Occupation

"The... king of the Gillian?"

Elorot stared in disbelief at the newly arrived High-Level Hollow before him, unable to help doubting his boastful claim.

If the Hollow before him had been an Adjuchas, Elorot would not have doubted him for a moment and would have turned tail and run.

Against an Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, he had no power to resist at all.

With a single Soul Suck from his opponent, if his own Spiritual Pressure were not strong enough, he might even be sucked in and devoured alive.

But now, unless his Spiritual Pressure sensing was wrong, the Spiritual Pressure of this newly arrived Hollow before Elorot was definitely still hovering at the level of a High-Level Hollow.

"Hmph, you delusional fool, how dare you boast so shamelessly!" Seemingly convinced that the Hollow before him had only come to take advantage of his weakness, Elorot was instantly filled with rage.

"Though I don't know where you came from, don't think an outsider like you can gain the slightest advantage over me!"

"Heh, ignorance is bliss." Wien sneered and immediately concluded that the lord of this forest was the arrogant, overbearing beast-type Hollow before him.

"If you don't believe me, why not put it to the test?" Wien beckoned him forward, striking a provocative pose.

"Arrogant!" Elorot's Spiritual Pressure surged, sending the surrounding sand and stones flying.

"Attack together!"

At Elorot's command, his three remaining Hollow subordinates immediately unleashed Spiritual Power attacks and lunged at Wien. Yet faced with the three surging waves of Spiritual Pressure, Wien showed no sign of fear. He merely stood there quietly, unmoved.

Boom!

A tremendous crash pierced everyone's ears. In front of Wien, Jekain slapped all three Hollows lunging at him away with overwhelming force.

"You ants, don't even think of attacking my king!"

With that, Jekain took a great stride and attacked the three Hollows. Although his greatest attack, Cero, had nearly exhausted his Spiritual Power, he was a Gillian. With the strength of his body alone, he would have no trouble facing three High-Level Hollows at once.

"Now it's just the two of us. Let's have some fun."

Seeing that the minor nuisance before him had been cleared away, Wien shook the bladed claws on his right hand and flashed toward Elorot with a Shadowless Strike. Five blade tips gleamed coldly as they stabbed toward Elorot's mask.

Clang!!

A tremendous crash rang out as Wien's right claw met Elorot's scythe blade. Their clashing Spiritual Pressure sent them both staggering back several steps, opening some distance between them.

That exchange had stirred Wien's fighting spirit, while Elorot's expression grew somewhat grave. Though the mask on his face concealed his troubled look, the slight fluctuation in his Spiritual Pressure did not escape Wien's notice.

How could there be such a powerful High-Level Hollow?

Elorot was astounded. He knew that his Spiritual Pressure had reached its peak and that he was on the verge of advancing. In theory, he should have been nearly invincible among High-Level Hollows.

But the Spiritual Pressure of the outsider Hollow now before him sent waves of unease through him.

In that seemingly simple clash just now, Elorot had used at least eighty percent of his strength, while Wien had looked completely at ease.

Unless he was putting on an act, this outsider Hollow really did have some ability. The Spiritual Pressure he gave off, along with the words and actions of that Menos Grande just now, made Elorot lean toward the latter possibility.

What he did not know, however, was that Wien's Spiritual Pressure had long since become a match for a Gillian's. After all, he had actually devoured a Gillian.

"Damn outsider! One day I'll make you pay for your arrogance!" After that parting threat, Elorot broke away and retreated.

"Oh? The game's only just begun, and you already want to run? I won't let you off that easily!"

With a hint of amusement, Wien used Shadowless Strike repeatedly, quickly overtaking Elorot and stopping in front of him.

At this stage, without Sonído to accelerate them, Hollows could only rely on their bodies and Spiritual Power Skills to move faster. At this stage, Wien's Shadowless Strike was practically a cheat skill when it came to speed.

Seeing Wien blocking his path, Elorot immediately turned and ran in another direction. Wien smiled disdainfully and flashed forward again, but made no rush to attack Elorot, like a cat playing with a mouse between its paws.

Finally, after several such flashes, Elorot charged toward the outskirts of the forest. Wien gave a light chuckle and followed on foot, without using Shadowless Strike again.

Has he run low on Spiritual Pressure? Elorot rejoiced when he saw Wien following him. "Hmph, then let me show you what it means to have a predator waiting behind you!"

Wien chased Elorot out of the forest's core region, but showed no intention of immediately using Shadowless Strike to catch and kill him, deliberately keeping his distance instead.

Elorot, meanwhile, charged straight in a particular direction through the forest, as though searching for something.

After a long chase, Elorot finally leaped with all his might onto a height and steadied himself. He turned to look at his pursuer.

"Oh? Have you finally stopped?" Seeing Elorot come to a halt, Wien stopped as well and looked up at Elorot's vicious gaze. "I thought you'd keep this chase going until you ran out of the forest."

"Did you think I was running around like a headless fly?"

With that, Elorot roared at the sky. A few breaths later, answering cries rang out from every direction around the hill. Figures then appeared one after another in Wien's sight—some tall, some short, some unusual, some bizarre—and surrounded him.

"Oh? You even have helpers?" Wien looked around at the Hollows that had just surrounded him and could not help exclaiming.

"You even kept a backup plan when dealing with a single Gillian. Looks like you were determined to succeed in this hunt."

"Hmph, if you hadn't suddenly appeared, that Gillian would already have been mine! Why else would I have been forced to use my last resort now?"

With that, Elorot grabbed an Elite-Level Hollow, tore off his mask without hesitation, and stuffed it into his mouth. He threw the body to the other Hollows, who tore it apart and devoured it. At the same time, his own Spiritual Power recovered at an astonishing rate.

"My abilities are Rapid Recovery and Consciousness Control. After I advanced to a High-Level Hollow, I discovered that I could easily control Hollow beasts with little intelligence and weak Spiritual Pressure.

"To advance myself, I stationed Elite-Level Hollow beasts all around the edges of the forest. These Hollows were rations I raised. They had no consciousness, but every one of them obeyed me.

"Originally, I planned to come to the forest's edge and feed again only if my Spiritual Pressure was still insufficient after devouring that Gillian. But it seems I'll have to use them against you, outsider!"

Elorot grinned viciously. "So what if your Spiritual Pressure is strong? So what if you're the king of a Gillian? Today, this is where you'll die!"

"Ridiculous. You think you can deal with me using these mindless pieces of trash?" Wien looked disdainfully at the dozens of Hollow beasts around him, showing no sign of panic.

"Heh, they might not be quite enough to deal with you, but wearing down your Spiritual Pressure to a certain point shouldn't be a problem. Don't forget, I'm one of the Hollows standing here too!"

As he spoke, Elorot had recovered his Spiritual Pressure to its peak. It was so strong that when he unleashed it, the Hollow beasts around him could not help retreating a little.

"Is that so?" Wien felt the Spiritual Pressure. "Then let's give it a try."

"All talk! Get him!" Wien's composure nearly made Elorot burst with rage. With a furious roar, he ordered the attack on Wien. The Hollow beasts lingering around Wien roared as well and charged at him.

Surrounded, Wien twitched his right claw, and streaks of lightning instantly began to take shape. Though the Hollow beasts charging him were all Elite-Level, there were so many that Wien had to show some real ability.

But before Lightning Strike had fully formed, a fluctuation of Spiritual Pressure entered Wien's sensing range, and the flickering lightning of Spiritual Power gradually dissipated.

"Finally, you're here." As Wien spoke, several waves of Spiritual Pressure erupted, startling the elite Hollow beasts into fearful whimpers. The next moment, dust filled the air as scarlet blood and cleanly severed limbs flew everywhere. The low whimpers turned into agonized, desperate howls.

Soon, the dust cleared. Seven different High-Level Hollow beasts stood before Wien, amid the corpses of Elite Hollows strewn across the ground.

"My king, we're late." Accompanying those humble words, the seven newly arrived Hollows bowed to Wien at once. Their respectful manner left Elorot, atop the hill, so stunned he did not know what to do.

"Not late. Just in time." Wien nodded.

Looking at the Elite Hollow corpses covering the ground, Wien was satisfied with his subordinates' actions. After a glance around, he turned his gaze back to Elorot. "Well? Do you have any more of those trump cards?"

"Th-this can't be!" Elorot was shocked by the enemies who had appeared so suddenly. "You arranged all this?"

"Why else do you think I didn't chase you down and kill you immediately?" Wien said calmly.

"You had so many directions to run in. How was it such a coincidence that you ran straight into the area where my people were?" Hearing Wien's words, Elorot froze. Only then did he realize that at the very beginning of the chase, this was the only direction in which his enemy had not immediately caught up to him.

It was not that his enemy lacked Spiritual Pressure. He had been lured straight into a trap!

"...Attack!"

After seeing Elorot's stunned expression, Wien gave him no further chance to escape. At his command, all seven figures charged out.

Seven powerful waves of Spiritual Pressure instantly swept over the still-stunned Elorot. In an instant, the outcome was decided. Within a few seconds, Elorot was torn to pieces by the seven Spiritual Pressure attacks.

"Let's go," Wien said lazily, seeing that Elorot was dead. "Let's take over this forest."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"