Chapter 265: Simulated Universe: Swarm Disaster 『 Part Six 』
「 Stelle stood outside the window, her knuckles rapping gently against the glass, attempting to draw the woman's attention.
"The transport ship is very close…" Stelle's voice was pitched low, as if afraid of startling her.
The woman jerked her head up, revealing bloodshot eyes amidst a tangle of messy hair. Her fingers were wrapped in coarse thread, and scattered around her feet were dozens of tiny cloth shoes—some only half-sewn, others worn at the edges, piled haphazardly on the floorboards.
"Get away!" the woman shrieked, snatching up an unfinished shoe and hurling it at the window. "You liars! Bandits! I heard my child's voice!… I have to wait for them to come back!"
Stelle's gaze swept across the room; the walls were draped with all manner of clothing. In the corner, a ragged stuffed bear sat slumped, crooked patches sewn onto its belly, loose threads trailing onto the floor where they were trampled black by the woman's bare feet.
"According to the few remaining written records of Planet La'Bor, this woman's name was Melchidek," Herta said calmly. "Without exception, every child she gave birth to was an insect. So… she went mad."
"After the descent of 『 Propagation 』, there were many others like her. The 『 Propagation 』 of all living things was dominated by Tayzzyronth… or to be precise, He dominated the very concept of propagation itself. Based on our current understanding of the Star Gods, this is likely only a small manifestation of Their authority."
"Do They know what They doing?"
"You mean the Imperator Insectorum?" Herta replied. "If you are asking whether They possesses anthropomorphic thought… that cannot be determined. Perhaps for Them, the only thought is to propagate without ceasing."
Stelle watched as Melchidek sat by the empty cradle. Suddenly, an insect squeezed through her broken window and began gnawing on the little food remaining in the room.
Melchidek embraced it with trembling arms. For a split second, she believed her child had returned, and tears rolled down her face. Her fingertips gently stroked the insect's smooth carapace, as if caressing her child's spine.
She sewed clothes for it, wrapping its body in scraps of fabric; she sewed cloth shoes for it, stubbornly fitting them onto its cilium-covered insect legs; at night, she taught it language, trying to make it call her "Mama," but the only response she received was the rustling friction of arthropod limbs.
Seven days later, her home was overrun with the offspring of her "child." They devoured the curtains, hollowed out the floorboards, and left winding holes in the walls. Melchidek sat in the center of this sea of insects, still sewing tiny shoes stitch by stitch. The swarm crawled over her body, yet not a single one stopped for her. 」
「 ..... 」
〜Bleach World〜
In the backyard of the Urahara Shop, the night was heavy.
Kisuke Urahara leaned against the doorframe, the folding fan in his hand tapping idly against his palm. His gaze was fixed tightly on the madwoman sitting amidst the swarm in the sky's projection.
When he saw the insects crawling up her cheek, Urahara felt a sudden chill run through him, and his fan instinctively slapped against his own face.
"What's wrong? Afraid there's a bug on your face?"
Yoruichi Shihouin stepped out from the shadows, her golden cat-eyes narrowing slightly.
"It's rare to see you making a face like that."
"Faced with an overwhelming tide of insects, fear is a normal reaction, isn't it?"
Urahara snapped his fan shut.
"The power of an Star God… truly unreasonable. It's like establishing some impractical rule and then forcing everything in the universe to obey it. We can only say… it is fortunate that 『 Propagation 』 disappeared early enough, otherwise even we wouldn't have been spared."
"Hmph, you think it's over just like that? Have you forgotten the giant True Sting that swallowed the Express crew not long ago?"
Yoruichi crossed her arms, letting out a cold laugh.
"Those insects that invaded the carriage interior began laying eggs immediately, and they possessed the ability to 'replicate.' If Stelle and the others hadn't exterminated them as fast as they multiplied, the train would likely have been packed full of bugs by now."
"Yoruichi, are you implying… that the power of Propagation still exists in the universe?"
"Yes. The disappearance of the Star God does not mean the disappearance of all the swarms. Look at the speed at which those True Stings lay eggs and multiply… that is a force significant enough to become a scourge upon the universe."
As she spoke, Yoruichi clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Thanks to these bugs, even looking at Hollows feels more comfortable now. At least some Hollows have reason and purpose, whereas these bugs… they know only mindless consumption and reproduction, without end."
Urahara fell silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly.
"Well, Yoruichi, if that swarm were to charge over here, do you think the World of the Living and Soul Society could hold them back?"
"…"
Yoruichi rolled her eyes at him.
"How should I know if we can hold them back? But if the bugs really did show up at our doorstep, you'd definitely be the first to hide in your underground lab and tinker with some messy inventions."
Kisuke Urahara clutched his chest with exaggerated drama, wearing a wounded expression.
"My, my, Miss Yoruichi, those words truly break my heart—I am clearly the type who would fight on the front lines to protect everyone at the first sign of trouble~"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Yoruichi raised an eyebrow, looking at him with a half-smile.
"Then, during the last Hollow attack on Karakura Town, who was it that hid in the shop eating watermelon and watching the show, calling it 'observing the tactical situation'?"
"T-That was strategic observation!"
Urahara coughed dryly, snapping his fan open with a swish to cover half his face, revealing only a pair of smiling eyes.
"Besides, didn't I step in at the end?"
"Hmph."
Yoruichi was about to mock Urahara further when, suddenly, her pupils contracted sharply.
At first, it was a fine stippling—thousands of fluttering insect shadows trembling amidst the galaxy, like a painter's distorted starry sky suddenly gaining life. Then, the entire painting began to be erased by some invisible rubber, fading from the edges to reveal the pale canvas beneath.
In the blink of an eye, the swarm seemed to be violently wiped away.
"…What was that?"
Yoruichi's voice carried a rare tremor.
But Kisuke Urahara could not answer her. His folding fan fell to the ground with a clatter, cold sweat sliding down his temples.
He keenly realized… it wasn't just 『 Propagation 』. Something else, something beyond their comprehension, had appeared within the light screen.
There was no sound, no light, yet both of them seemed to hear the wailing of countless galaxies. Swarms, planets, stars… everything returned to nothingness within that dark throat.
—
「 "『 Voracity 』 — Oroboros," Herta explained. "Voracity is a Star God ascended from a 'Dusk Leviathan.' He is both an ancient beast and a Star God, an insatiable devourer, and a thinking void. He stands alongside Qlipoth of 『 Preservation 』 as one of the oldest known Star Gods."
"So just now… I was eaten by Him?" Stelle remembered being with the madwoman just a moment ago.
"Yes. Every time Voracity opens His mouth, billions of stars perish—and of course, countless offspring of Tayzzyronth perish with them. One propagates, the other devours. They sound like sworn enemies, fulfilling their respective Paths while bringing catastrophic ruin to the cosmos." 」
「 ..... 」