Hueco Mundo. The cold wind howled beneath the pale moonlight.
A desolate, majestic palace rising like stone pillars was being torn down and rebuilt again and again.
Barragan stood at a height, expressionlessly watching his palace gradually turn into heap after heap of ruins.
He had no attachment whatsoever to such worldly possessions.
Yet the moment he saw the palace demolished, it was as if he had watched the crown of the King of Hueco Mundo being stripped from his head.
From the moment he had been defeated by that damned Shinigami, the King of Hueco Mundo had become a thing of the past.
The current king of Las Noches was the man named Aizen Sosuke.
The overwhelming gap in strength left Barragan with little desire to resist.
The supreme power he had once taken such pride in was as feeble before his opponent as a child's trick.
It possessed no destructive force at all.
Whenever he thought of this, Barragan felt profound regret and pain.
"Your Majesty Barragan, are you still reminiscing about your former glory?"
A white figure appeared behind him. There was comfort in his words, but his frivolous, teasing tone made them sound more like mockery.
"Why are you here?" Barragan did not answer the question. His deep, hollow gaze settled on the figure beside him.
His pale, humanlike body was covered in shell-like bones resembling clothing. Strands of gold-dusted hair gleamed softly beneath the moonlight.
His savage white bone mask showed not the slightest trace of brutality. Instead, it carried a strange elegance.
Hueco Mundo's scientist, Szayelaporro Granz.
Once a Vasto Lorde loyal to Barragan, he had now been taken under Aizen's command after Barragan's fall from power.
Due to his exceptional professional expertise, he had participated in the Arrancarization experiments some time ago, providing