At the highest point of Dragon's Nest, Vilnalasath lay inside a gigantic tower-like structure modeled after Dragon's Rest Temple, continuously manipulating soul energy as she attempted to forge her own unique soul ability.
Clearly, she was making up for the time she had lost while asleep.
In particular, as an Ability User of the Ghost-Ghost Fruit, the Red Dragon Queen possessed soul traits that were extremely similar to Allen's, yet fundamentally different.
That was because the Ghost-Ghost Fruit's abilities leaned more toward the bizarre and unpredictable, making them impossible to guard against.
Whether it was the Negative Hollow capable of "one-hit kills," ghost clones, or ghost bombs, encountering them for the first time would leave anyone at a loss.
Therefore, fusing all those traits with her own soul and ultimately condensing them into a Death Zanpakuto was not something that could be achieved overnight. It required a great deal of time and effort spent on trial and error.
When Allen had condensed his Zanpakuto—Death—he had likewise spent several years on it.
The instant Vilnalasath failed once more, two Guardians who had just rushed over from the laboratory appeared out of thin air in the domed hall.
One of them immediately placed a hand over his chest and bowed deeply, presenting a sample of the Extremis virus with both hands. "Great Red Dragon Queen, we have encountered a minor problem in our research and hope to receive your help."
"Oh? What problem?" Vilnalasath lightly curled a finger.
Instantly!
The Extremis virus inside the test tube flew straight out, flooding into her body and swiftly triggering a chain reaction with the vast quantities of stored genes.
In just a few seconds, the cells within the enormous dragon body generated temperatures of several million degrees Celsius, continuously radiating heat into the surroundings.
Fortunately,