The forest core lay more than ten kilometers from Sombravida's position.
His enormous Menos body advanced for a long time before he finally approached within a kilometer of the summoner.
As he entered the region, he found himself surrounded by hundreds of Gillians.
They did not fight.
They did not hunt.
They moved in silence, step by step, toward the source of the summons.
Sombravida could easily tear apart dozens of them.
He did not.
Instead, he suppressed his spiritual pressure and concealed his presence, following behind the advancing mass while observing the movements ahead.
The closer he drew, the heavier the spiritual pressure became.
They were near.
When the Gillians ahead halted, Sombravida knew the summoner stood beyond the wall of towering black bodies.
The oppressive spiritual pressure suggested a peak Adjuchas — perhaps even one approaching the threshold of Vasto Lorde.
After this war, it might very well reach that level.
Why such a being remained in the outer forest rather than advancing deeper toward Hueco Mundo's inner domains remained a mystery.
The Summoner
Sombravida edged forward through the Menos crowd until he finally saw it.
The summoner stood several ranks ahead.
It was an Adjuchas-class Hollow, resembling a colossal sandworm nearly forty meters long — a living wall of armored segments.
Each of its twenty-plus body segments bore blade-like appendages.
A grotesque mask sealed its head, while beneath its massive mandibles four rows of saw-like teeth churned endlessly.
Dark green fluid dripped from its mouth.
Where it struck the ground, the sand hissed and corroded.
Contact meant death.
A low, continuous hiss echoed as the creature maintained its summoning call.
The scale of what it was gathering became clear:
even hundreds of Gillians barely filled the scarred terrain around it.
Sombravida immediately chose patience.
This was not a simple hunt.
This was war.
Whether against another forest domain or between rival factions, such a conflict would not end quickly.
He withdrew toward the rear ranks and began gathering intelligence — and strengthening himself.
The Gathering
The summoning continued for three full days.
Nearly six thousand Gillians assembled in the forest core.
It was not a small number.
Yet as the gathering grew, Sombravida noticed an increase in conscious Gillians. Within his immediate vicinity alone, he encountered three.
None attacked him.
Those with intelligence understood the priority: survival and opportunity. No one sought unnecessary conflict.
The summoner did not intervene.
Even if Gillians devoured one another, losses would be minimal — perhaps ten per hunter across three days.
Such losses were insignificant.
But Gillians were not the only ones present.
Dozens of Adjuchas had arrived.
They caused no disturbance.
They simply consumed the occasional unfortunate Gillian and waited beside the sandworm Adjuchas.
Sombravida's Silent Harvest
Sombravida did not waste the opportunity.
Using Concealment, he moved continuously, devouring masks and relocating before detection.
Unlike ordinary Gillians, Sombravida consumed only the masks — the densest concentration of spiritual particles.
The abandoned bodies were left for mindless Menos to swarm, preventing panic and masking the speed of death.
By constantly shifting position and suppressing his presence, he avoided detection even by Adjuchas sensory perception.
There were simply too many Gillians for anyone to identify a single predator.
After three days, Sombravida had devoured nearly one hundred Gillian masks.
Before the war had even begun, he had already become one of its greatest beneficiaries.
Yet he could not withdraw.
If he separated from the mass, his spiritual pressure would stand out instantly.
One misplaced lock-on would mean death.
The March to War
At last, the sandworm Adjuchas ended the summoning.
The massive Gillian army turned south.
Sombravida remained near the rear, waiting for a chance to slip away.
War held no value for him.
But he had underestimated the situation.
No Gillian withdrew.
Even those with consciousness marched forward.
Excited howls rose through the ranks.
It sounded less like a march to battle and more like a feast.
Then Sombravida saw it.
The sandworm Adjuchas raised its mandibles—
—and space split open.
A vast black void formed before the army.
Garganta.
A spatial rift used by Hollows to traverse dimensions and regions.
Few Gillian could form one.
Adjuchas wielded it with ease.
Its interior — the Void Corridor — connected Hueco Mundo's distant regions and, in rare cases, other realms.
Sombravida had no idea where it led.
But refusal meant death.
Entering meant surrendering control.
He exhaled slowly.
"…No turning back now."
Surrounded by towering Gillians, he stepped into the Garganta.
As he passed, he glanced toward the sandworm Adjuchas standing guard beside the rift.
Even at fifteen meters tall, he seemed insignificant before the creature.
The Adjuchas' gaze flickered toward him.
Sombravida immediately lowered his eyes and entered.
Behind him, the giant mask shifted faintly.
A hoarse murmur escaped it:
"Hmph… an interesting insect."
The Void Corridor
Inside the Garganta stretched a straight, black passage resembling an endless cavern of dark crystal.
Spiritual density rivaled the Forest of Menos.
Yet an unsettling aura permeated the space.
Even looking too long into the darkness induced vertigo.
Sombravida moved with the flow of Hollows.
Time lost meaning.
He could not tell whether time flowed normally here.
By his own estimation, the journey lasted nearly a month.
His patience frayed.
Just as his restraint neared its limit, the darkness ahead brightened.
The corridor ended.
War awaited.
But his guesses were wrong.
The Hollow Graveyard
When Sombravida emerged from the Garganta, the sky remained dim and lifeless.
This was still Hueco Mundo.
But not the forest he had left.
Thousands of meters ahead, another Garganta opened.
An opposing Gillian host poured through.
Between the two armies lay a vast expanse of bone.
A graveyard.
Not scattered remains —
—but tens of thousands of Gillian skeletons.
Hollows normally dissolve into spirit particles upon death.
This battlefield was different.
The air was thick with malignant reishi.
Spiritual pressure here was so dense it felt viscous.
Yet it was unstable, violent — toxic.
Absorbing too much would erode sanity.
Sombravida immediately understood.
This was a battlefield between Hollow domains.
Periodic wars of attrition.
Devour the enemy.
Strengthen one's evolution.
But in such wars, the true beneficiaries were commanders and Adjuchas.
Gillians were expendable.
War Ignites
The violent reishi drove the mindless Gillians into frenzy.
To Sombravida, the energy was dangerous.
To them, it was intoxicating.
Thousands roared and surged forward.
Minutes later, the first Cero fired.
The war began.
Crimson beams painted the sky.
Nearly a hundred Gillians were obliterated instantly.
The survivors did not hesitate.
The second volley erupted.
The stench of burned flesh filled the air.
Sombravida's Escape Attempt
"What now… how do I get out of this?"
Sombravida suppressed his spiritual pressure to the limit, attempting to slip free from the advancing tide.
It failed.
The mass pressed forward relentlessly.
He forced his mind to focus.
The Gillians were cannon fodder.
The true battle would begin when the Adjuchas engaged.
That would be his opportunity.
He turned.
Striking down a Gillian behind him, he released a surge of spiritual pressure to intimidate the others and began forcing his way backward.
Those that resisted were crushed under the advancing tide.
The risk was enormous:
the Adjuchas could notice.
But survival came first.
He retreated hundreds of meters.
Then—
A hiss split the battlefield.
A crushing spiritual pressure locked onto him.
Sombravida activated Concealment and shifted laterally.
It was useless.
A massive figure crashed down before him.
The sandworm Adjuchas.
Sombravida's steps faltered.
The pressure alone forced him back.
"Insect… where do you think you are going?"
Authority saturated the voice.
Sombravida lowered himself immediately.
"My lord," he said quickly. "I am not fleeing."
"I only seek to win this war."