บท 52: Las Noches

"He did something similar to me aswell. Matter of fact what even is his power? What is that doubling or spawning power he has?" Yuzuki asked both of them with curiosity.

"I don't know what both of you are talking about. I have never witnessed Lord Jin use such power. I did see kain stumble around looking at thin air when he faced off against lord Jin." Luna said.

"Hey! I told you already. It wasn't thin air it was millions of bloodthirsty gillians. And it was not my fault that he won against me, I couldn't fight back against that much power." Kain said in an annoyed tone, while walking over and laying down next to Luna.

"You were still defeated by Jinnie? Without even a fight?" Yuzuki said in a surprised tone.

"Yeah well... He is stronger than me, even though he was a gillian." Kain said sourly.

Yuzuki laughed, her high pitched voice ringing in their ears. "You sound so bitter!"

Kain glared at her, his expression darkening. "Hey... Why are you laughing? I'm trying to be serious here!"

Yuzuki giggled. "Sorry, sorry. You were just so sulky, I couldn't help it," she replied, her eyes glittering with mirth. "But that's pretty amazing. To be defeated without a fight... At least I fought back."

"Hey, he's not even here. Don't be such a brat, or I'll beat you up." Kain retorted, his eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"It's okay, Kain. She's right, you know. You were pretty pathetic that day." Luna chimed in, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Both of you shut up." Kain said in an angry tone.

In Las Noches, Baraggan sat upon his throne, his skeletal figure motionless as he surveyed his vast army of Hollows. His voice was heavy, echoed across Las Noches.

"I find myself... bored. Our kingdom has no enemies left to conquer. Do you not feel the same?" he said.

The assembled Hollows shifted uneasily, unsure how to respond to their king. Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced the air. One of the Hollows fell, cleanly cut. Confusion and alarm spread across the army and they started getting ready to fight.

Two figures materialised amidst the chaos. Aizen and Gin. Their sudden appearance sent surprise through the Hollow army.

"Who are you?" one of the braver Hollows snarled, lunging forward. In a flash, Aizen cut him down effortlessly.

The rest of the Hollows tensed, ready to attack, but Baraggan's voice rang out. "Wait."

"This... this might be just the thing I need to pass the time." A glimmer of interest flickered in the Hollow King.

Aizen stepped forward, his tone was very calm and assured, even peaceful.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sōsuke Aizen. And you... you must be the King of Hueco Mundo." Aizen said, softly.

"Indeed I am. You do not wear masks... you are neither Hollow nor Human. Shinigami, perhaps?" Baraggan said as he gazed at Aizen from atop his throne.

He waved a dismissive hand. "It matters not. Welcome to my castle, Las Noches."

Somewhere else in Hueco Mundo, Kiyota was finally down the false mountain peak and had been using sonido to travel around for a few hours. He came across a few adhjchas but they were weaker than him and so were devoverd with gluttony.

'Where are those guys?.' Kiyota thought to himself as he finally stopped.

'Should I go looking for them yet? I want to level up faster and I am at a point where hunting hollows alone is much more efficent than hunting as a group. I do want to see them though I need to get stronger. I'm sick of faking strength, lying or deciving. Pure power seems so straightforward. Just crush the people you want.' Kiyota sighed.

'I want to level up to 80 as fast as I can so I can assimilate with the Hōgyoku fragment. I guess I should get moving again. Strong hollows are very hard to find nowadays. I wonder if I killed them all.' Kiyota thought to himself before taking off with sonido.

"New Quest is issued. Check your-" Siri was speaking but got cut-off by Kiyota.

'Open the panel please Siri.' Kiyota said as he stopped moving once again and asked excitedly.

'I hope it's a-'

---

Quest panel

Kill 5 Soul reapers

Progress: 0/5

Time limit: 1 week

Reward: 1000 Sp

---

'What the fuck...?' Kiyota's mouth opened in shock inside his hollow mask as he stared at the holographic screen with one eye through that hole.

"Siri what..." Kiyota started but stopped talking in shock.

'I don't assign the quests. This is something you desired. The quests are made based on your deep desires. In this case it's... Getting stronger fast. This, though seems kinda bad, is the fastest way for someone like you to level up. I mean your gluttony skill.' Siri said.

'What? Are you saying I should kill five soul reapers? Do you think I am some evil antihero or something? I'm not doing this.' Kiyota thought.

'But isn't the reward great? You can level up by consuming five soul reapers. That is quite a lot. You know how hard it is to level up in Hueco mundo now that there aren't that many strong hollows and plus if you don't complete it... you know.' Siri said.

'What do you mean... If I don't complete it then...?' Kiyota thought with fear.

"Why don't you fully read the screen?" Siri said.

---

Quest panel

Kill 5 Soul reapers

Progress: 0/5

Time limit: 1 week

Reward: 1000 Sp

Non-completion penalty: Death

---

'What... Non-completion penalty... Death...' Kiyota's thoughts raced as he panicked. 'If I don't complete this quest I will die? Then I have to kill five innocents?'

"It's not as bad as you think. You can go to Soul society and kill five of the weakest. And besides you need to get stronger for what's coming next. You should be glad. You've killed before anyway, why is this such a big deal? You said it yourself, you didn't feel anything when you killed Tosen." Siri said.

"That's because he was evil!" Kiyota shouted as he sat down on the white sand with his legs crossed.