The girl shrieked as she saw the Soul Reaper before her suddenly draw his blade, her face turning pale once more.
She thought she had been cooperating well; why did he suddenly want to kill her?
But the scream had barely left her throat before she bit it back.
The Soul Reaper before her radiated no killing intent. He had merely raised his blade without swinging it at her.
Her expression relaxed slightly as a clear light emanated from the Zanpakuto.
The light converged into a thread and shot forward, piercing straight through her chest.
A vast, overwhelming will suddenly descended upon her.
Before this will, any existence felt utterly insignificant.
The girl's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the Soul Reaper, feeling as though she were facing an insurmountable mountain.
'Is this... what?!'
An ordinary Soul Reaper could never possess such powerful pressure!
What exactly was this person dressed as a Soul Reaper?!
In that moment, the image of Yhwach surfaced in her mind.
The majesty of the will she had just felt made her feel as if she were facing His Majesty, the Father of the Quincy.
Equally lofty, equally boundless.
Full of dignity, a presence one dared not look upon directly!
Ren slowly closed his eyes after connecting his ability to the Quincy.
His will sank, passing through the girl's psyche to its deepest depths in search of clues.
Yhwach was the progenitor of all Quincy, and this girl had once drunk his blood, awakening the power of a Schrift.
With these two connections, Ren only needed to follow the links back to their source to find Yhwach's existence!
In a daze, he seemed to see a floating Quincy pentagram glowing with blue light.
But as he tried to delve deeper into the pentagram to find the root, he was blocked by a wall of void.
Vaguely, through this wall, he sensed a half-dead aura.
Although there was no proof, Ren was certain that the aura belonged to Yhwach!
Just as he was about to cut through the wall, the aura suddenly vanished, leaving no trace to follow.
"Hmm?"
Ren slowly opened his eyes, a flash of surprise crossing his face.
Yhwach had actually evaded his search?
No, Yhwach was currently dead and his will had not been resurrected; he couldn't have made such a dynamic response.
"It must be Haschwalth."
Haschwalth was Yhwach's other half and could even take over his power while Yhwach slept.
It wasn't impossible for him to use some means to evade the search.
"A pity..."
Ren's face showed regret.
He had been so close to finding Yhwach's location.
Haschwalth's reaction was indeed fast enough!
Now, Ren was certain that Haschwalth was indeed still alive!
Yhwach had surely been taken away and hidden by him.
Seeing Ren's expression, Shimazu Toyohisa couldn't help but ask, "Ren, what's wrong? Is there another situation?"
Ren looked at the soldiers around them and shook his head gently.
"Grandfather, now isn't the time to talk about this. I'll tell you later."
He turned his head toward the four members of the Sternritter kneeling before him.
"You few possess a certain level of strength. I'll give you a chance."
"Do you want to surrender and join my side?"
Sensing that the majestic will had vanished as quickly as it had appeared, Candice slowly straightened her back.
She looked at her companions, her face—smeared with blood and dirt—flickering with inner conflict.
Among the remaining three, the short Liltotto turned to look at Candice, a struggle glinting in her eyes.
Cang Du kept his pale face lowered, remaining silent.
The robot's body was severely damaged, nearly half of it destroyed; wires exposed at the jagged edges flickered with sparks.
Red lights blinked incessantly in the eye region beneath its broken mask.
This strange body immediately caught Ren's attention.
He walked over, eyeing it up and down for a moment, a look of interest appearing on his face.
"So it really is a robot."
Moving closer, Ren could even smell the lubricant mixed with the acrid scent of scorched circuits.
Although the robot was heavily damaged, its cognitive and linguistic functions weren't significantly impaired.
It looked up at Ren and spoke with a mechanical voice.
"Soul Reaper... if we surrender, will you spare these Quincy?"
Ren didn't even bother to answer the robot's question.
He finished his observation, and once he had seen enough, he turned to Yoichi and said, "Hand this robot over to the Doctor. Let's see if our technical department can analyze it."
"Understood."
Ren nodded slightly.
If they could successfully analyze the robot's structure, they might be able to mass-produce copies later.
In the future, he might even have legions of robots under his command.
Tireless, fearless of pain, strictly following his orders until their end!
"As for the remaining three, take them down and have Sengoku send someone to... persuade them."
Having said that, Ren stopped caring and walked toward the others.
Seeing the Soul Reaper walking away, Candice opened her mouth and blurted out, "Wait! I surrender! I surrender! We'll all surrender!"
Seeing that the Soul Reaper still didn't stop, the girl grew more anxious and turned to her companion.
"Liltotto, say something!"
"The Quincy have already lost. Do we really have to be buried with the Empire? We're still so young..."
Although Liltotto was just a girl, she was much more calculating than Candice. While she was also anxious, she maintained a sliver of composure.
She whispered, "Bitch, calm down. Didn't the enemy say he'd send someone to persuade us?"
"But—"
"There are no 'buts.' We are the meat on the chopping block. No matter how anxious we are, what can we decide?"
She then looked at Cang Du. "And you? What do you plan to do?"
Cang Du coughed twice, opening his mouth with great difficulty.
He was about to speak when a burning pain flared in his chest, making him hiss.
"Sss..."
His body was supposed to be harder than steel, yet he had been defeated by an old man's bare fists and left severely injured.
How ironic.
"We... we lost... utterly defeated. Is there any other path?"
Ren didn't mind their whispers.
Whether they surrendered or remained stubborn to the end, he had plenty of ways to squeeze every bit of value out of them.
Amidst the crowd, Ren suddenly noticed Shimazu Toyohisa looking solemn, deep in thought.
Noticing Ren's questioning gaze, Shimazu Toyohisa thought for a moment and said, "Ren, defeating the Quincy this time can be considered half the revenge."
"Revenge?"
Ren realized what he meant and turned to him, shaking his head. "My brother... he died to protect me. What does that have to do with these Quincy?"
Toyohisa's lips twitched, his face set. He said deeply, "You can't be blamed. If anyone is responsible, it's our fault for getting Takahisa killed... If I hadn't ordered you two to investigate that clearing back then, perhaps he wouldn't have..."
Yoichi nudged him twice with his elbow. Toyohisa took the hint and sighed long and hard.
Seeing Toyohisa fall silent, Yoichi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ren, we will settle the score for Takahisa with the Soul Reapers of the Seireitei sooner or later!"
"It's been so long since my brother's death. A little more time won't matter... Besides, I saw through it all long ago."
Ren shook his head expressionlessly, his voice devoid of emotion.
He waved his hand at those around him.
"I'm not some sentimental girl. I don't have that much room for sorrow."
"Go attend to other matters. I want to think about what to do next."
Although Ren seemed perfectly normal, Yoichi could tell he was in a foul mood and quickly pulled Shimazu Toyohisa away.
Ren found a piece of broken wall to sit on, his gaze lingering on Yoichi and the others as they processed the prisoners.
Standing nearby, Shisui hesitated before asking, "My Lord, do you hold a grudge against these Quincy?"
"Hmm?" Ren turned his head, his gaze calm. "Are you curious about my past?"
"I wouldn't dare!"
Shisui quickly lowered his head, a look of panic on his face.
After a few seconds without a reprimand, he emboldened himself to look up and saw Ren still watching him.
Beneath that calm expression, who knew what he was thinking?
Shisui was startled. Seeing that Ren was in a bad mood but not angry, he actually nodded, as if possessed.
"Yes, My Lord. I wish to know about your past."
"You are honest, at least."
Ren sighed and said softly, "It's not some grand epic. In fact, it's quite boring. There's no harm in telling you."
Shisui took a step forward, looking serious.
A flash of reminiscence crossed Ren's face.
"Grandfather, Nobunaga, and the others... back then, the three of them still had the ambition to unify the Soul Society through force. They took in a large number of drifters to form a gang. I was one of them."
"I was hungry and figured they'd provide meals, so I joined. It was because I had the potential to become a Soul Reaper that I received special training."
"Among the people they took in at that time, I wasn't the only one with the talent. There was another... Grandfather favored him more, even bestowing an elder's name upon him: Shimazu Takahisa."
"I stuck by Takahisa's side, calling him my brother. We received teaching together, learning to read and write, and Grandfather even taught us his Jigen-ryu swordsmanship."
Shisui watched the dazed Ren and bit his lip, asking softly, "Then, Lord Takahisa..."
"He died."
Ren's tone was incredibly flat.
'Just as I thought,' Shisui noted to himself.
Seeing Ren so calm, Shisui felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of suffocation.
Ren continued, "At that time, Grandfather noticed a clearing nearby where the souls living there had all mysteriously died. He sent me and Takahisa with some men to investigate."
"We encountered Soul Reapers on duty. They wanted to kill us. Takahisa stepped forward and said he was willing to give his life if they would only spare his younger brother..."
"Moved by his sincerity, the Soul Reapers agreed to let me go... on the condition that Takahisa commit seppuku."
Ren turned his head to Shisui, a smile on his face that seemed to mock himself.
"Believe it or not, the leader of those Soul Reapers was actually a passionate man. He personally acted as Takahisa's second and kept his word to let me go."
"..."
Shisui kept his mouth shut.
Seeing Ren fall silent for a moment, he tentatively asked, "So, you later entered the Spiritual Arts Academy and even became a son-in-law of the Shihoin family just to avenge Lord Takahisa?"
"No."
Ren's answer left Shisui momentarily stunned.
He looked surprised, staring at Ren's calm face with profound confusion.
"I never thought of it that way. In the end, I'm a selfish person. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let Takahisa die for me in the first place."
"Shisui, why do you think like Grandfather and the others? Do I look like someone so driven by emotion?"
Shisui silently nodded.
This forced posture of Ren's made Shisui's heart ache, but he dared not say more.
Ren said, "After Takahisa died, Grandfather and the others were heartbroken and gave up their unrealistic ambition of conquering the Soul Society. As for me, I joined the Spiritual Arts Academy in pursuit of power."
"Shisui, you know that I was once called one of the 'Three Prodigies' alongside Aizen and Koga, but my talent wasn't as exceptional as Aizen's, nor was I as strong."
"Since I couldn't become the strongest, I sought status. With that mindset, when my father-in-law recruited me, I agreed to marry into the Shihoin family... That way, I could reach the top in one leap and become a Great Noble of the Soul Society."
"That was my true selfish motive. It wasn't as noble as you all think."
Listening to Ren's calm narration, Shisui felt as though he were seeing through the layers of pretense protecting Ren.
His expression shifted as something occurred to him, and he asked with a frown, "Back then... why did the Soul Reapers want to kill you? And what happened to those souls who vanished into thin air?"
"Shisui, you know that Soul Reapers are considered the balancers of the three worlds, right?"
Shisui nodded.
Ren sneered, "I eventually figured it all out. Back then, the Soul Reapers were eliminating Quincy still in the World of the Living because the Quincy's destruction of souls would break the balance."
"And before starting that war with the Quincy, the Soul Reapers decided that their first step would be to kill a batch of souls in the Soul Society to restore the balance."
"At the time, we were just unlucky fools caught in the crossfire."
Hearing this, Shisui stood frozen.
He naturally knew the duties of a Soul Reaper, and he knew there had been a war between them and the Quincy in the living world years ago.
But he never expected it to be linked to Ren in such a way.
Truly... the whims of fate.
"Funny, isn't it? That is the essence of a Soul Reaper."
Ren shook his head, a mocking smile on his face.
"But later, I did encounter the Soul Reaper who carried out that soul-clearing mission."
"Then you..."
"He was merely carrying out orders... Although I lived because of Takahisa's sacrifice, it was his soft-heartedness that ultimately spared me. In a way, I owed him."
Ren gave a cold laugh.
"So I wasn't soft-hearted. I killed him during a mission."
"But to ensure he could rest in peace, I sent his family to join him as well."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]