Ever since my conversation with the Soul King, my mind had been caught in a relentless cycle of thought.
He told me I could take my time to decide, but he had thrown such a massive weight onto my shoulders that I couldn't simply push it aside for later.
Thinking is the one thing I loathe most in this godforsaken stretch of time, yet that damn Soul King went and made me think unnecessarily.
Thanks to him, the time that used to flow by without a care now felt agonizingly slow. It felt as if someone had physically halted the hands of the clock.
"Sigh..."
The phrase 'something only I can do' kept snagging on my conscience.
To me, those words sounded like...
"...Absolute horseshit, honestly."
I'm already terrible at mental gymnastics, and now, thanks to a certain someone, I'm forced to work my brain into a lather. Fucking hell.
I swear, if this keeps up, my hair is going to fall out just like that Daruma monk's.
'If there's one thing I can't stand, it's having a head as smooth as a mountain range.'
Letting out a deep sigh at those idle thoughts, I pushed myself up from my seat and gripped a wooden club.
I considered saying something to my disciple and the others before leaving, but then I wondered why I should bother going that far.
They're the type to do just fine without me. More importantly, my presence would likely only hinder their growth.
Tsunayashiro probably wouldn't change whether I was there or not, but the others were different.
'Especially the Shihoin kid...'
Wait, no. That wasn't my fault; that was Tsunayashiro gaslighting her.
What the hell, looking back, I didn't do a single thing wrong from the start.
"Well... I guess it doesn't matter anymore."
I closed my eyes, clearing my head of the rowdy brat, the crybaby Kuchiki, the gloomy Tsunayashiro, the chatterbox Shiba, and the Daruma monk.
But that wasn't enough. I erased the day and the night, the club in my hand, and even the concept of 'myself' from my mind.
My consciousness began to peel away from my flesh, and the world around me turned a stark, blinding white. It was the first time in a long while that I had entered the state of Mu-a—the Void of No-Self.
Training.
At the center of a world turned entirely white, I etched those two words into my mind and opened my eyes.
"Since he says it's something only I can do, I might as well get to it."
Yeah. It's a request from a 'friend,' after all. I should see it through.
To be honest, calling him a friend was a stretch, but considering how we'd shared things he didn't show anyone else, and how our fates had been entwined until now, it was closer to a bizarre sense of kinship.
But then again, hasn't the Soul King only ever sought me out when he needed something?
That bastard. He's only a friend when it's convenient for him.
Cursing the Soul King internally, I swung my club.
And I kept swinging, until the day he would come to find me again.
* * *
Have you ever had the experience where you're lost in thought, and suddenly tens of minutes—or even hours—have vanished?
It's partly due to concentration, but it's mostly because a spirit detached from the flesh is no longer bound by the flow of time.
The perception of time moving or stopping is something that happens within the domain of the mind; once you transcend that, the current of time loses its grip on you.
Of course, this doesn't mean you can physically travel to the past or leap into the future.
Actually, saying you go to the future might be somewhat accurate.
Because no matter how much time passes, to a consciousness severed from the body, that vast duration feels like nothing more than a 'moment.'
"...."
Sensing a familiar presence approaching, I tethered my detached spirit back to my physical shell and returned to reality.
Where the boundary between the forest and the desert once stood, a bottomless canyon had formed.
A ravine of such dizzying depth that the floor was invisible now divided the landscape: forest to the left, desert to the right.
It looked as though an Almighty God had drawn a line with a colossal blade just to separate the two.
Naturally, the wooden club I had held at the start of my training was long gone.
It hadn't just broken; it had presumably rotted away into dust, leaving not a single trace behind.
"...Fuck, just how much time has passed?"
At this point, it was getting a little scary.
I figured he'd show up if I just trained for a bit, so I dived into the void, but exactly how long was I under?
I scratched my head, but strangely enough, my hair was exactly the same length.
Wait, it didn't grow at all.
"Maybe not that much time passed?"
That was weird. If that was the case, how did this canyon get here?
And why did my club turn to powder?
"So, how long has it been?"
As I asked the question, I turned around. There stood the Soul King, right where I remembered him being.
With the same face and the same presence as before.
"...."
But unlike before, the Soul King didn't answer. He didn't react at all.
He must be in that state he mentioned—the one where he 'disappears.'
I waved a hand in front of him, but he just stared at me, devoid of any response.
Honestly, it was a bit eerie, like watching a mannequin come to life.
"Hey, I'm empty-handed right now. Couldn't you give me a weapon or something?"
I shook my hand again, but the Soul King remained silent, merely observing.
"...."
"Back in the day, you'd at least nod. Now you won't even give me that?"
I was about to open my mouth to see if a few insults would trigger a reaction, but then, a blue line etched itself across the Soul King's arm.
Immediately after, I felt it—the same explosive power he used whenever he performed Eradication on Hollows.
"And so it begins."
The surrounding area began to be whittled away into clusters of blue light.
No, it wasn't being whittled away. Everything in the vicinity was deconstructing itself into Reishi by its own volition, swirling into the palms of the Soul King.
Everything was slaying its own existence to return to the side of the King.
Because it was the King's will, they did not resist. All things in creation belong to the King; thus, anything composed of Reishi obeys the King's intent.
That power was utterly overwhelming.
As someone who didn't know how to manipulate Reishi and had never tried, I couldn't quantify exactly how much power was in that sphere, but I knew instinctively how dangerous it was.
"Ugh, gives me the creeps."
Exactly how much energy is this lunatic planning to gather? Is he trying to wipe out this entire region in one go?
My skin was crawling.
"You said you'd try to kill everything once you lost your mind... were you being literal?"
The guy who gave everything names, who claimed this was the end for the sake of a beginning, and who didn't fear his own death.
Just as I let out a bitter smile, the Soul King extended his arm toward me.
"You really do plan on killing me. Come on, can't you at least give me an answer? Are you really gone? Hey."
"...."
"Good grief..."
In the end, it's going exactly as you said it would. Frustrated, I scratched my head and stepped toward the Soul King.
He looked as small as an ant from where I stood, but I took a single step with the intent of folding the world itself. In that solitary stride, I arrived right in front of his nose.
"You're the one who asked me to stop you, so don't hold a grudge, alright?"
My club is gone, but I've put in quite a bit of work with my fists in the meantime.
This is going to sting a little.
I threw a punch with everything I had toward the Soul King, and the Soul King fired his gathered Reishi back at me.
My fist collided with the torrent of the King's power.
——!!!
And then, there was light.
* * *
The mere existence of the Soul King brings about ruin.
At first, I vaguely remembered hearing something like that in the original story, so I just took it at face value.
But the more I fought him, the more I understood what it meant for his existence to summon 'destruction.'
That absolute madman—every time we fight, he scrapes up every bit of Reishi from the environment and fires it.
"No wonder they were freaking out about the world ending or whatever."
It's chilling to watch the surroundings literally vanish every time we clash.
Sure, I'm physically pulverizing the environment too, but the Soul King is fundamentally different.
The things I smash will eventually recover or change form over time, but the King's power to 'extinguish' the environment is absolute. No matter how much time passes, what he takes will stay gone.
Just like a Hollow that has been eradicated—it is completely deleted and never returns.
Clicking my tongue, I flopped onto my back and looked up at the sky.
The drifting clouds looked so peaceful.
I originally wanted to live a peaceful life like those clouds. How did things end up like this?
"I'll kill you, Ryukushima Soul King..."
I cursed him out, mostly because whenever there was a problem, blaming the Soul King usually turned out to be the correct answer.
And come to think of it, he really was the source of all these problems.
"Sigh."
Speak of the devil. Sensing the Soul King's presence in the distance, I slowly picked myself up.
Today is... a new record. He's not even Jesus, but he's back after only three days.
"Incredible. Truly incredible."
I stretched my neck and stood up.
Watching the Soul King approach from the horizon, I scratched my head.
"It's like I'm playing a tower defense game."
Except every single wave is just the Final Boss.
What a shitty game.
I let out a heavy sigh and brushed the dirt and dust off my body.
Clothes? Those have been torn and burned away for ages. I felt a bit embarrassed about being naked at first, but I'm over it now.
I've been doing this for 100 years already. This isn't exactly a special occasion anymore.
"When is this ever going to end...?"
I'm so sick of this.
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