NOVEL WEB Chapter 10: CHAPTER 10
Darkness. Fear.
This was a desolate domain.
Pitch-black shadows twisted and stretched like living tendrils, piercing the void and leading toward an unfathomable depth.
This was the Wandenreich — the Invisible Empire.
These pitch-black shadows were manifestations of pure-blood Quincy abilities — the Blut Vene Anhaben and the manipulation of shadow as portals and space.
It was through this ability that the Wandenreich established a hidden dimension beneath the very foundations of Soul Society — within the shadows of Seireitei — crafting a realm completely unnoticed for centuries.
A stronghold that had existed for over a thousand years.
These shadow-dimensions constantly devoured and latched onto Seireitei's spiritual shadows, allowing the Quincy to observe, study, and monitor the Shinigami silently.
Not even Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, the most powerful Shinigami of the past millennium, ever detected this slow, parasitic encroachment.
Because the spiritual fluctuations from the shadow expansion were imperceptibly faint.
Even Captain-class Shinigami couldn't sense such subtle spiritual distortions.
At the heart of the Wandenreich...
...stood an enormous ice palace, Silbern.
At its highest spire sat a massive crest, an unmistakable quincy cross, with its ends arcing outward in a star-shaped pattern.
"Tch."
"Didn't think you'd crawl out from your usual hideout."
A loud, dramatic voice broke the eerie stillness.
Leaning against a support pillar was a young man with a punkish vertical mohawk dyed purple, eyes of the same hue, a screw piercing his left ear and a nut in his right. He wore a black star-shaped pendant around his neck, fingerless gloves, armbands (the right with a skull pattern), and tattered pants paired with slit-collared shoes.
Bazz-B.
One of the Sternritter, pure-blooded Quincy with Holy Script letters, blessed personally by Yhwach.
He was one of the top combatants in the Wandenreich.
He pouted and turned toward a corridor.
There, a tall and slender figure emerged — long blond hair, ice-blue eyes, and sharp, refined features carrying a chilling indifference.
His posture was noble, cold, aristocratic.
Jugram Haschwalth.
Bazz-B's childhood friend — and also the "Balance", the one who would become Yhwach's other half — his "Heir of Power" during slumber.
"You're not guarding His Majesty today?"
Bazz-B shoved his hands deeper into his ripped pockets, curious.
Normally, Haschwalth stayed by Yhwach's side without fail — loyal to a fault, rarely ever leaving his station during His Majesty's sleep cycle.
"Use honorifics when speaking of His Majesty," Haschwalth replied flatly, his gaze locked onto the creeping darkness ahead.
"You stiff bastard—wait a second."
Bazz-B's tone cut off mid-sentence.
His pupils dilated slightly as he caught Haschwalth's eyes.
—Blood-red double pupils.
"In this world..."
"A strange soul has appeared."
Haschwalth ignored Bazz-B's confusion and continued, calm as death.
"There's a complication with His Majesty's sanctification."
"One of the Gemischt — a mixed-blood Quincy — has shown unusual resistance."
"His Majesty, while unconscious, cannot reclaim the soul fragment that should've returned to him."
In his dormant state, Yhwach's "Auswählen" — the Holy Selection — automatically drew back fragments of his soul from impure Quincy.
But this time... something was interfering.
In short—
Yhwach hadn't initiated sanctification consciously, and without that awareness, he couldn't properly extract the soul fragment. It would require him to wake and reclaim it manually, with intent.
To Bazz-B, this sounded insane.
"Sanctification... failed?"
"You serious, Haschwalth?"
Bazz-B's voice tightened, waves of unease running through him.
Resist Auswählen?
That shouldn't be possible.
All Quincy power originates from Yhwach.
Whether pure-blood (Echt) or mixed-blood (Gemischt), no Quincy could defy the call when His Majesty activated sanctification.
Even Sternritter with their Holy Script couldn't resist — if Yhwach willed it, he could strip everything from them in an instant.
And yet... a mere mixed-blood?
Invalidating sanctification?!
"You think I'm joking?"
Haschwalth's voice was sharper now. "Don't forget these eyes of mine."
"I have seen the future."
"What I saw... was a soul with an abnormally tenacious survival instinct."
"He dared to think — to attempt — to kill His Majesty."
Those dual red pupils shimmered.
Within them flowed cause, effect, past and future — the power of omniscience gifted to Haschwalth as Yhwach's other half.
Before those eyes, time and consequence were meaningless.
"...Madman."
Bazz-B muttered, silent for a long beat.
What kind of freak was this half-blood Quincy?
And was it even possible... that someone really could stand against sanctification?
"Send someone to remove him."
"Heretics have no place in His Majesty's new world."
Haschwalth's voice was cold as frost. He turned, walking deeper into the Ice Palace.
"But Bazz-B..."
"Don't disappoint me."
His parting words echoed through the corridor.
Bazz-B watched him go, the shadows swallowing his form.
Eventually, he too faded from view.
---
Real World. Karakura Town. Urahara Shop.
"Mr. Kurosaki... I—"
Urahara Kisuke was interrupted before he could even finish the sentence.
Kanbaru: "Abaa abaa."
"…"
Urahara Kisuke: "Actually, I—"
Kanbaru: "Abaa abaa."
"…!"
You little punk! Can you just listen for once?!
"Mr. Shopkeeper," Kanbaru suddenly said with a warm smile, voice like an overly polite knife.
"I've recently encountered a bit of a dilemma."
"And you, as an experienced, righteous merchant with integrity and morals…"
"I figured I could bother you for some wisdom, hmm?"
Urahara Kisuke: "…"
That's sarcasm, right? He's definitely insulting me politely!
Also... can you stop cutting me off and just let me TALK?!
"…Go ahead," Kisuke sighed, waving a hand.
"So here's the thing—"
"A big sister named Tifa told me that someone's about to try and trick me into becoming cannon fodder."
"She said I shouldn't agree no matter how convincing they sound."
"Now don't get me wrong — I'm obviously not referring to you, Mr. Shopkeeper."
"After all, a kind, trustworthy, completely honest man like yourself would never manipulate someone like me... right?"
Kanbaru gave a perfect smile — the smile of a fox disguised as a sheep.
Urahara Kisuke: "…"
You are 100% hinting at me, you little devil. I KNOW YOU ARE.
Also—
Did you just casually drop the name 'Tifa'? Is she hot?!