Deep within the underground cavern, Raizen Kō had already devoured the crocodile-shaped Hollow that had foolishly delivered itself to him.
Now, he stretched his massive form fully, his centipede-like lower body coiling around a nearby stone pillar like a living siege engine, while his upper body rose upright, rigid and imposing.
Dark-golden Reiatsu erupted from his body like a living storm.
The spiritual pressure surged violently, compressing inward before bursting outward in a single overwhelming wave.
In an instant, a towering pillar of dark-golden light tore through the cavern ceiling, ripped through the sand layers above, and shot straight into the bleak sky of Hueco Mundo.
The very desert seemed to tremble.
Little Yellow Dog, waiting anxiously in the open sands, yelped and leapt backward, startled by the violent eruption of power.
"ROAR!"
With the eruption of that pillar of Reiatsu, Fresh Hollows scattered in all directions, while even several powerful Hollows felt a pressure rivaling that of a Menos class Hollow, fleeing in blind terror.
Not far away, a massive Hollow hovered midair.
Its body resembled a monstrous avian predator over five meters tall, with a wingspan exceeding thirty meters. Four wings extended from its back neither moth nor bird, but something twisted and unnatural, each feather gleaming like forged steel.
The Hollow's eyes narrowed with sharp delight.
"A Hollow undergoing evolution…" it muttered.
"And in the New Territory, no less… How fortunate."
With a powerful flap of her wings, Tilus Sandavici surged forward through the air.
She had mistaken the phenomenon for the birth of a Gillian class Menos.
And for any Adjuchas class Hollow, devouring a freshly born Menos was the fastest route to ascend further.
"During evolution… that creature is at its weakest," Tilus Sandavici whispered coldly.
"If I consume it, I may finally step beyond my current limit."
She accelerated, slicing through the turbulent Reishi currents like a meteor.
The Intruder
At that moment, the pillar of Reiatsu began to slowly recede.
As Tilus Sandavici closed in, Little Yellow Dog felt the crushing pressure descending from the sky and barked wildly toward the cavern below.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The sky darkened as Tilus Sandavici arrived, her four wings blotting out the pale light of Hueco Mundo's moon.
Feeling the immense killing intent above, Little Yellow Dog barked frantically.
Without hesitation, Tilus Sandavici flicked her wings.
Two iron-like feathers, sharp as blades, tore downward through the air, aimed directly at the small dog-shaped Hollow below.
Little Yellow Dog reacted instantly rolling sideways just in time to narrowly evade the lethal strike.
"Woof!"
Yet even while dodging, it continued barking toward the cavern entrance, desperately warning Raizen Kō.
Tilus Sandavici sneered.
Annoyed by the insignificant creature, she no longer spared it a glance.
Instead, she dove straight toward the epicenter of the dissipating Reiatsu pillar.
"Iron Swallow Feather Kill!"
With a sharp cry, she flung dozens of metallic feathers like a storm of arrows, all aimed at the heart of the cavern.
This technique had slain countless Hollows of equal rank.
Against a newly evolved Menos, she expected absolute annihilation.
But
The expected screams never came.
Instead
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Metal collided violently.
The dust was swept aside by a sudden surge of wind, revealing not a Gillian…
But a towering, half-humanoid Hollow.
Raizen Kō stood revealed.
His upper body was humanoid, armored in obsidian-white plating etched with glowing golden markings that pulsed like veins of lightning. Below, his massive centipede-like form coiled powerfully against the cavern floor, spanning over twenty meters.
Tilus Sandavici froze.
"This… isn't a Gillian," she whispered.
"It's a Giant Hollow… yet this Reiatsu is already Menos-class!"
Without hesitation, sensing true danger, Tilus Sandavici unleashed another Feather Kill, this time aimed directly at Raizen Kō's eyes.
Raizen Kō did not dodge.
Nor did he retreat.
He merely raised his right arm.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The iron feathers shattered harmlessly against his forearm, failing to leave even a scratch.
Tilus Sandavici's heart sank.
"…Can we negotiate?" she asked cautiously.
Raizen Kō's golden eyes burned coldly as he looked at the airborne Hollow who spoke human words.
"You attacked my companion. You interfered with my evolution. And now you speak of reconciliation?"
"Are you mocking me?"
"We can hunt together," Tilus Sandavici hurriedly replied.
"Mindless Hollows, Gillians we can slaughter them all! Together!"
Raizen Kō scoffed.
"So intelligence only teaches you how to beg when facing death?"
His massive tail snapped outward.
A lightning whip of dark-gold Reiatsu lashed violently into the sky.
"Chirp!!"
Tilus Sandavici was struck midair and hurled violently into the sand, crashing with an earth-shaking impact.
Raizen Kō vanished in a blur
Sonido.
In the next instant, he stood before her fallen form.
His palm pressed against her skull.
A Cero ignited.
"BOOM!!!"
The desert erupted.
Tilus Sandavici, her head pierced and bleeding, flapped desperately and retreated, forcing distance with all her remaining strength.
But it was meaningless.
Raizen Kō pursued relentlessly, flickering through Sonido like a phantom.
"Impossible… You're not even a Menos," she gasped.
"How do you possess Sonido and Cero already?!"
Her will shattered.
"I surrender!" she cried.
"Tilus Sandavici swears loyalty to you Master!"
Raizen Kō halted mid-strike.
"You are… Tilus Sandavici?"
"Yes! Your servant!"
A spark of recognition flashed through Raizen Kō's mind.
But he did not lower his guard.
His tail cracked like thunder.
Tilus Sandavici sacrificed all four wings in an instant, detaching them explosively to gain a final burst of speed.
Raizen Kō watched with interest.
"Decisive."
His second lightning whip followed.
Tilus Sandavici blocked with her tail
SZZZT!!
The lightning severed it cleanly.
In the next breath, Raizen Kō grasped her skull with both hands and twisted sharply.
Tilus Sandavici died instantly.
The Path Forward
Raizen Kō examined the corpse.
It indeed matched records of Tilus Sandavici a Hollow who, in another future, would rise as an Arrancar.
Which meant
This timeline was still far removed from Aizen's era.
He plunged his centipede tail into her remains.
Her body dissolved instantly.
This was Soul Eater his newly awakened ability.
Rather than devouring flesh, he now absorbed Reishi directly through specialized tail-mouths, ensuring no loss of spiritual substance.
He could even permanently inherit one of an opponent's abilities
But only once.
And so, Raizen Kō would choose carefully.
He also gained another power:
Clone — splitting his body to form a duplicate sharing his soul.
But using it recklessly could destabilize his rank, so he sealed it for now.
His former abilities, Camo and Flash Lightning, had evolved.
Flash Lightning could now manifest as a long-range lightning whip.
And he had prematurely mastered Sonido.
Raizen Kō's evolution this time was a qualitative leap.
Even Gillians…
…were no longer beyond his reach.