I sighed. I've been doing that a lot lately, haven't I? Well, despite this whole reincarnation scenario being an otaku's wet dream, things aren't great.

I'm stressed. Incredibly so. What do I do? Well... there's definitely nothing I can do about melascula and rose fighting.

But that's not what I'm stressed about. You see, every protagonist has an end goal.

Ichigo wants to protect those he cares about.

Aizen wants to stand atop the world.

Yhwach wanted to create a world without death.

But me... I'm lost. I'm not so ambitious as to stand atop the world. After my talk with the soul king...

I've no interest in such a world like yhwach wants.

Ichigo... huh. That doesn't sound too bad.

Yeah... I suppose that's what I'll do.

I'll use every fiber of my being to protect those who hold a place within my heart.

And that... thats why I can't stop this fight. If I interrupt it, their rage will only grow stronger. Their hatred.

It's not a solution.

I need to let them settle their differences here and now.

Mitsuri:"why haven't you stopped them?" I could only look down at the ground.

"it's necessary in order for them to grow." Despite its necessity, I hate this. I haven't known them for long, but within the short time I've known them, I've grown to care for them.

This isn't an anime anymore. It's reality they're not just fictional characters now, they're people.

The fight began and two massive gauntlets came out of two portals behind rose, a double sided chainsaw blade in the right hand.

Melascula was impassive at the humming blade, it's overwhelming amount of magical energy and spiritual pressure didn't even make her flinch. Her darkness floated around her devilish figure like a snake circling its prey.

The two slowly began to release their magical power and the atmosphere became suffocating.

Walter's coat tails billowed from the force. He donned an impassive mask as he placed his hands behind his back.

At this point, he would only hinder their development if he acted.

Melascula acted first, a rock shot out of the ground in front of rose. It struck right into the magimata's gut.

No reaction.

"pitiful attacks won't work, you pathetic snake!" The woman born of Walter's flesh struck down upon melascula, sparks flew as it attempted to cut through the layer of darkness. The snake demon raised an arm upwards, strengthening the darkness before making a finger gun with her left.

Rose looked at her blankly.

A concentrated ball of magic formed on the tip of her finger. Walter knew exactly what was going to happen.

A beam shot towards the maid. Rose calmly blocked it with the back of her hand.

No injury, no flinching, no indication of pain.

The pink haired woman blinked in shock to see rose, a meter away.

Before anything else happened, the blade attempting to crush down on sternritter V disappeared.

And a fist through melascula's gut appeared instead. Red dripped from either sides of her mouth.

Rose placed a hand on the snakes shoulder, forcing her to look at her.

"do you understand now? Whore. The difference between you and I. We... are worlds apart. Whatever power Walter gave you. You will not surpass me. Get that through your skull." Roses fist was pulled out of her opponent.

Melascula fell backwards, blood dripping from the slowly closing hole in her stomach.

Rose scowled at the whelp.

Walter appeared behind her.

"thank you. For not killing her." The snow crunched under the Kings feet, he crouched down and carefully lifted her up in a bridal carry.

"there's a key in your hand, it'll allow you to leave the frozen forest. Take as much time as you need." He didn't turn back to her, only looking down at melascula with sorrow.

Rose wordlessly left, understanding what Walter wanted.

"I feel your magical energy has gotten stronger, Mel. That is the beauty of your schrift. Snakes are slippery creatures, the ability to shed their skin is a form of development. The way your schrift works, each time you're defeated you grow stronger. The amount of strength you gain is dependent on how overwhelming your defeat is. That, is the vanquished." She could only smirk as she closed her eyes.

'He knew... he knew this would happen. Not only did this humble me, it made me stronger. What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger. With 8 hearts, that shouldn't be too hard.' His loyal sternritter could no longer keep her consciousness, drifting away into unconsciousness.

Walter calmly smiled.

Oh, how soft he is. He knew this would happen, hell, he allowed it.

So why is he crying?

Walter only just realised himself.

Mitsuri jogged over to him.

"why are you crying?" She reached up and wiped his tears away.

"I'm too soft... I can't bare to see the people close to me get hurt." The hashira was... silent.

"I was going to yell at you. For breaking our promise. For doing such horrible things to yourself. But... but... I can't even get angry after seeing you like this!" Mitsuri herself was on the verge of tears.

"let's just head back to the cabin. We need to check in on derieri and ophis." The sternritter wiped her eyes.

"we'll talk later."

Blink

She blinked. The black haired short stack sat up.

This bed. It smells like Walter. I recall falling asleep in his arms. It was quite nice.

But when did I get here? I only sense one person in the house.

And it isn't Walter.

It definitely felt like a demon, but it wasn't melascula. I couldn't sense anything outside of the house, this place muddles with my senses.

Frightening. The more I discover, the more I realise how monstrous his abilities are.

And I doubt that he's reached whatever peak he has.

If he even has one.

I'm... not sure he does. I stood up on the soft covers, as much as I would like to continue sleeping, I have something to ask Walter.

This sternritter organisation of his, I wish to join it. I want to stay with Walter.

I got out or his large bed, why is it so large? I calmly left his room and descended the stairs to see the one person within the house.

A demon with her breasts, left arm and right leg covered with darkness and currently lying on the couch, her blonde hair splayed under herself.

The blonde brawler glanced at me, a look of boredom was in her eyes.

"I'm derieri. Walter left me here so that I could relax but he also told me to tell him when you wake up. So, let's go." Derieri sat up as the door opened.

Walter was stood in the doorway, melascula in his arms. Her friend looked panicked.

"I... I didn't expect her to lose. I had faith in her abilities." The sad smile on Walter's face didn't help her mood.

"so did I. But if she won, stagnation. Melascula would've been locked in her arrogant mindset for far longer. I wanted the fight to serve as a wakeup call. Even with the almighty, this was the best and least violent outcome. I hate it all. Just seeing it brought me to tears."

Derieri couldn't speak. The blonde was positive that he hadn't known melascula for long but was already trying to better her.

Somethings off about him.

The demon was completely foreign to the concept of compassion, he must have some ulterior motivation. Those were the thoughts running through her mind.

The woman approached him and took her only friend from his arms.

"you could've called the match early." He only shook his head.

Walter:"that would only damage melascula's pride and leaving such a thing to stir is unwise." Derieri couldn't deny that, some creatures value pride over their life.

Melascula was one of those creatures.

She only noticed it now, why was melascula drastically stronger?

"her schrift allows her to grow stronger after each defeat. Depending on the severity of said defeat, is how much stronger she'll grow." Derieri could only wonder how strong rose truly is for her to grant melascula such a large amount of magic raising melascula from mid ultimate class to high Satan.

Mitsuri walked past Walter and over to ophis.

"I feel like this conversation won't end well." Ophis slowly nodded in agreement.

"melascula's going to get into alot more fights, isn't she?" The dragon slowly nodded.

"I want to join you. To stay closer to melascula. I don't want to lose my only friend." Her eyes had hardened with resolve.

Newgate could only frown.

"I'll be blunt. At your level, you stand no chance. You have no technique, no unique ability, no defining abilities. All you have is motivation and resolve. Unless you can prove to me that you have the potential for a schrift, I have no intention to grant you one." The woman grit her teeth in rage.

Derieri swung her shadow covered fist right towards walters face.

The two found themselves out on the square platform where Walter had once gutted himself.

"to be fair to you, I won't use the almighty. Or the visionary. No magic or reishi. Just my fists. If you can impress me, I will grant you a schrift." The man now had a stern expression on his face.

This honestly wasn't how Walter wanted it to go, but with how powerful the Quincy are, he needed to confirm that derieri could be useful.

Despite how cold hearted it may seem, Walter was aware that he needed to be a bit ruthless.

He held his fists up in kanoh agito's stance. Derieri raised her fists to a fighting stance, it was sloppy but Walter could see potential.

A burst of magic shot out as derieri launched herself towards the purple haired man. The two were face to face in an instant and she launched a punch.

Walter calmly caught her by the wrist before striking her in the sternum.

"you're fast. You're powerful. But all that amounts to nothing in the face of a stronger opponent. Because what you lack is technique, with no technique or unique ability to turn the tide, you're simply a woman who knows how to punch." The blonde was breathless, both physically and literally.

How was she supposed to beat him?

"how about a trial run? I'll grant you a schrift, if you can manage to harm me with it under these same conditions, I'll train you all you want." These words gave her a glimpse of hope.

Walter unsheathed the shorter blade and gripped the blade before slitting his hand open. Well, that worked.

Usually, Walter would just create a sake cup with his blood in it. But Walter wanted to test if his zanpakuto could cut his skin.

It could.

"to grant a schrift on someone, they need to first drink my blood." Derieri understood and took grasp of his bloodied, gloved hand.

She licked. He shivered, its a very strange feeling to have someone lick your hand. Gloved or not.

Derieri was very confused, his blood was laced with magic to an insane degree. But there was something else within his blood, though, she couldn't tell what it was.

"I, Walter Newgate, grant you the letter R, the repetition." Derieri couldn't describe the feeling of her soul having a letter engraved upon it but if she had to try, she would say it was...

Confusing.

It was unlike anything else she had ever felt, but unlike melascula, derieri received innate knowledge upon her schrift.

It was a terrifyingly simple ability because of the ease at which it could be used.

Walter could only sigh internally.

This facade gets harder as the days go by.