously—
CLANG!
The clash of steel rang through the air. Sparks exploded from the impact as Ichigo met Ulquiorra's blade mid-strike. Wind from the pressure howled outward, scattering dust and debris.
Ichigo drove forward. THOOM! His foot hit the ground like a meteor, forcing Ulquiorra to backpedal under the weight of the assault. The Espada's eyes narrowed slightly, analyzing the unnatural speed.
Ulquiorra struck again, blade arcing down in a diagonal slash—
CLANG!
Ichigo caught it. Their faces were inches apart.
"You're slow," Ichigo murmured.
He twisted, breaking the clash and driving his elbow into Ulquiorra's stomach. WHAM! The Espada skidded across the floor, boots grinding against the tile as his back slammed into a pillar, cracking it.
Ulquiorra dashed forward again. Ichigo didn't move.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! Three strikes in rapid succession, each one blocked with lazy precision. Ichigo wasn't even looking directly at him.
He countered with a spin, Zangetsu carving through the air. SWOOSH! The blade missed Ulquiorra's throat by inches, but the wind pressure behind it sheared a scar into the floor.
Ulquiorra leapt back. A green Cero crackled at his fingertip.
ZNNNNMMM!
He fired.
Ichigo blurred. BOOM! The Cero struck the wall, melting stone and creating a cavernous dent.
"Stop dodging," Ulquiorra said, tone calm but tighter.
Ichigo appeared behind him, sword raised.
"I'm not dodging," he replied. "You're just missing."
BAM! Ichigo's foot connected with Ulquiorra's ribs, launching him into the ceiling. Fragments rained down as the Espada crashed through it, reappearing above, cloak torn at the edges.
Ulquiorra landed midair, wings unfurling slightly. Ichigo followed in a single blink, blade swinging in a tight arc.
CLANG!
They clashed midair, feet bracing on invisible platforms of reishi. Their battle became a ballet of steel and shockwaves—Ichigo pressing, Ulquiorra deflecting, sand and stone rising around them in chaotic gusts.
SLASH!
A clean cut grazed Ulquiorra's chest, blood staining his white uniform. He blinked once, unfazed , and retaliated with a flurry of thrusts. Ichigo weaved between them, eyes calm, sword movements sharp and minimal.
"You don't blink enough," Ichigo said, parrying another strike.
"You talk too much," Ulquiorra replied, and fired a Cero at point-blank range.
BOOOOOOM!!
A column collapsed under the explosion. Smoke curled into the sky. Ichigo emerged from the dust, only slightly singed, cloak fluttering behind him.
"You're barely trying," Ulquiorra said. "This is mockery."
"No," Ichigo said flatly. "This is restraint."
He blurred again—
CRASH!
Ulquiorra was hurled through a wall.
Ichigo gave him no pause. He followed, blade-first, kicking through the dust like a phantom. Zangetsu clashed against Ulquiorra's blade again, this time shoving him downward, crashing through floor after floor of Las Noches like falling meteors.
BOOM! BOOM! CRACK!
They landed in a lower chamber, dust rolling like smoke around them. Ichigo stepped out of the rubble, eyes still sharp.
Ulquiorra rose slowly, blood at the corner of his mouth.
"I see," he said, voice low. "Then I have no choice."
He raised his blade.
"Enclose, Murciélago."
FWOOOOOOM!
Darkness exploded outward like a hurricane. Black wings burst from Ulquiorra's back. His spiritual pressure surged, suffocating and thick. Horns curled from his mask. Green markings ran down his chest. His eyes were twin voids.
Ichigo stood his ground, watching the transformation with quiet intensity.
The first real fight was about to begin.
And for the first time, Ichigo's fingers gripped Zangetsu tighter.
This wouldn't be a warm-up anymore. The false sun hovered high above Las Noches, casting its eternal twilight over a battlefield ripped apart by raw power. Pillars lay shattered, towers torn in half by the wake of energy blasts, and white sand bled upwards into the air as two monsters took to the sky.
Ichigo's black cloak snapped violently in the wind as he launched skyward, a blur of pressure and instinct. Behind him, the sands cracked and trembled, spiraling into the air. Ulquiorra, already high above, stood against the false-blue canopy like a deity cloaked in shadows. His Segunda Etapa form made him look less like a man and more like a demon from a forgotten age.
Their eyes met. And the world held its breath.
Then they vanished.
BOOM!
The sky cracked.
They collided like meteors—Ichigo with Tensa Zangetsu slashing diagonally while Ulquiorra parried and retaliated with a vicious horizontal sweep. The impact echoed like a war drum. Waves of pressure exploded outward, flattening the air itself.
CLANG! SWOOSH! THOOM!
Ichigo spun mid-air, his blade crashing into Ulquiorra's. Their swords locked, grinding metal screaming between them before they broke apart. Ichigo vanished and reappeared behind him.
SLASH!
Narrowly missing his back. Ulquiorra's wings whipped outward, throwing Ichigo off balance.
BOOM!
TO BE CONTINUED