The following day, Sombravida and Barragan entered the depths of the Illusory Forest.
Harribel followed.
Nel remained behind at the outer camp with Bawabawa, as Sombravida had ordered.
The deeper they traveled, the more the environment changed.
The outer forest had been green.
Midway, it became dim and ashen.
Now—
Everything was gray-white.
Trees were skeletal.
Leaves had long since withered.
Even the reishi density felt distorted.
A silence unlike ordinary Hueco Mundo silence lingered here.
Not emptiness.
Suppression.
Barragan slowed slightly.
"Kid. This place is interfering with my authority."
Sombravida turned his head.
"My Law?"
"Yes. Time disperses more slowly here. My Respira feels… resisted."
Sombravida immediately circulated his own spatial authority.
No obstruction.
No distortion.
"My Law isn't affected."
Barragan's skull tilted slightly.
"Then it may be polarity. Time and whatever governs this region are conflicting."
Sombravida considered.
"Life?"
"Unlikely," Barragan replied. "Life and Time oppose naturally. This feels… structural."
Sombravida nodded slowly.
If this region housed remnants of ancient reiryoku stabilization — something tied to stillness, perhaps isolation — that might resist temporal decay.
"Ruins?" Sombravida asked quietly.
Barragan clicked his jaw.
"Possibly."
He continued.
"After the ancient conflicts, remnants of fallen primordial Hollows remained scattered across Hueco Mundo. Bone structures. Sealed reiryoku nodes. Occasionally — law fragments."
Sombravida listened carefully.
"Not every ruin contains power," Barragan clarified. "Most are empty shells. Law-bearing remnants are extremely rare."
"How rare?"
"Fewer than fifty confirmed sites across all of Hueco Mundo. Of those, only a handful carried intact fragments."
Sombravida filed that away.
If Ulquiorra resided here voluntarily, then either—
He was protecting something.
Or he was being shaped by something.
They continued forward.
The air thickened.
Reiryoku pressure increased.
Then—
They entered a clearing.
Instantly—
An overwhelming spiritual pressure descended.
Cold.
Compressed.
Piercing.
Sombravida raised his own reiryoku in response.
Not vast.
But dense.
Barragan's cloak flared.
"This pressure," Sombravida muttered, "mid-level Vasto Lorde. Perhaps slightly higher in compression."
Barragan nodded once.
"It presses sharply. Not wide like mine."
Then—
A dark green Cero erupted from the opposite side of the clearing.
It cut cleanly through the air.
Not wild.
Not unstable.
Precise.
Barragan responded with a standard Cero — not Gran Rey.
The two beams collided midair.
The explosion carved a massive crater into the clearing.
Dust rose.
When it settled—
A figure stood opposite them.
Tall.
Lean.
Pale.
Humanoid in structure.
Mask fragment covering the upper half of his face — helmet-like, with two upward-curving horns.
Green eyes.
Black sclera.
Tear-like streaks beneath them.
Sombravida's eyes narrowed.
This was not full Hollow form.
But not fully Arrancar either.
The mask was broken.
Not cleanly removed.
Irregular fracture.
His hole was visible.
Yes.
Ulquiorra Cifer.
Already partially Arrancar.
Barragan's internal flame flickered.
"Natural mask fracture…"
Sombravida analyzed quickly.
Ulquiorra had not undergone Hōgyoku transformation.
This was spontaneous evolution.
Rare.
Extremely rare.
Natural Arrancarization occurred when a Hollow's reiryoku density surpassed mask-binding stability.
But such cases were almost nonexistent.
Barragan spoke evenly.
"Mutation through compression. Interesting."
Sombravida understood immediately.
Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure felt stronger than expected not because he surpassed Barragan—
But because mask removal increased efficiency.
Less leakage.
More control.
That explained Tiberchiev's exaggeration.
Ulquiorra's gaze did not waver.
He did not rush.
He did not roar.
He simply observed.
"State your purpose."
His voice was flat.
No hostility.
No warmth.
Sombravida stepped forward slightly.
"My name is Sombravida."
Silence.
Barragan remained behind him.
"We are gathering strength in Hueco Mundo. We seek cooperation."
"No interest."
Immediate.
Emotionless.
"Leave."
Sombravida adjusted.
"You remain here alone. Why?"
"Because it is quiet."
No hesitation.
Sombravida shifted approach.
"You shattered your mask voluntarily."
Ulquiorra's gaze sharpened slightly.
"Mask fracture was a consequence."
Not a boast.
A correction.
Sombravida nodded slowly.
"You evolved beyond standard Vasto parameters."
"No."
Another correction.
"I shed excess."
Barragan chuckled faintly.
"He has refined himself."
Sombravida tried another angle.
"You guard something here."
Ulquiorra did not answer.
But his spiritual pressure rose slightly.
That was confirmation enough.
Barragan stepped forward now.
"I am Baraggan Louisenbairn."
The clearing seemed to grow colder.
"King of Hueco Mundo."
Ulquiorra's eyes shifted to him.
"You are not."
Statement.
Not insult.
Barragan's flame flared faintly.
"Explain."
"A king does not need to say he is king."
Sombravida's internal alarm triggered.
This was not arrogance.
This was perception.
Ulquiorra sensed Barragan's diminished state.
Time-law fragment incomplete.
Barragan suppressed irritation.
"You are strong," Barragan said evenly. "But not beyond me."
Ulquiorra replied calmly:
"Perhaps."
Then—
He raised his spiritual pressure fully.
The forest trembled.
The gray trees splintered.
The ground cracked under concentrated reiryoku.
"Leave."
His tone did not change.
"Or die."
The air froze.
And battle tension reached its peak.
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