A few months ago, in the halls of Las Noches...

'So...' Barragan started slowly as he looked over the General. 'You want to devour all of the severed parts of the Soul King to gain his power for yourself? He questioned as he looked on at Arturo, who grinned wickedly.

'That sounds like a fair trade. After all, you decide to devour the main power of the Soul King that Yhwach himself inherits. All so that you can become a god, and by allowing myself to eat the other parts of himself, I too would gain that power.

Barragan stared at Arturo and sighed dejectedly. 'I do not see devouring a weakened king or the severed limbs of a long-dead one to be god-like...but do as you wish.'

Arturo then frowns. 'You do not care about the soul king's power?' He asked, and Barragan stared back at the General.

'Arturo... power to me is only god-like when it is boundless, limitless, and has no equal, and anything less than that is ultimately impotent. For it can and is often surpassed by another power, and for me, devouring those remnants would not change that.'

Arturo then smirked. 'So you are still sour about your defeat at Yhwach? He taunted, but Barragan paid him no head.

'The only thing I have taken from that battle is the realization that neither we nor anyone else in this world possesses the power of an actual god,' Barragan explained while looking up at the sky. 'But hopefully, once this war this war is over, we might get a little closer to it.'

Arturo then grumbled. 'You have changed Barragan from the man I once knew,' he said while wrapping his arms. 'When you first conquered Hueco Mundo, you were already powerful enough to be worshiped as the undisputed ruler of this realm. With only me being the one who could challenge you. Now you stand so far beyond any other hollow that even that claim has become moot...at least for now.' He then narrowed his eyes. 'Yet instead of basking in your power, you are constantly dissatisfied, as if you look at your might as no greater than a regular Hollow!'

Barragan didn't say anything and let out a deep breath. 'Mainly because in the grand scheme of things it is...' he then went silent before looking at the General. 'You may not understand this, given your potential of infinite growth. But in the end, no matter how great one's power is, it is ultimately finite and can surpass Arturo.'

Arturo then glared at his king but said nothing as he continued.

'And when faced with someone that surpasses said one's power...it would be best to know your limits and escape. Unless one wishes to be brutally humbled...fatally.'

Now, back to the present.

The Soundtrack of Choice: The Battle Is To The Strong FATE/ZERO OST Epic Rock Cover

Arturo was no stranger to combat, for he had killed countless Hollows and devoured their power into his own to become ever more vital. But very few times in his life did he feel the fear of death. One of these was when the Quincy of the Death-Dealing turned his blood into poison and forced him to retreat, and much later on, Barragan, his long-time rival, finally made him submit to his rule.

And this time...a brain in the form of a barely grown adult. Who now wielded a bolt of lighting of such destructive power that his body trembled at the mere presence of it. The clouds above transformed into white, orange, brown, and yellow, while a massive red dot formed in the center.

However, despite the tremendous power Gremmy wields, Arturo is sure that he is still superior to him and would crush it all the same. So, without further hesitation, The General rushed toward his foe again with his Fanged blade.

Or at least that is what he thought.

By merely waving his lightning bolt, Gremmy turned the air around Arturo, blazing hot and immediately causing his body to burn itself alive, making the Arrancar scream in agony before collapsing to the ground. Yet even still, the stubborn General tried to continue to rush to Quincy and stabbed him with his sword. Only to feel the electric slash of the Thunder through his abdomen before his entire being was electrocuted with green lighting that was over ten times greater than that of Earth, and before Arturo could react further, he was repeatedly attacked again and again by Gremmy using the boots of Mercury to blitzed the General.

Eventually, by forcing himself through the blinding pain of the heat and electricity. Arturo swiped his energy blade at Gremmy, hoping to cut him in half. But to his stunned horror, The Visionary used his wind-like body to swirl around the edge of his weapon and slashed his lighting bolt at his forehead, shattering the four jewels that were embedded in them and nearly splitting his skull open.

'AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!' Auturo screamed in unimaginable agony. 'DAMN, YOU BRAT!' He cursed loudly while trying to slash Gremmy with his blade, only to notice that he disappeared. And upon looking around for a bit, he saw the young man standing on top of a cliff, staring him down.

Upon seeing the sight, Arturo then began to laugh.

'So you finally decided to retreat from me, child!' Arturo boasted. 'I knew that despite your disrespectful attitude, you were still a coward at heart, that you still fear me despite how strong you have become!' he ranted while slowly beginning to heal his wounds. 'But do not fret; soon, I will put you out of your misery!'

Gremmy then looked over at Arturo with pity. 'I didn't retreat from you out of fear...' He looked up at the sky. 'I did it to launch my next move.'

The Soundtrack of Choice: Blaze of soul - Orchestra 2022

Arturo then looked at the young man in confusion as he followed his gaze. 'What are you-!?'

Then, before General's eyes saw that the red spot had increased in size to the point that it nearly filled the entire horizon of the sky. Then Gremmy aimed his lightning bolt at the gigantic red area.

'Sub-Solstice Teir 5...' he uttered, throwing his lightning bolt into the storm's center. 'Eagle of Jupiter'

Then, as if a wrathful god of nature had come to life, the multi-colored storm transformed into a humungous eagle with eyes of lighting that sparked with the brilliant glow of viridescent and amber. The white, brown, orange, and yellow clouds then formed the raptor's feathers and wings, and the red spot turned into a dark crimson belly that looked like it was bathed in blood. Then, with one loud screech, the Eagle, or rather the storm in the shape of one, descended upon the Earth and consumed Arturo. Its winds were so strong that they outpaced and stripped the wind armor from the Arrancar's body before tearing it apart. At the same time, burning him with heat that exceeded the raptor of lava.

But even with all of this, it still wasn't over.

The winds of the cosmic storm then stretched out Arturo's arms and legs before restraining them with ropes made of vapor and wind. While the Eagle itself stretches up its wings and from its eyes, lighting flows through its body before striking Arturo and electrocuting him once more and far longer, now feeling every cell in his body scream in unimaginable pain from the super bolts of electricity ruining him.

'DAMN, IT!' He screamed out from the torture. 'Don't think...' he struggled to yell out through the suffering. 'That this is enough to restrain me!'

Gremmy then looked at the struggling Arrancar and gave him a blank look. 'Just Long enough...' he stretched out his left hand. 'Teir Zero, Bow of Phoebes'

Then, in his hands, a glowing white elegant bow formed in his palm that burned with flames as hot as the surface then the sun itself, and by pulling its strings, a single fiery arrow was forged with a miniature sun at its tip.

At that moment, Arturo, with dread, knew what would happen as Gremmy unleashed the arrow directly at his immobile form.

Then, when the projectile struck, it unleashed an awe-inspiring explosion that seemed to illuminate almost the entirety of Heuco Mundo in its brilliance and shook it to nearly its very core. Then, when the light faded, it left behind a vast burning crater of melted glass within the white desert. Stretching hundreds of miles and over tens of thousands of feet deep. Arturo stood in the center of the bowl, his wings burnt off, his stomach and chest having a steaming burn-out hole right below his hollow cavity, and his skin almost completely blacked in incinerated flesh. The General's once elegant, fanged sword was reduced to little more than a burnt-up hilt, which he soon dropped to the ground, no longer even having the strength to grasp it.

Yet despite being in a state that would all but pronounce him dead, he was still regenerating, much to Gremmy's mild amusement.

'So you were able to take on a one million-degree supernova to the face by using all of your spiritual pressure to form a windshield around your body at the last minute... impressive,' Gremmy complemented while walking over to Arturo. 'But I am afraid it is the end of the line for you.'

The General then chucked weakly. 'The end of the line?' He taunted. 'I have taken everything that you have thrown at me and remain standing, and once I have fully recovered my body, I will-!?' Arturo then quickly realized that his injuries were no longer healing, and while the majority of his flesh and organs were restored along with his wings, he still suffered massive burns across his body.

Soundtrack of Choice: Bleach OST: ON THE PRECIPICE OF DEFEAT (TYBW Vocal Remix)

But then he came to an even more horrible realization.

'The Reishi in the air is...barren,' he spoke in a low, almost panicked whisper and glared at Gremmy. 'What did you do?!' He snapped, and the Visionary smirked and summoned his Cladudise into his left hand.

'It is amazing how many aspects the Roman and Greek gods embody, you know,' Gremmy complimented while looking at the doubles-headed snake rode. 'Particularly Mercury, who is not only the god of speed, but also of messages, thieves, trickery, luck, but most interesting of all...boundaries.' The Visionary then glared at Arturo, and he immediately guessed what the young man had done.

'You...used that thing to cut off my supply of reshi? But I would have noticed such a thing-'

'Which is why I expanded the Cademus boundary effect to over a thousand miles, to prevent yourself from noticing and given all the massive wounds you received and healed up on. You dried up every bit of reshi in the air of said area,' Gremmy said, then smiled cruelly. 'I, on the other hand...'

Then, with a wave of his rod, the Imperial guard broke down the Reshi that composed the sands and rocks of Heuco Mundo and formed a pair of glowing blue angelic wings with a laurel over his head.

'Don't have that problem'

Arturo stared silently at his wing foe, though tired and drained like him. Gremmy was still ready for battle and capable of continuing the fight. In contrast, he was practically on his last legs.

Even if the General were to use every last drop of his power on the Imperial Guard, it would have little to no effect on the Quincy now and, worse of all, without his healing factor. It would take only one good blow to take him down for good.

So Arturo did the most sensible thing he could.

He ran.

At a speed that rivaled Mercury's Sandals, The General flew hundreds of miles away within a few seconds, and within a few minutes, he would be on the other side of Hecuo Mundo. He would then spend his time feasting on Hollows until his power was enough to overtake Gremmy and, eventually, Barragan himself. As he always did when faced with a foe he could not beat.

But during his flight, Arturo noticed a massive shadow above him. Then, when he looked up, his mouth gasped in bone-chilling terror as a gigantic diamond marble with an equally large naked, beaded man inside came falling after him despite using all of his speed to evade it. He was still somehow pulled towards it by a gravitational force.

'NO...NOOOOOO!' The General screamed pathetically in outright fright as he slammed into the country marble before being crushed into oblivion between it and the desert sands.

Gremmy, from a distance, looked on with a dispassionate expression.

'...I will admit, I was tempted to let you go, Arturo' Gremmy admitted to the now fallen general. 'So you could grow stronger and eventually become the monster I once feared you as, defeat you, and finally put my shame to rest.' He then closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. 'But then it would be unforgivably irresponsible for me to allow someone as dangerous as you to attack the soul society and make countless other people go through the same thing as I once did, just to satisfy my ego...so forgive me for being a bit less merciful.'

The Visionary then looked over to where Ichigo had headed. 'Shame, given how exhausted I'm, I won't be able to join you without getting in your way. But I can only hope you can pull through on your Kurosaki.'

Meanwhile, within the Central Throne room courtyard, Ichigo Kurosaki and Barragan meet face to face as they stare each other down, ready to battle.

So, The Hollow King and the Substitute Shinigami finally meet each other.

How will the battle go down?

Well, you all have to wait until the next chapter, so see you then!