Twelve swords plunged into the white sand while another twelve soared into the sky, connected by invisible threads. A massive ring of light appeared beneath everyone's feet, enveloping the entirety of Las Noches.
The sword-blade barrier formed by the twenty-four swords trapped the group of Menos. Terrifying Spiritual Pressure surged from Makiya, forcing everyone to look his way in awe.
"What the hell is with that guy?" Grimmjow shouted in shock. A natural-born fighter, he was highly sensitive to a warrior's aura. To him, Makiya seemed like a completely different person now. That terrifying presence made it impossible to even harbor the thought of resistance.
If Makiya had unleashed this kind of fluctuation earlier, Grimmjow wouldn't have even gone near him. Being competitive and seeking death were two very different things.
"Time's just about up." Makiya stepped forward and casually gripped a giant sword of Spiritual Pressure from within the barrier. His body turned into a flash of light and vanished, reappearing behind Grimmjow the next instant.
Crack!
The hardened bone mask offered no resistance. The moment the giant sword collided with it, a massive force surged through Grimmjow's body. His mask and bone armor shattered instantly. The Hierro, unique to high-level Hollows, groaned under the pressure, becoming nothing more than crumpled paper before the raw power.
An invisible force firmly restrained all the Menos. Even when struck by Makiya's slashes, their bodies couldn't budge an inch; they could only take the hits passively.
Their Hollow powers erupted repeatedly in an attempt to break Makiya's spiritual suppression, but the gap in energy was too vast. They were like fish on a cutting board, left to be slaughtered at will.
With the second strike, Makiya drew a katana beside him and flickered across the barrier. The bone-armored skirt on Harribel's body shattered.
With the third strike, the black mist surrounding Baraggan dissipated instantly under the impact of an immortal sword intent.
With the fourth strike, a dazzling sword of light pierced through Nnoitra's arm. The reinforced limb, which had been strengthened by the Hogyoku, snapped once again.
Fifth, sixth, seventh strike...
Makiya's strikes grew faster and faster. The restrained Menos rolled their eyes, trying to track his movements, but it was futile. By the time Makiya reached his tenth strike, his figure was completely invisible to them.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dazzling sword light flashed and vanished. Greatswords, katanas, daggers, light blades... Makiya wielded every type of blade with effortless grace. His casual slashes seemed devoid of effort, but those facing them could feel the immense sword intent contained within as the blades bore down on them.
Countless fragments of white bone armor turned to dust and rained down from the sky. As Makiya gripped the hilt of Chisato, he launched the final blow. His current spiritual pressure contained countless sharp sword qi. It felt like the pain of a thousand cuts as the Menos were sent flying, their bodies covered in tiny, dense wounds.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions echoed throughout Las Noches. Six Menos, standing at the top of the Hueco Mundo food chain, were tossed away by Makiya like ragdolls, slamming hard into the sand dunes.
Las Noches fell into a brief silence. Moments later, a three-meter-tall giant sat up abruptly from the sand. Half of his bone mask was shattered, and blood flowed continuously.
"Dammit! Why was I included in that? I didn't even make a move!" The Menos named Yammy Llargo was furious. He had been a spectator the entire time and barely said a word, so why was he caught in the crossfire?
"Stop pretending. Your eyes already gave you away." Makiya gently stroked the blade of Chisato. Having gathered so much diverse Hollow power at once, Chisato was currently very excited.
"Irascible and bloodthirsty—a typical thug's behavior. You were looking for an opening the whole time, weren't you?" Makiya accurately exposed Yammy's thoughts. "But that's normal. There are few Hollows who aren't bloodthirsty. Calm and peace are too rare for creatures like you who lack humanity."
"Don't you talk down to me, you bastard!" Yammy roared. He clenched his fists and tried to charge at Makiya, but after only two steps, bright red flames suddenly erupted all over his body, swallowing him instantly.
"What is this?" Yammy was startled. He tried to swat the flames away with his massive hands, but the fire of Chisato seemed eternal. No matter how much power he released, the flames would reignite like maggots clinging to bone.
As Yammy continued to unleash his power, the flames of Chisato grew even more intense. Since the fire fed on Hollow power, his actions were like throwing fuel onto a fire—it was completely ineffective.
"Don't resist. This is your chance to evolve." Makiya's tone was casual, as if he were talking about something trivial. "Chisato's flames will allow the power within you to achieve self-evolution, breaking the limits of your natural talent and taking you even further."
"Hmph. Since when are Soul Reapers so kind?" On the other side, Baraggan slowly stood up, missing an arm. He glared at Makiya with eyes full of malice, looking as if he wanted to eat him alive.
"I just mastered this ability myself. To be precise, this is the first time I've used it. Theoretically, the effect is exactly as I described, but as for the reality... who knows?" Makiya explained patiently.
"So you're just using us as test subjects?" Grimmjow's expression was grim. Most of his leopard-like bone armor was shattered, and blood stained the sand beneath him.
"You are indeed test subjects, but not just anyone gets the privilege of being one. I wouldn't even look at an ordinary Menos." Makiya shook his head and sighed, as if complaining that these Hollows were being ungrateful.
During the previous strikes, he had quietly mixed the power of the Hogyoku he created with Soul Reaper Spiritual Pressure, funneling it into Yammy's body. The effect was obvious: Yammy was currently wreathed in flames, his bone mask was peeling off, and his body was absorbing the surrounding power, his size gradually increasing.
He chose Yammy because, among the Menos present, Yammy was currently the weakest. Although his potential suggested he could become the strongest, unfulfilled talent was just talk. Everything was judged by current strength.
"This Soul Reaper doesn't view us as living beings at all!" Nnoitra wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as his six severed arms regrew. He spat out a mouthful of blood, looking indignant.
"From a biological perspective, we aren't humans," Ulquiorra added calmly, causing Nnoitra to instantly flare up in anger.
"Is that what I meant? You clearly know what I was trying to say! Why are you arguing with me at a time like this?"
"I'm just correcting the facts, and..." Pitch-black fluid seeped from Ulquiorra's arm, and his severed right hand fully recovered in an instant.
He also possessed the ability of High-Speed Regeneration.
"Furthermore, I'm going to fight with everything I have now. Be careful; don't blame me if you're killed by the aftershocks." Before Ulquiorra's voice had even faded, his figure vanished from everyone's sight.
By the time everyone caught sight of the dark figure high in the sky, the sonic boom finally reached their ears. Having achieved natural Arrancarization, Ulquiorra was exceptionally powerful. Back in his past life, before the official Espada rankings were revealed in the anime, many people suspected Ulquiorra was actually Number One.
"Lanza del Relámpago!"
Massive energy converged in Ulquiorra's hands. He squeezed a green, wicked power between his fingers, its terrifying fluctuations leaking through the gaps before stretching out to form a brilliant long spear.
"I am not very practiced with this technique, so please, do not move." Ulquiorra's cold voice reached Makiya's ears. "If I miss, it might hit your companions."
His tone was polite, but his words were laced with extreme confidence and arrogance.
With those words, Ulquiorra hurled the green lightning spear. A bright green line flashed through the air, arriving in front of Makiya's face in an instant.
Facing the ferocious attack, Makiya tilted his body slightly and reached out with his left hand.
Clang!
His slender, pale palm caught the Lanza del Relámpago firmly in an instant!
"What?" Ulquiorra's eyes widened. The two tear-like marks running down his cheeks seemed to lengthen as his composure shattered.
"He caught the Lanza del Relámpago... with one hand!"
The crackling lightning spear struggled violently in Makiya's hand. The terrifying power within surged frantically, threatening to trigger a world-shaking explosion at any moment.
But the fire of Chisato spread from Makiya's hand. As the bright red flames enveloped the lightning spear, Ulquiorra's Hollow power was immediately suppressed, settling within the flames and being absorbed and evolved.
"Is this guy treating us as prey?" Harribel's expression was grim. For the first time, she felt a deep sense of helplessness. She had only come to see what the commotion was about; she never expected things to turn out like this.
"That's right. You are indeed prey." Makiya nodded, admitting it openly. "Actually, this was a trap set by Baraggan and me. The goal was to capture Menos like you. I didn't expect such a large haul."
The other Menos immediately distanced themselves from Baraggan, casting wary glances at him.
"Hey! You damned Soul Reaper, don't talk nonsense!" Baraggan quickly denied it. "As the King of Hueco Mundo, how could I ever cooperate with a Soul Reaper?"
Makiya blinked. "Didn't you say that except for Harribel, I could do whatever I wanted with the rest? You said you wanted to keep Harribel to warm your bed."
"That's slander!"
Hearing Makiya say this, Harribel's guard against Baraggan actually lowered. She knew Baraggan had always wanted her as a subordinate, but he definitely had no romantic intentions. Makiya's words were clearly a blatant attempt to sow discord.
"This guy is stalling for time." Nnoitra, thinking he had found the truth, looked around and called out, "He definitely can't pull off an attack like that again! Let's all go at once and kill him!"
The others thought he had a point. Even Makiya nodded repeatedly. "I am indeed stalling for time, but it seems you've misunderstood why."
He brandished Chisato and caught a flicker of bright red flame, examining it closely in his hand. "I'm just waiting for your bodies to adapt to it. Unlike that big guy over there, the Hollow power in your bodies is far too thin. It needs to be slowly remodeled."
Makiya swung his long blade, and flames spread out beneath his feet like a bright red wall rising from the ground, extending infinitely to both sides.
The fire of Chisato carved a massive circle into the ground, large enough to completely encompass all of Las Noches. As spiritual pressure poured in, the bright red flames surged toward the sky, growing higher and higher.
[Support the story with Reviews, Power Stones, and Comments—they mean a lot and keep me going! 30+ chapters waiting on patreon.com/elite_reads]