Ian Grey let out a hoarse roar.
At once, the surrounding Gillians instinctively retreated, forming a wide empty circle around the battlefield and leaving enough space for him and Raizen Kō to confront one another directly.
"WHOOSH!"
The sound of compressed air ripping apart echoed as Ian Grey took the initiative, executing Sonído and vanishing in a blur. In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Raizen Kō, both scorpion claws snapping forward like colossal shears, aiming straight for Raizen Kō's masked face.
Raizen Kō pulled back slightly and raised the Zanpakutō in his right hand to intercept.
"CLANG!"
A shower of sparks erupted as the twin claws struck the blade.
Raizen Kō immediately swung his left arm downward, and a ten-meter-long Lightning Whip tore through the air. Ian Grey stomped against the void, Reishi exploding beneath his feet, and used Sonído to retreat more than ten meters in an instant.
"SNAP!"
The Lightning Whip smashed through several towering white-barked trees, splitting their trunks cleanly. Just as Ian Grey believed he had escaped its reach, the seemingly misdirected lightning suddenly twisted midair, curving like a living serpent and striking straight toward his back.
"SIZZLE!"
At the critical moment, Ian Grey's scorpion tail shot outward. The stinger, wrapped in darkened Reiatsu, collided directly with the Lightning Whip.
"BOOM!"
A violent shockwave erupted as spiritual pressure clashed, howling winds tearing through the forest and forcing nearby trees to sway violently.
Seizing the opening while Ian Grey was occupied, Raizen Kō executed Sonído and appeared directly above him. His massive blade rose high, faint arcs of lightning coiling around its edge.
With a thunderous roar, he brought it down.
A colossal dark-golden blade aura surged forth, infused with the fury of thunder itself.
Ian Grey had just barely deflected the Lightning Whip and could only twist aside in desperation. The slash missed his core but not completely.
"SPLURT!"
His right arm was severed cleanly.
A torrent of dark blood burst from the stump as Ian Grey staggerred back, clutching the wound in disbelief.
The residual force of the blade aura continued onward, cleaving a nearby mindless Gillian straight in two.
"So strong…" Ian Grey gasped. "If I hadn't already been crippled…"
Though enslaved and reduced by Hubert Allen, Ian Grey had never stopped believing himself to be an Adjuchas rather than a lowly Gillian.
Mistaking Raizen Kō for an Adjuchas, he had yearned for a fair confrontation to prove that he still stood among the elite predators of Hueco Mundo.
Raizen Kō gazed at the half-human scorpion Hollow, now wounded and bleeding, yet did not immediately press the attack. His eyes reflected a rare complexity.
Through their clash of Reiatsu, Raizen Kō sensed it clearly—his opponent was not burning with survival instinct, but with a desire for annihilation.
"I don't need your pity!"
Ian Grey roared.
Dark spiritual pressure erupted violently around him as countless sharp, black-purple needles burst forth from his scorpion tail, streaking toward Raizen Kō like a rain of death.
Raizen Kō shook his head slowly.
He had expected a fierce and satisfying battle. Instead, it had become a crushing disparity.
Yet despite knowing he stood no chance, Ian Grey still bared his fangs without hesitation.
That alone made him worthy of respect.
Raizen Kō gripped his Zanpakutō with both hands. Lightning entwined the blade, Reiatsu roaring outward.
He unleashed another full-powered strike.
The dark-golden blade aura surged once more, dyeing the pale sky with a storm-born brilliance.
"So powerful… Even at my peak… I would never defeat him. He… can kill Hubert Allen…"
That was Ian Grey's final thought.
As the blade aura faded, a massive fissure over ten meters long split the forest floor. The half-human scorpion Hollow lay in ruin within it.
Raizen Kō stepped forward and activated Soul Eater, absorbing every remnant without waste.
As the last fragment vanished into the dark-golden vortex behind him, Raizen Kō felt a satisfaction unlike any before.
A Hollow fallen from Adjuchas rank its Reiatsu rivaled that of over a hundred ordinary Gillians.
How exquisite would a true Adjuchas taste?
While consuming him, Raizen Kō detected a second, distinct Reiatsu embedded within Ian Grey's remains.
"That presence… belongs to the Adjuchas behind him."
Raizen Kō narrowed his eyes.
"Don't rush. I'll be coming for you soon."
At that very moment, within the towering nest among the trees, Hubert Allen shuddered violently.
Raizen Kō turned to the panicking Gillians surrounding him and slowly licked his lips.
His hunt continued.
"This scorpion brother was truly generous. He gave me himself… and over a hundred Gillians as a bonus."
Raizen Kō cut down the scattered horde without mercy, devouring them one after another.
Soon, over a hundred Gillians were gone.
His Reiatsu swelled by nearly fifty percent.
"Thank you for the gift, scorpion brother."
More importantly, Raizen Kō finally sensed fullness for the first time.
He knew now
One or two hundred more Gillians… or a single true Adjuchas…
And he would advance to Menos Grande.
"I haven't even evolved into a Gillian yet, and I already wield Adjuchas-level combat power. If I become a true Gillian… could I challenge a Vasto Lorde directly?"
The thought stirred his blood.
Raizen Kō focused his Reiatsu, locking onto the lingering trace left by Hubert Allen.
He intended to strike while his momentum was at its peak.
Using Sonído, Raizen Kō traveled south throughout the day.
Gradually, the Reiatsu grew heavier… denser…
Until finally, he perceived hundreds of Gillian signatures clustered around a singular dominant presence.
"A complete Adjuchas… with hundreds of Gillians. Difficult—but not impossible."
Gazing at the interlocked tree nests ahead, Raizen Kō activated Camo.
He decided to eliminate the outer guards first.
"WHOOSH!"
A flash of blade light severed the lookout Gillian at the perimeter, and Soul Eater absorbed it instantly.
As Raizen Kō prepared to strike the next
Hubert Allen suddenly opened his eyes within the nest.
"Enemy!"
"ROOOAR!"
The forest erupted as the Gillian horde instantly went berserk.
Raizen Kō exhaled slowly.
"Indeed… I can't use the same methods against an Adjuchas as I do against mindless Gillians."