Marvel With Zanpakutou

Rumble!

That mighty, ancient will stirred up a thousand-foot-tall tidal wave in the sea of consciousness. Almost tangible scarlet lightning suddenly appeared, bursting forth with an unimaginably terrifying aura.

At this moment, the man was both in pain and in ecstasy.

Although his sea of consciousness was on the verge of collapse, his soul power grew ever stronger. Fragments of lost memories surged forth without end, past experiences flashing before his eyes one after another.

However, this method carried risks that could not be understated.

The sea of consciousness contains a person’s lifetime of memories, personality, habits, and more. A single misstep, and if it collapsed completely, the man would be doomed for eternity.

In the best case, he would become an empty-headed fool. In the worst case, physically, his brain would explode on the spot.

This was truly a gamble with his life.

The man summoned his soul power with all his might, suppressing the rampaging sea of consciousness. He clung to a single thread of clarity, struggling to keep his mind from scattering.

As the memories flooded back, he recalled many things, yet he still could not remember his own name.

"Again! It’s still not enough!"

Anxiety rose in his heart. He faintly sensed that the reason for his incompleteness lay in his name. With a low growl, he said,

"I want you to help me, Arishem!"

As long as he could retrieve his name, the sealed memories would naturally all return.

Arishem was silent.

Yet even without speaking, His terrifying anger could be felt.

To provoke the Supreme Celestial Arishem was by no means a clever move, it was practically courting death.

Arishem’s status was second only to Marvel’s Five Abstracts, Death, Eternity, Oblivion, Galactus, and Infinity, beings who each governed one of the five fundamental rules of existence. Beyond that, He was the supreme of the Celestials, the judge of all things in the universe.

It is no exaggeration to say, at least in this universe, that apart from those five supreme beings, there is no one Arishem would hesitate to kill.

And since the Five Abstracts rarely involve themselves in the universe’s development, Arishem could be called the mightiest existence beneath them.

Of course... if it came to beings from beyond this universe, that would be another matter entirely.

Earth, to Arishem, was like humanity is to Asgard, only the gap was tens of millions of times greater.

And now... a human, as insignificant as a speck of dust, dared to provoke Him.

As the Celestial Supreme who had carried out four Celestial Judgments, an ancient overlord of the cosmos who had lived beyond count, when had He ever suffered such humiliation?

Very quickly, Arishem made His decision.

He would teach this human a lesson, so that he would understand the vastness of the universe, and how to respect the strong.

The man, in a state between ecstasy and agony, was quickly regaining his lost memories when, all of a sudden, that mighty will vanished.

The sea of consciousness returned to calm.

The broken memories no longer surged forth. The man blinked in slight confusion, as if to ask why Arishem had suddenly stopped.

But in the next instant, space rippled with millions of waves, surging and roaring like a great ocean.

Bang!

The man crossed his arms in front of him. The moment they met the giant wave, it was like a mountain had slammed into him, utterly irresistible. Like a falling meteor, he was blasted thousands of kilometers back.

Though he had inner protection from Quiet Blood Armor and Steel Skin, plus an external barrier woven from spiritual power, three layers of defense in total, they were all crushed like rotten wood.

As for his injuries... better left unsaid.

The bones and tendons in both arms were shattered, his internal organs displaced, and seven or eight ribs broken.

And this... was only a light tap.

Arishem had not truly made a move, this was merely an angry thought. Yet it almost caused the void to collapse, showing just how terrifying He truly was.

"Hyper Regeneration!"

The man took a deep breath, quickly steadying his boiling blood while healing his severe wounds.

He knew full well, the real trial was still ahead. Arishem had yet to get serious.

And indeed, he was right.

Rumble!

Another massive tremor swept across space.

Arishem’s six eyes erupted with a radiance more blazing than any star. An ancient, boundless aura spread throughout the entire Solar System.

In that moment...

Even the brilliance of the Sun seemed completely eclipsed. The stars lost their forms in the darkness.

A terrifying sound, like the tearing of reality, echoed through the silent vacuum of space.

The man’s pupils contracted sharply in the next instant.

The towering Celestial unleashed His vast power. In the endless dark of the cosmos, He tore open a rift a thousand light-years wide, a horrifying chasm that stretched across the Solar System, its world-shattering presence sending infinite ripples through the void.

A deafening roar shook the void, and the blazing brilliance of the scorching sun flared, only to vanish in an instant.

The man suddenly looked up, just in time to see an arm clad in deep crimson armor stretching out from a rift that spanned tens of millions of light-years.

Gray, misty air swirled around it, dimming the radiance of the stars until even the rotation and revolution of planets had, at some unknown point, been forced to a halt. All things in the cosmos were frozen in that single moment.

An indescribable terror spread through the dark starry sky.

It was like the giant of some ancient myth, the kind who split the heavens and sundered the earth. The five fingers were like jade pillars propping up the sky, and a planet in its grasp was as fragile as a paper-thin walnut.

At this moment, the man, and the Earth behind him, were no more than grains of sand before that immense hand, so small and insignificant that a mere press would grind them into dust.

"To offend the majesty of the gods is to invite punishment."

On that massive face, six blazing eyes, each as bright as a star, revealed a trace of human-like anger.

Before the man could react, Arishem had no interest in hearing the chatter of an ant. He raised his hand and pressed forward as though pushing the starry rivers themselves.

Rumble!!!

The sky-darkening palm seemed to encompass the entire universe.

Five planet-sized fingers slowly curled inward, like an ancient deity plucking stars and moons, gathering an overwhelming force that formed a terrifying cage of heaven and earth. And trapped inside that prison was the ant who had dared to speak insolence.

"If you want to kill me, it won’t be that easy!"

The man would never sit and wait for death. His gaze was resolute, without the slightest hint of fear.

In truth, after regaining most of his lost memories, many things had come back to him, and his strength was far from limited to this.

He sank his hips and steadied his stance, exhaling a long, clear breath like the rolling peal of thunder, vast and sonorous. The crimson-gold radiance in his eyes grew ever brighter, blazing so hot it seemed to pierce through the void. Spiritual energy roared around him like a furious tide.

A wisp of divine aura spread out without warning.

Six golden wings, radiant and sacred, unfurled, their brilliance no weaker than Arishem’s own, and even faintly surpassing it.

"This strike, let me return it to you!"

Facing the surging tidal wave of the galaxy, the man stepped forward without hesitation,

"Arishem! Earth is no testing ground for your Celestials. As long as I draw breath, you will never lay a finger on this planet!"

Arishem did not speak, but inwardly he scoffed.

Just a native from some life-bearing planet in a remote star sector, an insignificant mortal ant, one who had never seen the true vastness of the universe, nor the greatness of the Celestials, yet dared to utter such provocations again and again... truly courting death.

But in the very next instant, a warning flared in Arishem’s mind.

As the overwhelming might surged forth, ready to crush and devour that ant, a speck of light, tiny as a mote of dust, suddenly burst forth into an incomparably dazzling radiance.

Not even the first light of the universe could match a fraction of its brilliance.

It was like the Milky Way spilling from the Ninth Heaven, like the fading tail of a shooting star, like the fleeting spark of inspiration, like the split-second choice between life and death... It was light, it was a blade, and it was a miracle.

In the dark starry sky, the light born of countless miracles bloomed with peerless beauty.

"Sword Dao, Eight Thousand Styles, Light of the Kindling Flame!"

Hum!

In that instant, a great sense of danger rose within Arishem.

In all his endless ages, only during that war which shattered the heavens had he felt such a tangible threat.

After a moment of silence, the miracle-light crashed into the sky-covering palm.

Boom!!!

The collision was earth-shattering, no less than the birth of heaven and earth itself.

A roaring thunder resounded across the vast cosmos. In just a heartbeat, it was as if tens of millions of impacts occurred all at once. Terrifying force swept across thousands of light-years, cracks spread through every corner of the solar system, and through those rifts one could glimpse the dark void beyond.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sounds of impact erupted again and again. The light of miracles, like moths to a flame, was shattered before the crushing palm.

Yet still, countless lights were kindled anew. No matter how small, they charged forth without hesitation toward Arishem’s palm, as if without end.

For every miracle destroyed, a thousand more were born.

Even if billions of miracles were extinguished, in the depths of despair, more would still appear.

"My blade... can slay even a god!"

A hint of fervor flashed in the man’s eyes, as though he were hypnotizing himself. The blade in his hand transformed into a massive, broken axe-edge,

"Before this sword, none can stand! All things under heaven, nothing is uncuttable, unbreakable, or unkillable!!!"

Belief is also power.

So long as he believed, miracles would come.

What he thought and willed would become reality.

The man leapt tens of thousands of miles in a single bound, and brought the broken axe-edge down in a fierce slash.

The fractured blade fell like the opening of the world itself. The raging gale and shockwaves were split apart, the terrifying flames of spiritual power burning across thousands of light-years. Even that sky-darkening palm was forcibly cleaved down the middle.

That was... a blade?

Arishem finally saw clearly, the ant was holding a broken axe-blade, his eyes burning with blood-red killing intent.

No... not right!

What was cleaved was not only the galaxy, but Arishem himself.

Brutal and unreasonable like a monster, that blade cut Arishem in two with the most domineering force imaginable.

Behind the Celestial, the starry sky bore a colossal rift. The fierce sword intent lingered there, refusing to dissipate. An entire asteroid belt along the way was ground into cosmic dust by the radiance of that slash.

"...I... lost?"

Arishem was stunned.

He couldn’t understand why he had lost.

The gap in strength was so vast, this tiny, insignificant ant, one he could crush with just the lightest touch of a finger, had suddenly erupted with a terrifying power on par with the Celestials.

Why?

Arishem couldn’t comprehend it. His gaze fell on the nearly collapsed man, and in a voice tinged with confusion, he asked, "You... who exactly are you? A human could never stand against a Celestial. You... cannot possibly be human."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Under the effects of rapid regeneration, the man’s body was slowly recovering. He said, "I am human now, I was human before, and in the future... I will still be human. That will never change."

Arishem was silent for a long time. His eyes seemed to carry hidden meaning. "What... is your name?"

"Yhwach Haschwalth."

The man thought for a moment, he still hadn’t remembered his real name, so he casually gave one instead.

"I’ll remember you."

The Celestial Arishem stared deeply at him. "But next time, it won’t just be a projection that appears."

"I’ll be waiting for you, Arishem."

The man’s gaze was calm as he said lightly, "But unfortunately, the outcome will not change. You will still die by my hand."

"You’re that confident?"

The coldness in Arishem’s eyes deepened as he sneered. "Just a mere insect, and killing my projection is the basis of your arrogance?"

"My eyes can see the future."

In the man’s gaze, it was as if a galaxy swirled, dotted with the flickering light of creation and destruction. "The future awaiting you holds only one thing, you will die beneath my blade. That is a fact that will inevitably come to pass."

"Is that so?"

Arishem gave a mocking laugh. His projection gradually faded, and just before vanishing completely, he left a cold parting line, "Haschwalth, I will personally confirm whether the future in your eyes is truly ’inevitable.’"

"I’ll be waiting."

The man stood with his sword in hand, his gaze indifferent and composed.

In truth, he couldn’t see the future, let alone divine fate for a Celestial, but he did not fear Arishem’s true form descending.

If one had to name the reason, perhaps it was the feeling deep in his heart,

When he reclaimed what he had lost, his own true name, he would possess everything, both future and past.

...

...

...

Siberia, the ice fields.

A thin, mysterious man suddenly appeared beside the unconscious Steve.

He wore a magnificent, multicolored robe and a lavish golden double crown. His face was obscured, as if hidden by mist, making it impossible to discern his true appearance, but his deep, pitch-black eyes radiated an intense, unsettling aura.

"What a surprise..."

The mysterious man gazed at the stars, then slowly drew back his gaze and said regretfully, "Even Arishem... couldn’t handle him? Looks like I’ll have to think of another way. If this drags on any longer... he might really awaken."

Looking at the unconscious Steve, the mysterious man’s lips curved into an eerie smile as he rubbed his chin. "A chance meeting is fate. I’ll grant you a gift of fortune. Perhaps, in the future... there will be unexpected surprises."

With a slight twitch of his finger, the reishi scattered in the air gathered to him like obedient hounds. In his hands, they were kneaded together, gradually shaping into the form of a human, down to the facial features, physique, and size.

If Steve were to wake, he would be utterly shocked.

Because the "person" molded by the mysterious man was none other than the one who had just been devoured by the Hollow, Bucky Barnes.