Dust slowly settled over the battlefield.
Four figures lay motionless on the shattered ground. Only the faint rise and fall of their spiritual pressure revealed they were still alive.
Across from them, the colossal form of the Gillian remained unmoving.
They had won.
Moments earlier, their combined assault collided with Mirot's unstable Cero discharge, releasing a catastrophic surge of spiritual pressure.
Had the Cero formed a fraction of a second earlier, Sombravida and the others would have been annihilated instantly.
Instead—
In the decisive instant before detonation, Sombravida used Shadow Strike to close the distance, appearing before the Gillian's face. He drove a spiritually condensed Shattering Slash into the mask, destabilizing the forming Cero.
Jacain and the others' attacks struck at that exact moment.
The Gillian mask fractured.
The cranial structure split.
Mirot collapsed.
A Menos had fallen.
Sombravida lay on the ground, reiatsu nearly depleted.
"That… was brutal."
His final techniques had drained him completely, but they had survived.
Jacain lay nearby, letting out a dry laugh.
"At least… this forest is safe now."
Sombravida forced himself upright and surveyed the devastation.
Trees erased.
Earth pulverized.
All traps destroyed.
"Too many losses," he said quietly. "This is a pyrrhic victory."
Jacain nodded grimly.
"But we lived."
Paric and Geese staggered to their feet. Their spiritual pressure flickered but remained stable.
Sombravida's gaze drifted toward the shattered Gillian mask.
He adjusted his posture instinctively, guarding against betrayal.
Jacain knelt.
"We follow your command, my king."
Sombravida blinked.
Jacain's voice held no hesitation.
Without Sombravida's leadership, they would have been erased by the Cero blast.
Though he could seize the mask now, he did not.
He believed survival — and future evolution — depended on Sombravida's guidance.
Sombravida studied him, then nodded.
"Bring the injured."
"We share the body."
Jacain and the others carried the wounded forward.
The Gillian corpse began dissolving slowly into spirit particles, but the mask fragments remained dense — the core of its spiritual structure.
Sombravida tore free two large sections.
"I will take these."
"The rest — heal yourselves."
Jacain distributed the fragments.
High-density reishi flowed into the injured Hollows, stabilizing their spiritual forms.
As Sombravida approached the crater, a weak voice stopped him.
"My king…"
It was Inora.
"Do not absorb too much at once. Gillian reishi density is immense. Without control… you may rupture."
Sombravida nodded.
"I will compress and regulate the intake."
He descended into the crater and bit into the mask fragment.
A flood of dense spiritual particles surged into his body.
Warmth spread instantly.
He resisted the urge to consume more.
Instead, he directed the energy toward restoring his depleted reserves.
Within moments, his spiritual flow stabilized.
Then he resumed feeding — slowly, carefully.
He compressed the influx as Inora advised.
The process resembled vapor condensing into droplets.
Compression created capacity.
Capacity allowed further absorption.
Time lost meaning.
The mask fragments gradually vanished.
Spiritual density surged within him.
He compressed further.
Most Hollows compress only enough to stabilize advancement.
Sombravida did not.
Drawing upon a mindset from his past life, he forced further condensation — compressing spiritual density beyond instinctive limits.
The process was agonizing.
But transformative.
His massive frame contracted.
Five meters.
Three.
Two.
Finally—
He returned to roughly human height.
Yet the power within him had multiplied.
The Gillian's energy was finite.
At last, the fragments were gone.
Sombravida opened his eyes.
His aura had changed.
He leapt from the crater, landing with enough force to crack the earth.
His bone plating had hardened and refined.
His claws gleamed with compressed destructive force.
His left fist carried explosive weight.
He exhaled slowly.
Satisfied.
"My king."
He turned.
Inora, Lephas, and the others knelt.
Their injuries had healed.
Their reiatsu had strengthened.
But one presence was missing.
"…Where is Jacain?"
Silence followed.
Then a deep voice echoed behind him.
"My king… I am here."
Sombravida turned.
A towering black form rose above the trees.
Over twenty meters tall.
A Gillian.
Sombravida stared upward.
"…Jacain?"
The massive mask inclined.
"Yes, my king. During the past hunt I accumulated sufficient power. After ensuring your safety, I completed my evolution in the southern forest."
"I retained consciousness."
"And returned."
Sombravida exhaled slowly.
"No wonder I couldn't sense you. Your reiatsu has surpassed mine."
Jacain bowed.
"Because of you, I survived long enough to reach this point."
He hesitated.
"My king… I cannot remain."
Sombravida understood immediately.
"The call of the Forest of Menos."
Jacain nodded.
"The call grows stronger each day. Only my consciousness allows me to resist. Soon, I must go."
Sombravida studied him.
"Then go."
Jacain lowered his head.
"I regret I cannot serve longer."
Sombravida smiled faintly.
"Who said you are leaving alone?"
The Hollows looked up in surprise.
"We leave together."
They departed immediately.
Why Leave?
As they traveled, Sombravida explained.
"Mirot devoured most high-density Hollows here."
"Jacain's evolution consumed the remaining reserves."
"In one month, two Gillians emerged."
He glanced at them.
"How much prey remains?"
Understanding dawned.
Remaining here meant starvation and conflict.
"We will relocate," Sombravida continued.
"We follow Jacain's route."
Lephas asked, "How do we ensure safety in unknown territory?"
Sombravida replied:
"Jacain will pass through many Hollow territories."
"A Gillian's Cero will clear resistance."
"We establish territory behind him."
Jacain added, "I will continue toward the Forest of Menos."
Sombravida nodded.
"Clear the path as you go."
"When the call becomes irresistible, continue on."
The others listened in silence.
Enora spoke softly.
"My king… you intend…"
Sombravida nodded.
"Yes."
"For the next phase…"
"I want every one of you to reach Menos evolution."
In Hueco Mundo, survival was strength.
And strength began with evolution.
The march toward the Forest of Menos had begun.