The Forest of Menos was dim and silent. Orihime, trembling, tugged nervously at the hem of Cole's coat.
"Cole-kun… this place… it's so scary…"
Forests were scary enough in the dark; add the howls of Hollows and it felt like a slice of hell itself.
Cole, however, stared into the gloom with a strange pang of nostalgia.
This spot… wasn't this exactly where he and Unohana had… gotten rather carried away?
He could still picture it—on this very soil, against these quartz-white trees—Unohana's face flushed as she pleaded with him.
Thinking of it made Cole's heart itch. Unbidden, his gaze slid toward Orihime.
"Orihime…"
"What is it, Cole-kun?" she blinked, adorably confused by the sudden heat in his eyes.
"It's nothing…"
Cole turned away, a touch embarrassed. Faced with someone as sweet as Orihime, he couldn't bring himself to bully her.
When it came to reading a look, big sisters were… well, better—more considerate, more knowing. One glance and they knew exactly what mischief you were up to.
"Phew… Tatsuki's still in danger—what am I even thinking…"
He patted his cheeks, exhaled, wrapped an arm around Orihime, and set his sights on Las Noches. His foot brushed the ground.
"Let's go!"
With Orihime's startled yelp still on the air, Cole's figure sliced through the Forest of Menos like a gale.
Along the way, Orihime's eyes went wide. It was her first time seeing so many kinds of Hollows: towering Gillians like mountains, little rabbit-sized sprites, and—mostly—an endless menagerie of small-fry monsters. It was like barging into a nest of beasts.
Of course, it was a nest of beasts.
The Hollow horde howled and raged, chasing the intruders across their territory—
—but they never came close.
Cole, carrying Orihime, burst out into an open tract of the forest and sprang upward, leaving the Menos Forest behind. His feet kissed the white desert.
"Waaah…"
Orihime gasped at the sight: a sea of white sand, quartz-like flora glowing under a faint moon. It was like stepping into a dream.
A passing small-fry Hollow shattered the moment. The desert wasn't a fairy tale—it was Hueco Mundo's killing grounds.
Cole casually popped the interloper like a bubble, then rubbed his temples as he looked toward the distant citadel.
"Ugh… that far!?"
Hueco Mundo was ridiculously vast—hundreds of times larger than the earth spread flat. Even at his speed, getting from here to Las Noches would take days by his estimate.
"When I get to Las Noches this time, I am leaving a marker…"
He set his jaw. Orihime, meanwhile, was peering at the sand.
"Cole-kun, look! The sand over there… those shapes are so weird. What kind of animal makes those?"
Cole followed her finger—and his mouth twitched. He coughed—twice.
"Probably… two big Hollows…"
The impressions in the white sand looked suspiciously like someone had lain there. Look closely and there were two deep divots… and plenty more like them all around.
Orihime scratched her cheek. "So strange. Hollows… their footprints look just like ours?"
Under a quartz tree lay a neat, dainty print—exactly like a woman's foot.
Nope. Time to move. Those were the many "crime scenes" he'd left behind while teasing Unohana.
"Ah!"
A ripping sound tore across the dunes. A storm of sand rose to smother the… evidence.
…
Las Noches, on the open ground.
BOOOOM.
BOOOOM.
BOOOOM.
The earth-shaking impacts rolled one after another. Amid the din, Tatsuki stirred awake, blinking in confusion.
"Why is it so noisy…?"
A gentle current of gold flowed before her eyes. Beyond that thin gold radiance stood a crowd of strange figures in stark white masks, all glaring at her with fury.
Tatsuki shivered and snapped fully awake. Remembering what happened before she fainted, she squeaked in terror:
"Y-you… you're Hollows!"
Nnoitra was panting from exertion, eyes burning with anger.
"Yeah, you filthy woman."
He still had no idea how tough that golden staff really was. It had shrugged off repeated Ceros and kept this frail human perfectly safe. The glow looked so thin—and yet it was dozens of times harder than hierro.
Grimmjow eyed the light with interest.
"Hey, woman—do you know the owner of that stick?"
By Starrk's side, Lilynette scowled.
"Get out here already, woman. If you don't, I won't feel bad about killing you."
Szayelaporro's long tongue flicked as he eyed Tatsuki with greedy delight.
"If you come out, I can show you what 'ecstasy' truly means. You'll be very… satisfied."
The sudden crush of monsters, the barrage of voices—Tatsuki froze. She was rough-and-tumble, a karate black belt and a bit of a tomboy—but she was still a girl.
After a long, shaky moment, she managed to speak, stammering:
"H-how can I even see you?"
Cole had told her: normal people couldn't see Hollows. Had she awakened some kind of power?
Starrk sighed.
"Miss, this is Hueco Mundo. Even humans can see Shinigami and Hollows here."
Unlike the living world, Soul Society and Hueco Mundo were soaked in spirit particles; even ordinary humans could perceive other planes.
"H-Hueco Mundo…!"
Tatsuki's eyes widened as she stared at the bizarre Hollows. Cole had told her about this place—the land of the dead sands, home of the Hollows, a hell where they devoured each other.
She'd… she'd been brought here?
Were they going to eat her?
BOOOOM!
Another deafening blast. Tatsuki felt no shock or pain within the glow, but she still jumped and looked fearfully at Lilynette.
"W-what are you doing!?"
Lilynette puffed out her cheeks and let the gathered light fade from her fingertip.
"That Shinigami really dotes on you, huh—he even sent his own zanpakuto to protect you."
A Shinigami and their zanpakuto were one. If the blade was harmed, the soul reaper would be, too.
Only… this golden staff was just absurdly tough. It had eaten wave after wave of Cero without so much as a crack.
Nnoitra hacked at the gold a few more times, then finally turned to Starrk with a scowl.
"Starrk, you try."
Maybe the Primera's Cero would crack it without needing his release.
"Me, huh?" Starrk sighed.
"Can we not? That girl was captured by Aizen-sama. And she's an innocent human."
"Tch. Fine, don't, whatever…"
Nnoitra clicked his tongue, ignored the lazy Primera, and turned a glare of pure loathing back on Tatsuki. His reiatsu surged, gold flaring around him.
Tatsuki, cradled inside the light from the golden staff, was slowly steadying her breath. She tightened her grip, bit her lip, and whispered:
"A human… is it… Cole?"
The only "strong one" she really knew was Cole. When he'd saved her last time, he'd swatted Hollows aside like flies.
"Cole…"
Tears welled up. She wanted him to come—but Hueco Mundo was too dangerous. The monsters here were countless as the sands.
"Cole…"
While she wept in silence, Nnoitra threw his head back and laughed, raising his blades as he bellowed:
"Inore—Santa Teresa! (Pray, Holy Mantis!)"
A torrent of golden reiatsu erupted from him, bearing down like the sky itself.
Godlike—demonic—majestic—a prison.
Two arms became four, each gripping a massive crescent scythe. Horns—one long, one short—rose from his head. Under that pressure, lesser Arrancar felt as though they were suffocating and shuffled back to clear the field.
Szayelaporro licked his lips, eyes fever-bright.
"Already using your Resurrección?"
Every time he saw an Espada's release, the urge hit him—use them as material, research them thoroughly.
Beside him, Aaroniero—wearing the face of a handsome young Shinigami—chuckled lightly.
"As expected of an Adjuchas-class Resurrección. That reiatsu is terrifying. That zanpakuto won't last."
Among the Espada, most had been Vasto Lordes or Adjuchas before becoming Arrancar. The weak never made the cut.
But he—he was different: the only Gillian among the Espada, admitted solely because his ability was strong enough to earn him a seat.
"Ugh, just… don't talk. And stay away from me," Lilynette snapped, face scrunched up. To her eye, Tōsen was the ugliest of the lot—and Aaroniero a close second. Their released forms were stomach-turning.
Aaroniero's pretty face twitched. He clenched his fists but swallowed any retort.
"Brat…"
If she weren't part of Starrk's soul, he'd have killed that foul-mouthed gremlin a dozen times over. A nobody not even among the Espada—daring to mock him.
While they bickered, Nnoitra cackled and swept all four blades down at the gold:
"Die, woman!"
The crescent blades crashed in a thunderclap. Shockwaves ripped Las Noches' tiles apart, a rain of stone fragments scything across the plaza like bullets.
The Arrancar stood firm—hierro held against such debris. The small-fry Hollows were less lucky: shards punched bloody holes through them; masks shattered; cries of pain filled the alabaster halls.
Starrk finally sighed and lifted a hand, scattering the storm of shrapnel before it could do more harm. The others didn't spare a glance. Their eyes stayed fixed on the golden glow, faces taut.
"It… still hasn't broken!?"
The gold spilling from the staff had tanked Nnoitra's first released strike.
The next instant, the light flared—and Nnoitra actually staggered back several steps as gravity around them spiked.
He stared, incredulous.
"No way. Without a wielder—just on its own—it can block my attacks?"
His shock gave way to fury. He roared and launched himself forward, all four blades hacking down again and again.
"Impossible!"
"Impossible!"
"Impossible!"
"I'M THE STRONGEST! I'M NNOITRA, THE STRONGEST!"
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—
Amid the storm of blades, golden Ceros lanced down—Nnoitra's tongue flicking out, a beam condensed at the tip. The bite of each blast wasn't far off from a Cero Oscuras.
Under that relentless bombardment, even with the near-boundless reiatsu Cole had poured into it, the staff's radiance was visibly thinning. The gold dimmed.
Wrapped in the light, Tatsuki could do nothing but cling hard to the staff and bite her lip.
"Cole…!"
"Shinigami…"
"Rukia…"
"Ichigo…"
"I'm so scared…"
"…So the pressure's spiking."
Out on the endless desert, Cole slowed, frowning toward Las Noches. The punishment his staff was taking had ramped up dozens of times over; the spirit power inside was being drained fast. If this kept up, the "anchor-needle" function would fail in about half an hour.
"Damn it, Hueco Mundo is too big…"
He swore at the endless wastes, drew a deep breath, and leveled his right hand at the air ahead.
"Kaikū—Kai (Space Sever)! (Space Sever)"
The space before him split with a wet rip, birthing a yawning black fissure.
"Come on, Orihime!"
Cole pulled Orihime through.
Light flashed—and a sweet scent hit them.
Soi fong, cheeks flushed, was soaking in a wooden tub, admiring a photo of Yoruichi. She blinked, turned—and went stock-still at the two sudden intruders.
"You two…"
"Sorry, sorry—just passing through," Cole said with an easy wave. He tore open another Garganta and stepped back into Hueco Mundo, crossing worlds in a stride.
(End of Chapter)
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