The Fourth Stratos was left in tatters, broken wreckage spread across the entire floor.
Many of whom had no choice but to fight back were left in dread.
Others were left in cold blood.
VIP Hollows used their slaves as scapegoat, civilians of the Fourth Stratos fought each other for scraps—chaos was apparent.
Doomsday was imminent.
The subtle gears that run the Stratos slowly shift, this was Darwin's raw power.
Unmatched, unfathomable, indisputable, he alone caused all to scurry underfoot.
"He… is more powerful than I thought." With a strained voice, Gorr gripped his chest tight.
Swiping off the blood gushing with his right hand while his left arm was left dangled in bruises and broken bones from previous bouts.
"Darwin! I won't let you defeat me that easily!"
Gorr delivered a compressed fist shaped cero towards the almagamation in front.
"Is this the form you really wanted to show me?!"
With immense focus, Gorr barely brushes pass the sphere of ruin, slipping death away. Its anti-Reishi properties caused his body to burn a fiery adrenaline, a hunger and drive to live.
"A form you cannot control is a form bound to cause irreparable havoc! Listen to me!"
The cero Gorr shot exploded upon impact, but to his demise, the damage was thoroughly digested.
"I know… I'm here to set things straight."
His body glowed in a dazzling gold, a light resonating the unsoothed souls of those seeing from a far.
At the edge of his lips, Gorr curled up a grin of relief.
But then that was short lived.
"Y—you look different…"
Gorr gulped, though previously, Darwin hadn't warrant him to show his cowering side—it was more so out of excitement.
This felt like the past was revisited, a Deja Vu.
But now standing in front of him, he could feel his senses tingle irresistibly.
It was as if Reishi was bending to Darwin's will, those in his prescence couldn't help but kneel.
'He must be a survivor of the Great War!'
"The chosen one… the one written in old scribes from three thousand years… you are…"
"No need to explain further. It's time to make things right again."
Darwin strode toward the kneeling Gorr, slow and purposeful, each carried noble weight and authority.
"Gorr… will you join me in my conquest to put order into Hueco Mundo?"
'Order…' Perplexed at his proposition, Gorr pondered in silence.
There was a lot of think about, Darwin's position, Las Noches' growing military army, the ill-fated Fallen Queen, the King of Tenth Stratos. Gorr had to consider the multiple possibilities and outcomes.
He was after all… a lonesome hollow aiming to find fulfilment with fighting the strong.
'If order was made, Hueco Mundo would flourish and grow extremely powerful. Perhaps there would be a chance to fight against the other two factions from the other worlds…'
He had a smidgen of respect for Darwin only for the sheer power difference between them. But he knelt, it was as if it was natural for him to do.
What compelled him to kneel? What was this sensation boiling inside of him?
Fear?
No…
Power?
No…
Lineage?
Not that…
As he lay his eyes upon Darwin calm and relaxed figure, a posture alluding to nobility, slit and tranquil eyes alluding to the wisdom.
Gorr's eyes widen in awe.
It was a beacon, a flag marking a new beginning.
'How did he change so much?! I—it's too fast! He feels like a completely different being!'
Unable to contain himself, Gorr elaborates the obstacles in the way of the throne.
Perhaps… It couldn't have a throne for the masses.
"Hueco Mundo doesn't know peace. It doesn't know what it is like to be unified..."
Darwin radiant figure turned around, standing with unnerving finger tips.
Darkness began to swell up, devouring the golden light as his face turned somber.
"There's no ambition without sacrifice…"
He stares down at his opened palm, worn and torn by the many battles he had to endure till now.
However, deep down he knew this was just a beginning. These scars weren't without purpose, they were a means to a better end.
"I've scurried for millenniums… I saught knowledge like non other, like no equal."
Darwin lived for many millenniums just for him to realise his existence.
He was but a mere Hollow.
Unnamed, unknown, and an endless yearn for his insatiable, chaotic desires.
He clenched his fist.
"Faultering is but a stepping stone to a grander scheme of things."
Turning around back towards the kneeling Gorr, he asked.
"Gorr the Dominator..."
Gorr looked up and replied, "What is it you desire to know from me?"
Then a myriad of thoughts and questions resurfaced in his mind.
Darwin questioned what it meant to have companions, allies, enemies.
What does it mean to have people know you, use you, or perhaps want to kill you?
He let out a sigh.
"Stand up. I desire for us to be companions. Ones where we fight side by side as equals."
Gorr felt elated from his proposition.
Who would of thought the one who survived the Great War would think of a foot soldier like him to stand as an equal to him.
"I wish to embark this journey of conquest with you Darwin."
Gorr smiled, extending a firm hand of affirmation.
Darwin returned with a grin and a heartfelt handshake.
"Welcome to a thorny road of no return."
This marked a turning point to the both of them.
They both instinctively knew walking this path was not for the weak-willed.
Everyone who watched the two talk were awestruck by the information garnered.
They collectively knew Darwin was a contender to reshaping the structural hierarchy of the Ten Stratos or perhaps reshaping Las Noches rulership.
Hollows who wished to join Darwin's army begin to step forward one by one.
Others left in a fleet of hurry, perhaps spies in the midst were of some extremely strong Hollows.
"It's time to head to the Fifth Stratos and recruit some more strong ones."
Gorr delivered a hearty chuckle, "Indeed. It's time to flip Hueco Mundo upside down."