MTLNOVEL Chapter 287: Chapter 288: A Hollow Born from Withered Wood?
The anomaly caught Makoto's attention, his gaze shifting toward Baraggan in an instant…
A single, seemingly indifferent glance. Yet, that was enough to make Baraggan's spirit body stiffen, as if every joint in his skeletal frame had locked in place, rendering him immobile.
As for the massive battle-axe that had slipped from his grasp onto the desert sand, Baraggan found himself momentarily uncertain—should he pick it up again?
Picking it up would feel somewhat humiliating.
Leaving it there, however, would mean facing an existence capable of completely ignoring his decaying aura with empty hands—something that did not bode well for the so-called God-King of Hueco Mundo.
Yet, while Baraggan, Harribel, and Makoto exchanged these subtle movements, the battle raged on elsewhere.
At Baraggan's command, nearly a hundred Adjuchas-class Hollows launched a frenzied assault on Sung-Sun, Apacci, and Mila Rose.
Though the three were direct subordinates of Harribel, a Vasto Lorde, their individual combat strength was only mid-tier at the Adjuchas level.
Worse still, all three had already sustained multiple injuries. Faced with the overwhelming horde of Adjuchas, their defeat was visible to the naked eye—they were moments away from being torn to shreds.
"Sung-Sun! Apacci! Mila Rose!"
Harribel, still reeling from the hand Makoto had briefly pressed against her chest earlier, instinctively struggled to rise, intending to rush to their aid.
"Let me handle this, Harribel."
Makoto's voice was calm, almost gentle. And yet, it inexplicably instilled trust in her.
The next moment, as his palm touched the withered tree behind him—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, across the battlefield teeming with Adjuchas, withered trees—characteristic of Hueco Mundo—erupted from the desert sands. They surged upward in droves, forming a colossal forest that enveloped nearly the entire Adjuchas horde, cutting off Sung-Sun, Apacci, and Mila Rose from their attackers and shielding them from harm.
"What the hell is this?!"
"Agh! Damn it! Something just stabbed me from below!"
"Wait… is it just me, or does this feel kind of… nice?"
The sudden appearance of the pale withered forest instinctively provoked the Adjuchas into retaliatory attacks.
However, to their surprise, these trees—despite looking identical to the brittle, common deadwood of Hueco Mundo—possessed an unexpected level of resilience.
Forget toppling vast sections of the forest in a single sweep—even a single twig required an Adjuchas's full-strength blow to break.
With characteristic gentleness, Makoto controlled the trees, adjusting their hold on Sung-Sun, Apacci, and Mila Rose to ensure they were bound in the most comfortable way possible. Then, lifting them from the forest, he gently placed them beside Harribel.
Afterward, he turned his gaze toward the Adjuchas horde—still caught within the ever-expanding withered forest, yet failing to recognize the danger they were in. A flicker of killing intent flashed in his eyes.
In the past, when Makoto manifested massive trees in Soul Society, he had deliberately maintained their outward appearance as mundane, ordinary wood.
In truth, this was nothing more than a combat-oriented manifestation of his Spirit Particle Manipulation—compressing and restructuring spirit particles to create a powerful offense and defense.
Thus, while these trees outwardly resembled the fragile deadwood of Hueco Mundo, they were, in essence, constructs of Makoto's power.
In fact, the moment the conflict between Harribel and Baraggan erupted, Makoto had already begun gathering and compressing Hueco Mundo's dense spirit particles in preparation.
For him, the greater the amount of spirit particles under his control, the stronger he became.
Watching the clueless Adjuchas fail to recognize their peril, neglecting to escape the withered forest, Makoto entertained a bold and decisive thought—eradicating them all.
While this wouldn't wipe out all of Hueco Mundo's Adjuchas in one fell swoop, it would eliminate Baraggan's entire force.
Even if Aizen had some deeper scheme in play, losing both Baraggan and his Adjuchas horde as chess pieces would render it meaningless.
Of course, this was an audacious—borderline reckless—thought.
There was a time when even a single Adjuchas's Cero nearly cost Makoto his life. And now, he was considering annihilating nearly a hundred of them in one go?
Yet, despite the madness of the idea, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was within his reach.
With the Adjuchas already trapped in his domain, the worst-case scenario for him was a battle of attrition—one he was more than prepared for.
As long as he wasn't overwhelmed in a single instant, the tide of battle would only continue shifting in his favor.
One versus a hundred.
The thought of clashing with nearly a hundred Adjuchas within the withered forest—fighting to the death—filled Makoto with a strange sense of anticipation and excitement.
"Should I give it a try?"
Almost unconsciously, he reached up to adjust his glasses—only to touch the spirit-formed mask covering his face.
Only then did he recall that he had disguised his appearance to conceal his true identity.
At that very moment, Baraggan seized the brief instant when Makoto's gaze shifted away. Moving swiftly, he bent down and reclaimed his massive battle-axe, then spoke in a heavy, cautious tone.
"Who… are you?"
Makoto turned slightly, his gaze once again landing on the most threatening presence in the area—Baraggan.
At Baraggan's question, even Harribel, who had been tending to Sung-Sun, Apacci, and Mila Rose, instinctively turned to look at the mysterious figure beside her.
To her, Makoto was an enigma—an existence as unfathomable as he was powerful.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Makoto answered calmly.
"Me? A being born from the withered wood that spreads across every corner of Hueco Mundo. If one were to apply conventional logic and reasoning…"
He paused briefly, then concluded in an indifferent tone.
"I suppose I could be considered a Hollow."
A Hollow born from withered wood…?
Even Baraggan, the long-reigning ruler of Hueco Mundo, was momentarily dumbfounded.
Hollows in Hueco Mundo were not subject to any form of organized education—their understanding of the world was shaped purely by personal experience.
Yet, Baraggan knew that the deadwood littering Hueco Mundo's deserts had roots extending deep into the Menos Forest's colossal trees.
As for where those roots originated… even he had no idea.
But more importantly—could a Hollow even be born in such a manner?
For the first time, the skeletal king found himself questioning his own intelligence.
Something… just didn't add up.
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