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"It's over… it's really over…"
Outside the small convenience store, Isshin Kurosaki crouched on the ground, a cigarette pinched between his fingers.
Each puff he exhaled carried helplessness and worry.
They always said fathers and sons shared a bond.
Isshin could already picture Ichigo's reaction once he learned the truth about his origins.
He would probably lose his mind.
And there was no way Isshin wouldn't get an earful for hiding it all these years.
"Isshin, try to look on the bright side," Kisuke Urahara said gently from nearby. "Honestly, revealing it earlier isn't necessarily a bad thing. Ichigo has the right to know the truth, doesn't he?"
In truth, even now, Kisuke was still amazed that Ichigo had appeared in those visions.
If he hadn't seen it himself, who would ever believe that an ordinary human high schooler would grow into such a critical figure?
One personally named by the Quincy King himself, no less, and invited to return to the Wandenreich.
That kind of recognition alone was something Kisuke could only envy.
"You're right. He does deserve to know," Isshin sighed. "I just wanted him to live as a normal person. Safe. Peaceful. That's all."
He flicked the ash from his cigarette onto the ground.
His thoughts felt heavy, his chest tight.
Being a Shinigami wasn't anything special.
Soul Society wasn't worth clinging to either.
My precious son… why did you have to get dragged into this mess in the future?
"Life rarely goes the way we want," Kisuke said thoughtfully. "Since we can't stop what's coming, why not give it a little push instead?"
Isshin's eyes widened.
"Kisuke… what are you suggesting?"
"Come clean," Kisuke replied without hesitation. "Tell Ichigo everything about his origins. Then, with the two of us working together, we guide him in awakening both his Shinigami power and his pure-blood Quincy power."
"I believe that's the best option we have right now."
Kisuke's tone was firm.
"..."
After hearing that, Isshin's eyebrow twitched violently.
Damn it.
Guiding his Shinigami powers?
Wasn't that basically shoving his own son onto a path with no return?
That wasn't just screwing your kid over.
That was next-level parental betrayal.
And yet…
With the butterfly effect already in motion and the future quietly beginning to unfold, reluctance alone wouldn't change anything.
Swallowing his misgivings, Isshin forced himself to calm down and seriously weigh the pros and cons.
And at that very moment—
The translucent light screen flickered again.
The pitch-black image sharpened once more.
But this time, the scene had shifted somewhere else entirely.
"Now…"
"We will proceed with the punishment of the defeated. Even those who survived their failure will face the harshest penalties."
…
Within a dark hall somewhere in Silver Frame City, two figures knelt on the ground.
Their bodies were tightly bound, heads bowed, completely motionless.
They looked like prisoners awaiting execution.
"This is… Cang Du?!"
In the real world.
The atmosphere inside the Silver Frame City's main hall instantly turned strange.
Once they clearly saw the figure kneeling in the footage, the members of the Sternritter all turned their heads at the same time, their gazes locking onto the Cang Du standing there in the hall.
"What do you mean? Since when did I become a criminal?!"
Cang Du froze.
Staring at the image of himself on the screen, head lowered, waiting for execution, his first reaction was to bristle. He exploded with an instinctive roar.
What made it even more ridiculous was this.
The one about to carry out the death sentence was Haschwalth, standing on the high platform.
For a moment, the mood turned painfully delicate.
On screen, Haschwalth held the star-emblazoned sword and walked toward Cang Du step by step.
Then people looked back to the present, to the hall itself.
Cang Du was roaring. Haschwalth was frowning.
The pure-blooded Quincy felt their heads spin. For a while, no one could process what they were seeing.
What was this supposed to mean?
Was the creator of the video deliberately trying to stir up internal conflict?
How did it suddenly play something this unsettling?
Were they really supposed to stand there and watch Cang Du get cut down by Haschwalth?
"Ahem…"
Sensing the tension spiraling out of control, Lille Barro, captain of the Schutzstaffel, stepped forward to stabilize things and force an explanation.
"Fake. This has to be fake!"
"Cang Du can't lose, and Haschwalth would never turn his blade on a comrade!"
As he spoke, Lille deliberately raised his voice, trying to drown out Cang Du's furious shouting.
Unfortunately, the video answered him immediately.
From the screen came Cang Du's own mocking voice, dripping with contempt.
"Haschwalth, are you just too confident, or did you forget what I can do?"
"Schrift 'I'. Iron, Cang Du."
"With my ability, blocking your slash is effortless. Aside from His Majesty, no one in this world can harm me."
"If you don't believe it, go ahead and swing."
Even though his entire body was bound tight, Cang Du's face was full of absolute confidence. He even provoked Haschwalth outright.
Those lines echoed through the hall via the video, making the atmosphere in Silver Frame City grow even stiffer.
"Ah… this…"
Lille Barro went speechless, his face burning as if he'd been slapped.
He shot a resentful glare at the Cang Du in the video.
Seriously.
Future Cang Du, what are you thinking?
I'm over here breaking my brain trying to smooth things over, and you're getting cocky, practically begging Haschwalth to cut you down.
That's how people get themselves killed.
Nearby, hearing the taunts from the video, Haschwalth's expression darkened in an instant, his eyes filling with cold intent.
As for Cang Du himself, his eyes lit up.
"Exactly. Future me's got it right. With a body of steel, I'm not someone you can just mess with."
"Right, Haschwalth?"
Just like in the future shown on screen, Cang Du openly provoked him right there in Silver Frame City.
With that single move, he shattered an unspoken rule the Sternritter had followed since their founding: no provoking each other, no internal strife.
And just like that, a seed of division was quietly planted within the Sternritter.
"Is that so?"
To everyone's surprise, Haschwalth did not stay silent this time. He answered with force.
"Whether now or in the future, do you really think I can't break your ability?"
His white cloak fluttered despite the still air.
Haschwalth raised his hand, resting it lightly on the hilt of his sword.
His cold gaze was like a blade at dawn, fearless as it met Cang Du's stare across the distance.
At the same time, in the video—
Haschwalth swung the star-emblazoned sword.
"Clang!"
The first strike failed.
There was no spray of blood, only the clear, sharp sound of metal colliding.
Just as Cang Du had said, once his Schrift activated, every inch of his skin turned into the hardest steel.
He feared no blade.
"Ha! See that? Past or future, you can't hurt me at all, Haschwalth!" Cang Du snarled, arrogance overflowing.
"Is that so?"
Haschwalth lifted his eyes slightly. "Then what if I activate my Schrift as well?"
As expected.
The moment the words fell, the camera zoomed in. Behind Haschwalth's body, an ethereal, illusory set of scales of judgment appeared.
His power activated. The scales tipped.
Balance shattered in an instant.
All misfortune, guided by Haschwalth's will, tilted entirely toward Cang Du.
And the final result was—
Slash!
Before everyone's eyes, Haschwalth swung his sword again.
This time, luck did not favor Cang Du.
One strike. Decapitation.
A column of blood shot up more than ten meters high.
Cang Du's head, eyes wide with despair and disbelief, rolled across the icy floor.
His iron body failed him. He was cut down by Haschwalth in a single blow.
The ranking video ended as the lens was splashed red with blood.
"..."
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