You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

If you look closely, you'll see that his hands become extremely thin in an instant, almost like bones, but they return to normal within a few breaths.

Barragán suddenly froze, as if he had thought of something, but he couldn't believe it.

"Super-fast regeneration... No, even a Hollow who has evolved this property to its extreme cannot counteract the power of 'aging'... A body eroded by time cannot be restored!"

"That's usually how it is. This ability is indeed quite unsolvable, but I'm just a little different."

Iori looked down at her intact hand and said calmly and seriously, "This is not 'regeneration,' but 'returning to its original state.' Although they look similar, they are actually worlds apart."

Whether it's the return of a Shinigami or the Hollow's ultra-fast regeneration, both essentially involve consuming spiritual pressure to stimulate cells (yes, spirits also have cells), causing them to divide and recombine multiple times.

My body, after being damaged, returns to its pre-damage state. This process not only does not consume spiritual pressure, but also adjusts it to its peak state, which is the phenomenon of the 'immortality of the soul' causing the return of phenomena.

Um, while not entirely accurate, to make it easier to understand—it's like turning back time, you get it?

"...Hehe...Hahahahahaha!"

Barragán trembled and burst into uncontrollable laughter. As a king, he had never lost his composure like this before. His emotions were like a flood that had burst its banks and he could not control them.

"What a joke! The power of time is absolute! Nothing in this world can escape the wrath of aging!"

Everything in the world will eventually come to an end, and even the world itself is not eternal... Yet you say that your soul is immortal?

Hahahaha... Such an absurd thing... If it really existed, it would be a power that could resist the laws of time! Hahahaha~

Are you kidding...

Are you kidding me?!

"In your mind, this is indeed an almost ridiculous and illogical phenomenon, but it does exist—and I am the best proof."

Iori watched the King of Hueco Mundo without any joy or sorrow. As the victor, he did not utter any words of mockery against Barragan, but waited for him to finish venting before speaking.

The boy could understand Barragán's madness because the "Third Law" was indeed a miraculous product that could defy time!

Although it is not truly immortal (it is still possible to be killed), it is at least conceptually comparable to "aging".

Ultimately, Barragán had nothing to be resentful about.

Because whether in Type-Moon or Bleach, while compatibility in battle is important, the magnitude of the battle is equally crucial!

As the saying goes, "talking about toxicity without talking about dosage is just being irresponsible." When a force is strong enough, it can ignore or even counteract compatibility.

If Barragan had truly grasped the essence of the power of "aging," then Iori would never have dared to accept it empty-handed... But who could blame him when this King of Hueco Mundo only had a superficial understanding of it?

The body of the Third Law is only theoretically eternal, but it is also affected by time, so it deteriorates under the influence of "aging"... but this degree of deterioration can be restored at any time.

Barragan is a Hollow who has existed since ancient times. He has such great talent, yet he stopped at the position of King of Las Noches (he didn't even really rule Hueco Mundo)... Who can he blame for that?

“This time, ‘eternity’ has triumphed over ‘aging’ – I don’t know if you can accept this result.”

Iori had lost interest in the Skeleton Emperor and took a step forward.

Is it finally over?

Barragán let out a slow sigh. He had a thousand and one complex emotions in his heart, but in the end, they all turned into a sigh.

As he himself said, nothing in this world is eternal, so the "King of Hueco Mundo" could not possibly exist forever and would eventually meet his end.

Rather than slowly decaying over time, it is better to die in battle at the hands of another powerful figure.

"Very well, come on, cut off my head, and I will bestow this honor upon you—"

sieve!

A shallow footprint was left in the sand. A gentle breeze blew by, and Iori walked straight past the skeleton, heading forward without looking to the side. Yuuki was a moment later, but she caught up with him.

"……Hello!"

Barragán froze, turned around in astonishment, and shouted, "Where are you going? I'm right here!"

The siblings stopped and turned around, puzzled. "Do you really want to die?"

"...I am the King of the Hollows. Is there anything more important to you Grim Reapers than killing me?" Barragan asked in a deep voice, seemingly feeling slighted.

"Something more important?"

Iori and Yuuki exchanged a glance: "There are quite a lot, aren't there?"

Barragán: "..."

"To be honest, I don't want to kill you right now."

Iori thought for a moment and said very frankly, "If nothing unexpected happens, I should return to Soul Society after this incident. Whether I kill you or not... it doesn't really matter."

After all, you can't kill them all; even if one king is gone, another will quickly emerge.

In fact, if he could subdue Barragan and occupy Las Noches, he could call himself the King of Hueco Mundo and gain a large number of subordinates.

However, this desolate environment held little appeal for Iori, and to become the King of Hueco Mundo as a Shinigami, one must possess overwhelming power... Judging by Iori's spiritual pressure alone, it was even below Barragan's, making this quite a difficult task.

Compared to Aizen, who managed Hueco Mundo in the original work, Iori's accumulation of experience is not as profound.

After all, the most troublesome part of this matter is not conquering those Hollows, but how to prevent the Seireitei from discovering it—Iori doesn't have a Zanpakuto as convenient as [Kyoka Suigetsu].

In addition, how to travel freely between Hueco Mundo and Soul Society is also a problem. At least we should wait until we obtain this technology before considering cultivating a force in Hueco Mundo.

—Anyway, Yuuki doesn't have any motive to rebel yet, and Iori pre-ordered Hueco Mundo, so it's not really stealing her things.

"You've misunderstood. I've always been a pacifist."

Killing you would only allow the numerous Hollows to escape control, wouldn't it? If the situation in Hueco Mundo becomes unstable, the Soul Society and the Human World will also be affected.

Iori stroked his chin and said, "So, you are still the King of Hueco Mundo, and that will not change."

"...Am I not even worth killing?"

For reasons unknown, Barragán actually started to protest.

"How dare you humiliate this old man like this!"

"That's too much of an exaggeration. In my eyes, you are a very valuable person."

Iori looked down at him with no superfluous emotion in his eyes and said, "As an extremely rare research sample..."

"Research?"

“If I kill you, I won’t be able to find another sample of such a special and powerful force as ‘aging’.” The boy was serious, not joking.

"You bastard! You're despicable!"

Barragan retorted angrily, "Do you think I'll obediently follow your arrangements and wait for you to return someday and reap my power?!"

"That's interesting... You seem to have misunderstood. Did I say I wanted to ask for your opinion?"

This is a notification, not a discussion.

Iori's reaction was calm, but her eyes filled Barragan with despair, for they held an indifferent coldness, as if the will of the defiant were completely uncaring.

The young man said calmly, “Your Majesty Barragán, you may keep this rusted crown. You may continue to consider yourself the boundless monarch within this walnut shell.”

But unlike you, my world is far from so narrow.

Chapter 171: Please take on a disciple, Captain! (4.5K)

In a corner of Seireitei stands a tall and solemn ancient gate, which is never opened normally, but today it slowly opens from the middle, revealing an entrance to the deep void. Extremely powerful Kido power is restraining the spatial fluctuations inside, so that they will not disturb the Soul Society side.

A group of people, their heads covered with square scarves and dressed in loose robes, gathered on both sides, their hands forming mudras and their mouths chanting obscure incantations, carefully maintaining the stability of this "gateway between realms".

This is because the density of spiritual particles in the three realms is different, and they can only coexist peacefully by being separated by the boundary. When a spatial channel is generated, a small-scale reverse flow of spiritual particles will occur.

The "black cavities" temporarily opened by the Hollows, or the small interdimensional portals used by the Shinigami to carry out their missions, are limited in scale and therefore have little impact.

However, these large interdimensional portals have existed since the very early days of Seireitei, and the Shinigami have been using these fixed channels to monitor the movements of Hueco Mundo. Their scale and duration are far greater than other smaller devices, so they must be protected with Kido power.

Because the misuse of this thing would affect spatial stability and even change the spiritual environment of the three realms, the Seireitei issued a strict ban and destroyed a large number of small passages, leaving only the official interdimensional gates—in fact, some noble families still have private ones, and some scientists can also develop their own.

After the large interdimensional portal opened, it remained silent for a long time, causing the surrounding Grim Reapers and Oni to become tense.

They received an urgent message from the Hueco Mundo expeditionary force, requesting them to open the gates and prepare to welcome the force back. Anyone with a sense of urgency knew something was amiss; otherwise, they wouldn't be in such a rush. But so much time had passed with no movement. Could it be that the expeditionary force…?

hum!

Finally, the barrier covering the portal began to fluctuate, and a hazy white light appeared, obscuring the deep, dark passage.

Like a drop of water falling on the surface, it first created slight ripples, which then gradually expanded to the whole surface, causing the light curtain inside the portal to sway.

call!

A slightly disheveled figure emerged from the portal, his expression a mixture of seriousness, panic, and confusion. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly stepped aside, followed by a stream of soldiers dressed in Shinigami uniforms filing out from the light screen.

Judging from the bloodstains on their bodies and their disheveled attire, most of them had been in battle. The fact that they hadn't brought any supplies or equipment suggests it was a rather humiliating defeat...

Gum!

The Grim Reaper in charge of the rendezvous felt a jolt of terror in his throat.

The expeditionary force was composed entirely of elite troops, and it even had a captain-level leader in charge!

How could such a force have managed to escape back to Soul Society in such a sorry state? Just how terrifying of an opponent did they encounter?

"Is that all?" An official began to verify identities and count the number of people on the list.

Although the probability is extremely small, Hollows have all sorts of abilities, and some might even be able to mimic human form. Therefore, the expeditionary force returning from Hueco Mundo must undergo a full set of basic checks.

"what?"

After roughly completing the statistics, Xi Guan glanced at the interdimensional gate, but no one appeared in the light screen anymore. When he realized what had happened, his face turned pale.

He grabbed a member of the expeditionary force, his grip tightening: "Lady Saito... Lady Saito isn't here! Hasn't she returned!?"

"Lord Saito...she covered our retreat...Ugh! Damn it!"

The soldier who had narrowly escaped death couldn't help but kneel down, frantically pounding the hard ground, creating cracks mixed with blood, and hot tears fell down his face.

"It's all our fault... I want to go back too... but apart from the Four Heavenly Kings, everyone else is just a burden! Damn it, if only I were stronger..."

"The captain hasn't returned... Saito is immortal, he's dead?"

The official gasped. Bankai-level experts were extremely rare in the entire Soul Society, and Saito was a martial arts expert who had lived for over a thousand years. If she were to sacrifice herself in Hueco Mundo, it would be a huge loss for the Gotei 13!

I'm afraid even the Commander-in-Chief will be shaken by this!

"How could this be... What exactly happened to you?" The officer still couldn't believe that a captain had died just like that. "Was it the Void Tide Riot?"

"It's a Void... there are indeed a lot of them, but more importantly... we've encountered the legendary [Vastow]!"

The team member looked up, his eyes filled with endless resentment: "If it weren't for that leader, the Hollow, the captain would never have been left in Hueco Mundo!"

"Wastod!"

Xi Guan's eyes widened: "Isn't that just a legend...? It actually exists?"

Although shocked, upon calming down and thinking about it, if it was Vastod that appeared, then things would make sense.

In the teaching materials of the Shinigami Academy, "Menmos" are described as beings that ordinary members cannot match. The lowest-ranking Killian is already someone that even a Shinigami of the Seat Officer level would treat with caution, while Adjuchas is considered to be someone that can be properly dealt with by a "Captain-level" member.

As for Wasstode?

Because it is so rare, the textbook is vague about it, but the evaluation is very direct:

An existence that surpasses even the captain (at normal levels)!

If this Vastord also commands many Hollows... then he certainly possesses the power to kill Saito, who is immortal.

"How should this report be written?" The officer in charge of the reception looked troubled.

This matter is beyond his capabilities and should be reported to higher-ups immediately. It would be safer to let the team leaders handle it!

He glanced at the portal again, his brow furrowed slightly, and decided to continue waiting.

According to the intelligence provided by the team members, Saito, who is immortal, faced Vasto Lorde and Hueco Mundo alone to cover the rear of the expeditionary force, and his chances of survival are probably very slim... But it is his duty to continue to maintain the portal until the device on the other side of Hueco Mundo stops working.

Only in this way can we conclude that there are no survivors!

This decision was correct, and several of the fallen soldiers were indeed brought back, but Saito, who was immortal, was not among them, which greatly disappointed the officer and completely extinguished the last glimmer of hope.

Just as the official was about to leave and hand over the scene to others, the interdimensional gate suddenly fluctuated again, and became even brighter than before!

"what?"

The official turned around in astonishment and saw a one-eyed girl with twin ponytails wearing a blood-stained haori walking out of the passage.

"Lord Saito!" the official exclaimed with overjoyed relief. "You're not dead!"

"Pooh!"