Ichibē Hyōsube stayed where he stood and made no further move.
Kazuma was simply too difficult to understand.
Ichimonji's power of erasure was supposed to be absolute within the Three Worlds.
No one should have been able to resist it, yet Kazuma had shrugged it off as though nothing had happened.
Worse still, when that unknown power erupted from his body, all Three Worlds trembled.
Such strength had clearly surpassed the limits of an ordinary Shinigami.
'What exactly is hiding inside this brat?'
Ichibē frowned deeply, searching through everything he knew but finding no reasonable explanation.
The power radiating from Kazuma wasn't the cold, sharp force of a Shinigami.
It lacked the destructive and purifying qualities of Quincy power, nor did it resemble the power of Hollows or Fullbringers.
Calling it the power of the Soul King didn't seem right either.
Although both carried a pressure capable of making the heart tremble, their fundamental natures were entirely different.
The Soul King possessed abilities like omniscience, omnipotence, absolute defense, and extraordinary regeneration.
Kazuma's power instead conveyed something supremely majestic and boundlessly exalted, as though it stood high above all other forces.
"Monk, you're not that impressive huh."
Kazuma's mocking words struck straight at Ichibē's pride.
The monk had only just regained his composure, but his anger flared again at once.
His eyes widened, and veins bulged across his forehead.
"Arrogant brat!"
Ichibē brought his palms together and began muttering under his breath. Immense reiatsu gathered around him as he prepared to launch another devastating attack.
Then something completely unexpected happened.
His entire body suddenly froze as a familiar voice had reached him.
It belonged to the Soul King, who had remained asleep for nearly ten thousand years.
The fact that the Soul King had suddenly spoken left Ichibē so shocked that he momentarily forgot he was standing in the middle of a battle.
By instinct, he turned toward Kazuma.
Yet Kazuma showed no unusual reaction whatsoever. He clearly hadn't heard the voice.
The message had been sent to Ichibē alone.
Ichibē's feelings toward the Soul King were profoundly complicated.
In the primordial age, he'd once been among the Soul King's most devout and loyal followers.
Because of that devotion, the Soul King granted him an extraordinary privilege: the power to name everything within Soul Society.
That alone showed the depth of the Soul King's trust in him.
Yet when the founders of the five great noble clans dismembered the Soul King, Ichibē chose to stay silent and watch.
The Soul King had supposedly accepted that fate willingly, but Ichibē's complete refusal to intervene still raised uncomfortable questions.
Was the monk truly loyal to the Soul King?
Or had he secretly sided with the five great noble clans long ago?
Perhaps only Ichibē himself knew the answer.
"Huh?"
Kazuma stared at him in confusion.
His body had already tensed for the monk's next storm of attacks, only for Ichibē to halt without warning.
"Come with me. His Majesty the Soul King wishes to see you."
Ichibē's expression shifted over and over, looking extraordinarily complicated.
When he finally spoke, his voice carried a strange mix of bitterness and helplessness, as though he'd just been forced to swallow something revolting.
"That old bastard woke up?"
Kazuma was dumbfounded.
The Soul King had supposedly stayed trapped in an incredibly deep slumber.
Even when Yhwach later stabbed him, he'd barely shown a reaction.
Yet now he'd awakened and specifically asked to meet Kazuma.
What the hell was going on?
In truth, it was the sudden eruption of Kazuma's immortal power that had drawn the sleeping Soul King's attention.
The moment that overwhelming force appeared, the Soul King awakened from his ancient slumber.
At first, he'd hesitated over whether to summon Kazuma.
Only after weighing the matter for a long time did he finally decide.
"You aren't trying to trick me, are you?"
Kazuma regarded Ichibē warily.
"Did you realize you can't beat me, so now you're planning to use the Soul King to get rid of me?"
It was hardly an impossible scheme.
Ichibē didn't bother trying to convince him.
He simply turned and flew toward the Soul King's Grand Palace above.
Kazuma hesitated briefly before following.
...
"Continue upward. His Majesty the Soul King is waiting for you."
After entering the enormous palace that served as the Soul King's coffin, the two climbed the stairs.
Ichibē stopped upon reaching the third floor.
"You aren't coming with me?"
Kazuma eyed him suspiciously.
The whole situation felt more and more like a trap.
"His Majesty did not permit me to attend the audience."
With that, Ichibē closed his eyes and stood silently.
Kazuma drew a deep breath and gathered every trace of power within his body.
His footsteps became as soft as falling feathers as he cautiously climbed toward the fourth floor.
Waiting above was the Soul King — the most powerful being in this entire world.
The mere title seemed to press down on Kazuma like an enormous mountain, making it hard to breathe.
Never before had he felt pressure like this.
For the first time since arriving in the world of Bleach, Kazuma approached a situation with complete seriousness.
The being ahead was simply too powerful.
He had no choice but to seek guidance from Hokushin Taitei, the Great Thunder Emperor within his inner world.
"He is merely an insignificant god among the countless worlds."
After a moment, Hokushin Taitei's lazy voice echoed through Kazuma's mind.
The lofty sovereign clearly regarded the Soul King as beneath his notice.
'Come on, be serious!'
Kazuma nearly cried from frustration.
'He might be insignificant to you, but he's still a god! How am I supposed to compare with something like that?'
All he could do was hope the old bastard waiting upstairs wouldn't suddenly decide to kill him.
...
'Don't panic! So what if he's the Soul King? He's been hacked into a limbless torso and sealed inside a crystal. It's not like he can crawl out and bite me.'
Kazuma kept encouraging himself until he finally reached the top of the relatively short staircase.
The fourth floor was an enormous, empty chamber.
A structure resembling an altar stood at its center, and upon it rested the Soul King, sealed within a transparent crystal.
Kazuma carefully studied the legendary being.
The Soul King appeared to be an ordinary-looking man, except that both his arms and legs were gone, and his internal organs had been removed.
Despite suffering such horrific mutilation, his face remained unnaturally serene as he rested silently inside the crystal.
Calling him trapped wasn't entirely accurate.
Had the Soul King truly wished to leave, he could have broken free at any moment. Remaining inside was a choice he'd made for himself.
"You're the Soul King, right?"
Kazuma regretted the question the moment it left his mouth. Something about the way he'd phrased it sounded strangely awkward.
"I am the Soul King. You may also address me by my name — Adnyeus."
The voice that answered seemed to echo from every direction at once, distant and intangible.
Although Adnyeus could no longer physically speak, his overwhelming will let him communicate directly with others.
Kazuma stared at the legendary Soul King.
When he realized the man couldn't even open his mouth, some of his vigilance quietly faded.
He failed to consider that this seemingly helpless, imprisoned god might also be a treacherous bastard.
The instant Kazuma relaxed, Adnyeus struck like a serpent that had been waiting patiently for its prey to expose an opening.
A vast, vicious force of will surged toward Kazuma's mind like a raging flood.
The Soul King clearly intended to overwhelm his consciousness and turn him into a puppet under his complete control.
"Impudent!"
Kazuma had no time to react.
Fortunately, an immeasurable violet-gold will erupted from the deepest part of his inner world.
It resembled a blazing sun, radiating endless light and sovereign majesty.
In an instant, it crashed into the Soul King's spirit with overwhelming force.
"AAARGH!"
A muffled impact shook the chamber.
Adnyeus's soul suffered a devastating blow, and an agonized scream tore from him.
He'd never imagined such a terrifying existence lay hidden within Kazuma's inner world!
Under the violent assault of that violet-gold will, the Soul King could no longer continue his attempt to seize Kazuma's mind.
He hastily abandoned the attack and pulled his consciousness back.
"What the hell?! You old bastard actually tried to kill me!"
The shock wave from the collision snapped Kazuma out of his daze.
At the same moment, all Three Worlds trembled once again — this time even more violently than before.
...
'The Soul King attacked?'
Standing on the third floor, Ichibē sensed the sudden eruption of power from both Adnyeus and Kazuma.
What shocked him most was that the Soul King appeared to have lost the exchange.
He'd failed to gain even the slightest advantage over Kazuma.
...
Kazuma broke into a cold sweat.
Had Hokushin Taitei not intervened at the critical moment, Kazuma might now have been the one sealed inside that crystal.
As expected, Adnyeus had summoned him with anything but good intentions.
"Cough… cough…"
After taking a direct blow from Hokushin Taitei, Adnyeus's soul had clearly been badly wounded. Even his presence had become weak and unstable.
"Explain yourself, Adnyeus. Why did you attack me?"
With Hokushin Taitei protecting him, Kazuma finally had the courage to confront a god directly.
"I have lived for a million years. Existence has become unbearably dull, and I wish to be released."
Adnyeus had returned to perfect calm, showing none of the viciousness he'd displayed moments earlier.
"In the future I originally designed, Yhwach was meant to replace me."
"But the instant I saw you, I concluded you would be an even more suitable successor."
"So everything that happened really was driven by your will."
Kazuma had finally confirmed his long-held suspicions.
Adnyeus had willingly allowed the founders of the five great noble clans to dismember and seal him.
The destruction of the Shinigami at Yhwach's hands had also been part of his plan.
Even his eventual death at Kurosaki Ichigo's blade and absorption by Yhwach had all been guided by his hidden influence.
Adnyeus was like a director.
The Three Worlds formed his stage, while the Shinigami, Quincy, Hollows, and Fullbringers were merely actors being pushed toward a predetermined ending by his will.
"I created the Three Worlds, yet those same worlds became my prison."
"If my power ceases to sustain them, they will rapidly collapse and return to nothingness."
"I had already lost all desire to keep living. Then I saw you."
"There is a power inside you that surpasses even mine. Its existence gave me a reason to seek life once more."
Adnyeus continued without emotion.
"I gambled that the mysterious force within you hadn't yet fully awakened, and that I could devour it before it responded."
He admitted everything as though discussing an ordinary game.
Since matters had already reached this point, there was no longer any reason to hide his intentions.
"Hahaha! A gamble?"
Kazuma burst into mocking laughter.
"Aren't you supposed to be the omniscient and omnipotent Soul King? Yet now you have to rely on an uncertain gamble to decide victory?"
"Are there actually futures that even an all-knowing, all-powerful being like you can't see?"
Kazuma found the idea hard to believe.
The Soul King was supposed to perceive every change and control every possible outcome. Yet Adnyeus himself had just used the word gamble.
"There is no need to doubt it."
Adnyeus remained calm.
"You and your future appear as complete chaos to my sight. None of the futures I observed contained any trace of your existence."
"You appeared in this world as though from nowhere."
"If you had not released that power during your battle with Ichibē, I might never have noticed you at all."
"Do you truly believe I would have allowed you to grow this powerful if I had known you existed?"
Adnyeus explained everything without the slightest change in tone.
"So you weren't the one who brought me into this world?"
Kazuma had always suspected his inexplicable transmigration into the world of Bleach might have been Adnyeus's doing.
Yet the greatest hidden force behind this world was now claiming Kazuma had never appeared in any future he could see.
Kazuma had asked Hokushin Taitei about this before, but the emperor always brushed the question aside, saying only that Kazuma would understand when the proper time arrived.
'When the proper time arrives?'
When exactly was that supposed to be?
At the end of the entire story?
The problem was that Kazuma had never read anything set after the Thousand-Year Blood War.
When he died in his original world, all he knew was that Yhwach was eventually defeated and his corpse was made into the new Soul King.