Chapter Nine: The Devourer of the Void Circle

Chapter Nine: The Devourer of Hueco Mundo

“Damn it! We’ll devour you! You lone Reaper who just stormed into my territory! Hollow bullet!” Seeing the other completely ignoring him, Achiukas growled in fury and took to the air.

“Dark clouds of the sky, spirits of the atmosphere, heed my call. Gather around me, manifest your lament, shatter all in this world, and welcome the arrival of the God of Destruction…” Without paying heed to the hollow bullet closing in, Shuster chanted his incantation calmly. Just as the hollow bullet was about to strike, he waved his hand, swatting it away effortlessly.

Then, to Achiukas’s astonishment, Shuster uttered, “Thunderclap Descent Curse!”

With a sharp crack, the dark clouds rapidly condensed into a moderate-sized storm, within which lightning flickered ominously, heralding devastating power.

“How is this possible? What exactly are you?” Achiukas trembled under the oppressive aura emanating from the storm above. He finally realized that the man before him was not someone he could defeat.

Shuster tilted his head to glance at him but offered no reply. Instead, he snapped his fingers and turned away, allowing the lightning in the sky to strike the valley below, pressing the horizon down by several meters.

Surrounded by immense spiritual power, Shuster felt invigorated. Leaving half of his soul intact, he called out, “Lolita, come out for dinner! Finest soul energy, just for you.”

“Onii-chan, you’re bothering me again… Huh? What’s that? Looks delicious!” Lolita’s figure appeared behind Shuster. Rubbing her eyes, she spoke curiously.

“This is soul energy. Try it with your Geass—it tastes pretty good,” Shuster said, pointing to the soul energy spreading across half the valley.

After absorbing a little, Lolita felt revitalized. “The flavor is amazing. But this stuff doesn’t just boost spirit power; it also speeds up the Bankai release of your Zanpakuto.”

At this, Shuster’s eyes gleamed. “Really? Fantastic! I’ll hunt more Hollows and aim to achieve Bankai sooner. Lolita, how much more do you need to reach Bankai?”

Having absorbed the soul energy, Lolita was no longer drowsy. “About fifty times this much more.”

“What?! That’s how much I’ve just stumbled upon?” Shuster gaped.

“I only pretended to sleep before for your sake. I was helping you accelerate your Bankai. Otherwise, by your own understanding, it would take at least 200 years to achieve,” Lolita said with a reproachful look.

Faced with her accusing gaze, Shuster could only smile awkwardly. After all, he had often teased her that if she kept sleeping like that, she’d become an old lady.

“Forget it. With this much soul energy, I can help you get Bankai within fifty years. If I find more, maybe within twenty. I’m going to sleep now,” Lolita said, seeing Shuster’s embarrassed expression. She went back to sleep, and within fifteen minutes was fast asleep again.

Shuster shrugged helplessly and expanded his spiritual senses to seek out more powerful Hollows. The taste of soul energy was exquisite, and even someone like him, who had little interest in food, had become addicted.

Thus, a rumor began circulating within Hueco Mundo: it was said that from time to time, a black hole would randomly open in the Void—a spatial rift. A thundercloud would emerge from the black hole, using lightning magic to ensnare passing Hollows. Those caught were devoured, and once the storm dissipated, it would reappear somewhere unknown again—this was the legend of the Devourer of Hueco Mundo.

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The scene shifts to a dark, desolate place.

Unlike the Soul Society, Hueco Mundo was not a realm of streets and buildings resembling the living world. It was a barren wasteland, with nothing but desert-like ground and towering stone cliffs. Filled with constant strife, the only way to survive was to become stronger, to find any means to devour others. This was the law of Hueco Mundo—survival of the fittest, ruthless and unyielding.

In the distance, on a flat plain, Shuster walked slowly. Suddenly, he leapt into the air.

With a sudden burst, a giant maw erupted from the sandy ground, but it missed its target.

“Dinner’s served!” Shuster looked up at the three Gillians before him: a wolf, a sandworm, and a spider. Huh? There was another in the sky.

With a thunderous crash, a shadow fell from above, aiming at Shuster, but he dodged effortlessly.

“Three Gillians and an Achiukas subordinate? Interesting!” Shuster said, eyeing the large Hollows.

Despite being surrounded, he wore a faint smile.

“Reaper? Why are you here? Don’t you know this is my territory?” the lizard-like Achiukas growled.

“Is that so? So what if I came in?” Shuster shrugged.

“Kid, do you know who you’re talking to? Forget it, just kill you already. Heh, such a delicious scent! Alright, this Reaper belongs to us!” The spider Gillian lunged forward.

“Heh, you dare attack me at this level? Overestimating yourself!” Shuster vanished and reappeared right before the spider Gillian, who had just landed.

“Watch out!” “What?!” The spider Gillian looked up sharply, only to see a pale, delicate hand poised like a scythe—ready to reap its life.

“Become part of me, weak Hollow,” Shuster said, crushing the spider Gillian’s head in his hand. The dispersed spiritual particles were absorbed by Shuster.

“Impossible! Madman! You absorbed its entirety!” The lizard Achiukas stared in horror as Shuster devoured the Gillian completely. Typically, when a Hollow devours another Hollow or a Reaper, it can only absorb a tenth or less of their spiritual power, since absorbing too much risks taking in the other’s consciousness, causing internal conflict for control of the body. Thus, Hollows usually discard one-ninth of the spiritual energy containing consciousness. But this man absorbed it all. Feeling the overwhelming, brutal black spiritual pressure mixed with demonic power, Achiukas broke out in a cold sweat—this presence was beyond the rank of a subordinate, nearing the level of an Espada! Why was such a being here…

“Oh, so you’re a half-Arrancar, huh? Even more interesting to devour…” Shuster licked his lips and looked toward the source of a voice. Before him stood a half-Arrancar lizard-like Achiukas. Shuster casually grabbed the mask of a sandworm Gillian sneaking up behind.

“Ah!” The sandworm Gillian screamed in agony, snapping Achiukas back to reality.

“Monster! Such a monster… how could it win?” The wolf Gillian trembled on all fours, then tucked its tail and fled.

“Where do you think you’re going? You’re much slower than me!” Shuster’s voice echoed beside the rapidly retreating wolf Gillian, startling it to look up. But all it saw was a hand closing in.

“Ah!!”

“Damn you, bastard!!” The lizard Achiukas roared furiously, furious at Shuster absorbing his three subordinates right under his nose. His mouth crackled as he formed a black-red orb radiating destructive energy. “Hollow Flash!”

“Too weak. But not bad, I didn’t expect you to hide your strength. An Arrancar after all! I knew Achiukas was a half-Arrancar! Heh heh!” Shuster said happily, recognizing the lizard Achiukas’s true nature. He flipped a coin, holding his left hand alight with lightning, and as the coin fell, shot it out.

With a thunderous boom, the coin became a streak of light, shattering the Hollow Flash and piercing through the Arrancar.

“Now, tell me where Aizen is!” Shuster found the half-body, rapidly regenerating Arrancar behind a sand dune.

“…Will you let me go if I tell you?” the Arrancar gasped.

“Where is Aizen?” Shuster asked again, ignoring the plea.

The Arrancar remained silent.

“Fine. Since that’s the case, I’ll take this memory myself. I know you know where he is,” Shuster said with a devilish grin.

“How do you know I know the Master’s location?” the Arrancar cried in fear.

“Heh, you’re too naive. You Hollows probably don’t lie much. If you didn’t know, you’d say so. But you’re silent, so you don’t want to tell me. Heh heh, so naive,” Shuster said slowly.

With a scream, the Arrancar became part of Shuster.

“Hueco Mundo’s palace? Didn’t expect the base of the Espada to be so close! Heh heh, Aizen Sousuke, I must give you some trouble,” Shuster muttered to himself.

Hundreds of kilometers away at Hueco Mundo’s palace.

“What did you say? That Devourer of Hueco Mundo has come to our territory?” The Skeleton Emperor Barragan slammed his throne’s armrest and roared.