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Hueco Mundo.
This is a world entirely composed of white sand, like bone ash, without the conventional division of areas like streets or cities. However, at some point, Hueco Mundo became centered around a single structure, divided into an Outer Circle and an Inner Circle.
The Inner Circle, as the name suggests, is where the structure known as Las Noches is located.
As long as one is in the Inner Circle, no matter which direction one looks, one can clearly see that… unique and incredibly magnificent Las Noches. It is said that the Las Noches of the past was merely a Low Level structure with no roof, only walls.
But at some unknown point, that Low Level structure transformed into a mountain-like existence. The further one stood, the more one could feel the grandeur of the building, as if it were right before one's eyes.
Even from the Outer Circle, near the Inner Circle, Las Noches could be faintly seen.
However, if someone wanted to travel from the Outer Circle to Las Noches, they would find that the clearly visible building was surprisingly far away, and upon approaching, they would truly experience the building's magnificence.
Most of the Hollows capable of entering Las Noches are Arrancar, incredibly powerful Arrancar.
And above these Arrancar, there are ten outstanding individuals with superior killing abilities, respectfully known as…
—Espada!
…
"…Harribel-sama, according to the reports, it has been confirmed that Shinigami have invaded Hueco Mundo. The invaders are one male and one female, both with extremely weak power. They are currently in the area between the Inner Circle and the Outer Circle."
In a spacious room within Las Noches, a tall, masked female Arrancar knelt before a large bed, speaking respectfully, "It is said that Aaroniero has already gone to investigate."
"Aaroniero?"
From the large bed surrounded by thin gauze, a female voice with a hint of disdain emerged. Along with the voice, a figure sat up from the bed.
"That guy really likes Shinigami." As she spoke, a pair of pale and delicate feet emerged from the gauze.
Seeing this, the female Arrancar kneeling before the bed immediately retrieved a pair of stockings from the side, carefully put them on her, and then helped her put on her shoes.
Tap—
With the crisp sound of heels, the figure behind the gauze got out of bed. This was a petite girl, but with an excellent figure and appearance.
The girl had wavy purple braided hair, a teardrop-shaped mark on her face, and deep purple lips. She looked about 16 or 17 years old, with a small piece of Arrancar mask on her left forehead that resembled a hair ornament.
If one only looked at her appearance, from head to toe she was no different from a Human. No one would have imagined that this girl, who looked like a Human high school student, would actually be…
An Espada!
No. 5—Tier Harribel!
Tier Harribel ignored the female Arrancar on the ground and gazed out the window.
Every time she woke from sleep, she would stand here and gaze into the distance. It wasn't because the scenery was beautiful; after all, there was no beautiful scenery in Hueco Mundo. The reason she liked standing here was simply to remind herself why she was able to stand here!
The Espada seemed powerful, but in reality, since their inception, the members of the Espada had undergone several eliminations.
Some of those eliminated had already died, while others became three-digit Arrancar.
For example…
Dordonii, who was once one of the first batch of Espada alongside her, originally ranked No. 3, had now been stripped of his Espada title and become a three-digit Arrancar.
Not only him, but very few of the first batch of Espada remained. The Arrancar who replaced them were all extremely powerful.
Just thinking about it…
One day, she too would be like Dordonii, no longer qualified to stand here and gaze at the monotonous scenery, and she would feel a genuine fear.
Moreover, she could faintly sense that that day was not far off, because the new Espada had become increasingly strong, even to a degree she could not comprehend.
Leaving others aside, just Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, who took over Dordonii's No. 3 position, was so powerful that she felt a sense of apprehension about approaching her.
However, her personality was extremely weak. Despite possessing incredibly formidable power, she allowed the weaker No. 8 Nnoitra Gilga to repeatedly offend her without meting out punishment, ultimately leading to her disappearance.
Although she hadn't deliberately investigated, her disappearance was definitely related to Nnoitra.
For her, Tier Harribel felt no pity, only disdain for her weak character, even though she knew very well that she was no match for Nel.
Because in battle, one must win. There are never any losers who can be forgiven.
However…
"Haha~"
Tier Harribel chuckled self-deprecatingly. What right did she have to despise her?
Now, among the first batch of Espada, only she, No. 5, Gantenbainne, No. 7, and Aaroniero, whom the female Arrancar mentioned earlier, remained.
Tier Harribel believed that her fear was also the fear of the other two.
Otherwise, Aaroniero would not have rushed to investigate as soon as he heard that Shinigami had arrived in Hueco Mundo. He wanted to become stronger, strong enough to retain the title of Espada.
However…
She and Gantenbainne could both be eliminated, but he would absolutely not be eliminated. The reason was simple: because that person wanted to keep him.
Due to the special nature of No. 10, No. 9 was actually the weakest existence among the Espada.
But since the birth of the Espada, no one had challenged Aaroniero. No matter how the Espada changed, he had always held the No. 9 position with his weak power.
Every time she thought of this, Tier Harribel couldn't help but feel…
Jealousy!
Simply because of his unique ability, he was favored by that person.
And no matter how hard she tried to become stronger, she could only tremble like an old relic about to be eliminated in front of those incomprehensible new Espada.
"…Harribel-sama…Harribel-sama…"
The call from her subordinate brought Tier Harribel back to her senses. She turned to her subordinate and said, "Since Aaroniero has already gone to check, there's no need for me to go. If there's nothing else, you may leave."
The female subordinate hesitated for a moment before saying, "…Besides those two weak Shinigami, there's also an unconfirmed piece of information: it's said that an extremely powerful Shinigami also arrived in Hueco Mundo; but he disappeared without a trace the moment he appeared, and his existence cannot be detected by any method, so some reported it as a false alarm from the detection equipment."
A powerful Shinigami?
Tier Harribel seemed to recall something and turned to her subordinate, asking, "Where was his initial appearance?"
"In the same area as the two Shinigami who arrived earlier."
…
At the same time, between the Inner Circle and the Outer Circle.
Two figures in tattered clothes, their faces filled with fear, fled in a panic across the white sand. Behind them, five roaring Hollows gave chase.
Without exception, these Hollows were all newly born Low Level Hollows, completely devoid of reason, acting solely on their instinct to devour those with concentrated Reiatsu.
"Huff huff huff—"
Gasping breaths continuously escaped Fujiwara Hisashi's mouth. Dizziness, blurred vision, and the exhaustion of his physical strength and Reiatsu had almost reached their limit.
But he dared not stop, for once he stopped, not only would he be devoured by the Hollows behind him, but his sister, Fujiwara Ririka, would also suffer the same fate.
The Reiatsu of the two was not weak; both possessed Reiatsu levels between a Gotei 13 Squad Member and a Low Level Seated Officer, otherwise they wouldn't have survived until now.
Normally, with the strength of their Reiatsu, even if they couldn't kill all five Hollows at once, they would be fully capable of holding them off and defeating them one by one. However, neither of them had learned combat techniques, so they could only fight by relying on their Reiatsu, like those villains in Rukongai.
This made Fujiwara Hisashi deeply regret giving up the idea of becoming a Shinigami because he feared fighting Hollows.
Otherwise, at least he would now have the strength to protect his sister, instead of being in this terrifying place, fleeing in a panic with her.
What kind of place is this!?
Why, no matter how much he called out, did no Shinigami come to rescue them?
Even now, he didn't know where he was.
Fujiwara Hisashi and his sister's last memory was the back of a woman with short blue hair, wearing a black tight-fitting jacket, and then they lost consciousness.
When he woke up again, he and his sister were in this strange and desolate world.
"Huff Brother… Brother… you go first…"
His sister's exhausted voice from behind made Fujiwara Hisashi realize that his sister had reached her limit.
"Don't give up. The Shinigami dispatched to the Human World will definitely come to save us!"
Fujiwara Hisashi gripped his sister's hand tightly, not letting her pull away, and comforted her in as steady a tone as possible, "We are Nobles… someone will definitely come to save us."
Provided that…
This was not Hueco Mundo, as he suspected.
In fact, after arriving here, Fujiwara Hisashi had vaguely realized what kind of world this was, because neither the Human World nor Soul Society contained such concentrated Reiatsu in the atmosphere. There was only one world with such a concentration of Reiatsu… that was Hueco Mundo!
But he was unwilling to believe it, because if he did, it would mean…
No matter where he fled with his sister, no matter how long they continued to flee, no one would come to save them, even if they were Nobles. The Gotei 13 would not rashly come to Hueco Mundo for the sake of just the two of them!
Fujiwara Ririka turned to look at the five Hollows behind them. What her brother could think of, she naturally could too.
As their physical strength continuously drained, their speed became slower and slower. Her Reiatsu and physical constitution were not as good as her brother's, and she had actually reached her limit long ago. The only reason she could still run was because her brother was pulling her. If they continued to run like this, she would only drag her brother down, causing him to also exhaust his physical strength and Reiatsu.
She really wanted her brother to escape on his own, and not worry about her.
But knowing her brother's character so well, she understood that no matter how much she tried to persuade him, he would not let go.
If this was Hueco Mundo, then continuing to run would be pointless, because whether they fled, or she stayed behind to attract the Hollows' attention, giving her brother a chance to escape, they would both ultimately die; rather than dying alone, it was better to be devoured by the Hollows with her brother.
But like Fujiwara Hisashi, Fujiwara Ririka also held a glimmer of hope… hoping that this was not Hueco Mundo. If her brother abandoned her and escaped, he would surely await rescue.
Thinking of this, Fujiwara Ririka released her hand that her brother was holding, and then with her remaining strength, she pulled away.
Due to being covered in sweat, her hand easily slipped free.
Thump—
Losing her support, Fujiwara Ririka stumbled and fell face down in the white sand.
The vibrations of the ground intensified, and the shadows of the five Hollows under the moonlight already enveloped her.
"Ririka!!"
Fujiwara Hisashi's face changed drastically at the sight. He instinctively wanted to turn back, but after turning, he realized that Fujiwara Ririka had already been caught by the five Hollows. One Hollow even pushed the others away, grabbing Fujiwara Ririka from the ground and bringing her towards its open mouth.
This scene made Fujiwara Hisashi's eyes widen in fury, and his sister's shouts echoed in his ears.
"Run~ run!!"
Time seemed to slow down. Fujiwara Hisashi watched his sister being slowly brought into the Hollow's mouth. He suddenly seemed to lose all momentum, kneeling on the white sand.
Pfft—
Just then, an anomaly occurred.
Under the moonlight's reflection, a dazzling flash of a Zanpakuto sliced through the air. The arm that held Fujiwara Ririka slammed onto the ground with a bang, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The next second!
The five Hollows disintegrated like building blocks, collapsing. Before blood could even flow, endless chunks of flesh scattered into Reiatsu.
The sudden change left both Fujiwara siblings stunned in place.
But then Fujiwara Hisashi stumbled over to his sister's side and carefully examined her.
"I'm fine, Brother."
Fujiwara Ririka looked at her brother's concerned gaze, suppressed the fear in her heart, and said with a smile, "Don't cry anymore."
Hearing this, Fujiwara Hisashi quickly wiped away his tears and said in a flustered tone, "I… I… where did I?" With that, he quickly turned his head and looked at the tall figure in the center of the area, his eyes filled with gratitude.
This was a young man dressed in a pure white robe, holding a Zanpakuto.
"Are you two alright?"
The young man smiled, "Don't be nervous. Like you, I'm a Shinigami who accidentally fell into Hueco Mundo. My name is…"
"Shiba Kaien."
Shiba?
Hearing this surname, the Fujiwara siblings, who had just recovered some strength, couldn't help but exclaim, "The Shiba of the Five Great Noble Families?"
"Oh? You know the Shiba?"
Hearing this, the young man who called himself Shiba Kaien's tone was instantly filled with joy: "Then do you know Kukaku and Ganju? How have they been doing these years since I've been trapped in Hueco Mundo? Has Ganju grown up healthy? Has he become a Shinigami now?"
The barrage of questions caught the Fujiwara siblings off guard.
But the genuine joy in his voice made the last bit of doubt in the Fujiwara siblings' hearts disappear.
Fujiwara Hisashi shook his head and said with a face full of apology, "I'm sorry, because the Shiba are in Rukongai, we don't know much about their current situation."
"Is that so."
The young man's face showed regret: "Then can you tell me about the current situation in Soul Society?"
"That's no problem."
"Oh, it's too unsafe to stay here. You two come with me first. I have a hiding place where no Hollows will come."
Fujiwara Hisashi brightened at the words and quickly helped his sister up.
"I suggest you two don't go with him."
But before the two could walk towards Shiba Kaien, a voice suddenly came from behind them.
The sudden voice not only startled the two, but even Shiba Kaien's expression changed.
The three of them turned their heads simultaneously and only then realized…
At some point, a young man dressed in black work clothes and black boots had appeared in the field.
The young man was not looking at the Fujiwara siblings, but rather at Shiba Kaien with a sinister gaze, exuding an astonishing killing intent.
The moment they saw the young man, the Fujiwara siblings felt as if the entire world turned crimson in that instant, and they could vaguely see the piles of corpses behind the young man!
This made the Fujiwara siblings' faces change drastically, and they instinctively hid behind Shiba Kaien.
Ishikawa frowned at the sight.
"Oh?"
Shiba Kaien's face showed some surprise: "There really is another one?"
"Are you their companion too?"
Looking at the sinister-faced Ishikawa, Shiba Kaien laughed, "Don't be so wary. Like you, I'm a Shinigami. My name is Shiba…"
"Do you want to die!?"
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