— — — — — —
While Mr. Mystery was still muttering to himself, Kalki had already regained his composure and was preparing to approach the brown-haired man nearby.
"A textbook opening," Kalki murmured, studying the man in Shinigami robes. "Arcadia's following the standard procedure."
If Arcadia was running this debut battle by the book, then normally, the moment participants entered the Gift Game field, they would encounter a special "NPC."
Through that NPC, the participants, or players, would learn the basic details of the product the organizers were trying to sell.
After that, the players could decide whether to pay for it directly, or try to obtain it for free by clearing the challenge.
So far, nothing Arcadia had done exceeded Kalki's expectations. And when he questioned the "NPC" in front of him, the man indeed began explaining the structure of Soul Society.
The origins of Shinigami and Hollows, the overall layout of the Soul Society, all of it.
Finally, after the man who introduced himself as Aizen Sosuke demonstrated the basic Shinigami skill set known as "Hakuda, Zanjutsu, Kidō, and Hohō," Kalki witnessed the so-called release of a Zanpakutō.
"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."
As the magnetic voice echoed, the Zanpakutō in Aizen's hand shattered like a mirror.
So this Zanpakutō was likely Arcadia's main product, the Gift they were trying to sell.
That was Kalki's first thought when he saw Kyōka Suigetsu.
Its ability seemed to revolve around manipulating flowing water. A fairly ordinary power, at least on the surface.
At the same time, Mr. Mystery, who had watched Kyōka Suigetsu's release through Kalki's perspective from start to finish, suddenly made a sound.
"Hm?"
"Mr. Mystery?" Kalki asked, puzzled.
Although Mr. Mystery was a highly suspicious existence parasitizing his divine essence, Kalki wasn't particularly afraid of him.
If anything, Kalki thought the old man's personality was decent enough. He liked dirty jokes and apparently had a habit of tricking ignorant young girls back in the day.
Part of Kalki's confidence came from knowing that, awkward as his position was, he was still a key chess piece of Kurma, a two-digit existence, and enjoyed a certain degree of protection.
The other part was that Mr. Mystery seemed to harbor a subtle hostility toward Ouroboros.
Because of that, when it came to matters involving Ouroboros, Kalki could cooperate with him easily and even gain some assistance.
In response to Kalki's question, Mr. Mystery said casually, "That man's Zanpakutō is pretty interesting."
Kalki's expression didn't change. He calmly finished watching Kyōka Suigetsu, asked a few basic follow-up questions, then left the courtyard alone to gather more information about how to clear the game.
After Kalki departed—
—Inside the Royal Palace of the Soul King, in a certain chamber.
Aizen Sōsuke adjusted his glasses and smiled faintly.
"Looks like I got noticed."
In front of him stretched an enormous screen, hundreds of meters wide.
Within it, countless small windows, each about ten inches across, glowed softly, displaying the current states of participant after participant inside the Fifth Division captain's office.
Resting his chin on one hand, Aizen watched the monitors and smiled. "Little Garden is even more interesting than I imagined."
"It seems I'll have a good time here."
---
"So the suspected location is the Royal Palace?"
In Game Field No. 10219, Rin, who had already been gone from the Fifth Division for a while, bit her finger and spoke calmly. "When I was about to force a withdrawal, the spatial fluctuations felt dangerous. There's definitely a risk here that I don't fully understand."
"Graiya specializes in wind and space, Maxwell himself is a space-type demon, and I also possess a related Gift, so noticing this wasn't hard. But His Highness, while talented, hasn't developed his abilities yet. That could be dangerous for him."
"Hmm... Good. It seems no one has stepped into a trap yet. But if we want to regroup, we'll need to find the spatial anchor point."
"In the lower layers, overlapping space like this must have a core location maintaining it. Possible candidates are the Royal Palace, Hueco Mundo, or that place discovered in the shadows called the Wandenreich."
"But most likely, it's the Royal Palace. The residence of the Soul King, and probably where Ryo Yagami is waiting for challengers."
"The two clearance methods, becoming the Soul King or defeating the host, are effectively the same option. That fits Ryo's personality perfectly."
"So the fastest way to clear the game is to head straight for the Royal Palace."
"His Highness and the others will probably try that too. We can't afford to stay inside Ryo's Gift Game for long. It might attract the Heavenly Army."
"And His Highness's special nature could even provoke certain existences into acting directly against Arcadia."
"Ryo letting the Heavenly Army leave, and allowing Athena to go, suggests he might want to go easy on us and avoid escalating things too far."
As she pieced everything together, Rin frowned, "But earlier, Ryo tried to capture us. And then suddenly went after Ouroboros. What does that gain him?"
"If he wanted credit, back in that Campione world, he could have teamed up with Kenshin and Heracles to take me and His Highness down."
"So his target probably wasn't us. Or rather, we were just collateral."
At that thought, Rin suddenly realized a possibility.
One she couldn't quite accept.
"He's after Asura. His target was Asura from the very beginning!"
"But how is that possible? Is he seriously trying to challenge a four-digit freak? Has he lost his mind?"
Her expression turned grim.
"Fighting Asura inside this Gift Game field... So he set up overlapping space to act as a buffer, to keep the City from being destroyed?"
"From the start, he intended to take down Asura, the queen of the Asura race?"
At that moment, Rin understood the key issue she could no longer avoid.
The overlapping space she was in would likely be affected by the clash between those two, becoming the sacrificial buffer zone.
"I have to clear the game and leave as fast as possible. But to leave quickly, I need to go to the Royal Palace. And the Royal Palace is basically Ryo's home turf, the core battlefield…"
She froze.
"This… this is unsolvable…"
"So all I can do is gamble? Gamble that the overlapping space I'm in won't be destroyed by the fighting?"
With a bitter smile, she muttered, "If I survive, I'm definitely preparing some temporary luck-boosting Gifts next time…"
She looked up at the sky over Seireitei, gazing toward the Royal Palace hidden beyond the enclosing walls, visible only to those with spatial perception, and sighed.
"By now… the battle has probably already begun."
---
Game Field No. 2121
A white-haired woman with pure white oni horns, dressed in a red kimono with a black haori draped over it, two swords at her waist, walked forward while jotting notes onto a roll of white parchment.
All around her lay fallen Shinigami. From their uniforms, the emblem of the Second Division was clearly visible.
As she strolled along, Asura read and wrote at the same time.
"Hm… the First Division's Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai is the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years. The strongest in Soul Society…"
"Among the Thirteen Divisions, the weakest captains are apparently from the Fourth, Fifth, and Tenth Divisions?"
"The Third Division's captain seems to be plotting to overthrow Soul Society?"
"The Sixth Division's captain is a hardcore little-sister fanatic, and the Ninth Division's vice-captain is secretly in love with their own captain, Tōsen Kaname. Huh? Aren't they both male?"
"Oh-oh. The Seventh Division's captain is a werewolf? A doggo? I want one. Too bad the last Howling Dog I caught ran away. I actually liked that one."
"This is so annoying. If something can be solved with fists, why use your brain? Seriously, anyone who puts puzzle-solving games into host privileges is a total jerk!"
Mid-stride, Asura suddenly stopped and looked toward the end of the road ahead.
There, standing quietly at the intersection, was a man with black hair and black eyes, dressed in a black suit and white gloves, completely out of place in Soul Society.
After a brief silence, Asura suddenly smiled sweetly.
"You know… I'm starting to like you."
"Before I even had to figure out some Soul King or proper ritual, you came to me on your own and let me clear the game by beating the host. That's very nice. I'll take you off the jerk list."
As she spoke, she rested both hands on the hilts of her twin blades, her expression growing ever more radiant.
"Even though we probably won't get to chat much more, I want to say this in advance."
Clang.
With a sharp metallic ring, Asura slowly drew her katana and said seriously, "If you lose, I'll take you and Kurousagi with me. Once everything's over, I'll send you back to Arcadia. I promise."
Ryo's eyes widened slightly. His voice was calm. "I won't kill you."
"Huh? We haven't even started fighting and you're already assuming you'll win?"
Asura tilted her head, confused, "By the way, aren't you drawing your sword? I heard you use one."
Ryo didn't answer. He frowned and looked up at the sky.
At the same time, Asura's expression changed as well, and she followed his gaze.
Above the starry sky of Soul Society, far higher than the Royal Palace. A star that should not have appeared was shining brightly.
Calling it a star was not wrong. It was a planet after all. The Red Planet. Mars.
In Little Garden, Mars symbolized war. It is also a controversial Spirit Rank—one that has yet to give birth to a true Star Spirit.
In the East, the primary contender for its Spirit Rank was Chiyou.
And in the West, the corresponding god was—
Ares.
.
.
.