An Arcanist in Karakura Town 19 (Patreon)

An Arcanist in Karakura Town
Chapter 19

-VB-

It felt great to be the person doing the punishing rather than being the victim. I even had a victory sex marathon with Orihime, though I didn’t quite tell her what the occasion was about; I just told her that I was in a good mood, and I wanted to feel better.

She really liked being serviced for the first quarter of the run.

However, defeating Ichigo so handily did not come without its consequences. Namely, I made myself an enemy of the shounen protagonist, his friends, his allies, his family, and so on.

“I would like to point out that Urahara and his ilk are not the living reaper’s allies.”

I turned to the Servant and raised an eyebrow. “Why would they not be?”

“You misunderstand how relationships can develop. There are relationships that exist to bolster your finances, others that bolster your safety, and others that exist to make you feel better.”

“And what does that have to do with Kurosaki and Urahara?”

“It is not an alliance. If your precognition of this world -”

“It was literally something I read. I already said that.”

He ignored me and continued. “- is right, then Urahara is using Kurosaki for what he believes is good. Not just, merely good. The living reaper is his proxy, because if he makes a move personally, then it becomes a no holds bar defense in which he is attacked by his former allies in Soul Society.”

“I knew that much.”

“And Kurosaki sees no need to help Urahara if the man does not help his friends.”

“But he is.”

“Then preempt the man and be the one to help Kurosaki’s friends first. From what you have told me, there is only one worth considering due to his lack of connections, yet you haven’t sought to hook him to your mercy to prevent Kurosaki and his friends from moving against you.”

I paused.

I knew who he was speaking of.

Chad. Or Sado, however you wanted to say it.

“Should I bring him in now…?”

“I believe it is prudent to gather as many allies as you can. And if you cannot gain allies from the cast of heroes and villains you know now, then I suggest making your own. You have the means.”

I frowned. I did have plenty of time, and it wasn’t like I was going to participate in the Ryoka Invasion with Ichigo. In canon, that campaign took well over a month to resolve and more time afterwards for the participants to heal.

It hadn’t started yet, which meant that I had that much time to recruit others to make myself stronger.

“... No, I can become strong on my own.”

He sighed at my reply. “So be it. Since you are no longer focusing on magic, I can’t exactly help you, but I can maybe help what direction you want to branch into.”

“You think?”

“I am a ‘made-emperor.’ You don’t get there without proper education, high analytical skills, deep critical thinking, and superb politicking,” he smirked.

I snorted. “And you died to mercury poison.”

“Okay, for the record, it was thought to be a good thing back then, alright? I didn’t know mercury literally poisoned you and made you … insane.”

“And you completely neglected your children.”

“I certainly did no such thing. One was too lazy and the other was too blinded by his greed.”

“Right, right. And you couldn’t have helped them help each other before you keked it?”

“Insolent…!”

“Try me~!”

Bonk.

“Ow! You actually hit me!”

-VB-

After my conversation with my Servant, I went back to tinkering. While Tecton’s tinkertech proved to be useful against Ichigo, he was currently near my level. Unless I could use it to somehow cause earthquake level vibrations in the air, which wasn’t likely due to Tecton’s specialty, then it would be useless except as a large area of effect opening move.

This meant that I had to focus on Bakuda’s specialty to carry me through fights.

I went through the list of Bakuda bombs from Worm canon that I still remembered.

The problem with Bakuda’s bombs that I saw now was that they weren’t directed.

They were bombs.

They were, at best, ranged attacks.

Tecton’s armor would certainly provide me with all of the defenses I needed to win against high-mid tier or low-high tier fighters like Abarai, but it wouldn’t possess any melee capabilities.

…

I had to turn to magic to make up for that, huh?

Ugh, what spells were there? Actually, could I make my own spells?

Something like Emiya’s time dilation? Haste?

Hmm, that was something to think about.

For now though, what bomb could I build that would make me an untouchable target…?

…Well, I had an idea. What about something that destabilized the very foundation of spiritual beings, but didn’t affect anyone who was in a physical body?

It would certainly land me Mayuri’s attention, but was it worth it?

I hummed as I imagined Aizen Sosuke simply disappearing after being hit by my bomb.

… Unlikely. Aizen wasn’t a novice combatant. He would definitely take precautions against a weird device. Like dodging. This was doubly so if I ever showed off any of Bakuda’s tech. So far, I showed off using magic, which I now recognized as being different from spiritual stuff.

I jolted.

“Ah, goddamnit!” I hissed in anger.

To truly take advantage of Bakuda’s tech, I needed to do something Bakuda did not: hold it in reserve until the last possible moment. Bakuda’s bombs were not hard to see coming. In canon, the only reason why she was such a big boss was because she hid her bombs within people. Esoteric effects didn’t really make her worse; a death was a death, no matter how gruesome.

It was fear of how horrible one can die that made her bigger than she ought to be.

Well, her EMP bomb was certainly powerful, but I believed that it took Bakuda a lot of time and material to build that. Unfortunately, while I might have the time and material, EMP was useless against spiritual beings.

I needed something… something that I could use widely without affecting myself.

Hmm...

How about a cluster bomb? A cluster spiritual bomb that detonates above me and shoots out omnidirectionally except towards me and then detonates?

It … had merit.

My eyes widened and my lips split into a grin.

It definitely had merit.

-VB-

In the middle of the night, I stopped working as I felt two foreign spiritual pressures enter the city.

“Ah, so they’re here,” I muttered to myself.

They were here to take Rukia away.

The Ryoka Arc was starting.