Chapter 42: The Empty Throne
Watching the wary glances of most of the Shinigami gathered over my shoulder, the amused look didn’t leave my face as they grew more restless the longer I went without answering Shunsui’s question.
I also noticed Ichigo tensing up beside me, stepping a little closer, which only made the Shinigami even more wary at the possibility of him standing against them. I couldn’t hold back the chuckle I’d been suppressing any longer.
“Wahaha, relax, Ichigo,” I said with a laugh as I finally turned around fully to face them. “I highly doubt these fine gentlemen and ladies would be stupid enough to attack us right now, given the current circumstances.”
Placing a hand on Ichigo’s shoulder, I gave it a small reassuring squeeze. His slightly tense shoulders relaxed, and he nodded at me.
That alone caused most of the Shinigami, like Kisuke, Yoruichi, and the Visoreds, to ease up as well. Kisuke even let out a slightly exaggerated sigh of relief.
“To answer your question,” I said, turning my gaze to Shunsui and his lieutenant, Nanao Ise, who had just arrived, “you can relax. I have no ill will whatsoever toward the Soul Society.” Some of the sharper ones immediately noted my specific wording but stayed silent.
“It’s the exact opposite, actually. I couldn’t give two shits about any of you, with maybe one or two exceptions. I promise you on my name, Caius Aurelius, that my actions will not endanger the stability of the Three Worlds.”
Once more, Shunsui and especially Kisuke noticed the careful wording I had used. But with how dire the current situation was and no time to waste, they had little choice but to accept it.
Shunsui let out a small sigh and lowered the brim of his hat with a nod. “Very well. We’ll take you at your word then, Mr. Aurelius.”
Seeing me nod, everyone else relaxed a bit more. With the atmosphere shifting, Kisuke stepped forward with his usual wide smile.
“Well now that the pleasantries are out of the way, should we get moving? I don’t know why the current barrier surrounding the Soul King Palace is down, but we cannot linger in case it recovers,” Kisuke informed the group, earning determined nods all around.
“Oh, that was me. My bad,” I said, raising a hand casually and drawing their attention once again. Some of them blinked in surprise.
There was a brief silence before it was broken by Yoruichi.
“…You mean you’re the one who caused that monstrous beam of pure destruction?” she asked in a deadpan tone. Seeing my grin, she let out a sigh. “Of course you did.”
“Anyway, I’m heading on ahead. I took the liberty of healing some Shinigami while I was at it a while back, and they should be arriving here any minute now. Toodles~” I said before my draconic wings sprouted from my back.
In less than a second, I was already a mere dot in the sky, leaving everyone behind.
‘There’s literally nothing stopping me from ending this and getting the hell out of this world. Besides, I don’t think the Shinigami are going to be too happy with me if they see me devouring their God, even if I intend to do something so the Three Worlds don’t collapse.’ I thought silently as the Soul King Palace rapidly approached.
‘I’m not forgetting anything, am I, Astra?’ I asked my always reliable and lovely partner just to be sure.
“No, Caius-sama. I already have everything prepared for the Soul King’s replacement. All that’s needed is for you to devour him, Yhwach, Gerard Valkyrie, and make a quick trip back to the World of the Living to pick up everyone else,” Astra reassured me with a happy tone.
‘Great. How’s the portal coming along? Already got some coordinates?’ I asked, not surprised in the slightest by her meticulous nature.
“Affirmative. I have already picked some coordinates, so our destination is set,” Astra replied with a chirp.
“Then that means the ball is in my court now,” I said with a smirk before focusing on the people watching from inside me.
“Now watch closely how your former King gets devoured by a slime of all things,” I declared in amusement. In the next moment, I had arrived.
Immediately taking in the scene before me, I saw Yhwach’s remaining Schutzstaffel, along with Jugram, facing off against the Royal Guard inside Kirio Hikifune’s Cage of Life.
From the looks of it, the Zero Squad was on its last legs, barely hanging on against the Quincy.
Turning my gaze upward, I spotted Yhwach and Ichibē still locked in combat, with the former clearly holding the advantage.
Since I wasn’t concealing my presence anymore, there was no need for it in these final hours, the others noticed me instantly. The fighting ground to a halt.
The Schutzstaffel and Royal Guard, being closest, turned toward me with a mix of surprise, wariness, and open anger on their faces.
Jugram in particular stared at me with a complicated expression, rage mixed with fear. He must have realized they were in deep shit. Yhwach still hadn’t devoured the Soul King, after all. He needed Ichigo to break the seal first.
“Aurelius-san!” Uryū exclaimed in surprise, his face quickly shifting into a nervous expression.
“Yo, Uryū,” I greeted calmly, raising a hand with a small smile. “I know you’re pulling the whole ‘join the enemy to take down the bigger bad’ routine, but I’m sorry to say I don’t really care for that kind of theatrics. I’m on a bit of a tight schedule, you see.”
My words drew surprised, and furious, looks from his fellow Quincy as Uryū paled.
Not caring in the slightest, and seeing one of the Royal Guard about to speak, I used Instant Motion to teleport inside the Cage of Life, appearing directly in front of Gerard.
“So I hope you don’t mind me finishing this,” I continued. My hand was already glowing with Battlewill as it sliced through the air in a clean arc. Gerard’s head flew from his shoulders before he could even react. I devoured him with Beelzebuth in the next breath.
An instant later, I repeated the process with Lille Barro, bisecting him cleanly and consuming him just as quickly. Another use of Instant Motion brought me in front of Jugram, who, to his credit, had already taken a defensive stance.
Instead of cutting him down immediately like the others, I paused for a moment to see what he would say.
“Abomination!” Jugram snarled, his voice thick with rage. Even so, he couldn’t hide the terror lurking behind his eyes.
Hearing a voice in the back of my mind, I smirked and passed the message along.
“Bazz-B says hi,” I said calmly. In the next instant, my sword appeared in my hand. Jugram’s head rolled from his shoulders before he was devoured as well.
Turning to the only remaining Quincy, who had completely broken character and was now gaping at me with wide eyes and an open mouth, I smirked.
“Like I said, I’m in a bit of a hurry. Now take a nap for a while, will ya?” I said, appearing beside him.
“W-What do you mea—”
He never finished. My hand came down on his shoulder, knocking him out cold before I absorbed him into my Imaginary Space, leaving me alone with the Royal Guard.
Turning to face them, I saw them tense up in fresh wariness, which only amused me further.
“I take it we’re next?” Senjumaru Shutara asked calmly, though her wariness was clear.
“Heh, sorry, but small fry like you don’t interest me,” I replied with a slight mocking tone, earning narrowed eyes from the group.
A moment later, I teleported outside the Cage of Life and snapped my fingers, forming a barrier around them and trapping them inside.
“So why don’t you all just stay put while I bring an end to this silly little war?” I asked with a smirk, watching them turn toward me with furious frowns.
Not caring what they had to say, I ignored their protests and turned toward my true prizes, just in time to see Yhwach reduce Ichibē to hundreds of bloody chunks of meat.
=====
Coming to a stop behind the mustached bastard, I floated calmly in the air as he slowly turned to face me, rage burning in his eyes.
“And thus there were two,” I said calmly, a small smirk playing across my face as I hovered across from him.
“…Abomination,” Yhwach muttered, the same word Jugram had used, as he eyed me warily. “I should’ve known that not even a piece of the Soul King could stand against you.”
Using Instant Motion, I appeared before the scattered remains of Ichibē and extended my hand, devouring every bloody chunk before turning back to Yhwach.
“Hope you don’t mind I took care of him,” I said happily. “There was no way I could resist a snack this rare when it was all but presented to me.”
My words only made him narrow his eyes further.
“Why is it that I still can’t perceive you?” Yhwach muttered, more to himself than to me. “While you might have devoured Pernida Parnkgjas and Gerard Valkyrie, that was only done recently. You have remained invisible to me even before our invasion began.”
I wasn’t sure if he was actually asking me a question, but I decided to humor him anyway. There was nothing wrong with mocking this guy when he looked so pitiful.
“It seems without those fancy eyes of yours, you are truly nothing more than a pitiful creature,” I answered calmly, my face blank. That got his full attention, and he sneered at me.
“Even when you already know the answer, you still refuse to believe it when it’s been staring you in the face this entire time since our first meeting, huh?” I mocked, a smile growing on my face.
That apparently hit a sore spot. Yhwach appeared beside me in the next moment, hand extended, clearly trying to grab me and absorb my power.
Unfortunately for the bastard, to me he might as well have been standing still. I lashed out with my right foot and sent him crashing down onto the platform leading directly to the Soul King’s chamber.
Appearing beside him a moment later, I waited as he pulled himself out of the crater he had created and continued.
“I’ll take that as a yes. So let me enlighten you then, O Mighty Son of the Soul King, Adnyeus, and Father of all Quincy, Yhwach,” I said, my voice dripping with mockery as I listed his titles.
Yhwach said nothing. Instead, he launched a hail of Heilig Pfeil that were instantly devoured.
Not even acknowledging the attack, I continued, irritating him further.
“The Almighty, while a formidable ability, cannot see the Soul King, as your power originates from him. But do you know what else it can’t see?” I asked calmly, unbothered when Yhwach appeared before me with his Reishi sword, attempting to bisect me in two.
With the use of Instant Motion, I appeared a short distance behind him, just outside his reach, and continued as if nothing had happened.
“It cannot see those from outside this reality… or those with the power to alter the very laws of existence.”
To prove my point, my hand flashed, still holding my sword. In an instant, his left arm was gone.
“Gghk! Bastard!” Yhwach grunted before launching into a desperate attack against me.
It proved futile, though.
With the Almighty powerless against me, our clash had become nothing more than a contest of skill and strength, and I far outclassed him by this point. It wasn’t even funny.
Still, I let him try for a moment, just to let the despair of his hopeless situation truly sink in.
No matter what he threw at me, nothing worked, neither physical attacks nor energy-based ones.
In a turn of bitter irony, our so-called fight was exactly what his opponents experienced when facing the Almighty: a hopeless situation where your enemy seemed to know every move you’d make before you did.
No matter how hard you struggled, the truth of your situation slowly settled in until you finally accepted the futility of it all.
Watching him struggle with everything he had to kill me quickly grew boring, so I decided to end it.
“This is truly pitiful,” I muttered, dodging another desperate sword slash before letting out a sigh. I activated a new ability Astra had been secretly working to recreate, one she had revealed to me before the war even began.
It was the perfect moment to use it, too. I could already sense the Shinigami I had left behind in Soul Society making their way toward us.
“Time Stop,” I muttered quietly.
The world, no, the entire universe, came to a complete and utter halt.
Unlike ordinary time-stop abilities, this one was broken beyond belief. Instead of freezing time in a limited area, it stopped the flow of time and space across all worlds, creating a place where the laws of physics simply didn’t apply.
Within this frozen realm, matter and energy could not move. Nuclear forces ceased to exist, annulling all physical durability. Only beings who could think with their heart cores and manipulate infons were able to perceive this stopped world and possibly move within it, such as those with a digital nature, which I had achieved the moment Astra evolved into a Manas.
Since infons were unaffected by time and space, with Astra’s help I could “move” by shifting my information from my digital nature between different sets of infons.
In short, this ability was what separated the strong of Tensura from the true monsters. Less than 0.1% of the population in the Central World could wield something like this.
It came as no surprise that no being in this universe could resist it. Still, I had no reason to grow arrogant. Such an ability required an astronomical amount of magicules to maintain, so I got straight to work.
Raising my hand, I pointed it at the frozen Yhwach and, without hesitation, devoured him with Beelzebuth. With no way to defend himself here, he offered no resistance.
Once that was done, I “moved” toward the Soul King and came face to face with his mutilated form floating inside some kind of container.
‘What a pitiful existence,’ I thought silently, staring at the limbless figure with its empty, blank four pupiled eyes.
Walking up to it, I didn’t waste a single moment. Within seconds, the Soul King, the God of this universe, ceased to exist as I devoured him. I then dropped Time Stop and got to work on his replacement.
=====
With Ichigo
Ichigo moved as fast as he could toward where the Soul King was supposed to be, wanting to be there in case Caius needed assistance, even if he inwardly doubted it.
After arriving at the Soul King Palace, they encountered the trapped forms of the Royal Guard, or Zero Squad. They were quickly debriefed on what had happened.
Apparently, Caius had shown up, one-shotted all the Quincy, trapped them inside a barrier, and moved ahead.
The Royal Guard had tasked them with pressing forward, so that was exactly what they were doing now as they slowly approached the huge floating cylindrical structure in the distance where the Soul King resided.
Just as they were about to reach it, however, they all came to an abrupt halt as the entire world began to shake, causing several Shinigami behind him to curse.
“W-What’s happening!?” Ichigo yelled in worry, turning to the one person who might have an answer: Kisuke Urahara.
Urahara grimaced but answered with a grim tone. “The stability of the Three Worlds has been disturbed. The only reason that could happen is if…” He left the answer hanging, but Ichigo already knew deep down, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
“Something happened to the Soul King,” Yoruichi finished for him, her voice equally grim.
“Let’s move!” Shunsui ordered, flying ahead. Ichigo quickly overtook him, pulling forward at full speed while one thought echoed in his mind.
‘It couldn’t have been Caius… right?’ he thought worriedly, his only consolation being that the shaking had only lasted a few moments.
Soon enough, he got his answer. He burst into the chamber where the Soul King was supposed to be and found his friend standing in the center of the room, with no Soul King in sight.
“Caius!” Ichigo yelled, a thousand questions racing through his mind as he tried to make sense of the situation.