At the exact same time Ivan was massacring Giant Hollows down in the Forest of Menos.
Somewhere on the surface of the endless white desert, a Gillian with a distinctively patterned mask stood covered in wounds, locked in a tense standoff with another Hollow.
If Ivan were here, he would instantly recognize the beast.
It was the exact same mutant Gillian he had encountered on his very first days in Hueco Mundo!
The opponent facing off against this giant was a Hollow only about three meters tall.
It had a scrawny, emaciated frame, an inverted-triangle-shaped head adorned with a stark white clown mask, and ten razor-sharp nails protruding from its hands like steel blades.
The surrounding sand was littered with the severed limbs and shattered masks of ordinary Gillians.
Clearly, the mutant Gillian had just fought a massive, grueling battle!
“You arrogant, reckless Gillian!
You actually dared to slaughter all of my subordinates!
Submit to me and become my loyal servant, and I, Starr Muref, will spare your life.
I might even grant you an audience with the great ruler of Hueco Mundo, Lord Baraggan Louisenbairn!” Starr Muref, wearing the eerie clown mask, glared at the towering mutant Gillian and spat his words out one by one.
“Trash like you expects my submission?
One day, I’m going to storm Las Noches, rip Baraggan from his throne, and take the crown for myself!” The mutant Gillian’s mask twisted into a look of absolute contempt.
He opened his jaws and fired a devastating Cero straight at Starr Muref.
Seeing this, Starr Muref raised both of his hands above his head and fired a Cero of his own.
Boom!!!
The two massively destructive beams of Reiatsu collided in midair, unleashing an earth-shattering explosion.
The shockwave kicked up a howling hurricane of sand that ripped across the dunes.
As the smoke cleared, both Hollows remained standing exactly where they were, completely unharmed.
The two Ceros had perfectly canceled each other out!
Starr Muref’s eyes bulged, practically splitting at the seams in disbelief.
He was a proud, dignified Adjuchas, yet his Cero had just tied with a Gillian’s—a Gillian that was already exhausted and covered in wounds!
If word of this reached Las Noches, his reputation would be completely ruined.
But as an Adjuchas, he couldn’t afford to lose face.
He forced a facade of calm superiority.
“You foolish Gillian!
How dare you defy me, Starr Muref, your superior Adjuchas?!” Hearing this, the giant mutant Gillian did something incredibly human: he threw his head back and burst into mocking laughter.
“Hahaha!
You actually have the nerve to call yourself an Adjuchas?” “You’re nothing but a crippled failure!
You permanently lost the ability to evolve, and now you’re just a piece of trash relying on constantly eating standard Gillians just to keep yourself from regressing entirely!” “Bastard!
How dare you…” Completely exposed by the mutant Gillian’s ruthless trash talk, Starr Muref froze in place, unable to formulate a comeback.
The only change was his stark white clown mask, which visibly flushed deep red with humiliation.
Now that his face was red, he looked even more like a clown!
Roar!
Starr Muref let out a furious howl.
His Reiatsu spiked violently.
Between his palms, dense clusters of purple-black Reiatsu rapidly condensed into high-speed energy projectiles.
With a frantic wave of his hands, he unleashed a merciless barrage at the mutant Gillian.
Bala!
Almost simultaneously, his scrawny figure blurred.
Using Sonído, he teleported directly to the mutant Gillian’s side, aiming to plunge his steel-like nails straight into the giant’s neck.
Just as his nails were about to pierce flesh, the mutant Gillian also used Sonído, narrowly dodging the fatal strike.
The giant instantly reappeared directly above Starr Muref and brought a massive bone-plated foot crashing down, intending to stomp the scrawny Adjuchas into paste.
The heavy, crushing stomp sent a massive geyser of white sand exploding into the sky.
Starr Muref was driven deep into the dunes.
Clang!
The harsh sound of grinding metal echoed out.
Starr Muref, buried waist-deep in the sand, had thrown his hands up, desperately catching the giant bone foot.
His razor-sharp nails scraped frantically against the mutant Gillian’s sole, sending sparks flying in all directions.
“Die, you damn Gillian!” Starr Muref roared again, unsealing every last drop of his Reiatsu.
He finally managed to repel the giant foot, bursting out of the sand like a purple-black meteor.
Hovering in the air, Starr Muref was completely engulfed in his toxic Reiatsu.
He raised his hands high, interlocking his ten fingers.
His aura peaked at its absolute maximum.
“Depraved Bite!” Starr Muref’s entire body transformed into a massive, purple-black demonic face.
He rocketed forward at blinding speed and clamped his jaws viciously onto the mutant Gillian’s neck.
Under the corrosive purple-black light, the mutant Gillian’s neck began to dissolve like foam doused in acid.
In a matter of seconds, a third of the giant’s thick neck had been completely melted away.
But right at that moment, the mutant Gillian casually reached his left hand up to his dissolving neck and grabbed the invisible air.
Starr Muref, who had hidden his physical body within the demonic face, was yanked right out of the attack, trapped firmly in the giant’s grip.
“Caught you!” Completely ignoring the horrific, melting wound on his neck, the mutant Gillian squeezed his left hand with crushing force!
Sizzle!
The moment his hand clamped down, the mutant Gillian’s own flesh began to violently melt.
“Hehehe!
My Depraved Bite radiates from my entire body!
Grabbing me like this will only accelerate your death!” Starr Muref’s arrogant, mocking voice echoed out.
Yet, not a single trace of panic appeared on the mutant Gillian’s face.
He simply lifted his left hand and moved Starr Muref directly toward his cavernous mouth.
“You want to melt me?
Let’s see who digests who first!” “No!
Wait!
You absolute madm-” Seeing the sheer, suicidal insanity in the mutant Gillian’s eyes, Starr Muref completely panicked.
He tried to scream, but the giant didn’t care.
With one brutal gulp, the mutant Gillian swallowed the Adjuchas whole.
“Ahhhhh!” The mutant Gillian let out an agonizing scream and dropped heavily to one knee in the sand.
Clearly, Starr Muref was still alive inside him, frantically burning and melting his esophagus from the inside out.
For several hours, the mutant Gillian remained kneeling in the desert, completely motionless.
Then, slowly, he struggled to his feet.
Bathed in the lingering traces of purple-black Reiatsu, the horrific, melted wounds on his neck and hands began to slowly knit themselves back together.
A triumphant, arrogant smirk spread across the mutant Gillian’s face.
He gently patted his stomach.
“That pitiful amount of Reiatsu wasn’t even enough to trigger my evolution, and you actually had the nerve to call yourself an Adjuchas?
And for the record, stop calling me ‘Gillian.’ I have a name.” “I am Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez!” Meanwhile, deep down in the Forest of Menos.
Ivan, having just finished a massive feast, was wandering the crystalline woods looking for his next target.
Roar!
“That sound…
is that a lone Gillian?” Ivan quickly followed the noise and, sure enough, found a towering Menos Grande howling aimlessly into the dim sky.
“Too bad it’s just an ordinary, mindless Gillian.
Still, you’ll do perfectly as a measuring stick for my current power!” Facing an opponent an entire tier above him, Ivan didn’t feel the slightest hint of fear.
Instead, a savage grin spread across his mask as he charged straight at the giant!