"Blut Vene (Static Blood Armor)!?"
Uryu's face was full of confusion.
But he didn't think too deeply about it—he simply summoned his Heilig Pfeil.
Just like that, inside this not-so-big detached house, there were now four Quincy who had summoned Heilig Pfeil.
The entire room was bathed in blue light from the arrows.
Uryu looked at Cole's Heilig Pfeil, then at Ichigo's Heilig Pfeil, then at his own.
And immediately felt a bit awkward.
Because his Heilig Pfeil was way too small—so small it didn't even compare to the other two's "companions."
Even though a Heilig Pfeil's power isn't judged purely by size, most of the time, the larger the Heilig Pfeil, the stronger the attack power.
Still, when Uryu glanced at his old man's Heilig Pfeil, he instantly regained his confidence.
Ryuken's expression turned cold.
"Idiot."
The reason his Heilig Pfeil was small was because he had compressed a massive amount of reishi into it. In terms of raw might, it was dozens maybe even hundreds of times stronger than Uryu's.
But his stupid son couldn't see the essence of power. He only knew how to judge strength by surface appearances.
Uryu was so pissed his chest tightened, and he shot a glare back at his old man without backing down.
On the other side, after playing around with the Heilig Pfeil for a bit, Ichigo finally came to his senses. Still excited, he asked Cole:
"Cole, what's going on? Why do I suddenly have Quincy power?"
Even though this sudden awakening of Quincy power surprised him, he wasn't especially shocked—more like pleasantly surprised.
After all, strange stuff like this had happened to him way too many times.
First, he'd gotten Shinigami power from Rukia. Then, somehow, he'd gained Hollowfication.
Now he'd awakened Quincy power too… honestly, it wasn't even that hard to accept.
Hearing that, Cole thought for a moment. In the end, he let out a breath and looked toward the front door.
"Kurosaki-ojisan, I thought it through. This kind of thing… it's probably better if it's not me telling him."
"Huh!? Old man!?"
Ichigo turned, puzzled.
At that moment, the white front door creaked open.
Isshin walked in, laughing awkwardly, and looked at Cole.
"Hahahaha… you really can't hide anything from you, Cole. You're way stronger than I am…"
Cole neither confirmed nor denied it.
The moment Ichigo arrived here, he'd already sensed Isshin coming over. Isshin had just been lurking outside and peeking.
Feeling his son's gaze—and his romantic rival's gaze—Isshin's expression got even more awkward.
But as if something had crossed his mind, Isshin gradually fell silent. For once, he showed a bitter expression that was almost never seen on his face.
"Wait… old man, what do you mean…"
Ichigo panicked immediately.
In his memory, his old man was always a clown—loud and carefree no matter what.
This was the first time Ichigo had ever seen him look so bitter and pained.
Unlike Ichigo, Ryuken snorted when he saw Isshin's expression. His face relaxed a little as he sat up.
"At least you haven't forgotten Masaki."
He'd always resented the fact that Masaki married Shiba Isshin.
Because in his eyes, if Masaki had never met Isshin, then she wouldn't have had her life stolen by Quincy power.
"Mom… wait, what are you guys talking about? Why can't I understand anything?"
Ichigo stared blankly at everyone.
Normally, at this point, Cole would've teased him—something like "you can't understand human speech."
But this time, Cole didn't say a word.
He just watched quietly.
Isshin recovered quickly. He took a deep breath, then exhaled, and looked at his foolish son.
"Ichigo… do you know what your surname, 'Kurosaki,' actually means!?"
Ichigo shook his head blankly.
He already knew his old man's real name was Shiba Isshin, and that he himself had taken his mother's surname and inherited the Kurosaki name.
But that wasn't how things usually worked.
Normally, when the woman marries, she takes the man's surname.
So Ichigo had only assumed his old man had defected from Soul Society, and changed his surname to avoid pursuit.
Isshin didn't expect an answer from his idiot son anyway.
He sighed and spoke slowly.
"The surname 'Kurosaki'… is the name of a pureblood Quincy family."
"And your mother—Kurosaki Masaki—was the last member of that family."
The moment those words fell—
Ichigo felt like he'd been struck by lightning.
So his mother was a Quincy… and that's why he awakened Quincy abilities?
But if that was true, then how could his mother have been killed by a Hollow?
That trash Hollow wasn't even strong!
At that moment, Ichigo's mind replayed the scene from his childhood—watching his mother die with his own eyes—and his teeth clenched hard.
Uryu was also shocked and looked at his old man instinctively.
"Dad… Ichigo's mother was a pureblood Quincy? Then why have I never heard of this?"
Ever since he could remember, he'd believed his family was the last Quincy family.
And now there was also a "Kurosaki family."
Ryuken looked at his stupid son and couldn't help sighing.
"It's written in the records in the basement."
At this point, he didn't even know how to describe his son—stupid? arrogant?
If Uryu had read those basement materials, not only would his strength not be this weak, even his knowledge wouldn't be this shallow.
Uryu's face flushed. For the first time, he felt ashamed.
He called himself the last Quincy…
Yet he didn't even know something like this.
If Grandpa could see him from the afterlife, he'd probably be extremely disappointed.
Ichigo snapped back, clenched his fist, and looked at his old man urgently.
"Old man—if Mom really was a Quincy, then how did she get killed by that trash Hollow!?"
With his current strength, that Hollow from back then was absurdly weak.
You didn't even need captain-level power.
Just someone at Uryu's level could've easily killed that trash Hollow.
Hearing the question, a shadow appeared on Isshin's face.
He spoke slowly.
"I don't know…"
Ichigo grew even more frantic.
But before he could say anything, Isshin continued.
"Back then, I had lost my Shinigami power… but Masaki still had her Quincy power. Her strength was no weaker than mine now."
Ichigo froze.
No weaker than his current old man!?
His mother, who had captain-class battle power… how could she possibly have been killed by a trash Hollow?
Isshin exhaled.
"And based on my later investigation, I was able to confirm one thing."
"At the time… your mother lost all of her Quincy power for some unknown reason."
"And once a Quincy has no power, their physical body is no different from an ordinary human."
"So back then… your mother chose to fight that Hollow anyway, even without Quincy power… to protect you…"
By now, Ichigo understood what had happened.
He stared blankly at the Heilig Pfeil in his hand.
"How could Quincy power just… disappear all of a sudden?"
Uryu was also stunned. Quincy power was every Quincy's foundation—how could it suddenly vanish?
That made him look at Cole instinctively.
He felt Cole had to know something—otherwise he wouldn't have been able to make Ichigo awaken Quincy power.
But Cole didn't speak. He simply looked at Ryuken and said calmly:
"Should I explain it, or should you?"
Ryuken fell silent for a moment.
In the end, after glancing at Uryu, he spoke slowly.
"I'll explain."
"Because this doesn't just involve Masaki… it also involves the cause of Katagiri Kanae's death."
"Mom!!!"
Uryu was stunned.
He never imagined this would involve his late mother too.
Connecting it to Ichigo's mother's experience, a terrible premonition rose in his heart—but he didn't want to believe it.
Ryuken took a deep breath, his voice low.
"Back then, the ones who suddenly lost their power weren't only Kurosaki Masaki."
"It included every mixed-blood Quincy at the time."
"And not only were their powers stripped away—"
"In an instant, their lives… their souls… were also taken."
"My wife—your mother, Katagiri Kanae—died because of this. Even though I tried to save her for three months… it was useless."
"And later, I personally dissected Kanae's corpse, and finally reached a conclusion."
"This was the Ancestor initiating—"
"Auswählen (Holy Selection)!"
(End of Chapter)
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