Looking at the chaotic room plastered with posters of Ohma Tokita, Luke gained an even deeper understanding of just how insane Kiryu Setsuna had been.
Tonight’s battle had ended incredibly fast. On the surface, he had crushed Kiryu Setsuna and killed him in an instant, but in truth, the gap between them had not been nearly as vast as Kure imagined.
As the host of the Origin Seed, every one of Kiryu Setsuna’s attributes had surpassed 20 points, giving him a superhuman physique. Combined with his mastery of the Koei Style and the Niko Style, calling him one of this world’s strongest fighters would not be an exaggeration.
At the very least, Luke believed that if Kanoh Agito or Raian Kure had faced Kiryu Setsuna as he was today, they would have suffered a crushing defeat without any suspense.
There had been several reasons he could end the battle so quickly. First, his techniques were somewhat stronger than Kiryu Setsuna’s. Second, after releasing his Shikai, his attributes surpassed Setsuna’s. And lastly—the most important point—Luke had been armed, while Setsuna had fought barehanded.
His master had once said that there was a mountain between fighting empty-handed and fighting with a weapon.
That was not just an empty saying. Weapons had been created for killing. With Prison Demon in his hand, Luke had possessed an enormous inherent advantage in a life-and-death fight.
On top of that, he had used nearly all his strength in that instant, coating the blade in Armament Haki. That strike had been fast, precise, and ruthless. Only then had he barely managed to sever Setsuna’s head.
Yes, barely. That was also the part Luke found strangest.
He did not believe Kiryu Setsuna’s reaction speed could have been that fast. Judging from his movement at the time, Setsuna had originally intended to strike Luke’s heart with Rakshasa’s Palm. He had merely been one step too slow, and his head had been cut off first.
Kiryu Setsuna had made the wrong judgment. If he had not tried to trade blows, he might have survived for a few more exchanges.
So what had given him the confidence to fight head-on?
Luke suspected that besides evolving his body, the Origin Seed had granted him another special ability. It seemed Kiryu Setsuna had gained... a permanent version of [Indestructible].
And it had been an exceptionally high-level [Indestructible], comparable even to Luke’s Armament Haki.
If his sword had not been coated in Armament Haki, further enhancing its toughness and sharpness, he might not have been able to cleanly cut off Setsuna’s head at all.
"The Origin Seed... interesting. I really am looking forward to seeing what ability you’ll give me."
Luke smiled and muttered to himself. Even as he pondered it, his hands did not stop moving as he searched through Setsuna’s belongings.
His master had said that he was not particularly sharp, but he was no idiot either. He could at least conduct a basic investigation for clues.
After receiving word from the Kure Clan, he had come to Setsuna’s residence. Sure enough, he found an important clue—Setsuna’s diary.
What normal person even kept a diary?
Oh, right. Kiryu Setsuna was not normal.
Luke flipped through it. It was filled with variations of "Ohma," and on some pages, the handwriting became increasingly warped. It was hard to imagine what kind of state Kiryu Setsuna had been in when he wrote those entries.
Only when he reached the later pages did Luke discover something unusual.
"I am Ohma Tokita. Setsuna, please avenge me. These people are the ones who killed me..."
Below that was a list of names, all belonging to Kengan fighters. Luke believed every one of them was an Explorer.
His expression turned strange. Someone had tampered with Setsuna’s diary. They had imitated Setsuna’s handwriting and written those words, making Kiryu Setsuna—a madman already prone to hallucinations—believe he had received a divine revelation.
If this tactic had been used on an ordinary person, their first thought would have been that someone had entered their room and altered their diary. But Setsuna was not an ordinary person.
He had already been insane. After Ohma’s death, he had become even more deranged. He refused to accept that his "god" was dead, while desperately longing to devote himself to that god.
Under those circumstances, it was hardly surprising that he had acted after seeing those words appear in his diary.
"What a clever way to kill with a borrowed knife. Are you testing me?"
Luke frowned slightly. He admitted he was no genius and could not understand what the Rulebreaker stood to gain from this.
His pursuit radar had not issued an alert, which meant the other party had not been following Kiryu Setsuna constantly. At the very least, they had stayed more than ten kilometers away from him. So what exactly did the Rulebreaker gain by inciting Setsuna to kill Explorers?
And why had the Rulebreaker killed Ohma Tokita?
Luke felt that the other party’s plan was unfolding link by link, as if they were weaving some enormous net. Yet he could not figure out what they were ultimately trying to do.
But it did not matter. Luke gave up thinking about it.
Soldiers could be met with generals, floods with earthworks. Every scheme was useless before absolute strength. He would simply wait for the Rulebreaker to show himself, then crush him head-on.
Now that the Origin Seed was in his hands, he no longer faced the urgent threat of being erased. He could use the remaining time to begin laying out his plans.
Previously, he had considered everything from Sosuke Aizen’s perspective. Everything had gone smoothly: in just six days, he had obtained the Origin Seed and secured the position of Fang of Metsudo. It was a perfect opening.
From here on, what he needed to do was expand the gains he could reap from this world.
With that thought, Luke lowered his head and glanced at Prison Demon. Its growth had now reached 13.2%.
Yes. Kiryu Setsuna was the first enemy his blade had killed in the truest sense. According to Prison Demon’s description, it would devour a portion of its victim’s soul to nourish itself and grow.
One head had added thirteen percent. At a glance, leveling up this sword seemed easy. But Luke would not forget that Setsuna had been enhanced by the Origin Seed. His soul might have possessed some special quality.
He guessed that slaughtering weaklings would probably not increase Prison Demon’s growth by much. If he wanted to upgrade his Zanpakuto, he would have to hunt strong opponents.
Luke was not a happy-go-lucky killer, nor would he murder innocent people for his own desires. Therefore, in this world, he could only kill the Worm members and Westward Faction Kure members he found unpleasant. It could also count as repaying a little of the debt he owed.
...
About fifteen kilometers outside Tokyo, inside an underground laboratory.
"Fuck, Setsuna is dead! He’s actually dead!"
"What a useless piece of trash. How could you die? Even if you were going to die, you should have died by my hand!"
"Who was it? Who? Other than me, who could kill Setsuna as he is now? There shouldn’t be anyone like that among the Explorers!"
A man sat curled up in a corner, speaking as he bit his own fingers. On the operating table before him lay a pale human body, cut into pieces.
His eyes were bloodshot as he continued muttering to himself.
"Could it have been an Arbiter? But even an Arbiter shouldn’t have found Setsuna easy to deal with, right?"
"Damn Arbiter, always coming to ruin my plans."
"Kill. Kill. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill until no Arbiter dares to hunt me again!"
"But if he could kill Setsuna, can I beat him?"
"Of course I can! I’ll become even stronger, and the seed will be mine too. Who the hell is going to hand it over!?"
Like a man with multiple personalities, he finally rose and walked toward the operating table.
He reached out and stroked the mangled body, a sickly smile spreading across his face. Then his hand seemed to melt, merging with the corpse beneath it.
Countless blood vessels bulged at the point of contact. His body shuddered, and a pained yet blissful expression appeared on his face as he let out a moan.
About ten minutes later, the corpse on the operating table had shriveled up, while his face glowed with health.
His hand returned to normal. Gently caressing the desiccated corpse, he murmured, "Such premium stock. There were still two attribute points left in that body. What a pity Setsuna is already dead. My source of Explorer corpses has been cut off..."
As he spoke, his phone rang. He answered it with a smile. "Xavier, have you considered what I proposed before? Without the Tiger’s Vessel, you must be having quite a headache, right?"
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