The origin of the quincy can no longer be precisely traced.
What is certain, however, is that their roots lie with humanity.
During their era of activity, the quincy represented a peak in worldly power. Their influence shaped the balance between realms.
Soul Society—realm of the spirits—is ruled by the shinigami. The material world—realm of substance and form—was once the quincy's domain. And suspended between them lies Hueco Mundo, a liminal wasteland inhabited by Hollows.
Once, the three realms maintained a delicate equilibrium.
That balance was shattered a thousand years ago.
Yhwach, the progenitor and King of the quincies, led the Sternritters (Star Cross Knights) in a bold assault against Soul Society. The resulting war was the most devastating conflict in Soul Society's history.
No one knows the full number of shinigami who fell in that battle. But Soul Society ultimately emerged victorious.
After Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni released his Bankai, he and Yhwach clashed in a battle of kings. Though both wielded terrifying power, it was Yamamoto who proved superior, and Yhwach was defeated.
But victory came at a cost.
The once-feared "Sword Demon" stood in the ruins of Soul Society, gazing upon the devastation his Bankai had wrought. Wracked with guilt, Yamamoto vowed to restrain himself. From that day forward, he sealed away the full force of his Bankai, using it only when absolutely necessary. He ceased to pursue war. He chose, instead, to protect.
What he did not know—what even he, in his centuries of wisdom, failed to perceive—was that Yhwach had not perished.
In truth, the Quincy King had survived, his body retrieved by the remaining quincy elites. In secret, they smuggled his broken form into a hidden dimension—a vast spiritual subspace, concealed deep beneath the shadows of Seireitei.
There, Yhwach began the long journey toward rebirth.
It wasn't resurrection in the traditional sense. He had never truly died. A faint spark of life remained within him—one Yamamoto had failed to extinguish.
This oversight would prove costly.
After defeating Yhwach, Yamamoto, driven by guilt, released his Bankai and halted the slaughter. That hesitation gave the surviving quincy the window they needed. Had Yamamoto unleashed the flames of Zanka no Tachi once more, even that last sliver of life would've been consumed.
But he didn't.
And so, in the shadows, Yhwach's revival began.
He first slumbered in silence for nine hundred years, until his heartbeat returned.
Then he slumbered for ninety more, until consciousness returned.
And finally, for nine years, he absorbed scattered fragments of quincy power—rebuilding himself, piece by piece, until he returned to his prime.
Nine years ago, to fully recover his strength, Yhwach enacted the Auswählen—the "Sanctification". This cruel ritual drew strength from impure-blooded and traitorous quincy, killing many in the process.
Ishida Uryu's mother perished as a result. Kurosaki Masaki, Ichigo's mother, though once a pure-blooded quincy, had been tainted by hollow power during an encounter engineered by Aizen. Her blood, now impure, could no longer protect her. She lost her strength—and then her life—to a hollow attack.
Others, like Ishida Soken—Uryu's grandfather and a former Sternritter—were severely weakened by the sanctification. Their decline was a mere footnote in Yhwach's ascension.
The price of the Auswählen was steep. For the quincy, it was a tragedy. For Yhwach, it was a necessity.
For nine years, he remained withdrawn, focused solely on reclaiming his power. He left the governance of the Wandenreich—the "Invisible Empire"—to others.
In truth, the moment he fell into that long sleep a thousand years ago, real authority passed to the Sternritters.
The Sternritters are an elite corps of quincy, each chosen by Yhwach and granted a unique Schrift—a sacred letter representing their assigned divine power.
For a millennium, under the leadership of Sternritter Grandmaster Jugram Haschwalth, the Sternritters ruled the Wandenreich with brutal efficiency. They maintained order. They preserved doctrine. And above all, they remembered.
They remembered the genocide.
They remembered being driven from the world of the living, forced to cower in shadows.
They remembered the shinigami.
And they waited.
Lurking in the invisible folds of Seireitei's shadows, they studied the shinigami relentlessly. Over centuries, they learned the intricate patterns of their enemy. They developed methods to steal Bankai. They forged weapons, honed techniques, and whispered vows of vengeance.
Their hatred only deepened.
But in recent years, events took an unexpected turn.
First came Aizen's rebellion. Empowered by the Hōgyoku, he attempted to usurp the throne of the Spirit King. Though ultimately thwarted, his betrayal rocked Soul Society to its core.
Then came Kyo Mazuru.
Exposing his role as Aizen's accomplice, he declared himself King of Hueco Mundo. When Soul Society dispatched an expeditionary force to suppress him, Mazuru annihilated it—proving that not only had Hueco Mundo found a new ruler, but that ruler alone could rival all the captains of the Gotei 13.
To the Sternritters, both of these events were favorable.
Weakening Soul Society served their aims.
Now, the time has come.
The Sternritters gather once more—summoned by Haschwalth to a grand audience.
And for the first time in centuries, they stand before their king.
Yhwach sits upon his black throne, clad in regal robes. His beard is full, his eyes commanding. The air thickens with spiritual pressure as he surveys the crowd.
And then, at last, he speaks.
"Everyone... the time for revenge has come."
A thousand years of bloodshed, exile, and suffering.
All of it... now ready to be repaid in full.
*****
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