Although the Hueco Mundo expedition had been confirmed, due to personnel scheduling and other issues, it was delayed for more than a month before Kyoraku Shunsui and the others finally set out to lead the team into Hueco Mundo.
By that time, Ishida Ryuken had already arrived in Hueco Mundo for a while and had even gotten a handle on the situation there.
———
[Hueco Mundo]
Eternal black night blanketed a monotonous white desert, a dark false moon hung high in the sky, casting cold, deathly light.
At the center of this wasteland, an unimaginably huge structure rose from the ground like a mountain from myth, casting a shadow that darkened the sky.
Endless wind and sand whipped Ishida Ryuken's pure white coat, making it snap and rustle. He stood at the edge of the shadow, his expression cold as he stared at the magnificent, suffocating building before him, the light in his lenses flashing sharp.
"Is this the place?", he murmured, his voice scattered by the wind and sand, "Las Noches... the lair of the new king of Hueco Mundo."
Before his words finished, he suddenly turned his head, his gaze cutting through the sand like a blade toward the distant horizon.
From that direction, a spiritual pressure so massive it could not be ignored was tearing through the air at astonishing speed, and its owner made no effort to hide his intent.
'Have I been detected?', Ishida Ryuken's mind raced.
He had already compressed his own spiritual pressure to the extreme, and yet he had still been instantly locked onto.
From this he knew he had found the right place.
Buzz!
A few seconds later, a figure in a black robe appeared before Ishida Ryuken. It was a man with tear marks on his face.
"An Arrancar?"
Sensing a spiritual pressure that shared the same source as a Hollow yet wore an appearance almost indistinguishable from a normal human, Ishida Ryuken frowned slightly.
He had heard information that some Las Noches people were humanoid Arrancar, but seeing one still surprised him.
The Hollows he had dealt with before had all looked like monsters.
And because he had been in the human world, the biggest Hollows he had seen at most were Gillian class, and those only because he had lured them out with bait.
The Hollow before him, however, had spiritual pressure at a level entirely different from a Gillian, far surpassing it.
"I am Ulquiorra, the Fourth Seat of Las Noches. Intruder, our king wishes to see you."
Ulquiorra stood not far from Ishida Ryuken and spoke the orders Rosse had given him.
"Your king? Looks like I'm lucky then, to have caught your king's eye," Ishida Ryuken lightly adjusted his glasses, a smile appearing on his face.
He did not object to such a meeting.
He had known before coming that he might not return alive.
But no matter what, he needed to give an explanation for his wife, even if it meant walking with Hollows.
"Follow me!"
After Ulquiorra spoke, he instantly activated his cero and his figure vanished a hundred meters away.
'This is the Fourth?'
'What level of strength did the Shinigami faced back then from the 2nd?'
Ishida Ryuken watched Ulquiorra disappear at high speed, then activated his own Shiba-style flight step and quickly followed.
Although Ulquiorra's speed was great, Ishida could keep up.
One after the other, the two of them soon reached the inner area of Las Noches.
The eternal night outside Las Noches contrasted sharply with the simulated daylight inside.
But Ishida Ryuken had no mood to admire the scenery. He simply stuck close behind Ulquiorra and sped toward the central tower.
"Is this where your king lives? It is rather grand."
Standing before the tower, Ishida Ryuken offered a compliment.
"The king is already waiting inside."
Ulquiorra did not reply and instead walked straight into the tower.
Ishida Ryuken shrugged and followed without hesitation.
He had come this far; even if the path ahead led to a den of dragons and tigers, he would keep going.
Following Ulquiorra, Ishida Ryuken arrived at Las Noches' meeting hall.
Eleven chairs were arranged here; ten chairs with numbers on their backs were lined up on both sides.
At the deepest central position stood a gigantic throne.
Ishida Ryuken could tell at a glance this was where the Espada and the king spoke.
And yet a mere Quincy had been brought here.
No matter how he thought about it, something felt off.
Moreover... Ishida Ryuken scanned the seats in turn.
Not all the Espada seats were occupied; only the First, Second, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth had figures sitting on them.
Aside from the Second, whose spiritual pressure from that little girl felt strange, the others' spiritual pressure was at least his level.
Even so, Ishida Ryuken was confident he could easily defeat anyone below the Fifth.
He could sense that the spiritual pressure of the Fifth and below was normally far less overwhelming than that of the top four.
Especially the First. The blonde woman's spiritual pressure normally made him involuntarily tremble.
While his gaze swept across the Espada, Ishida Ryuken meaningfully looked toward the Eighth's seat, where an orange-haired figure sat.
Although her appearance had changed considerably, he still recognized her as Kurosaki Masaki.
Catching Ishida Ryuken's stare, Kurosaki Masaki felt the embarrassment of being seen fallen by an acquaintance and, a little uncomfortable, turned her head away.
"Honored king of Hueco Mundo, I'm glad to meet you!"
Ishida Ryuken did not waste time on pleasantries. He fixed his burning gaze on the throne and stared at Rosse seated upon it.
"You came all the way from the human world. The last Quincy of the Ishida family, what is your purpose?", Rosse's gaze looked down and fell on Ishida Ryuken below.
They had discovered the man when he arrived in Hueco Mundo.
But over these past days, they had basically done nothing and simply allowed him to collect information on Las Noches until he reached them.
"I want to know why you descended into the human world that day, and why Kurosaki Masaki was injured," Ishida Ryuken did not hedge or equivocate; he spoke his intent bluntly.
He knew from the moment he entered that if they truly wanted to keep him, he would have no ability to resist.
The First alone had enough spiritual pressure to crush him.
Not to mention, he could not sense Rosse's spiritual pressure at all.
This did not mean Rosse had no spiritual pressure; it only meant there was an unbridgeable gulf between them.
But that made sense.
Before coming to Hueco Mundo, he had already expected the king to possess such power.
If he were not strong enough to be beyond his perception, how could he claim the title of king of Hueco Mundo?
"I can tell you, but what is the price?"
Rosse looked down silently, waiting for Ishida Ryuken's response.
Ishida Ryuken was a clever man. He might not be on Aizen's level, but that was more a matter of years and thought; in raw intelligence the two were not so far apart.
Like Ishida Ryuken's classic line.
'I have no interest, and you have no talent.'
Ishida Ryuken was a true genius, only he lacked a strong drive toward the pursuit of power.
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