Restricted Death

Chapter 231 Absolute Power
ice skates?

Looking at the ice blade that appeared in Shin's hand, Nelliel and the others wondered if this was Shin's Zanpakuto.
They had all seen the Zanpakuto of the Shinigami, most of which were just ordinary shallow-cut styles, only revealing different forms after liberation.

Is this ice blade what Tachikawa Shin looks like after he has undergone sword liberation?
Shin felt the coolness in his hand. This ice blade was just an ordinary block of ice. It was just an ordinary block of ice that Shin had created by using the "freezing" ability of his Zanpakuto. It didn't even contain a single spiritual particle.

However, Xin can use the power of "stagnation" to make this ice blade indestructible.

After a brief standoff, the enemies suddenly moved at the same time. Ulquiorra was the first to raise his hand and unleashed a "Cero Flash" containing destructive energy. The pitch-black beam of light tore through space and emitted a piercing shriek, aiming straight for Shin's face!
Following closely behind, Nellyl, Nnoitra, and Grimmjow, like three raging hurricanes, carrying terrifying spiritual pressure capable of crushing mountains, suddenly pounced from three tricky blind spots! The wind curtain in the sky was instantly torn apart, and the ear-piercing sound of air being torn apart became one!
boom!
A deafening roar! Ulquiorra's black Cero, like the deepest roar from the abyss, arrived first! That violent energy pillar, capable of evaporating steel and incinerating spiritual particles, was enough to make any Captain-level Reaper change color.

However, Xin didn't even move an inch. He simply raised one hand casually and met the attack. There was no violent collision of spiritual pressure, no earth-shattering explosion as expected. The destructive black pillar of light seemed to have struck an invisible and absolutely insurmountable wall of sighs. The moment it touched Xin's palm, the energy mysteriously "froze," then silently vanished and dissipated into nothingness! As if it had never existed.

Four figures, carrying earth-shattering spiritual pressure, tore through the wind curtain in the sky and arrived from different directions!

Their coordination was flawless, blocking all of Shin's escape routes from all sides. Even in the eye of the storm, Shin remained calm in the face of this combined attack from all sides, which was enough to tear any Captain-level Grim Reaper to shreds in an instant.

He spun his ice blade, deflecting all the attacks from Nellyl and Nnoitra, and dodged Grimmjow's claw strike by sidestepping.

Swish!
Without giving Xin any chance to retaliate, a long, emerald-green spear tore through the air, aiming at Xin's head.

Almost simultaneously, Nelieel, whose attack had failed, unleashed her double-headed spear, "Emerald Spear," in a deadly spiral trajectory, blocking Xin's escape route.

Nnoitra's six gleaming double-edged scythes intertwined to form a cutting net that left no blind spots, sweeping in from the side!

In the instant that they passed each other, Grimmjow roared in mid-air and unleashed another giant blue claw strike.

Boom——

A deafening energy explosion erupted high in the sky!

But this explosion did not originate from the collision of attacks, but rather from the sympathetic explosion caused by the terrifying energies, powerful enough to move mountains and fill seas, tearing each other apart in an infinitely compressed space! The turbulent energy flows, like out-of-control behemoths, bit and annihilated each other, and brilliant yet deadly light burst forth wildly. The shock wave spread rapidly in a ring, completely dispersing the clouds in the higher airspace.

The storm subsided, and the energy glow dimmed. Faith reappeared.

He remained standing still, motionless, the ice blade in his hand not even cracking a single shard. His pure white robe fluttered slightly in the aftershocks of the explosion, like a gentle summer breeze, spotless.

The only change was in the air around him, which exhibited a visible, subtle distortion and ripple, as if it had just experienced a violent collision of spatial ripples.

The four Arrancar, after releasing their Zanpakuto, were violently pushed back more than ten meters by the strange annihilation impact!

Ulquiorra barely managed to steady himself by flapping his black wings violently, and for the first time, his cold green eyes revealed an uncontrollable astonishment.

Neutra's six-armed scythes vibrated and hummed, as if they had just struck a wall of ice, stacked upon each other and unimaginably hard! All the impact was completely neutralized, reflected, and even distorted by that bizarre force. For the first time, his cruel, mocking expression froze on his face.

Neliel's arm, gripping the spear tightly, felt slightly numb, and her hooves, as if stepping on solid ground, left faint marks as if she were walking on invisible air.

Her shock was even greater than Ulquiorra's: this was no mere defensive power; it was as if it hadn't even truly touched Shin Tachikawa! Something, invisible and intangible yet absolutely existent, separated Shin from this world surging with killing intent! It halted all the malice rushing in from the torrent of time; it was some kind of... rule-based blockade!

The worst off was Grimmjow. Forcibly unleashing the power of his Resurrection caused the hole in his chest to burst open again, spraying out a mist of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. His forced claw strike felt like hitting an absolutely smooth and impenetrable mirror; the violent backlash almost made his shattered arm bones groan. He vomited a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with horror, madness, and a hint of… disbelief and bewilderment as he looked at Shin.

“This…this is impossible…” Neutra was the first to gasp, his voice distorted with shock.

The wind at high altitudes is even more biting.

Nnoitra's growl seemed to freeze in the solidified air, leaving only a deathly silence and the raging storm in the hearts of the four Arrancar.

The turbulent spiritual currents continued to howl in the aftermath of their rampage, but they could not conceal the chilling aura that permeated the center of the encirclement.

Xin hovered high in the sky, the rough longsword in his hand, formed from solidified ice crystals, pointing steadily at the airspace below. The blade did not emanate a bone-chilling low temperature, but rather an absolute stillness, a sense of stagnation as if even light could freeze there.

The clouds, which had been scattered by the violent conflict, are now recombining and churning at a visible speed, as if being kneaded by an invisible giant hand, and the temperature is plummeting.

“This is not just a simple defensive force.” Nelieel’s mutterings were carried away by the wind, but the horror in her eyes was clearly visible. The Emerald Spear in her hand trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the residual power after the impact had not completely dissipated.

"It must be the power of his Zanpakuto." Her words carried a newfound certainty.

Ulquiorra, Nnoitra, and Grimmjow all felt a sense of unease upon hearing this.

That is not the hardness of defense, but a deeper, more irrational power: an absolute command that refuses to change, forcibly "pausing" or "deflecting" all offensive intentions and kinetic energy that come toward him at the moment before contact, until the threat disintegrates and dissipates.

Grimmjow forced down the blood that rose to his throat, the excruciating pain from the hole in his chest almost tearing apart his beastly will.

Compared to the other three, he was far more warlike; it was an instinct etched into his very bones. Witnessing Xin's formidable strength had initially excited him. But now, he felt more resentment and rage! A seed of fear, growing deep within him, was sprouting wildly. His prized claw strikes, the Leopard King's claws capable of tearing through steel armor, seemed to smash into a billion layers of frozen spacetime the moment they touched that invisible barrier. The power was stripped away, distorted, and disintegrated inch by inch, leaving only a feeble, hollow echo.

This feeling of powerlessness far surpasses the physical pain.

Xin habitually twirled his ice blade and then held it horizontally in front of him.

The rough ice blade, imbued with the power of "stagnation," began to emit a strange, almost dreamlike white glow. This wasn't the blade itself emitting light; rather, the light shining upon it was being "intercepted" by the absolute stillness the moment it touched the blade's surface! The light was suspended on the blade!
Even more bizarrely, high in the sky, the water molecules that had been present but were now unusually active silently condensed into visible, fine ice particles the instant the blade flashed! The surrounding sounds seemed to be swallowed by an invisible, icy maw, plunging into a brief but utter silence. And the temperature was plummeting at a terrifying, chilling rate!
Grimmjow was breathing heavily from the pain and rage when he suddenly shivered violently! He felt every breath he took in turn as ice scalpels cut into his trachea, and even his thick eyelashes instantly froze into tiny white shards!

Almost simultaneously, Neliel, Nnoitra, and Ulquiorra were also startled to realize that the surging, overflowing spiritual pressure of their Resurrection Blades, which had been stabilizing their power, was now weakening at a perceptible rate, as if enveloped in invisible frost! Even more noticeably, in the surrounding airspace not yet disturbed by the spiritual particle turbulence, moisture was frantically gathering and freezing, forming pale, icy clouds suspended in the air! Like hovering flowers of death!

He stepped forward with a sense of naturalness.

Click.

The void beneath his feet suddenly solidified into a layer of clear, smooth, and transparent ice! Moreover, this ice layer was silently spreading outwards!
A celestial phenomenon is approaching.

This is another ability that Xin now possesses, the effect of combining "Celestial Phenomena" and "Freeze," and this high altitude is now his domain.

"it's a pity."

Xin glanced at the group, a hint of disappointment in his eyes: "It seems my expectations of you were too high."

As he held the ice blade horizontally, the chill in the air instantly surged, and the surrounding clouds froze into tiny ice crystals that slowly swirled around him like a galaxy.

Neliel was the first to notice that her body was covered with a layer of frost, and with a slight movement, countless ice shards fell from the wool of her lower sheep body.

It's getting colder and colder, and my body's functions are starting to be affected...

Of the four Arrancar, Grimmjow, who was in the worst condition, could not suppress his inner turmoil and launched another attack. The Claw of the Panther King tore through the cold air, but it only advanced less than a meter before it seemed to be frozen in place, and the blue spiritual claw marks turned into ice crystals.

Grimmjow's face turned deathly pale, his breathing became increasingly rapid, and the fear in his heart began to spread wildly.

Shin's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at him. He activated "Stop" again, but this time it didn't stop his actions. Instead, it targeted the "fear" in Grimmjow's mind.

The airflow in the high altitude was twisted into a vortex by the extreme spiritual pressure, and the pressure, like a tangible tsunami, crashed towards the center. Ulquiorra's jet-black wings suddenly trembled, and dozens of spears formed from eerie green spiritual particles poured down like a rainstorm. The shrill sound of tearing through the air was drowned out by the gale.

With a slight twist of his wrist, the rough ice blade traced a frosty white arc.

Crack——

The spiritual spear that was about to strike him suddenly froze, condensing in mid-air into a dazzling forest of ice crystal thorns! Light pierced through the prism and refracted into a cold rainbow, firmly wedging the six giant scythes that followed Nnoitra's attack into the gaps between the ice prisms.

"Get in the way!" Neutra's fangs clenched so tightly that they rattled, and its insect-like compound eyes stared intently at the figure behind the ice crystal. "Let's see how many you can freeze!" Its six arms bulged with muscle as it exerted force, and the scythe blades burst forth with a purplish-black light, instantly shattering the ice crystal barrier.

A flash of cold light appeared amidst the flying ice shards.

Xin's figure had already broken through the icy mist and reached Nnoitra, his ice blade aimed straight for his throat! At the critical moment, Nelielu's golden spear streaked through the air like a meteor. The spear tip collided violently with the ice blade—

clang! ! !
The spiritual pressure shockwave exploded in a ring shape, forcefully shattering the high-altitude clouds.

Neliel shuddered! She was the first to realize that her strong, goat-like lower body, as well as her hands, shoulders, and chest where she held the gun, had been covered with a thick, crystalline layer of frost in just a few breaths! She instinctively moved slightly, trying to shake off the icy binding, and the thick wool on her goat body shook off shards of ice crystals!
Cold! Deep into the bone! Corroding the soul! The body's strength is being mercilessly drained by this extreme cold, the blood flow is slowing down, and the muscles are stiffening... This is no longer just an effect; it's a terrifying realm that freezes life itself!

"Ahhh!"

Just as the three were still trying to launch an attack to stop Xin, without any warning! Grimmjow suddenly burst into an extremely shrill roar, filled with boundless terror and collapse! He could no longer suppress the coldness emanating from his internal organs and the palpitations in his heart, and he lunged at Xin again as if he had completely lost his mind!
The Leopard King's claws slammed out, tearing through the dense freezing air in front of it! But the violent blue claw marks only advanced less than a meter before they seemed to crash into invisible, extremely cold amber in the air, instantly freezing! The blue spiritual energy claw marks remained in their torn state, encased in transparent mystic ice, frozen in mid-air! Forming a ferocious and eerie ice sculpture!

Nellyel and the others paled. Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Grimmjow kneeling in mid-air, his hands covering his head, as if he were enduring some immense pain. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with terror.

The fear of being "stuck" lingered in his mind like a nightmare, until he could no longer bear it and his spirit nearly collapsed!

"No! We can't win... we can't win!"

He kept muttering to himself, and when he looked at the letter, his face was filled with terror. He got up in a sorry state and tried to retreat, wanting to escape from this place. Suddenly, he waved his hand, tearing open a black cavity.

"Grimmjow!" Nereille shouted sharply upon seeing this.

But Grimmjow ignored everything and charged into the Black Chamber like a madman.

(End of this chapter)