Las Noches, the home of the King of Hueco Mundo.
A crescent moon hung eternally in the sky, bathing the ground in silvery light.
In Hueco Mundo, where the sun did not exist, this was the brightest light of all!
At the very top of Las Noches, a crowned skeleton lounged on a huge, ornate throne, leisurely flipping through an unfamiliar book.
The throne was made from the bones of countless Menos Grande who had died at the hands of the King of Hueco Mundo, a testament to his glorious record of victories over the years.
Below the throne, countless powerful Menos Grande knelt reverently, offering their loyalty to the King of Hueco Mundo.
If an ordinary Hollow came here, its very existence might be snuffed out automatically.
That was because every kneeling Menos Grande here was an Adjuchas!
Adjuchas were mid-level Menos Grande who had evolved beyond the lower-level Menos Grande, Gillian, and gained unique abilities of their own.
Every Adjuchas here had once been a renowned figure in its own domain, but the King of Hueco Mundo had crushed their former pride in his conquests, turning them all into subordinates who could only kneel before him.
As for the Adjuchas who refused to surrender, if they could not escape the King of Hueco Mundo's army, all that remained of them was their bones, which were fused into his throne.
As for the higher-level Menos Grande above the Adjuchas—Vasto Lorde—those were beyond the reach of ordinary Adjuchas.
It seemed that only Adjuchas who grasped a certain level of understanding could naturally undergo the transformation.
This transformation had nothing to do with an Adjuchas's strength, but once one became a Vasto Lorde, its power would naturally surpass that of an ordinary Adjuchas!
The only Vasto Lorde in Hueco Mundo whom all Hollows knew of for certain was the King of Hueco Mundo.
The King of Hueco Mundo had existed for so long that no one could determine his age. It was even a perplexing question whether Hueco Mundo had come first, or the King of Hueco Mundo!
All Hollows had grown accustomed to life under the King of Hueco Mundo's rule.
Though the number of Adjuchas serving the King of Hueco Mundo sometimes suddenly dropped by half, newly evolved Adjuchas soon joined Las Noches... The "old-timers" who had mysteriously vanished had, in a way, given them the chance to rise through the ranks.
But today, it seemed that this "peaceful" existence was about to be shattered!
The giant Adjuchas guarding the front of Las Noches had suddenly been killed!
The Adjuchas were alarmed.
"What happened?"
"Kakarot was taken out!"
The Adjuchas had lived together for so many years that they knew each other's strength well.
That great ape, Kakarot, was one of the strongest among them. But he had been killed without even the slightest sign of a fight. How could the Adjuchas not react?
Yet before they could go investigate, the culprit had already arrived!
Three figures who looked like ordinary humans had entered Las Noches.
But judging by the Shihakusho they wore underneath and the Captain's Haori over them, they were enemies of Hueco Mundo—the three captains of the Gotei 13 from Soul Society.
Not every Hollow recognized this, though.
One Adjuchas swung a fist at them. "Who are you?"
But one of the three, a blind man whose eyes were covered by a strip of cloth, swung his sword and cleaved the Adjuchas's mask—and its entire head—in two.
That blow stunned the surrounding Adjuchas and finally drew the King of Hueco Mundo's gaze to them.
The bespectacled man standing in the middle of the three did not look up. His eyes merely tilted toward the King of Hueco Mundo seated above them as he spoke. "We're meeting for the first time... You're the King of Hueco Mundo, aren't you?"
The King of Hueco Mundo closed his book and handed it to the Hollow attendant standing beside him. "That's right. Then what brings you here? You three young captains of the Gotei 13—judging by your actions, have you come to declare war on Hueco Mundo?"
At the King's words, the surrounding Adjuchas stirred with renewed energy, waiting for his command so they could tear the three unknown captains to shreds!
"Just as I'd expect from the King of Hueco Mundo. You certainly know your stuff!" The bespectacled man showed no fear of the force gathering around him, continuing to speak with unruffled ease. "Since you know we're captains, aren't you curious about our Zanpakuto?"
"Especially this one of mine..." The bespectacled man drew the Zanpakuto hanging at his waist. "Kyoka Suigetsu!"
Watching the bespectacled man's movements, the King of Hueco Mundo remained completely at ease. "What are you trying to do?"
"I want... to ask you a question, O King of Hueco Mundo..."
"Are you satisfied with who you are now?"
The King of Hueco Mundo looked at the bespectacled man. "What are you trying to say?"
"Have you never felt that this world is different from the world as it should be? Have you ever thought about going further?"
The bespectacled man pointed his blade at the ground. "Come help me. Come with me! Then I'll give you greater power and an entirely new world!"
Hearing the bespectacled man's words, the King of Hueco Mundo finally couldn't hold back...
He burst out laughing!
"Hahahaha!" The sight of a skeleton laughing like that, its whole body shaking, was truly something to behold. "Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous!"
"Young people really are arrogant! An entirely new world, you say. You think you control the future, yet you look down on the past!"
"Without a past, where would the future come from?"
"What gives you the nerve to be so arrogant?"
The bespectacled man looked at the King of Hueco Mundo, who still regarded them with disdain. He did not let the King's words provoke him; he simply recited the release command for his Zanpakuto.
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."
The sound of a mirror breaking rang out, as if the world itself had shattered. A scene of extreme carnage unfolded in Las Noches.
Everyone serving the King of Hueco Mundo had been wiped out by the other two men in Captain's Haori!
Even the Hollow attendant beside the King of Hueco Mundo had a wound in its head and lay collapsed on the ground.
"This is... the world you live in!"
The bespectacled man thought it was only natural that things had turned out this way. Now all that remained was for the King of Hueco Mundo, seated high above them, to come down and face them!
As long as they defeated him, they would have achieved more than half their goal of conquering Hueco Mundo!
But the King of Hueco Mundo's reaction was completely different from what the bespectacled man had expected.
The King of Hueco Mundo laughed again!
"Hahahaha! Aizen, Aizen Sōsuke! So this is your power?" the King of Hueco Mundo roared with laughter. "So this is your power? You've been keeping it from that old man Yamamoto, haven't you? He has no idea you're the most dangerous element in the Gotei 13!"
Hm?
The bespectacled man—Aizen—finally showed a change in expression when his name was revealed.
Things were a little different from what he had expected.
"Come, come, Aizen. I have a question for you!"
The King of Hueco Mundo finally finished laughing. He looked at Aizen and asked, "From what you can see, I'm a skeleton."
"So what made you think I saw your Zanpakuto?"
"I don't even have eyeballs!"