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Dead silence.
As the footage finished playing, the screen soaked in blood.
Inside Silver Frame City, not a sound could be heard. Aside from sharp intakes of breath, the only noise was the dull thudding of Cangdu's severed head rolling across the icy floor.
"This… how is this even possible?!"
Cangdu's face turned dark, almost purplish, as if someone had just forced poison down his throat.
His lips trembled. With a shaking finger, he pointed at the blood-stained image, roaring in disbelief, "How could you counter my ability so easily?!"
"Impossible? That's just your own childish thinking…"
A cold voice rang out from the high platform.
Haschwalth spoke evenly, without a trace of warmth. "My ability, The Balance, allows me to directly impose misfortune through my blade. And once misfortune clings to something, it becomes fragile beyond belief."
"Just like right now."
Sword in hand, Haschwalth began to descend the steps, one calm step at a time.
The star-patterned blade leveled at Cangdu's head as Haschwalth barked coldly, "As one of the highest-ranking Sternritter, your provocation and insolence just now give me full authority to execute you on the spot!"
His strides were steady, confident.
At that moment, Haschwalth looked like the embodiment of imperial justice, ready to use his sacred sword to purge all traitors from within the Wandenreich.
"Haschwalth! Don't get too arrogant!" Cangdu shouted in panic. "Don't forget His Majesty's explicit order! No killing is allowed within the inner palace. Have you forgotten?!"
Faced with the killing intent rushing straight at him, Cangdu sobered up instantly. His earlier bluster vanished, replaced by a voice trembling with fear.
He shouted hoarsely, desperately trying to use Yhwach's decree as a shield.
But—
"His Majesty said that while he sleeps, I am to exercise the Empire's authority in his stead."
"So…"
No unnecessary words.
Just like what had already played out in the video.
Haschwalth raised his arm, activated his Schrift, and brought the star-bladed sword crashing down.
"No—"
In Cangdu's despairing, terrified gaze, the spirit-wrapped slash rapidly filled his vision.
In the end, he still met the fate foretold by the future.
His steel-hardened head was cleanly severed at the neck and sent rolling across the frozen floor like a bowling ball.
"Everyone, listen carefully."
With a flick of his arm, Haschwalth shook the blood from his blade and swept his gaze across the hall. His expression remained utterly emotionless as he issued his warning.
"This is an extraordinary time. Anyone who dares show the slightest hint of rebellion will be executed without mercy, under His Majesty's authority."
The chill in his voice settled over the crowd.
No one dared raise an objection.
Soon after, guards moved in and quickly carried Cangdu's body away, as if nothing at all had happened.
"Haschwalth…"
"You really have changed, haven't you…"
Among the crowd, Bazz-B frowned deeply.
Beneath his mohawk, his eyes flashed with unmistakable disappointment.
He suddenly felt that the friend he had grown up with had become a complete stranger, someone who had betrayed their original ideals and forgotten why they had joined the Wandenreich in the first place.
At that moment, the interrupted footage resumed.
And what appeared next shocked everyone all over again.
"Stop it, Bazz-B…"
"No matter how we fight, it does nothing for His Majesty. And you can never defeat me," a cold, arrogant voice said.
The camera shifted.
It focused on a blazing battlefield, flames and embers scattered everywhere.
Stepping through the fire, Haschwalth stood with golden hair flying, his star-patterned sword soaked in blood.
He stared straight ahead with the same indifferent gaze, repeating the scene he had just played out against Cangdu.
"What?!"
"Seriously? Again?!"
"Is it Bazz-B's turn to rebel now?!"
The pureblood Quincies were completely baffled.
They stared in shock toward Bazz-B standing not far away.
What was going on?
First Cangdu, now Bazz-B.
Were pureblood Quincies all born with rebellion in their blood?
Why did betrayal keep showing up in the future?
"Huh?"
"Wait… does this mean I'm exposed?"
Bazz-B was stunned.
From the very beginning, his reason for joining the Wandenreich had been to kill Yhwach, the man who had destroyed his hometown.
But without absolute certainty, Bazz-B had endured in silence for hundreds of years, biding his time.
No matter how he thought about it, he never imagined he would end up turning his blade against Haschwalth.
Sure enough—
When the camera cut to the opposite side,
what appeared was Bazz-B himself, grievously wounded and covered in blood.
The moment the image froze completely, the entire Sternritter collective mentally shattered.
"Holy hell…"
"They're really trying to kill each other!"
"Could the Wandenreich actually split apart in the future?"
In that instant, most of the pureblood Quincies were utterly lost.
They couldn't understand why internal conflict kept happening again and again.
Was someone deliberately stirring things up?
Or…
Was either Bazz-B or Haschwalth a traitor?
As that thought spread, the way people looked at Haschwalth began to change.
After all, everything they had seen came from the future.
What exactly happened later on, no one could say for sure.
Which meant that even someone who appeared as loyal as Haschwalth could very well become a traitor down the line.
"…!"
Haschwalth's expression darkened.
Deep within his blue eyes, a nameless anger flared.
As the atmosphere shifted, he could clearly feel the strange looks coming from all sides, many of them filled with caution and distrust.
It was obvious.
He was now under suspicion as the "inside man."
——
Elsewhere.
Second Division barracks.
"Huh…"
"Captain, I don't remember the Onmitsukidō ever sending a spy into the Quincy ranks," Omaeda said, scratching the back of his head in confusion. "Am I remembering wrong?"
"What are you getting at?" Soi Fon frowned. "Omaeda, are you suggesting that Yhwach's right-hand man is actually an undercover agent sent by the Gotei Thirteen?"
"Well, what else could it be?" Omaeda shrugged, speaking as if it were obvious. "If he's not a traitor, why would he keep killing his own allies?"
"The steel guy earlier…"
"And now this fire kid who's about to die!"
"They're clearly stronger than ordinary captain-level Shinigami. They're top-tier combat power!"
By the end, Omaeda sounded more and more convinced.
"Cutting down talents like that without hesitation. If that's not an inside man, then who is?"
"…"
Soi Fon's mouth twitched.
She instinctively wanted to argue, but the logic was… hard to refute.
Two clean kills, back to back, both at captain-level strength.
This Haschwalth really had handed the Shinigami a massive gift.
Next,
under the pair's dawning looks of realization,
the footage showed Haschwalth and Bazz-B locked in a fight to the death.
In the end,
relying on his overwhelming power,
Haschwalth swung his blade once more, cold and decisive, cleaving Bazz-B's body cleanly in half.
That single image sealed his status.
The "traitor" had been confirmed.
"..."
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