Szayelaporro's smile suddenly stiffened. He, who had always prided himself on being the perfect lifeform, never expected the day would come when someone would call him a lowly Hollow.
'Still as arrogant as ever, that damn bastard.'
'He looks gentle and refined on the outside, but his mouth is absolutely venomous. He's even more detestable than that Soul Reaper brat who punches people in the face.'
'To think a mere Soul Reaper would dare insult me so—the great and perfect lifeform, Lord Szayelaporro.'
'It's decided. Whether I know his name or not, I will stuff this guy into a specimen jar and squeeze every last drop of value out of him!'
*Snap!*
With a dark expression, Szayelaporro raised his hand and lightly snapped his fingers.
The crisp sound echoed across the vast expanse of Las Noches, followed immediately by a violent tremor in the nearby desert.
One vortex after another appeared on the silver sands, and tyrannical roars erupted from within them.
"Your strength had better match your arrogance. Weaklings don't qualify to be part of my collection."
Szayelaporro forced himself to calm down, staring coldly at Aizen in the distance as if looking at a dead man.
"Play with these little guys first."
Giant worms burst from the sea of sand like runaway trains, kicking up billowing clouds of dust as they charged at Aizen.
Watching the massive figures hurtling toward him, Aizen remained completely unfazed. He simply raised his Zanpakutō and gave it a light swing.
The blade cleanly severed a giant worm at its waist. The moment the sound of tearing flesh rang out, the colossal body was split in two.
Thick, slippery blood sprayed out. Carried by momentum, the bisected corpse dragged across the ground, leaving a heavy trail of gore that stained the earth of Las Noches red.
As modified Menos Grande, these giant worms had no concept of fear in their instincts. Even seeing their kin slaughtered with a single strike couldn't halt their advance.
The massive white bodies continued their charge, attempting to crush the enemy before them.
But such actions were no different from suicide.
With a few casual slashes, Aizen added a few more strokes of vibrant, bloody color to the already battered Las Noches.
Likewise.
The deaths of the modified Menos Grande did not cause Szayelaporro to lose control of his emotions; instead, his expression grew increasingly delighted.
Although it was only a few brief exchanges, he had already pieced together Aizen's basic combat data in his mind.
The intensity of his Reiatsu, the angle of his slashes, his preferred striking points, the speed of his Flash Step, his favored techniques, and even his likely reactions when facing danger...
As the sole scientist of Hueco Mundo, he was meant to fight with his brain, not like those brutes who howled and charged in to hack at the enemy the moment they saw them.
There was absolutely no elegance in that.
Just as Szayelaporro finished collecting his data and prepared to make his move, he suddenly heard Aizen speak again.
"Have you gathered enough data yet?"
"As the scientist of Hueco Mundo, I presume you have completely discarded the instincts a Menos Grande ought to possess?"
"Whether in planning or in battle, you habitually imitate Soul Reapers by using your mind to think. But such behavior is, in the end, nothing more than a clumsy imitation."
Aizen raised his gaze, his eyes obscured by the reflected moonlight, his expression calm to the extreme.
"Spending so much time with creatures driven solely by beastly instincts has given you a lofty sense of superiority, to the point where you even style yourself as a so-called perfect lifeform, the apex of evolution..."
"Shut up!"
Szayelaporro nearly ground his teeth to dust, his face twisting with ferocious killing intent.
It was that same kind of rhetoric again—like a sharp blade effortlessly slicing through his flesh and plunging into his heart without resistance.
Even though he looked like a young brat, his professional knowledge and biting sarcasm were countless times sharper than those of Soul Reapers who had lived for centuries.
"I've changed my mind. I am going to dissect your body piece by piece and make that nauseating mouth of yours let out the most beautiful wails!"
Aizen's gaze remained tranquil as he stated flatly,
"Do not make arrogant boasts so lightly. It only serves to make you look weak."
Szayelaporro's expression froze completely, his facial features gradually contorting into something grotesque.
In the next second, his tall figure vanished from the spot, using Sonído to appear right in front of Aizen. The moment a silvery-white light erupted, his blade left its sheath, slashing forward with ferocious momentum.
*Clang!*
The instantaneous clash of metal sparked with intense heat. The colliding blades produced a grating screech that made one's scalp tingle.
Shockwaves exploded outward layer by layer, the concussive force blasting away the sticky blood pooling on the ground.
Szayelaporro had no intention of continuing his conversation with Aizen. If he kept talking, he feared he would lose control of his emotions and play right into the man's hands.
This momentary outburst fully displayed the power of a Vasto Lorde Arrancar.
His materialized Reiatsu surged uncontrollably, crashing down on Aizen wave after wave like an endless tide.
The data collected by sacrificing the giant worms might have been flawed, but his sheer power was undeniably real.
Yet, even with mental preparation, Szayelaporro was still shocked by his opponent's performance in actual combat.
Under such an oppressive level of Reiatsu, Aizen wasn't losing ground at all. In fact, he showed faint signs of pushing back and suppressing Szayelaporro instead.
It was even more absurd than any Soul Reaper Captain he had ever encountered.
Reiatsu erupted without restraint, forming a dazzling pillar of light that shot straight into the sky.
The air grew thick and viscous, as if they had plunged underwater.
Aizen suddenly realized that both his movements and the flow of his spiritual power had become sluggish.
A heavy, crushing pressure descended upon the desert like the sky itself was collapsing.
The bright crescent moon had, at some point, been obscured by thick clouds.
*Pitter-patter.*
Drops of blackish-purple rain began to fall, seeping into the boundless desert.
Profound and vast Reiatsu rippled outward, crashing wildly amidst the torrential rain formed from condensed Reishi.
Szayelaporro knocked Aizen back with a heavy strike and lowered his blade toward the ground.
"Evolve—"
"Fornicarás!"
Bathed in the light, Szayelaporro appeared before Aizen in a completely new form.
Fluid-like white bone draped over his body, ferocious curved horns sprouted from his temples, and black tentacles writhed continuously behind his back.
It was a sight that made one's scalp tingle and sent shivers down the spine.
Aizen watched the scene unfold with great interest, showing not a hint of fear.
Unlike the last time he saw it, Szayelaporro's Resurrección seemed much more complete this time. Blazing deep purple Reiatsu wreathed his body like roaring flames.
It distorted the surrounding atmosphere, and the ground beneath his feet groaned continuously under the overwhelming burden.
"Perhaps I should change my opinion of you."
The corners of Aizen's mouth curled up in a mocking smile.
"Although you have absolutely no talent in scientific research, you are quite accomplished in the field of combat."
"Szayelaporro, you are a qualified warrior."
*Crack!*
Szayelaporro nearly shattered his teeth from clenching them so hard. Praising a scientist as a warrior—this bastard was practically dragging his dignity through the mud!
However, just as he prepared to tear his opponent to shreds with his tentacles, he saw Aizen raise his left hand. A fleeting light seemed to flash in Aizen's eyes as materialized Reiatsu surged from his fingertips.
"Hadō #90."
"Black Coffin."
Profound darkness erupted from the ground as an endless torrent of Reiatsu crashed down, condensing into the towering iron walls of a massive coffin that instantly enveloped the enraged Szayelaporro.
In the next second, a torrent of gravity descended!
Once again, he was blasted away without any suspense, his burly frame plowing a deep trench through the sand.
As he stood up from the deep crater, a trace of bewilderment appeared on Baraggan's face, and his expression grew somewhat dazed.
Since when did Soul Reapers become this strong?
He was clearly just a brat who didn't look very old, so why was his power so terrifying?
As the King of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan could no longer remember exactly how many years he had lived.
Perhaps he had existed since the very concept of Hueco Mundo first came to be.
Throughout his long life, Baraggan had seen countless Soul Reapers. He had even witnessed the shifting of power within the Soul Society and learned of the founding of the organization known as the Gotei 13.
Yet, he had never seen an existence as absurd as Naraku Sora.
Setting aside his tyrannical Reiatsu, just his wildly unreasonable and savage attacks didn't resemble a Soul Reaper in the slightest.
In Baraggan's eyes, the terrifying figure standing in the distance—whose twisting, leaping Reiatsu dyed the very sky—looked more like a Menos Grande that had mastered the powers of a Soul Reaper!
In a daze, he thought of his original nemesis, the bizarre Menos Grande who had once vied with him for the title of King of Hueco Mundo.
That Menos Grande had no name. Its entire body was snow-white, covered in black fissures, and its tyrannical yellow eyes burned with an unceasing lust for battle.
Unlike the Menos Grande that evolved toward a human-like appearance, that creature had chosen a path completely opposite to other Vasto Lordes.
Undeniably, its strength was utterly terrifying; it could easily be considered another apex of Hueco Mundo.
"No matter what you truly are."
Baraggan's expression grew increasingly grim. He raised his massive double-edged axe with one hand, and his terrifying Reiatsu surged out like a bursting dam.
"You cannot escape the fate of death."
"Embrace your end, you ant who dares offend the dignity of a god."
"Rot—"
"Arrogante!"
Naraku Sora raised an eyebrow, looking with some surprise at the figure swallowed by the blackish-purple light.
He was a bit stronger than he had anticipated.
The moonlight quietly faded away at this moment. A sky-blotting black tide shot straight into the heavens, and a profound Reiatsu reeking of death swept over the area in a massive wave.
The silver sands instantly weathered away into nothingness. Wherever the darkness enveloped, only absolute, dead silence remained.
The power of rot and aging descended silently.
In the next moment, the black tide rolled back and surged over him, transforming into a purplish-black cloak draped over his body. The golden crown symbolizing the King of Hueco Mundo rested upon his skull. His ghastly white bones looked like the very concept of death made manifest.
"What magnificent power!"
Baraggan stood in the air, spreading his arms as he looked down at the tiny figure below.
"It is time for you to comprehend true despair, Soul Reaper."
Facing that potent and oppressive aura, Naraku Sora showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, a look of anticipation surfaced on his face, giving onlookers a bizarre illusion.
Could it be that the word 'fear' didn't exist in this guy's dictionary either?
He grinned up at the sky, flashing a sinister smile. Under Baraggan's bewildered gaze, he spread his five fingers and pressed them against his own face.
"Next up is phase two!"
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