"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!!"
Haschwalth's laughter carried a sense of relief and exhilaration, leaving Ishida Uryū, who stood not far behind him, with a flash of confusion in his eyes.
Kurosaki Ichigo, on the other hand, seemed somewhat slow to react as he spoke.
"Haschwalth, your companions have had their lives and power taken away, yet you can still laugh?"
"What else should I do? That is fate already decided. The Quincy are such a tragic race. Everything is destined to return to His Majesty—bonds, feelings, even the souls of us Quincy all belong to His Majesty..."
"No Quincy can defy His Majesty's will, the will of His Majesty who can reclaim everything we possess at any moment—except now..."
Yet at that moment, Haschwalth's voice abruptly gained a trace of fury. His expression darkened at once, and his entire being radiated a stern resolve.
Even though Kurosaki Ichigo had notoriously low emotional intelligence most of the time, he vaguely sensed that something was wrong with Haschwalth's attitude. That tone did not sound like someone who revered Yhwach.
Ishida Uryū narrowed his eyes and could not help asking, "Haschwalth, what do you mean by that?"
"Ishida, I kept warning you not to do anything precisely for this moment..."
Haschwalth, who had remained calm throughout his battle with Kurosaki Ichigo, now erupted with an astonishingly immense spiritual pressure as he spoke.
"All Schrift powers are His Majesty's 'fruit.' Harvesting those fruits nurtures His Majesty's power—'All Things in Nature.'"
"However, nurturing that power requires time. If His Majesty opens his true eyes ahead of time and awakens All Things in Nature, some of the 'fruit' will inevitably be wasted. Not only will that weaken All Things in Nature, but he will also lose control of that portion of the 'fruit' for a short