It inhaled and exhaled people, much like it did with Spirit Particles.
The peculiar thing was that, unlike Spirit Particles, it would feed Spirit Power to a human once and then suck them back in later.
How should I explain this? Should I say it felt like steeping liquor?
Yes, it felt like making medicinal infusions, like hornet wine or snake wine.
Comparing people to steeped liquor is a bit grim, but there was no other way to describe it.
Of course, it only looked that way to my eyes. From the perspective of ordinary people who didn't understand how this world worked, it looked… a little—no, a lot—different.
"They say if you go there, the cripple shall walk, the mute shall speak, and the blind shall see!"
"The Messiah has returned…!"
Maybe it's because I've been doing 'listening comprehension' for five hundred years, but I can understand these foreign squiggles perfectly now.
Anyway, that's how it was. Those who entered the cave where it resided would receive the Spirit Particles and Spirit Power it exhaled, and their bodies would recover.
To be precise, it felt as though their deficient physical forms were being forcibly activated by Spirit Particles.
In computer terms, it's similar to forced overclocking, and there's no way that comes without side effects.
The humans who accepted the Spirit Power it emitted would have their lifespans reduced according to how much they were activated.
Some lost a few months, others lost decades, leading to many dying young.
Of course, among them were those who were highly compatible with Spirit Particles and lived a long time, but they were so few that it was basically like winning the lottery.
"Tsk…"
I wanted to tell them that wasn't it—that if they went in there, their life force would be sucked dry—but since blinded humans never listen anyway, I just watched.
Naturally, it's not that I just thought 'they won't listen, so forget it.' I warned them multiple times and preached about the side effects, but they just threw stones and called me a heretic, so I gave up.
Still, I had to leave some warning, so I carved the surrounding rocks as best as I could.
[He who wishes to proceed, you must offer your life as the price.]
[The act of trading one's future happiness for a moment's joy.]
I carved dozens of phrases like that, but not a single one of them took it to heart.
Well, what can you do? It's their choice; I have to respect it.
Resting my chin on my hand, I watched a group of humans enter the cave.
That was the seventh team today alone. In terms of numbers, it had long surpassed a hundred; counting the ones entering now, it made exactly two hundred.
"I can see…! I can see!! Hahaha!"
"O Lord…!! O Messiah…!!"
Since they were healed the moment they entered, the humans naturally became even more fanatical. They went as far as building altars and temples for a phenomenon that didn't even have a physical existence, calling it a divine blessing.
Twenty years passed like this.
During that time, a total of 885 people entered the cave. Among them, the survivors numbered only three.
And not long after, when even those remaining three died and the number of victims reached 888, an anomaly occurred.
"Aargh…!"
The Spirit Particles lingering inside the cave began to swarm into the body of a young virgin woman.
Soon, a life took root within her, and nine months later, a fully grown infant was born.
The baby was named by taking the letters of the one God, YHWH: Ypsilon, Ha, We, Ha. It was read as Yhwach.
It was the day a fragment of the Soul King and the King of the Quincy was born through a virgin birth.
As the new legend spread, more people flocked to that valley, and just as many died.
Yet, those who still couldn't let go of their blind faith gathered around the newborn baby, burning their lives away.
Using those sparks of life as fuel, the child regained all his senses, including his lost sight and touch. Once he regained all his senses, that power translated into growth, turning him into a toddler, then a young boy.
Fifty years passed.
More time passed, and at a point when everyone else was asleep, Yhwach questioned the world for the first time.
"Why do they follow me? Why do they cling so desperately to life and death? Why must they live in pain only to depart in pain?"
Watching him cast questions to the starry sky, I hesitated for a moment.
Should I step forward here, or should I let him find the answer himself?
The answer was already decided.
"Because all things must have an end."
"Who is there?"
"I am the question you asked, and the problem yet unsolved."
I spoke cryptically to avoid giving a straight answer, but I figured he'd get the gist.
As I expected, Yhwach, having understood my words, didn't pry further into my identity.
"You are no ordinary existence."
"I am an ordinary existence. If that is what you think."
"Enough. I have had enough of your wordplay."
Is it because he's still a brat? Or because everyone around him has worshipped him? His attitude is quite… something.
For a moment, my true feelings almost slipped out, but I held it in and moved on. It wasn't like I came here to be a village schoolteacher or to teach him manners.
"Then I ask you: Why must these pitiful lives live this way?"
"Seeing them as 'pitiful' is likely because that is your perspective."
"I have heard the pain of those to whom I gave my soul when they returned to me. They cry that they want to live longer, that they do not want to die. Why must they die?"
"Because there is an end to every life."
"I am asking why that end exists! There is no reason for them to suffer like this!!"
"Did I not say that thinking of it as suffering is because of your perspective?"
"Their suffering is not some 'perspective,' it is a reality!!"
Seeing him scream, unable to control his emotions, he really is just a child.
"Then let's flip it. There are those who are satisfied with the life given to them and accept their death calmly. What do you think of them? Do you think they, too, lived in pain and ended in pain?"
"That is…"
"Life, death, joy, and sorrow are not absolute. It depends on how one receives them. If those who followed you lived in pain, it is because that is how they felt."
"Why did they feel that way? What did I do wrong?"
"Why is that your fault? Did you push them into suffering?"
"No."
"Then did you urge them to live in pain?"
"I did not."
"Indeed. Everything is simply the result they met at the end of their own choices."
"Then it is this world that is wrong, for forcing them to make such choices."
Good grief… what a headache.
"If that is what you think… go and see the world for yourself. Experience and observe many things. Before you judge this world, examine it. One cannot solve a problem without even looking at it."
"…"
Leaving a pensive Yhwach behind, I departed.
Interfering and giving advice would only complicate things needlessly.
"The rest is your choice…. I hope you make a good one."
I left those words, though he probably couldn't hear them, and returned to the Soul Society.
Returning to the dojo after several years, it was more crowded than usual.
—Hap!! Hap!!
I blinked as the air filled with the spirited, disciplined shouts and the sound of wooden swords cutting through the wind.
"What's this? Why are there so many people?"
What happened while I was away…? Ah, right. Genryusai suggested collaborating about 550 years ago.
I usually come home late at night, so this is the first time I've seen it this bustling.
Feeling a sense of novelty, I wiped under my nose and watched the dojo with satisfaction when I felt someone approaching at high speed.
It was a strangely familiar presence, but not one belonging to the people I remembered.
It definitely wasn't Unohana, nor Saito… and certainly not Genryusai….
"Ah, I remember now. Rasatsu."
Of course, Rasatsu died a long time ago and has since reincarnated, so it wouldn't be her.
It was likely her bloodline.
I glanced back to see a handsome, tall man with short silver-white hair and dark skin, frozen in a pose just as he was about to place a hand on my shoulder.
"Oh, you caught me?"
Thinking he was playing a prank, he laughed 'hahaha' as soon as he was caught, backed away, and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Judging by your looks, you must be of Rasatsu's bloodline. What brings you here?"
"Huh? How do you know the First Head's name…? Hmm… Ah! No way! The First Head's master!? Holy crap! You're damn young!"
What a rude fellow for a first meeting.
No, come to think of it, that tomboy Rasatsu was rude from our first meeting too. I guess it's a family trait.
Hmm. Actually, no. He's at least better than the tomboy who tried to kick me the first time we met.
"So you know me."
"Of course I do! You're the one at the very top of the list in our family's forbidden archives!"
"If it's a forbidden archive, aren't you supposed to not tell others about it?"
"Ah, well…. Nahahahat! What does it matter! If you're the First Head's master, you're practically family, right?"
He was a cheerful guy, unlike his appearance might suggest.
Fortunately, he didn't talk as much as Shiryu.
"So, what did you come here for?"
"Ah, right. I came to get Unohana Yachiru and Saito Furufushi. The Gotei 13 foundation? Old Man Yama said he needed to talk to them about that and told me to call them."
The Gotei 13… It's already that time.
Actually, it's about time it came out.
"I see. But why were you trying to touch me?"
"I saw someone I didn't recognize standing in front of the dojo and thought they might be lost, so I was going to strike up a conversation. Guess I was being nosy, haha!"
Your lying is quite obvious.
"I'll call the two of them and send them over, so you can go."
"Yes, sir! Ah, the location is the government office in the Seireitei, so don't get mixed up! I've delivered the message, so next time I see you, I'll bring a gift! See ya!"
I watched the descendant of Rasatsu depart without even the sound of grass rustling under his feet, and then I entered the dojo.
I should ask for his name next time I see him.
========================
The website for reading paid chapters is available on my Patreon. The number of chapters on Patreon: 115
Link: patreon.com/UltraMagnus_T