"Eh!? After something like that just happened, you can still sit here and seriously talk about work!?"
Cole looked at Rukia in surprise.
Rukia's face instantly turned red. She glared at Cole, then lowered her head and fiddled with her fingers, speaking a little awkwardly:
"I'm a captain now, okay? After seeing such a powerful enemy, of course I have to think things through properly. I can't be too careless…"
Among the many captains in Seireitei, her seniority was the shallowest.
People like Shinji and Kensei might have only just become captains again, but they were simply returning to their old posts—
They had already been captains a hundred years ago.
Because of that, she had to be extra cautious. She couldn't afford to let something big go wrong.
Cole couldn't help smiling. He gently ruffled Rukia's hair.
"Rukia's grown up too. You're an excellent captain now. The Shinigami under you must be proud of you."
Rukia's face flushed even more. She shyly smacked his hand away and snapped:
"Brat, don't get cocky. You're just a high schooler. I'm over a hundred years older than you."
"Yes, yes, Grandma Rukia."
Cole teased with a grin, then leaned back into the sofa and said:
"As for that… my suggestion is: it's best not to tell Yamamoto, or things are going to get very messy."
Unohana and Sode no Shirayuki looked curious—they couldn't understand what he meant.
Why would telling the Head Captain cause big problems?
Was there a spy near the Head Captain?
As that thought formed, their expressions grew more serious. It didn't seem impossible.
After all, the Wandenreich had hidden in Soul Society's shadow for a thousand years. With that much time, they could absolutely cultivate undercover agents.
In Seireitei, aside from Yamamoto and Unohana, no Shinigami's age exceeded a thousand.
If the Wandenreich planted someone during that span, that person could've even become a captain.
Or…
Could it be that missing man—Aizen?
Indeed, that was also a terrifying enemy.
If Aizen joined forces with the Wandenreich, it would be the strongest crisis Soul Society had ever faced.
Cole could tell at a glance that they were overthinking it. He scratched his head helplessly.
"It's not what you think. How do I explain this… you haven't actually seen a Quincy's Schrift abilities…"
Unohana thought for a moment. "Schrift… is it like a zanpakuto ability?"
Soi fong had mentioned it to her before, but she still couldn't fully grasp it.
"Similar, but not really. A Schrift is more like a rule-based power…"
Cole thought for a while, then simply slouched back into the sofa, waved his hand, and said lazily:
"Forget it. Let Yoruichi explain. Otherwise when Soi fong comes back, I'll have to say it all over again."
Rukia almost exploded from anger.
This lazy brat—he stirred up her curiosity and then just dropped it. His personality was seriously awful.
Rukia lunged at him viciously. This time she didn't use her sword—she just hammered her fists down on him.
"I'll beat you to death! Beat you to death! Beat you to death…"
Cole didn't even defend. He just rolled around with Rukia like that, the two of them tussling into a mess.
Then—
A sound drifted down from the second floor.
Bambietta's moaning—piercing and clear—kept echoing.
It sounded like pain… but also like she was enjoying something.
One after another.
It made people's faces burn.
Rukia's small hand froze midair. Her cheeks turned bright red as she subconsciously looked up toward the top of the stairs.
"Yoruichi… what did you do to that female Quincy!? Why is she making that kind of sound!?"
Unohana walked over and sat down beside Cole, hugging his arm as she smiled sweetly.
"Rukia, don't underestimate Yoruichi. She's a captain of the Second Division, after all. She looks gentle most of the time, but she won't go easy when she gets serious."
"Since ancient times, intelligence departments have always been the most dangerous—and the most ruthless—departments."
"They can torture people as easily as breathing."
"Besides… up there are two commanders of the Stealth Force. If they work together, they could make someone suffer until they're begging for death."
Rukia's face turned even redder. She quickly tugged Cole closer to her side and muttered:
"I just think the sound is… weird, that's all."
Cole smiled. "Don't mind it. That woman's a pervert, so you can only deal with her using perverted methods."
Bambietta—who loved torturing and slaughtering male Quincies—running into Yoruichi, an interrogation expert…
Wasn't that just a perfect match?
Time passed.
Soon, an hour went by.
Yoruichi and a red-cheeked Soi fong came downstairs.
Rukia looked over with a flushed face. "Where's that female Quincy? Yoruichi, Soi fong—why didn't you bring her down?"
Yoruichi dropped onto the sofa, crossed one leg over the other, and said lazily:
"She passed out."
Soi fong, face red, added:
"Yoruichi-sama is amazing. In my opinion, that woman will be unconscious for at least a full day and night."
"What did you even do to her!?"
Cole rubbed his forehead. The one who actually had to take Bambietta out later was him.
But he didn't bother asking further. Instead, he tossed Rukia's earlier question straight back to Yoruichi.
Yoruichi rolled her eyes at him. "You can't even let me rest first!?"
Training Bambietta was exhausting too, okay?
Even so, she still explained to everyone what a Quincy Schrift truly was.
"A Schrift is a letter the King of the Quincies, Yhwach, bestows upon members of the Sternritter."
"A, B, C, D, E…"
"The reason those letters carry such terrifying power is because Yhwach engraves that letter onto their souls."
"And the ability of the letter depends entirely on the Quincy who receives it. Some are offensive, some defensive, some control-type…"
"The Schriften we currently know include:
B — The Balance
D — The Deathdealing
E — The Explode
F — The Fear
G — The Glutton
H — The Heat
I — The Iron…"
"Some control luck. Some poison. Some explode. Some awaken fear in the heart…"
Yoruichi laid out the known Sternritter abilities in detail—intelligence she had confirmed through multiple sources during this period.
Some of those powers were so outrageous they shocked even her.
It was hard to imagine what kind of existence Yhwach truly was—able to create Schriften at all.
If you ignored the issue of Auswählen, then the power of Schriften could even surpass zanpakuto.
Because the moment the Schrift was carved into the soul, the Quincy already possessed that power—the only difference was how strong or weak they could wield it.
In other words, don't think the Sternritter are strong only because they're special.
If Yhwach wanted to, he could create a brand-new Sternritter in a short amount of time.
"That's what a Schrift is."
Cole clapped his hands, pulling everyone's attention back as he smiled.
"Now you understand, right? This isn't like a zanpakuto—it's a rule-based power."
"Like Bambietta upstairs: as long as her spiritual power touches something, everything in the world can become an explosive."
"Only someone far stronger than Bambietta can resist that level of Schrift."
Rukia nodded thoughtfully, then frowned and looked at Cole again.
"So doesn't that mean we should talk with the Head Captain even more? We need to plan how to deal with the Wandenreich."
The more she learned about the Wandenreich, the more anxious she felt.
Such a massive force. Such terrifying enemies.
There was no way a handful of them could handle it alone.
Maybe Seireitei wouldn't even be enough—they might need Squad Zero to step in.
Cole smiled.
"Don't interrupt me. Yoruichi already said it—there are only twenty-six letters total."
"But the strongest Schrift we currently know is Jugram's:
B — The Balance."
"So then… who holds Schrift A?"
"It belongs to the King of the Quincies—Yhwach!"
Hearing that, the girls swallowed hard unconsciously, staring tensely at Cole.
Schrift A… Yhwach.
If even the "created" subordinates were already this terrifying, then how strong was the king himself?
Cole continued:
"The reason I don't want you to tell Yamamoto… is because of his Schrift."
"That Schrift's ability is—"
"A — Omniscient and Omnipotent!"
The moment he said it, everyone's pupils shrank violently. Even Unohana couldn't suppress the shock rising in her heart.
"Omniscient and omnipotent!?"
"How could that exist!?"
"Cole, you're talking nonsense, aren't you!?"
"Omniscient… omnipotent… that's already the domain of a god…"
"How could someone like that exist!?"
They spoke out one after another—partly to refute him, and partly to vent the disbelief in their chests.
How could a power like that exist in this world?
If that power existed, why even call it "omniscient and omnipotent"?
Just call it "invincible," wouldn't that be simpler?
Facing their pushback, Cole stayed calm. He pointed upward toward the sky and said:
"No need to be that shocked. You've already seen someone with omniscient and omnipotent power."
"The Soul King."
All-knowing.
All-seeing—the creator god.
Long, long ago, he had already seen the scene of today… and paid for it with his life.
Even after both arms were severed… even after his organs were stripped away… even after being sealed for countless years…
He still shaped the direction of the world.
Isn't that what omniscience and omnipotence looks like?
(End of Chapter)
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