Chapter 199

Over the next few days, Kaelith spent most of his time training with Bambietta.

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Each day, he’d take her to the training field and have her fight at full strength. Though he didn’t force her to use Vollständig every time—since it strained the Quincy heavily—Bambietta, in hopes of earning Kaelith’s “rewards,” kept pushing herself beyond her limits. Time and again, she activated her Vollständig despite the cost, causing her combat ability and stamina to improve noticeably.

As she felt her strength grow, Bambietta’s mood soared. Back in her training, the Quincy had always been taught that Shinigami were filthy, demonic creatures. Now, it seemed the textbooks might’ve been wrong. At least Kaelith, with his patient training and occasional “incentives,” was nothing like the monsters she’d imagined. After a while, Bambietta even started suspecting that Haschwalth might have altered historical records, using the Shinigami as a boogeyman to control the Quincy and realize some twisted ambition of becoming the Quincy King himself…

If Haschwalth knew what she was thinking, he’d probably lose his composure for the first time in centuries.

As for Kaelith’s motivation for working so hard, it was simple: he wanted to quickly familiarize himself with Quincy combat techniques. Regardless of when they returned, Kaelith intended to stand ready, to block some of the burden from Yamamoto’s shoulders. The brief clash through the fissure had given him a glimpse of their capabilities. They didn’t seem to have anyone on Yamamoto’s level—so if the old man really died in the Quincy war, it meant Yhwach was either overwhelmingly powerful, or they’d used some underhanded trick.

Like setting a trap or draining his power.

After several days, Kaelith had gained a decent understanding of Bambietta’s Vollständig and her reishi arrows. He’d also gotten a clearer grasp of certain “sensitive points” during their interrogation sessions.

More than once, during these “rewards”—ahem, interrogations—he’d nearly lost control and gone all the way with Bambietta. But each time he reached that crucial moment, the image of a certain carefree girl, smiling broadly and treating him like a dear companion, popped into his head, making him stop.

She would have to be satisfied with just the illusions.

"Sigh, I am truly too loyal"

Soifon was baffled. If Kaelith had such needs, why not take care of them with Bambietta, who was clearly willing? Why bother making it harder on himself? After some thought, Soifon guessed maybe Kaelith had a thing for resistance. Bambietta was too compliant and thus failed to interest him.

Testing this theory, Soifon tried being completely docile one night when she was teasing him. Kaelith got excited. The next day, she was colder than ever. He got excited again. After that, Soifon gave up trying to find any pattern in his tastes.

…

A Garganta opened in midair, and two figures emerged, landing on the white sands of Hueco Mundo. Aizen raised a hand to his sword hilt, scanning the surroundings. Once he confirmed there was no immediate danger, he relaxed and looked at Kaelith.

“Alright, we’re here. Where’s that surprise you mentioned?” Aizen asked.

Kaelith smirked. “Follow me.”

With that, he took off. Aizen followed at an unhurried pace. Soon, they reached a familiar dune—familiar because it was where they’d temporarily stashed Kuchiki Kyōka’s body.

Seeing Kaelith’s smug expression, Aizen suddenly felt uneasy. He’d had an inkling of what Kaelith might show him, but now he worried—could it be something had gone wrong? Did Kaelith lose Kuchiki Kyōka and come here to confess?

Waving his hand, Aizen used reiatsu to clear the sand, revealing the stasis pod. The fluid inside was murky, but Kuchiki Kyōka was still safely stored. Aizen’s momentary anxiety eased.

Kaelith noticed and narrowed his eyes. “Sōsuke, you didn’t think I lost your precious corpse and came here to admit it, did you?”

“…” Aizen was silent for a couple of seconds, then shook his head. “No.”

Kaelith circled him twice, scrutinizing Aizen’s face. Seeing no change in expression, he nodded, satisfied. Aizen inwardly sighed in relief, and Kaelith grinned mischievously.

“Now, Sōsuke, behold the surprise I’ve prepared!”

Kaelith raised his hand, pointing upward. Suddenly, a shadowy substance spread from beneath his feet like black ink, covering over two hundred square meters of ground. The stasis pod holding Kuchiki Kyōka began sinking into it, as if into a bog. Aizen’s feet also started to sink.

Instinct told Aizen he could just release reiatsu and escape Kaelith’s control. But he didn’t move. He simply watched Kaelith, asking no questions.

In seconds, Aizen was swallowed up to his neck, then his head vanished below the surface. For a brief moment, he felt as though he’d dived into water. But as soon as he was fully submerged, that sensation vanished, replaced by the feeling of an empty “room.”

This space was small, about three hundred square meters and six meters high. Not huge, but enough to serve as a specialized lab. The stasis pod with Kuchiki Kyōka lay not far away. Aizen reached out, testing the stability of this hidden dimension, and nodded in approval.

He’d already guessed Kaelith’s true intention after hearing about Bambietta’s origins: the lazy Kaelith wouldn’t bother studying shadow realms unless it was to prepare a secret Hueco Mundo lab for himself—and, by extension, for Aizen.

Right on cue, Kaelith emerged inside, too.

“Well, Sōsuke, what do you think?” Kaelith said with a triumphant grin. “This is the grand domain I conquered for you! Are you excited? Touched? If you feel like kneeling and hugging my legs while crying tears of gratitude, I won’t stop you!”

Aizen chuckled softly, shaking his head. Some things never changed when it came to Kaelith.