Hueco Mundo.
The outskirts of the endless Sea of Sand.
A Gillian over one hundred meters tall wandered aimlessly across the white desert.
Hidden beneath the sand below, a gigantic white serpent silently glided forward at astonishing speed.
Danger drew closer with every passing second.
Even the mindless Gillian, whose intelligence had long since disappeared, instinctively sensed the approaching threat.
“ROAR!” The Gillian roared uneasily before opening its enormous mouth.
A black and crimson Cero rapidly condensed within its jaws as it aimed toward the moving shadow beneath the sand.
But at that exact moment…
Whoosh!
A silver-white serpent over forty-five meters long suddenly burst from beneath the Sea of Sand like a bolt of lightning.
Appearing directly behind the Gillian in an instant…
Lin Huang swung his tail.
The Sword Scales at its tip erupted with brilliant purple spiritual pressure before slashing mercilessly across the Gillian’s neck.
Slash!
The enormous head flew into the air.
Without wasting a single movement…
Lin Huang’s tail instantly caught it.
The Sword Scales skillfully peeled away the Hollow mask before Lin Huang swallowed the clown-like mask in only a few bites, as though it were nothing more than a biscuit.
At the same time…
Elsewhere on the battlefield…
Nelliel calmly raised her head.
A black and crimson Cero instantly blasted another wandering Gillian completely in half.
The two of them had effortlessly killed one Gillian each.
The reason was simple.
Among Hollows…
Victory was determined primarily by spiritual pressure.
Although Lin Huang and Nelliel had technically not yet evolved into Menos…
The quality of their spiritual pressure had already reached the Menos level.
Coupled with their intelligence and battle experience…
Defeating ordinary mindless Gillians posed little difficulty.
Just as the serpent and the antelope prepared to regroup…
Lin Huang suddenly detected a faint smell of blood carried by the wind.
At almost the same instant…
A sharp pain shot through his forehead.
His spiritual perception screamed a warning.
Without hesitation…
Lin Huang violently twisted his enormous body sideways.
At the same time…
His tail struck Nelliel, pushing her away from their original position.
Boom!!!
The ground where they had stood silently collapsed.
A gigantic crater over one hundred meters across and several dozen meters deep instantly appeared.
Had they reacted even a fraction of a second slower…
They would have been gravely injured, if not killed outright.
Standing at the edge of the crater…
A Hollow measuring roughly seven meters tall quietly revealed himself.
His body was dark green.
His head resembled that of a chameleon.
His entire body was covered in charred wounds.
The long tail behind him had been reduced to nothing more than a short stump.
It was Liotta Ekk.
The Adjuchas who had escaped from Fidorb and Baticaroa only days earlier.
His condition was miserable.
The crack across his Hollow mask and the loss of his tail had caused his spiritual pressure to leak continuously.
He was steadily regressing from Adjuchas toward the level of a Gillian.
His dark green eyes slowly shifted between Lin Huang and Nelliel.
Cold killing intent filled them.
His concealment ability could only be activated three times within two days.
He had already used it twice during his previous battle.
This final use had been intended to kill both Lin Huang and Nelliel in one decisive strike.
He simply hadn’t expected Lin Huang to detect him.
At the same time…
Lin Huang and Nelliel carefully sensed the terrifying spiritual pressure radiating from their opponent.
It still greatly exceeded that of an ordinary Gillian.
Combined with his relatively small body…
Lin Huang’s expression became serious.
“Adjuchas…” “No…” “Something isn’t right.” His eyes immediately focused upon the shattered Hollow mask covering Liotta Ekk’s face.
Then…
The countless wounds covering his body.
Understanding dawned immediately.
“He’s no longer a complete Adjuchas.” “If he were…” “We would already be dead.” Among the Menos hierarchy…
Adjuchas stood only below Vasto Lorde.
However…
Their evolution remained unstable.
If an Adjuchas suffered severe damage to its Hollow mask or permanently lost parts of its body without possessing the means to regenerate…
Its evolution would gradually collapse.
Eventually…
It would regress toward Gillian.
Even so…
A fallen Adjuchas remained vastly superior to ordinary mindless Gillians.
Whether comparing spiritual pressure…
Physical ability…
Or combat experience…
The difference remained enormous.
Many of Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez’s future Fracción had once existed in a similar transitional state before eventually becoming Arrancar.
Liotta Ekk clearly belonged to that category now.
“You two haven’t even become Menos…” “And yet you already possess spiritual pressure comparable to Gillians.” “Even your intelligence rivals that of humans.” Liotta Ekk’s sinister smile slowly widened.
“Although devouring you won’t restore my damaged Hollow mask…” “It should at least compensate for the spiritual pressure I’ve lost.” “It seems fate has delivered two extraordinary meals directly into my hands.” Hearing those words…
Lin Huang merely sneered.
“If you’re capable…” “Then come and try.” He had already seen through Liotta Ekk’s condition.
The injuries covering his body had yet to recover.
His broken tail and damaged Hollow mask had already caused his evolution to collapse.
If Liotta Ekk had remained a healthy Adjuchas…
Neither he nor Nelliel would have survived even a single exchange.
Now…
Things were different.
After exchanging a glance…
Lin Huang and Nelliel immediately understood each other’s intentions.
Without saying another word…
The two separated toward opposite sides.
They formed a perfect pincer formation.
“ROAR!” Witnessing two Hollows beneath the Menos class actually attempting to surround him…
Liotta Ekk roared in humiliation.
Only a short while ago…
He had been a proud Adjuchas.
Now…
Not only had he fallen from that position…
He was being hunted by opponents he once considered beneath notice.
The humiliation was unbearable.
“You insignificant creatures…” “How dare you challenge the great Adjuchas…” “Liotta Ekk!” Lin Huang laughed coldly.
“Adjuchas?” “Where?” “I don’t see one.” “All I see…” “Is a failure who lost everything.” “A pitiful Hollow desperately clinging to what little pride he has left.” “And besides…” “Weren’t you the one who ambushed us first?” “So stop pretending you’re some honorable warrior.” Before his final words had even faded…
Lin Huang attacked.
His massive body instantly burrowed beneath the Sea of Sand.
Using the shifting dunes as perfect concealment…
He launched the first strike.
Whoosh!
The Sword Scales suddenly burst upward from beneath the sand.
Wrapped in dense purple spiritual pressure…
They slashed directly toward Liotta Ekk.
Liotta Ekk’s expression changed slightly.
Even in his weakened state…
He calmly raised his claw to intercept the attack.
Clang!
The dark green claw collided with the Sword Scales.
The impact sounded like steel striking steel.
Bright sparks exploded into the air.
Although the attack failed to break through…
A sharp light flashed within Lin Huang’s eyes beneath the sand.
“So it’s true.” “He’s already reached his limit.” The Sword Scales immediately swept sideways through the sand.
A massive cloud of dust instantly erupted.
At that exact moment…
Hidden within the swirling sandstorm…
Nelliel silently opened her mouth.
A fully charged Cero shot directly toward Liotta Ekk.