Gnashing his teeth together as if he was trying to chow down the hardest steak, he was left with soreness both in his jaw and inside his soul.
This was something he couldn't allow to slide. His unyielding red glare stared at Muro De Regla with anger beyond a shadow of doubt.
'Muro De Regla!'
He fired multiple Iyono Blades at Muro De Regla knowing the inevitable was to come.
Limped forward, his eyes dwindle in the visible red, returning back to the visible green.
'I was so close. I had him and yet…' Gripping his chest tight, he yelled a resounding, heart wrenching scream disturbing the restless Hollows nearby.
His breath out of sync, slowly ramping up, but had erratically slowed as if his inner turmoil was playing at his heart. He smacked his fists upon Muro De Regla.
Everything which had led up till this moment was a ball pitched at a speed he didn't see coming.
But, Darwin couldn't keep this inner turmoil dictate his personal vendetta against Figgs.
A series of collective calming breaths, a calming mechanism he had come up with on the spot.
'Muro De Regla…what are you? Why do I see you everywhere I go?'
It was a thought he didn't think of before because he was couped up on the idea of how the ability was manifested.
Was it through sheer will? Was it through a series of interconnecting events that happened in a confined reality? Or could it be that Hueco Mundo had more than what the eye could see?
'This building…' Darwin gazes past Muro De Regla to understand more about the magnificent structure which he layed his eyes upon.
The ancient building, shaped like a pyrmaid was made of a unique, dark material absorbing neighbouring Reishi. Each piece of the structure hint signs of meticulous, artistic design to be able to withstand structural integrity through the millennia.
But what caught Darwin's eye was the carved images of Hollow evolution.
'Why is that blurred out?!' He had noted that the four stages were the base Hollow, Gillian, Adjucha and Vasto Lorde. What happened after? Why were the rest blurred out?
He looked further up, gauging a new level of mystery.
At the top of this ancient pyramid, there was a circle of conjoined pillars pinpointing what seemed be an altar. Its ominous, clouded aura collects the Reishi from beneath the building.
'What is inside the building?' He wanted to know, not for the excuse of killing Figgs, but for knowledge.
Knowledge was a cruel, untold story others must seek themselves. Looking at this building just felt awful. All the mysteries hid behind Muro De Regla.
Look…
A voice spoke through his soul, the same one who had made a fool out of him.
'What now?!'
Yet his feelings had been betrayed by a hint of satisfaction arising from his lips. The powerful energy courses through his veins and into his eyes.
His scanning eyes was able to see through the indestructible wall.
'H—how am I seeing through Muro De Regla?'
Using his scanning ability, he could see multiple structural mechanisms and features in place.
'There are so many things happening!'
What Darwin was seeing was a whole knew world of mechanisms. Reishi is being sucked underground, but the weird thing was the Reishi expanded across an unknown level of depth, a depth which seemed insurmountable.
'Even Muro De Regla can't block my scanning abilities, how intriguing…'
This revelation caused yet another reproach on his innate abilities.
However, instead of looking through Muro De Regla
Focusing on the wall itself, Darwin looked at Muro De Regla at its essence.
His vision pierced through Muro De Regla, revealing an intricate network of shifting Reishi—an unseen labyrinth of energy woven at an atomic scale.
Looking deeper, at a microscopic level, he saw something unbelievable.
The Reishi manipulation goes as small as atoms.
Sitting down, cross legged, he begins meditating all the new and profound information garnered from looking at Muro De Regla.
'If I could control my Reishi to the point of the molecular accuracy, I can maybe use Muro De Regla for myself.'
Using a similar formula to how Muro De Regla is created, Darwin manipulated his Reishi into molecular strings, forming a pathway around his body.
'It's efficient!'
The Reishi flowing throughout his entire body was circling around, similar to Gorr's engine.
'I will use this method of actualising my abilities.'
However, his control of Reiatsu is still at the beginning stage, he cannot intricately touch upon atom. But, he can control larger molecules of Reishi in his body.
Listening to his body, faintly, he can hear a flowing current moving throughout his body similar to how blood flows.
Maintaining this precise Reishi manipulation would take a lot of practice from Darwin's perspective.
'I must thank you Gorr for helping me innovate Reishi manipulation.'
Looking at Figgs' Reishi signature moving, he said to himself.
'Your dead on sight.'
With a somewhat satisfied but solemn expression, he strode away knowing that he had gained a lot, learnt a lot and renewed his mindset.
—
As Darwin continued his steady walk towards the Second Stratos, his focused momentum of seeking more knowledge was interrupted when Harribel, moving with a haste had manage to catch up to him.
"Darwin, what have you been doing all this time? Where were you?" Confusion was apparent in her tone, carrying a subtle touch of concern.
"I was hunting down a traitor."
His response was curt, his back still turned to her as he waved dismissively. "I don't have time for this," he added, gesturing for her to stay out of his lane.
Harribel's brow furrowed in confusion. She could see the seriousness etched into Darwin's face, an unyielding determination that spoke volumes. She wanted to press him further, to understand the full scope of what he had experienced, but the intensity of his demeanor made her hesitate.
Yet, her concern for him and the urgency of the situation outweighed her reservations. Taking a deep breath, she reached out and grasped his left hand, her grip firm but filled with a sorrowful resolve. "Darwin... Could you tell me the full story?"
Cold air permeated the area, sadness clouded her eyes as she looked at him, her voice trembling slightly, she said, "Whatever it is, whatever you're planning, you need to tell me. I can't stand by and let you walk into danger without knowing what's happening."
Darwin's eyes softened for a brief moment as he met her gaze. The weight of his actions and decisions seemed to press heavily upon him. He could see the genuine worry in Harribel's expression and felt a pang of regret for pushing her away.
'Again…why are you worried?'
For a fleeting instant, the unyielding facade cracked, revealing the burden he carried. But the resolve to continue his path was stronger, and he gently but firmly withdrew his hand from her grasp, he said lightly, "Sorry, but we must part ways."
'I rather be alone than be with people.' Sadden, he looked into the sky above wondering if this was right.
With that, he turned his gaze forward once more, his steps unwavering as he continued towards the Second Stratos, leaving Harribel standing behind him, her heart heavy teetering between hesitation or reaching out to him. But yet her hand was slowly pulled towards her chest, again.
She stood there, unsettled and still. What right does she have to stop him?
—
Jumping into the void of darkness, releasing his substantially powerful Reiatsu, Gillian's and Red eyed Hollows, instinctively moved away from Darwin in attempt to hide or flee.
Sensing an approaching Low class Adjucha, its tall and sleek body, he said, "Kekeke… I am—"
He was pushed away and sent hurtling far away
"I don't have time for your antics." Cold in his tone, he sweeps off the dust from his shoulders.
Quickly, focusing to his goal of learning the Stratos, he moved with goals in mind.
—
Walking through the cavern and into the Third Stratos, The Bloodied Battlefield, stepping foot into it once more.
He jumped in when Muro De Regla turns its ability off briefly.
As the golden lights turn to the ill fated and scarlet red. Darwin new profound Reishi Flow disrupted the molecular red particles from entering his skull.
Noticing that there were fewer Hollows than usual, he was planning on committing something he had once thought was unjust, genocide.
'In order to be strong, one must wipe out others in the process.'
With immediate channeling of his Reishi, he created perfectly shaped spheres with condensed acid and paralysis poison.
Cold and unforgiving like steel, he said, "Disappear."