Chapter 33: The Law of Causality
"What kind of people would recognize this…?"
Mizuma sighed helplessly. "And also, what kind of job is a 'messenger' supposed to be? If you're going to help me, at least include a manual with it…"
"The usual — the noble high council, the Central 46, your Head Captain… people at that level."
The Soul King gestured vaguely with two incomprehensible hand motions, his tone relaxed. "As for 'messenger,' it's exactly what it sounds like. Before I became the keystone, whenever I needed to manage a region, I couldn't always personally go there… though, yes, I did so often. The children didn't appreciate that."
Understandable… if my boss personally dropped in every time to check on my work, I'd want to curse him to the third generation too.
"So later," the Soul King continued, "I thought of another way — having Rinka serve as my voice. Hence, she came to be known as the Soul King's Messenger."
Mizuma frowned, thinking for a moment, then slowly formed a question mark in his mind.
What use is that? Everyone in the upper houses and the Central 46 knows the Soul King doesn't speak anymore!
"Allow me, Soul King-sama."
At his side, Urahara Rinka sighed softly, her eyes scanning the air — then focusing on the space where she could somehow feel Mizuma's presence.
"Visitor from the future… Watanabe Mizuma, correct?" she said uncertainly toward the unseen watcher. "To the Soul King, a Messenger is simply a subordinate who conveys his orders. But to mortals, it is far more than that. In short, delivering the King's decrees is an exclusive privilege of the Urahara clan. Thus, a Messenger can partially act in the name of the clan's head — even after the Soul King himself… is gone."
So it wasn't exactly waving the Soul King's banner — but wearing the tiger's skin of the Urahara family? That wasn't bad at all.
"Exactly," the Soul King added.
"You don't need to worry about Urahara Kisuke seeing through you. He isn't the head of the Urahara family. If he grows suspicious, simply tell him, 'It was the family head's order.' That will be enough."
"I understand."
Mizuma nodded after a few seconds of thought, then asked the last question he'd been holding in.
"What about the Soul King's Sword? What should I do with that?"
"Do as you wish. I won't tell you too much."
The Soul King shrugged lightly. "As I said before — revealing too much would disturb the Law of Causality. Remember this well. Otherwise, you may bring about disaster — enough to shake the very foundation of the world."
Mizuma frowned, memorizing those words carefully.
A paradox, perhaps… like the old "grandmother paradox"? Even if it felt distant now, anything the Soul King himself deemed "disastrous" surely wasn't minor. If that time came, it would already be too late to regret.
After that, the Soul King turned his gaze away from the "camera" and began speaking quietly with Rinka. His voice faded, and the image began to fast-forward once more.
---
Trial Grounds.
Kensei, Lisa, and Little Red were all battered beyond recognition. Their intense battle had drained nearly all their strength — what kept them standing now wasn't reiatsu, but sheer willpower. Yet the disadvantage was clearly on the Shinigami's side.
Little Red's body was covered in gashes and dents, but her ten-meter-long, nearly thousand-ton body was still an overwhelming advantage. The greater her size, the greater her endurance — what would have been fatal wounds for a human were mere scratches to her. Not to mention her strength and spirit reserves dwarfed theirs entirely.
But the problem lay elsewhere—
Little Red clenched her jaw, glaring with burning hatred toward Urahara Kisuke beside the crystal.
If not for that man constantly cutting off her reiatsu flow, things would never have turned this way. Normally, she could regenerate her wounds instantly — with her link to the Soul King's Sword, even these minor injuries would have healed within seconds!
But now… that man had severed her connection. He was merely blocking, consuming almost no reiatsu, while she had to keep exhausting herself against two persistent Shinigami. Even if he released his interference later, she would need time to reestablish the link to the Sword.
Would he ever give her that chance?
No… I cannot lose! Never! If my opponent were a Quincy, I could accept defeat — but I will never allow Shinigami to claim the Soul King's Sword!
Then, just as Little Red made up her mind, Urahara noticed something new.
He had made many modifications to Benihime — adding functions like spirit collection and automated Blood-Mist Shield deployment.
And while using Benihime to isolate the Sword's reiatsu from Little Red's, he had been analyzing the energy patterns in real time.
The results were strange. The Soul King's Sword's reiatsu was… inconsistent.
At times, it corroded Benihime's edge like rust.
At other times, it rejuvenated it — reversing decay.
The two opposite states kept alternating, one after another.
A thought sparked in Urahara's mind.
Could it be that both phenomena — aging and reversal — stemmed from the same origin?
"…Could it be that the Sword's power is… time?"
---
Meanwhile, the film of history continued to unfold before Mizuma's eyes.
He saw Urahara Rinka return to her clan, commanding the Urahara family to battle against the infernal spirits attempting to cross from Hell. The cycles repeated endlessly, until the family withdrew from Seireitei entirely — rebuilding their home around the massive, half-closed Gate of Hell at the edge of Soul Society.
The process wasn't long, but Mizuma learned many hidden truths.
For instance — Spiritual Weapons.
They were primitive, pre-Zanpakutō weapons created by Ichibe Hyōsube before Nimaiya Ōetsu's invention of the Asauchi. These were the standard arms of early Shinigami, and their function was simple: to externalize reiatsu.
In other words, a million years ago, every Shinigami basically wielded some version of Zangetsu.
And like any weapon, there were cheap versions — and deluxe ones.
The mass-produced Spiritual Weapons were identical to blank Asauchi, but the special ones crafted by Ichibe himself were VIP-grade weapons with diverse forms and secondary effects.
Urahara Rinka's chain, for example — she wielded it like a whip.
Those struck by it were paralyzed, unable to move unless they poured out immense reiatsu to break free. Few ever managed that; Rinka's typical combat rhythm was one lash to immobilize, a second to crush the skull. Against hordes, she often skipped the first step entirely — overwhelming her foes with sheer force. It was brutal, efficient, and utterly without mercy.
Of course, Hell's condemned souls could not truly die, so her "head-popping style" rarely earned actual kills.
Just as Mizuma was growing impatient with the endless scenes of duty and combat…
the next moment finally arrived — the real event.
That day…
the Soul King became the Keystone of the Three Realms.
---
TL: That explains the Nimaiya and Ichibe part ig. Welp..should I go back to change the past note? Nope ig.
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〔TL〕
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