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The pitch-black flames seemed capable of devouring everything.
Centered on Baraggan, they spread wildly in all directions, decaying everything in their path!
Trees withered and shattered after the flames swept over them, and even sand and rocks turned to dust after being touched by the dark flames…
Whether it was steel or water… all matter, after being brushed by those flames, seemed to age thousands or even tens of thousands of years in an instant!
In a flash, the entire area where Baraggan stood became an incredibly flat surface.
Ishikawa and Ishida Soken, and Harribel and her two companions, stood on opposite sides of the basin, all looking grimly at the figure in the center of the basin.
After entering his Release Form, Baraggan wore a multi-layered crown, his face and body transformed into a skeletal form, his feet wore pointed boots, his entire body was covered in black flames, and a long silver chain hung from one corner of his crown.
Shinigami~
Compared to the Shinigami of the Seireitei, the current Baraggan actually resembled the legendary Shinigami more, and his abilities were no different.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh…
A series of whooshing sounds came from beside Ishikawa, as Ishida Soken held his bow with both hands, countless tiny azure arrows raining down towards Baraggan.
But…
As soon as these arrows touched the flames surrounding Baraggan, they immediately turned into Reishi and dissipated.
"What kind of ability is this?" Ishida Soken asked with a grim expression.
"Aging."
Ishikawa casually said, "All matter, living beings, and even energy that comes into contact with the dark flames will age in the blink of an eye."
Aging?
Ishida Soken looked at Baraggan and couldn't help but swallow.
He suddenly realized…
He might truly be too young and lacked experience.
"…I admit, it was a bit arrogant of me to say I could help you earlier."
Ishida Soken looked strangely at Harribel and the others, whose expressions were also grim, and said, "However, it seems those few over there aren't planning to intervene anymore. Are they also afraid of their companion's ability?"
"Do you think those flames that age everything can distinguish between friend and foe? Let alone companions, even he himself cannot resist his own ability."
Ishikawa looked at Baraggan, who had turned his gaze towards him, and his expression tightened.
Although he was very skilled in Kido, Kido involving space and time, which touched upon the edge of the divine realm, had always been a taboo existence in the Soul Society. Ishikawa had never learned any related Kido.
Therefore, he could not follow the example of the two former Kidō Corps Vice-Captains.
Tricky~!
Even racking his brain, Ishikawa didn't know how to fight Baraggan.
In front of Baraggan's ability, all long-range attack methods would become useless.
And getting close to him was nothing short of seeking death!
He was like a hedgehog; just standing there made one feel helpless.
Ishikawa's mind raced in that instant. In such a life-and-death situation, Ishikawa's mind became even clearer.
Humans have life and death, as do birds and beasts, and even plants…
Even Shinigami, who claim to be gods, are no exception.
And things created by humans will 'die,' so the 'Kido' created by Shinigami naturally will too!
Buzz—
Just then, the pitch-black flames moved, surging overwhelmingly towards Ishikawa and Ishida Soken.
Seeing this, Ishikawa immediately pulled Ishida Soken back swiftly, while simultaneously clapping his hands in front of him in the air, rapidly chanting: "Prince of the Heavens, iron-built wall, dragon's walk, lion's roar, tiger's growl, wolf's run, sever the heavens and earth before collapse!"
A giant barrier, tens of meters high, immediately appeared in the path of the dark flames.
"Bakudo #81: Dankū."
Boom—
The pitch-black flames directly collided with the transparent barrier. The moment they touched, the transparent barrier began to rapidly decay from the point of contact, providing almost no obstruction.
Pure rule?
Ishikawa's expression remained unchanged. He shifted his gaze, released Ishida Soken, and clasped his hands in front of him.
"Bakudo #73: Tozanshō."
A reverse-triangle shaped object immediately appeared in mid-air as Ishikawa's words fell.
But Ishikawa did not stop his hand movements. While retreating with Ishida Soken, he continuously chanted aloud.
"Bakudo #75: Gochūtekkan."
"Bakudo #62: Hyapporankan."
"Bakudo No. 61: Rikujokoro."
"Bakudo #79: Kuyō Shibari."
"…."
Various forms of Bakudo continuously went against the pitch-black flames.
"It's useless!"
Baraggan's disdainful voice came: "Everything in this world will eventually age, whether it's matter or pure energy." As he spoke, Baraggan raised a hand and pointed, and the pitch-black flames burst open, like mist, enveloping all of Ishikawa's Kido creations.
Seeing this, Ishikawa immediately turned his gaze to the Kido creations within the pitch-black flames.
His previous series of Kido almost included all characteristics: matter generation, Reishi condensation, Kido that was a mix of both, and abilities with various elemental attributes…
Looking around.
It was observed that the Kido creations completely condensed from Reishi and the Bakudo with elemental attributes were the first to collapse, directly turning into Reishi and dissipating like Dankū.
The Bakudo abilities that combined both matter and Reishi were slightly slower, and the last to dissipate were the materials summoned by incantations. Among all the Bakudo, the last to dissipate was Gochūtekkan, which was composed of iron sand!
Furthermore, unlike those Reishi constructs, although Gochūtekkan also corroded in less than a second, it didn't directly dissipate like the Reishi constructs, but rather gradually corroded from the outside in.
With this thought, Ishikawa looked at the oncoming pitch-black flames again, gritting his teeth slightly. He quickly searched through the unactivated Kido in the system interface and finally selected a Kido, directly upgrading it to advanced level.
And in that instant, the pitch-black flames had already reached the two of them from behind. Ishida Soken's expression sank, and he instinctively blocked in front of Ishikawa, activating his Reishi armor to its fullest.
"Are you trying to die?!"
But before he could release his accumulated power, a hand grabbed his collar and threw him backward.
The moment he threw Ishida Soken, Ishikawa slammed his single hand onto the ground, pouring Reiatsu madly into the soil from the acupoints in his hands. At this moment, Ishikawa's Reiatsu Imprint began to operate frantically.
"Hado #57: Daichi Tenyō!"
Boom boom boom—
The earth in front of Ishikawa surged, and countless clumps of soil condensed from the ground immediately swept towards the pitch-black weapon.
Sure enough!
All the pitch-black flames that came into contact with the soil clumps were stopped in place at that instant.
They lasted even longer than the Gochūtekkan made of iron sand, but the Reiatsu belonging to Ishikawa, which held the soil together, decayed in an instant.
And…
Although the soil clumps were dense, they were not airtight, and many pitch-black flames still emerged through the cracks.
Seeing this, Ishikawa quickly took the opportunity to retreat backward.
"Oh?"
Baraggan's skeletal face showed no expression, but his tone contained a hint of surprise.
This made Ishikawa even more certain that matter could last longer than constructs condensed from Reishi.
In fact, strictly speaking…
The soil of the Soul Society cannot be considered pure matter, as the Soul Society is a world of souls, and everything here is composed of Reishi. Unlike the particles of the Human World, it is a special substance that is a mix between particles and Reishi.
But when Baraggan stood on the ground, the change in the soil was still extremely slow.
From this, it can be seen that if the battlefield were the Human World, the obstructive effect of the soil would likely be even greater.
But no matter what…
This is a viable method!
With this thought, Ishikawa slammed his hand on the ground every time he retreated a certain distance.
"Hado #57: Daichi Tenyō… Daichi Tenyō… Tenyō!"
Wherever Ishikawa passed, the soil on the ground condensed into clumps, continuously moving towards Baraggan.
And while retreating, Ishikawa multi-tasked, activating all the Kido knowledge in his mind at that moment.
In the distance, Ishida Soken looked at Ishikawa in the field, a hint of surprise on his aged face.
Because he, standing here…
Could clearly see that each time Ishikawa released Kido, the resulting soil clumps would become larger.
From the initial clumps of tens of centimeters in size, they had now grown into clumps nearly a meter in diameter!
And just then, Ishikawa's eyes suddenly lit up, and his fleeing footsteps stopped. Almost simultaneously with stopping, he slammed both hands onto the ground.
"Hado #57: Kai: Earth Wall!"
Kai?
Hearing the incantation from Ishikawa's mouth, Ishida Soken couldn't help but be stunned, and the subsequent scene made his pupils contract.
As Ishikawa's hands slammed down, the ground in front of him rapidly rose like a tree, and in the blink of an eye, a giant earthen wall appeared before him, blocking all the incoming dark flames behind it.
It worked!
Ishikawa's eyes lit up. Indeed, using soil as an outer shell to envelop his Reiatsu could effectively slow down the corrosion speed.
Without time to hesitate, Ishikawa seized the opportunity to quickly distance himself from the dark flames, retreating to Ishida Soken's side.
After he retreated to Ishida Soken's side, the earthen wall collapsed with a roar, turning into endless dust falling onto the ground.
"That Kido just now…" Ishida Soken looked at Ishikawa beside him, his tone filled with surprise and doubt.
"It was modified based on Daichi Tenyō."
"…." Ishida Soken.
Although he had vaguely guessed this possibility when he heard 'Kai,' when Ishikawa said it himself, Ishida Soken still felt as if he were dreaming.
It was the first time he knew…
That someone could create a new Kido in the middle of a battle.
Even though he wasn't a Shinigami, he clearly understood that a Shinigami's Kido was not that easy to create and master.
To create a Kido, one not only needed a vast foundation of Kido knowledge, but also needed to analyze the structure of incantations, the release method of Kido, and most importantly, Reiatsu transformation…
Of course, modifying a Kido might be much easier.
But the 'Kai' from Ishikawa's mouth was to change a Hado originally used for attack into a Bakudo for defense, which had completely deviated from the scope of the original Kido.
And all of this was completed in just tens of seconds.
With this thought, Ishida Soken looked at Ishikawa as if he were looking at a monster.
To what extent was his knowledge base rich?
If he hadn't known that Ishikawa was doing various chores every day, he might have thought Ishikawa was a scholar who stayed in the library all day!
Ishida Soken, however, didn't know…
His guess was not entirely wrong in some respects.
It's just that the library was in Ishikawa's brain, and all knowledge was readily available.
After so many years of accumulation, the Kido knowledge granted by the system in Ishikawa's mind might not be much less than that of the Central Spiritual Arts Academy's main library, and many Kido theories were unique.
"Not bad!"
Just then, Baraggan's voice suddenly came. He wasn't annoyed that his ability was obstructed. Instead, the two red lights in his eye sockets gave off a sense of appreciation at that moment: "Too bad, I'm already tired of playing. If you can only do this much."
"Then die."
As he spoke, the pitch-black flames around Baraggan suddenly seemed to gain life, no longer expanding chaotically as before, but becoming orderly.
"Respira!"
In the unseen, a sigh seemed to emanate, and the pitch-black flames, like a tsunami amidst the sigh, swept overwhelmingly towards Ishikawa and Ishida Soken, their speed significantly faster than before.
This scene made Ishikawa's expression change. He grabbed Ishida Soken's cloak collar, lifting him and dashing away.
Ishida Soken, seeing this, didn't stay idle. Five-pointed star-shaped Reishi armor continuously shot out, and tree-branch-like patterns even appeared on his body surface at this moment.
"Accept this atmospheric battle array! Gritz."
Rectangular pillars appeared out of thin air, connected to each other, forming a neat row.
But…
The boiling pitch-black flames had far greater corrosive properties than before. Those square pillars disintegrated almost instantly upon contact.
In a flash, the pitch-black flames had already reached behind the two of them.
Ishikawa gritted his teeth upon seeing this. As his fleeing foot landed, he stomped hard on the ground, pouring Reiatsu from his foot into the ground.
"Earth Wall… Earth Wall… Earth Wall!"
He took three consecutive steps, and with each step, an earthen wall rose behind Ishikawa.
Ishikawa turned his head and saw that the triple earthen wall barrier had solidly collided with the pitch-black flames. Although the collapse was still extremely fast, it barely allowed the two of them to gain some distance from the dark flames.
But before Ishikawa could breathe a sigh of relief, Ishida Soken's anxious shout suddenly came from his ear:
"Ahead!"
Ishikawa immediately turned his head, and the scene that met his eyes made his expression change drastically.
In front of the two of them, the pitch-black flames had bypassed the earthen wall, forming a pincer movement from both sides, even creating a semicircle that completely enveloped the two of them.
Nowhere to run!
Ishida Soken gritted his teeth slightly. As Reishi gathered at his feet, and spiritual energy surged around him, he was about to rush in front of Ishikawa.
"Don't move, don't resist!"
Ishikawa's cold voice came, making Ishida Soken pause his movements. And just then, Ishikawa actually pulled him directly towards the pitch-black flames.
Hmm?
Ishida Soken's expression changed.
But the next second…
His vision suddenly blurred, and the pitch-black flames in his sight vanished without a trace.
Ishida Soken subconsciously turned his head and found that the fiery encirclement was now behind the two of them.
This is…
Shunpo?
No!
Shunpo is similar to the Quincy's Hirenkyaku. Although it can cause a sudden burst of speed in an instant, the form does not disappear. He couldn't have passed through the wall of fire without feeling anything.
It was more like…
It was more like Ishikawa had taken him on a short-distance spatial jump in that instant!
This is…
Sonido!!
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