"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!"
A cloud of white dust filled the night sky of Hueco Mundo. Under the cold, pale moonlight, it shimred like countless morning stars.
"Truly astonishing..."
"I've never seen a Hollow battle His Majesty to such a degree..."
The mid-level Hollows stared wide-eyed at the massive craters left behind by the monstrous clash—one black, one white; one small, one colossal—each representing two distinct evolutionary paths of Hollow-kind. For the first ti, they understood the vast gulf that could exist between Hollows.
Even just the aftermath of the battle between Baraggan and Jijiba filled them with dread. The thought of intervening never crossed their minds—any Hollow foolish enough to approach would be annihilated in an instant by either the suffocating aura of death that symbolized aging or the wild force of evolution that Jijiba exuded.
"Boom!"
No one knew how long the two titans had been clashing. A gust of wind surged forward as a scarlet beam shot from Jijiba's gaping maw toward Baraggan. But after another cloud of dust settled, the ancient king remained unscathed, his body protected by the oppressive aura of death.
Still, for the first ti, Baraggan was gasping for air.
"Hoo... hoo..."
He could feel it—he was aging. Not just others... but himself.
Each invocation of the power of aging placed unimaginable strain on his decaying, godlike body.
"Have you vented enough, beast?"
Baraggan spoke coldly, steadying his breath as he glared up at the towering white Hollow before him.
"I'm not called 'Beast'. I have a na...
Gongbira!"
The massive creature thundered, revealing his true na—an unexpected show of respect toward Baraggan's authority.
"Hmm? Why is your na different from before?"
Baraggan narrowed his eyes, a flicker of confusion. Though he had always referred to Jijiba as a beast, he clearly rembered the Hollow's previous na.
"Because..."
"I had an epiphany!"
Jijiba's laughter echoed through the white sands.
"What?!"
Baraggan did not understand.
"Join us, Baraggan! Join us, and you'll gain power far beyond anything you've ever imagined..."
Without waiting for an answer, Jijiba extended his invitation.
Truthfully, he hadn't planned to invite Baraggan at all. In Jijiba's eyes, the Baraggan he had once devoured was the real one. And in the small world of Hueco Mundo, there was no room for two kings.
But it was Araki's order—a death order, no less. Jijiba was forced to find a way to recruit the Vasto Lorde-class Hollows still roaming the land.
He had even been explicitly forbidden from devouring any Vasto Lorde without a legitimate reason. This made the already impatient Jijiba nearly lose his mind! After all, such powerful Hollows were the most exquisite delicacies in Hueco Mundo.
"Hmph..."
"I don't know what you're rambling about, but I'll reject every invitation you make."
Baraggan snorted disdainfully.
"Very good!"
"I wasn't planning on inviting you anyway! You'd be better off dead!"
Jijiba roared and lunged forward once again.
Yes, Araki had forbidden him from devouring Vasto Lordes without cause... but if they rejected his offer or insulted Araki, that beca reason enough.
Jijiba couldn't care less if Baraggan insulted him—but insulting Araki? That was a cri worthy of devouring.
"You… don't you know exhaustion?"
Baraggan finally saw it. Jijiba was smaller than the creature in his mory. His spiritual pressure was lower. And yet… his strength had increased trendously.
"Baraggan! Have you finally seen it?! My true strength?"
"Yes... I see it now! True strength isn't size… it's endurance..."
As Jijiba spoke, a massive Hollow Flash began to gather between his jaws.
Ever since witnessing the being known as Araki, Jijiba no longer chased size. He had realized he could never surpass that being in mass. But endurance? Strength of will? That could evolve endlessly...
"Damn it!"
Baraggan cursed, but his movents were swift. As the crimson light intensified, he summoned the aging power within him, forming a pitch-black shield to defend.
"BOOM!"
A massive explosion tore through the sky. Crimson fire surged upward like a blooming mushroom cloud, illuminating the Forest of nos with infernal light. Sonic booms followed, and the wind roared outward in all directions.
"Your Majesty!"
From behind a distant sand dune, a group of loyal Adjuchas called out to Baraggan.
But before they could even move—
"BOOOOM..."
A second blast of wind and fire swallowed them whole, burying them beneath a storm of ash and sand.
Even a mid-level Great Hollow was nothing more than a larger ant before true kings of Hueco Mundo.
"You foolish beast... you fool, 'Gonjiba'! Were you trying to provoke ? Then congratulations... you've succeeded in enraging !"
As the flas died and smoke faded, Baraggan rose once more into the sky—tattered, worn, but blazing with fury.
"You finally called by my na..."
Jijiba smiled—a jagged, monstrous grin. He had been acknowledged. Baraggan had stopped calling him 'beast'. He had stopped referring to him by his old na.
Now he called him: Gonjiba.
"ROAR!!!"
The next second, accompanied by a thunderous roar, a suffocating spiritual pressure erupted—one brimming with darkness, ominous dread, and hopeless despair. It was under this crushing weight that Baraggan Louisenbairn and Kiba resud their second battle.
Elsewhere…
In Hueco Mundo, on the outskirts of the Great Hollow Forest, Kiba had carved open a dark cavern passage for Araki and his allies.
"We're here…"
Following a burst of flickering light, Araki—alongside several captains and the full force of the 11th Division—finally erged from the Dangai. They had entered the world of evil spirits. This was the paradise of the Hollows.
BOOM!
With a chorus of thunderous echoes, the Gotei 11 stord out of the black portal chamber, their boots crunching onto white desert sand beneath a moon that cast a cold, perpetual light. Hueco Mundo—shrouded in eternal night and unending dawn—trembled at the arrival.
"The Reiatsu concentration here... it's even higher than in Seireitei!" soone muttered in disbelief. "So weaker spirits here don't even need water—they survive just by breathing."
Several mbers of the 11th Division, attuned to spiritual fluctuations, closed their eyes and breathed in deeply. The density of Reitonium—the foundational spiritual particle of Bleach's world—left them in awe.
They had always believed Hueco Mundo to be a desolate wasteland, barren and lifeless. But now that they stood in it themselves, they discovered it was teeming with spiritual sustenance—especially advantageous to the weak.
"If we fought in this kind of high-Reishi environnt, I bet I could solo a Gillian!" an officer from Squad 11 boasted loudly.
"Idiot!" soone scoffed, imdiately throwing cold water on his enthusiasm. "You think you're the only one getting stronger here? The Hollows—those Gillians you think you can beat—are getting the sa buff. If you couldn't defeat them before, you still can't now."
The realization hit them all. While the Reishi-rich air amplified everyone's strength, it canceled out any true advantage.
"Yeah… I guess that's true…"
Their puffed-up pride quickly deflated, much like a balloon pierced by a blade.
ROOOAAAR!
Suddenly, guttural roars echoed from the nearby Hollow Forest.
"Whoa… That spiritual pressure…!"
Without hesitation, the 11th Division mbers drew their Zanpakutō.
"Two incredibly strong Reiatsu signatures!" Captain Kadori Taketsuna muttered, squinting toward the black forest. A cold sweat gathered on his brow. "They feel like… Vasto Lordes. No, maybe even stronger…"
But his voice wasn't trembling in fear—it was trembling with excitent. As a battle-hardened mber of the 11th Division, this was the kind of confrontation he lived for.
"Vasto Lorde? I've never seen one up close," said Zenjoji Arihi with a gleam in his eye. "I'd love to crack open the skull of a superior Hollow and see what's inside!"
If Araki hadn't been standing there, Zenjoji might've charged in already.
From his elevated position, Araki calmly observed the two clashing spiritual pressures—one of which he imdiately recognized.
"One belongs to that beast Jijiba… The other, equally imnse but unfamiliar… That must be Baraggan."
His tone was calm, but the glint in his eye was razor-sharp.
"Perfect," Araki muttered. "Then the second Hollow I convert shall be you, Baraggan the Skeleton King."
Yes. This was only the beginning of Araki's dominion over Hueco Mundo.
He would raise and ta these Hollows himself.
"Sōsuke Aizen, consider this a favor," Araki said under his breath, almost playfully. "I'm rely stress-testing your Hollow army. I won't take them yet. You can have them after you boost them with the Hōgyoku."
Indeed, Araki had no intention of stealing Aizen's mont. The research on Hollow–Shinigami hybridization and vice versa? That was Aizen's field. Aizen was the genius.
Araki was rely a profiteer. A very strategic one.
Years later…
When Yhwach returned from his slumber and stord Soul Society with the confidence of a god…
When he stood over the crumbling remnants of the Gotei 13 and prepared to claim the Soul King's throne with a self-assured smile...
He saw sothing that made his heart stir with unease.
Descending from the Soul King Palace—no longer weakened, but reborn—was the first generation of the Gotei 13, having fully mastered the Hollowfication process.
And alongside them… were twelve Arrancar of Vasto Lorde class—beings whose spiritual composition was dangerously incompatible with Quincies.
Yhwach's smile froze.
His brow twitched.
"…Father… wants to take his place in the Soul King Palace?"
For the first ti in centuries, the Almighty faltered.
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