Bleach: From the moment I was invited by Squad Zero.

"The fact that no one has made a breakthrough does not mean that it is impossible to make a breakthrough. The theoretical limit is just a constraint based on the existing cognitive framework."

Liu Chuan shook his head slightly, his gaze calmly sweeping over the magic circle beneath his feet, which was slowly flowing with a dark light.

"Since no one before us could do it, then the Ghost Path after number ninety-nine..."

He paused, his tone so calm it was as if he were talking about something trivial:

"...Then I will be the one to create it."

"Arrogant!!" Ridge Barrow roared, completely enraged by Yanagawa's nonchalant attitude.

"Go to hell and keep your grandiose dreams of innovation! Heretic!!"

Driven to his limit, Lijie Barrow finally reached within fifty feet of Liuchuan!

This distance was enough for him to unleash the ultimate killing move that could only be used in the final form of the "Perfect Holy Body"!

He abruptly stopped his charge, gripped the ground firmly with all four feet, raised his slender neck high, and let out a long cry to the sky!

The eight wings of light on its back spread out to the maximum extent, pouring the remaining divine spirit into the shaky miniature halo above its head without reservation!

The halo's light surged, instantly resonating strongly with his body!

"Listen! This is the prelude to God's judgment, which cuts through falsehood and vindicates sin! This is the final judgment that purifies heresy—"

"The Horn of God!!"

Accompanied by this roar that seemed to exhaust all his life force, Lijie Baron's two giant arms, transformed from wings of light, appeared.

Suddenly, he raised his hands high above his head, and the two complex magic arrays in the palms reappeared and merged!

This time, however, the magic circle did not emit light; instead, it frantically extracted and compressed the last of the divine spirits within Lijie Barrow's body.

And the free spirit particles within the surrounding magic array that have not yet been fully "digested"!

A dazzling light bursts forth at the point where the palms meet, rapidly shaping and extending!

In the blink of an eye, a giant megaphone appeared above Lijer Barrow's head!

The speaker's opening was pointed directly at Liuchuan below!

Lijie Barrow retracted one of his bare arms, his huge palm partially covering the bird's beak, making a "playing" gesture.

He poured all his remaining strength, will, and even the essential nature of the "divine penetration" into this strike!

"Pierce through! Annihilate! The Prelude to God—Final Chapter!!"

He suddenly blew forward with his half-closed hand!

"Ughh ...

Where the invisible sound waves passed, space rippled violently, like water ripples on which a pebble had been thrown. Then, everything at the center of those ripples—

Its power and range are enough to "purify" everything in the fan-shaped area directly in front of the loudspeaker in an instant!

This is Ridge Barrow's final, all-or-nothing gamble!

This is the strongest proof of his status as the "God's Piercer"!

He intends to use this final chapter of the "Prelude to God" to completely erase Yanagawa, along with his ridiculous "New Ghost Path," from this world!

However, just as the earth-shattering prelude to the "Trumpet of God" was about to touch Yanagawa—

Liu Chuan faced forward and lightly tapped the air.

A calm syllable escaped his lips:

"One Hundred Hakudo Techniques—"

"Eternal Demon Flame".

Om-! ! !

As the syllable fell, the massive, pitch-black magic array covering hundreds of meters beneath Liu Chuan's feet suddenly erupted with an unprecedented dark radiance!

This is a brand-new ghost path created by Liuchuan by combining magic and spiritual power, breaking through the upper limit of ghost paths.

All the intricate runes, graphics, and symbols within the formation simultaneously spun, resonated, and burned wildly!

It is not the rising of flames, but the embodiment of the concept of "burning" itself!

Based on the magic circle, endless, seemingly soul-devouring black flames suddenly "burned" out of thin air without warning!

This flame has no temperature, and even gives people the illusion of being cold, but what it "burns" is not matter, but energy itself!

The pitch-black demonic flames instantly filled the entire area covered by the magic array, and as if they were alive, they actively met the annihilation sound waves of the "God's Horn" that were sweeping in!

*Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!*

The moment the annihilating sound waves, imbued with divine penetrating and purifying power, came into contact with the temperatureless, pitch-black demonic flames that seemed to burn "nothingness" itself—

An anomaly has occurred!

The annihilation sound wave, upon touching the pitch-black demonic flames, was actually... ignited!?

The sound waves themselves actually became the "fuel" for the demonic flames!

The pitch-black flames spread and engulfed the sound waves in reverse, at an astonishing speed.

The sound waves spread toward the source of the sound waves—the enormous "Horn of God," and toward Lijie Barrow beneath it!

"What?! This is impossible!!!" Lijie Barrow screamed in disbelief and extreme terror!

He felt the power he released instantly upon contact with the black flames.

Instead of "penetrating" or "purifying" it, it has lost control, and its sacred essence is being "burned" wildly by the flames!

The flames seemed to exist solely to "burn" his sacred power!

It is a higher level of absolute restraint and...contamination of "divine power"!

He wanted to cut off the supply of spiritual energy and take back the "Horn of God," but it was too late!

The pitch-black demonic flames followed the torrent of sound waves and instantly clung to the enormous pure white horn!

The sacred trumpet surface, upon touching the demonic flames, seemed to encounter its nemesis, emitting a hissing sound as if corroded by strong acid, and quickly dimmed, becoming stained with a murky black!

Immediately afterwards, the entire body of the horn, radiant with holy light, began to be rapidly covered and devoured by the pitch-black demonic flames!

"Aaaaaahh ...

When the first wisp of dark demonic flame, connected to his power with the "Horn of God," darted like a venomous snake up to the fingertip of his bare arm, Lijer Barrow let out a shrill scream!

It was an extreme torment that originated from the depths of the soul, a thousand times more painful than the destruction of the body!

He felt his sacred spiritual body, his connection with the source of power of "all things interconnected," and the power of his "eye of God."

They were all being frantically "burned" by this cold, black flame!

His power is rapidly dissipating, and the very essence of his being is wailing!

"No! My divine power! The power bestowed by His Majesty! How could this be... how could this be?! What is this thing?! What on earth is this thing?!"

Lijie Barrow struggled frantically, trying to extinguish the demonic flames on his arm with his remaining strength and to activate divine power for defense.

However, once his divine child came into contact with the demonic flames, it not only failed to stop their spread, but instead added fuel to the fire, making the demonic flames burn even more fiercely!

The pitch-black flames seemed to feed on the "sacred," burning ever more fiercely!

In the blink of an eye, the pitch-black demonic flames had already engulfed half of the light arm and were rapidly spreading towards his body!

Wherever the demonic flames touched his wings on his back and the armor on his body, they quickly lost their luster, were stained with a murky black, and then turned into ashes!

"ended."

Liu Chuan's calm voice pierced through Li Jie Barrow's desperate screams and came through clearly.

He still stood in the center of the magic circle, his body spotless, with only a wisp of deep black light slowly dissipating.

He watched silently as Lijie Barrow struggled frantically in the dark demonic flames, his eyes showing no emotion, only indifference as if witnessing the results of an experiment.

"No—!!! I am a god!!! I am His Majesty's greatest masterpiece!!! I will not lose!!! I will—!!!"

Lijie Barrow's roar had taken on a blatant madness, but as the dark demonic flames relentlessly devoured him, his struggles grew increasingly feeble, and his voice grew weaker and weaker.

His enormous monstrous form was crumbling, the sacred radiance was completely replaced by filthy darkness, and the "X"-shaped pupil in his left eye had long since extinguished, leaving only a despairing emptiness.

In the end, Lijie Barrow's last consciousness was completely "burned" away by the dark demonic flames, plunging him into eternal darkness and silence.

The pitch-black demonic flames slowly died down, as if they had completed their mission.

Lizzie Barrow, captain of the Sternritter of the Unseen Empire, the man with the holy script "X" who claimed to be the closest to God, was utterly defeated here.

Chapter 87 Hasward's Shock

Soul Society, Seireitei, Eighth Division Barracks.

The heavy atmosphere in the captain's room gradually subsided and dissipated as the unusual movement of the "Divine Sword - Eight Mirrors Sword" on the sword rack in the corner subsided.

The strange movements flowing through the Eight Mirrors Sword receded like the receding tide, eventually disappearing completely and returning to its original form as a warm and simple, bladeless jade ruler, seemingly just an ancient ritual object.

The hum of the sword also subsided, with only the tassel swaying very slightly in the breeze coming through the window.

Kyoraku Shunsui slowly lowered his hand, which had been hovering above the Eight Mirrors Sword.

The unusual solemnity on his face had not completely faded, but his brows had relaxed slightly.

He walked to the window, picked up the wine glass he had put down earlier, tilted his head back and drank the remaining wine in one gulp. The cold liquid slid down his throat, but it seemed unable to completely suppress the doubts in his heart.

"The noise... has stopped." He muttered to himself, his gaze drifting towards the general direction of the void outside the window, though he couldn't see anything across the endless space.

"The fact that it could trigger a reaction in the Eight Mirror Sword has now subsided... It seems the battle over there has come to an end?"

"Nanao," Kyoraku Shunsui suddenly asked, his tone regaining some of its usual languidness, but his eyes were exceptionally sharp.

"Tell me, what kind of power could affect this Eight Mirror Sword, which is specifically designed to counter 'divine power,' to this extent?"

Ise Nanao adjusted her glasses and calmly analyzed: "According to the description in the family records, the Eight Mirrors Sword only reacts strongly to powers with special properties and 'holy' attributes."

The disturbance subsided either because the target force disappeared or was completely suppressed, or because it was too far away or was strongly concealed.

I speculate that it's highly likely Lord Yanagawa and his target have reached a conclusion, and the victor... most likely eliminated the source of the power that triggered the Eight Mirrors Sword.

"Control or eliminate it..." Kyoraku Shunsui smiled noncommittally, placing the empty glass back on the table.

"That guy Yanagawa really always manages to give people a 'surprise'."