The execution of the lesser quincy soldiers was a mere prelude—a passing episode in the vast game now unfolding.
When Mazuru returned to the grand hall of Las Noches, his gaze fell coldly upon the three surviving members of the Sternritters.
"Your emperor seems to have abandoned you." he said evenly, his voice echoing across the marble hall. "Tell me—how should I deal with you?"
Cang Du, pale and blood-soaked, knelt at his feet. His right arm was gone, blood soaking through the white quincy cloak. Yet even in agony, his glare was defiant.
"Hmph… Kill me, torture me—it's up to you!"
He bared his teeth. "But even if you slaughter us today, Hueco Mundo will still fall! You'll die at His Majesty's hands, just like all the others!"
His hatred was palpable. Not only toward Mazuru, who had taken his arm and imprisoned him, but toward the one who had led him here—Haschwalth.
'If not for Haschwalth's absurd idea of an alliance.' he thought bitterly, 'His Majesty would never have agreed. We would have crushed Hueco Mundo outright instead of bowing to its filth.'
From the very beginning, he had believed alliance was folly. Hueco Mundo was weak, uncivilized, a cesspit of hollow beasts. It should have been conquered—its inhabitants turned into fodder for war. Or ignored completely until after the Soul Society's fall.
Now, because of that decision, their "diplomatic mission" had become a disaster. Mask and Askin were dead. And he, Cang Du—the iron-skinned fortress of the Wandenreich—was reduced to a one-armed prisoner.
Mazuru studied him for a moment and then spoke with mild disdain. "So you've decided to play the broken pot—throw out a few brave words before you die?"
Cang Du's nostrils flared. He didn't answer. He didn't have to.
Mazuru shifted his gaze to the other two—Bazz-B and Quilge Opie.
Cang Du was useless for interrogation, but the other two still had value.
He could, of course, extract information directly from Mask's imprisoned soul if he wished. Askin's soul on the other hand, had already been shattered—torn apart by Yhwach's recall.
So, for now, he would test the living before questioning the dead.
Just as his eyes settled on Bazz-B and Quilge, a ripple of spiritual distortion flickered through the air.
Mazuru's expression changed instantly.
A faint hum filled the hall.
Cang Du's body convulsed—then collapsed lifelessly onto the floor.
His soul was gone.
"...Tch."
Before Mazuru could move, Quilge Opie's body followed, falling stiffly beside him.
Bazz-B's eyes widened, realization dawning immediately. "You—he's performing—!"
But before he could finish, Mazuru's hand lifted.
Fwoosh.
A crimson barrier erupted through the hall, sealing the space. Inside, reishi threads twisted violently—fleeing toward an unseen pull.
Yhwach was reclaiming his fragments.
But this time, the King of Hueco Mundo was ready.
Countless Crimson Chains burst from Mazuru's barrier, snaring the stream of departing energy mid-flight. The phantom reishi screamed like torn fabric as the chains bound it tight—just as they had seized Yhwach's projection earlier through Askin.
The binding was absolute.
When the energy stilled, Mazuru glanced down at the corpses of the three quincy captives. Their eyes were empty, their bodies motionless.
He exhaled softly. "I underestimated you." he said quietly.
Far away, in the throne hall of the Wandenreich, Yhwach was speaking those same words.
"I underestimated you."
He stood before his obsidian throne, his hand raised, drawing two threads of light into his chest—Cang Du and Quilge's fragments.
He had activated Auswählen, reclaiming the souls from his fallen knights.
Originally, he believed Mazuru ignorant of his true ability. He had intended to retrieve the fragments quietly, severing the connection before the Hueco Mundo king could react.
After all, what use were prisoners?
Better to reclaim their power than let it rot.
He could always redistribute it later, or use it to resurrect the fallen.
But at that moment of recall—he had felt it.
A sudden interference.
Mazuru's barrier had caught one.
He had recovered two fragments successfully, but one—just one—had been intercepted and bound by the crimson chains of Hueco Mundo.
Out of five knights—Mask, Askin, Cang Du, Quilge, and Bazz-B—only two fragments had returned.
Three were now sealed beyond his reach.
An intolerable loss.
Once, long ago, Yhwach would have answered such defiance with annihilation. He would have torn open the dimensional veil and stormed Hueco Mundo himself.
But not now.
Now, he was older—and far more deliberate.
He closed his eyes. His voice rumbled through the silent hall. "How did you lose to him, Yamamoto Shigekuni?"
"Or perhaps…" His eyelids lifted slightly, a glimmer of cold amusement flickering within. "You grew old too."
He had no firsthand record of the battle between Mazuru and the former Head-Captain of the Gotei 13—only fragments of information.
That was a mistake he now regretted.
…
Back in Las Noches, silence reigned.
With the three quincy dead, Mazuru dismissed the guards and stood alone in the grand hall.
He extended his hand, and the Crimson Barrier surged once more, glowing brighter, stronger.
This time, he reinforced it—layer upon layer. He would not be caught off guard again by the Emperor's soul manipulation.
The marble floor rippled like a living sea of blood. From within it, several luminous spheres rose, floating in slow, steady arcs.
Mask's soul.
Bazz-B's soul.
And the fragment of Yhwach's soul he had intercepted.
Mazuru ignored the latter completely.
His eyes instead focused on the two quincy souls suspended before him. Within each one, he could sense something deeper—an alien pulse, the faint echo of another will.
Another presence.
"So that's it…" he murmured. "Hiding your soul inside another's."
Understanding dawned.
Until now, he had believed Yhwach implanted his soul fragments in Askin's body before sending them to Hueco Mundo.
But the truth was simpler—and more horrifying.
Yhwach's fragments had been in them from the very beginning.
"Is this the source of the Holy Schrift?" Mazuru whispered.
He remembered the words of Ishida Sōken long ago: when the Sternritter drank Yhwach's blood, they received their Schrift—their powers.
And now it was clear. That blood carried more than power.
It carried pieces of Yhwach's very soul.
Each quincy knight was not merely a soldier—they were vessels. Extensions of his essence.
Mazuru smiled faintly. "How interesting."
He turned toward the two souls before him.
Mask's spirit pulsed weakly, its aura absurdly heroic even in death. Bazz-B's soul, by contrast, flickered like an ember—defiant to the end.
After a long moment, Mazuru raised a hand and made his choice.
"I'll start with you, Bazz-B." he said quietly.
"As for you…" His eyes drifted toward Mask's glowing spirit. "…your 'superhero' act doesn't suit my taste."
*****
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✓ Killed For 100 Years in Hueco Mundo, Aizen Invited Me To Soul Society!
✓ Naruto: Senmei Asahi
✓ Naruto: Uchiha's Intelligence Dealer
✓ Naruto: The Fifth Hokage Is Naruto's Uncle
✓ Naruto: Who Made Him a Ninja?
✓ Bleach: In My Second Reincarnation, I Became The Ninth Kenpachi
✓ To Love-Ru: Spoiler Route [R-18]
✓ Naruto: The Accidental Incubus [R-18]