A pale crescent moon hung high in a pitch-black sky. Beneath it stretched endless white sand dunes—the monotonous colors of this desolate realm. A land where Hollows roam and devour one another endlessly.
This was Hueco Mundo.
Suddenly, a figure appeared upon the silent sands.
It was a serpentine creature over three meters long, its body coiled and covered in pale bone-like armor. A white mask covered its face, and beneath its throat lay a Hollow hole.
"Where is this?"
The serpentine Hollow lifted its head, staring at the endless white desert in confusion.
Then, fragmented memories flooded his mind.
In those memories was a young man in his twenties, living an ordinary life. He worked every day, his existence unremarkable. His greatest pleasures were watching anime and scrolling through videos on his phone.
But in the final moment of those memories, he did something extraordinary.
He saved a little girl who had fallen into the water.
And he drowned in her place.
If someone were to ask him now whether he regretted it, he would say he did not regret saving a life.
He only regretted that he never had the chance to say goodbye to his parents.
The serpentine Hollow's memories gradually aligned.
Facing east, he lowered his head three times.
"Father, Mother… take care. I, Velkior Dazciel, can only repay your kindness in the next life."
Though he said so, he still hoped that one day he might see them again.
But first, he needed to understand where he was.
"Hueco Mundo…?"
The white sands. The eternal night. The crescent moon.
The mask.
The Hollow hole.
He finally understood.
"I've become… a Hollow."
He glanced down at his serpentine body and let out a bitter laugh.
"If this is reincarnation, why give me a snake's body…?"
In Hueco Mundo, there was no sun. Only the moon illuminated the endless desert, casting cold light across the sands.
Suddenly, the sand to his left began to churn violently.
A creature burst forth.
It resembled a massive spider, its body armored in bone-white plating. A white mask covered its face, and a Hollow hole pierced through its abdomen.
A Hollow.
The image overlapped with scenes from the anime he once watched.
"Roar—!"
The spider-like Hollow lunged at him without hesitation.
Velkior reacted instinctively, twisting his long body aside as a sharp leg carved through the air where he had been.
Close.
The spider Hollow did not pause. Hollows possessed little intelligence at this level—only hunger and instinct.
It attacked again.
And again.
After narrowly dodging several strikes, Velkior seized an opening.
In one swift motion, he coiled around the spider Hollow's abdomen.
Offense and defense reversed instantly.
His entire body tightened with brutal force.
The spider Hollow let out a distorted howl.
The pressure increased.
Crack.
Its mask fractured first.
Then its body disintegrated into reishi particles, scattering into the night.
Whoosh—
A portion of those particles flowed toward Velkior and merged into his body.
He froze.
But instead of pain, he felt power.
Reiatsu surged faintly within him. His body expanded slightly—subtle, but noticeable.
"So this is how Hollows evolve…"
In Hueco Mundo, devouring others was the path forward.
Stronger Hollows consumed weaker ones to increase their reiatsu, climbing step by step toward higher forms—Gillian, Adjuchas, even Vasto Lorde.
And beyond that…
Arrancar.
Velkior's gaze hardened.
"As long as I keep devouring, I can continue to evolve."
This was the law of Hueco Mundo.
"In this world of Shinigami and Hollows… strength is everything."
"And Aizen… Yhwach… even the Soul King…"
He narrowed his eyes.
"If I am truly reborn here, then I will stand at the pinnacle."
But ambition meant nothing without survival.
Hueco Mundo was filled with countless Hollows far stronger than him.
"First, I need strength."
"And I need to figure out which era this is."
If this was before Aizen's betrayal, or after the war with Yhwach, it would change everything.
The vast desert stretched endlessly before him.
He began gliding across the white sands.
Suddenly, a human figure appeared ahead.
Velkior stiffened.
A human?
In Hueco Mundo?
The figure wore ordinary modern clothing. It did not resemble a Shinigami. Nor did it resemble an Arrancar.
Velkior cautiously approached.
"Are you a human who got lost here?"
The figure trembled but did not respond.
"Can you hear me?"
As he drew closer, the figure slowly turned.
It was the face of a human man, tears streaming down his cheeks. Despair filled his expression.
A broken chain dangled from his chest.
A Chain of Fate.
Velkior's pupils shrank.
Before he could speak again—
The chain corroded completely.
The human's scream twisted into a guttural roar.
Bone-white fragments erupted across his face, forming a mask.
A Hollow hole tore open in his chest—the void left by a heart consumed by despair.
The transformation was complete.
The newly formed Hollow charged wildly, driven purely by instinct and lingering resentment.
Bang!
Its sudden burst of speed caught Velkior off guard, sending him tumbling across the sand.
But its reiatsu was unstable and weak.
He recovered quickly.
Whoosh—
He circled across the sand, searching for an opening.
The newborn Hollow lunged again, grabbing Velkior's tail in a frenzy.
But that moment of contact sealed its fate.
Before it could swing him, Velkior reversed his body and coiled around it from the opposite direction.
His muscles tightened.
The Hollow struggled violently.
Its mask cracked under the crushing pressure.
Moments later, it shattered and dissolved into reishi particles.
A stream of blue-tinged light flowed into Velkior once more.
He paused, sensing the change.
"This Hollow's reiatsu was weaker than the spider's…"
He understood immediately.
"The stronger the Hollow, the more reiatsu it yields when devoured."