chapter 313

    chapter 313:

    – layla –

    i trudged up the long, winding staircase, my footsteps echoing in the silence. the members of squad zero had accompanied me only halfway before halting.

    “we don’t go any farther. the rest is yours to handle.” then they turned on their heels and marched away, leaving me alone to face this so-called soul king.

    i had no clue what to expect from this guy. my old anime knowledge was worthless at this point.

    a massive set of doors loomed before me, humming with palpable spiritual pressure. when i was close enough to touch them, they slid open on their own. “dramatic much...” i grumbled, stepping into the palace halls. i expected some grand spectacle—ornate walls, fancy columns, maybe a choir of angels singing in the distance?

    instead, the place was strangely plain and damn near empty. no guards, no advisors, not even a single piece of furniture.

    i walked forward, the echo of my shoes the only sound keeping me company. after a short while, i found a set of thick crimson curtains. they looked out of place, as if someone had tossed them up as an afterthought to hide something behind them. i could sense a presence just beyond—a faint, sluggish energy that barely felt alive. my pulse quickened. “hello?” i lifted my hand and channeled a bit of telekinesis, pulling the curtains aside. the sight that greeted me made my stomach lurch. “what the fuck?” i blurted.

    encased in shimmering crystal was—well, it looked like a corpse. a mutilated corpse...

    there were no limbs. just a torso and a head, the features slack and lifeless. i stared, my mind spinning. “this is the soul king? you’ve gotta be kidding me. what the hell is wrong with this universe?”

    he—or it—remained as still as a statue. the faint spiritual pressure came from inside the crystal, but i couldn’t sense any will or intelligence behind it.

    “hello!?” i yelled. “can you hear me in there?” i stepped closer, half-expecting an alarm to go off or some hidden guard to appear and try to slice me down for disrespect.

    but the hall stayed quiet.

    i tried again, louder this time, “helloooo, soul king?” i reached up and rapped on the crystal with my knuckles. it felt cold and unyielding, more like a coffin than any royal throne. i scoffed. “damn. this is beyond fucked up.” i circled around the crystal, examining every angle. there were no tubes or wires, nothing hooking this corpse-king to a machine. yet the entire palace pulsed with spiritual energy that clearly originated from him—or it. “how the hell does this even work?” i wondered.

    part of me wanted to bail out and pretend i’d never seen this. another part was morbidly intrigued. if this pitiful figure was the lynchpin of this entire universe, what did that say about everything else?

    i rubbed my temples and let out a long sigh. this was definitely not in the brochure...

    [what brochure...?]

    ‘i was being facetious!’

    [i know...]

    i stared at the soul king’s unmoving form and was on the verge of leaving when its eyes shifted. they actually fucking turned to look straight at me. the crystal surrounding its torso glowed with a strange, pulsating light.

    i opened my mouth to say, “huh, i wonder what’s goi—” but never finished.

    a beam of raw energy hurtled toward me, aimed right for my chest!

    “susanoo!” i yelled in a panic. instantly, a purple ribcage formed around me, my spiritual guardian flaring to life. the beam slammed against the ribs. the attack faded after a moment, leaving me breathless and pissed.

    “the fuck was that?” i muttered with my heart hammering. as if in response, the soul king’s crystal prison glowed again. this time, some kind of blue tentacle formed and then rapidly snapped towards me.

    there was something ominous about it, like it wanted more than just to blow me to pieces this time. the instant it made contact with my susanoo, it tore straight through the protective ribs with ease!

    “that’s not possible,” i gasped. my susanoo was made of my light energy, cosmic power, and the might of the infinity stones themselves. yet this bastard’s attack cut through it like wet tissue paper.

    my wings flared behind me and i propelled myself backward, so fast a sonic boom detonated right there in the palace. the shockwave tore through the floor and walls, leaving cracks across the marble and stone. thankfully, i managed to dodge just in time. the tentacle narrowly missed me before retracting.

    [holy shit! i know what this piece of shit is trying to do! he’s trying to body-jack you by latching his soul onto yours! that was a direct soul attack!]

    “that’s not gonna happen,” i growled under my breath, glaring at the wretched figure in the crystal.

    “how dare he try to hurt mama!” ten-chan shrieked from my waist. my new zanpakuto trembled with anger, practically vibrating in her sheath. “let me stab him!” ten-chan said eagerly.

    damn, despite being so adorable, she didn’t fuck around...

    [i can’t believe i’m going to say this...but use your sword. until you have the soul stone, you won''t be able to block soul attacks without it.]

    i snorted in disbelief. “didn’t you tell me not to use my sword?” i mean, i wasn''t going to listen, but the system seemed pretty damn adamant...

    [just this once is fine! you’re at the bum-fuck end of your multiverse. no one will sense it... probably.]

    i should’ve been more cautious, weighed the consequences, but in that moment, i was too pissed to give a damn. the soul king—this rotting torso in a crystal—had tried to hijack my body like some kind of second rate xianxia villain.

    “tough crowd...”

    “you killed the soul king!? how dare you!” oetsu shouted, swinging an incredibly sharp looking blade at my face.

    i conjured a lightspear to block it, and was surprised when the guy''s sword managed to almost cut halfway into the spear before it was stopped! i let out a whistle. damn, the creator of the zanpakuto? had one sharp ass sword!

    unfortunately for him it wasn''t sharp enough because it got stuck and i was able to use the distraction to kick him square in the balls.

    i wasn''t proud of it! but he immediately went down...

    “not cool...” he whispered in pain while cradling into the fetal position.

    a flurry of silken cloth ripped through the air. senjumaru glided forward, her many mechanical arms weaving strands of golden thread and cloth that whipped around my body. she was quick, and for a moment, the thick cloth pinned my wings to my sides!

    “i have you now!” she declared.

    “no you don''t!” i declared right back.

    i flexed and tore the cloth apart with my muscles and bare hands. senjumaru staggered back, eyes wide with surprise.

    ichibe hyosube darted at me next! he was wielding a giant japanese paint brush covered in black ink! “i will erase your name for the crime you''ve committed!” he swung his brush and black ink came flying in my direction.

    “almighty push!” i snapped.

    the ink was sent flying right back at him and splattered in his eyes and mouth. he comically crashed onto the ground and started choking on his own ink while scrubbing his eyes. “ow! that stings!”

    all three members of squad zero had failed to avenge their king with their first attacks, and after a couple seconds to recover, it looked like they were all about to try again.

    but before any of them could, ten-chan stamped her tiny foot on the floor and shouted, “stop it right now!”

    “why should we brat–eeeeeehhhhh!?” oetsu suddenly shouted in disbelief as he got a proper look at ten-chan.

    on the outside she didn''t look different, but the amount of spiritual energy radiating off of her was at least twice as much as before.

    “she''s.... she''s become the new soul king!?” oetsu declared. senjumaru and ichibe both gaped in shock.

    ten-chan smirked cutely and put her tiny hands on her hips. “none of you are allowed to hurt momma! the bad man wanted to die! everything''s fine now!” she explained.

    i don''t exactly know if everything was “fine” but the world didn''t seem to be ending at the very least.

    ...one not so long explanation later, and the three of them had to bitterly accept that they were all technically out of a job now...

    “what should we do now, soul princess!? we''ve been guarding the soul king for over a thousand years!” ichibe asked ten-chan like she had all the answers.

    i had a feeling she was wise for her age...

    she just blinked her eyes at him. “you all should take a nap!”

    ...but not that wise.

    ichibe blinked his eyes right back at her. i reached down and scooped ten-chan up in my arms. “yeah, so like... we''re just gonna go if that''s cool.”

    before they could argue or try to stop me from leaving with their new soul princess, i immediately hopped us both through a purple portal and we ended up back at the squad four barracks in the soul society.

    i think.

    the place looked different.

    everything was on fire and there were a lot of dead bodies scattered around. quincy and shinigami bodies.

    i could sense, see, and hear intense fighting coming from pretty much every single direction.

    “oh come on! i was only gone for like an hour!” i shouted to know one in particular.

    [and that''s probably why the quincys chose to attack...]

    “this time i''m killing the quincy king!”

    xxx