Nelliel

Several months had passed since Wien left the Forest and headed west.

Although Wien had a movement skill like Shadowless Strike, it consumed Spiritual Power, so he rarely used it. Only in uninhabited areas where he was absolutely safe was he willing to spend Spiritual Power to advance with successive Shadowless Strikes.

But Hueco Mundo was far vaster than Wien could imagine. It was said that, to maintain balance with the human world and Soul Society,

the number of creatures in Hueco Mundo was roughly equal to those in each of the other two worlds. According to his memories of his previous life, there had been seven billion humans living on Earth at the time.

He believed the number in this world was probably about the same. So there should have been at least as many Hollows in Hueco Mundo, if not more. After all, there were no oceans as vast here, and its land area should have far exceeded that of the World of the Living in the human world.

Over those months, Wien passed quite a few small strongholds. But being alone, he did not venture too deeply into those gathering places. Though he could kill a Gillian on his own, facing dozens or hundreds of Hollows in successive battles and dealing with their endless pursuit would still be a headache for him.

So whenever he passed those gathering places, Wien hunted enough prey on the outskirts before leaving. That way, he avoided bringing too much unnecessary trouble upon himself.

Most of the High-Level Hollow lords at those strongholds paid no attention to Wien passing through. After all, he was an enemy comparable to them, or even one whose strength they could not fathom. They had no desire to provoke him.

After months of traveling, Wien's emotions seemed close to being worn away.

Alone for months, he had no one to talk to and no one paid him any mind. All he did was hunt and devour, over and over. At most, when he encountered an enemy, he would hear a few last words.

Though the monotonous life was dull, Wien never forgot his goal: get far enough away from the Forest of Menos, then complete his advancement and improve his chances of survival.

But just as Wien thought he would continue like this until he advanced, a small episode broke the loneliness that had lasted for months.

It was a desolate desert, without even a single dead tree in sight. There was nothing but endless wind and sand.

To speed up his journey, Wien chose to travel using successive Shadowless Strikes. There was no need to conserve Spiritual Power in an uninhabited area, so he went at full speed.

But unexpectedly, in this barren region, a battle between two vastly mismatched opponents was taking place behind a dune.

"Hm?" Wien abruptly stopped in his tracks. He had sensed two sources of Spiritual Pressure clashing repeatedly behind the dune.

Judging by the impact of their Spiritual Pressure, it should have been a fight between a newly advanced High-Level Hollow and a Hollow at the peak of Elite-Level. Though there was only one level between them, the strength of their Spiritual Pressure was worlds apart.

"There are Hollows out here?" Wien wondered after looking around at his surroundings, but his question was soon put to rest. This was Hueco Mundo, after all; Hollows could be hiding anywhere.

In such a desolate desert, these two Hollows had probably encountered each other by chance while searching for a place to rest.

After discovering the lower-level Hollow, the High-Level Hollow had become intent on devouring it, leading to their fight.

Wien slowly approached the dune, concealing his Spiritual Pressure as he looked down at the battle below.

A half-human, half-lizard High-Level Hollow was fighting an Elite Hollow in the form of a Saiga. From the look of things, the Saiga Hollow was already nearing its limit.

Wien judged that, barring any surprises, the lizardman Hollow would break through the antelope Hollow's defenses in ten exchanges at most and ultimately kill it.

Of course, that was assuming nothing unexpected happened. And right now, Wien was the biggest surprise of all.

Atop the dune, Wien gradually circled around behind the half-human, half-snake Hollow, waiting for the best moment to attack.

Wien had spent several days traveling through the desert without doing much hunting. It was not that he did not want to, but that there was simply no prey around. Although a Hollow could survive in Hueco Mundo without feeding, the faint hunger and hollow feeling in his Spiritual Power always left Wien somewhat uncomfortable.

Wien had been traveling for days on end, and the appearance of these two Hollows meant they were destined to become a meal in his eyes.

Perhaps because it had only recently advanced, the lizardman Hollow had yet to adjust to its own strength, and the fight with the antelope Hollow was unexpectedly close.

Perhaps the main reason was that the Saiga Hollow used almost no major attacks that consumed Spiritual Pressure. It relied solely on its agile body to dodge or its highly defensive Saiga horns to withstand blows, seemingly hoping to wear its opponent down that way.

After more than ten exchanges, the Saiga Hollow was still holding on. Seeing how the fight was going, Wien, the fisherman waiting to profit, clearly could not sit still any longer.

"Forget it. I'm done waiting." Seeing the stalemate below, Wien's gaze sharpened, and he leaped out from behind the dune.

He had originally wanted to wait until both sides were exhausted before making his move; after all, it was rare to have a show to watch. But the battle between the two Hollows showed no sign of ending, and Wien really did not want to waste any more time here.

With his strength, Wien would have no trouble facing both of them at once anyway. So he stopped waiting and charged straight at the two Hollows still fighting.

Roaaar!

Sensing Wien's powerful Spiritual Pressure, the half-human, half-lizard Hollow let out a terrified howl and quickly abandoned its fight with the Saiga Hollow, retreating at speed. But how could he possibly move as fast as Wien, who possessed Shadowless Strike?

In a single breath, Wien caught up to the fleeing High-Level Hollow. He raised his blade-claw and struck the enemy hard with Shatter Slash, instantly cleaving the lizardman Hollow in two.

Having won in a single blow, Wien grabbed the lizardman Hollow's mask and stuffed it into his mouth. At the same time, his gaze fell on the Saiga Hollow a short distance behind him.

The Saiga Hollow had not fled. Perhaps it was because of Wien's strength, or perhaps his Spiritual Power was already exhausted, leaving his four legs trembling too badly for him to escape.

He stood there in terror where he had just been fighting, all four legs shaking. The terrifying weight of that Spiritual Power left him unable to move an inch.

Wien came before the antelope Hollow and gave his right claw a slight shake, preparing to finish off and devour the Saiga Hollow in front of him with one strike. But when he raised his hand, he suddenly saw the eyes beneath the trembling Saiga Hollow's mask. They were dim and hollow, yet full of pleading. Though the Hollow's gaze beneath the mask was only a faint glimmer, that tiny change made Wien stop his swinging blade-claw.

"It's intelligent?" Wien was slightly surprised. The hint of life in the eyes beneath the mask was a sure sign of intelligence.

"...Forget it. Go on." For some reason, after standing there in a daze for a long time, Wien actually spoke and let the Saiga Hollow go.

Perhaps it had been too long since he had communicated with an intelligent creature, so the hint of intelligence in that gaze had softened his heart a little. He lowered the right claw he had been about to attack with.

"You can have the corpse." Wien shook his head and turned to leave. He still had to continue his journey, and now that he had replenished his Spiritual Power, he had no reason to stay.

But just as Wien stepped forward to leave, a soft female voice brought him to an abrupt halt.

"...Thank you."

Wien spun around at the sound, immediately locking his Spiritual Pressure onto the creature that had spoken. The voice had come from the mouth of the Saiga Hollow behind him.

"You can talk? What did you just say?" Wien asked instinctively.

"I... I said thank you." The Saiga Hollow's legs trembled again as she felt Wien's Spiritual Pressure suddenly lock onto her. But Wien had already spared her, so surely he had no reason to change his mind just because she had thanked him?

Having made up her mind, the Saiga Hollow tentatively continued, "I'm very grateful that you spared my life, but Kades is your spoils of battle. I have no right to a share."

"Kades?" Wien looked back at the lizardman's corpse lying not far away. "You knew each other?"

"Yes, my lord." The Saiga Hollow nodded gently and told him everything about herself.

"Kades and I originally hunted together. Because of our respective traits, we agreed to cooperate. But not long ago, Kades advanced to a High-Level Hollow, and we happened to wander into this barren land. After we went a long time without seeing any prey, Kades decided to kill me."

"Oh? You actually knew how to cooperate?" Wien's eyes lit up, his interest piqued. "Tell me how you worked together."

"Kades was good at using a paralyzing toxin, and my speed and defense aren't weak, so after Kades released his toxin at an enemy, I would hold them off until the poison took effect and they fell."

"Then weren't you affected by the toxin?" Wien pressed.

"I have a degree of immunity to toxins and some healing ability." Faced with Wien's questions, the Saiga Hollow had no choice but to reveal all her abilities. In the face of that immense Spiritual Pressure, a single lie could cause a change in her Spiritual Pressure, and even the slightest fluctuation might cost her her life.

Pfft...

With the faint sound of a blade, a small cut suddenly opened on Wien's left hand, and drops of blood trickled down its back.

Wien extended his hand toward the Saiga Hollow. She understood what he meant and carefully walked toward him on all fours. Finally, she stopped in front of his hand, stuck out her tongue, and licked the wound.

The instant the wound came into contact with the Saiga Hollow's saliva, it healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Though the wound was small, it still demonstrated the antelope Hollow's healing ability.

"Not a bad ability." Wien looked at the back of his hand, now healed, and a smile touched his lips. "Then you should know what I mean, shouldn't you?"

"I don't have a choice, do I?" The Saiga Hollow understood Wien's meaning, of course.

When Kades had teamed up with her back then, the situation had been much the same. Kades simply had not possessed Spiritual Pressure as terrifying as Wien's. "Honored lord, I am willing to become your subordinate."

"Hmm..." Wien walked around the Saiga Hollow, weighing things in his mind. A Hollow with healing abilities was rare. Though she was only an Elite Hollow who had yet to advance, he believed that with a little cultivation, she would display even better abilities in the future. That was why Wien had decided to keep her.

After circling her once, Wien gently patted the Saiga Hollow's back. She was considerably larger than a Saiga on Earth, and since he was the height of a normal human, riding her would not be a problem.

As he thought this, Wien lightly jumped onto the Saiga Hollow's back. The sudden weight made her stagger, but she quickly steadied herself.

With his normal human build, Wien was not actually very heavy as long as he restrained his Spiritual Pressure, and the Saiga Hollow could easily bear his weight. She felt a little aggrieved by what Wien had done, but said nothing and did not resist. After all, the strong were revered.

"Haha, let's go. That lizardman's corpse is yours," Wien said with a laugh. The Saiga Hollow beneath him understood her duty, stopped resisting, and walked toward Kades's corpse.

But the Saiga Hollow did not open her mouth to tear into the lizardman Hollow's corpse. Instead, she brought her nose close to it, and all the parts of the corpse that had already turned into Reishi streamed into her mouth.

"Hm?" Wien paused at the sight. "What kind of ability is that?"

"I don't know either," the Saiga Hollow answered. "I can also bite directly into my prey, but feeding this way keeps Spiritual Power from being wasted as much as possible."

It's more than just avoiding waste. This is a godlike skill for disposing of a corpse and destroying the evidence, Wien thought.

When a Hollow fed, its prey would slowly turn into Reishi and dissipate into the air. The process was like a delicious dish giving off an aroma: while the Hollow was eating, it would also draw other predators to the scent.

After a hunt, most beast Hollows would find a safe place, return to their territory, or devour their prey on the spot and leave as quickly as possible.

The Saiga Hollow's feeding ability, however, could completely eliminate the risk of Reishi escaping. It could certainly be called a godlike skill.

"Tsk, I suddenly think keeping you was a wise decision."

"Hm? My lord, what did you say?" The Saiga Hollow, who was still feeding, had not clearly heard Wien muttering to himself. But as his subordinate, she needed to hear every one of his orders clearly. Otherwise, the right to live she had just obtained might be taken away.

"Nothing." Wien shook his head. "Let's get acquainted. My name is Ace Wien. Just call me Wien."

"Yes, Lord Wien," the Saiga Hollow said respectfully.

"And you?" Wien asked.

"Nelliel," the Saiga Hollow said softly. "Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck."

"Nelliel? That name sounds familiar. I think I've heard it somewhere," Wien mused.

"If you don't mind, my lord, you can just call me Nel."

"Oh, Nel. Wait... Nel? Nel! Holy shit! You're Nel!"

Only then did it finally dawn on Wien why the name sounded familiar. Gamuza, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, the Third Espada under Aizen, a Vasto Lorde-level Arrancar. Her speed with Sonído, her saliva's healing ability, and her Cero Doble ability—Wien recalled each detail about her.

Although he had not been particularly interested in this kind of anime in his previous life, there was no escaping the dazzling glow of the protagonist's halo. It would have been strange if Wien did not know her.

"No wonder. Heh, I never thought I'd meet you like this. A Menos Grande with Vasto Lorde-level potential has become my subordinate, and I've even ridden her. Fate really does toy with people... Hollows."

"Lord Wien, what's wrong?" Seeing Wien suddenly say a whole bunch of things she could not understand while sitting on her back, Nel could not help asking.

"Nothing. I just feel like I've found a treasure. Haha." Wien's laughter left Nel baffled, but she did not ask too many questions. She merely felt somewhat helpless about having such a neurotic superior.

But heaven knew that, from this moment on, this very same neurotic Humanoid Hollow beast had already begun to change her entire life.

"Lord Wien, where are we going next?" Nel asked after finishing her meal.

"Let's head west," Wien said. "Keep going west. First, we'll find a small forest to make our territory and rest there."

"Yes." Having received Wien's order, Nel pawed at the ground with her four hooves and began running west. Before long, the desert returned to its former solitude.