"Cough… cough…"
Raizen Kō stared weakly at the enormous crater blasted open by his Cero.
The sand within the pit was still faintly glowing, glassed by extreme heat. Jagged cracks radiated outward like spiderwebs, proof of the terrifying force that had been released only moments ago.
A satisfied smile surfaced beneath his mask.
"That power…"
"…About half of that anomalous Gillian's Cero."
As the signature technique of a Menos Grande, Cero was never meant to be wielded by ordinary Hollows.
Yet Raizen Kō had mastered it… while still at the Advanced Hollow stage.
"…Am I really that gifted?"
He raised a pale claw and scratched the side of his mask, pride unconsciously seeping into his tone.
"But… the drawbacks are obvious."
His spiritual pressure was nearly exhausted.
His body felt hollow.
Even maintaining his form required effort.
"The charging time is long… the consumption is terrifying…"
"At this stage, Cero can only be used as a final trump card."
Without hesitation, Raizen Kō slammed his centipede tail into the sand.
WHOOM!
His massive body plunged directly beneath the surface, vanishing into the pale desert.
Hueco Mundo itself was composed entirely of condensed reishi.
As long as he remained within this realm, his spiritual pressure would naturally recover over time.
But recovery came with danger.
A Hollow with depleted reiryoku…
Was nothing more than walking prey.
Raizen Kō immediately activated Reiryoku Concealment (Camo), suppressing his presence to near nothingness, and hid deep beneath the sand, entering a state of silent recuperation.
…
Several hours later…
A faint pulse returned to his core.
His spiritual pressure stabilized.
Only then did Raizen Kō slowly rise from beneath the dunes.
After more than half a month of exploration, he had already mapped the rough distribution of Hollow territories across this region of the desert.
The deeper he went…
The more likely he was to encounter Gillian herds or wandering Adjuchas.
At his current level, such encounters meant death.
So he turned back.
His plan was clear.
Hunt large numbers of lower-stage Hollows in the outer regions.
Accumulate power.
Advance to Giant Hollow.
Then… return.
Raizen Kō moved silently through the shifting sands.
Despite his massive eight-meter-long body, his suppressed spiritual pressure rendered him almost invisible.
Then—
Boom.
Boom.
RUMBLE—
The desert ahead trembled violently.
Shockwaves rippled through the sand in uneven pulses, accompanied by thunderous roars and the clash of monstrous bodies.
"…A battle."
"And not an ordinary one."
Curiosity stirred.
Relying on Camo, Raizen Kō cautiously swam toward the source of the disturbance.
What he witnessed next…
Made his breath catch.
"…This is…"
"…Mass Hollow Cannibalism."
In Hueco Mundo, such an event was exceedingly rare.
When more than a hundred Giant Hollows gathered due to territory conflict, migration, or spiritual attraction, and lost control…
They devoured one another.
Relentlessly.
Until only one remained.
And that survivor…
Would be reborn as a Gillian.
"I didn't expect such a fortune…"
Raizen Kō immediately suppressed himself to the limit and buried his body deeper beneath the battlefield, hiding within the shallow layers of sand.
Before him…
Chaos unfolded.
Every participant was a Giant Hollow—each one stronger than his current form.
Bone clashed against bone.
Tentacles shattered armor.
Roars tore through the desert.
Yet none of them sensed the silent predator beneath their feet.
"This concealment ability…"
"…Is truly priceless."
Raizen Kō focused his attention on the melee, waiting patiently for opportunity.
Soon, his gaze locked onto a particularly fierce struggle.
To his front-left…
An enormous octopus-shaped Giant Hollow was being steadily forced back by two nearly identical hyena-shaped Giant Hollows.
Their cooperation was flawless.
One with shorter fangs harassed from the front, entangling the octopus's eight massive tentacles.
The other—long-fanged—circled silently from behind.
Their intelligence was clearly far above average.
Then—
PFFT!
Two razor-sharp fangs pierced straight through the back of the octopus Hollow's skull.
A shrill screech erupted.
The octopus Hollow convulsed violently.
Tentacles flailed.
From its gaping maw, countless compressed bubbles burst forth.
The bubbles detonated upon contact.
BOOOOM!
A violent chain explosion engulfed all three Hollows.
The octopus Hollow's body was ripped apart from within.
"…Desperate, but foolish."
Raizen Kō observed calmly.
"In Mass Cannibalism… crippling yourself is no different from suicide."
Even if it escaped…
It would never leave this battlefield alive.
The long-fanged hyena emerged from the explosion, its body cracked, crimson reishi bleeding like waterfalls from its wounds.
It howled furiously.
Raising its right paw, the limb expanded grotesquely.
Four massive claws gleamed like steel blades.
SHRRRAAAK!
Four hideous gashes tore across the octopus Hollow's back.
Dark green blood erupted.
And then—
CRACK.
The mask shattered.
Half of the enormous bone mask broke free and tumbled through the air, crashing heavily into a nearby dune.
The short-fanged hyena Hollow, newly freed, rushed toward the fallen mask in excitement.
But—
The sand trembled.
Without warning, a figure burst upward.
A humanoid upper body.
A centipede lower body.
In a flash, Raizen Kō seized the half-broken mask—nearly as large as his entire torso—and vanished back into the sand.
"Awooooo—!"
The short-fanged hyena froze.
Then howled in rage.
But no matter how it searched…
The thief had disappeared completely.
The long-fanged hyena noticed as well.
Yet the octopus Hollow's dying counterattack forced both hyenas to abandon pursuit and finish their prey.
…
Several miles away…
Deep beneath the sand…
Raizen Kō gazed at the massive pale-white mask in his claws.
Nearly half his size.
Radiating dense, condensed spiritual pressure.
"…This…"
"…Is an enormous profit."
"This single fragment…"
"…Is worth more than several Giant Hollows combined."
He immediately swam another two hours in the opposite direction, ensuring absolute safety.
Only after repeatedly confirming that no spiritual pressure existed within several kilometers…
Did he finally settle.
He descended ten meters beneath the surface.
And began to eat.
"Crunch… crunch…"
"…The texture…"
"…Like seaweed-flavored crackers."
He chewed slowly.
And instantly felt it.
The density of reishi within this fragment far surpassed anything he had consumed before.
This was no ordinary flesh.
This was…
A core mask fragment.
The heart of a Giant Hollow's power.
Far superior to the severed limb discarded earlier by the anomalous Gillian.
Raizen Kō's eyes gleamed.
"…This…"
"…Will push me much further."