*Swish, swish, swish, swish!*
Without any wind-up, hundreds of blackened Noble Phantasms poured down like a rainstorm!
Asuka's feet flashed with consecutive Shunpo, weaving through the dense rain of Noble Phantasms.
*Boom, boom, boom!*
Deep craters were blasted into the ground, sending black mud splattering in all directions.
Asuka's figure darted left and right, exquisitely dodging the fatal attacks every single time.
But the treasury behind Gilgamesh seemed endless.
The black Noble Phantasms fired wildly as if they cost nothing, constructing an absolute blockade that was impossible to approach.
Unless he threw his life away like the Hollowfied Berserker, he would have no chance of breaking through this blockade; otherwise, getting close was completely impossible.
Furthermore, empowered by the black mud, these Noble Phantasms not only had their power massively increased but also carried a corrosive effect.
If even a tiny bit touched him, Asuka's Spiritual Body felt a severe pain as if splashed with strong acid.
'What a troublesome guy.'
'I can't keep up this passive dogfight.'
"Is hiding all you know how to do?!"
Metastacia laughed maniacally while controlling Gilgamesh, his arrogant and smug laughter incredibly displeasing.
Suddenly, he spotted a massive opening in Asuka's defense.
With a movement trajectory like that, even a Soul Reaper wouldn't be able to twist their body in time!
"Die! Soul Reaper!!"
Two divine spears whistled through the air, shooting straight toward Asuka's body!
*Rip!*
'I got him... Wait, where is he?!'
There was nothing left in that spot.
The spear tips had only pierced a corner of his Shihakusho.
'Oh no!'
A sudden sense of crisis struck. Metastacia reached back, a sharp Divine Construct appearing in his hand.
*Clang!!!*
A massive collision rang out beside him, cracking the ground inch by inch!
"...Your reaction is quite fast," Asuka curled his lips.
Just now, he had used [Onmitsukido Secret Step・Shiho #3: Utsusemi], taught to him by Yoruichi.
By moving at high speeds to create a visual afterimage, it tricked the enemy into thinking they had hit the main body, creating a momentary chance to close the distance.
Unfortunately, this Hollow reacted too quickly, seeing through his intentions almost instantly.
"Nothing but cheap tricks!"
*Clash!*
Metastacia swept his weapon horizontally, kicking up a black hurricane.
The two exchanged blows, engaging in a fierce clash within the extremely narrow space!
Both of their hearts leaped in surprise simultaneously.
The parasitic Hollow never expected the young man before him to possess such immense strength, to the point where even his demigod constitution couldn't suppress him with brute force.
Asuka's expression similarly turned cold, his strategy of taking the opponent down in close combat wavering.
The opponent wasn't fighting solely with his own strength.
Ancient axe blades, mythical halberds, legendary sword edges.
Countless powerful Noble Phantasms emerged endlessly, each with its own unique effect, leaving Asuka struggling to parry them all.
Waves of tremendous force traveled up his arms from the collisions, making half his body feel numb.
"This power... is way too unfair..."
As he continuously parried the attacks and looked for a turning point, Asuka once again heard that familiar voice.
"...Ah, I hear you... If this is still an illusion this time, I'll just have to accept it," he responded.
*Clang!!*
Another heavy, powerful swing came down, this time striking like a baseball bat, hitting a home run that blasted Asuka right out of close-combat range!
*Screech!*
He skidded several meters before coming to a halt, warily watching the once-again flashing Gate of Babylon. "What do I do? Just give me the conclusion!"
A hint of hesitation flashed in Asuka's eyes. "Is my Spiritual Pressure enough? It won't drain the little girl dry, will it?"
[Rest assured, leave it to me.] The young man's voice was firm and decisive, guiding all the power in Asuka's body to converge into the blade.
[What do you mean, 'that guy will only break through all of this in the most direct way, regardless of the cost...']
In the inner world, the black hole entrenched in the Rukongai was continuously shrinking, evidently the result of the young man's efforts during this time.
His eyes went from half-open to fully wide.
The double pupils in his eyes trembled violently.
Then, slowly, they split into three!
With three pupils, his aura abruptly changed, and the massive vortex of malice he had been suppressing finally collapsed and burst open!
With a sharp crack, the vortex shattered completely and vanished.
The sky above the Rukongai changed colors as golden clouds surged from the horizon, seemingly ignited by golden flames of Spiritual Pressure, spreading rapidly.
In the air outside, countless Noble Phantasms gathered once more, shooting violently toward Asuka!
But Asuka remained unmoved, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.
He did not dodge, nor did he defend.
Instead, he poured all the Reiryoku in his body, and even his own life force, into the Zanpakuto in his hand.
"...The solitary moon of the heart is perfectly round, its light swallowing all creation."
"Incinerate all forms, devour heaven and earth..."
"Stand at the two extremes of creation and demise—"
Asuka's eyes instantly turned pure gold, his pupils slitting vertically like those of a wolf.
Behind him, the air began to violently distort and burn.
A domineering golden-red flame erupted from his body!
The flame had no temperature, yet it could burn everything in sight into nothingness.
"Bankai—"
Asuka's voice became grand and majestic, as if countless voices were roaring simultaneously.
"Gouka Kourou."
"Avici・Scorching Hell."
*BOOM!!!!*
A golden-red pillar of fire shot into the sky, instantly swallowing Asuka's figure, as well as the countless whistling Noble Phantasms.
That was no ordinary fire.
It was a blazing hellfire that directly burned the soul and devoured karma!
The pillar of fire rose like an ancient, blazing sun, tearing through the night sky and completely incinerating the darkness of Ryuudou Temple.
The golden-red radiance illuminated the heavens. Even the Magi and Servants on the battlefield who had been mentally corrupted by the black mud were affected, frowning slightly in their comas as if they were about to wake up.
Within the pillar of fire, Asuka's figure slowly emerged.
His Shihakusho had vanished into nothingness. A sash forged from golden flames now wrapped around his body, engraved with ancient, unextinguishable patterns.
In his right hand, he held a golden-red long tachi, resting it casually on his shoulder.
From his left arm and shoulder blade extended a burning wolf claw, guarding his side like a shield, while simultaneously gleaming with a sharp light.
If one were torn by that wolf claw... the outcome would be no better than being struck by the Zanpakuto.
His eyes had completely transformed into vertical wolf pupils, radiating a blinding golden light, with an inextinguishable flame burning within them.
The demigod body currently controlled by Metastacia instinctively took a step back.
The Gate of Babylon actually trembled slightly under the pressure of the hellfire. The moment those blackened Noble Phantasms touched the flames, they melted like candles.
He discovered in horror that his proud black mud defense was completely useless in the face of this fire.
In fact, the moment the black mud got close, it was instantly devoured by the hellfire, becoming fuel that fed the flames instead!
Asuka stood in the center of the sea of fire like a descending demon god.
Behind him was the massive phantom of a wolf's head, floating in the air and staring down at everything before it.
"You've been eating garbage for so long... it's about time I fed you something good."
Asuka raised his right arm, pointing the long tachi at the retreating figure, and swung it down fiercely!
*Awooo----!!!*
Accompanied by a soul-shaking wolf howl, the massive wolf head lunged forward.
It bit down on Gilgamesh's body in one gulp!
To be precise, it bit down on the white bone mask parasitizing his chest!