Fate in Bleach: Unlimited Blade Works!-Chapter 468: The Fight Continues

Seeing Ailin's attack, Hollowed Lin snorted coldly.

Since Ailin's past self had brought back the Holy Grail itself, the souls of the six Servants stored within it had naturally come along as well.

Hollowed Lin spread his hands, and black spiritual pressure unfurled like a curtain. Gilgamesh, clad in black and gold armor, slowly emerged from the tide of black spiritual pressure.

As the Third Magician, Hollowed Lin could naturally grant the stored souls the ability of "materialization," especially in this world where soul power reigned supreme.

"Mongrel!"

The newly awakened Gilgamesh roared, intending to rebuke the one controlling him. But after another cold snort from Hollowed Lin, Gilgamesh's expression froze; his body instantly fell under Hollowed Lin's control.

Golden spatial ripples opened, and countless powerful Noble Phantasms flew from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon, attempting to block Ailin's Sword of Rupture.

Then, beside Gilgamesh, another golden ripple appeared. The Sword of Rupture, Ea, flew out and was grasped by the King of Heroes.

"Enuma Elish!"

A storm of red wind blasted from Ea in Gilgamesh's hand, hurtling towards Ailin's red-gold tempest.

BOOM!

The clash between the two Swords of Rupture erupted. Like two opposing vortexes colliding, lightning flashed and thunder roared as space itself was torn open, revealing black fissures.

This was despite both Ailin and Gilgamesh refraining from setting "the world" as their target.

Otherwise, the sheer power unleashed by these two EX-rank Noble Phantasms would have caused considerable damage to Ailin's Unlimited Blade Works.

After all, the Sword of Rupture was inherently an Anti-World Noble Phantasm, possessing the power to split heaven and earth. Even if Ailin's Bankai-manifested Reality Marble was strong, it hadn't reached the level of worlds like the Shinigami realm or the Type-Moon universe.

Ea's full power could inflict immense damage even on those worlds' spaces; Ailin's Reality Marble couldn't withstand many such impacts.

Both Ailin and Hollowed Lin knew this. So, after that initial, cataclysmic clash, they both tacitly stopped using "Enuma Elish" for their battle.

"Ex—calibur!"

Following Gilgamesh, Hollowed Lin summoned the other Servants from this Holy Grail War. However, compared to their living selves, their bodies were now formed from Ailin's Hollow spiritual pressure. Consequently, black-red patterns adorned each of them. And with Hollowed Lin's infinite spiritual pressure supply, all six Servants displayed incredibly potent abilities.

Saber Artoria, in particular, with infinite magical energy fueling her Sword of Promised Victory, possessed offensive power even greater than Archer Gilgamesh's.

Lancer Diarmuid's martial skill was exquisite. His Gáe Dearg, the Crimson Rose of Exorcism, and Gáe Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality, could nullify the abilities of most Zanpakutō within Ailin's Unlimited Blade Works.

Archer Gilgamesh, without using Ea, had slightly less offensive output than Artoria. However, when his Gate of Babylon was fully deployed, the torrential rain of Noble Phantasms was no less powerful than the flaming meteor arrows amplified by Hollowed Lin's spiritual pressure.

Rider Iskandar's individual abilities were weaker than Lancer Diarmuid's, but his Reality Marble, Ionioi Hetairoi, allowed him to summon an army of fifty thousand soldiers. Equipped with Noble Phantasms from Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon, their strength multiplied several times over.

Caster Gilles de Rais had merged with the sea monster he summoned. His hundred-meter-tall form and the swarm of smaller sea monsters were no less imposing than Rider's forces.

Assassin, however, was far weaker. In both strength and numbers, this generation's Hassan couldn't compare to Iskandar's army or Gilles de Rais's sea monster. In this battle between Hollowed Lin and Ailin, Assassin was relegated to the role of a mere mook amidst the countless sea monsters and soldiers.

Facing Hollowed Lin's assault, Ailin's side was equally formidable. Every Zanpakutō on the Sword Hill possessed at least the strength of a seated officer. There were also numerous captain-level and century-captain-level Zanpakutō among them. Even those bearing the title "Strongest" numbered over twenty. Under Ailin's command, these Zanpakutō had materialized and charged from the Sword Hill to engage the six Servants summoned by Hollowed Lin.

Kokutō Yoru, representing Ailin's ultimate swordsmanship, confronted Artoria. Each razor-sharp slash it unleashed rivaled Artoria's Excalibur.

Within a radius of several hundred meters around their duel, no soldiers from either side dared approach. They simply couldn't intervene in such a battle; entering the range would mean instant death from the shockwaves alone.

Facing Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes, was Enkidu, the "Chains of Heaven" Zanpakutō Ailin had created in the Shinigami world. Countless chains erupted from the void, clashing against Gilgamesh's rain of Noble Phantasms.

Meeting Iskandar's fifty-thousand-strong army was Ryūjin Jakka. In its Bankai state, any soldiers within a certain range were instantly incinerated by the twenty-five-million-degree heat of the sun's core.

Fighting Diarmuid was Minazuki, the Zanpakutō of Squad Four Captain Retsu Unohana.

Though a biological-type Zanpakutō, Minazuki inherited the swordsmanship mastery of the first Kenpachi, Yachiru Unohana.

Even though Diarmuid's two spears strongly countered functional-type Zanpakutō, faced with Yachiru Unohana's swordsmanship, he was utterly powerless.

Engaging Gilles de Rais was Rukia's Zanpakutō, Sode no Shirayuki. Under its absolute zero temperatures, the sea monster had little resistance and became merely an object for Sode no Shirayuki to cut down.

The remaining Zanpakutō engaged the countless smaller sea monsters, the scattered Assassins, and some of Iskandar's summoned soldiers. Judging by the battlefield, Ailin's side clearly held the advantage.

However, unlike their previous encounter where Hollowed Lin had been utterly dominated, unable even to force out Ailin's true strength, this time, having obtained the Grail and become the Third Magician, Hollowed Lin had achieved just that.

With the Zanpakutō from Ailin's Sword Hill now engaged with the summoned Servants, the confrontation naturally fell to Ailin versus Hollowed Lin.

Countless Zanpakutō blades, wreathed in flames, swirled in the sky under Hollowed Lin's control, forming a river of fiery swords that surged towards Ailin. Ailin's Bankai, Unlimited Blade Works, had mostly been usurped by Hollowed Lin, leaving only the Sword Hill under Ailin's control. And since the Zanpakutō from the hill were materialized and fighting, Ailin couldn't recall them to use as projectiles against the sword river.

Facing this endless river of flaming swords, Ailin flew up to meet it.

"Hadō Number Ninety-Six—Ittō Kasō!"

Ailin swept his hand like a blade. Instantly, a giant flaming sword, a hundred meters long, flew from his palm, colliding with the oncoming river of fire.

Hadō spells numbered ninety and above, when fully chanted, possessed power comparable to century-captain-level Zanpakutō, or even rivaling the strongest bursts of the "Strongest" tier Zanpakutō.

Naturally, such power came at a cost.

Ailin recalled how, in the original Shinigami world's Battle of Karakura Town, Captain-Commander Yamamoto, severely injured after absorbing Wonderweiss's self-destruct flames, had sacrificed his left arm to unleash Hadō #96, Ittō Kasō.

The spiritual pressure density of powerful Shinigami was so great that even in death, their bodies wouldn't dissolve into ordinary spirit particles and return to the cycle of reincarnation.

Sacrificing an arm to cast a powerful offensive Kidō wasn't impossible. Ailin's spiritual pressure surpassed Yamamoto's by several degrees; his unchanted ninety-sixth Kidō possessed power far beyond what Yamamoto could muster.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Hollowed Lin's sword river was shattered by Ailin's attack, countless Zanpakutō exploding under the power of Ittō Kasō.

Although the front ranks were destroyed, Hollowed Lin had merged nearly all the ordinary Zanpakutō from Unlimited Blade Works into this river. The trailing sections surged forward, forcefully shattering the Ittō Kasō.

BOOM!

The river of swords broke through the explosion, continuing its charge towards Ailin. But it wasn't just the river. Below it, Hollowed Lin himself transformed into a streak of black light. Should Ailin show any weakness against the sword river's assault, Hollowed Lin wouldn't hesitate to finish him with a powerful Cero.

Ailin knew this, of course. He hadn't expected his past self, gone for only a few days, to bring back something so perfectly suited for Hollowed Lin, boosting his strength to a level that threatened Ailin himself. However, for the current Ailin, Hollowed Lin's massive power increase was exactly what he wanted. After all, the stronger Hollowed Lin became, the greater Ailin's own power would rise after defeating him and gaining his assistance. As for being defeated by Hollowed Lin? Ailin had never considered such a possibility.

True, the spiritual body Kageroza Inaba had created, which became Ailin's Hollow aspect under the Hōgyoku's influence, could merge its spiritual pressure with Ailin's and use nearly all his abilities.

But there was one Zanpakutō Hollowed Lin could never fully control: the blade Ailin had forged from the centuries of memories recalled through Shūkurō Tsukishima's "Book of the End," the Zanpakutō bearing his own name.

This was Ailin's ultimate trump card. By Ailin's own estimation, just the Shikai of the Zanpakutō "Ailin"—releasing his body's limits to concentrate all his spiritual pressure into a one-minute burst—could defeat anyone except Ichibē Hyōsube. And if Ailin used its Bankai, "One-Sword Rakshasa," a single strike channeling his entire spiritual pressure... even the Soul King wouldn't emerge unscathed.

Gently placing his hand on the Zanpakutō at his waist, Ailin mentally called its name.

"Burn—Ailin!"

"One-Sword Asura!"

Boom!

Golden spiritual pressure erupted from Ailin. Under this immense power, the spiritual pressure pillar above the Sword Hill expanded violently outwards. The black Hollow spiritual pressure, enveloped by Ailin's golden pillar, also turned gold. In just a few breaths, parts of the black tide covering the ground of Unlimited Blade Works transformed into golden, liquefied spiritual energy.

Then, Ailin raised the Zanpakutō in his hand high and slashed down towards Hollowed Lin—

…

Crack, crack...

In the underground training ground, the Hollow shell covering Ailin began to break apart, dissolving into white spirit particles.

Opening his eyes, Ailin stretched slightly. He could now clearly sense another powerful spiritual pressure within himself.

Having concluded the battle with Hollowed Lin, Ailin had naturally gained control over his spiritual pressure. He now felt that whenever needed, he could merge Hollowed Lin's power with his own, enter his Hollowfied state, and ascend to a higher dimension of existence.

Glancing around the training ground, the floor had been further compacted by the immense spiritual pressure. The ground within a ten-meter radius around Ailin had sunk several dozen centimeters lower than the rest.

The barrier Ailin had erected before his seclusion was now covered in countless cracks due to the sheer force of his spiritual pressure. Fortunately, the barrier had proven sturdy enough; though cracked, it had ultimately held, not shattering completely.

Dispelling the surrounding barrier, Ailin left the underground training ground and returned to the Squad Five barracks.

Sitting in the captain's office, looking at the towering pile of paperwork on his desk, Ailin couldn't help but shake his head.

"Sigh, once you get used to being lazy, it's hard to get back to work."

Over the past few hundred years, Ailin had served as captain of several squads, but he had rarely handled the administrative duties himself. During his time in Squad Eleven, Vice-Captain Zaraki had acted more like the captain than Ailin did, and Zaraki's strength was sufficient, allowing Ailin to often just hold the title.

Other matters were handled by Zaraki and the seated officers. After becoming captain of Squad Five, Ailin had made an effort for a while, but upon discovering Vice-Captain Momo Hinamori's talent for administration, he had gradually delegated the tasks.

Now, Hinamori and the other captains were still trapped in the Dangai's time distortion, likely needing another three days to return to the Soul Society.

Just endure it a little longer...

Thinking this, Ailin shook his head again and began tackling the paperwork that had piled up over several days.

He felt no guilt about entrusting future duties to Hinamori, but deliberately hoarding work for her was something Ailin couldn't bring himself to do.

Fortunately, though it had been a while, Ailin had served as a captain for over a century; handling some paperwork wasn't particularly difficult.