At this moment, for the first time, Harribel's composure truly faltered.
Death itself was not something she feared. As someone who upheld the creed of sacrifice, she had long accepted its inevitability.
What she could not accept, however, was the thought of being used against someone she held dear.
Asura Gensei.
To her, he was unlike anyone else.
Veins bulged against Harribel's forehead as her spiritual pressure surged beyond its usual limits. A scream of raw desperation tore from her throat.
"Move! Damn it—MOVE!"
But despite her outburst, Szayelaporro's expression remained unchanged.
As a meticulous and utterly mad scientist of Hueco Mundo, how could he possibly be uncertain of the exact dosage and effect of his own paralytic toxin?
At this stage, no matter how much Harribel struggled, the numbing agent ensured that her will could not fully command her body.
Yet, just as Szayelaporro's writhing pink tendrils were about to make contact with her skin—
The very ground beneath them shuddered violently, as though the entire desert had been flipped upside down.
BOOOOM—!
A deafening roar echoed through the barren expanse. The white sands of Hueco Mundo quaked like a raging ocean caught in a violent storm, sending waves of sand surging in all directions.
"What the hell is happening?!"
Szayelaporro instinctively glanced down, his sharp eyes narrowing at the shifting dunes beneath his feet.
As a Vasto Lorde who had roamed Hueco Mundo for centuries, never before had he witnessed such an earthquake. The sheer magnitude of the tremors sent a rare shiver down his spine.
Then, a horrifying realization struck him.
Whipping his head around, Szayelaporro looked behind him.
And what he saw—
Was a tidal wave of sand, surging like an erupting volcano. It rose higher and higher, as though an entire mountain was forcing its way out of the desert's depths.
But what made his blood run cold was not the sandstorm itself.
It was the spiritual pressure—a colossal force surging from beneath.
A presence so overwhelming, so immense, that even Baraggan Louisenbairn, the so-called King of Hueco Mundo, had always regarded it with fear.
Szayelaporro's pupils shrank.
"You've got to be kidding me…" he murmured, his voice trembling.
"There's no way he could have reached the surface of Hueco Mundo. His body is... too massive, far larger than any mountain! He's the most colossal Vasto Lorde in recorded history!"
Yet—
Reality shattered his expectations.
In mere seconds, the rolling sand condensed into an enormous dune, towering hundreds of meters into the sky.
And then—
BOOM!
The dune erupted.
A golden, titanic arm burst forth from the sands, sending debris flying in all directions. The enormous limb twisted midair, before slamming down in front of Szayelaporro with the force of a natural disaster.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the desert.
Szayelaporro staggered as the very earth beneath his feet trembled. A cloud of sand shot upwards, reaching nearly a hundred meters into the sky.
Then—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
From beneath the sands, a gargantuan entity emerged.
A colossal golden figure, its form reminiscent of a Buddha, rose from the depths of Hueco Mundo.
But unlike its former meditative posture in the Forest of the Menos, where it had once sat thousands of meters tall, this titanic deity now stood upright, its piercing eyes wide open in an expression of indomitable wrath.
It towered over the desert, its monumental frame blotting out the sky.
Compared to this behemoth, Szayelaporro looked like nothing more than a speck of dust.
Not just Szayelaporro—even Harribel, who had once conversed with this entity from a distance, now felt the full weight of its overwhelming presence at close range.
For the first time, she felt an instinctual reverence, as though standing in the presence of something truly divine.
Meanwhile, Szayelaporro, barely comprehending what was happening, stammered in disbelief.
"T-The King of the Forest of Menos…? How the hell—how the hell did you get here?!"
The colossal golden deity slowly turned its gaze downward, looking at Szayelaporro, who was no bigger than an insect in comparison.
Then, it spoke.
"Szayelaporro?"
Szayelaporro's breath caught in his throat.
"You… you know my name?!"
The titan's voice rumbled like thunder.
"Of course. I despise you."
Before Szayelaporro could react, a golden palm, wider than several city blocks, descended upon him with the force of a meteorite.
Szayelaporro's instincts screamed danger.
Abandoning all thoughts of controlling Harribel, he bolted—vanishing in a blur, desperate to escape.
Yet—
There was no escape.
The titanic hand, spanning dozens of meters, crashed down, covering Szayelaporro completely in its shadow.
"BOOOOOM!!!"
The entire desert quaked.
When the golden hand lifted again—
Szayelaporro was gone.
It was as if he had been swallowed by the very sands of Hueco Mundo, erased from existence in a single blow.
Harribel's heart pounded violently.
This level of power… Even for a Vasto Lorde, this was absurd.
No.
Perhaps the true absurdity lay not in its power, but in its sheer size.
Normally, Vasto Lordes evolved into humanoid forms. Their bodies, regardless of their previous states, shrank to near-human proportions during their transformation.
Not because Hollows inherently preferred smaller forms, but because evolution forced their spiritual energy to condense, increasing their density while reducing their physical size.
And yet—
This titanic deity before her had defied that natural law.
Despite maintaining an unimaginably massive form, it still retained the spiritual density of a Vasto Lorde.
Then, as Harribel's gaze drifted toward the gaping chasm left behind in the sand, a chilling sight greeted her.
Countless Adjuchas were emerging from the depths.
Marching in perfect formation, they ascended from the abyss that led directly to the Forest of the Menos.
Despite their relatively weak individual power, their disciplined movement was far more orderly than the chaotic Hollows of Las Noches—they resembled a true army.
But before she could process the sight, the colossal golden entity reached down with a single monumental finger.
In an instant, Harribel found herself lifted high into the sky, brought before its face.
Suspended thousands of meters above Hueco Mundo, she could feel the cold radiance of the moon behind her, while the gilded titan before her burned like a blazing sun.
And then—
It spoke.
Its voice, vast and resonant, echoed across the desert.
"Vasto Lorde, where did you learn the name 'Leshan Giant Buddha'?"
Though her body had begun to regain some mobility, Harribel forcibly steadied herself, suppressing her shock.
With unwavering resolve, she met the titan's gaze.
"Tell me—where is Sparx?" she declared. "That answer… I will only give to Sparx himself."
A moment of silence.
Then, the golden deity locked eyes with her.
And spoke.
"I am Sparx."
========================
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