After Ryuken said all of that, the entire living room fell into an unnatural silence.
Uryu's expression went blank.
Ichigo's was the same.
What happened today felt like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting apart.
First, Cole and Ichigo had somehow gained Quincy power out of nowhere, and even started throwing hands with Heilig Pfeil.
Then Isshin showed up and revealed Masaki's identity as a pureblood Quincy, along with the truth behind her death.
After that, Ryuken exposed even more—Kanae's death, and the truth of that day.
Everything was the Ancestor's—Auswählen (Holy Selection)!?
Not only them even Cole and the girls present looked at Ryuken in surprise, clearly not expecting him to know so much.
Not only did he understand Blut Vene (Static Blood Armor) and Blut Arterie (Flowing Blood Armor), he even knew about Yhwach's Auswählen.
Was this really just the last remaining Quincy remnant in the Human World!?
If nobody said anything, they would've thought Ryuken was a prince of the Wandenreich—he knew way too much.
After a long while, Uryu took a deep breath and looked at his father, his tone complicated.
"So… you dissected Mom's body to investigate how she died?"
Ryuken glanced at him like he was an idiot and answered flatly.
"Obviously. What other reason would there be?"
Uryu's face flushed with shame.
Back when his mother, Katagiri Kanae, died, he'd still been small. So when he saw Ryuken dissecting her body, he misunderstood it.
He thought his cold, heartless old man had dissected his mother for medical research and experiments.
That misunderstanding was exactly why Uryu had grown to despise his father—and doctors in general.
But he never imagined the truth.
Ryuken didn't do it for research.
He did it to find out how Kanae died.
"Auswählen…"
Isshin's eyes were full of confusion as he looked at Ryuken.
"Ryuken… what does the Ancestor's Auswählen mean?"
As he spoke, he clenched his fist and bit down hard, hatred rising inside him again.
He'd always believed Masaki died because of some flaw in the Quincy race.
He'd never considered there might be something else behind it.
But now… it felt like the truth was far deeper.
Ryuken glanced at Isshin and spoke calmly.
"A thousand years ago, the Quincy produced a king."
"His name was Yhwach."
"He ruled the entire Quincy race—he was the strongest Quincy of his era, the uncrowned emperor of our kind."
"Pureblood Quincy and mixed-blood Quincy alike became his subordinates."
"And because of his ability, he created more Quincy."
"The descendants born from those Quincy and ordinary humans… became mixed-blood Quincy."
"Unlike the Quincy he created directly, those mixed-blood Quincy had their lives held in the palm of his hand."
"And that thought—was Auswählen."
"It ignores distance and space, forcibly taking the life of a mixed-blood Quincy even from thousands of miles away."
"But…"
Ryuken exhaled, his eyes darkening.
"I always thought he was dead."
"Until I dissected Kanae… and confirmed the Ancestor had not died."
Thinking back to those days, it still felt unreal.
Because in all of Quincy history, there had never been a case of Quincy suddenly losing power, life, and even their souls.
For a time, he'd even suspected it was some kind of "virus" created by Shinigami to eradicate Quincy.
Only after he dug through huge amounts of family records passed down from a thousand years ago—did he finally confirm it.
That was Yhwach's Auswählen.
And yet, it was still hard to accept.
Quincy might possess destructive power close to Shinigami, but at their core they were still human—lifespans no different from ordinary people.
A thousand years was enough time for ten generations to die… even dozens of generations.
So how could Yhwach still be alive?
But if it wasn't him, then no other explanation made sense.
Other than the one who once created vast numbers of Quincy—who else could kill so many Quincy at the same time?
Hearing Ryuken's explanation, Rukia was quietly shocked. She leaned toward Cole.
"Hey, Cole… he knows way too much. Are you sure he really doesn't know about the Wandenreich?"
Before this, she hadn't even known Quincy history went that deep.
Yet Ryuken hadn't been there—and still spoke as if he understood it all, even mentioning Yhwach.
Cole raised an eyebrow and looked at Ryuken.
"Ishida-ojisan… seriously, you know too much. What, is everyone in your family a record keeper?"
Uryu couldn't help looking at his father too.
Yeah.
He'd never even heard of this.
Ryuken pushed up his glasses and answered coolly.
"What a stupid question. Do you think I can't collect other families' records?"
After the tragedy from over a decade ago, to avenge Kanae, he deliberately visited other Quincy families.
Using the Ishida family's standing, he collected copies of their records.
That included the Kurosaki family's records.
That was how he pieced together the full story of the events a thousand years ago—and deduced Yhwach's continued existence.
"The Quincy King… Yhwach…"
Ichigo's eyes blazed with anger. He clenched his fist, his gaze icy as he stared at Ryuken.
"Where is he!? I won't forgive him. So he's the one who killed my mom…"
In that instant, Ichigo was practically a glowing power display—different sources of power bursting with different colors.
The sky-blue of Quincy Blut Vene (Static Blood Armor).
The Hollow mask of a Menos-class Hollow.
The black shihakusho of a Shinigami.
And in his hand, Zangetsu appeared—massive and heavy.
Uryu was the same.
His eyes burned with rage as he gripped his spirit bow and glared at his father.
"Father. Where is that so-called Ancestor? I'm going to kill that bastard."
His mother had struggled in agony for three months on her sickbed before dying, beyond all treatment.
He had thought it was simply a terrible disease.
But now he knew—
It was all because of that "Ancestor."
Just imagining it made him want to kill.
Ancestor or not—
He'd kill him anyway.
Facing the three sets of eyes on him, Ryuken exhaled and shook his head slowly.
"I don't know."
"I tried to search for Yhwach on a wide scale. I also looked for traces of other Quincy."
"But I gave up."
"Because I couldn't determine their location at all."
"I even suspect they aren't in the Human World."
"In the past ten-plus years, there hasn't been a single trace of Quincy activity in the Human World."
Ichigo and Uryu clenched their fists in fury.
They finally knew the truth—yet couldn't find the murderer.
It was enough to drive someone insane.
But then Ryuken's gaze shifted to Cole.
"However… this boy named Cole."
"You should know where Yhwach is, right?"
"Because you didn't look surprised at all."
As he spoke, his eyes locked onto Cole.
Originally, he'd assumed Cole only awakened Quincy power recently.
After all, Auswählen only takes the life of mixed-blood Quincy who have already awakened; it doesn't affect those who haven't awakened yet.
And the catastrophe was over a decade ago.
Over that long span, it wouldn't be strange for a Quincy or two to awaken—like Ichigo.
But after hearing about the Ancestor, Cole and those Shinigami girls weren't surprised at all.
That alone was suspicious.
Under everyone's gaze, Cole swung his blue spirit bow casually and spoke frankly.
"That's right. I know where Yhwach is."
"And I've met other Shinigami besides you."
Ryuken's pupils shrank.
So Yhwach really was still alive!?
Ryuken inhaled, about to ask more—
But Ichigo interrupted impatiently.
"Cole! Where is that so-called Ancestor!? Tell me! I'm going to chop him down!"
Uryu stared unblinking at Cole too.
But Cole didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Ryuken, his voice serious.
"Before I answer that, you answer me first."
"What's the real difference between pureblood and mixed-blood Quincy?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Uryu and Ichigo, then looked back to Ryuken.
"As far as I know, Yhwach can forcibly take the power and life of mixed-blood Quincy."
"But does that not apply to pureblood Quincy?"
Hearing Cole's question, Ryuken had to suppress the hunger in his heart and explain.
"First—pureblood and mixed-blood."
"So-called mixed-blood Quincy are born with weaker talent than pureblood Quincy."
"Like my stupid son."
Cole couldn't help glancing at Uryu, then silently nodded.
Honestly… after being a Quincy for over a decade and still not mastering Blut Vene (Static Blood Armor) or Blut Arterie (Flowing Blood Armor), his talent really wasn't great.
As for Ichigo—there was no point including him in the discussion.
That guy was a straight-up cheater.
Uryu's face went dark, but he didn't care right now.
His mind was completely on Yhwach.
"As for what you said—how pureblood Quincy differ from mixed-blood Quincy under Auswählen…"
Ryuken adjusted his glasses.
"As far as I know, pureblood Quincy are also affected to some extent by the Ancestor's Auswählen."
"But they won't have their power and life taken."
Cole frowned.
That didn't match what he knew.
Because from what he'd learned in the Wandenreich—
Under Yhwach's Auswählen, even pureblood Quincy could have their power and life taken.
The anime had shown it too.
Ryuken's claim was the opposite—there had to be some kind of discrepancy.
As if he could read Cole's thoughts, Ryuken temporarily stopped pressing about Yhwach's location and spoke evenly.
"I remember you asked before how the first Quincy were born."
"Then I'll tell you the history."
He glanced at his stupid son as well.
"You listen too. If you call yourself the last Quincy, how can you not even know Quincy history?"
Uryu clenched his teeth and nodded, already planning to go back and study every page of the basement reference materials.
He really didn't know—
The Quincy had this many hidden secrets.
Seeing everyone's expressions turn serious, Ryuken finally began.
"Although I call Yhwach the Ancestor… he wasn't actually the first Quincy."
"Before him, there were already Quincy who awakened from humans."
"There was no omen, no warning. They simply… naturally became Quincy."
"But back then, Quincy only existed as separate families."
"No massive unified force had ever formed."
"Until one day, a Quincy named Yhwach was born."
"His power was strong."
"His ability was terrifying."
"Because his ability allowed him to forcibly turn ordinary humans into Quincy."
"With that ability, he created a second form of Quincy existence beyond family clans—an empire."
"One thing worth noting."
"Back then, Yhwach modeled the Quincy he created after the naturally awakened Quincy."
"That was when the division of pureblood and mixed-blood truly appeared."
"The pureblood Quincy he created were almost identical to naturally awakened Quincy—high talent, great strength."
"But the problem appeared with mixed-blood."
"When a pureblood Quincy created by Yhwach bred with ordinary humans, the mixed-blood Quincy born from that union had their lives controlled by him."
"Back then, nobody cared about that."
"Because Yhwach didn't casually take mixed-blood Quincy lives—so the difference only showed in talent and potential."
"After that, because of Yhwach's ability, the Quincy Empire expanded rapidly."
"And he proclaimed himself the Quincy King, becoming the emperor of the Quincy Empire."
"But he still wasn't satisfied."
"He believed that beyond the Human World, Soul Society and Hueco Mundo should also kneel beneath him."
"Based on that belief, he led the Quincy Empire to invade Soul Society and wage war against the Shinigami."
"In the end, Yhwach died, and the Quincy Empire collapsed overnight."
"And the Quincy returned to a family-based survival model… continuing for a thousand years."
"Until the tragedy from over a decade ago—when the Quincy were almost wiped out."
After finishing, Ryuken looked at Cole calmly.
"That's the origin and history of the Quincy."
"Cole… is there anything else you don't understand?"
(End of Chapter)
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