A biting chill surged up, forming an ice wall in front of Nnoitra.
"Final Dance, White Dew!"
Rukia Kuchiki leapt down the steps, Sode no Shirayuki raised high, its ribbons fluttering. The cold pouring from it condensed in midair into crystalline ice blades, which fell from above in time with the swing of her sword.
Before her slash could land, several ice blades had already crossed and stabbed down, striking Nnoitra's body.
The ice blades failed to pierce him, but the solid ice formed from their shattering sealed him in place. Even the burning appendages behind him dimmed.
The snow-white blade passed through the ice without resistance and struck Nnoitra's shoulder, only to stop there, unable to sink in even a fraction deeper.
"Power on this level..." Nnoitra shattered the ice with a single shake of his body. "And you think you can hurt me?"
The appendages behind him swelled, and four sharp spikes shot straight toward Rukia Kuchiki.
A black shield marked with red patterns blocked Nnoitra's attack. Yasutora Sado, who held the shield, no longer looked anything like his original self.
Under the pressure of several Arrancar's terrifying Reiatsu, the power hidden inside him had been completely released.
The right side of his body was covered in angular black armor patterned with red, while the left side was encased in close-fitting white armor patterned with red. The two types of armor crossed and fused along the centerline of his body, wrapping Yasutora Sado completely.
A demon-like mask now covered his face, its bared teeth giving him a savage, ferocious look.
The shield on his right arm held off Nnoitra's attack. Yasutora Sado clenched his left fist, and a burst of deep blue light gathered into the shape of a roaring demon before slamming toward Nnoitra.
"You're asking for death!" The appendages behind Nnoitra swelled even further and crossed as they cleaved through Yasutora Sado's shield. Then Nnoitra swung his arm, the sharp arm blade slicing through the armor and drawing a spray of crimson blood.
"Licht Regen!" Uryū Ishida pulled his bowstring, and a dense rain of Reishi arrows poured down from the sky, enveloping Nnoitra.
"Not even as good as rain!" Nnoitra charged toward Uryū Ishida through the Reishi arrows. "Looks like you want to..."
A strange silver device entered his sight. Nnoitra's single eye widened slightly, then snapped shut the next instant under an intense flash of light.
Boom!
Under cover of Licht Regen, Uryū Ishida threw out the bombs Mayuri Kurotsuchi had developed specifically against Arrancar. The force of several bombs, precisely calculated to amplify one another, combined into a terrifying impact that struck Nnoitra's body.
The blast wave sent Uryū Ishida flying. He crashed into a stone pillar, then fell to the ground. "That should..."
He reached up to push his slipping glasses back into place, only to see blood spraying.
The cut at his raised wrist was perfectly smooth. His bloodstained right hand fell with the Quincy Cross.
Nnoitra raised his arm blade with a vicious grin. "You're all in the way... so die!"
A deep blue blade of light punched through the wall and sent Nnoitra flying.
"This power..." Nnoitra's single eye reflected the figure of the one who had attacked him. "Grimmjow!"
The ends of Grimmjow's waist-length white hair were blue. His forearms were wrapped in black armor, and black spikes extended from both hands. A short tuft of hair on his forehead was pitch-black, like a black crown.
Two black tails lashed behind him, each burning with clusters of deep blue flame.
"Nnoitra..." A black cylinder floated inside the Hollow Hole in Grimmjow's abdomen, and the power it released made deep blue light spill from the wound on his chest. "The one who called me trash earlier... was you, wasn't it?"
"You beast finally lost your mind..." Nnoitra's expression darkened. "Are you going to betray Aizen-sama?"
"A King bows to no one." Grimmjow roared and lunged at Nnoitra. "This isn't betrayal. It's the end of holding back!"
Crisscrossing claw marks chased Grimmjow's figure and slammed Nnoitra away.
Terrifying Reiatsu clashed violently not far off. The aftershocks alone left the entire building on the verge of collapse.
The arrival of several Espada caused an abnormal change in the Gates of Hell. As if the power inside had sensed a call from outside, the Jigoku no Rinki pouring out grew even stronger.
Even under the protection of Shiten Kōshun, a considerable amount of phosphoplasm still reached Muten Natsu's body.
The power of the Lords of Hell on the Gates of Hell had clearly increased. The massive gates, which had already stopped moving, now began to open slowly once more.
At this rate...
Muten Natsu took a deep breath, controlling the Hell Flames to burn his chest while beginning to absorb the phosphoplasm sweeping past him.
Since even the Espada could draw power from the Gates of Hell, then he, who possessed the Hell Flames and the Eye of Hell, surely could as well.
Muten Natsu was going to absorb the power of the Gates of Hell and force them shut!
As the Karmic Fire ate into his chest, Muten Natsu could clearly feel his power growing, along with the phosphoplasm flowing into him.
The opening of the Gates of Hell was stopped once again, and under the force of Muten Natsu's arms, they slowly began to close.
It's working!
His burning arms swelled further. Muten Natsu wrung every bit of strength from his body, determined to close the Gates of Hell again.
The sound of shattering glass rang out abruptly.
A hand reached out from the gap between the gates. The Shiten Kōshun blocking Muten Natsu shattered and vanished without a trace.
The person inside the gates, identical to Muten Natsu, held the Hōgyoku in his right hand. His outstretched left hand seized Muten Natsu by the throat.
Without Shiten Kōshun, the phosphoplasm surging from the Gates of Hell suppressed almost all of Muten Natsu's power in an instant.
The gap between the gates began widening again. The arm gripping Muten Natsu bent, trying to drag him inside.
Muten Natsu let out a low growl. Karmic Fire instantly enveloped his entire body, and the power he released seized the phosphoplasm and drew it into him, allowing him to regain the strength to hold back the Gates of Hell.
The icy Hell Flames wrapped around that arm, yet still failed to burn it away.
"Muten!" Orihime Inoue no longer had the strength to release Shiten Kōshun and block the impact of the phosphoplasm. Sōten Kisshun was on the verge of collapse, and her healing could not offset the damage Karmic Fire was doing to Muten Natsu.
Rukia Kuchiki gripped Sode no Shirayuki and charged up the steps. Pitch-black phosphoplasm surged out of Hell and drifted through the air...
...
It turned into crystalline snow.
[Even if you went back, what could you do?]
Everything before Rukia Kuchiki came to a complete standstill, and she heard a voice by her ear.
It was Sode no Shirayuki's voice.
[Even if you stood by his side, there would still be nothing you could do.]
Rukia Kuchiki turned her head. The voice was very close, yet Sode no Shirayuki stood far away.
[All you do is watch him and call his name.]
"Give me your power... no, give me my power!" Rukia Kuchiki stared at Sode no Shirayuki. "If I had the power of Bankai..."
[You never understood. I was never the one giving you power. You were the one giving power to me.]