Chapter 407: I Nullify Your Nullification!
Feeling the immense pressure weighing down on him, Yhwach couldn't help but look at Satoru.
This guy's Reiatsu was already unimaginably powerful before, and now it had grown even stronger—doubled, no less?!
Even for a Transcendent, this was beyond reason.
With such overwhelming Reiatsu, even without using any other abilities, it was enough to prevent anyone below the Transcendent level from even approaching...
Realizing this, Yhwach couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.
He couldn't hold back his words:
"Satoru Mikami, with power like this, why do you willingly submit to such a world?"
"This world, dominated by the fear of life and death... a world filled with anxiety, despair, and ugliness—how can you remain indifferent to it?!"
"Huh?"
Hearing Yhwach's words, Satoru looked puzzled.
A world dominated by life and death?
What new abstract concept was this?
Seemingly noticing his confusion, Yhwach spoke gravely:
"Satoru Mikami, do you know that before the Soul King appeared, the world was not as it is now?"
"In that era, there was no concept of the 'Three Realms.'"
"All living beings existed in the same world—a world without death, without despair, and without fear."
"It was only after the Soul King appeared and divided the world into three that the concept of 'death' came into being!"
"Living beings could only exist in the Living World."
"While the dead could only reside in the Soul Society..."
"Over the long years, I have received countless prayers and wishes from people."
"Among all fears, death is the most despairing, the darkest abyss."
"Only by reunifying the Three Realms, erasing the boundary between life and death, and eradicating death itself can people escape this despair that has persisted for millions of years!"
As he spoke, Yhwach spread his hands in agitation.
Upon hearing this, Satoru couldn't help but raise a questioning eyebrow.
He raised his hand, interrupting Yhwach's words:
"Sorry, but I don't quite follow your logic."
"Although I've never seen what the world was like a million years ago... even if it truly was as you described—a world without the boundary between life and death, where everyone lived eternally—that still wouldn't mean fear didn't exist, right?"
"As long as people have emotions, they'll fear all sorts of things."
"Even someone like me, filled with sunshine and justice, has plenty of ways to make someone experience the depths of fear without killing them."
"Just because you can't die... thinking you can eradicate fear this way is far too simplistic a view of the human heart."
"Could it be that you've been in a position of power for so long that you think people have no fears beyond death?"
Hearing Satoru's words, Yhwach frowned:
"My power can accept everything from my followers."
"Strength, memories, skills..."
"And naturally, that includes emotions!"
"Among all those I have subjected to Auswählen, only the fear of death surpasses everything else. All other fears combined don't even come close to a fraction of the terror that death brings..."
Satoru couldn't help but chuckle:
"Is it possible that they're overwhelmed by the fear of death precisely because they follow a leader like you—someone who casually uses Auswählen on his subordinates and treats their lives as worthless?"
"For us normal people, there are far more terrifying things than death."
"This is just you being overly self-absorbed, projecting your own feelings onto everyone else in the world."
"Try talking more with ordinary, equal people instead of holing up with your handful of subordinates and acting like a petty tyrant. Then you'd realize there's a whole spectrum of emotions in this world—your subordinates' feelings aren't representative of everyone's."
Hearing this, Yhwach's expression darkened.
Satoru's attitude displeased him greatly.
As the Quincy King, the emperor of the Wandenreich, when had he ever been treated with such an attitude—aside from being mocked by Hyōsube Ichibe'e a thousand years ago?
Utterly disrespectful!
Yet, upon reflection, he had to admit that Satoru might have a point.
After a few seconds of silence, he closed his eyes:
"This kind of argument is meaningless."
"Whose ideas are more correct will only be known through action."
"I will obtain the power of the Soul King, become the new ruler, and change the world!"
"A world without death shall return!"
As he spoke, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Both eyes had transformed into double pupils!
However, these four pupils appeared unstable, constantly twisting and trembling as if they might break through at any moment.
With four pupils, Yhwach's entire demeanor underwent a dramatic transformation.
A powerful surge of Reiatsu erupted from his body!
In an instant, across the entire Seireitei, every Quincy engaged in battle with the Shinigami widened their eyes in shock.
The power within them felt as if seized by an invisible hand, violently pulled outward!
Though they were experiencing this sensation for the first time in their lives, everyone understood what it meant.
Their Majesty was using "Auswählen" on them!
Bambietta, who had spread her wings of light, was coordinating with Unohana in battle against the Quincy when she suddenly froze.
She lowered her head, gazing at the light emanating from her chest.
It was the protective power Satoru had developed years ago after studying Kurosaki Masaki's experience with Auswählen.
This power fused Hollow Reishi with Satoru's transcendent abilities.
Normally, it lay dormant within her body, causing no disturbances.
Only when Yhwach's power descended, attempting to subject her to Auswählen, would this force awaken to protect her.
Feeling Satoru's power, Bambietta's face flushed slightly.
She cupped her hands and placed them over her chest.
"Ah... Satoru's power..."
Unohana watched this scene quietly from the side.
Suddenly, she felt less inclined to deal with the Quincy of the Wandenreich.
Would it really be a problem to cut down this child first?
Countless beams of light rose from every corner of the Seireitei, tracing long arcs through the sky before converging into the First Division's territory and merging into Yhwach's body.
Even those previously protected by Aizen, such as Haschwalth and Giselle, had everything forcibly stripped away by Yhwach!
Some Quincy turned into desiccated corpses, losing all signs of life.
Others simply crumbled into skeletons.
A few with better luck only lost their powers but survived.
Those even more fortunate retained a portion of their strength.
A short, golden-haired female Quincy knelt on the ground, breathing with difficulty.
For a moment, she had truly believed she was about to die.
Fortunately, at the last moment, she regained her consciousness and avoided being completely absorbed by Yhwach.
She lifted her head, looking toward the First Division with a pained expression.
"It seems... His Majesty's Auswählen was rushed."
"It seems my luck held."
Glancing around and taking advantage of the Shinigami's shock at the mass deaths of the Quincy, she mustered all her remaining strength and vanished into the distance using Hirenkyaku...
...
...
The Soul King's left hand, standing beside Yhwach, trembled slightly.
A mass of light flew out from within it, merging into Yhwach's body.
However, unlike the other Quincy, it neither died nor lost its combat capabilities.
Empowered by the Soul King's will, it could continue to fight.
In fact, its threat level had even increased compared to when it was merely a Quincy.
After absorbing nearly all the Quincy's power, the energy within Yhwach began to surge, swell, and dominate!
At this moment, his four pupils finally stabilized completely, no longer shifting restlessly within his eyeballs.
Satoru and Aizen exchanged a glance, both confirming one thing from each other's eyes.
Yhwach had achieved transcendence.
Now, he was a true Transcendent, an existence on the same level as Satoru!
Aizen raised his hand and removed the black eyepatch.
As the power of the Hōgyoku was fully activated, a white shell manifested over his body, replacing the black Shinigami Uniform.
Ichigo's eyes flashed with vigilance as he swiftly retreated.
At the same time, he raised his hand and clawed at his face, activating his Hollowfication state.
Observing the reactions of each individual, Yhwach gently shook his head.
He suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Yamamoto.
A massive blue spiritual bow instantly completed the entire process of materialization, drawing, and firing!
A huge blue spiritual arrow shot toward Yamamoto with a whoosh.
This arrow far surpassed all previous ones in both speed and power.
But the most terrifying aspect was that the spiritual arrow now carried an "inevitable hit" property—it could not be dodged!
Before striking its target, it was absolutely unavoidable!
Yhwach snorted coldly.
Was he being treated as the weak point?
Fine, let him taste the price of underestimating this old man!
He swung Zanka no Tachi, preparing to block the arrow head-on.
But just as the spiritual arrow reached the halfway point, it seemed to be suddenly disrupted by some force, becoming blurred and indistinct.
In the next instant, under Yhwach's furious gaze, the spiritual arrow vanished into thin air!
Witnessing this, even the Priest showed a look of astonishment.
He stared wide-eyed at the spot where the arrow had disappeared for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Satoru.
Suddenly, the vanished spiritual arrow rematerialized!
Yhwach spread his hand, aiming at the arrow, and declared loudly:
"Though I don't know what power you used to erase my spiritual arrow... the current me is an omniscient and omnipotent existence!"
"I have rewritten the future of 'the spiritual arrow being erased' and changed it to 'the spiritual arrow continues its flight'!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Satoru also raise his hand, aiming at the spiritual arrow.
The arrow, which had just rematerialized and had yet to resume its flight, vanished into the air once again.
"In the countless parallel worlds, there exist timelines where the 'future rewrite of the arrow continuing its flight' fails."
"I am overlaying the timeline of 'failed future rewrite' onto the timeline of 'rewritten future'!"
Yhwach's expression turned unprecedentedly icy.
He extended both hands forward, continuously activating his future-rewriting ability to overwrite the present moment.
Meanwhile, Satoru continuously activated his ability to adjust worldlines, overwriting the present world.
The spiritual arrow, filled with destructive power capable of annihilating any Captain-level Shinigami in a single strike, repeatedly appeared and disappeared between the two, only to reappear and vanish again.
Yamamoto, the intended target of the arrow, had prepared to counterattack several times, only to find his efforts wasted each time. Finally, he couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.
Damn it, are these two bastards toying with me?
As for Aizen, after confirming that Satoru and Yhwach were thoroughly engrossed in their battle, he directly strode toward the Priest.
Seeing Aizen approach him, the Priest adopted a serious expression.
Once, he hadn't considered this young man particularly remarkable.
The only noteworthy label attached to him was "Satoru's closest friend."
However, as his understanding of the Seireitei deepened, he gradually realized that this man named Sōsuke Aizen was indeed a very special existence.
If Satoru was the light constantly advancing on the broad road, then this man was likely the shadow following closely behind him.
Toward Aizen, he adopted the same formal attitude he would reserve for the Captain-Commander of the Seireitei.
Looking at the Priest before him, Aizen spoke:
"It's a pleasure to meet you, leader of the Shinigami, Lord Hyōsube Ichibe'e."
"My name is Sōsuke Aizen, serving as the Captain-Commander's advisor."
"Hmm… I'm roughly aware of your situation, so introductions aren't necessary."
The Priest grinned.
"Also, you can just call me Priest, Eyeball Priest, or whatever nickname you prefer. Just don't casually use my full name."
"As the one who governs 'names,' being addressed by my full name makes me feel quite uncomfortable."
Hearing this, Aizen nodded.
"Priest-sama, may I ask about what Yhwach mentioned earlier—the world before the Three Realms were separated—is it truly as he described?"
The Priest tilted his head.
Priest-sama…
What kind of strange address was that.
Nickname + honorifics—truly hard to bear.
Still, compared to Satoru's "Kunihiro," this one seemed a bit more acceptable.
He snorted and grinned:
"For the most part, it is indeed as he said."
"However, there is one point he got wrong."
Under Aizen's gaze, the Priest looked toward Yhwach, who was fiercely battling Satoru, and cast a disdainful glance:
"I existed in this world even before the Three Realms were separated."
"The Three Realms back then were not as 'wonderful' as Yhwach imagined."
"Indeed, in ancient times, the chaotic world had no concept of death."
"But within that chaos, there existed a being that gathered all negative emotions and all filthy souls… the Primordial Menos Grande!"
At the mention of this name, the Priest's expression grew unusually solemn.
"In the chaotic world, the growth of Hollows was unrestricted… Able to absorb the souls of all beings up close, it grew at an unimaginable, frenzied pace."
"No one could stand against it, for no individual, no matter how powerful, could contend with all the souls in the entire world."
"Under normal circumstances, the entire chaotic world would eventually be devoured by the Primordial Menos Grande, all souls would become its nourishment, and the world would be destroyed."
"But… at that most desperate moment, the Soul King appeared."
At the mention of this name, the Priest's eyes filled with nostalgia and emotion…