If you've seen Date A Live or A Certain Magical Index, you should be familiar with the "Qliphoth" (Evil Tree).
In FGO, Abigail's Noble Phantasm "Qliphoth Rhizome" is related to that as well.
But although it's called the "Evil Tree," it doesn't mean it turns you into a demon. Rather, it's about enduring hellish trials and conquering evil to achieve the path to godhood.
So what is the purpose of the Evil Tree?
It borrows the power of evil to sift out the passion of the righteous, to prove that justice exists and is correct.
As for the "Evil Tree" that Baelz awakened, at this stage it's essentially a seed.
It's rooted deep within his soul and needs a large amount of evil to nurture "sephiroth-like nodes" one by one; each corresponding evil nurtures a "node fruit."
When he eats such a fruit, Baelz gains an immense boost in spiritual pressure and also acquires the ability corresponding to that node.
The Evil Tree has ten nodes: "The Two-Headed One," "The Shell That Clings Outside Matter," "The Concealer," "The Disturber of Souls," "The Burner," "The Quarreler," "The Raven of Death," "The Defrauder," "The Lascivious," and "The Evil Person."
The names sound abstract. Baelz himself doesn't understand it very well yet—although it's his own power, at the beginning he can only grasp the rough idea.
If we map them roughly, it should be like this—
The Two-Headed One corresponds to Satan, the enemy of God, an evil intending to end divinity.
The Shell That Clings Outside Matter corresponds to Beelzebub, signifying deception through the guise of outer appearance attached to a physical shell.
The Concealer corresponds to Lucifer, representing indolent wisdom and the occult.
The Disturber of Souls corresponds to Astaroth, representing "the unrest that shatters the troubled dead."
The Burner corresponds to Asmodeus, representing anger and the instigator of chaos.
The Quarreler corresponds to Belphegor, representing meaningless arguments.
The Raven of Death corresponds to Baal, representing the plunder of death.
The Defrauder corresponds to Adramelech—self-explanatory: deception.
The Lascivious corresponds to Lilith—also self-explanatory.
The Evil Person corresponds to Naamah; it doesn't point to humans per se, but to all bad or ill things. This is not the first evil node, but it is the foundation of Baelz's Tree of Life.
All other nodes must grow upward from this "Evil Person" node.
Yes, nodes must be cultivated in order, from bottom to top. You can absorb a corresponding evil in advance, but even if it's dense, if the prior node hasn't formed yet, the later one can only wait.
All in all, this Evil Tree Schrift is very powerful, and it scales late—its power grows the more it develops and the more evil it absorbs.
The timing is actually a bit tight—at most a little over twenty years before Yhwach awakens and the final battle begins. The development window is short.
This ability does not speed up node growth just because your spiritual pressure is strong.
High spiritual pressure helps you use a node's ability to greater effect, but it won't accelerate the node's growth. Nodes only grow by absorbing the corresponding evil.
Sitting at his desk, Baelz's thoughts gradually aligned with Angra's, who was reading a book.
He seemed to have ideas on how to reach the realm of gods.
Like the meaning of the Evil Tree: by ending the corresponding evil nodes, you complete a purgatorial trial and ultimately achieve divine power.
Let's design such a path.
Yoshio is Hell, Baelz is the road to Hell, and Angra Mainyu is the evildoer living in a muddy world.
The evildoer braves thorns on the purgatory road, defeats the ten nodes that represent evil, reaches Purgatory, conquers the sins within, and spreads divine radiance. In the glow of goodness and divinity, the evildoer is sublimated and reaches the realm of gods.
The more they thought, the clearer Baelz and Angra's ideas became. Angra wrote them down and pondered feasibility and design.
They felt that the abilities of Yoshio, Angra Mainyu, and Baelz were mysteriously connected!
Though they are three people, in essence they are one. Combining three abilities of one person is entirely feasible.
The more they thought, the more excited the three became!
Even Yoshio, who was busy making the Hogyoku, stopped to lend brainpower to perfecting the concept.
Of course, this alone isn't enough. Like the Enrakyōten he obtained earlier, the Hogyoku he's making now… and even Aizen's and Urahara Kisuke's Hogyoku could be replicated.
A Shinigami-fusion Hogyoku for Shinigami, a Hollow-fusion Hogyoku for Hollows, a Quincy-fusion Hogyoku for Quincy…
If all that is fused into himself, what realm could he reach?!
Baelz trembled with excitement—yes, he had found the road to godhood!
The details need ten or twenty years to refine, but as long as there's hope, he'd gladly spend a century perfecting it!
But first he has to cultivate the nodes.
If he can't even cultivate the nodes, everything else is empty talk!
There's no shortage of evil in the Wandenreich.
As said before, it's a militaristic nation ruled by the grand narrative of revenge for a thousand years. Under such long oppression, its crime rate is high.
Especially because…
The metric of "evil" isn't defined by the world, but by Baelz's own judgment.
If Baelz thinks someone is evil, then that person is evil.
If he deems someone lascivious, then they are lascivious.
Of course, it must be based on his truest feelings—he can't just label an innocent maiden as lascivious just to collect evil; that wouldn't count.
Conveniently, Baelz's next job was to deploy security measures across the Wandenreich—meaning he'd be touring all regions of the empire!
He felt cultivating the first node, "The Evil Person," should be no problem.
Also, since he'd awakened his Schrift, he should report to Haschwalth.
It'd be about a month before the R&D Institute was fully relocated.
He would use that month to familiarize himself with the Silbern and the Sternritter.
Especially his former instructor, Sternritter "J" Quilge Opie. Baelz wanted to develop a device to mimic Sankt Bogen, and he needed a live demonstration.
Within the Wandenreich, Quilge is the top master of Sankt Bogen. Not just that—he has the best command of Quincy fundamentals.
He trained several Sternritter!
Baelz is his student too, so asking him for a demo of Sankt Bogen should be…
No big problem, right?
With that thought, Baelz headed to Silbern.
Third time's the charm—the guards let him into the Ice Palace easily.
Haschwalth wasn't in when Baelz arrived, so he waited.
He closed his eyes to sense the degree of evil in the core ring—the domains of the Sternritter.
Hmm. Evil. A lot of evil!
It seemed most Sternritter matched Baelz's definition of evil. The first node "Evil Person" is the most basic evil—almost any evil fits.
So he felt the first node growing very quickly.
Also, after drinking Yhwach's blood, Baelz's spiritual pressure had already begun to rise.
Haschwalth once told Ishida Uryu, "The power gained from following His Majesty for a few days surpasses the fruits of your training for years." True enough.
This increase isn't only from the Schrift's ability; it's also a foundational boost.
Yhwach's power of bestowal is truly strong. With the right person, you can easily create Captain-level fighters!
Baelz felt that after drinking Yhwach's blood, his spiritual power roughly doubled.
If he'd been around a 7th–8th seat Shinigami before, now he was about 3rd seat.
Don't scoff—3rd seat spiritual pressure isn't much, but Quincy don't fight on spiritual pressure alone!
The essence of Quincy combat is manipulating ambient Reishi to create weapons.
Of course, the more spiritual power you have, the greater your control—but that's for Quincy.
When fighting Shinigami, a Quincy with high spiritual pressure has the advantage.
They not only control outside Reishi, their internal pressure matches yours—how do you fight that?!
Hence during the Sternritter invasion, Shinigami were routed, left praying for Kurosaki Ichigo to help.
Later, once they learned Quincy methods, the Shinigami gradually adapted.
If he ate a node, Baelz felt his spiritual pressure would rise further, probably reaching Lieutenant level.
At this rate, he was going to become a new benchmark unit for Shinigami power scaling?
Think about it: Mask de Masculine used Cheers One, Two, Three, Tenfold Punch, and Vollständig against Kensei.
If Baelz fights Kensei someday, will he shout: One Node, Two Nodes, Three Nodes, Four Nodes…
The image was bizarre enough to make him shiver.
But he didn't show it—Haschwalth had arrived.
"Your Schrift has awakened?"
Haschwalth clearly knew why Baelz had come.
"Yes," Baelz said. "Mine is 'Q,' Qliphoth. I call it the 'Evil Tree.'"
He explained the ability.
No need to hide it.
Haschwalth nodded. "His Majesty's vision is keen. Your ability is indeed very powerful."
"I'll use this power to repay His Majesty's trust!" Baelz said, excited.
"Conveniently, there's no 'Q' in the Sternritter yet. Come with me," Haschwalth said.
No Q—so that poor "The Question" Berenice Gabrielli, one-shotted by Kenpachi, isn't a Sternritter yet.
Replacing them with himself—Yhwach truly has keen eyes.
Haschwalth brought Baelz to a room. "This will be your residence in Silbern."
"What about my work at the R&D Institute?"
"You still serve as Director of the Institute," Haschwalth said mildly. "Don't get conceited. You're only temporarily in that position. When your strength matches your station, I will introduce you to the Sternritter in public and welcome you to join."
Baelz agreed, watching Haschwalth leave.
After his silhouette vanished, Baelz was about to enter his room when the neighboring rooms opened.
The Sternritter quarters encircle the central throne, with rooms ordered alphabetically.
Baelz is Q; beside him are P and R.
Left is P, right is R. P is "Power," Meninas McAllon—a member of the girl group. Last time Baelz met Liltotto, Meninas wasn't around.
Meninas's soul ability is "Herculean Strength."
"Herculean Strength: Vastly boosts raw power."
Pretty decent—practical in combat.
R is "Roar," Jerome Guizbatt, the unlucky guy one-shotted by Kenpachi in the original.
His soul ability is "Team-Killer."
"Team-Killer: Your teammates become extremely unlucky."
Unrelated to Jerome's own ability; likely referencing how his roar deafened Kenpachi, making him unable to hear "The Question," resulting in an instant kill—definitely screwing his teammate. Baelz had no intention to sabotage allies, and the definition of "teammate" is unclear.
If "same faction" counts, he'd be the only one—would he sabotage himself?
So this goes in the trash tier for now.
Further out, other doors opened.
O is "Overkill"— Driscoll Berci , the "Lucky Guy" who gleefully met Yamamoto and got cremated in one swing.
His soul ability is also "Lucky Guy."
"Lucky Guy: Cause the enemy to encounter a lucky event."
Heh. Another trash ability. So many bad rolls among the Quincy—worse than a single Shinigami power-up!
Next is "N," Robert Accutrone, "Colonel Sanders." His Schrift is unknown, Vollständig is "Grimaniel."
His soul ability is bizarre:
"Starrk's Bane: After activation, your strength will forever exceed Coyote Starrk's."
?
Another binding-type. What the heck?!
"Forever exceed Starrk"—what's their connection?
Their only overlap is both fought Kyōraku Shunsui, right?
Wait, maybe the ability reflects that Robert looked better than Starrk in arguments online? Fans often hype Robert and Mask to downplay Starrk. Baelz didn't know who's stronger. The ability isn't tied to Robert's own strength—still, it's kind of funny.
Also not that useful—plenty are stronger than Starrk in this world.
But…
If Starrk keeps getting stronger, the benefit scales up, doesn't it?
Make Starrk stronger and you'll always edge him—then you could solo Yamamoto?!
Then there's G Candice, whom he's already met.
Finally "L," "Love," Pepe Waccabrada—Kensei's lone Blood War achievement, albeit as a zombie.
Pepe's soul ability is wild: "Doujin Protagonist."
"Doujin Protagonist: Upon activation, the nearby world enters 'doujin mode,' and you become the protagonist."
!!!
Broken. If he had this, the world would instantly switch to R-rated routes.
Aizen, Yhwach? Gender-bend them as his devoted stars!
Sadly, Baelz has zero desire to get this.
Because Pepe is disgusting. Just seeing his face kills any interest in raising his favor.
He's not strictly about appearances, but this is too cursed—and the personality is gross too.
Anybody who can look at Pepe for thirty seconds is a saint!
All this flashed by in an instant. Baelz let go of the doorknob and, a bit restrained, said, "Hello, seniors."
"You're…"
Candice looked at Baelz, rubbed the chin. "Aren't you Liltotto's junior? Why'd you move here?!"
"Liltotto's little brother?" Meninas looked curiously at Baelz, then at Candice. "I didn't know Liltotto had a little brother?"
At Liltotto's name, the surrounding Sternritter grew solemn.
Liltotto is low-key, but they knew she's a classic wolf in sheep's clothing!
Her years are short, but her strength is undeniably great!
If Baelz is connected to Liltotto, they had to reconsider how to treat him.
Baelz replied, "Lord Haschwalth asked me to move. His Majesty granted me a Schrift. If all goes well, I can become a Sternritter!"
His eyes showed appropriate admiration.
They weren't surprised. Those living here are Sternritter. If Haschwalth placed him here, he's slated to join.
But judging by his power level—what qualifies this kid?
"Not bad!" Candice boomed. "I knew you weren't ordinary. Does Liltotto know?"
"Uh… I just moved, so Lady Liltotto doesn't know yet."
"Hey, since you'll be a Sternritter, stop calling people 'Lady.' Even for Haschwalth—call him 'Captain' over 'Lord.'"
"Uh…" Before Baelz could answer, Pepe cackled, "Hard to come by a sensible, obedient kid. Don't corrupt him, Candice!"
"The only corruptor is you, you disgusting freak," Candice shot back without mercy, voice full of loathing.
Robert glanced over, found it boring, and returned to his room.
"Newbie, introduce yourself. You're Liltotto's junior?" Lucky Guy Driscoll said gruffly.
"Baelz." He seemed to take Candice's advice and was less deferential. "I'm not Lady Liltotto's real brother, just a neighbor from the outer districts. She looked after me a bit."
"I see. But how do you know this, Candice? I've never heard Liltotto mention it." Meninas tapped her lip, surprised.
"Ask Lili. How would I know?" Candice said. "I only learned recently. Baelz, aren't you from the R&D Institute?"
"Yes." Baelz nodded. "Before I officially join the Sternritter, I'll serve as Director of the R&D Institute."
"Wow, a smart one!" Candice said. "Nice, nice—so the empire's security will be in your hands!"
"A scientist in the Institute?" Pepe cackled again, apparently more interested in Baelz.
Baelz glanced at Pepe and immediately drew a massive amount of evil from him.
Great. With him around, nutrients for the Evil Tree won't be lacking.
"Ignore him. As your sister's friend, I'm warning you," Candice said. "Stay away from Pepe, that repulsive creep!"
"I will," Baelz said bluntly, giving Pepe no face.
"Hmph! Such an unlovable newbie!" Pepe snorted, and to Candice: "Candice, if you badmouth me again, I won't pretend I didn't hear!"
"What then? Fight?!!" Candice snapped back.
"You two, stop arguing. You're giving me a headache," Jerome said.
"Wow, Jerome, you dare say others are loud? Listen to yourself first!"
"Ignore them, Baelz," Candice came over. "Open your door. I want to see your room."
Baelz shrugged and opened it.
Each Sternritter room is huge—over 300 square meters—in the Silbern core ring. The price would be astronomical.
A free house upon joining the civil service. Sweet.
Inside, just basic decor and furniture. Baelz still needed to move his own stuff in.
Ordinary things could stay, but his recently purchased lab equipment was expensive; those had to come.
Candice and Meninas entered. Meninas said, "Looks the same as the others."
"They're all similar," Candice said. "I just wanted to avoid those gross people outside."
"You're Lili's junior. I can't let those creeps corrupt you."
Candice sat on his sofa like it was her place.
Baelz smiled. "I'm not Sternritter yet, so I don't know what others are like. But I won't forget Lady Liltotto's care."
"You really are modest. I hope you keep that quality. Ugh, there aren't many normal people in this lousy group—I should treasure the current you," Candice clicked her tongue.
"Not just because of Lili," Meninas smiled. "Candice is protective of subordinates."
"What?! Who said that!"
"By the way, since you moved and Lili doesn't know, want me to take you to her?" Candice asked Baelz.
Baelz hurriedly said, "Now? I still have to move equipment. Tonight—I'll treat everyone to dinner."
"Hmm?" Candice looked suspicious. "You got money?"
She remembered Baelz asking Liltotto for a loan for research.
"I devised a new security measure, so Lord Haschwalth said I'll get a bonus. And once the Institute is rebuilt, I should get two salaries, right?"
One for Director, one for Sternritter.
He knew Quilge also drew two—Sternritter and training ground instructor.
Candice's eyes lit up. "So you'll be a rich man! Good, good—tonight's on you!"
Small change—Baelz didn't mind.
As Director, beyond salary, there's a big research budget. Moving a little around isn't excessive, right?
A trivial matter.
After chatting, Baelz saw their favor rising—especially Candice's, quickly reaching 60.
She seems brash but is easygoing. Though quick-tempered, just go along with her.
Hah, after so much favor grinding, Baelz had rich experience handling different personalities.
At 60 favor, Baelz gained one temporary use of "Lightning Wielder," but there was no point using it now.
Better to wait for permanent acquisition.
Baelz went home, hired a "moving company," and moved his gear into the core ring.
By the time it was done, it was evening.
Since he promised dinner, he'd cook himself, not book a restaurant.
Yoshio reads widely; besides kidō and research, he reads "extracurricular" books—like cookbooks…
Cookbooks aren't just for leisure—Yoshio also studied Kirio Hikifune's artificial soul theories and knows about the Royal Realm's "spiritual-pressure cuisine." He's researched it.
Spiritual-pressure cuisine is epoch-making—one meal can grant immense spiritual pressure.
Good stuff—excellent stuff!
To study it, he took cooking seriously!
And in his past life, he could cook—simple home dishes, but in Soul Society and the Wandenreich, that's a dimensionality reduction attack.
When Liltotto heard Baelz became a Sternritter probationary member, she was shocked; when she heard he'd treat them to a feast, she was thrilled!
This time, the entire girl group came to sponge dinner.
Baelz knew most of them; only Giselle Gewelle was new.
Though called a girl group, Giselle isn't female—his heart is, but he's biologically male.
Giselle's soul ability is "Transformation Pill."
"Transformation Pill: Creates a pill; men who take it become women."
!
Far too wicked; Baelz didn't plan to get it—he isn't Giselle and doesn't want to become a woman.
But the pill isn't only for himself—it can be given to anyone; it just says the eater becomes female.
He could troll others—but that's a bit perverse.
And there's no pill to revert to male—what if someone can't change back?
However, Baelz had an idea.
If one's actions can change another's soul ability, then if Giselle truly became a woman, would his soul ability change?
With Baelz's help making him a woman, Giselle would be grateful, right?
Maybe he could jump from 60 to 90 favor and gain a new soul ability!
Good—worth a try!
He only needs 60 favor to generate one pill anyway.
The girl group is Bambietta, Liltotto, Candice, Meninas, and Giselle. Baelz now knew all their soul abilities.
He glanced at Giselle for a second, then welcomed them: "Welcome! I'm cooking now!"
"Huh? Baelz, you can cook?!" Liltotto looked genuinely surprised—rare to see any expression on her face besides disdain and languor.
Perhaps only food can animate Liltotto's face.
Baelz said, "Most of the time I'm alone, so I learned to take care of myself."
He brought out stir-fried corn with shrimp.
"Eat first—I'll make the next dish."
He seated the five. Liltotto sniffed and drooled.
"Smells so good," she said. "Better than professionals."
The Wandenreich's culinary level is, well… "tragic."
They're obsessed with revenge—not food.
Culture and cuisine are for victors; the defeated have no such leisure.
So when Yoshio brought out tomato scrambled eggs, the previous plate was already empty. And Liltotto's favor…
Lili, I can feel your conviction—I now understand your affection…
After one plate, Liltotto's favor skyrocketed! From the 50s to 76—exaggerated, but not by fiftyfold.
At this rate, after this meal, Liltotto's favor might break 80!
Terrifying—food's lethality to a foodie is unimaginable!
Seeing Baelz stunned, Bambi sneered, "See, Lili, you scared your junior."
"Nonsense, I'm not the only one eating." Liltotto now looked composed, but Baelz could imagine her scarfing earlier—maybe even using her ability?
Liltotto's ability is Glutton—she can eat anything, and while digesting, she gains the target's ability.
Eat the Royal Guard or the Soul King and she's god-tier!
"Come on, Baelz hasn't eaten a bite," Candice quipped.
"It's because Baelz's cooking is too good—I haven't had enough," Meninas chimed in.
"Finally a normal person joined the corps—I'm moved to tears," Giselle said, hands on cheeks, playing cute.
Baelz smiled. "It's fine—tonight is to thank Lady Liltotto. Eat your fill; I bought lots of ingredients."
If feeding people once could grant abilities, he'd go pro chef!
They didn't blitz through dishes after that. Soon Baelz had plated a table full of food.
Once he sat, Liltotto finally dug in.
A man dining with "five women"—others would be envious.
But that's good—he needed others' envy! All kinds of evil factors, come to me!
"By the way, your room is 'Q.' What's your Schrift?" Bambi asked from the host seat.
The other four looked over, curious.
Baelz answered honestly: "I call it the Evil Tree…"
He repeated what he'd told Haschwalth.
Bambi clicked her tongue. "Shame—just over twenty years till our counterattack. Your Evil Tree won't bear many nodes by then."
"But it's still good. Eating node fruits to raise your spiritual pressure gives quick combat power—enough to handle mere Shinigami."
Perhaps due to the revenge doctrine, the Sternritter looked down on Shinigami. Even though Shinigami crushed Quincy a thousand years ago, they think that was "ancient times," just "ancient champions," not meaningful.
They claim Shinigami bullied Quincy who didn't know how to fight; now any Sternritter could wipe the old Gotei 13.
This idea is common among Quincy; even some Sternritter believe it.
Like the Lucky Guy—meeting Yamamoto without fear, shouting he was lucky.
In the girl group, Bambi especially had that disdain.
Baelz didn't argue. In an environment like this, dissent just gets you ostracized.
He wanted friends, so he joined the disdain for Shinigami chorus.