Uryū Ishida fired several Reishi arrows, shooting down Aisslinger's Reiatsu projectiles.
"Ten claw projectiles are enough to keep you scrambling..." Aisslinger spread the bone-like limbs on his back. They split into ten bone spines, all aimed at Uryū Ishida. "Then how about thirty?"
Aisslinger raised both hands. Together with the bone spines behind him, thirty claw projectiles flew at Uryū Ishida at once.
Uryū Ishida drew his Reishi bow again and again, barely managing to shoot them all down.
"You seem to be struggling..." Reiatsu gathered at the tips of Aisslinger's claws. "How much longer can you hold out?"
"I am struggling a little... if I only use standard equipment."
"Standard?"
Uryū Ishida unfastened his cuff, and the Quincy Cross slipped free. Drawn together by Reishi Gathering, it floated up and landed in his palm.
Surging Reishi extended to the left and right, splitting into branches that linked together into a circle.
Uryū Ishida twisted his wrist, and the Reishi bow formed two intersecting crosses of different lengths, connected by spiritual energy like a spider's web. "It looks like I'll have to use my brand-new Spirit Bow, Ginrei Kojaku!"
With just one draw of the bow, several Reishi arrows flew out to meet Aisslinger's claw projectiles.
"Naive!" Reiatsu burst from Aisslinger's hands and the bone wings on his back. "My Uña Tirotear can fire one hundred and eight rounds in succession! Let's see how long you last!"
"I'm curious how long you can last too..." Uryū Ishida's eyes turned cold. "Before the Ginrei Kojaku, which can fire one thousand two hundred rounds in succession!"
A wave of deep blue light surged across the sky, destroying every Uña Tirotear Projectile and swallowing Aisslinger's body.
"Damn it... damn it all..." Demoura growled in frustration. "How could I possibly... lose to a little runt like you!"
He opened his mouth, and a long, metallic tongue shot straight at Yasutora Sado.
"This should be your last attack." Yasutora Sado raised his hand and blocked the incredibly forceful tongue. Spiritual energy surged from his shoulder, dispersing the impact. "Now it's my turn. El Directo!"
The scattered spiritual energy gathered and roared forward, knocking Demoura to the ground.
"Ugh... damn it..." Aisslinger's bone wings were broken. He struggled to raise a finger, trying to attack again.
A sharp whistle cut through the air, and Aisslinger's finger snapped instantly.
"I spared your life so you could deliver a message to Sōsuke Aizen, not so you could attack me. Tell him the Quincy have arrived." Uryū Ishida snapped, "The ones you should truly fear aren't the Shinigami. They're the Quincy!"
"How naive..." Aisslinger coughed up blood. "Aizen-sama fears no one! That is exactly why we follow him..."
A violent tremor shook the area, and the surrounding brick and stone began to collapse.
Aisslinger and Demoura were the guardians of this place, responsible for eliminating anyone who tried to reach Las Noches from here.
If they lost, this place would collapse and bury the enemy with it.
Yasutora Sado smoothly hoisted Uryū Ishida over his shoulder and sprinted up the stairs toward the exit.
Uryū Ishida kicked his legs like a kidnapped bride. "I can run on my own!"
At the final moment before the collapse, the two of them finally burst out from underground.
An abnormal world came into view.
Endless white sand, a moonlit night with no stars, and withered tree branches.
Uryū Ishida snapped off a branch and examined it closely. "Is this... quartz?"
"...Uryū."
"Hm?"
Yasutora Sado pointed in another direction. "Over there."
In the distance, a simple, pale building stood silently amid the white sand. The thick quartz trees around them looked as thin as needles beside it.
Because the building was so absurdly enormous, it made the two of them feel as if they were not that far away.
In reality, it was only a distortion in their sense of distance caused by the lack of any proper point of reference.
"That must be Las Noches, the place Urahara-san mentioned." Uryū Ishida looked around. "With a building that large, the others should be able to see it no matter where they are. We don't need to worry about regrouping. Let's head straight for it."
"...Mm." Yasutora Sado followed Uryū Ishida, his gaze lingering for a moment on a tiny Hollow lizard crawling near his feet. "There are small creatures here too?"
"They probably survive by absorbing Reishi," Uryū Ishida said, sensing the Reishi around them. "The Reishi concentration in Hueco Mundo is extremely high. You can feel it too, can't you?"
"...Mm." Yasutora Sado flexed his left hand, light flickering at his fingertips.
"Like the Quincy, you can use the surrounding Reishi to fight. The higher the concentration of Reishi, the better our condition." Uryū Ishida tried gathering Reishi. "Once we adapt to the concentration here and get the hang of it, we'll be able to fight with even more power than in the World of the Living or Soul Society."
Yasutora Sado clenched his left fist. "The same goes for Hollows, right?"
"...Right." Uryū Ishida nodded. "So we absolutely can't get careless. It would be best to regroup with everyone first."
"Muten... will find us." Yasutora Sado pointed to his own forehead. "He can see."
"But if he's somewhere farther from Las Noches than we are, it'll be hard for him to get here quickly." Uryū Ishida tried to sense Muten Natsu's location, but the Reishi in Hueco Mundo was too chaotic for him to use Spirit Ribbons. "I wonder where he is right now..."
...
"We're currently south of Las Noches," Muten Natsu said, confirming their position. "Everyone is heading toward Las Noches. No one is in danger for now."
"The Reishi concentration in Hueco Mundo's atmosphere is even higher than in Soul Society..." Rukia Kuchiki hopped twice. "Unless you have Reishi Gathering on the level of a Quincy like Ishida, you can't walk on air here the way you can in the World of the Living."
Spirit Ink spilled out beneath Muten Natsu's feet and lifted him up. "Spirit Ink works." He observed it carefully. "And it's even more active than it was in the World of the Living."
After all, Bokukō itself was Hollow power. In an environment better suited to it, the Spirit Ink it produced seemed less viscous, and its fluidity had greatly improved.
Orihime Inoue looked up at the deep darkness above. "Should we fly up?"
"We can't go up," Muten Natsu said, shaking his head. "There's a white desert above us. Even if we could open a passage, the white sand would pour back in and make it impossible to get through."
Ririn poked her head out from Orihime Inoue's hood. "How did you leave last time?"
"Last time, we entered Garganta with the help of a Hollow and returned to Soul Society." Rukia Kuchiki shook her head. "This time, our target is Las Noches, where Aizen and the Arrancar are. We can't use the same method again."
"With a Hollow's help?" Ririn asked curiously. "Why would a Hollow help humans?"
"I'm not sure..." Rukia Kuchiki thought back to that unusual Hollow. "Probably because she was an antelope."
Orihime Inoue tilted her head. "An antelope?"
"A Hollow's appearance is closer to the essence of its Soul. An antelope-like form means a gentler nature, while carnivorous types tend to be more vicious." Rukia Kuchiki recalled, "Back then, when we had just arrived in Hueco Mundo, we found that antelope Hollow with the help of a Shinigami."
"A Shinigami?" Ririn asked in disbelief. "A Shinigami living in Hueco Mundo's Forest of Menos?"
"His original name was Ashido Kano. Now he's called Ashido," Rukia Kuchiki explained. "About two hundred years ago, he entered Hueco Mundo with his subordinates while pursuing Hollows. In the end, he was the only one left still fighting..." Rukia Kuchiki noticed Muten Natsu's expression suddenly turn serious. "Did you find him?"
"Mm." Muten Natsu turned his head toward the direction his Hell's Eye was staring. "It's not good."
Reflected in Muten Natsu's Hell's Eye was a red-haired Shinigami wearing a Shihakushō, draped in a cloak marked with five masks.
This was Ashido, the one who had once helped Muten Natsu and the others.
Decades had passed, and he was still fighting Hollows in the Forest of Menos.
But recently, his situation had grown worse and worse.
The reason was...
"You won't escape this time, Ashido!" An Intermediate Menos with a damaged mask and a long spiral tail looked down at Ashido from above. "Today, I'll settle the grudge I owe you for blocking my path to evolution!"
Ashido swept his gaze over the surroundings without expression. A dense mass of Gillian encircled him on every side, sealing off every escape route.
But those lower-tier Menos were nothing to fear. What he had to watch out for were the two Intermediate Menos besides the Long-Tailed Menos. One was round as a ball, with a long, narrow Hollow mask, while the other was massive, its arms especially thick.
These Adjuchas possessed human intelligence, strength beyond that of Gillian, and the ability to command Gillian.
Among the three Intermediate Menos Adjuchas, the Long-Tailed Menos stood out in particular. In one earlier skirmish, Ashido had slashed its mask.
Adjuchas were the most unstable group among the Menos. They tended toward one of two extremes: evolution or degeneration.
If they evolved, they became the higher-level Vasto Lorde. If they degenerated, they became mindless Gillian, losing any possibility of evolution forever.
The Long-Tailed Menos had once had the potential to become a higher-tier Menos, a Vasto Lorde. But because its vital mask had been damaged, its growth had stopped, leaving it permanently fixed in the state it had been in when the mask broke.
With hatred that deep, the Long-Tailed Menos had poured nearly all its energy afterward into one thing: hunting down Ashido.
"If I ended your path to evolution, then I'll die happy." After so long without speaking to anyone, Ashido's handsome face had almost lost the ability to show expression, much like a Hollow mask. Even his voice was rough and indistinct. "And with your path to evolution cut off, you won't be able to enjoy my death either."
"Death?" A muffled laugh came from behind the Long-Tailed Menos's mask. "He seems to have a rather pleasant idea of what's coming, don't you think, Aaroniero Arruruerie-sama?"
A figure in a white robe, wearing a long rectangular mask, appeared behind the Long-Tailed Menos. Setting aside the absurdly long mask, this Hollow was almost entirely humanoid.
Could it be a higher-tier Menos, a Vasto Lorde?
While Ashido was silently guessing Aaroniero's identity, the Long-Tailed Menos gave him the answer. "This is the pinnacle of the Arrancar, one of the Ten Espada, the Ninth Espada! You will be..."
"Shut up." "Idiot." The long mask spoke in two alternating voices. "Now is not..." "the time to talk."
"Yes... Aaroniero-sama." The Long-Tailed Menos waved a massive hand. "Attack!"
The dense swarm of Gillian opened their mouths at the same time, crimson light gathering inside them.
Ashido held his Zanpakutō in one hand and pulled a mask from his cloak with the other.
The next instant, crimson filled the sky. Red beams of light wove into a net, enclosing Ashido within it.
If they had been ordinary Gillian Cero, dodging them would have been easy for someone of Ashido's skill.
After all, Gillian had limited intelligence. They only knew how to fire while chasing their target.
But Gillian under the command of an Intermediate Menos were entirely different. Only a few Cero were aimed directly at Ashido. Most of them sealed off the directions he could dodge, leaving him nowhere to escape.
Ashido narrowed his eyes, struggling to find a spot within the light where the Cero were less dense. Then he flashed forward, deliberately meeting one of them head-on. He raised the mask to block it and used the impact to retreat to the other side, escaping from the center of the Cero encirclement to its edge.
Using the mask to block another Cero, Ashido withdrew unharmed amid the roar of the blasts tearing up the ground.
A fierce wind howled. The Spherical Menos curled its body into a ball and came spinning down from the sky.
Ashido sidestepped to avoid it, but from the corner of his eye, he caught the Burly Menos closing in.
Damn it!
He had only just broken free from the Cero when he was ambushed by two Menos at once. Ashido immediately realized that the area with fewer Cero had been left open on purpose by the Long-Tailed Menos. It had forced him to dodge in a specific direction, making it easier for the Spherical Menos and the Burly Menos to attack him.
By now, it was too late for regrets.
Ashido pulled another mask from his cloak and decided on a response in an instant.
The Spherical Menos was fast, but with a spinning attack, it was hard to control its speed and angle. If he blocked it from the side with the mask, he might take some damage, but it would not affect his ability to deal with the Burly Menos's attack.
As long as he was fast enough, he should be able to...
The earth and stone beneath his feet shattered. Ashido's legs went tight.
Under cover of the Cero, the Long-Tailed Menos had driven its tail underground. While Ashido's attention was on the Spherical Menos and the Burly Menos, that long tail had slipped beneath his feet. Now it burst from the ground and wrapped around his body, rendering the strategy he had just settled on completely useless.
The Spherical Menos rapidly grew larger in Ashido's vision, filling his entire field of sight.
In that case... Ashido gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands. Before he died, he could at least choose one of them to kill!
"Santen Kesshun, I reject!"
A golden-yellow barrier shield blocked the Spherical Menos. Immediately after, an avalanche of frigid air roared in like a blizzard.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"
A crystal-clear wall of ice completely sealed the Burly Menos inside.
"Entangling Silk Flash!"
Black threads wrapped around the Spherical Menos as it was sent flying, adjusting it into the proper position. Then a streak of pitch-black light pierced through both it and the Burly Menos trapped in the ice.
Before the corpses of the two Intermediate Menos could hit the ground, they dissolved into Reishi and sank into the Myōki in Muten Natsu's hand.
"Long time no see, Ashido."