"Damn, damn, damn… what kind of insane idea did Cole's bastard ass give me…?"
"He actually told me to go assassinate Yhwach…"
"Is he crazy? That guy's the Quincy King, the Emperor of the Wandenreich, he could crush me with one finger…"
On a stretch of rubble outside the ruins of the Ice Palace, Uryu stood with cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He kept cursing Cole in his head, yet his body kept moving forward.
But his legs were still shaking. Trembling.
It wasn't fear.
It was the difference at the level of existence itself.
Just thinking about Yhwach's strength made the Quincy power inside him churn, like it had encountered an even higher-ranked being.
While thinking, Uryu arrived at the residence he'd asked around for Jugram's place. He swallowed, then crept over to the window like a thief.
Through the glass, he saw Yhwach sitting on a sofa, leaning back, eyes closed in rest, silent and imposing even without anger.
In that instant, every thought Uryu had scattered.
His eyes turned bloodshot.
All that remained was hatred for Yhwach.
Because…
This was the murderer who killed his mother.
The one who made her suffer in near-death torment for three full months until she was nothing but skin stretched over bone.
And now, the man who killed her was right there in front of him, alive, and full of openings.
"Cole never said I wasn't allowed to actually kill Yhwach, did he?"
Killing intent boiled in Uryu's eyes. The fake, half-hearted "just playing a part" thought vanished.
Right now, he truly wanted Yhwach dead.
Still, he controlled himself well. Without making a sound, he summoned his spirit bow.
His control over reishi was refined to an abnormal degree.
Not a single sound would leak out.
After that, Uryu aimed at Yhwach on the sofa, drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and fired.
"Die, Yhwach!"
He roared in his heart, eyes locked on the target.
Boom!
The luxurious sofa exploded from a single arrow. Cotton stuffing, leather scraps, everything burst outward like scattered flower petals.
But Uryu felt no joy at all.
He stared, horrified.
"Where is he!?"
He'd seen it clearly. A moment before the arrow hit, Yhwach was still sitting there.
But in that last instant, Yhwach vanished like he'd never existed.
No trace.
No feedback from the spirit threads at all.
As Uryu whipped his head around, searching
A chill ran down his spine.
His body froze.
Then a cold voice came from behind him:
"Holy Soldier. Who sent you to assassinate His Majesty?"
Uryu swallowed hard and turned around with extreme effort.
Sweat poured down like rain.
Because behind him were the two people he least wanted to see.
One was Jugram, sword raised and pointed at his throat.
The other was Yhwach, expression cold and empty.
One in front, one behind, both looking at him without the slightest emotion, like they'd kill him in the next second.
Uryu's scalp nearly exploded.
He'd only seen Yhwach. He hadn't even noticed Jugram.
No
It was that both of them could shut down his perception.
Their strength wasn't even in the same dimension.
Damn you, Cole this is who you told me to "assassinate"!?
Uryu nearly cursed out loud, but in that life-or-death moment, he remembered what his cold, handsome, elegant father had told him.
So he clenched his teeth, glared at Yhwach with hatred, and spoke:
"No one told me to kill you. I came here voluntarily. A coward like you—what right do you have to be the Quincy King?"
"If it weren't for worrying about all the Quincies in the Wandenreich, the Captain would've beaten you a long time ago."
"Kill me if you want. The Captain will avenge me. In my eyes, the Captain is the one who should be Emperor."
After saying it, Uryu got goosebumps all over.
Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting…
Just imagining Cole becoming Emperor made him want to throw up.
A classmate becoming Emperor?
And he'd be the guy's subordinate?
What a joke.
But Yhwach and Jugram didn't doubt him at all.
Because in the Wandenreich, the only ones who dared offend Yhwach were the Military Police under Cole.
"Your Majesty…" Jugram looked to Yhwach cautiously.
Yhwach snorted, displeased by Jugram's wariness toward Cole. He glanced at Uryu with cold contempt and slowly lifted a hand.
"So arrogant. Just like your Captain—arrogant and ignorant. With trash like you, you think you can kill me?"
Uryu almost reflexively closed his eyes.
Even though he trusted Cole's promise, at the brink of death his body still trembled with instinctive terror.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds…
Time passed.
Uryu was confused. The expected attack didn't come.
Had Cole already made a move?
Thinking that, he cautiously opened his eyes.
What he saw was painfully awkward.
Yhwach's hand was still suspended in midair, and Yhwach himself looked… slightly blank.
Behind him, Jugram's pupils shook, face heavy—completely unable to understand the bizarre scene.
From Jugram's perspective, His Majesty had clearly activated Auswählen. He had even felt that power.
Yet this ordinary young Holy Soldier was unharmed standing there blinking in confusion.
After a long moment, Yhwach lowered his hand. His face twisted into a rare ugliness.
"Another one…"
There was still another person who could resist his Auswählen.
As the Quincy King, he had encountered two such people in a single day.
Grinding his teeth, Yhwach reached out and grabbed Uryu by the throat, intending to end him.
But just as he was about to do it, he suddenly sensed something from Uryu's body.
His movement paused.
The ugliness eased a little.
He frowned and stared at Uryu with scrutiny.
"You… what exactly are you?"
His fingers loosened. Uryu fell to the ground, clutching his throat and coughing violently.
Yhwach didn't care. He only kept frowning, examining Uryu's bodily structure.
Fear still lingered in Uryu's eyes because for that one instant, he had truly seen death.
He took a deep breath, forced the fear down, lifted his head viciously, and said the lines he had prepared:
"Hmph. Scared, aren't you? I'm the Captain's most trusted subordinate. To make me stronger, the Captain helped me countless times, my strength has been rising day by day…"
After hearing him, Yhwach nodded thoughtfully.
Then—he actually smiled.
"Holy Soldier. The 'help' you're talking about… was that madman performing experiments on you again and again, wasn't it?"
Uryu pretended to freeze.
"How did you know!?"
Yhwach's smile deepened. He believed he had finally understood Cole's secret.
No wonder that man could grasp the incomplete Quincy authority of the Soul King.
Unlike him, that man had obtained it through postnatal effort—through relentless human experimentation and research on Quincies.
And Uryu was the best proof.
Because within him was a tiny portion of the Soul King's authority.
That tiny portion couldn't grant overwhelming strength, couldn't grant outstanding talent, and couldn't grant a holy script.
But it could grant him independent Quincy power.
That was why Auswählen had failed.
"A man-made fragment of the Soul King's authority…"
Thinking that, Yhwach's gaze grew heated. Then he said in a deep voice:
"Holy Soldier, you've been deceived. The Captain you admire has been lying to you all along."
"He performed experiments on you to steal my power—that's how he became what he is."
"And I've already sensed it from your body. Haven't you noticed you're different from other Quincies?"
Uryu felt his scalp go numb—because he had to keep acting out even more cringe lines.
But he could only grit his teeth and shout:
"Impossible! You're lying! How could the Captain use me!? He trusts me the most! He even said once he defeats you, he'll make me the Captain of the Military Police!"
After saying that, Uryu felt like his goosebumps were about to crawl off his skin.
If he didn't know Cole, maybe it wouldn't be this humiliating.
But he knew him too well.
They'd even been in the same class for months.
Saying this stuff…
Made him want to die from embarrassment.
Yhwach didn't care about his reaction at all. He sneered.
"Lie to you? Why would I bother? Your life is in my hand. I could crush you with my pinky."
Uryu acted like his mind was collapsing, then looked up in pain and shouted angrily at Yhwach:
"No—you're still lying! You said I'm different from other Quincies—how am I different?"
"If you can't explain it, you're obviously lying!"
Jugram couldn't help looking at Yhwach too.
Even he couldn't see what was special about Uryu. He looked like an utterly ordinary Holy Soldier.
Yhwach laughed softly and placed his palm on Uryu's head.
"Because you can ignore my Auswählen."
He smiled.
"My authority lets me control the lives of all Quincies… yet it didn't work on you."
"Why do you think that is?"
"Why…?" Uryu acted blank again.
Yhwach sneered.
"Because that madman used you in experiments and found a way to steal my power."
"And as the test subject, you naturally have traces of my authority left inside your body."
"That is why you can resist Auswählen."
Uryu immediately acted like his world was shattering, shaking his head wildly, squatting down, clutching his hair with both hands, screaming in breakdown:
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The Captain would never do that to me!"
"It has to be you lying!"
"You're only saying this to make me betray the Captain!"
Yhwach frowned.
He did want to recruit this Quincy—but he didn't have time to waste.
Cole truly was a threat.
He had to start the war with Seireitei as soon as possible—absorb the lives of countless Shinigami and replenish himself.
After thinking briefly, Yhwach made a decision. He turned to Jugram and said calmly:
"Haschwalth. Bring a cup."
Jugram froze. He hadn't expected Yhwach to go this far.
Was this Holy Soldier really worth trusting?
Even though he felt something was off, he still answered respectfully and brought over a golden cup.
Inside was crystal-clear wine, fragrant and alluring.
Yhwach placed his hand over it. His index finger cut his palm, letting blood drip into the cup and mix with the wine.
When the wine turned a deep blood red
He pointed at Uryu.
"Make him drink it."
"Yes." Jugram answered respectfully, then didn't bother asking Uryu's opinion. He pried open Uryu's mouth and poured the blood wine straight in.
After swallowing several gulps, Uryu was finally released. He dropped to one knee, coughing and spitting, throat burning.
But it wasn't over.
Yhwach stretched out his right hand and pressed it onto Uryu's head.
In an instant, Uryu let out a scream of agony. His body thrashed violently—yet he couldn't escape Yhwach's control.
Yhwach looked unsurprised and said flatly:
"Normally, granting a holy script requires a ritual. But we'll simplify it now. We'll use the simplest method to awaken it."
After speaking, he withdrew his hand and calmly watched Uryu struggle on the ground.
Ever since losing that battle a thousand years ago, he hadn't used blood wine to inscribe a holy script onto another soul.
But Uryu was different.
This Holy Soldier made him… anticipate.
Time passed.
Uryu's screams gradually faded.
He felt it, his Quincy power boiling, like a drop of water falling into scalding hot oil.
His strength surged by dozens of times.
His body's functions were wildly enhanced.
Most importantly…
From deep within his body, deep within his soul, he sensed a power he had never had before—almost instinctive.
That was…
The power of a holy script.
Uryu swallowed, throat dry, and spoke the name of his Schrift:
"Schrift—Complete Reversal!"
(End of Chapter)
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