The following day—
After stabilizing his reiryoku from the previous interdimensional jumps, Sombravida and Nel returned to the mountain hollow where Harribel resided.
The moment Sombravida's Vasto Lorde-class spiritual pressure manifested—
Harribel emerged from the cavern.
Behind her followed Apache, Mila Rose, and Sun-Sun.
Shak was absent.
Likely already dispatched toward Barragan's domain.
"Lord Sombravida."
The word "Lord" still sounded slightly rigid in Harribel's tone.
But she knelt.
"Subordinate Tia Harribel greets Your Excellency."
Her three subordinates followed suit, though reluctance lingered in their posture.
Sombravida observed silently.
Harribel had clearly disciplined them overnight.
He did not ask how.
"Are you prepared?" Sombravida asked.
"Yes."
There were no belongings.
Hueco Mundo required none.
White sand did not demand luggage.
Only strength determined survival.
"Good," Sombravida said calmly.
"The training ahead is not suitable for them."
Apache's ear twitched in irritation, but she remained silent.
Harribel understood immediately.
This was not rejection.
It was controlled separation.
Sombravida's reasoning was layered:
Integration through exposure.
Softening hostility through structure.
Strategic containment in case of instability.
And perhaps most importantly—
Testing discipline.
They walked to the spatial node Sombravida had carved into the terrain the previous night.
It was not a Garganta.
Nor simple teleportation.
It was a fixed spatial anchor — a stabilized fold-point that allowed multi-body displacement without tearing dimensional fabric violently.
Sombravida wanted to test something.
Future battlefield logistics.
Transporting multiple combatants simultaneously.
If perfected—
It would redefine Hueco Mundo warfare.
"Nel," Sombravida said, "remain here. Support Barragan if needed."
"Yes, Lord Sombravida."
Golden spatial light expanded.
Compression.
Release.
The five vanished.
They reappeared above Sombravida's territory.
On the cliff overlooking his fortress-city.
The three Adjuchas froze.
Below them—
Order.
Structured architecture carved into the cliff.
Defensive walls.
Watchtowers.
Stone streets.
Patrolling Hollows.
No chaotic hunting.
No dominance displays.
No uncontrolled reiryoku release.
Only discipline.
Harmony.
"That's… impossible," Apache whispered.
"Over a hundred Adjuchas… functioning without conflict…" Sun-Sun analyzed quietly.
"Even Barragan governs through fear," Mila Rose muttered.
"And this…"
It was different.
A sentinel Hollow detected Sombravida's arrival.
It roared skyward.
Immediately—
Every Hollow below ceased movement.
Heads lowered.
Respect offered.
Sombravida extended one hand.
Soft spiritual pressure descended — not crushing, but affirming.
Work resumed.
Jekain approached and knelt.
Sombravida introduced Harribel's subordinates briefly.
Jekain acknowledged them without excessive ceremony.
They were not Vasto Lorde.
Protocol differed.
"You will report to Jekain," Sombravida stated plainly.
"Reading and writing?" Mila Rose blinked.
Sombravida did not explain.
Hueco Mundo lacked written structure historically.
Civilization required literacy.
Information control was power.
He would not entrust that explanation to emotion.
Jekain would handle it.
"Integration begins immediately," Sombravida concluded.
Then he departed with Harribel.
Back at her mountain base—
Sombravida noticed Nel.
She was circling something small on the sand.
A mudskipper-like Hollow.
Low-level.
Barely stronger than a basic Hollow of the outer regions.
Yet—
It had survived in inner Hueco Mundo.
That alone was unusual.
Low-level Hollows rarely lasted here.
Spiritual pressure alone crushed them.
"Nell," Sombravida called softly.
She turned instantly.
"Lord Sombravida~!"
Beside her, the mudskipper-like creature froze the moment it sensed Sombravida's Vasto Lorde pressure.
It trembled violently.
Low-level Hollows could instinctively perceive hierarchy.
This was apex.
"Where did you find it?" Sombravida asked.
"Nearby," Nel replied cheerfully. "It was hiding underground."
The mudskipper emitted small sounds.
"Bawa… Bawa…"
Sombravida crouched.
The creature nearly fainted from pressure alone.
Interesting.
It possessed developed instinct.
Intelligence.
Not merely animal behavior.
In the manga—
Nel indeed possessed a pet called Bawabawa.
A transport-type Hollow.
Large.
Resilient.
Loyal.
Sombravida's mind sharpened.
Timeline distortion?
Coincidence?
Fate inertia?
His existence had already altered events massively.
Yet this creature appeared.
Was it coincidence?
Or spiritual alignment?
He dismissed the thought.
Possibility was enough.
"Can I keep it?" Nel asked.
This was the first time she had asked for something personal.
Sombravida studied her.
Then nodded.
"If you wish."
Nel beamed.
"From today, you're Bawabawa!"
"Bawa~!"
The mudskipper wagged excitedly.
Then Sombravida did something that froze the air.
He manifested the Sky-Splitting Greatsword.
Without hesitation—
He severed his own right arm.
Blood splattered onto the sand.
Harribel's eyes widened.
The mudskipper spun in panic.
"Eat it," Sombravida instructed calmly.
The small Hollow froze in existential terror.
Consume…
Vasto Lorde flesh?
Sombravida's High-Speed Regeneration activated.
Milky-white regenerative reiryoku enveloped the wound.
Within seconds—
A fully formed arm replaced the severed one.
Harribel's breath stalled.
"High-Speed Regeneration…"
Unlike ordinary Hollow regeneration—
This was superior-tier regeneration.
Comparable to Ulquiorra's class.
Perhaps even beyond.
She understood now.
Sombravida had not used everything against her.
Even if she had critically injured him—
He would have recovered.
She had not fought him at full capacity.
Her evaluation of him rose sharply.
Sombravida extended the severed limb toward Bawabawa again.
"Eat."
The mudskipper hesitated—
Then instinct overrode fear.
It began devouring the arm.
Vasto Lorde-level reiryoku flooded its system.
Sombravida monitored carefully.
He suppressed the spiritual density output deliberately.
Too much—
And the creature would explode like an unstable Gillian core.
Gradually—
The mudskipper's body trembled.
Reiryoku thickened.
Spiritual pressure stabilized.
It did not evolve immediately.
But its core condensed.
Seed planted.
Future growth assured.
Harribel watched in silence.
This was not cruelty.
This was investment.
Sombravida had willingly sacrificed spiritual mass to elevate something weaker.
A Vasto Lorde nourishing a low Hollow.
Unheard of in Hueco Mundo.
She felt something shift inside her.
Not fear.
Not submission.
Recognition.
This was strength—
Used deliberately.
Used strategically.
Used… protectively.
Her estimation of Sombravida rose once again.
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