Zrocker119: Okay, as of posting this chapter this story has reached over 900 favorites and 1000+ followers. Just...wow. When I first started writing this story, I never expected it to become one of my most popular ones. I just wanted to take a moment thank you all for showing this level of support.

Anyway enough of all that sappy stuff. Last chapter left on a cliff hanger that promised a fight. Well, hope this chapter delivers!

-Chapter 9-

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Chrona fell to a knee, the sound of battle echoing around him as he tried to even out his rapid breathing. How long had they been fighting for? It had already been late into the day when the battle began, but now the sun was beginning to set, falling below the towering tree line and casting a bleak shadow over the clearing.

Night would soon come and then the only sources of light would be the sparks created from the clashing of Ichigo and the Forgotten One's blades and the stars. While Chrona would be fine when it came to fighting in near complete darkness, as all his God Soul forms gave him near perfect night vision, he couldn't say the same for his companion.

He would have to fix that.

Keeping an eye on Ichigo's clash with the God, Chrona dropped his current form and focused on his magic. His skin turned a pale grey and a crown of twisted horns sprouted from his skull. Lastly, his nails elongated into razor sharp claws.

"God Soul, The Infernian."

An enormous pillar of flames erupted from the ground beneath him, setting all nearby trees alight, providing a much need source of light for his comrade.

Ichigo spared his partner a brief nod before returning his attention to the god, parrying a slash to the gut and returned it with a cut across the gods chest. But the wound quickly healed over, not even a scar remained. As the fight dragged on, Ichigo found it more difficult to damage it.

It reached the point that Ichigo had begun to enveloped his blade in a Getsuga just to cut the gods skin. But the god never faltered and continued to throw himself at the oncoming blade.

"I see now."

The Shinigami ducked, narrowly avoiding the razor's edge of his foes bladed arms before founding himself caught between the two in a blade lock. His arms straining in protest, struggling to keep the god's weapons at bay.

"You've elevated me to such a state," The Forgotten one leaned forward until their faces were just inches apart. "And yet I can sense that you're holding back." With a swift head but the god broke the stalemate. Stunned Ichigo's feet were swiped out from under him, followed by a devastating blow to his stomach that sent him cratering into the ground.

Despite being no stranger to pain, Ichigo was unable to hold in the gut curling roar of agony as his ribs were all but reduced to dust. The follow up kick to his side didn't help matters at all, launching him across the clearing.

The Forgotten One would've pursued but was halted by a wall of fire baring his path. Leaning back with untold flexibility, he dodge a volley of fire balls, running circles around Chrona who continued to unleash dozens of firebolts that incinerated everything they came in contact with.

"Get back here!" Great gouts of flame propelled the mage after his quarry, quickly gaining on him. But his advance came to a sliding stop when the god reached the temple. Upon reaching it, the god dug its fingers into the earth and then proceeded to uproot the whole thing and threw it at him with naught but minimal effort.

'It had the strength to do this the whole time!' Chrona panicked, immediately shifting back to this Archeon form. Pulling his fist back he punched the improvised projectile. The temple stood no chance against the strength granted by his form, shattering into thousands of shards upon contact. But this proved to be exactly what his enemy wanted.

With the enormous amount of dust and debris covering the area, the Forgotten One used it as cover to hide its approach. Before Chrona could react, he had already received two blows to the stomach and one to the head. The mage brought up his arms in an attempt to guard against the onslaught, but it was of little use.

If he guarded one part of his body, the Old One simply aimed for another. The Archeon was physically his strongest Take Over, but even then it had its limits. The more hits Chrona took, the more the pain grew. He had to counter before he was overwhelmed completely.

The sensation of his skin being pierced caused him to stumble.

Gazing down, Chrona saw the god's fist buried in his stomach. When pulled back he saw that it had grown foot long spikes from it's knuckles, completely ignoring his heightened durability. With nothing baring its way, blood began to flow from the wound in his gut.

Taking a step back, Chrona fumbled and fell to his knees, trying to stanch the blood flow as he reverted back to his base state.

"I see now." Looking up the mage saw the god towering over him, a spiked fist raised. "Though it isn't quite enough, the two of you have given me a good start. I'll simply have to wait and hope that the next ones to come push me even farther."

"But for now, I'll grant you a swift death-"

"GETSUGA TENSHO!"

A tidal wave of blue/white flames washed over the god's form, momentarily obscuring him from sight. When the attack faded the Forgotten One lowered a slightly singed hand. The burns healed rapidly as the god face the one that had attacked while its back was turned.

Ichigo stood at the edge of the clearing, his breath labored and looking worse for wear but still standing.

The Forgotten One looked at the orangette in what could only be seen as disappointment. "That blast was significantly more powerful than anything you've displayed thus far. But was that truly all that you could muster?"

Ichigo grit his teeth. "Not at all." Retrieving his sheath, he held both it and his sword in front of him in the shape of a cross. Energy flowed out from him, starting as little more than wisps, but that quickly changed as a pillar of blue shot into the sky like a beacon. With in the center, the god saw the flickering form of a grinning skull. Its gaze settled right on him.

"Tear the skies asunder! Zangetsu!"

Due to his heavily damaged state, Chrona couldn't hold his ground as the tidal wave of raw power swept him aside, sending him crashing into the forest.

The Forgotten One fared much better, in fact he appeared to be down right ecstatic about this turn of events. It had been eons since he had last felt this level of power. This is exactly what he had been hoping to encounter.

When everything died down The Forgotten One laid his eyes on what he saw as an opponent worthy his attention.

Ichigo still wore his standard black shihakusho, but with some notable changes. He had two white shoulder plates crossing his chest in an X shape with the plate on his left shoulder having three sections adorned with red scales. This was matched by a plate that hung on his right waist. Lastly a white cloak with black markings was tied around his waist.

Grasped in both hands were two large blades the color of the night sky. One was roughly as long as he was tall, with the second the size of his arm.

But it wasn't the physical changes that caused the Forgotten One to tremble with glee. No, the raw, untamed power that flowed from the young man was astounding. He could visibly see Ichigo's power rolling off his form in literal waves. And the best part was that the Forgotten One could sense that this action wasn't forced.

This was the natural state of his power.

The mere thought sent a chill of excitement down the god's spine.

And then his arm was separated from his body. The god's eyes widened, watching in muted fascination as the limb fell to the earth. By the time it took the limb to finish its descent, Ichigo had already appeared behind him, cleansing his blades of blood with a simple swipe.

He hadn't even seen the boy move.

Undeterred the Forgotten One spun on his heel, swiping at Ichigo with the blade of bone protruding from his elbow. The orangette countered with a single stroke of his smaller blade, its edge completely ignoring the sharpened bone and sheering it clean in half.

Leaping over the follow up punch, Ichigo's swords sang as he passed over, their edges glinting in the fire light as they all but ignored the resistance that the God had showcased just minutes earlier.

When Ichigo's feet next touched the ground, the god's body stilled before falling into a pile of minced meat with the top of its head sitting on the top. But despite its current state, its eyes were still tracking Ichigo.

Seeing this Ichigo calmly slashed at the air in front of him, a small trail of energy being left in the sword's wake.

"Getsuga Tensho."

The last thing the Forgotten One saw was a tidal wave of energy before being reduced to ash, along with a huge chunk of the forest that happened to be caught in the path of the attack. It carved a trail all the way to the edge of the island and beyond, stopping only once it came in contact with the barrier. The array itself lit up the darkening sky, the entire Island shaking as it struggled to contain the blast. But after several seconds, the power eventually faded and the barrier stabilized once more.

Back with Ichigo, the shinigami stared at the path of destruction that he had caused with a calculated gaze, searching for any signs that the god had survived. After several moments and having nothing happen, only then did Ichigo allow himself to relax.

"Holy shit." Glancing over to the side, Ichigo saw Chrona re-emerge from the forest, clenching his wound in obvious discomfort. Coming to a stop beside the slightly younger man, the mage observed the destruction. "Remind me never to piss you off."

The two stared at each other in silence...until both let out a small chuckle.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that." Sheathing his swords Ichigo pointed to the large puncture wound in Chrona's side. "Want me to take a look at that? I used to live in a clinic so I've got some medical experience."

Chrona waved him off, "One of the benefits of playing host to several Gods," taking his hand off the wound the two watched as it began to slowly stitch itself closed, "They don't like it when I bleed."

Ichigo blinked. That had been nearly as fast as his own regeneration. "Is that normal for mages?"

Chrona shook his head negative. "No. But I'm a special case. Most Take Over mages have to defeat their respective transformations in combat before absorbing their souls. I, on the other hand, more or less was chosen to be their champion. I use their powers as I see fit and they get to view the world through my eyes."

Ichigo gave him a dubious look. "Sounds kind of risky."

Chrona responded with a dismissive shrugged. "They've been around since the literal beginning and have done just about everything that we can imagine. Trust me when I say that most of them are just searching for ways to alleviate boredom. Beside, better me than someone with less than good intentions."

Though the thought of playing host to a group of board gods made him uneasy, Ichigo figured that Chrona had a good hold on everything and just nodded. "Fair enough."

Now that they were no longer being attacked the shinigami only just now noticed that the temple was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Along with the only lead the two had on how to leave the island. "Damn it. Now what do we d-"

"I see now."

Everything froze. The wind stopped blowing, the raging fires were snuffed out, casting the clearing in a near impenetrable darkness and the sounds of nature ceased. All that remained was the sound of approaching footsteps.

Faster than a mortal eye could track, Ichigo spun on his heels and blades already halfway out of their sheaths. But before he could complete the motions, a narrow beam of red energy blasted him in the chest.

"Ichigo!" Shifting into his Infernian form, Chrona intercepted the blast meant for him. When the smoke cleared his blood ran cold.

The Forgotten One had survived, and worse still had undergone yet another transformation.

It held much the same general shape as before but only now all of its skin was missing, looking like that of a man that had been flayed as all of its muscles were exposed to the open air. Its hands and toes were tipped with talons, and the bone blades on its arms now carried a serrated edge. A fanged skull mask covered its face, with two glowing, beady red eyes emanating from the sockets.

With a burst of primordial fire, Chrona leapt at the restored God, shifting to his Archeon state mid leap and landed a solid punch on its jaw that shook the entire clearing. The god's only reaction was nothing more than a slight tilt of its head, like a punch that could shatter mountains was nothing more than a slight breeze.

Faster than Chrona's could react, the god responded with a punch to the man's unguarded back. One that sent the mage to the ground at its feet and formed a crater several meters deep.

The Forgotten one quickly raised its forearm, locking Ichigo's blades with his own just as the shinigami appeared beside it. Though he didn't let it show, Ichigo was startled to see his weapons held at bay, despite slicing right through the god's own weapons just moments ago.

With a swift kick, the Forgotten One sent Chrona into the air, catching him by his ankle and proceeded to use the Take Over mage as a club, swinging him at Ichigo and sending the two flying back.

Ichigo dug his Zanpakuto's into the ground, halting his momentum and regained his footing. Chrona on the other hand was still winded from the last attack, fared worse and was unable to stop himself from crashing into one of the few remaining trees. But he wasn't one to stay down and give up, being back to he feet seconds later.

Gritting his teeth, Ichigo charged the god with unfaltering determination and blinding speed. But to his dismay he was met blow for blow. While their blades clashed, he could stop his mind from pondering how it was still standing. He had seen it vaporized, turned to ash.

How?

How did it come back even stronger?

It was eerily similar to how Aizen could recover after fusing with the hogyoku. The comparison sent a chill down Ichigo's spine.

Locking blades yet again, Ichigo glared up into its beady eyes, only for his own to widen when the god's began to glow. His instincts screamed out to him and Ichigo listened. Throwing himself to the side, he narrowly avoided the twin beams fired from the gods gaze.

Though it didn't end there.

Tracking Ichigo, the God kept up the attack, the beams trailing after the shinigami as he ran to avoid them. The attack only ceased when two blasts of fire impacted the Forgotten One's back, forcing it to turn around and defend itself.

Coming to a stop beside his ally, Ichigo watched as the burns healed almost instantly. Paired with the bone mask that it now wore, Ichigo couldn't help but feel like he was staring down Zangetsu, back when he thought half of his Zanpakuto spirit was little more than a deranged hollow.

"You two have my thanks." The God pointed a talon towards Ichigo, "especially you, little godling." It turned its attention to the sky. It was only then that Ichigo and Chrona noticed that the barrier surrounding the island was on full display, despite none of them being close to it.

"Thanks to your efforts, I've evolved to the point in which I can finally leave this prison." With eyes that burned like an inferno, the god fired it's twin beams at the array. For a moment the barrier held but it was just that, a single moment. With a sound likened to that of glass the barrier shattered causing the entire island to shake.

"Just what the hell is going on!?" Chrona's confusion was shared by his companion. "Who are you!?"

"Your confusion is understandable." The God twitched, hunching over as its back burst open and a set of large, decrepit bat wings unfurled. Spreading out its arms, the god began to float into the air.

"I am Otos."

The air began to shake, the god becoming enveloped in a pillar of red magic energy that put Ichigo's previous display to shame. Dark clouds formed to block out the little light that remained from the setting sun, covering the island and the surrounding sea in a blanket of darkness.

"Ruler of the Underworld."

Although Otos was now incapable of showcasing facial expressions, Ichigo and Chrona could imagine that it was smiling at the duo.

"And the end...has finally come."

-A few minutes earlier-

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"So...can you explain why we're sailing out into the middle of nowhere?"

Rather than answer, Brandish chose to ignore her companion and continued to relax into her chair on the deck of the ship. It had been a little more than a day since she had encountered the orange-haired man. After getting her icy snack to go she had returned to her ship and ordered their immediate departure. The crew had been chauffeuring her around long enough to not question her order and had them sailing within minutes, even though she had only given them vague directions.

There was a reason as to why any of them had yet to be replaced.

Her companion on the other hand was less receptive to her instructions and had questioned her at every given opportunity.

"Does this have to do with that man I saw you with?" Her companion said in a teasing tone. "Didn't think you were into all that romance stuff."

A tick mark on her forehead, Brandish cracked one eye open to see the smirking face of Dimaria leaning over her.

Dimaria Yesta, was a buxom young woman with a slender figure. Her wavy, golden hair was cropped short, reaching only the base of her nape and is quite messy, with a somewhat spiky appearance. While most were swept back, some of her bangs hung down her forehead, curving away on either side so as to not obstruct her line of sight.

Her attire was quite revealing, though not nearly as much as her bikini wearing ally. Her top consisted of a simple red bandeau, with the upper edge embroidered with a flowery, white lace. Loose, pin-striped red and black capri pants that tightened around her calves. The hems of which are decorated with dark piping.

Her left forearm is covered by a tight, dark bracer with a wing-like ornament attached to it beneath her elbow, while her right arm is encased in golden armor. Her neck is protected by a gorget with a golden border and with the rest matching that of her bandeau. A dark jacket with a light border was tied around her waist and flared out behind her. To complete her outfit she wore a pair of simple sandals.

"I'm merely curious about his power. Nothing more and nothing less." Brandish replied with a tone that said to drop the subject.

"Uh-huh," Dimaria didn't look at all convinced by her words. "What's so special about him?" Sure the guy had been handsome enough and decently fast from what she had seen, but it was nothing to write home about.

Brandish let out a quiet sigh but refused to elaborate further and went back to relaxing.

Not one to appreciate being ignored, Dimaria was about to resume questioning her friend when a monstrous pulse of magic power washed over her. She wasn't the only one as Brandish quickly, but still in a dignified manner befitting someone of her station, stood from her seat.

"Was that Island there a moment ago?"

Following her gaze, Dimaria saw what she was talking about. Directly ahead of them now sat a large island that was covered entirely by dense forests. Before anyone could speak, they witnessed a giant pillar of energy shoot into the sky, dark clouds quickly taking up the skyline, even reaching their boat which was still several miles out.

The sea had become violent as well, tossing the large ship about. Acting quickly, Brandish used her magic to enlarge the ship to titanic proportions. Though the rough waves still caused the boat to shift about they were no longer in danger of capsizing.

"Just what is that?"

Though they kept their features calm, Dimaria and Brandish were internally startled by what they were witnessing. The amount of power that was required to cause this kind of shift in the weather was astronomical. Something that could only be accomplished by mages of their level or higher.

Dimaria stared at the display, finding a sort of familiarity to it. "...There's a god on that Island."

Brandish shot her a look, slightly startled by her statement. "Are you certain?"

The Take Over mage nodded. Being a host of Chronos, Dimaria knew the feeling that came with being in the vicinity of a god.

With this new information Brandish was uncertain of what to do. Between the two of them she was confident that they could fight off whatever was causing all this, but if the crew didn't survive, then they would be stuck sailing this boat by themselves.

Before a decision could be made, the two Spriggan's caught sight of something flying towards them at high speeds. Only they were fast enough to brace themselves as it crashed into the side of the ship, punching clean through and into the cargo hold. Only by Brandish quick shrinking the hole kept them from sinking.

A moment later the deck exploded from within and a winged monstrosity rose from its depths. It paid them little mind, instead choosing to observe the gash on its chest.

Only once the gash had steamed closed did it speak. "I see now." Its voice caused the Spriggans to tense.

It's head snapped to Dimaria, causing the woman to draw her sword and hold it in a defensive manner.

"...A host."

Dimaria tensed as it took a step towards the duo.

"To think I would encounter another. The gods truly have fallen."

The approaching god suddenly paused midstep. In fact everything around them had seemed to freeze. All except for Dimaria had frozen as she strutted towards the frozen god, an amused expression gracing her lips.

With Age Seal active Dimaria slashed at creature multiple times before returning to her previous stop. With a click of her teeth time resumed.

Otos' finished his step only for his body to suddenly buckle under his own weight. Curiously looking over himself, he saw that all of his tendons had been severed. With an unseen frown it healed its wounds a stood.

Understanding what was happening, Brandish rested a hand on her hip as dozens of gashes erupted all over its body once more. It may be resilient, but it wasn't nearly powerful enough to break Dimaria's influence over time itself. She could let her friend have some fun.

Eyes taking on a glow, Otos wounds healed and flexed his wings, only to hear a click and have said wings severed at the joint. But yet again his wounds healed and he rose to his feet. The process repeated itself dozens of times, Otos being cut down over and over but still he got to his feet.

Though it was entertaining at first, Dimaria was beginning to grow tired of the whole process. Clicking her teeth time froze once more and cut off the gods head, but in her dismissiveness, failed to notice that his eyes were now tracking her every move.

Resuming time yet again, Dimaria motioned toward the body. "Have the crew put the body in the cargo hold. The Emperor might have use for it." Turning around she didn't see the crew and Brandish frozen in shock.

"I see now."

The Spriggan barely managed to dodge to the side as the place she had stood was reduced to splinters as Otos fist was buried into the wood.

"You play host to Chrono's. While his power is quite formidable, he is insignificant compared to me."

Clicking her teeth, Dimaria froze time again and leapt at the god, her blade poised to pierce his skull, only to gasp in shock when he caught her by the throat.

"I, child, am the god of evolution. Destined to see the world returned to the nothingness from whence it was forged. So long as I can see, nothing can fell me." Dimaria's expression became one of agony as he began to apply pressure, slowly crushing her throat. Just as her neck was about to snap, there was a blur and the arm holding her was severed at the elbow.

Greedly taking in breaths, Dimaria watched as a dark, armored figure with long, dragon-like tail and wings made up of swords landed between her and the god.

Chrona spared a quick glance at his surroundings, noting that everything was frozen in place before and returned his full attention back to Otos. "You can freeze time now."

Otos ignored the man's statement, instead choosing to observe his new appearance as his arm regenerated. A moment later the god's eyes shone with understanding. "The Draconian...I see now. You made a pact with the Astral's. To think that there was a mortal capable host not one, but all six members of their pantheon. Truly a feat worthy of legends."

His observations were cut short as Ichigo phased into existence behind him, blades aimed to sever his neck. But the god had sensed him coming and ducked at the last moment, causing the shinigami so sail harmlessly passed him.

Slowing his momentum, Ichigo came to a halt beside his companion. "He's even faster now." He then noticed the frozen environment, "What the hell?"

"Not sure how, but he seems to have frozen time." Glancing at Ichigo out of the corner of his eye, Chrona took a step back in surprise when he saw that Ichigo was pale as bone and sported a large, forward facing horn on the left side of his head. To add even more confusion to it all, his larger sword had turned white as well. "You can use Take Over?"

Ichigo was momentarily confused. Looking over himself, Ichigo realized he was in merged hollow state. But how? He didn't activate it.

"That's because we did." Spoke Zangetsu.

"When you came within seven miles of the ship, you suddenly froze in place. The only reason we were able to notice that you were frozen in time was due to how time flows within your inner world," Tensa elaborated. "When it became apparent that you could no longer hear our voices, we decided to force your transformation in a gamble to free yourself from what was affecting you. Safe to say that it paid off."

'Oh...thanks guys.' While glad that he was no longer being affected, Ichigo was trying to figure out how to face a being that could affect time. Even with all of his past experience, this was something completely new.

"No!"

Ichigo and Chrona were brought out of their musings by Dimaira, who had finally found her voice. "How can you all move within my frozen time!? It shouldn't be possible!" It made no sense. She held absolute authority over time itself. Nothing short of the gods themselves should be able to move within Age Seal, but even then they had to be equal or greater than Chronos himself!

Were...were these two men...gods themselves?

"Wait, this is your-" Chrona was interrupted when Otos, who had groan tired of waiting, fired beams at them. But using the blades that made up his wings, he was able to redirect the attack into the sky.

Ichigo blurred forward, scoring multiple slashes across Otos' body, his merged state giving him the power necessary to harm the god once more. But they had to end this quickly, before he evolved past their current ability to handle.

While Ichigo kept the god busy, Chrona turned his attention to Dimaria.

"I know we just sort of dropped in, but is there anything that you can do to help? We've thrown just about everything that we've got at this bastard, but he just keeps getting stronger! If he isn't finished soon, Otos' will reach a point where we can't hope to win!"

Dimaria wanted to do nothing but deny what was happening before her. That she had just eaten some spoiled food and that all this was nothing more than a fever dream. But it wasn't. This was all happening and the more rational part of her mind recognized the threat that this Otos' was. What would happen if he encountered the other Spiggans, gods forbid Acnologia himself?

The very thought made her spine crawl.

But how did you kill something that continuously evolved and became stronger. As she scrambled to come up with a plan, Dimaria suddenly remembered what it had said during the moments it had been choking her. "So long as he sees it." She muttered to herself. Could it really be something so simple?

Well it wasn't like they had anything better to go off. "A surprise attack. If he doesn't see it coming, then he won't be able to adapt. Either that or take out his eyes before dealing the final blow."

Chrona let her words sink in. While it sounded simple enough in theory, the god's instincts were sharp and his reaction time even sharper. And seeing as he was now nearly matching Ichigo blow for blow in the span of a few minutes, catching him by surprise was gonna be all but impossible.

Seeing the man's paniced expression actually earned a chuckle from Dimaria. "You have no idea just how lucky you guys are to have run into us." Before he could question what she meant by that, Dimaria clicked her teeth.

No longer frozen, the crew were all immediately thrown back by the shock waves generated by the two godly beings that were suddenly clashing above their heads. The only one not immediately thrown back was Brandish, but even she was confused by the sudden change.

"Dimaria, what's going on?" Questioned her fellow Spriggan before noticing the towering armored man beside them. "Who are you?"

"I'll explain later," Dimaria said, placing a hand on her confused friend's shoulder. Turning to Chrona she smirked. "Think you and your friend restrain him? All Brandish needs is a moment and she can kill him."

Chrona gave the duo a questioning look before summoning a sword, identical to the once that made up his wing into his hand. "Consider it done." And he leapt into battle.

Back with the fight things were escalating at a ridiculous rate. Otos had adapted to the power behind Ichigo's attacks and was now matching him, forcing the hybrid to use more and more of his hollowfied strength just to stay ahead. But he could only keep this up for so long. If things kept going as they were, Ichigo would be forced to use his Bankai.

With a roar, Ichigo enveloped his sword in spiritual energy. The smaller blade glowing blue and the larger one red.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The combination of his Shikai and merged form greatly amplified the power of his signature technique, the crescent-shaped projectiles easily cutting through the god's skin and bone, cleaving him vertically in two.

"I see now."

Faster than ever before, Otos regenerated the moment there was nothing separating his two halves. Stunned by how easily his attack was negated, Ichigo was barely able to defend himself as the god went on the offensive. He parried blow after blow, his bones creaking from the strain.

With every attack Otos became more and more unrelenting, eventually breaking Ichigo's guard and sending him crashing below the waves. Now even a moment passed before the water exploded upwards, Ichigo flying back out.

Just as the two were about to go right back to it, they were stopped by the appearance of a bright light. The two looked upwards to see Chrona floating amongst the clouds, his body glowing with magic energy. The swords that made up his wings were spread out, revolving around him, their blades pointed right at the evil god.

Focusing on the sword in his grasp, Chrona pushed all the magic that he could into the very tip of the blade, making a small orb of swirling white energy. With his free hand, he clawed down the flat of the blade and thrust it forward, firing a dense beam of pure magic energy.

Sensing the amount of power put into the attack, Otos raised his arms in an attempt to ward off the blast but it proved to be of little use. Rather than explode on contact, the beam instead pierced straight through his guard and punched a foot diameter hole clean through his chest.

But Chrona wasn't done just yet. With what little strength he had left, the mage surged forward, reaching the god in an instant and impaling him in the heart. His two dozen swords followed suit, turning the lord of the underworld into a glorified pincushion.

Leaving the swords where they were in an attempt to impede the gods absurd regenerative abilities, Chrona threw himself aside, landing on the deck of the ship and shouted. "NOW ICHIGO!"

Seeing the god momentarily halted, Ichigo put as much Reiatsu into his blades as he could. "Getsuga," Ichigo swiped the bladed in front of him. But instead of the usual crescent shaped projectiles, his was one massive cross-shaped blast of energy. "Jujisho!"

Restrained as he was, Otos could do nothing as the attack enveloped him, carrying up and into the night sky. For a brief moment all was silent...before an explosion lit up the sky in a display that eclipsed anything that those present had ever witnessed.

The shock wave hit with the force of a hurricane and it was only through sheer luck that no one was thrown from the ship and into the icy waters.

With most of his strength now expended, Ichigo fell out of the sky, crashing onto the deck beside an equally exhausted Chrona.

"You," the take over mage began, his Take Over fading away. "You think that got him?"

Before Ichigo could even begin to formulate a proper response, something smashed into the deck. With a significant amount of effort, the two exhausted men sat up and stared at the smoldering form of Otos who lied sprawled out on the deck.

The god was almost unrecognizable, being little more than a smoldering corpse. Only his upper torso, right arm, head remained and a few loosely connected organs remained. Nobody so much as breathed. Then a single finger on the gods hand twitched and the duo cursed.

"I se- ow."

The gods' words were barely intelligible as he began to regenerate, though it was significantly slower than before. Ichigo's last attack had clearly been much more powerful than the god had expected.

"For a brief moment, I experienced oblivion." The god stood on unfinished legs, "Such is the power that you wield-" Otos suddenly stopped, clenching his chest in pain.

"W-what is this!?"

For the first time since their fight had started, the two detected panic in the gods' voice. Otos turned its frightened gaze past the two warriors and at the two women that had walked up behind them.

"What have you don-"

Before he could finish his sentence the god exploded. Their was no warning to it. Just a visceral display of blood and gore, covering the deck in entrails. It was only due to Ichigo and Chrona's past experiences that kept the two from hurling at the sight.

"That was annoying." Brandish said with a frown. With Otos no longer releasing ludicrous amounts of magic, the weather had begun to settle, allowing her to shrink the boat back to its original size. Only then did she turn her attention to the ship's newest passengers.

Catching her gaze, a flash of recognition entered Ichigo's eyes.

"Oh, it's you." Getting to his feet, Ichigo allowed his hollow powers to fade away. Sheathing his swords, he spared a quick glance at what little remained of Otos. "I'm gonna guess and say that was your doing." At her blank stare he scratched his head, "Can I ask how you did that?"

"I enlarged his heart to the point that it caused him to explode." She explained easily enough, making Ichigo's eyes widen. "Couldn't see his insides, so no adaptation."

"...So you can make things grow?" Ichgio let out a yelp as the world suddenly grew around him. "What the hell!?" he spoke in a voice that was much higher pitched to what he was used to.

"I can alter matter at will." Brandish explained, coolly checking her nails for signs of imperfection.

Ichigo glared up at her, only to immediately avert his eyes. Due to his current size and position, Ichigo couldn't look her in the eye as his line of sight was obstructed by her...womanly assets. Just was it with him encountering women with huge breasts!?

"Ah, come on Kingy," Cackled Zangetsu. "The view's pretty nice! Besides, it's not like she's trying to hide anything. Just enjoy it!"

'Old man.' The sound of someone being smacked echoed in his skull. 'Thank you.'

Coughing into his fist, Ichigo took a few steps forward before facing her. Though the angle wasn't much better, he could at least look her in the eyes now. "Could you please return me to normal? It's been a hell of a day and I want to do nothing more than relax."

Brandish tilted her head in what Ichigo hoped was mock thought before suddenly returning to normal. "Thanks..." He suddenly realized that he never learned her name.

Thankfully she caught his blunder, take it in stride as she didn't know his name either. "Brandish."

"Ichigo Kurosaki." He gave a small bow, "And I don't just mean for changing me back, but for putting down Otos. Had the fight gone on any longer, we might not have been able to stop him before he caused major damage."

"He did mention bringing about the end of the world." Brandish comments offhandedly. How she managed to say that with a straight face, Ichigo would never know.

"Hey, Ichigo!" Chrona suddenly called out. The one in question turned to see he companion had returned to normal and had a serious look about him. "As the one that was trapped on an island without human contact for a decade...I demand that you allow me to be the one to flirt with the beautiful women!" He finished, eyeing Brandish's revealing appearance with an appreciative gaze.

And just like that Ichigo was officially done. The day's events had exhausted him in both body and spirit. Wanting nothing more than to find the nearest bed to collapse into, Ichigo opened his mouth to ask Brandish if it was alright for them to crash there for the night when he heard it.

It was distant, so much so that he had to focus solely on the sound to even detect it.

But it sounded, almost like... was that wing beats?

And it was coming directly from above.

"How Curious."

An oppressive aura fell upon them. One so powerful and unforgiving that it caused the weakest amongst them to feint. Only Brandish, Chrona, Dimaria and Ichigo remained in the waking world, but even then all of them were forced to their knees.

The winds picked up as the flapping of wings became louder, being right on top of them.

"When I sensed the barrier shatter, I was expecting to find an empty spot of Ocean."

The air suddenly grew cold, so much so that Ichigo could now see his breath. The boat ceased its rocking motions as the ocean itself froze over for as far as the eye could see.

"He did state that the Island's destruction would be the first thing he would do upon gaining freedom."

Something landed on the ice right beside the ship with immense force, kicking up a cloud of icy mist. The four saw an enormous silhouette moving within the cloud but it was too dense. All they could see was a massive set of wings that stretched out and gave a single, mighty flap, clearing away the obscuring mist revealing to them the horror that had arrived.

"After all, who wouldn't want to lay waste to their prison."

It was a dragon.

An honest to Spirit King dragon.

It was absolutely monstrous in size, larger than anything that Ichigo had ever witnessed. The only thing that came close was Yammy after entering his Resurreccion, but even then the dragon before him just beat out the Zero Espada. The creature was covered in crimson colored scales that looked able to shrug off any attacks thrown at it. Only its underside lacked scales, instead having a thick, beige colored hide.

A row of dark spikes ran down its spine, all the way from the back of its neck to the tip of its thick, powerful tail that doubled the length of its entire body. Its neck was long and serpentine, allowing the dragon twist and see behind it with ease.

It's head was proportional to the rest of its body. Sporting a large pair of horns and a maw that ended with a beak-like tip on its upper lip. Said jaws was also lined with human sized teeth. However the creatures' eyes were what drew Ichigo's gaze. Being red with yellow iris' and slitted pupils, the dragon stared at the group with a calculative look.

"But to my surprise," It lowered its head so that it was now face to face with the group, making it all the more apparent that it could easily swallow them all in one large gulp. "I find the fool slain. So tell me, little fleshlings."

The dragon pulled its head back and flexed its wings in a display of dominance. "Which of you dealt the final blow?"

"Which amongst you was able to kill my brother?"

.

.

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-End-

Zrocker119: ...yep...I'm a total asshole...sue me. Anyway I hope the chapter was to your liking. Next one will finish wrapping up this arc and the next will see us finally see the long awaited return of Natsu and the others. Until then, please Fav/Follow and review! Stay safe everyone!

p.s. If you want a image of the dragon, look of Grigori from Dragons Dogma.