After the battle with Grimmjow, Ace Wayne entered a brief period of calm.
Within his section of the forest trap zone, no Hollow remained capable of threatening him the way Grimmjow had.
With a large number of traps and lures in place, a significant portion of the Hollows entering from outside chose to pass through the zone he had constructed.
As time went on, the entire forest grew increasingly volatile.
Ace Wayne monopolized a vast supply of prey, and the High-level Hollows scattered through other parts of the forest began slaughtering each other.
Of course, more than a few still ventured into his territory, intent on devouring the source of all this disruption.
Against endless traps and his overwhelming strength, they either retreated wounded with nothing to show for it, or were killed and eaten in turn.
Indeed, not long after the battle with Grimmjow, his accumulated Reiatsu carried him from Elite Hollow all the way to the lowest tier of High-level Hollow.
Perhaps because of his consistently abundant hunting, his Reiatsu surged nearly tenfold during the advancement.
The chitin that had once covered his body fully evolved into dense, hard bone plating, as though he had been fitted with a thick suit of armor, yet the covering did not hinder his movements in the slightest.
The bone blade on his right claw had not grown longer.
If anything, it had shortened and become more agile, but its hardness was a hundredfold sharper than before.
At his current strength, he was certain that if he ran into the old Grimmjow again, he could sever that tail with a single swipe.
Not long after advancing, Ace Wayne came to understand the Reiatsu skills that were his alone.
These techniques felt as though they had been carved into his mind during the dormancy that came with his advancement.
Shattering Slash: Concentrate Reiatsu into the right claw and launch a rapid series of continuous strikes.
At his current Reiatsu level, he could unleash it three consecutive times within what his body could endure.
Shadow Step: Raise the right claw, flood Reiatsu throughout the entire body, and charge at the enemy at high speed to deliver a piercing attack.
The technique was not only powerful in its own right, it also used the momentum of the charge to drive an enemy back.
A solid method for creating distance in a fight.
Shadow Step also functioned as a movement technique.
With his body flooded by Reiatsu, the move reached ten times his normal speed.
Used purely for travel, a hundred meters passed in a single flash, almost a substitute for Shunpo, though it consumed considerably more Reiatsu and could only carry him straight forward.
That said, as his Reiatsu grew, the technique still had considerable room to evolve.
Lightning Strike: Expend the majority of one’s Reiatsu to unleash a wide-range Reiatsu attack against all enemies within ten meters.
Similar to Grimmjow’s Garra de la Pantera, but with a larger area of effect.
At his current Reiatsu level, he estimated he could use it once, after which he would have to flee and find somewhere to rest.
A second use would likely leave him completely drained on the spot.
Even so, a wide-range attack like this was only suited for clearing crowds.
In a one-on-one fight, it was nearly useless.
Generally speaking, High-level Hollows still fought primarily through their own physical traits, melee, sonic attacks, mental assaults.
The skills they developed were geared more toward a single decisive blow, because a High-level Hollow’s Reiatsu was simply too low for anything else.
A single Cero from a Gillian could sweep away a field of High-level Hollows.
Elite and common Hollows needed no further explanation, the moment a Gillian used Soul Absorption, nothing within dozens of meters had any hope of escape.
After evolving into a High-level Hollow, the Reiatsu inside Ace Wayne grew rapidly.
The surging power drove his body past five meters in height almost overnight.
The under-two-meter frame of before had been manageable enough.
Nearly five meters was something else entirely.
Honestly, it was an extremely inconvenient body to live in.
Even the tree branches he used to climb were no longer something he could stand on.
“I need to find a way to shed this bulk,” he thought, and began to form a plan.
Before starting a new round of hunting, he had to solve this problem first.
But no matter how he adjusted his Reiatsu, he could not change his physical size, until three days later, when an opportunity presented itself.
That day, Ace Wayne sat beneath a large tree digesting the Hollow Mask of a Hollow he had just hunted, his mind turning over the problem of his nearly five-meter frame and how to deal with it.
A strange howl shattered his focus.
He followed the sound.
What he saw was a massive, alien Hollow standing roughly two meters taller than himself, four thick lower limbs, an upper body broadly humanoid and powerfully built, like the half-dragon body type from a game he had known in his previous life.
Its lower half was covered in white chitin; its upper half showed its own natural flesh color.
The combination looked deeply unsettling.
He was just preparing to fight when the Hollow opened its mouth and spoke.
“Are you the one who controls this part of the forest?” The Half-Dragon Hollow did not attack.
It spoke first.
“…Who are you.” Faced with a visitor that had arrived without warning, Ace Wayne did not drop his guard for a moment.
The Reiatsu radiating off the other party made it clear this was a High-level Hollow that had held that rank for quite some time.
“I am a member of this forest’s deep interior — the core region.
My name is Lefas Linst.
And you?” “Wayne.” “Wayne?
What a strange name.” Lefas paused, and Ace Wayne’s mind turned the matter over quietly.
True enough, the name Wayne was somewhat out of place in this world.
A name this unusual was easy to remember, and that was not a good thing for him.
After a brief moment, he spoke again.
“That is a shortened form.
My full name is Ace Wayne.” “Oh?
I see.” Lefas accepted it without difficulty.
The full name seemed to suit the style of Hueco Mundo rather more naturally.
“Then I will still call you Wayne.” Lefas considered it a moment, then continued.
“The reason I came to find you today is not to fight you, and not to devour you.
I am here to propose a cooperation.” “Cooperation?” Ace Wayne was mildly surprised.
At the same time, he had gained a piece of information: deep in this forest’s core region, there existed High-level Hollows with enough intelligence to understand the concept of cooperation, and by the look of it, there were quite a few of them.
“Yes, cooperation.” Lefas said evenly.
“Do not worry.
We found you because we detected the Reiatsu you released during your advancement — you had evolved from Elite Hollow to High-level Hollow.
With your abilities, you are qualified to join us.
Should you join, we are willing to let bygones be bygones regarding the disruption you caused before.” Let bygones be bygones?
You just want to learn my hunting methods.
Ace Wayne’s thoughts moved quickly.
He spoke aloud at the same time.
“…Is there a Hollow called Grimmjow among your members?” “Grimmjow?
Never heard of him.” Lefas thought for a moment, then reached out and tossed over two Hollow Masks.
“Let me first show you my sincerity.
A gift for our first meeting.” Ace Wayne caught them and probed their Reiatsu.
Two High-level Hollows, low-tier, but at his current level, these two masks were a tremendous windfall.
That was more than enough proof of Lefas’s sincerity.
If they wanted him dead, sending a few Hollows of Lefas’s own rank would have been sufficient.
And even if outright killing him was not feasible, driving him out of this section of the forest entirely was still well within their means.
Ace Wayne shoved both masks directly into his mouth.
After absorbing them, he opened his eyes and looked toward Lefas.
“Just say what you need to say.” “Heh.
Straight to the point.” Lefas narrowed his eyes behind his mask.
“Truth be told, from the moment you entered our forest, we had already noticed your existence.
But at that time you were still too weak, not worth our attention.
“As time passed, however, we noticed that within your area, the Reiatsu signatures of a large number of lower-ranked Hollows and outside intruders were vanishing one by one.
Meanwhile, your own Reiatsu kept growing.
“Some time ago, while you were still at the Elite Hollow stage, you fought a High-level Hollow that had come from outside, didn’t you?
Oh, was that High-level Hollow’s Reiatsu the one you call Grimmjow?” Lefas directed the question at Ace Wayne but received no answer.
He did not seem to expect one, and continued.
“What astonished us was that you — an Elite Hollow — managed to drive back a High-level Hollow whose Reiatsu surpassed your own by several times over.
That was what first drew our attention to you.
Then, not long ago, Inola detected your Reiatsu advancing again, and that is what prompted me to come find you.
Minola is the one among us with the strongest detection ability.” “So?” “So we believe you must possess exceptional intelligence.
That should prove highly valuable to our hunting.
That is why we hope you will join us.” After hearing this, Ace Wayne fixed a hard stare on Lefas and searched for any flaw in his words.
He found none.
“From your description, your group should be the most powerful presence in this entire forest.
If that is already the case, hunting here should pose no difficulty at all.
So why come to me?” “It seems you still do not trust me.” Lefas smiled lightly.
“But that is fine, it falls within what I anticipated.
Very well, I will tell you the reason.
But you had better walk and listen at the same time, because we do not have much time.” Ace Wayne weighed his circumstances.
From the moment he had entered this forest, his every move had been under surveillance, yet the other party had not come to trouble him for a long time.
And when they finally came, it was to talk about cooperation.
If they were enemies who wanted him dead, there was no need for all this roundabout effort.
Moreover, even if he were lured deep into unfamiliar territory, with his current ability, escaping from dozens of ordinary Hollows should not be too great a problem, unless he ran into multiple High-level Hollows at the peak of their power.
The sincerity Lefas had already shown was clear enough.
After weighing his options, Ace Wayne gave a nod and fell into step beside him.
“Here is how things stand.” Along the way, Lefas began to explain at a measured pace.
“Our group numbers eighteen Hollows in total.
All of us are at the High-level Hollow rank.
Within the core region, we hunt as a collective, taking down High-level Hollows that enter from outside.
“Whenever we encounter a Hollow with enough intelligence, we assess its strength.
If it would be an asset, we try to persuade it to join us.
If it is too weak, or too powerful, we band together to tear it apart and divide the remains.
“But not long ago, the strongest among us — Milote Zakrod — showed faint signs of being on the verge of breaking through the High-level Hollow threshold.
Before long, his Reiatsu began to run wild, and his mind started growing confused.
“Facing that, he recognized his own danger.
At that point, there was a very real chance that every one of us would band together to overpower and devour him.
“So before long, he betrayed us and killed four of our members.
“Under our combined assault, we ultimately only managed to wound him.
Heavily injured, Milote fled our territory and, in his haste, stripped the masks from two of the four bodies.
“But if he digests those two Hollow Masks, Milote will very likely leap forward and become a Gillian, and if that happens, every Hollow in this forest will be in danger.
Knowing Milote’s temperament, if he retains his consciousness, he will almost certainly come back for revenge.
None of us would survive.” “And what does that have to do with me?
This is an extremely dangerous situation.
If things go wrong, I could end up losing my own life.
What makes you think I would take part in this fight?” Ace Wayne asked in a cold voice, though he kept walking alongside Lefas all the same.
Dangerous as the situation was, if their side truly had over a dozen High-level Hollows working in coordination, taking down a freshly advanced Gillian was entirely possible.
After all, evolving into a Gillian could mean losing one’s consciousness.
Based on what Lefas had just said, Milote had already been showing signs of mental confusion even before the advancement.
If he truly became a Gillian without awareness, the odds of bringing him down would rise dramatically.
“Because we lack a Hollow who can lead us out of this crisis.” Lefas put his thoughts into words.
“We are not certain whether Milote will actually evolve.
If he does not, this fight becomes a great deal easier.
But if he does, with no one to lead us, we fall apart completely, and we all die.
“So we need a Hollow who can command us and lead us to win this fight.
While we were occupied trying to decide, Minola thought of you, and so she sent me to come take a look.
“You are still quite weak in terms of raw strength, but when I walked into your territory and saw what you had done to the surrounding environment, I thought that even I might not be able to walk out of the zone you have arranged without taking damage.
“So I believe that even if your power is not the greatest, your intelligence can lead us through this crisis.” “Lefas is right.” Just as Lefas finished speaking, a voice with a rough edge reached Ace Wayne’s ears, and immediately after, dozens of powerful Reiatsu signatures surged in from every direction around them.
➤ Next: Reiryoku Compression