Another mid-tier Adjuchas collapsed.
As its body dissolved into drifting reishi, one more mid-tier Hollow was exposed before Sombravida.
"So… what about you?"
Sombravida flicked the corpse aside without removing its mask. His golden gaze remained fixed on the prey ahead.
"I… I surrender!"
The Hollow dropped to its knees and withdrew its anti-membrane.
"Wise choice."
Sombravida did not even look at it.
Instead, his eyes shifted to the final survivor — Atak's lieutenant.
The Last Loyalist
"Don't even think about it!"
"I swore to protect Lord Atak with my life!"
The lieutenant exploded forward.
The bull-like Adjuchas charged on all fours, spiritual pressure surging to its limit. Its forehead horn ignited with condensed reiatsu — a killing thrust meant to end the fight in a single blow.
BOOM!!!
Horn and blade collided.
Sombravida manifested the Sky-Splitting Greatsword, spiritual pressure cascading through the weapon as he absorbed the impact.
A violent shockwave erupted.
Blood-soaked sand blasted outward.
Cracks spread through the ground beneath them.
Had the lieutenant been at full strength, Sombravida — still drained from Zero-Type Storm — might have been forced backward.
But the lieutenant's reiatsu was badly depleted.
Sombravida held firm.
"Kovadis! Timd! Attack!"
"With the three of us, we can save Lord Atak!"
Seeing Sombravida locked in place, Kovadis surged forward.
The spines along his back ignited.
He curled into a spinning drill and launched himself toward Sombravida.
CLANG!!!
A golden barrier flared into existence around Sombravida.
Kovadis slammed into it and was thrown back.
At the far edge of the battlefield, Timd stood frozen — arm extended.
He had cast the anti-membrane.
Betrayal and Survival
"Timd! TRAITOR!"
The lieutenant unleashed a dark purple Cero.
"My lord, save me!"
Timd dropped the barrier and fled in panic.
He had not mastered Sonído.
He could not evade.
The Cero descended.
BOOM!!!
Dust erupted.
But from within the smoke—
Sombravida stood unharmed.
One arm held the trembling Timd by the collar.
His other hand blocked the Cero.
"I felt your loyalty."
Sombravida set him aside.
Then vanished.
The Barrier is Useless
He appeared before Kovadis.
CLANG!!
Another anti-membrane deployed — this time from Kovadis.
He attempted to trap Sombravida within it.
Just as Sombravida had once done as a Gillian.
"My lord! Take Lord Atak and escape! I'll hold him!"
The lieutenant turned—
Then froze.
His foreleg spun through the air.
Blood sprayed across his mask.
Sombravida had already passed him.
The greatsword spun once—
and drove through his neck, pinning him to the earth.
"This… this is impossible!"
Kovadis stared at the empty barrier.
"How did you escape?!"
Sombravida calmly sat atop the lieutenant's back, forcing him down.
"The anti-membrane isolates space and protects what is inside."
"And my ability… is space."
"Moving between coordinates is trivial."
"My Sonído works on similar principles."
"Trying to confine me is… ineffective."
End of Kovadis
Kovadis roared and charged.
A flash of invisible light struck his mask.
It shattered.
"I forgot to mention," Sombravida said calmly, "my second ability is stealth."
A spatial slash followed.
Kovadis's skull split.
He collapsed.
"Game over."
Sombravida drove the greatsword deeper.
The lieutenant's life faded.
Silence returned.
The Survivor
"Your name is Timd?"
Sombravida ripped the lieutenant's mask free while keeping his gaze on the gravely wounded Atak.
"Yes… yes, my lord…"
Timd knelt, trembling.
"Finish off the wounded. Bring me their masks."
"Yes… yes!"
He fled to carry out the order.
Enemies and former comrades alike were harvested.
Conversation with a Fallen Lord
Sombravida appeared beside Atak.
His sword tip touched the ground near the lord's head.
"Huff… huff…"
Atak's chest wound prevented reiatsu circulation.
He could no longer fight.
"What is there to say?"
"Kill me."
"No need to rush."
"Let's talk."
"Maybe there's another path."
"Hmph. As if you'd spare me."
Atak's eyes narrowed.
"I've seen you before… one of Whisperwind's subordinates."
"Good memory."
"So the assassinations… were you."
"Yes."
"And with power exceeding Whisperwind… why serve him?"
Sombravida cut him off.
"Because I am the true king."
"I have been his king… since I was a Gillian."
Atak's eyes widened briefly.
Then steadied.
"No wonder…"
"You hid in the shadows from the start."
"You killed Yislut… Casgard… Varta…"
"Yes."
Sombravida nodded.
"From the moment I hunted here as a Gillian…"
"Every assassination… every conflict… every manipulation…"
"Every step was planned."
"Even guiding Gatmont."
"All to reach this point."
Atak stared at him in silence.
"You planned that far ahead…"
"The Central Forest is only a stepping stone," Sombravida continued.
"One day I will stand at the summit of Hueco Mundo."
"And beyond."
Atak exhaled slowly.
"Then losing to you… is not unjust."
"But why tell me?"
Sombravida's eyes sharpened.
"You were once human."
"Join me."
A Miscalculation
Atak blinked.
"…What?"
"You're not?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Atak tried to rise.
Sombravida slammed him back down.
"If you weren't human…"
"How did you learn anti-membrane techniques?"
"And that formation?"
"I've never seen such tactics among Hollows."
Atak scoffed weakly.
"Someone taught us."
Sombravida paused.
"…Who?"
He glanced across the ruined battlefield.
"…Never mind."
"I likely killed him already."
"No, my lord… no."
Timd's voice trembled from behind.
He approached carrying masks.
"I taught them."
Sombravida froze.
"…You?"
Timd lowered his head.
"Yes, my lord."
"I am the one who was once human."
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