Meanwhile, in a distant, desolate land.
*Riiiip—!!*
The originally gray and silent sky was suddenly torn open by a massive black rift.
Like some giant beast opening its maw, it spat two disheveled figures out from the void...
"Waaaaahhhh—!!!"
Two black dots plummeted rapidly from the sky.
*Thump! Thump!*
Two muffled thuds rang out as dust and sand flew into the air.
"Cough, cough... cough, cough, cough..."
Asuka crawled out of the sand dune, spitting out a mouthful of white sand. He felt as if every bone in his body was about to fall apart.
"Damn it... that old jewel geezer... Is this what he meant by sending us back? This experience is even worse than getting rammed by the Kototsu!"
He patted down his Shihakusho.
After the baptism of the spacetime turbulence, it had completely turned into beggar's rags. Now covered in white sand, it made him look incredibly miserable.
"Hey, Captain Kaien, are you still alive?"
Asuka turned his head to look at the figure still lying face-down in the sand pit beside him.
"...Alive, yes, but it feels like my waist is about to snap."
Kaien Shiba groaned and rolled over, lying spread-eagle on the sand. He stared up at the pitch-black sky that lacked even a single glimmer of starlight.
His condition was even worse than Asuka's.
After all, this was his first time consciously experiencing the entire process of traversing a spacetime crevice. Right now, his stomach was churning, and he felt like he was going to throw up at any moment.
"Where... are we?"
Kaien rubbed his head and struggled to sit up.
Asuka also looked around.
This was a boundless white wasteland.
Beneath their feet was white sand as fine as bone dust, stretching all the way to the edge of their vision.
Scattered around were bizarrely shaped dead trees that looked like they were made of quartz or some kind of crystal, completely devoid of any signs of life.
The sky was eternally pitch-black, with only a single, scimitar-like waning moon hanging solitarily in the sky, emitting a cold, desolate glow.
There was no wind, no sound, and they couldn't even feel the flow of time.
Everything here exuded a sense of despairing deathly stillness.
"Is there a place like this in the Rukongai? How come I didn't know about it?" Asuka frowned. "Or did we drop into some remote, uninhabited area?"
"No... that's not right."
Kaien's expression suddenly turned solemn.
He grabbed a handful of white sand from the ground, letting it slip through his fingers to feel the Reishi fluctuations contained within.
"This Reishi density... and this uncomfortable sense of nothingness permeating the air..."
Kaien abruptly raised his head and looked at that inverted moon, a flash of shock crossing his eyes.
"This moon... is inverted."
"Inverted?" Asuka also looked up.
Indeed, the direction of the moon's crescent was different from both the World of the Living and the Soul Society.
"We aren't in the Soul Society."
Kaien's tone was heavy. "If I'm not mistaken, this is Hueco Mundo."
"Hueco Mundo?"
Asuka thought for a moment. "You mean, the nest of those monsters?"
It was common knowledge that souls lived in the Soul Society, and humans lived in the World of the Living.
And those terrifying Hollows lived in Hueco Mundo.
"Exactly." Kaien stood up with a bitter smile and dusted the sand off his hands. "That old man might have sent us out of the alternate world, but his targeting was clearly a bit off."
"He threw us right into the Menos's backyard."
"That's not funny at all..." Asuka's mouth twitched. He still remembered the oppressive presence of that Gillian-class Menos. "I've heard people say that Hueco Mundo is a forbidden zone for Soul Reapers. You can only get here through a special Senkaimon."
"Theoretically, yes. But since that old man could use True Magic to open a spacetime tunnel, it's not impossible for him to throw us here."
Kaien sighed and pressed a hand against the katana at his waist.
His original Nejibana had long been broken in battle; this was just an ordinary weapon he had borrowed from the Matou Family while in Fuyuki City.
If a Zanpakuto was damaged in its Shikai state, the wielder could still gradually repair the blade by infusing it with their own Spiritual Pressure and mental energy.
But the problem was, Nejibana had been shattered by that Goldie while in its Bankai state. That situation was much more severe. At the very least, Kaien couldn't repair it himself.
Once he returned to the Soul Society, he would have to find a swordsmith and ask what to do...
"Anyway, our current situation is bad. Very bad."
"How bad?"
"Probably something like... two lost little lambs dropping right into a pack of wolves."
Kaien pointed toward the distant horizon.
In the boundless wasteland, several massive black silhouettes appeared.
Their figures towered into the clouds, each one several stories high, wearing pitch-black cloaks and sporting their signature long-nosed white masks.
Gillians.
The lowest class among the Menos, but also the most numerous.
At this moment, these Gillians seemed to be engaging in some cruel ritual.
They shoved and tore at each other, red Ceros flying wildly between them. The sounds of explosions could be faintly heard even from this distance.
"Are those Menos devouring each other?" Asuka narrowed his eyes, his Spiritual Sight allowing him to see the situation over there clearly.
"Yeah, that's how Hollows evolve," Kaien explained. "Gillians have no self-awareness; they instinctively devour their own kind."
"If one of them possesses a particularly strong obsession or power, it can evolve into an Adjuchas after continuous devouring, gaining intelligence and even greater strength."
"But this isn't exactly a good nature documentary for us to watch."
Kaien tightened his grip on his ordinary weapon, his face turning bitter. "Look, the fluctuations of their Spiritual Pressure are already reaching us. If they find out there are two Soul Reapers here... do you think they'll eat first or fight first?"
"They'd probably treat us as an after-dinner dessert."
Asuka also gripped Kakudatsu.
Although he had no problem fighting a few Gillians in his current state, fighting head-on in this completely unfamiliar enemy territory was clearly irrational.
Who knew if there were higher-level guys wandering around nearby? It would be troublesome if they were treated as a midnight snack.
"We need to find a place to hide first," Asuka immediately judged.
"Agreed," Kaien nodded. "Let's recover our stamina first and figure out our bearings while we're at it."
"If we can find a high-level Menos that can use Garganta, we might even be able to force it to send us back to the Soul Society."
The two immediately lowered their postures and, using the quartz forest as cover, carefully moved in a direction away from the Menos battlefield.
Walking on the soft sand of Hueco Mundo was strenuous; every step Kaien took consumed extra stamina.
Moreover, the air here was filled with Hollow Reishi. For a Soul Reaper, it was like breathing toxic exhaust fumes, causing chest tightness and shortness of breath.
"I'm telling you, that old man is way too unreliable."
While keeping a vigilant watch on their surroundings, Asuka couldn't help but complain. "Saying 'have a pleasant journey'—what's pleasant about this? If I get the chance, I'm definitely going back to slash him."
"Forget it, just making it back alive is good enough," Kaien tried to look on the bright side. "At least this is a somewhat familiar environment. We don't have to worry about being dragged into forced fights, and we don't have to face that golden, sparkling psycho."
"Compared to all that, I'm more worried about Shinobu." Asuka observed the environment of Hueco Mundo with some anxiety. "I didn't get to say a proper goodbye to her back then. She must be really worried right now."
"Don't worry, Miss Kocho is very strong," Kaien comforted him. "We will definitely make it back."
"I still have to go see how my good-for-nothing younger brother is doing, too."