Balance

The shattered stone dust drifted slowly down in the breeze of the suspended corridor.

The injuries that Uryū Ishida had sustained vanished completely in the faint light of the reversed laws.

All the injuries healed completely in that brief moment.

Even the white Quincy uniform, soaked in blood, had its torn areas restored to their original smooth state.

Uryū slowly lowered his raised arm and stood up straight.

The Reiatsu within his body surged again like the rising sun, returning to its peak state.

But the scene was quite the opposite in front of the ruins just ten steps away.

Haschwalth knelt on one knee amidst the rubble and mud, his silver sword propped up against the ground for support.

A large, transparent, bloody hole, about the size of a bowl, exploded in the man's right shoulder, the flesh rolled outwards, and dark blood dripped continuously down the blade.

His once neat and tidy golden hair was now stuck to his cheeks with sweat and blood, and his body bore dozens of knife wounds of varying depths.

The muffled cracking of bones emanated from deep within his chest, rising and falling in waves, each inhalation accompanied by an uncontrollable cough.

Haschwalth coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the coldness in his eyes was finally broken by a hint of surprise.

"What's this?"

Haschwalth raised his only remaining functional left arm and wiped the blood from his chin.

Uryū Ishida raised his hand and pushed up his frameless glasses on the bridge of his nose; the lenses gleamed with a cool, clear light in the dim light.

"Surprised, Haschwalth?"

Uryū Ishida spoke calmly, the Reishi Silver Bow in his hand gleaming with a soft white light.

"You just asked me what value the blood Yhwach gave me truly possessed."

"What you see now is the Schrift that Yhwach gave me."

Haschwalth gripped the hilt of his sword stuck in the crevice, his body trembling slightly from the internal injuries.

"A technique that the Antithesis... cause and effect, is it?"

Uryū took two steps closer, his shoes making a clear crunching sound on the rubble.

The Schrift 'A' is named the Antithesis.

Uryū patiently explained, "Its ability is very simple: it completely reverses what has already happened between two designated targets."

"In that battle just now, you used your superb swordsmanship and abundant Reiatsu to leave a fatal wound on me."

"However, once I activate this ability, all the statuses that have befallen me will be transferred to you without any reservation."

"The pain and trauma I have endured, you will now bear it all."

"And your once perfectly intact body became the template for my restoration."

Haschwalth listened to these words, panting, his lowered eyelids concealing the depth in his eyes.

"Able to reverse the facts that have occurred between two specified objects..."

Haschwalth took a deep breath, suppressing the churning pain in his chest. "I see. No wonder His Majesty made an exception and bestowed the Schrift 'A' upon you."

"Because His Majesty's power is the Almighty, capable of seeing through and rewriting the predetermined Future."

"Your the Antithesis, however, is to forcibly reverse the cause and effect of past facts after they have already been established."

"To some extent, your power does indeed have the potential to restrain His Majesty."

Uryū gripped the Spirit Bow tightly, scrutinizing the man before him with a serious expression.

"It's good that you understand that."

Uryū drew his bowstring, and several dazzling Reishi light arrows condensed at his fingertips.

"This pointless fight can end here; you have lost the ability to continue wielding your sword."

"Is this the end?"

Haschwalth let out a low chuckle.

The man slowly stood up, supporting himself on the hilt of his sword. Although his steps were slightly unsteady, his handsome, pale face showed no trace of the despair of a defeated man.

Instead, Haschwalth's lips curled slightly upward, revealing an elusive calm.

"Uryū Ishida, you seem to think you hold the power of life and death in this duel."

Uryū frowned slightly. "The facts are right in front of you: you're the one who's hurt, while I'm at my peak."

"Is that true?"

Haschwalth released his right hand from the sword hilt, letting his right arm hang limply at his side.

He slowly raised his intact left hand, palm facing upwards.

"Now that you've explained your Schrift, it's only right that I reciprocate by introducing you to my original power."

Haschwalth said indifferently, "Just now at dawn, I returned the authority of the Almighty to His Majesty and reclaimed my exclusive abilities."

Uryū's eyes flickered slightly, but the light arrow at his fingertips did not dissipate.

"Schrift 'B'."

Haschwalth calmly uttered the words, "Called Balance, that is... the Scales."

The sound of the wind deep in the corridor seemed to freeze for a moment.

The words "Scales" echoed among the ruins of the main hall, exuding an unusual sense of oppression.

Uryū Ishida examined the blood continuously flowing from the man's body, his vigilance not only did not decrease, but instead rose to its highest level.

"Scales?"

Uryū asked in a deep voice, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Haschwalth took a step forward, letting the blood from his right shoulder leave a mottled trail on the stone slab.

Everything in the world exists in a delicate balance.

Haschwalth said calmly, "So-called luck and misfortune are never arbitrary creations."

Every stroke of good fortune that comes into the world is inevitably accompanied by an equal amount of misfortune.

"If anyone receives an excessively favorable favor in the process, then the laws of Scales will mercilessly correct it."

Uryū pushed up his glasses and retorted coldly, "Absurd remarks."

"On the brutal battlefield, there are only two outcomes: survival or defeat. There is no such thing as an illusory Scales."

Haschwalth stopped and looked directly into the boy's eyes.

Does it not exist?

Haschwalth tilted his head slightly. "Then let me ask you, Uryū Ishida."

"You, who should have had your meridians severed and died instantly, are standing here unharmed thanks to your ability to reverse cause and effect."

"For you, isn't it an extraordinary stroke of luck to have avoided your predetermined death?"

Uryū's expression changed slightly, and his fingers unconsciously tightened their grip on the bow handle.

"This is due to my own ability, not just luck."

"The consequences of ability are no different in the eyes of the world's laws."

Haschwalth's lips curled into a cold smile. "You avoided the devastating blow you should have suffered, and gained an abundance of vitality and an opportunity for victory."

"This immense fortune has befallen you, shattering the boundaries of what was once equality."

"And I, who suffered a fatal injury for no reason and fell into a state of weakness and near death, encountered... the purest form of misfortune."

Uryū's eyelids twitched wildly, and he vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

"What exactly are you trying to say with all this cryptic talk?!"

Uryū shouted, the light arrow on the bowstring already aimed at Haschwalth's throat.

Haschwalth looked at the Spirit Bow poised to fire, but instead of adopting a defensive stance, he completely opened his left palm.

"What I want to express often seems too pale in words alone."

A strange golden light flickered deep within Haschwalth's eyes.

"Since you're so confused, why don't you use your own body to experience the weight of the Scales for yourself?"

The moment the words left his mouth.

There was no burst of Reiatsu in the void, nor any visible attack trajectory.

Only a faint yet crystal-clear ancient metallic clang resounded deep within their souls.

An invisible, enormous phantom of Scales flashed and disappeared above the corridor.

Suddenly, Uryū Ishida coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.

Haschwalth's injuries were returned to him in double force.