The instant the thunderous strike landed, Sombravida activated the spatial imprint he had placed on Nel and displaced himself backward.
When he reappeared, the shattered mask of the giant Hollow was already in his hand.
Against anything below Vasto Lorde, Sombravida and Nel's coordinated burst assault was nearly unstoppable. However, such an overwhelming opening could only be used once. After witnessing it, any surviving opponent would heighten their vigilance.
Still, raw strength remained decisive.
Even in direct confrontation, Sombravida did not fear peak Adjuchas.
"Just hounds under Barragan," Sombravida said calmly, tossing the broken mask to Jekain. "Who gave you the confidence to bark?"
At Sombravida's current stage, one or two peak Adjuchas masks were no longer enough to push him further. But strengthening his subordinates was different.
The stronger his inner circle became, the more stable his foundation would be while he was away.
"Who among you can speak?" Sombravida asked coldly.
The remaining high-level Adjuchas released their reiatsu.
Yet hesitation flickered in their eyes.
Their leader had just been erased in a single exchange.
"Barragan may call himself king," Sombravida continued evenly, "but he is still merely a Hollow. Do not overestimate that title."
The name alone caused tension among them.
"I only need a guide. Chiliamela has already agreed. But I require confirmation of the route. Whoever speaks first lives."
Silence.
Sombravida stepped forward.
Nel, Jekain, and three high-tier Adjuchas followed.
Battle erupted.
Cero flared across the sky.
Reiatsu pressure collided violently.
Nel engaged two simultaneously, her newly stabilized peak Adjuchas reiatsu exploding outward.
Sombravida faced three.
Spatial displacement became decisive.
He had already marked each opponent with faint spatial anchors during their approach.
Every time one attempted to flank—
Sombravida appeared.
A slash.
A spatial distortion.
A concealed Cero detonating from a blind angle.
His concealment techniques blended with displacement, making his attacks feel omnidirectional.
Confusion spread among the enemy ranks.
Shhk!
One fell, throat severed.
The balance shifted immediately.
With one eliminated, Sombravida's forces doubled pressure on the remaining targets.
Two-on-one suppression began.
Sombravida's spiritual pressure was high, but sustaining concealment and displacement simultaneously drained him steadily.
If the battle dragged too long, attrition would become dangerous.
Fortunately—
The collapse came quickly.
Second.
Third.
Within minutes, all eight high-level Adjuchas lay defeated.
Sombravida descended slowly.
Breathing slightly heavier.
"I will ask once more," he said.
"I need a guide."
Silence.
He studied them.
"…Loyal."
He turned away.
"Harvest."
His subordinates descended and devoured the fallen.
Back at the stronghold, Sombravida sat quietly upon the stone throne.
Nel approached with another high-tier mask.
"My lord… you seem troubled."
Sombravida stared forward.
"No. Just aware."
He closed his eyes briefly.
Peak Adjuchas was not enough.
Against most forces in Hueco Mundo, yes.
Against Barragan's subordinates, yes.
But against Aizen?
Not even close.
Kyōka Suigetsu was not brute strength.
It was absolute control of perception.
Even if Sombravida surpassed Aizen in raw reiatsu, illusion would render it meaningless.
To confront Aizen directly—
He needed Vasto Lorde level strength at minimum.
Preferably beyond.
"Nel," Sombravida said quietly, "I will be gone one to two years."
She stiffened.
"You will guard the base."
"Yes, sir."
"I need several more peak Adjuchas here before I return."
He stood, consuming the mask she brought.
Time was limited.
He moved toward the prison cavern.
Chiliamela lay weakened but recovering.
"It's time."
"It… hasn't been two months…"
"I am done waiting."
Sombravida seized her by the wing and opened Garganta.
Black space tore open.
He dragged her inside.
Before leaving, he turned to the two guarding high-tier Adjuchas.
"Within two years, reach peak Adjuchas. When I return, we expand."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Travel through Garganta was unstable.
Sombravida emerged periodically to confirm landmarks Chiliamela described.
Hueco Mundo was vast.
Barragan's domain lay deep within the central desert, near the true Las Noches.
Six months passed in transit.
Finally—
Chiliamela halted.
"Beyond that ridge… is his palace."
Sombravida nodded.
"You are free."
She recoiled in fear.
"I will not return to him."
"See that you don't."
She fled into Garganta immediately.
Sombravida continued forward alone.
He had entered Barragan's sensory perimeter.
He made no effort to conceal himself.
Several Adjuchas intercepted him.
"Who trespasses!"
"I seek Barragan. Announce me."
"You dare speak his name—"
Sombravida's reiatsu erupted.
Peak Adjuchas pressure forced them back.
He stepped forward and tore one's throat open without hesitation.
Blood sprayed across the sand.
"Next."
One collapsed to its knees.
"I—I will report!"
Sombravida pressed a claw to its neck, leaving a spatial mark.
"Take me."
Las Noches rose ahead.
No true ceiling.
Only endless night sky.
The palace gates opened.
Respira flowed outward.
Aging.
Decay.
Time itself rotting the air.
Sombravida displaced backward as the Hollow he was holding disintegrated into bone and dust within seconds.
A skeletal figure sat upon the throne.
Crowned.
Massive double-headed axe resting beside him.
Dark miasma coiled endlessly around his body.
"Who dares enter my palace?"
"I am Ace Sombravida."
Sombravida stood upright.
"I came to negotiate."
"You killed my subordinates."
"Replaceable," Sombravida replied calmly.
Respira surged again.
Sombravida displaced, leaving a spatial afterimage behind as decay consumed empty air.
He launched a Cero—not to kill, but to test range.
Respira corroded the outer layers of the blast mid-air.
As expected.
Barragan's ability was not raw destruction—
It was accelerated time-induced decay.
Everything aged to ruin within its radius.
Sombravida vanished—
And reappeared at the base of the throne.
A fully condensed Cero formed inches from Barragan's skull.
Barragan did not move.
Respira gathered, ready to corrode it instantly.
The standoff lasted seconds.
Sombravida withdrew first.
He reappeared at a marked pillar.
"My ability is spatial manipulation," Sombravida said calmly. "I can displace matter. Relocate energy."
Barragan's empty eye sockets fixed on him.
"You imply what?"
"If I transfer Respira."
A pause.
"Not around you."
Sombravida's voice remained steady.
"But inside you."
Respira corroded everything external.
Barragan was immune to its outward field because he generated it.
But if forcibly relocated past the exterior barrier—
Into his skeletal core—
Would his immunity apply?
Barragan remained silent.
Sombravida continued.
"You struggle against the northern Vasto Lorde because of regeneration. Your decay cannot finish him before he reforms."
Barragan's aura intensified slightly.
"And?"
"What if I relocate your Respira into the core of his regeneration? Directly into his internal structure?"
Silence.
"…Oh?"
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