"You mean… you were human?"
Sombravida stared at Timd, genuine disbelief flashing beneath his mask. Of all the possibilities he had considered, this was not one of them.
"Y-yes, my lord."
Timd swallowed nervously.
"I am a Hollow derived from a human soul. In the World of the Living… I was an ordinary university student."
"From which country?"
"…Japan."
Sombravida paused.
"…a shut-in?"
Timd hesitated.
"…something like that."
"Did you collect figures?"
Timd's ears twitched.
"…Yes."
Sombravida nodded once.
"Good. We'll discuss that later."
The answer had come too naturally to be fabricated. No natural-born Hollow would understand such mundane human obsessions.
Sombravida turned back toward Atak, whose reiatsu was trembling on the verge of collapse.
The End of a Lord
"Lord Atak," Sombravida said calmly, the Sky-Splitting Greatsword reforming in his hand, "you are finished."
"However… as a courtesy, you may die alongside your loyal followers."
Atak's eyes burned coldly behind his cracked mask.
"You keep a traitor at your side… and one day you will fall the same way."
Timd flinched.
Sombravida only smiled.
"He is different."
"He may find a place with me."
Without further explanation, Sombravida drove the blade down through Atak's back.
The lord's spiritual pressure collapsed.
Silence followed.
Division of Spoils
"Clean up the battlefield."
The greatsword dissolved into spirit particles.
Sombravida took the mask Timd had collected and handed it back.
"Except for Atak, his lieutenant, and the mid-tier Adjuchas from earlier… the rest are yours."
Timd froze.
"…Really?!"
His voice trembled with disbelief.
"Thank you! Thank you, my lord!"
More than twenty intact remains lay scattered across the battlefield. Broken masks. Flesh fragments. Residual reiatsu.
Most importantly—
Kovadis was not among the exclusions.
A complete mid-tier Adjuchas mask meant an immense spiritual gain.
He rushed off immediately.
Only then did Sombravida notice:
Timd resembled a rat-like Hollow.
Short limbs.
Small claws.
Yet when running on all fours, he moved with startling speed.
"A perfectly normal human… already accustomed to running on all fours."
Sombravida sighed faintly.
This was the first Hollow he had met who retained a human past.
Even without a humanoid form… something human still lingered.
Aftermath
Sombravida consumed the recovered masks slowly, allowing their condensed reishi to dissolve into his core.
With Atak and Gross dead, the surrounding territories were leaderless.
Five adjacent territories now bordered Jekain's domain.
A continuous defensive line could be formed using Void Beast Mines.
"But next… an alliance must fall."
"Only then will this region truly belong to us."
Timd Devours the Battlefield
For over half a day, Timd devoured every fragment of reishi.
Nothing was wasted.
Sombravida remained seated, digesting the immense spiritual pressure he had absorbed.
Eventually, Timd returned.
"My lord, the battlefield is cleared. What should I do next?"
"Sit."
Sombravida pointed to the ground before him.
"Digest. And tell me… how you became a Hollow."
Timd sat obediently, tail swaying across the sand.
Sombravida stared at him.
Then sighed.
"Go on."
A Human Life
"I was a chemistry major," Timd began quietly.
"My grades were good… my professors liked me. But I was extremely shy."
"I spoke to almost no one."
"One day, during a laboratory workshop… I spilled reagents."
"There was an explosion."
"When I woke… I was already a spirit."
He hesitated.
"…I worried about my family."
Sombravida interrupted:
"Your figures?"
Timd lowered his head.
"Yes…"
"My parents cleaned my room."
"They were burned… along with the rest of my belongings."
Sombravida tilted his head.
"Humans become Hollows due to obsession. If your figures were burned… why didn't you pass on?"
Timd hesitated.
"…they forgot some."
Sombravida's eyes narrowed.
"…hidden ones?"
"No! Absolutely not!"
Timd protested loudly.
"They just missed some of my favorites!"
"…and I couldn't let them go."
Sombravida chuckled.
"You may be unique."
From Lesser Hollow to Adjuchas
"I was not born Adjuchas," Timd continued.
"I began as a weak Hollow in the human world."
"There are many souls there."
"And Shinigami?" Sombravida asked.
"There are. But my ability… favors survival."
"Show me."
Timd activated his power.
His two-meter body split apart—
into hundreds of thumb-sized mice.
They scattered in every direction.
"…one Cero would erase them all," Sombravida observed.
Timd reformed.
"Yes."
"But as long as one survives… I can regenerate."
"It takes time."
"How long?"
"If destroyed completely… centuries to return to Adjuchas strength."
"You left fragments elsewhere?"
"In Hueco Mundo and the human world."
"I cannot control distant fragments… but they remain me."
"That is why I am only early-stage Adjuchas now."
Sombravida exhaled slowly.
"What an absurd ability."
Weak in battle.
Nearly immortal in time.
Arrival in Hueco Mundo
"A Shinigami once pursued me," Timd continued.
"During the chase, an Adjuchas opened a Garganta."
"I escaped through it… and began hunting here."
"You taught Atak anti-membrane tactics."
"Yes."
"I lack combat power."
"So I relied on human knowledge."
"I built traps."
"When I evolved into a Gillian, I retained consciousness."
"With Cero and Anti-Membrane tactics, I reached Adjuchas."
"But I have been killed many times."
"…this body is my twelfth return."
Sombravida's gaze sharpened.
"So you have existed here… over a thousand years."
Timd nodded sheepishly.
"When I revived last, Atak controlled the territory."
"To survive… I joined him."
"I taught him anti-membrane tactics."
"My position allowed me to remain near the shield core."
"That is how I survived."
Fear of Death
"My lord… I am not a traitor…"
"I just don't want to sleep again…"
"I don't want to die."
"I want to live."
His voice shook.
Sombravida stood and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"There is no shame in survival."
The Philosophy of the Weak
"In any world," Sombravida said quietly,
"the strong sharpen claws."
"The weak sharpen wisdom."
"To be weak is not terrifying."
"What is terrifying… is surrendering the will to resist."
A black spatial fissure opened beside him.
"The weak survive through fear."
"Through fear, they learn to evade."
"Through fear, they learn to outthink."
"One day, the complacent strong will have their throats torn open by the wise weak."
Timd trembled.
Hope flickered in his eyes.
"Because we lack strength… we possess infinite possibilities."
Sombravida turned toward the open void.
"Timd."
"Cowardice is not sin."
"It is the root of survival."
"And I will give you the chance to wield it."
"Come with me."
"From today onward… you will not sleep again."
Timd's vision blurred.
For the first time since his death…
he felt he had found a place to belong.
"…Yes."
"…My King."
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