"Why are you so powerful?"
Baraggan asked in bewilderment.
"I haven't figured that one out myself~"
Sōgo Shihoin shrugged, looking as though he did not understand either.
"Can we talk about what comes next now? I really do have a favor to ask you. Here's the thing... Little Skull!"
Sōgo Shihoin rested a hand on Baraggan's shoulder, grinning.
"Little... Skull?"
Baraggan did not care about anything else Sōgo Shihoin said. He cared very much about what Sōgo Shihoin had called him. What the hell was Little Skull supposed to mean...?
A month later.
Beneath the bright sunlight stood three beach umbrellas and three beach loungers.
"Ah! Praise the sun~"
Sōgo Shihoin lay on a beach lounger, shielding himself from the sun overhead with an umbrella, looking thoroughly content.
"I don't get it!"
Lilynette lay on the lounger beside Sōgo Shihoin and voiced her objection.
"What's wrong, Lilynette?"
Sōgo Shihoin asked Lilynette.
"If you've already made a sun, why use an umbrella to block it? Isn't that pointless? I don't get it! I don't get it at all!"
Lilynette asked Sōgo Shihoin in bewilderment.
"That's what you don't understand, Lilynette. This is called romance!"
Sōgo Shihoin explained to Lilynette with a slight smile.
"Romance?!"
Lilynette asked Sōgo Shihoin in bewilderment.
"That's what I'm saying! You still have a lot to learn, Lilynette. Romance is something you can grasp but can't put into words. Take your time experiencing it!"
Sōgo Shihoin drank his chilled juice and stretched comfortably on his beach lounger.
"Romance?!"
Lilynette muttered, her face full of confusion.
"Scratch, scratch, scratch... scratch, scratch, scratch..."
Nearby, Tier Harribel held a small notebook and kept taking notes. She needed to make a careful record of Lord Sōgo Shihoin's sayings.
"Lord Sōgo, how does this sunlight feel?"
The pink-haired Szayelaporro suddenly appeared before Sōgo Shihoin with Sonído and spoke quietly.
"Very realistic. Good work!"
Sōgo Shihoin praised Szayelaporro.
"Hahahaha... As long as you're satisfied."
Szayelaporro chuckled softly after receiving Sōgo Shihoin's praise.
"Speaking of which, where's Little Skull? I haven't seen him lately..."
Sōgo Shihoin asked Szayelaporro.
"You mean His Majesty Baraggan Louisenbairn?"
"He said he hated sunlight, so he sealed himself away alone at the very top of Hueco Mundo to look at the moon~"
"He's left all of Baraggan's palace under my management now."
Szayelaporro told Sōgo Shihoin with a smile.
"Congratulations on your promotion~"
Sōgo Shihoin froze for a moment before immediately congratulating Szayelaporro. He had gone straight to the top and become the Hollow King.
"Oh, not at all. Without your help, Lord Sōgo, I couldn't have taken over the entire palace so smoothly."
Szayelaporro gave Sōgo Shihoin a slight smile.
Meanwhile, above Baraggan's territory.
"..."
Baraggan sat alone on his throne, silently gazing at the moon in the sky.
Quiet. The night-shrouded sky was exceptionally quiet, because there was no longer anyone here besides him.
After watching the moon alone for a short while, Baraggan pulled a silver strand of hair from inside his robes, glittering in the moonlight.
"So bright~"
"I really do hate bright, shining things."
Baraggan spoke in a low voice as he looked at the glowing strand in his hand. Although he said he hated it, his tone was a little too calm.
"Fade away~"
Pitch-black mist ate away at the strand in Baraggan's hand, and it instantly lost its luster as though it had withered.
Yet once Baraggan stopped using his ability, the strand regained its former luster, even becoming brighter.
"I see. You don't age!"
Baraggan murmured to himself as he looked at the strand in his hand.
And so he watched the beautiful moon in the sky alone, with just a chair and a strand of hair, while the switch for the sky canopy device sat beside him.
After he lost his wager with Sōgo Shihoin, Sōgo had asked him to help guard Hueco Mundo's sunlight. From that moment onward, Baraggan became the strongest guardian of Hueco Mundo's sunlight.
Fifty years passed in a flash.
Over those fifty years, apart from building a super-luxurious water park in Hueco Mundo with Szayelaporro's help, Sōgo Shihoin did nothing at all. Every day, he played, played, played, and then played some more.
"I feel like I might not need anyone to help suppress my Spiritual Pressure soon."
Sitting in a swim ring in the pool, Sōgo Shihoin spoke languidly. He could already feel that he was about to surpass the limits of a Soul Reaper in every respect. Probably within a few years, he would truly surpass the very concept of a Soul Reaper in every sense. He also had a feeling that once he broke through that final membrane, he would no longer need anyone to help suppress the Spiritual Pressure within him.
"Then congratulations are certainly in order, Lord Sōgo."
Wearing a bikini, Tier Harribel, who had already fully become an Arrancar, sat beside the pool and congratulated Sōgo Shihoin while gently swishing her bare feet through the water.
"Crunch~ crunch~ crunch~"
Lilynette, meanwhile, was taking large bites of watermelon by the pool.
"That certainly is cause for celebration. But you must believe me, Lord Sōgo. My research is also about to make progress."
Dressed in a butler's uniform, Szayelaporro, who had become an Arrancar, suddenly appeared in the trio's water park and spoke to Sōgo Shihoin.
"This one bit of progress has taken you fifty years! Fifty years!"
Floating on the water, Sōgo Shihoin complained about Szayelaporro's progress. He thought the fellow was dishonest and clearly had not been doing his research properly.
His reason was that, just a few years earlier, Szayelaporro had suddenly completed his transformation into an Arrancar. Not only that, he had also given Tier Harribel a small, single-use glass orb that could turn her into an Arrancar.
According to Szayelaporro, this little glass orb was the culmination of his research over the years and could help Hollows break through their limits. He had spent nearly fifty years making just two.
Sōgo Shihoin had also pressed Szayelaporro about the orb's ingredients, but Szayelaporro had refused to answer. That was the first time Szayelaporro had refused to answer one of Sōgo Shihoin's questions, and the first time Sōgo Shihoin had seen him look so nervous.
Yes, even Szayelaporro could not tell Sōgo Shihoin that the orb had been made from the essence refined from an entire Tenth Division's worth of Soul Reapers, including its captain and lieutenant. He feared being beaten to death if he said it.
"Soon! It'll succeed very soon!"
Szayelaporro told Sōgo Shihoin. He was preparing to make another trip to Soul Society. This time, he would definitely seize the opportunity to uncover the secrets of Soul Reapers and relieve Lord Sōgo Shihoin's worries.
Some inconsequential everyday events were fast-forwarded through.
(End of chapter)