Chapter 408: The Soul King
Under Aizen's gaze, the Priest recounted the entire process of the Soul King's creation of the world.
To prevent the Primordial Menos Grande from devouring all living beings and utterly destroying the world, the Soul King used his immense power to split the world into three, defining life and death, and separating humans, souls, and Hollows into three distinct realms.
From then on, a cycle was born. Deprived of the infinite nourishment needed for growth, the Primordial Menos Grande gradually collapsed and fragmented, becoming the countless ordinary Menos Grande that populate Hueco Mundo today.
Aizen nodded gently.
"So, what follows is the story of the Five Noble Clans betraying the Soul King, binding him, and dismembering him, correct?"
The Priest smiled helplessly.
"What you know is indeed the true history."
"But, you can see for yourself."
He turned his head, looking toward the Left Arm of the Soul King, which was currently cooperating with Yhwach in battle not far away:
"The Soul King's power is beyond imagination."
"Even after having his limbs severed, his organs removed, and being trapped between life and death, his power remains so immense that he can effortlessly intervene in the Three Realms."
"If I am not mistaken, he could free himself from the seal at any moment, should he so desire."
At this point, the Priest's expression grew complex.
As a being from the same era as the Soul King, he was likely the one in this world who understood the Soul King best.
Aizen gazed at the Left Arm of the Soul King, pondering for a moment.
Then, gripping his Zanpakutō, he suddenly flashed into the space between Ichigo and the Left Arm of the Soul King, who were locked in combat.
"Kurosaki, leave this arm to me for now."
"Oh..."
Ichigo nodded.
He had no objections; after all, he had no personal grudge against the Left Arm of the Soul King.
Compared to the Left Arm, he much preferred to personally teach Yhwach a lesson.
Seeing Aizen appear before him, the Left Arm of the Soul King seemed curious.
It stared quietly at Aizen with the two eyes in its palm.
Aizen raised his blade.
When the Hōgyoku fused to its fifth stage, Kyōka Suigetsu had already vanished, merging into his body.
The Zanpakutō he now wielded was merely an image he had created based on his understanding of the blade's abilities.
"A certain individual who acts faster than he thinks once said that people can achieve mutual understanding through the clash of battle."
"I am curious to see what kind of clash the creator of the Three Realms can produce with us."
"Come, Soul King, let me see... your true form!"
The moment his words fell, Aizen's figure instantly appeared before the Left Arm of the Soul King, and he swung his sword down!
...
...
Satoru wore an irritated expression.
"Yhwach, your fighting style disgusts me!"
Beside him, Yamamoto looked over in surprise.
He thought this troublemaker disciple was having the most fun here.
Why were you the first to complain?
Yhwach also glanced over in confusion.
Under their gazes, Satoru said unhappily:
"I've already figured out your ability."
"You keep leaping to the next instant in the future, firing new spirit arrows there. Then, when our timeline catches up to the future you visited, new spirit arrows materialize out of thin air."
"On the surface, it looks like 'I nullify your attack,' and 'you nullify my nullification.'"
"But in reality, this is just you constantly attacking while I unilaterally nullify your attacks. There's no next step of infinite recursion!"
"I refuse to acknowledge this fake recursion!"
"?"
Yhwach took a deep breath.
Who said anything about recursion with you??
Are you out of your mind?
Though he knew Satoru was abnormal, the sheer absurdity of it all still left him struggling to keep a straight face.
Just as he was about to speak, he saw Satoru flash a sinister, villainous smile before suddenly charging forward.
Yhwach extended his hand, materializing a Spiritual Sword, and swung it toward him.
His ability, "The Almighty," essentially projected his own existence into the future, rewriting what was to come.
When the flow of time in the real world reached the altered future he had created, that changed future would manifest in reality.
For example, if Yhwach and Satoru were sitting together for a meal, he could activate his power to travel one minute into the future and steal all of Satoru's food.
Then, when the real world reached that minute, the food on Satoru's plate would suddenly vanish.
At first glance, this ability seemed invincible and impossible to counter.
But its weakness was actually quite obvious.
When he went into the future, he could only eat Satoru's food—he couldn't harm Satoru himself.
If that were possible, there would be no need for a fight; it would simply be a matter of kill, kill, kill.
The same applied to Satoru.
He could overlay a parallel world where "my food wasn't stolen."
But he couldn't overlay one where "Yhwach spontaneously exploded."
Transcendents could not directly interfere with another Transcendent's true form through their abilities.
Thus, after transitioning from low-level to high-level combat, their battle had regressed once more into a primitive brawl.
Satoru grinned, revealing a maddened smile.
At this moment, his eyes were fixed solely on Yhwach.
Time seemed to slow down more and more, as if under the effects of a superhuman drug.
Boundless, erupting fighting spirit elevated his power and reaction speed to infinite heights!
Fivefold · One Bone!!
Under Yhwach's stunned gaze, Satoru's fist seemed capable of destroying the world itself!
Yhwach roared, fully enveloping his blade in Blut Vene while simultaneously borrowing power from the future.
As if anticipating this, Satoru borrowed strength from a parallel version of himself, elevating his power even further!
BOOM!!
The moment their forces collided, a blazing white sphere of light violently expanded, instantly engulfing the surrounding area for dozens of kilometers.
Ichigo crashed into Yamamoto's embrace, clinging to the old man's waist as he mustered every ounce of strength to escape at the last possible moment.
The members of the Zero Division also slipped through space in the nick of time, arriving outside the blast radius.
As the light faded, Satoru was seen missing an arm, yet his other fist was clenched tight, poised to strike.
Simultaneously, two new arms were already breaking through the skin at his shoulders!
As for Yhwach, his chest was deeply sunken, and he radiated an aura of ruin.
The sheer power of Satoru's punch had far exceeded his expectations.
During his thousand years of slumber, he had pondered countless times how to counter Yamamoto's ultimate strike.
And even more times, how to evade the Priest's sealing ability.
But never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that someone could elevate such a "low-level" physical ability to such a terrifying degree...
Staring at Satoru's eerie smile and the unwavering gaze locked onto him, Yhwach suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness.
Was there truly anyone in this world who could defeat him?
Was this man born for destruction?!
He raged, he despaired.
He had given everything he had.
Unify the Western world, integrate the Quincy, establish the Empire of Light, first war against the Soul Society, a thousand-year slumber, second war against the Soul Society...
Yet, all these efforts ultimately brought nothing but more failures!
He cursed this damned world, cursed the damned Satoru Mikami!
And the object of his curse was already charging toward him with an aura that would end everything.
Is this the end?
Yhwach's expression was icy as he gripped his spiritual blade, preparing for the final strike.
But just as he had abandoned hope, a figure descended between him and Satoru.
"?"
"?!"
Seeing Aizen standing before him with a smile, Satoru widened his eyes.
He hurriedly tried to pull back his strength, but how could a nearly full-force strike be easily retracted?
"Sōsuke!!"
Under Satoru's slightly panicked gaze, Aizen extended a hand, blocking his fist.
Instantly, terrifying destructive force surged into Aizen's body, shattering half of it to pieces.
Even the Hōgyoku buried in his chest was exposed.
Satoru's pupils contracted.
However, to his relief, as the Hōgyoku flashed with light, Aizen's body rapidly regenerated, returning to its original form in the blink of an eye.
Only then did he remember that after reaching the fourth stage of the Hōgyoku, Aizen was nearly immortal and indestructible.
To this, Ichimaru Gin from the original timeline would have had much to say.
Seeing Aizen standing before him, Yhwach showed a puzzled expression.
"Sōsuke Aizen, you…"
"Yhwach, go to the Soul King Palace."
Aizen spoke in a calm voice.
Yhwach's eyes widened, unable to believe what he had just heard.
He looked at Aizen's back, then at the Soul King's left hand not far away, and finally at the Zero Division standing nearby, showing no intention of stopping him.
A few seconds later, the corner of his mouth lifted.
Then, transforming into a beam of light, he shot into the sky and disappeared into the distant horizon.
Yamamoto and Ichigo watched this scene in stunned silence, unable to grasp what was happening.
Compared to them, Satoru was far calmer.
He raised his head, looking in the direction where Yhwach had vanished.
Confirming that the latter had ascended to the sky, he released his combat stance.
Noticing his reaction, Aizen chuckled softly:
"What, not trying to defeat me and chase after him?"
"Or, at the very least, you should ask why I'm doing this."
Satoru crossed his arms and chuckled.
"No need."
"I don't trust Kunihiro and the others to handle things properly, but if you, Sōsuke, also believe Yhwach should ascend, then let it be as you wish."
Hearing this, Aizen sighed.
"Truly hopeless."
He turned around and, like Satoru, looked in the direction where Yhwach had vanished.
At the same time, he mentally crossed off half of the grudges he held against Satoru.
Beside them, the Left Arm of the Soul King suddenly trembled.
Looking at the group before it, it was taken aback.
"What's going on... Where is Yhwach?"
"Why are only you here?!"
Everyone turned their heads together.
Seeing the Left Arm of the Soul King regain its self-awareness, Aizen revealed a gentle smile.
Under the latter's horrified gaze, he gripped his Zanpakutō and walked over step by step.
Before long, he returned carrying a still-dripping box.
"It's about time. Let's go."
"Where to?"
Satoru looked over.
Aizen raised his head:
"The Soul King Palace."
...
...
Thud!
One figure after another landed in succession.
The long Omotesandō of the Soul King Palace was likely welcoming such a large number of guests for the first time.
Ichigo curiously glanced around.
Although he had visited the Soul Society many times and was a descendant of the Five Noble Clans, this was his first time seeing the Soul King Palace.
Yamamoto wasn't as curious.
Although it was only his second time ascending, his goal was clear now.
Kill Yhwach!
Seeing Satoru and Aizen foolishly let Yhwach escape, he just wanted to shove the two of them under a waterfall and train them relentlessly for a hundred years.
The five members of the Soul King Palace also stepped onto the Omotesandō.
Just as they were about to speak, Satoru, walking ahead, turned around with a triumphant smile.
"Welcome, honored guests, to the Soul King Palace."
Senjumaru twitched at the corner of her eye.
Guests, huh?
Just you wait, next time I'll sew you an emperor's new clothes!
Yamamoto looked around:
"Where is Yhwach?"
He should have already arrived there.
The Priest raised his head and looked toward the spindle-shaped structure floating at the very center of the Soul King Palace.
The Soul King Palace was merely the collective name for the entire "Upper Realm."
The true dwelling place of the Soul King was the spindle-shaped structure, surrounded by the five Zero Division Palaces—
The Soul King's Inner Sanctum!
Satoru turned his gaze toward it.
Sure enough, from there, he could sense Yhwach's presence.
Their figures flickered as each displayed their unique abilities, arriving at the Soul King's Inner Sanctum.
Seeing the scene before him, Satoru revealed a somewhat complicated expression.
At the very center of the enormous room floated a massive crystal-like object.
Sealed within the crystal was a person.
Or rather... something resembling a person.
Head, neck, torso.
Only these remained.
The limbs had long since vanished without a trace.
Although there was no sign of dissection on the abdomen, the appearance of the skin made it clear that the inside was hollow.
But more striking than these features were his eyes.
Each eye contained four pupils.
Eight pupils gazed quietly ahead.
"Mr. Mikami..."
Ichigo nervously moved a little closer to him.
Though he was a fearless troublemaker, witnessing such a "grotesque" sight still left an impact on his young heart.
Satoru shook his head slightly.
Without a doubt, this was the Soul King.
The Five Noble Clans, a symbol of the Soul Society's bloody origins.
And also, the sustainers of the Three Realms.
Before the crystal, Yhwach stood quietly, draped in tattered black robes.
As if sensing everyone's arrival, he spoke:
"You've come."
"A pity, it's too late."
"Now, you can no longer stop anything."
"The world shall be remade here!"
As his words fell, Yhwach gripped his longsword and thrust it fiercely into the crystal, piercing through the Soul King encased within!
With Yhwach's action, the power belonging to the Soul King surged madly into his body!
Watching this scene, Satoru scratched his head.
Even at this point, still no need to stop him?
What scheme is Sōsuke plotting?
Suddenly, he froze.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but he felt that as the Soul King's power gradually faded away, the corners of its sealed lips within the crystal lifted slightly, revealing a gaze of liberation...