You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

"Don't think about it!"

In a flash, Shizusai appeared above Iori, and the smoldering, black-smoke-filled katana swiftly descended upon him.

However, it was as if Iori had anticipated this scene, narrowly avoiding the blade, and in the blink of an eye, her constricted pupils reflected the instant the atmosphere and hair were broken down into basic particles.

boom!

Iori knelt on the ground in an almost sideways position, her left arm bracing against Jusai's wrist, causing the katana's trajectory to abruptly halt, while her right hand rose from under her left armpit—

hum!

The blinding beam of light pierced through the space, directly engulfing the Cross.

"Well!"

The strongest impermanence was sent flying backward, but the invincible katana also became an excellent shield. The spiritual beams would instantly disintegrate upon touching the blade, greatly reducing the damage he received.

He instantly escaped the range of the demonic path, and wisps of black smoke rose from all over his body, but his attack did not stop. He turned the broken fire katana in his hand and slashed again. He swung his arm rapidly, but under such extremely difficult circumstances, he used the kesa slash.

His target was Iori, who had been pursuing him—

"cut!"

"break!"

Zheng!

The collision of the two weapons resulted in them both flying backwards almost without any suspense, but Iori struck first during the process.

"Black coffin!"

Pieces of pitch-black shadow rose from the ground, instantly enveloping the Cross in a black cube—

Clang!

The black coffin was cleaved in two by the tilting, invisible blade, and the remaining part quickly disintegrated into spiritual particles. Cross stepped out from within and launched a fierce thrust at Iori.

hum!

Iori dodged to the side, leaving a straight scar on the wilderness hundreds of meters behind her.

"As expected... he is indeed very strong."

Iori suddenly stopped, but kept her distance from Shiki.

"However, this strength has a weakness—it chose the wrong opponent!"

Suddenly, Iori's spiritual pressure surged dramatically, her already immense spiritual power causing her trench coat to tear apart with the airflow, and incantations spread from her shoulders.

"I originally wanted to show you what a masked man is like... but at least let's settle this with the Grim Reaper's techniques."

I forgot to tell you, actually, in the world of sword fighting and ghost hunting, swordsmanship isn't my strongest skill—

They scattered instantly!

"Little tricks!"

"One bone—"

He deliberately closed in, barely dodging the katana's slash, and came within three steps. With speed exceeding that of wind and thunder, he delivered a simple straight punch to Shikisai's chest and abdomen.

boom! ! !

The burst of spiritual pressure stirred up spiraling air currents, like a tornado compressed countless times, instantly revealing its true form and blasting Jushisai away!

Snapped!

Jushisai crashed into a small part of the mountain, and Iori appeared amidst the falling boulders, right in front of Jushisai.

"Double Bone Strike!"

Chapter 468 says, "We can go now."

"The Ember Blade will eventually reduce heaven and earth to ashes!"

With his internal organs ruptured and his left arm shattered, he was on the verge of death. But it was precisely this broken body that made his consciousness exceptionally clear, bringing back all the memories of the past. In an instant, it was as if he had broken through a thin mist, and his last strength burst forth from the depths of his soul.

Shizusai raised his prized Zanpakuto and instinctively unleashed a move that had previously only existed in his imagination.

Zheng! ! !

This is a slanted trajectory that can sever everything it touches in space, and even incinerate space itself.

From the place where Shizusai landed to the place where Iori stood, in less than a hundredth of a second, an almost imperceptible gap in time, the strongest impermanence slashed out and severed the boundary in two!

As a result, everything in sight was separated, and for a moment darkness descended, as if the light had been cut off.

"Well!"

The strongest Shinigami remained in the stance of bringing down his katana, but stared in shock at the scene before him, making a sound that was difficult to understand.

"it turns out!"

Right before his eyes, the man in white was slashed diagonally from his left rib to his right hip, but the flesh and bones did not disappear with him, just like a cropped photograph, the body split in two.

This is--

why?

Why didn't you dodge?!

Shizusai had no intention of winning in one strike. The difference in strength between the two was too great. Although this move was fierce, with Iori's physical skills, slashing techniques, and Shunpo skills, he could at least have avoided vital points or weakened the damage, at most losing an arm or a leg. But he just stood there without moving...

It didn't feel like I hit anything!

"—!"

"In the end, I won, Shizusai."

After the embers of the katana swept past, Iori's longsword thrust out, easily piercing the swordsman's heart.

"..."

puff!

The mirror of still water was drawn out, and blood dripped down like beads. Shiki-sai remained silent for a moment, and the embers in his hand dissipated their fire, gradually returning to their asp shape.

"How did you do it?"

"Before you could swing your knife, I cut myself open first."

Iori raised his Zanpakuto, a thin, invisible blade of water gliding across it, creating ripples in the air: "This is its ability; it can make the part that is slashed invisible."

"Your Bankai is incredibly powerful. If you were hit, you wouldn't have time to become intangible and would be annihilated. But if you separate your body beforehand, the katana will simply fall into empty air. It's that simple."

"...strange and bizarre abilities."

Shizizhai chuckled, but didn't hold any resentment.

He had seen many strange and unusual abilities, and Iori was ultimately able to defeat him because of her own powerful strength; the Zanpakuto was merely an auxiliary tool.

Even without dodging or evading, Iori, having activated "Instant Rumble," can defeat Shikisai head-on; that's beyond doubt.

"So you see through my movements completely... and you're faster than me too."

Shizizhai shook his head: "My chances of winning this battle... were zero from the very beginning!"

"It's probably time for us to say goodbye forever. Is there anything you'd like to say?"

"No, I was originally someone who emerged from nothingness, and now I am merely returning to nothingness."

Hiko Shisai looked up at the sky, sighed deeply, and his body gradually turned into a small blue cube and disappeared.

"I really want to know what your world is like, that it could nurture such a powerful being... But all of this is ultimately meaningless, isn't it? In front of that princess in military uniform..."

That's true for you, but not for me—watching Shikisai return to nothingness, Iori was unusually melancholic.

It's such a strange feeling... He looks so much like Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni.

"It generated unnecessary emotions~"

【Ding】

[CG included]

Goodbye, Master, and goodbye to my cowardice.

Type: Art style & bonds.

Quality: Legendary.

Grade: A.

Rewards Overview:

Art style value +6;

All attribute values ​​are slightly increased;

Inherent Skill: [Master and Apprentice]

When master and apprentice fight together, each gains increased damage reduction and attack power.

Even if they are not in the same world, they will receive support from their teacher during battle, which manifests as a significant increase in fire resistance and enhanced power of sword techniques.

If the master and disciple turn against each other, the skill effect is reversed, and both sides are more likely to deal true damage to each other (ignoring defense to a certain extent).

……

Following the showdown between Iori and Shizusai, the government focused on both cleaning up the mess and accelerating the pace of collaborative projects.

First, there's the promotion to the public. To imprint the complex setting in the public's mind, one or two PVs are obviously not enough. So, we persistently produce new works to introduce the background of the [Golden Star Cup] in various ways and add new settings for Iori, Altair, and others.

Of course, the story also needs to be given "logical plausibility," which means designing a supreme being who controls everything behind the scenes, like Zeno in Dragon Ball.

With Iori's intervention, the background this time became a confrontation between two conceptual gods: "human good" and "world evil," drawing inspiration from the Zoroastrian worldview of ancient Persia. One side is a goddess born from humanity's beautiful aspirations, and the other side is a god born from the world's malice.

Simply put, it's about an evil god who wants to destroy humanity, while a goddess summons heroes from human history and fantasy to protect peace.

However, an accident occurred. Altair, the human guardian originally created by the goddess, was unexpectedly controlled by the evil of the world. In a state of amnesia, he took action as an apostle of evil, using the power given to him by the goddess to summon one character after another, attempting to destroy human civilization.

Iori and the others chose to fight against Altair's warriors, and a fierce battle between the two factions was inevitable.

The above is the background of the planned activities, which will be released gradually over the next month, leaving the public with enough suspense and creating the impression of two opposing camps.

Just like a detective novel, you have to peel back the layers of appearances to finally see the exciting truth!

The initial details revealed about the collaborative project were:

Led by an unknown character, Altair the Military Princess, the characters hope to obtain the legendary Holy Grail to change the tragedy of their world, but the appearance of the Holy Grail will lead to the end of the world.

Meteora, Ceresia, and others are those who prevent others from obtaining the Holy Grail in order to protect the stability of this world.

...Actually, watching how fans online piece together the truth from scattered pieces of information is also a great pleasure in the ACG community!

Iori still vividly remembers the lively online discussion about the "Attack on Titan" storyline, and the subsequent disgust she felt.

Regarding the specific location of "Singularity F", the government ultimately decided to place the "stage" in an abandoned industrial area, far from the city, which would also allow them to use the buildings that had not yet been demolished to set up the stage.

Meanwhile, the intelligence agents finally found the so-called beast-shaped mecha, but it had already been recruited by the military princess. It seemed to be from a mecha anime adapted from a tokusatsu series (which sounded quite complicated).

Various offline events were held continuously, and a publicity campaign was launched at all costs. Just when the atmosphere reached its peak, the curtain was officially raised!

……

As dawn broke, the sunlight leaped over the horizon, revealing a dim red glow at the end of the avenue that ran through the block, before brightening and dispelling the darkness from the earth.

The former industrial area has now been transformed into a punk-style abandoned city. Dark red rust and winding pipes that seem to make up the whole world cast a gray curtain over the entire "stage".

The visitor arrived quietly, slowly drawing back the gray curtain—

"This could be the dawn of a new generation, or it could be the beginning of the end."

Iori stood atop the half-ruined human-shaped statue, looking down at the city, a pleased smile unconsciously curving her lips.

"Gentlemen, are you ready?"

He spoke softly into the microphone on his collar, "Begin."

——!

The sound was like a horn, instantly spreading to countless studios and temporary camps, the military, police, media, animation production companies, creators... even within the city, there were cameras and motion capture devices everywhere!

Firstly, it allows the government (Iori) to have overall control and gather battlefield intelligence to the greatest extent possible. Secondly, it is to broadcast the characters' actions and performances to the public through various channels.

We must broadcast from a perspective even more comprehensive than that of "The Truman Show," leaving no private scenes untouched except for those involving going to the toilet!