Chapter 186

"Grass!"

This has reached the point where she absolutely cannot control her emotions without swearing.

For the first time, Haruto had such a clear understanding of his (half-body) Zanpakuto (soul). He even vaguely understood why his emotions were so unusually complex (cold-hearted) when he first unleashed it against Adjuchas.

Haruto's Zanpakuto...

It's already quite generous of me that it didn't turn into a bow and arrow after its Shikai!

Not only that.

Although the Zanpakuto's consciousness is newly born, as long as one considers that its origin is from a certain...

The souls of the Quincy...

"Etc!"

Although his mind was a complete mess, Haruto still managed to spot the blind spot immediately.

"His surname Yugram?"

"This is indeed recorded in the Great Spirit Book Library."

What was the name of the Sternritter again?

Haschwalth.

Full name?

Yugram Haschwalth.

"Holy crap!"

It turns out Seisen is related to Haschwalth?

Haruto's urge to complain was growing stronger, but he simply had no one to confide in.

Why does this name sound a bit awkward?

Haruto could only change the subject to keep her head from exploding.

"Because she was not on good terms with her family, her excellent Quincy bloodline was almost tainted..."

After all, Yugram was once a nobleman who ruled over a region under the Lichtreich.

"... she?"

"Is there a problem? Yugram Seisen is a female knight."

"Ah??"

Haruto has been calling Seisen by the wrong gender all along?

No, no, no.

That's not the point at all:

When a soul from the World of the Living world comes to Soul Society, its gender and appearance should remain unchanged.

Haruto was quite certain that there was nothing wrong with his abilities in that area, and the memories he inherited after transmigrating showed that he definitely had a head of black hair.

Could the clash of powers between Baraggan, the Soul King's Left Arm, and Yhwach cause such a drastic change in the soul?

How can I think about this?

Wrong.

This big dog doesn't even seem to be human?

—That slight mutation doesn't seem unacceptable.

"Very good."

It took Haruto several minutes to calm himself down.

"Your intelligence is truly explosive; it almost made my head explode and send me flying to heaven."

Today's Haruto.

He possesses the powers of Soul Reaper, a Hollow, Fullbring, and Quincy simultaneously.

If it weren't for the fact that he's still lacking in strength, he could be sent directly to the monk as a substitute for the Soul King.

To put it another way, as Haruto grows stronger, if he doesn't want to be stuffed into the crystal coffin by the Haruto, he has to find a way to kill Yhwach... Otherwise, a battle between him and the monk is almost inevitable; the only question is when it will happen.

"I... um..."

"Even if he really is Quincy."

After fusing with the Soul King Hakusui, Haruto's body already possessed the rudiments of Quincy power. Absorbing a small amount of Isumi Ishida's Reishi only helped him activate the power ahead of time.

Is there anything I can do to help?

Haruto hasn't forgotten.

Sōken Ishida sought out fellow Quincy in order to fight against Yhwach Auswählen... or more precisely, to fight against him.

His wife was clearly one of them.

But if Haruto were to start thinking about how to deal with Yhwach right now, he would really be asking for trouble: Haruto is currently at most a weakling of the Third-Class Reii level, Yhwach, before he awakens, is at least Transcendent.

It's so fragile that anything I try to do will break at the slightest touch.

"Have."

Sōken Ishida nodded.

"If I can help, brother, I'll go to any lengths for you!"

Of course, nice words should be said when necessary.

If Sōken Ishida were truly prepared to have Haruto stab him in the back, he could definitely come up with ninety-six inappropriate reasons—

"Thank you, but I'll have to trouble you to cut open my heart and take something out."

"Ah?"

-- Take back what I said earlier, this guy is really going to cut Haruto.

"Bite."

Sōken Ishida opened his palm.

"Every Quincy receives the Baptism of Auswählen dies from a silver blood clot forming in their heart."

The item displayed there was silver that he had just taken out of the Reishi space... twisted and ugly like tentacles.

"The prerequisite is that the body can be preserved intact after death."

This is just the small -Auswählen, which is extremely widespread; the kind of smoking done on-site leaves not even bones behind.

"And your heart..."

"According to the records of the Great Spirit Book Library, there should be a silver grain composed of Reishi with an extremely high concentration."

You need this?

That will be the key to defeating Yhwach.

"..."

Is there something stuck in my heart?

Neither Bone Forging nor Heavenly Bedding Pills address the enhancement of physical fitness; they all fail to address the internal organs. This is the key reason why Haruto failed to notice the silver particles mentioned by Sōken Ishida.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Besides the effects of aging, the silver grain that travels with the soul to the Soul Society also has a negative impact on Haruto's physical condition.

Not only that.

If this thing is indeed an extremely high concentration of Reishi particles, then it means that a large portion of the Reishi Haruto usually absorbs are attracted to it; if it were removed, Haruto's originally "ordinary" Reiatsu talent would probably be able to reach another level.

"Good!"

Haruto nodded in agreement.

This thing is very useful. With Haruto's current Rei'i Grade, if he can absorb all the Reishi that are extremely compatible with him, he might be able to directly advance... leap to a genuine Third-Class Reii.

But.

Haruto doesn't really need the "base strength" of the Third-Class Reii right now. The Soul King Hakusui has already made up for this deficiency quite well. On the contrary, it will be more useful to give it to Sōken. If there are too few of these things, Ryūken will not be able to inherit the arrowheads forged from Still Silver in the future, and killing Yhwach will become absurd.

I owe you three favors.

Sōken Ishida said very sincerely.

However, owing favors is really no different from owing debts; the more favors you have, the more powerful you become.

Then:

You can pay one back now.

Haruto gestured "1" to Sōken Ishida.

How can I help?

Sōken Ishida hadn't expected that he would need to step in now.

Although he considered himself quite strong, Sōken Ishida felt he was no match for Haruto, especially since he was currently injured.

"Of course, it's Quincy knowledge!"

Haruto pointed at Sōken Ishida's head.

"Although I acknowledged my identity Quincy..."

"But you can't just have one passive ability that Blut Vene, can you?"

Then, in a very mercenary manner, he crossed his thumb and forefinger, much like Beelzebub rubbing his hands together—referring to a fly, not Beelzebub.

"Your secret work method~"

"... no problem."

Quincy Secret Techniques?

The Ishida Family has plenty of that.

—As the sole survivor of the battle at the Great Spirit Book Library, he possesses the most Quincy secrets.

Aside from the special abilities granted by the Schrift, Sōken Ishida is fully capable of developing himself into a basic version of Yhwach.

Pity.

His energy was mostly focused on cracking the Auswählen, leaving him little time to cultivate the Quincy's secret techniques.

"Splash!"

With a gentle wave of his hand, Sōken Ishida waved the book-page wall, and the original intelligence and data reformed into the shape of a book.

Then.

A stack of books, dozens of times thicker than this one, clattered out of the Reishi space and quickly piled up into a small mountain large enough to block the stairs.

"These are capabilities that Quincy have been researching and developing for thousands of years."

What do you need...?

"Take it as you like."

――――

Volume 1: Chapter 113, "The Peak of Half-Step Vice-Captain"

"So much?"

Haruto was also taken aback by Sōken Ishida's extravagance.

While he did intend to learn something, the sheer number... Quincy's abilities, like those of Soul Reaper, require constant study and refinement.

Haruto didn't Distribution from Yhwach, so he had to learn these things gradually to make them his own power; moreover, the Quincy's use of Reishi was different from that of the Soul Reaper, and it would take Haruto quite a while to adapt.

Thankfully, the Soul King Hakusui caused his entire body to leak out, otherwise he really wouldn't dare to hope for these things.

"Let me think..."