Nelliel's Doubts
Dust billowed for miles, white sand falling like rain with a soft, rustling sound.
Nelliel stood at the edge of the storm. She stretched out her hand, catching a few grains of sand carried by the wind. They dissolved instantly into reishi.
She released her pesquisa, spiritual probing nerves spreading out from her like ripples in water, combing through the battlefield for lingering traces of reiatsu.
Aizen-sama had ordered her to locate powerful Hollows worthy of becoming Espada. Anyone capable of causing such devastation could potentially qualify.
Her gray-brown eyes flickered in confusion. Despite the overwhelming destruction, there wasn't a single trace of reiatsu left behind.
Perhaps the loser's presence had been completely smothered by the victor. But for the victor to hide their own reiatsu so perfectly… not even the Primera or Segunda Espada could do such a thing.
Nelliel's interest grew sharper. Expanding her range, she finally picked up the faintest flicker of reiatsu a dozen miles to the west.
It wasn't Hollow-like. If anything, it felt closer to… a Shinigami?
Boom.
She blurred across the sands, following the trail until her pesquisa revealed a clear path moving northward.
Her eyes narrowed. No Shinigami, aside from Aizen-sama, had ever shown goodwill toward Hollows. She remembered encountering a squad of Shinigami in the Forest of Menos. Their leader—something like Karino, the exact name forgotten—had attacked on sight. She had crushed them utterly.
Could a stray Shinigami be responsible for this disturbance? It seemed unlikely. But perhaps one had wandered into Hueco Mundo.
Regardless, she had to confirm.
She pushed forward at high speed, not using Sonído. A long-distance Sonído carried a momentary blank interval—a fraction of a heartbeat where one was vulnerable. Against an unknown opponent strong enough to make such noise, Nelliel wasn't about to risk carelessness.
Running also allowed her to adjust instantly and applied pressure, like a second-place runner looming over the leader in a race.
Her probing nerves finally touched the trail again—only for it to vanish abruptly.
Nelliel stopped cold. Reiatsu, footprints, everything had disappeared.
She Sonído'd back to the point of disappearance. The pale desert stretched endlessly under the waning moon. A few fading traces of Garganta still lingered.
She crouched, examining the marks on the ground: six footprints.
Two human. One Hollow.
Her brow furrowed. The Garganta had been opened with Hollow ability, yet the reiatsu signature was undeniably Shinigami.
What was going on?
Moreover, she sensed that not everyone present had left a detectable reiatsu. One trace was missing, and the Hollow footprint was deformed—as if belonging to something abnormal, not a standard Hollow.
Her doubts multiplied. Expanding her pesquisa further, she detected nothing else. Had the Shinigami really returned to Soul Society?
Her face hardened. Was there a traitor among the Espada colluding with Shinigami to overthrow Aizen-sama?
The Primera didn't seem the type, but the Segunda… he was different. Once the self-proclaimed King of Hueco Mundo, he had been defeated and bent to Aizen's will, yet his ambition had never truly vanished. His followers were among the strongest of the Espada's subordinates, and his age meant hidden tricks could not be ruled out.
Abandoning the search, Nelliel used long-distance Sonído to appear in front of Las Noches.
The massive white palace loomed, its semicircular roof etched with Western architectural lines. Built from stone quarried at the base of the Forest of Menos, it had taken billions of Hollows, driven by Aizen, three years of tireless labor to complete.
Magnificent, imposing—it was the only place fit to be called a king's palace.
She entered through the main gate, but instead of heading straight to Baraggan's quarters, she turned toward the surveillance room of Las Noches.
The chamber was vast and dim, illuminated only by the faint blue glow of the countless screens and consoles within. The control panel could not only access footage but also manipulate the labyrinth of corridors inside the fortress.
"Rudbornn," Nelliel called.
Footsteps echoed, and from the shadows emerged the Exequias commander, Rudbornn Chelute. His bull-skull mask glinted under the blue light, and ten skeletal branches dangled from his back. White roots extended from his feet and waist as he walked forward slowly.
"Lady Nelliel, what are your orders?" His tone was respectful.
"Show me the surveillance footage of the Segunda Espada's palace. I want to know what he's been up to."
Rudbornn hesitated. He was loyal not to Nelliel alone but to Aizen's will through the Espada as a whole. Still, her suspicion carried weight.
"I suspect the Segunda has betrayed Aizen-sama."
"I understand. I'll bring up the footage immediately."
He turned, tapping the console with his root-like appendages. Screens flickered, pulling up images of Baraggan's palace.
"No one has been there," Nelliel noted.
"Wait," Rudbornn muttered, scrolling through days of footage. The palace remained empty.
Until June 24th, at 4:30 p.m.
A figure appeared: Szayelaporro Granz, the scientist once expelled from the Espada.
He entered Baraggan's palace. At 4:52, he left—with Baraggan, his Fracción, and his followers.
"How did those two come together?" Nelliel murmured, frowning deeply.
Rudbornn tapped another command. "At six that morning, a Garganta from Soul Society opened into the Forest of Menos. The detectors picked up strong Shinigami reiatsu. Szayelaporro claimed he would handle it."
Nelliel's suspicion of the Segunda only deepened.
"Lady Nelliel," Rudbornn said suddenly, eyes widening. "Another Garganta has just opened from Soul Society—but there's no reiatsu detected. And just before, there was one with only a faint Hollow signature. Could the detector be malfunctioning?"
Nelliel's expression sharpened. "Where is it?"
Rudbornn read the coordinates. "To the east…"
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