"Soul Society?"
"Interesting."
Szayelaporro nodded lightly, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. In his eyes, Soul Society was one enormous source of research materials.
"Does Soul Society have good food?"
Lilynette asked Sōgo Shihoin.
"Of course, and plenty of it!"
Sōgo Shihoin nodded as he spoke.
"I want to go!"
The moment Lilynette heard Soul Society had plenty of delicious food, she was tempted.
"So we'll leave our problem to you, Szayelaporro!"
Sōgo Shihoin nodded lightly to Lilynette, then patted Szayelaporro on the shoulder.
"Sure! Leave it to me!"
The corners of Szayelaporro's mouth lifted slightly in an ugly smile.
"Then let's keep eating!"
"Hahaha..."
Soon, cheerful chatter and laughter rang out across the barren dunes once more.
A Soul Society noble whose Spiritual Pressure had already surpassed the limits of a Soul Reaper and two Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande sat on a dune, eating hot pot and singing, utterly at ease. Not a single living creature could be seen within a ten-li radius of the three. Such was the deterrent effect of absolute power!
Over the next few months, Szayelaporro left the pair to conduct his research alone, returning from time to time to visit Sōgo Shihoin and Lilynette. Apart from mealtimes, Sōgo Shihoin and Lilynette spent every day bowling or playing badminton or tennis. Through Sōgo and Lilynette's efforts, the wild Menos Grande population was kept under reasonable control. As large numbers of unfortunate wild Menos Grande were forced to migrate to the vicinity of Las Noches to seek protection, they also gave Baraggan Louisenbairn, the king of Las Noches, a terrible headache: his territory was overpopulated.
Hollows were creatures that would regress if they stopped fighting, so they could only fight and fight without end. Even under Baraggan's rule, he could not stop the Menos Grande from killing and devouring one another. This trait also meant that each Menos Grande had its own hunting ground. Because of Sōgo Shihoin and Lilynette, however, large numbers of Menos Grande had migrated into Las Noches's territory, instantly shattering the balance of their hunting grounds. War broke out among the Hollows!
"Damn you, Lilynette! Damn you, Sōgo Shihoin!"
Baraggan had already learned Sōgo's name from Szayelaporro, and now he roared in fury. He was not a warmongering monarch. What he wanted was balance, yet the balance he had pursued for so long had been ruined by Lilynette and Sōgo Shihoin's reckless antics. Nearly a century of his efforts had come to nothing.
"There's no other choice! To war!"
For the first time in ages, Baraggan rose from his throne and addressed the Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande serving under him.
"Has this day finally come, my king?"
As a general under Baraggan and a Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande, one of the highest-ranking Menos Grande, he trembled all over with emotion. He had waited far too long for this day.
"Assemble the troops. The great expedition begins!"
Baraggan spoke coldly. The war he had originally planned to launch in a few decades had been moved forward a little.
"As you command, my king!"
The Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande dropped to one knee before Baraggan, then left the palace with several uses of Sonído.
Several months later.
"Roar!"
Countless Menos Grande roared. Gathered here were one Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande, fifty-five Adjuchas-class Menos Grande, and countless Gillian.
"Everyone! We shall destroy the Soul Reaper outpost near the Forest of Menos and drench the earth with Soul Reaper blood!"
The Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande serving as Baraggan's general was also the commander of this expeditionary army. His mission was to lead the Menos Grande under him in destroying every Soul Reaper outpost in Hueco Mundo, while also demonstrating to the other Menos Grande the supreme majesty of Baraggan, the great king of Hueco Mundo.
"Roar!!"
The Hollows roared, set themselves in motion, and began their great expedition.
Outside the Forest of Menos stood a Soul Reaper outpost belonging to the expeditionary force Soul Society had sent to Hueco Mundo. To reduce the number of Hollows in the World of the Living, the Soul Reapers regularly carried out large-scale purges in Hueco Mundo, killing all the weak Hollows incapable of surviving there who could only hunt in the World of the Living. As such, the Soul Reapers generally left the Forest of Menos alone, because no Hollow capable of living there was weak.
The Hollows inside the Forest of Menos also rarely crossed blades with the Soul Reapers outside. Both sides maintained a tacit understanding, but today, that understanding was broken.
Whoosh!
Boom!
Crimson Ceros blasted the Soul Reapers' territory to pieces, and countless Soul Reapers perished in the jaws of the Menos Grande.
"Menos Grande!"
"The Menos Grande have come out of the Forest of Menos!"
"Everyone, run!"
Against the relentless succession of Ceros, the Soul Reapers' resistance seemed extraordinarily feeble. Even the most ordinary Gillian-class Menos Grande required a pair of Soul Reapers to stand a chance of defeating it. In single combat, even a Soul Reaper Seated Officer would struggle to hold out, let alone against so many Menos Grande appearing at once. The sight alone made their scalps crawl.
"Hahaha... wreck it! Destroy it! Wipe everything out!"
"Hahahaha..."
Watching his subordinates destroy countless Soul Reapers, the Vasto Lorde-class Menos Grande serving as commander-in-chief laughed excitedly. He loved watching this sort of bug-crushing performance more than anything. Every time he watched it, he became extraordinarily excited.
"Quick... notify the Gotei 13!"
Even as his consciousness faded, one Soul Reaper was still shouting to his companions. He did not care whether he lived or died. He only wanted his comrades in the Gotei 13 to be prepared. The Menos Grande had gone mad.
One month later.
At the First Division Barracks in Seireitei, Soul Society, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, captain of the First Division and Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, stood quietly before the assembled captains, staff in hand, his eyes sharp and solemn.
"What are your thoughts on the Menos Grande uprising in Hueco Mundo?"
Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto regarded the captains of the thirteen divisions, who stood before him in two rows, even-numbered divisions on the right and odd-numbered divisions on the left. His tone was grave.
"Old man! Leave this to our 11th Division!"
As Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto finished speaking, a burly man over two meters thirty tall, standing a head above everyone present, stepped out of the ranks with a slight smile. Beneath his unrestrained exterior lay a wild heart, and his seemingly placid eyes were filled with a desire for battle.
He was the current captain of the Gotei's 11th Division, the seventh Kenpachi, Kuruyashiki Kenpachi. Renowned throughout Soul Society for his absolute strength, he was hailed as its strongest current Soul Reaper apart from the Captain-Commander.
"Granted."
Looking at Kuruyashiki Kenpachi as he stepped forward, Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto narrowed his eyes again and lightly tapped his staff against the floor, approving Kuruyashiki Kenpachi's request.
(End of chapter)