bookbashuk Chapter 1 The Spirit King...disappeared?
Chapter 1 The Spirit King...disappeared?
Lingwang Palace
The monk and Wang Yue were sitting together, discussing the recent chaos in the Soul Society.
The spiritual tea floating in front of them had stopped steaming, but the topic of conversation was far more serious than the tea itself.
The chaos in Soul Society has lasted for hundreds of years. If it continues like this, Soul Society will not be able to develop properly.
As he spoke, the monk Hyōshūbe Ichibei suddenly raised his head.
The clear sky above the Spirit King Palace, which had been meticulously maintained, suddenly darkened without warning.
It was neither a solar eclipse nor the gathering of dark clouds, but rather the removal of some more fundamental 'light'.
An indescribable, enormous "curtain" descends from an unobservable height; it is itself a dark entity, devouring light, devouring color, and even subtly devouring the sense of space.
No, this is not true devouring, but erosion! That curtain, like another world, descended from another dimension, invading their world and bringing down this darkness that does not belong to this dimension.
The sun's rays appeared pale and powerless before this curtain, like a stone thrown into a deep pool, swallowed up without even causing a ripple.
"...What...happened?"
Wang Yue looked up, somewhat shocked, as the world grew darker and darker. He gazed up at the darkness that was constantly sinking, as if it were about to envelop the entire Spirit King Palace, but he could not sense anything in his spiritual sense.
It's as if everything you see doesn't exist in your spiritual perception!
The monk frowned slightly, turned his head, and suddenly turned towards the deepest part of the Spirit King's Palace.
"Oh no! Lord Spirit King... is in danger!"
The darkness that seemed to engulf the entire world descended, making the Spirit King Palace grow darker and darker.
The monk's ability is to control darkness, even the entire night in Soul Society, but at this moment he is helpless against the descending curtain of darkness!
He and Wang Yue immediately stood up, along with the other royal agents in the Spirit King Palace, all of whom looked towards the main hall of the Spirit King Palace, the inner palace of the Spirit King!
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the dark curtain covering the sky changed.
Within that pure, unfathomable darkness, something even deeper permeates—the shadow of a shadow, the darkness of darkness itself.
It has no fixed form; sometimes it is like flowing fog, and sometimes like a still abyss.
What's even more unsettling is that it doesn't seem to exist entirely in this dimension; rather, it's more like a 'gaze' from an unknown realm cast through a crack in the curtain of the world.
Although they couldn't see it, they could sense that above the Spirit King's inner sanctum, a pair of cold and indifferent eyes seemed to have opened.
The depths of his pupils seemed to reflect the workings of the entire universe, overlooking everything in the world.
"Lord Soul King!"
The monk disregarded everyone else and immediately flew towards the inner palace of the Spirit King. His speed was so great that he could traverse the many palaces of the Spirit King's palace in an instant.
However, the arrival of that darkness descending from the higher dimensions seemed to transcend the concept of speed.
The monk could only watch helplessly as the deepest darkness, which seemed to contain the entire night sky of the universe, flowed into the gate of the Spirit King's inner palace, as if returning to its nest.
Immediately afterwards—
The darkness disappeared.
It didn't disappear; rather, it 'retracted' without a trace, just as abruptly as it appeared.
Light returned, and the Spirit King Palace returned to normal, as if the darkness that had just swallowed everything was merely a collective illusion.
But Hyosube Ichibei's heart sank to a depths colder than the darkness.
He stood within the inner sanctum, at the very heart of the world, where the very existence of the three realms was intertwined.
He stood frozen in place, his eyes, which had seen millions of years of the Soul Society, now filled with unbelievable shock.
Center.
That enormous, crystal-clear Soul King Crystal, which embodies all the technology, wisdom, and power accumulated since the birth of Soul Society, was used to fix the Soul King's body and will...
It's empty!
Originally suspended within it, the body of the Spirit King, though its limbs had been severed and its power sealed, was still the cornerstone of the Three Realms…
Vanished without a trace!
There was no sound of crystal shattering, no trace of spiritual pressure erupting, no resistance, and not even a trace of its existence. The crystal remained intact, its smooth surface reflecting Ichibei Hyosube's pale face, while inside there was only emptiness!
Lord Ling has disappeared.
It wasn't just his body. Hyosube Ichibei could clearly feel that the connection he had made with the Spirit King through the "King's Key," which was imprinted deep within his soul, had also vanished!
It disappeared completely, vanished without a trace!
A cold, numbing sensation shot up his spine, instantly freezing his limbs and bones.
"...Oh no."
He muttered to himself, his voice dry and hoarse, like the friction of sand.
The cornerstone that maintains the balance of the three realms has disappeared.
The human world, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo, which are separated and stabilized by the power of the Soul King, will collapse once the power of the Soul King is no longer maintained, and countless people will die!
only……
The shock he had imagined did not occur.
The collapse did not begin.
This means that...
The Spirit King may not have died, but rather broken free from the seal!
But regardless of the type, it made the monks turn pale.
Even if the Spirit King hadn't died, a king who could freely roam the mortal realm was something none of them wanted to see.
The Soul Society regards Adnes as the Soul King precisely because he is merely a harmless statue.
Because it was just a symbol, people didn't care that there was a king who didn't care about anything.
And the fact that they were able to make the Spirit King a symbol in the first place was not something to be proud of.
"Monk, what happened?"
Wang Yue finally arrived at the inner palace of the Spirit King, and he asked nervously as well.
"..."
The monk continued staring at the empty crystal, and after a long while, he said softly:
"This world is either about to be destroyed, or... about to change drastically."
He turned around and walked away from Wang Yue, saying as he went:
"Get ready. No one is allowed to divulge the news of Lord Spirit King's disappearance. The information must be kept strictly confidential."
Wang Yue also saw the empty crystal at that moment and showed a shocked expression as well.
He also knew...
What does this mean?
However, what neither of them saw was that the crystal was not empty; there was at least one man inside, emitting a strange light.
"The Spirit King's Great Tonic Pill, even Yhwach said it was good."
The man's voice seemed to belong to another dimension; no one could hear it.
"Although I don't have much power, I have the status of the old king. The power of the Soul King that Yhwach couldn't finish can all go into my stomach."