Soon, Harry's soul fragment left this world and returned to his true body, while the energy remaining inside his avatar condensed into a sapphire-and-crimson gem resembling an Infinity Stone.
At the same time, the captains arrived just in time to witness Harry's body shatter and transform into a gem radiating immense waves of Reiatsu.
Shunsui Kyōraku was the first to react. His half-lidded eyes suddenly opened wide.
"What... What happened?"
Before he had even finished speaking, he stepped forward and reached out to touch the gem, only to be repelled by its power.
"Captain Potter's Reiatsu... disappeared?" Jūshirō Ukitake rested one hand on the Zanpakutō at his waist, his face as pale as paper. He could clearly sense that the immense presence that had blanketed the Soul King Palace moments ago had been severed like a cut thread. "Could this be a backlash from absorbing the Soul King?"
Kenpachi Zaraki frowned and tightened his grip on his sword, disbelief filling his rough voice.
"Hey! Wasn't that kid unbelievably strong just a moment ago? How'd he suddenly turn into a rock? Is he dead?"
He stepped forward and prepared to split the gem apart with his sword, but Tōshirō Hitsugaya stopped him.
"Don't touch it! That gem contains the concentrated power of the Soul King. If the energy inside it explodes, every one of us will die instantly. Don't worry, Harry isn't dead. He'll appear in a moment."
The moment Hitsugaya finished speaking, everyone fell silent.
Considering the relationship between Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Harry, if he said Harry was fine, then Harry was most likely truly safe.
The captains attempted to sense the gem floating before them, hoping to determine what it was made of. However, no matter how carefully they probed it, they could only touch the cold membrane of light surrounding its surface. The blue and crimson radiance inside remained as motionless as stagnant water, without the slightest fluctuation.
Not long afterward, a sharp crack rang out from the empty space before them as spiderweb-like fractures spread through the air.
Dark light glimmered within the cracks, making the fabric of space resemble cloth being forcibly torn apart. Cold, dark energy surged from their depths, drawing in every mote of reishi nearby.
The captains froze and collectively turned toward Hitsugaya.
"Third Seat Hitsugaya, what is that?"
Momo Hinamori answered in his place.
"That's Harry's power. He's about to appear!"
The next second, the fractures expanded violently and formed a pitch-black portal more than ten feet tall. There seemed to be no end within it, only rotating specks of blue and crimson light flashing in the distance like imprisoned stars.
The captains tightened their grips on their Zanpakutō and stared warily at the unknown gateway. Then a familiar yet strangely unfamiliar figure slowly emerged from within.
It was Harry, but instead of the captain's haori they were accustomed to seeing, he wore an unusual sorcerer's robe.
As Harry stepped through the portal, the dark gateway began to contract. The fractures around its edges gradually healed, leaving only faint spatial ripples behind.
Harry stopped and brushed the dust from his shoulder. This was the first time his true body had entered the Soul Reaper world, and the experience felt completely different.
With the overwhelming power of his true body, he had always been able to forcibly draw upon the power of the Soul Reaper world. This time, however, there was no need to seize anything by force. The entire world welcomed his arrival and willingly allowed him to wield its power.
By this point, the Soul Reaper world had completely become Harry's creation.
He was now its creator god.
Harry retrieved the gem formed from the Soul King's authority and fused it into his body. He then looked across the stunned captains and smiled.
"Sorry for worrying everyone. I'm back. This is my true body. The one you knew before was merely an avatar."
The captains stared at the completely unharmed Harry, then glanced at the empty space that had already healed. Their previous anxiety and suspicion were instantly replaced by shock.
Shunsui opened his mouth, but it took him several seconds to find his voice.
"So that portal leads to another world? Can you take us to see other worlds?"
Harry did not refuse.
"Of course. I can take you into the wider multiverse right now. I have completely taken control of the Soul Reaper world, so I can construct a permanent gateway between this world and the multiverse. Once it is finished, all of you will be able to travel between them freely."
Seeing that Harry remained as friendly as ever and had not become arrogant after absorbing the Soul King and obtaining the power of a creator god, Shunsui finally relaxed.
"Then you have my thanks, Captain Potter. No, I suppose we should call you Lord Soul King now."
After absorbing the Soul King, Harry's control over the Soul Reaper world had reached its peak. Naturally, he could detect the restless elements concealed throughout Soul Society.
However, he did not immediately deal with them. He decided to wait until they awakened before determining what to do.
After all, the Quincy's Wandenreich was no insignificant force. If Harry could bring it under his control, it would provide him with considerable assistance.
Harry soon returned to the floating city and began preparing to construct a wormhole between the Soul Reaper world and the wider multiverse.
At the same time, he continued absorbing and digesting the Soul King's power. Once he had completely assimilated it, Harry would be able to mobilize the power of the Soul Reaper world whenever he wished.
That also meant he could use the power of a Soul Reaper to control the chaotic primordial power inside his body, permanently granting him universal-level strength.
Of course, the process would take some time, but not very long.
Meanwhile, after enough time had passed, Wakanda had finally discovered that an entire vibranium deposit had vanished. Recently, the nation had revealed its true power to the international community and begun pressuring various countries to help identify the culprit.
Its leaders first focused their suspicions on the Avengers. In their minds, only superhumans could possibly possess the power to move a vibranium deposit the size of a mountain.
Doctor Strange, whose portals allowed him to transport objects across great distances, came under particularly intense pressure.
Strange had been miserable during this entire ordeal. Had Kamar-Taj genuinely been uninvolved in the disappearance of the vibranium, he could have confidently mocked Wakanda's accusations.
Unfortunately, the mountain of vibranium had, in fact, been stolen by Kamar-Taj's previous Sorcerer Supreme. Strange could barely lift his head whenever Wakanda's representatives confronted him.
A portal suddenly opened before Harry, and a humid breeze from the New York Sanctum carried Strange's complaints into the room.
"Sorcerer Potter, you've got to hear me out! Those people from Wakanda are driving me insane!"
Harry had expected this day to come, but he pretended not to understand.
"What happened, Strange?"
Strange tugged irritably at his Cloak of Levitation, his voice filled with barely restrained anger.
"They unveiled their vibranium technology at the United Nations. Now the entire world knows they lost a mountain filled with vibranium. The moment they established themselves at the UN, they turned around and pointed the finger at the Avengers, especially me.
"They claim that only the Sorcerer Supreme, with access to large-scale spatial portals, could move an entire mountain without anyone noticing."
Strange waved his hand, conjuring a projection of one of Wakanda's stern-faced representatives.
"Look at this! Three different delegations show up at Avengers headquarters every day. They either demand that we surrender whoever stole their vibranium or insist that Kamar-Taj compensate them with an equal amount!
"Had I truly been uninvolved in the theft, I would have taught them a lesson already! But the problem is..."
His anger abruptly deflated, leaving behind frustrated helplessness.
"The problem is that the mountain really was stolen by Kamar-Taj's previous Sorcerer Supreme. You disappeared, and now the entire mess has been dumped on me!
"I can't exactly tell Wakanda that our former Sorcerer Supreme did it and that it had nothing to do with me. What would happen to Kamar-Taj's reputation?
"And that's what makes me angriest. This was your doing, but Wakanda is aiming every accusation at me!
"Yesterday, their representative even threatened to declare war on Kamar-Taj and impose sanctions on us unless we handed over the culprit. Tell me that isn't unfair.
"I already have enough multiversal disasters to deal with, and now I'm stuck on Earth taking the blame for your vibranium theft!
"Don't you have a solution? Find a scapegoat or something and settle this permanently. You can't expect me to remain Wakanda's punching bag forever."
Harry raised his eyebrows so high they nearly disappeared into his hairline. He stared at Strange in utter disbelief, as though looking at a child creating problems for himself over something trivial.
"Are you joking?" Harry asked incredulously. "Wakanda thinks that because it possesses vibranium, it can stand outside Kamar-Taj and cause trouble?"
He stepped forward, and faint blue and crimson light shimmered around his body. While assimilating the Soul King's authority, Harry could not perfectly control his new power. Even a moment of emotional agitation caused some of it to leak out.
Harry spoke without the slightest attempt at diplomacy.
"The next time their representatives appear, tell them they can either behave themselves and wait for the investigation to conclude or prepare for war with us.
"Do they really think possessing one mountain of vibranium gives them the right to do whatever they please and bully Kamar-Taj?
"It doesn't matter that they only lost a single mountain. Even if every piece of vibranium in Wakanda vanished, that would not give them the right to mistreat us!
"The only reason you've suffered this humiliation is because you've been too tolerant. When dealing with unreasonable enemies like these, you must be even more forceful than they are!"
Harry grew angrier with every word. He had never imagined Wakanda would bully Kamar-Taj so shamelessly. In that case, Wakanda would simply have to pay the price.
Then one sentence from Strange extinguished Harry's anger completely.
"Wait, Harry. Did you forget that you really did steal an entire mountain of vibranium from Wakanda? They aren't falsely accusing us.
"And once our expanded floating city makes its first public appearance, there'll be no concealing its vibranium shell. Wakanda will immediately realize that we were the real culprits."
Harry fell silent.
After a moment, he waved his hand helplessly.
"That wasn't stealing. I borrowed it. I'll return it to Wakanda eventually.
"Forget about Wakanda. Just ignore them. Cast Muggle-Repelling Charms against Wakandan agents around Avengers headquarters and reinforce the Muggle-Repelling Charms protecting the New York Sanctum. Don't let them find us. They can make as much noise as they like after that."
Strange waved dismissively.
"Fine. We'll do it your way."
Once Strange left, Harry immediately put Wakanda out of his mind and returned to studying the Soul King's authority, particularly how he could make the Soul Reaper world bear the burden of the primordial chaos power within him.
As long as the Soul Reaper world could carry that power for him, his strength would increase dramatically, allowing him to maintain universal-level power under normal conditions.
At that point, he would truly be able to do whatever he wanted.
The first thing he intended to do after reaching the universal level was cause trouble for Hell and the Dark Dimension.
Of course, the rulers of Hell and the Dark Dimension were both multiversal-level beings. However, if Harry possessed universal-level strength in his normal state, the power he could unleash while overloaded or completely out of control would increase tremendously compared to before.
If he could enter the Hell Dimension and fully release the primordial chaos power within his body, he might truly be able to destroy the entire dimension in a single attack.
What Harry did not know was that a conspiracy targeting him and involving the entire multiverse was quietly unfolding in the shadows.
Deep within the Dark Aster, bands of blue energy wound their way beneath the metallic dome, casting a cold sheen across Thanos's purple skin.
Thanos sat upon a floating obsidian throne with the Infinity Gauntlet wrapped around one hand. Although the Gauntlet contained no Infinity Stones, it was still capable of exerting tremendous power.
Even more surprisingly, Thanos's own aura had grown enormously stronger than before.
Had Harry been present, he would have immediately recognized the source. Thanos was being empowered by the combined energies of numerous dimensions whose rulers considered Harry their enemy. Only such a convergence of dimensional power could have elevated Thanos to a level approaching universal strength.
Clearly, Thanos had received assistance from several Dimensional Demon Gods.
"Earth's defenses are more troublesome than we anticipated," Ebony Maw said as he floated beneath the throne. His cold, serpentine voice bore an unsettling resemblance to Voldemort's. "Besides the Avengers, the wizard called Harry Potter has become increasingly active throughout the multiverse.
"His power continues to grow. We are no longer his match. Unless he is dealt with, attacking Earth will cost us dearly."
Thanos slowly raised his eyes. A solemn glint passed through his crimson pupils, while a cruel smile spread across his face.
"I do not need to defeat him. Someone else will keep him occupied."
As soon as he finished speaking, distorted patterns of dark purple light appeared above his palm. Within them materialized the blurred projection of a godlike being.
Fragments of shattered space and time revolved around the projection. Its voice seemed to come from countless divergent timelines at once, producing a droning vibration that threatened to tear apart the listener's eardrums.
"Thanos, our agreement remains in effect. That boy has disrupted our plans repeatedly. We must take revenge on him.
"We will help you invade Earth. In return, you need only deliver Harry Potter's relatives to us."
"Of course. This arrangement benefits us both." Thanos lightly tapped his fingers against the armrest of his throne as dark purple energy circulated around him. "Your gifts have increased my power dozens of times over. When the time comes, you will drag Harry into the gaps between universes. Once he is gone, no one on Earth will be capable of opposing me."
The divine projection disappeared.
Thanos abruptly clenched his fist and issued an order to his subordinates...
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