join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr
Las Noches.
A tall figure walked across the suspension bridge and entered a tall tower. There were no windows inside the tower, almost completely blocking out the sunlight from the artificial sky outside.
Click—
After confirming that no sunlight could reach him, the tall figure removed the mask from his face.
As the long, strip-shaped mask was taken off, a rather handsome face was revealed. This figure was Aaroniero, who had once fought Ishikawa.
"I really don't understand Aizen-sama's thoughts. After finally coming to Hueco Mundo, which only exists in darkness, he still imitates the Human World by creating a sun. He doesn't even consider people like me, who can only display their abilities in darkness."
Clang—
The mask covering his head was casually tossed aside, and Aaroniero took out the latest report from the monitoring department.
These reports were all about intelligence on various Hollows. Since becoming NO. 9, he had already devoured 30,000 Hollows. Initially, he would basically devour whatever Hollow he encountered.
But now that his strength had reached its current level, he no longer devoured just any Hollow, because weak Hollows, no matter how many he devoured, had a negligible effect; rather than wasting time on those useless ones, it was better to have the monitoring department select Hollows with special abilities or powerful Reiatsu to devour.
Outer Circle~
Looking at the report in his hand, Aaroniero frowned and subconsciously touched his chest.
Pulling open the zipper of his full-body white robe, a hideous scar was clearly visible on his exposed chest.
Although two years had passed since the injury, even today, he still felt a faint pain from the scar on his chest, and the image of that black-haired youth would involuntarily surface in his mind.
"Madman—!"
Aaroniero cursed with a gloomy tone.
He still couldn't figure out how he had been exposed.
He was clearly greeting the other party with a gentle smile, but that scoundrel immediately drew his sword and attacked him without a word.
Moreover…
That black-haired madman was not only mentally disturbed but also despicable. Despite possessing powerful Reiatsu, he deliberately showed a weak Reiatsu in front of him to make him drop his guard.
If he had given him enough attention from the start… no, even if he had just not underestimated him, he would have definitely been able to devour him in the end.
Instead of being like that useless Nnoitra, letting him escape.
Humph—
Aaroniero snorted coldly. He felt disdain for battle maniacs like Nnoitra from the bottom of his heart. Although Nnoitra's rank among the Espada had risen several places now.
But a madman who only knows how to fight, as long as he devours enough Hollows, he will eventually become a part of him.
No…
At that time, all the Espada will become a part of him!!
Aaroniero continued to flip through the report in his hand, and as he did, an impatient expression appeared on his face.
"Useless… useless… still useless… all useless—"
Aaroniero cursed, "Can't there be some Hollows with special abilities? These useless ones have no value in existence at all!"
The same situation had been repeating for the past two years.
Without subordinates, he would go to the monitoring department almost every day to retrieve reports and make selections from them.
Of course…
It wasn't that there were no Hollows he found appealing, but most of these Hollows were either in the Outer Circle or hidden in the Forest of Menos.
And whenever he wanted to leave Las Noches, a pair of eyes would appear in his mind, staring intently at him, revealing a chilling aura that seemed capable of devouring his soul, and the wound on his chest would throb with pain.
Fear?
No—
It's just that these useless ones aren't worth him leaving Las Noches to devour them!
He, who could evolve indefinitely, was invincible.
Even Aizen-sama acknowledged his potential. How could such a person fear a mere Shinigami?
But whether he admitted it or not, the figure of that black-haired youth would constantly appear in his mind, and those eerie, calm, and chilling eyes would often appear in his dreams.
He could not stop devouring just because of this.
Otherwise…
Before long, as one of the few remaining original Espada, he would likely become the next Arrancar to be eliminated from the Espada ranks.
The constant disappearance and elimination of familiar faces had already made Aaroniero feel incredibly urgent.
And this morning, Tier Harribel, who had been missing for two days and suddenly appeared, gave up her Espada position at the Espada meeting due to insufficient strength, voluntarily becoming one of the three-digit Arrancar to be eliminated, which pushed his urgency to the extreme!!
Of course, he was not surprised that useless Tier Harribel would give up her Espada status, because that madman Nnoitra had already set his sights on her.
Only two outcomes awaited her: either 'voluntarily' be eliminated and give up the NO. 5 position to Nnoitra; or be killed by Nnoitra, with Nnoitra taking her place.
But compared to Tier Harribel, who had no room for further improvement, he could continue to evolve and would not be abandoned by Aizen-sama.
But…
He still felt scared, especially when Tier Harribel saw him this morning, her mocking sneer and words deeply stimulated him:
"You just keep being afraid. I'll wait for you in the area where the three-digit Arrancar reside."
That bitch!
Aaroniero cursed fiercely in his heart, then picked up the discarded report and started flipping through it again.
Finally, after selecting some Hollows from it, he put on his mask and walked out of the tall tower.
The chilling eyes reappeared, making his steps falter slightly, but in the end, he still walked out.
It had been more than two years. Although that madman had escaped back then, he was severely injured and might have already died two years ago, or been devoured by a Hollow.
Even if he was lucky enough not to die, he should have left Hueco Mundo long ago.
He had nothing to be afraid of!!
Under this constant self-persuasion, Aaroniero left Las Noches again after two years.
However…
Aaroniero didn't notice that as he left, a petite figure stood on a suspension bridge in Las Noches, watching his departure with purple eyes.
Tier Harribel watched the departing Aaroniero, a hint of mockery flashing in her purple eyes, then she withdrew her gaze and looked at the place where her original number had been on her body, a strange expression on her pretty face.
If it were her from two years ago, she probably would never have imagined it, right?
She had clearly decided that as long as Aizen-sama didn't personally order her elimination, she would die in her Espada position, even if it meant death.
As a result…
Now she had actually voluntarily given up her Espada status.
Moreover…
There was no regret at all; instead, she felt somewhat fortunate, fortunate that doing so could help Ishikawa.
…
Forest of Menos.
Ishikawa, who was meditating on a stone, suddenly opened his eyes.
"Finally willing to come out?"
"What came out?"
The Picaro who were lying around Ishikawa all jumped up and gathered around Ishikawa noisily, also waking up Ganju, who had been sound asleep.
"What's wrong? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"Tier Harribel just contacted me."
Ishikawa got up and replied casually, "Aaroniero has left Las Noches. Although I don't know his exact destination, after leaving Las Noches, he is currently speeding towards the southeast."
In these two days, Ishikawa had re-… more precisely, perfected the Hollow Mark for Tier Harribel, applying his new understanding of the Hollow Mark to Tier Harribel, allowing her strength to improve further.
But exactly how much she improved, only Tier Harribel herself knew.
Ishikawa didn't even know what Tier Harribel's second Release Form ability was like, nor did he ask.
Although Tier Harribel wanted to test it, Ishikawa stopped her, because Tier Harribel had told him earlier that Aizen's surveillance system in Hueco Mundo was becoming more and more sophisticated, and they could easily be discovered if they weren't careful.
However, Ishikawa had a vague feeling that Tier Harribel, with her further perfected Hollow Mark, should have made significant progress in strength.
And the reason he was able to achieve this level could largely be attributed to Picaro.
That's right~!
Ishikawa finally decided to reconstruct the soul core for Picaro. He originally only intended to avoid them exposing his identity due to their innocent remarks, as he had planned.
But because of Picaro's uniqueness, reconstructing their soul core allowed Ishikawa's understanding of the Hollow Mark to improve by a large margin.
Moreover, after reconstructing Picaro's soul core, Ishikawa's Hollow Mark also gained a new ability: internal connection.
No matter how far the distance, if Ishikawa wished, he could communicate with anyone whose soul core he had reconstructed, just like the connection between Picaro. It was no longer the previous method of only being able to sense his location by touching Tier Harribel's internal Reiatsu.
The reason he knew Aaroniero had left Las Noches was precisely because of this.
[Hollow Mark]: Advanced (43209 / 100000)
It must be said that Picaro's existence was truly too special. In the process of researching how to reconstruct their soul core, Ishikawa's Hollow Mark proficiency can be said to have advanced by leaps and bounds, directly increasing by over 30,000 proficiency points.
And with the improvement of the Hollow Mark, by analogy, Ishikawa's Development Spiritual Mark also made considerable progress.
[Development Spiritual Mark] Advanced (21231 / 100000)
This trip to Hueco Mundo can be said to have been quite fruitful.
Of course, in addition to that, the experience points Picaro provided him were also a huge income.
However, what made Ishikawa a little depressed was…
These kids had no idea how terrifying the power Ishikawa had given them was. Without much pursuit of strength, they didn't have a surge in favorability towards him like Tier Harribel did.
Although after a few days of getting along, under Ishikawa's careful guidance, the favorability of the little girls among the Picaro towards Ishikawa had basically reached between 20 and 35.
There were exactly sixty Picaro little girls, and their strength varied depending on when they became Picaro.
Among them, 42 little girls provided experience points equivalent to regular Squad Members of the Gotei 13, 10 were equivalent to Low Level Seated Officers, and the remaining 8 were equivalent to High Level Seated Officers…
Perhaps it was because the initial Adjuchas were little boys, the stronger children, those who became 'Picaro' very early, were mostly little boys; little girls were a minority among them, and generally not very strong.
Ishikawa had been instilling in Picaro these past few days… the idea that little boys should play with little girls.
Getting back to the main topic, 60 little girls, each with a favorability between 20 and 35. This may seem like a small number, but in reality, it was a figure that made Ishikawa overjoyed.
They collectively provided Ishikawa with 182,200 experience points.
Current Experience Points: 242,200.
Ishikawa temporarily left these experience points untouched.
Being in Hueco Mundo, it was safer to keep some trump cards to deal with potential accidents.
Although…
In Ishikawa's opinion, his plan should be foolproof, and no one would ever discover that he was the one who killed Aaroniero!
"Hoo—"
Lightly exhaling, Ishikawa exchanged glances with Ganju, who was already fully prepared.
"Let's go."
"Ishikawa-nii—"
A Picaro little boy hugged Ishikawa's leg, looking up and saying, "Let us help you too."
"Mhm mhm, I want to go too."
"That Aaroniero guy is so annoying, I'll help you tear him apart."
"Tear off his limbs, dismember him, dissect him, and then devour him."
"I want to dig out his heart and eat it."
"Why don't we just kill him before Ishikawa-nii does."
"…"
Ganju looked at the group of Picaro, who had innocent expressions and childish voices but spoke incredibly cruel words, and couldn't help but hide behind Ishikawa.
Although he understood that these kids were far more ruthless and terrifying than they appeared, yet… hearing such words spoken with the innocent appearance of a child, no matter how many times he heard it, it sent shivers down his spine.
"No, you can't."
Ishikawa, however, showed no reaction. Instead, he gently ruffled Picaro's small head with a warm smile: "Did you forget what you promised Ishikawa-nii and Tier Harribel-nee? You can't go out and cause trouble for now, otherwise, Tier Harribel-nee and I might both die, you know."
Ganju, behind Ishikawa, twitched his mouth as he listened to the repeated 'you know' at the end of Ishikawa's sentences.
Since coming here, he was a little confused…
Whether it was Ishikawa, Tier Harribel, these children who were abnormal, or if he himself was abnormal; why could these people all speak such terrifying words with such gentle expressions?
Ignoring the disappointed words of the Picaro, Ishikawa left the cave with Ganju.
They had already delayed for more than two days in Hueco Mundo. The longer they stayed in Hueco Mundo, the more likely something unexpected would happen, so they had to resolve it quickly and leave Hueco Mundo.
Originally, Ishikawa's plan was to go alone without Ganju.
But after a moment of thought, he decided to bring Ganju with him, at least to let him…
Send his elder brother off.
Although the real Shiba Kaien had already died.
Aaroniero's Imitation, however, was Shiba Kaien's Spirit Body, and everything he experienced, as well as all his memories, had been preserved.
Even if his heart was long gone, Ganju should witness the process of his elder brother's body dissipating.
After leaving the cave, Ishikawa directly pulled Ganju towards the direction Aaroniero had come from, and while speeding, he had already locked onto Aaroniero's location with his detection circuit.
…
"Aoo ao ao—"
At the border between the Outer Circle and the Inner Circle, accompanied by a sharp scream, a massive Hollow gradually dissipated.
"Disgusting~!"
Aaroniero spat, then muttered, "Although he's useless, his ability is quite interesting."
With that, he casually tossed the report in his hand aside and prepared to head to his next target.
"Kujaku Child…"
Just then, a voice that made Aaroniero's pupils contract suddenly sounded in his ear.
Before he could react, everything in his vision was enveloped by a black mist that exuded a chilling aura.
"…play as you please."
Aaroniero only felt a strange pulling sensation coming from all directions. When the pulling sensation dissipated, everything in his field of vision changed dramatically.
The pitch-black night sky was replaced by a distorted, crooked painting. Although the painting was messy, one could barely make out the sun, moon, and stars, clearly depicting the sky.
And the boundless white sand was replaced by 10 separate elevated platforms, beneath which was a bottomless abyss.
"—Kokumei!"
As the indifferent voice echoed, the dark boundary rippled like water, and two figures emerged from the darkness, stepping onto one of the platforms.
And as the voice sounded, the separated platforms began to move as if attracted by magnets, eventually forming a massive…
Arena!
"It's you~!!"
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr