Ichigo recovered

Uryū Ishida collapsed amidst the rubble, spitting out a mouthful of warm blood.

A series of cracking sounds, as if the bones in his body were misaligned, emanated from him.

All the trauma that had been transferred to Haschwalth was now flowing back into his body on a double scale.

The bloody hole in his right shoulder had expanded to a whole circle, with torn flesh rolled up outside the white cloth.

Uryū stretched out his fingers and gripped the stone slab on the ground, his knuckles turning white from the force.

The Reishi Silver Bow slid to the side, its faint light flickering a few times before completely dimming.

He couldn't even muster the strength to lift his arm.

Haschwalth looked down at the boy on the ground, his expression as unyielding as an ancient rock.

His wounds had long since disappeared, and his golden hair fell to his shoulders.

"This is the verdict of the Scales."

Haschwalth took a step forward, the tip of his silver Long Sword scraping against the stone bricks with a faint scraping sound.

"The Antithesis can overturn the facts that have already occurred, and transfer the calamities that have befallen you to your opponents."

"But you seem to have forgotten one of the most basic things."

Uryū Ishida raised his head with difficulty, his pupils behind his glasses shining with an indomitable light.

"What... is it?"

Haschwalth stopped and looked down at Uryū.

"In this world constructed of Reishi, any action that disrupts the balance will lead to even more painful corrections."

"You escaped death by reversing cause and effect, which in itself is an immense stroke of luck."

Hasward said in a calm tone, "My World Harmony's duty is to strip away these flukes and return both ends of the balance to its original position."

"Origin?"

Uryū coughed up some phlegm, his voice hoarse and weak.

"Your so-called origin is nothing more than making everyone bow down to Yhwach."

Haschwalth was not angry; he simply watched calmly as the boy struggled in the dust.

"Your understanding of His Majesty is far too narrow, Uryū Ishida."

Haschwalth slowly raised his left hand, pressing his palm down into the void.

"The Three Realms established by Soul Reaper were flawed creations built upon hypocrisy and sin from the very beginning."

"They divided the Soul King, using him as a wedge to maintain the world's order."

"The living fear death, the dead are trapped in the cycle of reincarnation, and all living beings suffer in the gap between life and death."

"What Your Majesty needs to do is restore this absurd world to its original state, free from the fear of death."

Uryū lay prone in the rubble, his breathing becoming unusually rapid.

"Even if that is your grand ambition, it shouldn't be up to Yhwach alone to decide the life and death of everyone."

Haschwalth's brow twitched slightly, and a deep glint flashed in his pale golden eyes.

Life and death are never in the control of ordinary people.

"When His Majesty bestowed upon you the Schrift, you should have become the noble successor beneath the divine throne."

"You possess pure blood, and a talent powerful enough to reverse cause and effect."

Haschwalth lowered his eyes, a hint of regret in his voice, and said, "Yet you chose to waste these gifts on pointless obsessions with your companions."

"Pointless?"

Uryū bit his trembling lower lip, his fingertips crushing the soil in front of him.

"Kurosaki and the others... were never driven by pointless obsessions."

"It is because of them that I have been able to fight as Quincy until now."

Haschwalth looked at the faint bloodstains left on the ground and shook his head slightly.

Those who waver are destined to find no foothold on either side of the Scales.

"You yearn to bear the glory of the Quincy clan, yet you are unwilling to relinquish the illusory tenderness with the Soul Reaper."

"This weakness of giving up halfway is the root of destruction on the real battlefield."

Uryū's vision began to blur, but he stubbornly maintained his last vestiges of consciousness.

"You... you really never wavered?"

Uryū raised his blood-stained face and questioned him intermittently.

"When Yoriichi Tsugikuni killed Bazz-B... did you also use such high-sounding rhetoric to convince yourself?"

The air deep within the corridor seemed to freeze for a moment.

Haschwalth's fingers tightened slightly on the hilt of his sword, then relaxed again.

The man's eyes remained completely unmoved.

"That's Bazz-B's fate, I respect him."

"And my mission, as His Majesty's other half, is to clear away all obstacles on the path to the new world."

Haschwalth gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, the tip slowly pointing towards Uryū's chest.

"The Scales have tipped, Uryū Ishida."

"Your doom has arrived; this sword will end all your wandering."

Uryū lay sprawled on the stone slab, his pupils reflecting the falling silver light. His muscles were completely exhausted, and he couldn't even move his fingertips an inch.

Let's turn back time.

Beneath the charred, broken walls on the outer edge of the Wahrwelt.

In the makeshift camp set up by Mayuri Kurotsuchi, four towering cylindrical metal containers stood neatly atop a pile of rubble.

The outer wall of the container was covered with a dense network of Reishi, and the pale purple anesthetic nutrient solution was churning and surging inside.

Inside the outermost metal chamber, the previously calm liquid suddenly began to bubble.

The runes on the indicator crystal instantly changed from a dark yellow to a bright, ghostly green.

The pressure relief valve above the chamber emitted a sharp exhaust sound.

A large amount of pale purple liquid rapidly receded along the drainage pipe at the bottom, and a thick white mist spread outwards.

The warehouse door slid open smoothly to both sides with a soft click.

Ichigo Kurosaki, barefoot, stepped out of the metal compartment.

The wet black Shihakushō clung tightly to his body, and his shoulders and ribs, which had been pierced by the holy light, remained intact.

The dried-up spiritual core within his body, like a revived furnace, stirred up surging currents once more.

A faint, interwoven black and white Reiatsu swirled across his body, dispelling the lingering chill of the medicinal potion.

Ichigo shook the water droplets from his forehead and raised his hand to wipe the medicine off his cheek.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi, who was standing in front of the control panel, turned around.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi Kurotsuchi's exaggerated Sun Wheel bone crown swayed slightly, and his strange eyes scrutinized Ichigo as he strode forward.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi scoffed, "Just as I thought, a brute, exactly like that Zaraki guy, his recovery speed is beyond reason."

"If it were an ordinary captain, after suffering that level of corruption, he would have to stay in the barracks for at least three days and three nights."

Ichigo had no interest in paying attention to his taunts.

Ichigo strode forward, bypassing Mayuri Kurotsuchi's side, and walked towards the other three enclosed, transparent capsules beside him.

Orihime Inoue, Renji Abarai, and Rukia Kuchiki quietly soaked in the medicinal liquid, their complexions having regained their rosy hue.

The three of them were breathing steadily and deeply, and the previously broken bones and internal organ injuries had closed up under the effect of the medicine.

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief upon confirming that his companion was safe.

He turned his head and looked at Mayuri Kurotsuchi with a serious expression.

Where is Yhwach?

Mayuri Kurotsuchi crossed her arms in front of her chest, her long, golden fingers tapping lightly on her sleeves.

"What an impolite experimental subject! Can't they even say thank you?"

Ichigo step forward, and the rubble beneath his feet was crushed into fine powder by the overflowing Reiatsu.

"Stop talking nonsense and tell me where Yhwach is."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi looked at Ichigo, who was in good condition at the moment, and a strange interest flashed in his eyes.

"It seems that not only has his body recovered, but even that impulsive instinct in his mind has been fully awakened."

Mayuri Kurotsuchi raised his long, golden finger glove and pointed to the top of the completely flattened cliff above the camp.

"Keep going up through this ruin plowed by the Kidō."

"Sōsuke Aizen just used Devil Hadō Number 99 to completely flatten the top floor of the entire Royal Palace."

"The emperor of that Wandenreich awaits you above the deepest lava cavern."

Ichigo looked up in the direction indicated.

Smoke billowed high in the sky, and an aura of destruction pressed down on the entire heavens.

Ichigo drew his Zangetsu sword from his side.

The Reiatsu of both black and white swirled and rose around the blade.

The ground beneath their feet exploded into a shower of rubble amidst the surging Reiatsu.

Ichigo charged straight at Yhwach.