(T/N: Hey guys! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone! Thanks for the support!! it really helps a lot!)
At the top of a towering white spire—
Datenshinkotsu sat calmly on the edge, gazing down below.
"Yhwach..." she murmured softly, "I won't let you take this power with you..."
She stood up. Her long silver braid trailed far beyond her own height.
Datenshinkotsu leapt down from the spire and landed beside Katori Nanatsuki.
Opposite them, two "Yhwachs" had already been pinned in place by Nanatsuki and Kagehime using shadow restraints. They couldn't move.
These "Yhwachs" were merely spiritual constructs sent by the eyeball—made of transmitted Reishi. They weren't particularly strong.
"Datenshinkotsu?" Nanatsuki looked at the withdrawn girl who appeared out of nowhere, feeling slightly confused.
Datenshinkotsu was notoriously introverted and rarely spoke to him.
He had asked Kagehime once—despite all three of them residing in his Inner World, Datenshinkotsu never initiated conversation, not even with Kagehime.
"Let me do it." A white blade appeared in her hand. "If you destroy them like this, you'll drive out Yhwach's will—but the Quincy power will still return to him."
"You can extract the Quincy power from them?" Nanatsuki asked.
Datenshinkotsu's ability allowed her to weaken the Reiatsu of a spiritual body.
But Nanatsuki rarely used her ability because it required the blade to make physical contact, and it only removed a fixed amount of Reiatsu—roughly one-third of a seated Shinigami's spiritual pressure per strike.
And usually, by the time Nanatsuki struck an opponent, they were already beyond saving. Datenshinkotsu rarely had a chance to show her strength.
"Shinigami power or Quincy power... it's all the same to me. Reishi is Reishi." She stepped forward and pierced one of the "Yhwachs" with her white blade.
As she withdrew it, Reishi gushed out from the wound.
The same happened to the second "Yhwach." Once stabbed, Reishi streamed out in a torrent.
Their bodies rapidly disintegrated into drifting particles of Reishi.
This Reishi was the Quincy power they had absorbed—now released.
Once their forms collapsed, all that remained were two black droplets, each the size of a water droplet.
"The Quincy power remains."
Nanatsuki's expression relaxed. As long as the Quincy power stayed here, it could be absorbed by his own.
He gripped his blade between two fingers.
Golden lightning arcs danced across its edge as it burst into a radiant flame.
Releasing his grip, a golden flash of light surged forward and consumed the two dark droplets.
The swirling Reishi in the air began to gather toward the cocoon overhead.
The blue threads making up the cocoon responded like dry tinder catching flame—glowing more brightly than ever.
The cocoon slowly expanded again.
Meanwhile, deep within the Wandenreich—
Ba-dum… Ba-dum...
A thunderous, heartbeat-like sound echoed from its depths.
Every Quincy within the Wandenreich heard it.
They began to rush toward the emperor's palace.
But at the corridor just outside the chamber, they were stopped by a tall man with long golden hair.
An ivory-haired, square-glasses-wearing middle-aged man asked anxiously,
"Haschwalth, you heard that too, right? Was that His Majesty's heartbeat?!"
"It's not yet the foretold day of His Majesty's return. There's no need to speculate." Jugram Haschwalth shook his head.
He, too, was puzzled by the sound. But His Majesty never made mistakes.
He was still gathering strength. He needed 900 years to regain his heartbeat.
The time had not yet come.
"But we all heard it!"
"Yes, it came from inside the royal chamber!"
"It sounded exactly like a heartbeat! Just louder!"
The Quincies were visibly upset with Haschwalth's answer.
They had been trapped in this lightless world far too long. They were desperate for their king to awaken and lead them into the future.
"This is His Majesty's chamber. Do not make noise here."
Haschwalth's voice remained calm as he faced the agitated crowd.
"But... we really did hear something..."
"Haschwalth, have you checked inside yet?"
They still refused to back down. They wanted to confirm Yhwach's condition themselves.
"His Majesty's sleep must not be disturbed—not by anyone, including me." Haschwalth's gaze turned cold as he shifted into a commanding tone.
"If His Majesty truly awakens, he will come out himself. Step back. Stop making a scene."
Since Yhwach's slumber, Haschwalth had been left in charge of the Wandenreich.
Faced with his authority, the Quincies could only suppress their frustration and retreat.
"Tch... didn't learn anything from that."
A red-haired young man, watching from a distance, stepped forward once the crowd dispersed.
It was Bazz-B, Haschwalth's friend from their youth.
"Haschwalth, what the hell was that?" Bazz-B asked in his usual brash tone. "Don't tell me it was a hallucination. You seriously think everyone hallucinated at the same time?"
"Perhaps His Majesty's power is recovering," Haschwalth replied calmly.
"Heh... fine. If you don't wanna talk, forget it." Bazz-B gave the royal chamber a deep glance before walking off.
After he left, Haschwalth stood alone at the corridor's edge, deep in thought.
He had entered the royal chamber just moments earlier.
As the guardian and administrator of the Wandenreich, he had rushed to Yhwach's side the moment he heard the noise.
Yhwach had not awakened.
But Haschwalth had heard his voice—resonating from within.
"The one who dares steal the power of His Majesty..."
Haschwalth whispered quietly to himself.
Back on Nanatsuki's end, after erasing Yhwach's will, the Status Interface updated once more.
The cocoon was now absorbing every trace of the scattered Quincy power.
The progress bar under "Incubating" began to rise rapidly.
Incubating: 6%... 12%... 21%... 90%... 99%...
[Quincy Power: Incubating – 100%]
The moment the cocoon finished absorbing the last of the Reishi, the progress hit 100%.
Suddenly, a burst of blue light flared from the cocoon—then it cracked apart like an eggshell.
Shimmering particles of blue light swirled into a vaguely humanoid form.
The blue glow quickly faded, revealing a young woman.
She had flowing orange hair down to her waist, wore a white dress, and her arms were wrapped in long white gloves that extended past her elbows.
Her long legs were encased in sleek white boots that reached up to her knees.
"She's even dressed just like Kurosaki Tsukiren..." Nanatsuki muttered.
"Because this is how you imagined me." the young woman replied softly.