Once, a great war raged between the gods who claimed to preside over death and those who destroyed the souls of the wicked. After a thousand years of discord, the conflict came to an end when the kings of both sides were brought down. And this great loss became the opportunity to usher in a new dawn for the relationship between Soul Reapers and Quincies. But few knew the real truth that a single person had been responsible for killing both kings—one who was neither Soul Reaper nor Quincy.
The rebels who invaded the Soul Society were known as the Vandenreich, or the Invisible Empire. Their leader was defeated by a boy who served as a deputy Soul Reaper in the Thirteen Court Guard Companies. That scant bit of knowledge, along with the declaration that “the Thirteen Court Guard Companies protected the Soul King,” was the only information to be disseminated across the Soul Society.
In other words, news that the Soul King—the very foundation of the Soul Society—had died was withheld to prevent the spread of panic. Residents of the Soul Society, including rank and file Soul Reapers, still believed that the Soul King was enshrined in the Reiokyu, the royal palace. The knowledge of his death was limited to specific Soul Reaper captains, a few higher-ranked seats, and those who held important posts in the Seireitei, all of whom were not especially anxious to destroy the general peace by exposing the truth.
And so restoration of the Seireitei began. Whether the upper echelons of the Soul Society had made the right decision when they chose not to rob the people of their emotional anchor would be determined in the decades and centuries to come.
That last battle later came to be known as “The Great Soul King Protection War.” Our story traces back to a time immediately after the end of that conflict.
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The Reio Greater Palace,
inner sanctuary
There were Royal Guards bustling busily in the spot where the Reio, the Soul King, had once been enshrined. High Priest Ichibe Hyosube, part of Squad Zero and also the commander of the Royal Guards, silently gazed at the thing in the center of the palace and stroked his black beard.
An airy voice called out behind him, “Is that the new Reio, your eminence?”
Hyosube turned to see a man standing there whose right eye was covered by a patch. It was Shunsui Kyoraku. “Ah, looks like you’re up and about again, Kyoraku. Mmm, I suppose you wouldn’t be the Captain General of the Thirteen Court Guard Companies if you weren’t,” Hyosube replied with a lively smile.
He realized that Kyoraku’s gaze was directed not at him but at the center of the area where the Royal Guards were at work. He replied to Kyoraku’s earlier question, “You should already know that the concepts of old and new don’t apply to the Reio. There’s value simply in having something here to revere and call Reio.”
“So basically you’re saying power is all in the name?” Looking conflicted, Kyoraku continued in a politer tone. “In the worst-case scenario, Ichigo would have been sealed to that name.”
“Good thing he wasn’t, hmm?” Hyosube, his voice free of emotion, offhandedly all but confirmed that there really had been a chance that Ichigo might have been named the Reio. Then, teeth bared in a smile, Hyosube continued to speak of Ichigo Kurosaki. “That young lad caught my interest too. I would have been quite beside myself if he had been rendered silent.”
“And good thing too. I wouldn’t want Ichigo’s friends hating me.”
“Ah yes, you gave them soul tickets, didn’t you? Let’s make sure to keep that a secret from Central 46 and the aristocrats.”
“Good grief, nothing slips past you, your eminence.”
The Reio’s throne was far from a desirable seat, and Kyoraku thought being installed there would have been one of the worst possible endings for Ichigo Kurosaki. He looked at the thing in front of him, and the memories etched in his mind flashed once again.
In preparation for that worst-case scenario, Kyoraku had given special spiritual tools called soul tickets to those in the world of the living who knew Ichigo Kurosaki. Soul tickets were talismans that allowed one to move freely between the mortal world and the Soul Society and were the practical result of improvements to earlier techniques that had been used to transfer still-living humans from Karakura Town to the Soul Society.
Kyoraku quietly closed his eyes and remembered warning Ichigo Kurosaki’s friends. “Depending on the type of power it is, it may affect the world of the living. If that’s the case, we can’t allow him to come back here.”
He recalled the boy who had at first joked around but had then looked intensely angry when Kyoraku explained that it was no joke. “You’re not joking, yet you’re telling us to say goodbye just like that?” Then Kyoraku recalled the boy with black hair whose reaction had been the opposite of the first and who had been immediately angry on Ichigo’s behalf. His serene eyes had held an intense belief in Ichigo that had never wavered. Then there had been the girl who had been more concerned for Ichigo’s family than herself and who had been deeply distressed on Ichigo’s behalf.
Ichigo is blessed when it comes to friends. Well, I suppose he attracts people like Sado and Orihime because he’s Ichigo...
Thinking about the children from the world of the living, Kyoraku was relieved that Ichigo Kurosaki was safe now after being the main player in the war’s end. Then Kyoraku opened his eyes slightly and spoke to the high priest, an odd statement slipping from his mouth. “More importantly, I’m glad you and the others didn’t kill Ichigo.”
The high priest neither denied nor confirmed as he laughed heartily and slapped his own bald head. “I’m no Yhwach, after all. I can’t see into the future. No, in actuality, Ichigo Kurosaki couldn’t have won against him. If anything, we needed him to lose.”
“High Priest Hyosube...”
“But luckily for the boy, Yhwach had all of the Reio’s power. That guaranteed that the Soul Society would escape destruction whether or not Ichigo Kurosaki won.” The high priest faced the thing at the center of the Greater Palace and clapped his hands together while he spoke.
At the clear sound of the clap, the high priest closed his eyes and prayed. Kyoraku continued his attempt to question him. “High Priest Hyosube, is that the will of the Reio?”
“Hmm...”
“Or is it just the will of the founders of the five noble clans?”
Kyoraku, whose polite tone had slipped, received an easygoing reply from the high priest. “My my, how can you speak so disparagingly of our dignified founders? Your tone hides none of your animosity. Do you think so little of Byakuya Kuchiki and Yoruichi Shihoin?”
“They’ve given me no reason to. They’re fellow members of the Thirteen Court Guard Companies, and I consider them dear friends.” Smiling wryly, Kyoraku shook his head as he continued, tone still casual. “They aren’t responsible for the actions of their ancestors, and it’s not as if they pretend their ancestors are faultless. Isn’t that right, High Priest Hyosube?”
“I suppose you could say that. And none of the founders of the Five Great Noble Clans are still alive, anyway—” Just as the high priest spoke, an explosion echoed through the Greater Palace.
“Huh?!”Kyoraku turned toward the source of the sound, feeling a spiritual pressure markedly different from that of a Soul Reaper. A section of wall that had until moments ago been fused with a Vandenreich building had been destroyed. White smoke was rising from the rubble.
Several humanoid figures whiter by far than the smoke appeared beyond the wall. The Greater Palace Royal Guard immediately unsheathed and readied their swords, but the high priest commanded them to hold. “Oh, no need to worry, everything is fine. You can’t win against these ones anyway.”
One of the pale silhouettes had already leapt toward them and clucked his tongue as though taken aback. “Tch... What? You’re not going to fight me?”
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, who brought to mind a wild beast, glared at the high priest and Kyoraku with sharp eyes as he landed. “I’m not standing down just because you put away your swords.”
Grimmjow’s hand went to his zanpaku-to, but a small bala hit him in the back of the head.
“Gah...?!”
The impact was like being punched in the head. When Grimmjow turned to face his attacker, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck was standing there, left hand still aimed at him. The ram-horned Arrancar woman had arrived in the Soul Society with him and was most likely the one who had hit him with the bala.
“Nelliel, why you...!”
“Is this really the time to pick a fight? Now that the Quincy king’s gone, we’re the largest group of outsiders in the Soul Society.”
“What about it? If you’re scared, take that dead weight of yours and go back to Garganta.”
The “dead weight” was an Arrancar woman currently leaning on Nelliel’s left shoulder. She was Tier Halibel, and both she and Nelliel wore the mark of the Tercera Espada on their bodies.
Halibel had been on the front lines from the moment that the Vandenreich had launched a surprise attack on Hueco Mundo, but Yhwach’s overwhelming power had immobilized her, and she had been taken prisoner as a symbol of Hueco Mundo’s defeat.