Chapter 1280 Prima
Yhwach, being left alone after Ophis and Lilith suddenly left, helped himself to the tea that doesn't seem to run out or get cold.
As he took a sip from his cup, he also felt the strange, but somehow very familiar fluctuation of power, "What a fascinating experience. So this is how it feels to be seen." He muttered to himself.
Since he's blindfolded, he can't even see his own reflection from the cup. The world could end as he sat comfortably but there was nothing he could do.
Yhwach thought that he would feel nothing as everything around him collapsed as this is a very 'flawed' world that he tried to 'correct'. However, he was wrong. Very wrong as he's finding himself feeling frustrated without being able to take action.
He hated the world where 'death' is accepted and seen as an inevitability. However, what he hated more was it disappearing into nothing, much worse, into the stomach of someone who thinks they are the 'one'.
Nevertheless, his inability to do anything on his own doesn't mean others can't take action on his behalf. So when he heard Kisuke's conjecture about Ichibei's true goal, he didn't hesitate to reveal the secret of his own defeat.
Yhwach was defeated not because he was cut by Ichigo's Zangetsu but by a Zanpakuto Spirit that was formerly known as 'Yhwach'.
.
.
.
Ichibei tried ripping Kisuke off from his neck but as he pulled his arm, he only ripped off that arm and the latter continued chewing on his neck like there's no tomorrow. It was at this point that Ichibei realized that Kisuke was not truly a mindless monster but someone who was moving to accomplish a certain goal.
But that's the least of his worries now since this monster actually disappeared from his past and future sights. Ichibei understood his mistake of ignoring him initially and now he became a threat that he must eliminate at all costs, 'I see... That's why I only saw very few versions of him perishing in the future...'
Kisuke finished swallowing the flesh he got and he also started regenerating his lost arm. With a single goal in mind, he shrieks, releasing a deadly roar, and launches himself with reckless abandon towards his 'food'.
Slap.
Kisuke only moved for a few hundred feet before two translucent golden and white hands that made him look like a tiny mosquito slapped him. It was so abrupt that he couldn't even let out a scream of pain.
Kisuke's limbs were instantly flattened into a paste and his torso warped. Thankfully, his head and heart were sturdy enough to endure the impact and he remained alive.
'Just a beast and nothing more.' Ichibei commented in his mind while watching Kisuke struggle, 'He may have caught me in a trap that I've yet to understand, but he had to give up his greatest weapon.'
Ichibei separated his hands and the translucent hands also disappeared. But soon enough, another set of hands appeared on the opposite side of Kisuke and this time, it was much more solidified and radiated with power that dwarfed the previous instance.
"This is the end," Ichibei muttered calmly while a silhouette of his eye with three pupils appeared on the horizon, looking down on Kisuke who was unable to move.
Kisuke moved his neck to look up to the eye as if his joints were covered in rust and debris. His instincts are telling him that this could be the end of him if nothing is done.
Although only one desire is running through his mind, Kisuke's self-preservation didn't entirely disappear and in front of this colossal threat, Tiamat felt something changing in him fundamentally, [Huh? How? He shouldn't have access to this... Not in his current state.]
Tiamat dives deeper into Kisuke's inner world to understand the situation and finds out that his body is changing way beyond what she had expected, [This isn't from monsterization nor is it from releasing the limiter. Something else is shaping his existence.]
It was then that Tiamat recalled Benihime mentioning the mysterious gem that seemed to have disappeared.