When the group was only a short distance from the central region of the Soul King Palace, the densely concentrated reishi in the air suddenly became active.
Such a phenomenon meant that at least one Soul Reaper with Spirit Class One power was waiting ahead. Only a presence of that magnitude could cause the surrounding reishi to resonate instinctively.
Anyone below lieutenant class would be incapable of influencing the reishi environment within the Soul King Palace.
Sure enough, the instant Harry stepped onto the central staircase of the reishi forest, five razor-sharp waves of Reiatsu erupted from deep within the trees. Like blades being drawn from their sheaths, they immediately locked onto him.
A second later, five figures leaped from the shadows of the reishi trees and landed firmly on both sides of the staircase.
They stood a short distance from Harry, the emblems of the number zero embroidered upon their robes gleaming dark gold beneath the light.
They were the exclusive guardians of the Soul King Palace, Squad Zero.
According to legend, Squad Zero possessed enough strength to surpass the entire Gotei 13.
Standing at the front of the group, Kirio Hikifune crossed her arms. Beneath her voluminous pink hair, her eyes were as sharp as those of a hunting hawk.
"Outsider, stop. The Soul King Palace is forbidden ground. Those who do not possess an Ōken are not permitted to enter."
Her voice was not loud, yet the surrounding area immediately fell silent.
Shunsui Kyōraku casually hooked a finger beneath the cord of his haori. A faint smile appeared in his half-lidded eyes.
"There's no need to be so impatient, Miss Hikifune. We haven't come here to invade the Soul King Palace."
His gaze returned to Harry, and his smile deepened.
"Captain Potter here intends to become the new Soul King. We merely accompanied him to the palace."
Rather than relaxing after hearing Shunsui's explanation, the members of Squad Zero became even more vigilant.
Threads wound around Senjumaru Shutara's fingertips. The strands glowed with pale purple reishi and wove themselves into a fine net through the air, subtly sealing off Harry's path of retreat.
"What is your purpose in coming to the Soul King Palace?" she demanded.
Harry had no intention of hiding anything.
"I intend to completely inherit the Soul King's authority, take control of this world, and prevent it from being destroyed when the Soul King dies."
Ichibē Hyōsube stepped forward and answered in a deep voice, "I do not know how you obtained that information, but Squad Zero will never allow you to continue. The defenses of the Soul King Palace are not so easily breached. As for the Soul King's condition, we will resolve that ourselves."
Harry remained unconcerned.
"And yet I have already reached this place."
Senjumaru spoke coldly. "Your ability is undoubtedly unusual. You dismantled the seventy-two barriers and the Shakonmaku, but the defenses of the Soul King Palace cannot be overcome through brute force alone.
"You should remember that Squad Zero is the final line of defense."
Harry stopped and looked across the five of them.
In addition to Hikifune and Senjumaru, there was Ōetsu Nimaiya, who carried an enormous axe, Tenjirō Kirinji, who had a medicine case strapped to his back, and Ichibē Hyōsube, whose body was wrapped in bandages.
Even while facing the members of Squad Zero, Harry's voice remained perfectly calm.
"I have no desire to become your enemy, but if you insist on preventing me from reaching the Soul King's palace, then you will have to forgive my discourtesy."
It was obvious that the members of Squad Zero had no intention of yielding.
The moment Harry finished speaking, Ōetsu attacked first.
Gripping the massive axe with both hands, he swung it down at Harry. The blade unleashed a scorching torrent of reishi that split the trees along its path in half. Even the staircase beneath them began to crack.
Harry merely raised one hand.
The stream of light in his palm transformed into a barrier. The instant the scorching torrent struck it, the attack was dismantled layer by layer and reduced to countless tiny particles of light that dispersed into the air.
"What?"
Ōetsu's pupils contracted. Never had he seen anyone neutralize one of his attacks with such ease.
Realizing that the situation was unfavorable, Senjumaru quickly swept her hands forward.
The threads surrounding her fingertips shot out like venomous serpents and twisted toward Harry's limbs. The reishi infused within them was capable of restraining even captain-class Reiatsu.
Just before the threads touched Harry, however, a surge of silver-white reishi erupted from his body and enveloped them.
The seemingly indestructible threads rapidly disintegrated inside the light, becoming pale reishi particles that were absorbed into the current.
Hikifune's expression darkened. She formed a series of hand seals, causing the reishi around her to surge violently.
Countless reishi vines suddenly grew from the ground. Covered in sharp thorns, they twisted toward Harry from every direction.
The vines contained immense vitality. Even if they were severed, they could regenerate almost instantly.
Harry shifted his feet and avoided them. At the same time, the current of light around his fingertips divided into several narrow threads that accurately pierced the roots of the vines and completely dismantled their reishi structure.
The vines immediately lost their strength. They withered and dissolved into reishi.
Three members of Squad Zero had attacked in succession, yet Harry had effortlessly stopped all of them.
Tenjirō's expression became grim. He snorted and withdrew a needle from his medicine case. Green reishi gleamed at its tip.
It was the Soul-Suppressing Needle, one of his secret weapons, capable of instantly paralyzing a soul.
He flicked the needle forward. It tore through the air and shot directly toward Harry's forehead.
Harry turned aside to avoid it, then raised one hand and closed his fingers.
Silver-white light immediately surrounded the Soul-Suppressing Needle. The green reishi covering it was rapidly disassembled until nothing remained but an ordinary metal needle.
It fell onto the staircase with a crisp metallic sound.
While Harry was avoiding the needle, Ichibē seized the opening and finally attacked.
His brush swept through the air, leaving behind black reishi that formed the word "Seal."
The instant the word was completed, it transformed into an enormous black barrier that completely enveloped Harry.
The reishi patterns across its surface twisted around him like chains, attempting to seal his Reiatsu entirely.
"This is the Word-Spirit Seal. Whatever my ink writes becomes law," Ichibē declared, his voice deep and commanding.
"Your Reiatsu has been completely sealed. You can no longer use your Zanpakutō ability. Your reishi disassembly is useless before my power."
Harry looked at the black barrier before him.
The Reiatsu inside his body completely ignored Ichibē's seal, and the reishi light in his palm continued to flow without interruption.
Under Ichibē's astonished gaze, Harry slowly raised his hand and pressed the stream of light against the barrier.
The silver-white current collided violently with the black reishi patterns, causing the entire barrier to tremble.
"Your world is unusual. Even its laws are composed of reishi," Harry said from within the barrier.
"If something is made of reishi, it can be disassembled. Battles between Soul Reapers are fundamentally battles of Reiatsu, but Reiatsu itself is rooted in the laws of this world. As long as the laws I command supersede yours, your ability cannot affect me."
The moment he finished speaking, silver-white light erupted and flooded into the patterns covering the black barrier.
The black reishi markings began to fade layer by layer, and the strokes forming the word "Seal" gradually became indistinct.
Finally, with a faint cracking sound, the entire barrier disintegrated. It transformed into countless black reishi particles and merged with Harry's light.
The five members of Squad Zero stood on either side of the staircase, their expressions grim.
They had never imagined that even by joining forces, they would be incapable of delaying Harry for more than a moment.
Harry lowered his hand, and the reishi light surrounding him slowly receded.
He resumed walking toward the Soul King's palace, his steps remaining calm and steady.
The members of Squad Zero looked furious when the young man simply ignored them and continued forward.
In the next instant, their Reiatsu surged dramatically.
The five immense presences rose like mountains erupting from the earth, placing so much pressure on the surrounding reishi that tiny fractures began appearing throughout the air.
"Boy, you are far too arrogant. It seems I must teach you how to respect your elders!"
Hikifune moved first.
The Cage of Life burst from the ground beneath her palm. Pale green vines covered in thorns twisted toward Harry.
Before they could touch the edge of his robes, a brilliant silver blade flashed through the air.
The attack was so fast that its path could not be seen. There was only a quiet tearing sound as every vine reaching toward Harry was severed at the root.
At the same moment, blood erupted from Hikifune's chest as a massive wound appeared across her body.
Harry held Dangai Reitō in his hand, its blade shining with brilliant spiritual light.
He did not turn to look at the damage caused by his attack. He merely shifted one step to the side, avoiding the Zanpakutō that Ōetsu swung toward him.
Harry immediately counterattacked.
Dangai Reitō moved as though it possessed eyes of its own, accurately striking the back of Ōetsu's blade.
A clear metallic clang echoed through the forest.
Ōetsu felt his palms go numb, and his Zanpakutō was knocked from his hands.
Before he could recover, Harry's blade had already pierced his chest.
Without giving the others time to react, Harry tapped one foot against the staircase and moved toward Senjumaru like a phantom.
She had only just woven the Heavenly Gauze Robe, a garment capable of imprisoning spirit bodies, when Dangai Reitō sliced through its barrier and severed the segmented limbs extending behind her.
Senjumaru cried out and staggered backward, temporarily losing the ability to resist.
Seeing this, Ichibē no longer dared to hold back.
His brush descended, and its ink transformed into a Sealing Curse Sigil that pressed toward Harry's forehead.
Harry abruptly turned.
Dangai Reitō traced a perfect arc through the air. The instant its golden radiance collided with the ink curse, the curse melted away like snow beneath the sun.
Harry closed the distance and lightly struck the shaft of Ichibē's brush with the back of his blade.
The brush fell to the ground with a clatter, while the edge of Dangai Reitō pierced Ichibē's heart.
The only remaining member, Tenjirō, raised his Zanpakutō and attempted to ambush Harry.
Harry turned his wrist, and Dangai Reitō released a golden blade of light.
It knocked the Zanpakutō from Tenjirō's hand before slicing across his limbs and severing them.
In the space of only a few seconds, all five members of Squad Zero had been incapacitated.
Harry stood among them with the silver blade in his hand. The golden light flowing across its edge gradually faded.
The wind of the Soul King Palace swept through the loose strands of hair hanging over his forehead. His eyes remained as calm as a dark lake, as though he had not just participated in a brutal battle.
"I didn't want to fight," Harry said indifferently. "Don't force me."
The members of Squad Zero had turned deathly pale.
The abilities in which they had taken such pride had been completely powerless before Harry.
They no longer possessed any means of stopping him. All they could do was watch as he continued into the deepest region of the Soul King Palace.
There were no physical walls in the palace's innermost chamber, only an endless sea of reishi light.
Pale golden particles floated like fragments of distant stars. Rivers of light flowed beneath Harry's feet, producing delicate ripples with every step he took.
At the center of the luminous sea floated a sacred throne carved from pure white spirit crystal.
The Soul King sat upon it.
He possessed no distinct facial features. His body was wrapped in a translucent membrane of light, beneath which countless delicate strands of reishi could be seen twisting together like veins to form the outline of a human being.
He did not breathe or make the slightest sound, yet His immense presence unmistakably revealed Him to be the anchor of the entire world.
The currents within the sea of reishi, the direction of the rivers of light, and even the faint vibrations in the surrounding air rose and fell in accordance with His will.
Harry walked toward the sacred throne one step at a time.
Dangai Reitō had already disappeared from his hand. In its place, crimson power from the Chaos Origin wound around his fingertips.
Harry had now concentrated all of his power within the world of the Soul Reapers.
Without hesitation, he reached out and pressed his hand against the Soul King.
The instant the crimson light around Harry's fingers touched the Soul King's pale blue radiance, the sea of light began surging violently.
Golden particles rushed toward them, gathering into a rotating vortex of light.
The Soul King's body rapidly disintegrated and flowed through Harry's palm into his body.
There was no pain, only an intense heat accompanied by the sensation of something vast filling every part of him.
Reishi flowed through Harry's veins and intertwined with the power of the Chaos Origin. The merging energies colored his pupils with interwoven gold and crimson light.
The Soul King's outline began to disappear.
The luminous membrane surrounding Him transformed into countless strands that wrapped around Harry's arm like vines. They penetrated his skin and left pale blue markings behind.
The sacred throne disintegrated within the vortex.
The currents in the sea of reishi gradually slowed until they began rising and falling in rhythm with Harry's breathing.
His body started radiating an immense presence similar to that of the Soul King.
Rivers of light flowed around his ankles, and star-like particles settled upon the ends of his hair, as though Harry himself had become the new sacred throne.
When the final trace of the Soul King's luminous membrane merged into Harry's chest, he slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the movement of the entire sea of reishi was reflected within his gaze.
When Harry raised his hand, the rivers of light changed direction according to his movements.
When he closed his fist, the reishi surrounding him became solid and assembled itself into numerous different physical objects.
An unknown amount of time passed before the sea of light in the depths of the Soul King Palace finally became calm.
Harry alone remained standing at its center.
He had successfully absorbed the Soul King and inherited His authority.
Harry slowly exhaled. Faint blue and crimson light intertwined within his breath.
At that moment, he was both Harry Potter's soul avatar and the new anchor of the Soul Reaper world, bearing the authority that had once belonged to the Soul King.
Once everything was complete, Harry snapped his fingers.
The body of his avatar began turning transparent.
Blue reishi and crimson light were drawn from him like unraveling threads. They streamed out of his body and gathered before him, forming a world core in which blue and crimson energies intertwined.
Harry lowered his eyes and watched his hand gradually become translucent as he examined his current condition.
He now intended to withdraw the soul of his avatar from this body and reunite it with his true self.
There was not the slightest resistance during the process. It felt no more difficult than removing a thin outer garment, proceeding with astonishing ease.
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