The King of the Quincy, Yhwach—
had awakened.
He had regained his heartbeat, his sanity, and his full awareness.
And as each Quincy under his command fell in battle, their power returned to him.
With the death of his elite, Yhwach's strength was rapidly being restored.
"Your Majesty," said Haschwalth, kneeling before the throne. "The Schutzstaffel has led the remaining Sternritter to reclaim the Sun Gate and eliminate the invading Shinigami. We should be able to retake it soon."
"The situation isn't so optimistic," Yhwach replied calmly.
"The Schutzstaffel has already been defeated."
Though he hadn't yet opened the Almighty, he could sense the truth through the return of his soldiers' powers.
The Shinigami had come prepared.
Their understanding of the Sternritter's powers had turned the tide of battle—decisively.
Even after Gremmy had destroyed the Sun Gate, cutting off Shinigami reinforcements, they still couldn't stop the invasion.
"So soon…?"
"Your Majesty, allow me to personally clear your path."
Haschwalth's eyes narrowed as he prepared to rise.
"No need to rush," Yhwach said coldly. "We have a guest to greet first."
His gaze shifted to an empty spot behind Haschwalth.
"Who's there?!"
Haschwalth spun around and placed himself between Yhwach and the intruder.
"So you noticed me after all. As expected of the Quincy King."
A few black droplets hovered in the air, then congealed into a man draped in chains, a massive bone ring affixed to his back.
It was—Miyamoto Tetsuya, reborn from Hell.
"I am Miyamoto Tetsuya, an emissary of Hell."
He smiled as he introduced himself.
"Hell…? Why would someone from there appear here?"
Yhwach immediately recognized the black droplets as Hell Energy.
"Why else..."
Tetsuya paused, then grinned wickedly.
"To help the Quincy King resolve his current predicament, of course."
"A nobody like you dares speak such arrogance before His Majesty?!"
Haschwalth drew his sword without hesitation.
"Easy there. You can't kill someone from Hell."
Tetsuya didn't even flinch as the blade was leveled at him.
A soul branded by Hell would only return there if killed in any of the Three Realms.
They could not die—only be reborn.
Besides, the body he used now wasn't his real one.
It was a Reishi Shell—a corpse vessel carrying his consciousness.
Tetsuya was a master of corpse-shell manipulation, and even in Hell, he'd continued his research.
After forming an alliance with Hueco Mundo scientist Szayelaporro, their progress had skyrocketed.
Now, they had perfected shells capable of carrying consciousness—allowing them to circumvent Hell's restrictions and act in the world above.
"And of course," Tetsuya added, lifting his hand, "I've come bearing a gift."
A black-and-red orb materialized in his palm.
"That is…" Yhwach's pupils contracted.
"This is the crystallization of the Soul King's power… fused with Hell."
"A supreme divine relic—The Heart of Hell!"
Tetsuya's expression twisted with reverence and madness.
After entering Hell, he had been guided by the will of its ruler.
Gathering remnants of that ruler's power, he had condensed them into this blood-red jewel.
If Katori Nanatsuki, Aizen Sōsuke, or Urahara Kisuke had seen it, they would have immediately noticed that this Heart of Hell bore a deep resemblance to the Hōgyoku—
But instead of containing soul fusion potential, it radiated an oppressive Hell Aura.
In essence—this was a Hōgyoku fused with Hell itself.
"The Soul King's discarded hell-half, is it…"
Yhwach clearly wasn't ignorant of Hell's history.
Before the Three Realms came to be, the primordial world had been forged of chaos and hell intertwined.
Long ago, the Soul King had tried to claim Hell for his own purposes.
But somewhere along the way, he changed his mind—
and discarded the portion of himself infused with Hell's power.
That abandoned aspect fell deep into Hell—
and became the Ruler of Hell.
Yhwach raised his hand, and the orb flew into his grasp—drawn by invisible force.
"So this… is what was cast aside…"
he murmured, examining the Heart of Hell.
"Just like us Quincy."
Among the Schutzstaffel, three of his elites had ties to the Soul King.
Their essence was, at its core, carved from fragments of Quincy power removed from the King.
Without the Soul King's own will, the Shinigami would never have succeeded in stripping away such power.
To Yhwach, this confirmed it—
The Soul King had never valued the Quincy.
Their power had been torn out, discarded, and used to shape tools.
Even in the three realms the Soul King created, there was no true place for the Quincy.
The Shinigami's strength contributed to the balance of souls.
But Quincy abilities? They only brought destruction.
The Soul King… was biased.
He cherished the Shinigami.
And spurned the Quincy.
"Ohhh, great Quincy King…"
Tetsuya giggled darkly.
"Does this mean… you've accepted the Ruler of Hell's goodwill?"
"You think your master is offering this out of kindness?"
Haschwalth turned sharply to Yhwach.
"Your Majesty, this is clearly a trap. Hell and the Quincy have never been allies. Why would they come to aid us now?"
Yhwach did not reply.
His pupils trembled—
and then split into two.
The Almighty—had opened.
With the death of so many Sternritter, his power had recovered enough to force it open.
He had to see his future. He had no other choice.
But forcing open the Almighty would also unleash a side effect:
The Auspicious Purge—his Soul Recall: Auswählen—would spiral out of control.
This was why, in the original timeline, Yhwach kept his eyes closed for nine years after reawakening—to prevent exactly this.
Once unleashed, the Auspicious Purge would indiscriminately recall the power of all Quincy.
But he had no time left.
The Shinigami army was nearly upon the palace—advancing from the Sun Gate.
Their tactics had been too effective—Yhwach no longer believed he could repel them with certainty.
Too many Sternritter abilities had been exposed.
They'd been countered, shut down, defeated.
Even The Almighty…
might have a weakness they'd discovered.
And with his current power still not fully restored, his precognition was limited.
So—
Even if it meant sacrificing every last Quincy—
He had to see his fate.
"Your Majesty—NO!!"
Haschwalth shouted in horror the moment he saw Yhwach's eyes open.
And then—
From Yhwach's body, a radiant ring of Reishi erupted outward in all directions.
From within the palace—
The tolling of a holy, eternal bell echoed…
DOM.
DOM.
DOM