4 CHAPTER 4: Annihilation

For those wondering about MC's appearance, he looks like Merlin from Fate with some muscles. Oh, and the new cover is segcy.

***

Apacci could feel the confidence seeping from his voice like a warm, invigorating elixir, expelling the fear and doubts that had been ricocheting in her mind. She found herself unable to question the source of his conviction, as though she had faith in him.

'A Hollow, having faith.'

She scoffed, a touch of incredulity coloring her thoughts..

"Trust me."

Then, like a gentle breeze, his pleasant whisper caressed her ears, washing away her skepticism. She was akin to a desperate moth, drawn irresistibly towards a blazing inferno. Apacci groaned at the ludicrous predicament she found herself in. Her choices had been whittled down to two — perishing inside a Hollow's stomach or placing trust in the man who exuded unwavering confidence in his abilities.

"Don't let me die!"

Channeling her Reiryoku into her legs, a thunderous boom reverberated behind her. Though her Sonído skills were unremarkable, the sudden acceleration caught Kazuya off-guard. The wind slapped against his face, a sensation that would have sent his old body careening through the air. In his current state, however, the wind felt invigorating, reminiscent of riding his Suzuki.

'I love this world.'

Seizing the opportunity, he closed his eyes and immersed himself in the energy coursing within him. Controlling Reiryoku was an innate instinct for every Hollow, and he deftly guided the flow of energy with his thoughts.

'Easier than I thought.'

Suddenly, Apacci's knees buckled as she was subjected to his bone-chilling Reiatsu. Her stumble sent them crashing down, and Kazuya's clothes became even more tattered after tumbling across the ghostly white sand.

Picking himself up and dusting off his clothes, he appeared unscathed after the devastating crash. His Hollow holes posed no hindrance to his movements, serving solely as ornamental symbols. The sand in Hueco Mundo was peculiar, its grains bonded more tightly than those on a beach, as if an invisible energy held them together.

'Fuuh. I'm not a cripple.'

Meanwhile, awestruck and petrified, Apacci gaped at the brilliant blue Reiatsu emanating from Kazuya, her body rendered immobile. The concentration of his Reiatsu surpassed that of an Adjuchas-Class, hinting at a power beyond.

As if…

"Haha, I didn't think there would be another one with you," laughed the colossal Adjuchas, oblivious to Kazuya's Reiatsu as if his senses had been severely dulled. In truth, the snake-like Hollow was teetering on the brink of regression. "I'll eat you, first, then savor the female there."

Kazuya pivoted toward the ravenous Adjuchas and focused his Reiryoku into his hand. A dense sphere of azure energy materialized, its very existence warping the air around it.

"What can—" Suddenly, an icy shiver raced down the Adjuchas's spine, electrifying his nerves. His heart hammered wildly as he swiveled around, his eyes wide with panic and dread, desperately seeking an escape from the spine-chilling presence lurking behind him.

"Cero…"

At Kazuya's command, the sphere of energy launched forward, expanding into a thick beam of light. The Cero Ray obliterated the Hollow's mask and head before tearing a gaping hole through the mountain in the distance.

Kazuya's first kill left him reeling, but for entirely different reasons.

'Holy cow, I'm strong.'

[Racial ability: Cero learned.]

[Current Master Level: Basic.]

The sheer destruction caused by his rudimentary Cero mastery left him in awe. He could barely fathom the might of a fully mastered Cero. Shaking his head, he approached Apacci, who remained in a state of shock – understandably so. The Adjuchas that had nearly ended her life — he eradicated him with a single Cero attack.

As she gazed into his eyes, it seemed as though she was attempting to discern his 'true' intentions. "H-Huh."

He was a Vasto Lorde Hollow, a being that most, if not all, Hollows in Hueco Mundo feared. While not as numerous as Gillians and ordinary Hollows, Adjuchas could be found throughout Hueco Mundo, particularly in Las Noches.

'Is he going to… eat me?'

She swallowed hard and unsteadily got to her feet. Being devoured by him seemed more tolerable than meeting her end at the hands of the giant Adjuchas, but she refused to go down without a fight!

"I-I won't die easily."

Oblivious to her self-inflicted dilemma, he jumped onto her and stroked her back. "I told you to trust me... and I think I'm a Vasto Lorde."

"No shit..." she whispered, suddenly aware of the weight on her back. "Huh?! What's the meaning of this?! Aren't you going to—" she stopped herself, not wanting to give him any ideas.

'What if… he doesn't know that Hollows become stronger by eating?'

She found it highly possible, as he wasn't aware of his own power as a Vasto Lorde until now. Perhaps he lost his memories during a fight and ended up getting buried where she found him. She could speculate her entire life about his past and still wouldn't find the exact reason for his moments of ignorance.

"Stop murmuring things. We gotta move."

Apacci's tail slapped his back in protest, the only act of defiance she could muster in her current position. "You can walk and fly. Get off my back!"

He leaned down and caressed her ears. "I'll protect you from Hollows. You'll let me ride you. A fair deal, right?"

Hueco Mundo seemed dreadfully dull without much variation in the environment. He needed her in his life, or he might just succumb to boredom.

His soothing voice momentarily left her speechless. "Fair deal my foot. I'm not accepting it because I'm g-grateful to you for saving me."

Her flustered voice contradicted her feigned annoyance. Unable to handle the embarrassment, she strutted along obediently and quickened her pace.

Kazuya rolled his eyes. Her behavior strongly resembled that of a tsundere, with the way she masked her gratitude beneath a facade of irritation. To be honest, he found the trait irritating. Seeing people being dishonest with their feelings, hiding their true emotions behind a veil of stubbornness, could be incredibly frustrating at times.

"Do you want to eat him?" He asked. "You can if you feel like it."

Vasto Lorde, like him, didn't need to eat to evolve, and he didn't use enough Reiryoku to feel hungry. Not that he was interested in eating a giant blob of unsavory raw flesh. The thought alone repulsed him.

'My only evolution from here is Arrancar.'

To achieve this, he would have to find a way to remove his mask. He recalled that Apacci and her friends hadn't been Vasto Lorde when they met Aizen; they had become Arrancar with the help of Hōgyoku, which proved that the transformation was possible for any Hollow.

'How am I supposed to do it? Just rip off my mask…'

The mere thought of tearing away his mask filled him with an instinctual, primal fear, akin to the terror a mortal being might feel when faced with the cold embrace of death.

'Interesting.'

No wonder Aizen had needed the Hōgyoku to blur the line between Hollow and Shinigami in order to create Arrancar. Overcoming this innate fear would demand an extraordinary amount of willpower and conviction—qualities that not every Hollow possessed. Many would falter, either dying in the process or succumbing to their primitive instincts.

'I'll need more information before trying it.'

As Kazuya was lost in thought, Apacci snuck a furtive glance at the fallen Hollow. She swallowed hard, her hunger gnawing at her insides after using up her Reiryoku. As an Adjuchas, she needed to consume others to maintain her individuality and rank, or else she would regress into her Gillian form, never to rise above Menos Grande again.

For many, such a fate was considered worse than death.

"I won't say thank you because you provided me food," she declared with a huff.

Kazuya gently patted her back and offered a warm smile. "It's difficult for you to be honest with your words, isn't it?"

"Argh! I'm completely honest!"

In the midst of his amusing banter, Kazuya felt a sudden, sharp prickling sensation on his back. He slowly turned to look over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing behind his mask as he scanned the horizon.

Atop a distant hill, a white figure stood, appearing hazy even to his enhanced vision. However, where his eyes failed him, his knowledge of the Bleach universe came to his aid, helping him identify the mysterious Hollow.

'Tier Harribel.'