Once summoned by the Great Hollow Forest, a Gillian's march cannot be stopped.
No obstacle can delay it.
This is one of the ironclad laws of Hueco Mundo.
The enormous footprints Sombravida followed stretched endlessly across the wasteland. Faint spiritual pressure lingered along the trail, and the path was marked by devastation — shattered terrain, collapsed Hollow outposts, and lingering scars of destruction.
The trail continued.
Which meant the Gillian still advanced.
Whether it was Yammy, Nel, or another Hollow entirely, Sombravida had no choice but to pursue.
Ruins Along the Path
Along the ruined settlements, Sombravida encountered several Hollows barely clinging to life.
From them he gained food.
From them he gained information.
One such survivor was a monstrous Hollow nearly three meters tall, possessing the ability to bend light and conceal itself perfectly within shadows.
But its spiritual pressure was chaotic from injury.
That weakness was fatal.
In a single exchange, Sombravida forced it from concealment and pinned it beneath his bone blade.
"Tell me what happened," Sombravida demanded.
The Hollow trembled.
"A few days ago… a lone Gillian passed through… We attacked together… we thought it was an opportunity…"
Its voice shook.
"It was a monster. Continuous Cero flashes shattered our lines… then came a terrifying Soul Drain. Countless Hollows were devoured…"
Only a handful of high-level Hollows escaped.
It was one of them.
"You mean it ignored fleeing high-level Hollows?"
Sombravida pressed his bone blade against its mask.
"What did it look like? Was it conscious?"
"A clown-like mask… pointed nose… no expression…"
Sombravida's eyes narrowed.
"Unconscious…"
"I… can I go now…?"
Thud.
Sombravida struck.
The Hollow's mask shattered.
He devoured it without hesitation and resumed his pursuit.
A Disturbing Possibility
If the survivor spoke truth…
Sombravida may already have disrupted the natural order of Hueco Mundo.
Both Nel and Yammy possessed Vasto Lorde potential.
But losing consciousness at the Gillian stage drastically reduces the odds of further evolution.
Or worse—
the Gillian he chased might be neither of them.
Either possibility spelled disaster.
Yet Sombravida clung to the sliver of hope driving him forward.
Relentless Pursuit
At his current speed, he would catch up within two days.
Hollows did not tire.
As long as spiritual energy remained, they could move endlessly.
Sombravida did not sleep.
He rested only briefly to recover energy.
When hungry, he hunted.
When depleted, he paused and continued.
He pursued without pause.
The Howl
At last—
a distant howl echoed beyond a hill.
The unmistakable cry of a Gillian.
Sombravida stopped instantly.
The scent of a Gillian's spiritual pressure differed fundamentally from that of high-level Hollows.
Without it, he could not have tracked his quarry.
"I can't approach carelessly," he thought.
"If it's unconscious and turns hostile, everything ends here."
His energy reserves were low from the journey.
"I recover first… then observe."
He suppressed his spiritual pressure and crossed the hill.
On the far side, a colossal silhouette moved slowly across the horizon.
Confirmation
Sombravida quickened his pace, circling wide to the left.
He needed to see the mask.
If detected, a berserk Gillian would never release prey.
Carefully… silently…
He reached its flank.
Then he looked up.
A pointed, witch-like clown mask.
Emotionless.
Unconscious.
Sombravida's heart sank.
"Did I chase the wrong one…?"
With Nel and Yammy's strength, they should have retained consciousness.
Had his existence altered fate?
If he had never appeared, perhaps they would never have fought…
Perhaps neither would have fallen.
He clenched his jaw.
"Right or wrong… I can't leave it alone."
He followed at a safe distance.
Another Gillian Appears
A second howl shattered his thoughts.
Sombravida looked up.
Another Gillian approached from the distance.
Same gait.
Same monstrous presence.
Same expressionless mask.
Unconscious.
Sombravida retreated behind a sand dune.
"Two Gillians meeting means battle," he thought.
"I observe first."
If Nel or Yammy fell here, his pursuit would end.
Clash of Giants
The two titans met.
Twin roars shook the air.
Twin Cero blasts erupted.
They collided with catastrophic force.
The explosion pulverized surrounding terrain.
Sombravida clicked his tongue.
"As expected… even with comparable pressure, releasing power on this scale is impossible without evolution."
Advancement was everything.
Marking the Target
As the Gillians exchanged blasts, Sombravida sprang into motion.
He dashed toward the one he had tracked.
With precise timing, he snapped off a fragment of his bone claw and embedded it into the edge of its black cloak.
Then he retreated instantly.
A thread of his spiritual pressure remained attached.
Now he could track it even in chaos.
The Fifth Cero
The titans exchanged blast after blast.
Three Ceros.
Then four.
A Gillian's typical limit in one battle: five.
To exceed that required extraordinary reserves.
Sombravida narrowed his eyes.
His quarry was slower forming the fourth.
The opponent showed the same strain.
Evenly matched.
"No reason to keep watching."
He gathered his strength.
The moment the fifth Cero detonated—
Sombravida moved.
The Decisive Strike
Before the smoke cleared, Sombravida leaped skyward.
Shadow Step.
Shattering Slash.
His strike descended with full force upon the opponent's mask.
Exhausted of power, unable to gather new energy, the Gillian was at its weakest.
The mask shattered.
Its pupils extinguished.
Its colossal body collapsed.
The mask dissolved as it fell.
Devouring the Fallen
The surviving Gillian roared.
Then continued forward.
As it passed the corpse, it crouched and devoured the fallen giant piece by piece.
Two hundred meters away, Sombravida watched.
He chewed fragments of shattered mask.
"I'll follow for now…"
His gaze remained fixed.
"I hope… you really are Nel."