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

Even though the members of the expeditionary force were all quite skilled, generally a cut above the guards of the Thirteenth Division of the Gotei 13, the disparity in numbers and the fear of the Kyrians behind them made them dare not confront them head-on. To avoid being entangled, they sped along at breakneck speed.

But they were eventually caught up—they lost their way after leaving the Void Nest and were eventually intercepted by the Void.

After several encounters, a third of the squad had died, leaving only six wounded. What was even more despairing was that they didn't even know how to get back to camp.

"There's definitely something wrong with this godforsaken place! We can't detect the spiritual energy, and the positioning device isn't working!" someone shouted angrily.

Each patrol team carries tools for simple location and direction finding. After all, there is no day-night cycle in Hueco Mundo, and the stars cannot be used to guide the way. In addition, every place is a desert with no road signs. It is easy to get lost in it, so it is necessary to carry positioning devices to ensure that no matter where you go, you can return to the camp.

However, the team's equipment malfunctioned!

They didn't know if it was a quality issue, the device itself had reached the end of its lifespan, or if it was the illusory power at work... In any case, they couldn't find their way back.

Unfortunately, those hateful monsters keep chasing us. If this continues, even though the concentration of spiritual particles in Hueco Mundo is relatively high and everyone's stamina recovers quickly, we will definitely be worn down by the Hollows!

"Don't stop! Once we're entangled, none of us will be able to escape!"

"You should go first. My injuries are too severe; I'll only be a burden to you..."

One of the Grim Reapers, his ribs ripped open and being helped to escape by his companions, gritted his teeth and said hatefully, "Scatter and escape. I'll stay behind to buy you time... Just don't forget to avenge me in the future!"

"What a joke! Have you forgotten what that lord said?"

Leaving him behind and scattering to escape would be the best rational choice, but his companions insisted that they shouldn't do that.

"I will never abandon you! I will bring everyone back to camp!"

"Kotaro, you..."

"Hehehe~ Such deep affection! I accidentally witnessed many touching scenes~"

Just as the Grim Reapers were united and encouraging each other to persevere, a strange cry came from ahead, followed by a pink beam of light sweeping across the desert and blocking their path.

"Hee hee hee……"

Bizarre-shaped Void creatures emerged from the surrounding sand, while an exceptionally large creature descended from the sky, its powerful spiritual pressure causing the team members to gasp for breath.

"Damn it... Adjuchas is intelligent!"

These people realized they were being targeted by some kind of monster, and their despair only intensified.

Generally speaking, Killian are giant faceless men who, despite their enormous size, lack rationality and act solely on instinct to devour souls that have "nutritional value," including but not limited to Grim Reapers, human souls, and Hollows of their own kind.

So all the Voidlings have to avoid the Killian... The team members were a little puzzled when they saw a group of Voidlings and Killianlings getting along peacefully in the lair, but now they finally understand the reason:

There's a higher-ranking Hollow guarding the place!

A very small number of Kylians, after reaching a certain stage of growth, will regain their rationality, and their bodies will shrink and transform into a form with animalistic characteristics.

If this animal-type Gillian devours enough souls, it can evolve into a mid-level Hollow—Adjuchas!

The spiritual pressure of this monster is above that of the vice-captains; only captain-level powerhouses can be assured of victory!

"Could it be... that you bastard have been secretly spying on us all along?"

One of the team members turned pale, realizing that most of them had become "rats," used by the Adjuchas in a cat-and-mouse game.

Otherwise, they would never be able to escape their lair!

"Hehe... After all, Hueco Mundo is full of sand, and there aren't many entertainment options. It's rare to encounter a creature other than a Hollow. It would be a waste to kill it in a hurry."

The Adjuchas before us has the appearance of a humanoid longhorn beetle. Except for its face being covered by a white mask, the rest of its body is protected by a thick black carapace. The ends of its four "arms" are as sharp as steel knives, making it a formidable character that combines offense and defense.

Unfortunately, this guy has a really bad temper: "Until I find a new toy, you can stay here and keep me company~ I'll be careful and try to let you live a little longer~"

"hateful!!!"

"Hehehehe~"

The monstrous creatures let out sharp, eerie laughs and surged towards the desperate team members like a tidal wave—

"The Thunder Emperor is coming!"

As the simple syllables fell, the free spiritual particles in the atmosphere suddenly fluctuated violently, as if they were swept together by a storm, and then transformed into thick bolts of lightning, like angry beasts crashing down on the ground and wreaking havoc!

"Is this... the power of the Grim Reaper?" The Adjuchas did not dodge. Relying on its indestructible armor, it did not believe that this level of "Demon Path" could threaten it.

However, the original target of those thunderbolts was not it, but rather to sweep away the large number of miscellaneous voids around the surviving team members!

"It's lightning, but this power... it's Lord Aizen's Kido!"

"He's here! We're saved!"

"The Four Heavenly Kings have arrived! It's Lord Aizen Iori!"

The team members were all very excited, but even with their eyes wide open, they couldn't find Iori's figure amidst the lightning and dust, not to mention the mournful cries of the Void Spirits that kept distracting them.

On the contrary, the longhorn beetle Adjuchas slowly turned around as if it sensed something, and the image of the black-haired boy wearing a Shinigami outfit was reflected in its dim yellow eyes.

—Aizen Iori.

One of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hueco Mundo's expeditionary force stood about ten meters away, quiet and independent, as if he had arrived even earlier than Biachukas.

I didn't even notice—a bead of cold sweat trickled down the forehead of this Adjuchas.

But he remained calm and even provocative, saying, "What a pity that you got behind me but didn't launch a sneak attack. Is this the pride of a grim reaper?"

"You're so pathetic with your pride! You've wasted your only chance to beat me!"

“Is that so… I have a different opinion.” Iori’s smile was calm and gentle, as if she were facing an old friend, not an enemy.

"The essence of 'ambush' is to increase the chances of winning. But if the final outcome cannot be changed, then whether the attack is launched from the front or from the back... it makes no difference, does it?"

"...Hmm, you're quite self-aware."

After a moment of stunned silence, Adjuchas grinned: he had absolute confidence in his defensive capabilities, and he could withstand multiple Hollows of the same level head-on without any pressure.

He's just a mere Shinigami, and judging from his spiritual pressure, he's not that strong. Even a sneak attack wouldn't be enough to hurt him.

"Nagi!"

The yellow sand beneath their feet suddenly vanished, replaced by a mirror-like surface as smooth and clear as water. This unexpected change set off alarm bells in the longhorn beetle's mind.

Having heard that the Grim Reaper possessed some special abilities, he decisively chose to strike first: "Don't even think about it!"

--call!

Like a bolt of black lightning flashing across the entire mirror, the incredibly sharp blade slashed across Iori's body in the blink of an eye!

call!call!call!

With a series of flashes, the Longhorn Beetle performed a deadly dance on the edge of a blade with a dazzling "four-sword style".

Judging by its size alone, no one would guess that this beetle-like Hollow would possess such astonishing speed!

"Humph……"

The longhorn beetle flashed behind Iori. It had just clearly sensed that there was something wrong with the "feel" and that it seemed to have failed to hit the physical body, but it had also clearly clashed with Iori's longsword several times. Therefore, it was certain that this was just a trick by Iori and that her true body was definitely still here.

"I never thought I'd take a mere dead person so seriously—hmm?"

As the celestial beetle turned around, Qi Mian lost his balance and, in a daze, saw one of his blade-like feet fly off.

Before it could even react, its tentacles, carapace, breastplate... its proud, hard armor, strong enough to withstand a Cero, scattered like broken glass...

Click!

Adjuchas's body shattered into countless pieces along with the entire Mirror Realm!

"when……"

Snapped!

Iori sheathed her sword, glanced indifferently at the half-head of the longhorn beetle, and was not particularly proud of killing an Adjuchas.

Even among Hollows of the same level, there is a huge gap in strength, just like how the "Captain-level" Shinigami can actually be divided into multiple batches.

This longhorn beetle isn't particularly outstanding among the Adjuchas, neither in terms of intelligence nor spiritual pressure... but its talent lies in its specialized defense and exceptional mobility, so it rarely suffers losses even when facing enemies stronger than itself.

From this perspective, its confidence is not laughable.

However, the so-called "defense specialization" and "mobility" are laughable when it comes to Iori's Zanpakuto...

After all, he also said—

"As expected, the ending will not change."

-

Current spiritual pressure limit: 970

Current spiritual pressure: 915

Chapter 85: I, Saito, am not a shotacon.

When Iori made up his mind to enter Hueco Mundo, he had just awakened his Shikai and his spiritual pressure was around 600. But after he "cleared" the main story of Akame ga Kill!, it had skyrocketed to over 900 and was close to 1,000.

On one hand, his achievement in pacifying the realm upgraded his CG to "I am the Mandate of Heaven, May My Life Be Long and Prosperous," granting him over ten points of art style value. Moreover, he has just ascended to the throne, and the news hasn't even spread throughout the entire empire yet. After some time for his reputation to ferment, it's estimated that there will be a significant increase, and accumulating twenty points shouldn't be too difficult.

On the other hand, during this process, he also managed to unlock a lot of character bond CGs, including Will, Akame, and Seryu. Although he only got some attribute points, the "One Heart Yearning - Reverse" buff on him worked, giving him two extra points of art style, just like the pity system in gacha pulls.

In this way, his spiritual pressure limit reached the "1000" mark.

This is undeniably an extremely exaggerated increase, considering that the threshold for captain-level is actually only around 1500, and that's a standard that's quite inflated.

Just like Shikai, after a Shinigami awakens Bankai, even without releasing their true name, their spiritual pressure will increase significantly, often jumping from 1,100 or 1,200 to 1,500 or 1,600.

So strictly speaking, if the spiritual pressure value is above 1,000, one has basically entered the state of practicing Bankai, and theoretically, it is possible to awaken it, but the specific process varies from person to person.

Because the awakening of "Bankai" is a metaphysical matter, the strength of spiritual pressure is not the decisive factor. It focuses more on the spiritual communication with the Zanpakuto... It has a bit of the feeling of cultivating immortality through sudden enlightenment.

Some people may have a particularly good relationship with their Zanpakuto and awaken it as soon as they reach 1000 spiritual pressure. If your spiritual pressure is not enough, the sword spirit will thoughtfully prepare a multi-stage release for you.

Some people are born with the effect of "Holy Letter D (Deafness)," and can't hear their Zanpakuto's calls even after hundreds of years...

Of course, there's also the unconventional type where the sword spirit and the Grim Reaper can't stand each other and wish they could strangle one another~

Even without considering the existence of "bottlenecks," it would normally take one or two hundred years to accumulate the same amount of experience from "Shikai Naming" to "Bankai Training," provided that one has good talent and does not die unexpectedly during a mission.

Even including the time Iori spent in the other world, it was only a little over a year, which is already enough to make many captains exclaim in disbelief!

Of course, this speed still can't compare to Ichigo Kurosaki, after all, he was born at max level, and his strength only depends on whether he remembered his account password. Iori, who started from scratch, is still a bit inferior.

However, Iori also has an advantage: his power is relatively pure and completely under his control, unlike Ichigo's which fluctuates wildly.

Overall, Iori is quite satisfied with the current pace of progress, but one small problem causes her some unease:

Perhaps because he refused to use Asaha and awakened his Zanpakuto on his own, Iori's [Mirror of Still Water] seems too "aloof". With his current spiritual pressure, he can't sense any signs of "Bankai" at all. The sword spirit hardly communicates with him either. He can't even begin to train, let alone know where to start.

In this situation, either the sword spirit is acting up, or the spiritual pressure is still far from sufficient... Iori asked herself if she had offended "He", so it must be a problem with the spiritual pressure.

Ultimately, it's because the style isn't sophisticated enough!

"Lord Aizen is back!"

"You have worked hard!"

"I heard that an Adjuchas was killed this time."

"No way! That's a mid-level Hollow, only Captain Saito can do that... even the Four Heavenly Kings..."

Iori took the rescued team members back to the camp and settled them in the medical corps. He then went straight to the captain's camp to report the day's events to Saito Immortal.

Adjuchas is the highest-level Hollow that the expeditionary force can encounter under normal circumstances. In the entire camp, only Saito and the Four Heavenly Kings can deal with them, and even the Four Heavenly Kings cannot be said to have a sure win.

With this rescue and the killing of the Hollow, barring any unforeseen circumstances, his record of merits will surely be updated!

These achievements are of no use in Hueco Mundo, but they become incredibly impressive resumes once they return to Seireitei. After all, the Thirteen Divisions are essentially violent groups, and they always show extra respect to those who rise through the ranks based on their military exploits.

In "Akatsuki no Akame," Iori has already reached the level of "the best in the world." He doesn't seem to crave official positions, but with a higher status comes fewer troubles—referring to Mayuri Kurotsuchi. So it's still necessary to publicize his achievements.

After entering the main tent, he calmly and objectively recounted the incident, neither embellishing nor downplaying his actions. When he finished, Saito, seated at the head of the table, nodded, unsurprised.

Even when Iori was still in the medical unit, news of his killing of Adjuchas had already reached Saito's ears.

"What an incredible monster!" Saito exclaimed.

"That beetle-like Adjuchas?" Iori said nonchalantly. "I didn't really see it. It's just an ordinary mid-level Hollow."

"First of all, the words 'intermediate-level Great Void' and 'ordinary' are completely unrelated."

Secondly… the monster I'm talking about is you, Iori.

Saito rested his chin on his hand, leaned forward, and carefully examined Iori sitting below, a strange look in his single eye.

"When we first met, you already had spiritual pressure at the level of a high-ranking official. Although you are very talented, there are only a few geniuses of this level every ten years or so. It's not surprising at all."