Boom—
A heavy slash.
Harribel raised her slender arm high, swung her bone sword, and delivered a fierce, heavy slash forward!
A massive explosion roared, and the void trembled.
Dust and sand erupted in all directions, blotting out the sky and sun.
It is no exaggeration to say that the current Harribel is at the top of Hueco Mundo's food chain. Among the executors of the Las Noches collapse plan, she is the strongest.
Even without becoming an Arrancar, she still displays overwhelming battlefield dominance.
If it were anyone else here, such as Szayelaporro, a bitter struggle would be inevitable, to say the least.
Without using those black technologies, being besieged by multiple named Adjuchas would carry a high probability of an unexpected defeat.
Unfortunately, Harribel was up against Naraku Sora.
A monster with no strange mechanics, who crushed opponents purely through raw stats.
Fortunately, Harribel was not fighting alone.
The trio following her hung far back at the edge of the battlefield, either opening their mouths, lowering their heads, or swaying their tails.
Crimson light gathered in a mouth, on antlers, and on a snake tail respectively, instantly forming red spheres radiating an ominous glow.
They shot forth explosively.
At that moment, Harribel's Reiatsu erupted. Golden light gathered on her bone sword, and surging water swirled and rushed along both sides of the blade.
The golden Reiatsu merged into the water waves, condensing into a towering water column that shot straight into the clouds.
With a swing of Harribel's sword, a tsunami sweeping across the desert was suddenly set off. Scorching heat permeated it, and a massive amount of steam violently erupted.
In a brief, almost imperceptible instant, the temperature of the surrounding air skyrocketed.
The Cero arrived first. The dazzling, brilliant light swallowed that terrifying figure whose skin seemed to flow with magma, erupting with a shockwave that tore through the air and the earth.
Harribel's gaze sharpened. She swung her bone sword backhand, whipping the violent tidal currents forward as if cracking a long whip.
Boom!
The apocalyptic aftermath spread in all directions, sparing no effort in altering the battlefield's terrain. Under the impact of the scorching ocean currents, it continuously annihilated the silver sand.
Speaking of which, the sand that made up Hueco Mundo was actually formed from the decomposed corpses of Hollows that had died over countless years.
This also allowed some small animal Hollows to survive by eating dirt.
And Harribel's current actions were tantamount to grinding the bones and scattering the ashes of her former kin.
It was somewhat hellish.
"Is... is it over?"
Sung-Sun looked at the scorching ocean current that annihilated everything with lingering fear. She couldn't help but feel shocked by Harribel's power, her snake tail swaying non-stop.
Having followed Lady Harribel for so many years, this was the first time she had seen such a terrifying side of her.
So the gap between an Adjuchas and a Vasto Lorde was actually this massive!
"Use that walnut-sized brain of yours! If it could be resolved this easily, Lady Harribel wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to gather the other Menos Grande!"
Mila Rose, the lioness-type Adjuchas, let out a frustrated roar.
"I can feel that guy's Reiatsu. It hasn't weakened at all. Instead..."
Apacci, who resembled a doe, chimed in, pawing her hooves uneasily:
"It's continuously getting stronger!"
The roaring, scorching water currents gradually subsided. Completely unscathed—no, not completely unscathed, as his skin had turned slightly red from the impact and high temperature—Naraku Sora appeared in everyone's line of sight.
Seeing that her fully charged strike had only caused such a minor effect, Harribel couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.
No wonder the other party could become the new king of Las Noches. No wonder even Baraggan, who had always wanted to recruit her, was defeated by him...
Such a monster simply couldn't be defeated in single combat.
Thinking of this, Harribel's gaze sharpened, and she suddenly looked at the others:
"What are you all waiting for?"
"If a Soul Reaper is truly allowed to rule Hueco Mundo, not only us, but other Hollow groups will also become prisoners!"
Naraku Sora stretched his arms, looking at the proud figure opposite him with great interest.
As expected of a fierce creature of Hueco Mundo. In terms of sheer proportions alone, she already surpassed all the female Soul Reapers he knew.
No, wait, he almost forgot the current Captain of Squad 12, Kirio Hikifune.
Speaking of which, she was also a tech otaku, holed up in her barracks all day without going out, researching some Artificial Soul technology.
He heard she had already achieved initial success and would soon be selected as a new member of the Zero Division, heading to the Soul King Palace and achieving ascension.
Back when he was chatting with Tenjirō Kirinji, they had discussed this topic.
In that guy's words, if the Artificial Soul technology was truly as miraculous as described, Kirio Hikifune's promotion to the Zero Division was only a matter of time.
He just didn't know if this so-called Artificial Soul technology would provide any inspiration for the research Aizen was currently conducting.
Just as Naraku Sora was deep in thought.
The nearby air let out a sound like firecrackers, and a slender figure, fully two meters tall, suddenly appeared behind him.
Irregularly shaped sharp horns were particularly conspicuous under the moonlight.
Scythe-like forelimbs were raised high, gleaming with a cold light in the air. The muscles beneath the bone armor bulged slightly, suddenly erupting with astonishing speed.
Slash down!
A trace of excitement flashed in his narrow pupils. Nnoitra seemed to have already envisioned the beautiful scene of the Soul Reaper before him having his head chopped off, blood spurting out.
As an insect-type Adjuchas, not only did he possess Hierro with a defensive strength far exceeding that of Menos Grande of the same level, but even his speed surpassed that of his peers.
As early as when he was hit by Naraku Sora's Cero, Nnoitra had taken the opportunity to conceal his Reiatsu, looking for the perfect moment to launch a sneak attack.
The attacks from Harribel and the others undoubtedly created an excellent opportunity for him.
The moment he noticed Naraku Sora was distracted, Nnoitra sprang up from his crawling, breath-concealing state. The instant he activated Sonído, he had already concentrated all his power into his forelimbs.
So, die!
A cold gleam surfaced on his scythe-like forelimbs, suddenly chopping down onto Naraku Sora's neck.
Then, the sound of clashing metal rang across the battlefield.
Nnoitra looked at the completely unmoving neck in astonishment, momentarily doubting if he was hallucinating.
Where was the thick, slippery blood?
Where was the head flying high into the air?
Why were there sparks on his skin?!
A disappointed expression appeared on Naraku Sora's face. He reached out and pushed away the scythe frozen against his neck, backhanding the relatively slender forelimb arm:
"And here I was actually having expectations for you. Is this it?"
For a moment, Nnoitra's eyes filled with bloodshot veins. He suddenly felt that his actions were like those of an absolute clown.
An extreme sense of humiliation burned his fragile nerves, swallowing up his meager remaining sanity.
His hideous mouthparts opened, just as he was about to say something.
Crack!
Amidst the crisp sound of shattering bones, an arm was forcibly torn off. Blood sprayed out like a fountain, scattering across the sandy surface.
"Aaaargh—!"
The originally vicious words turned into an angry roar. Nnoitra staggered, his face beneath the mask twisting from the violent emotional fluctuations, his narrow pupils filled with crazed hatred.
"Die!"
The skin on both sides of Nnoitra's body suddenly tore open, and five consecutive scythe-like forelimbs sealed off all the gaps in front of him, as if trying to dismember the figure before him into eight pieces.
However, an attack of this level was simply not enough to make Naraku Sora take it seriously.
A large hand wrapped in lightning and fire reached straight forward, ignoring the opponent's slashes, and unceremoniously pressed against that face with only one eye.
Naraku Sora grinned. Under Nnoitra's astonished gaze, he lifted him entirely off the ground.
The next second, he slammed him down.
Boom!
The silver sea churned, and endless waves of sand shot into the sky, rising like a rioting tsunami. Fierce winds swept and howled, and a terrifying shockwave continuously expanded.
Under the heavy blow, Nnoitra's skull let out a crisp sound of being overwhelmed.
Thick blood splattered, dyeing the surrounding silver sand red. His presence instantly weakened to the extreme, seemingly entering his dying moments.
Hierro was strong, yes, but it didn't protect against concussive force.
With a full-force slam, even his brain would be turned to mush.
Naraku Sora shook his wrist, just as he was about to step out of the deep crater.
A golden Cero swept across the desert, accurately hitting Naraku Sora's body, and then dissipated outward like water crashing against a wall.
At the point of impact, the skin was broken, and blood seeped out.
Harribel took a deep breath. Just as she was about to say something, she was horrified to discover that the wound she had finally managed to inflict healed in an instant.
High-Speed Regeneration!
Harribel's pupils shrank abruptly. It was absolutely impossible for her to mistake this ability.
From beginning to end, the opponent had never drawn the signature Zanpakutō of a Soul Reaper. Moreover, he had fought entirely in hand-to-hand combat and even released an attack similar to a Cero.
An absurd thought surfaced in Harribel's mind.
Could it be that they had been fighting a Menos Grande this whole time?!
Right at this moment, billowing smoke and dust came from not far away. A massive shadow that blotted out the sky suddenly appeared, enveloping Naraku Sora, its hooved feet on both sides wantonly trampling the earth.
There was no trash-talk segment; he felt he was angry enough right now.
Yammy, resembling a caterpillar magnified countless times, raised his arms that were as thick as stone pillars. His steel-like muscles wriggled, and terrifying power surged and accumulated between his fists.
Boom—
Ultimate destruction suddenly descended. The boundless sandy surface was whipped into monstrous waves by the terrifying impact, shooting into the sky like an inverted waterfall.
The entire battlefield trembled madly under this strike.
"It's over, Harribel."
Yammy raised his arm, turned around, and revealed a hideous smile at the figure not far away:
"According to our agreement, this Soul Reaper is my spoil of war. You can't..."
However, before he could finish his sentence, a towering pillar of fire rose from the deep crater behind him, instantly dyeing the pitch-black sky a crimson red.
The surrounding temperature rose infinitely. In the air distorted by the heatwave, a figure resembling a demon slowly walked out of the deep crater.
Hum—
The low hum of Sonído rang out. Yammy only felt his vision blur, followed immediately by an irresistible, majestic force striking his waist and abdomen.
"Guaaah—"
Under horrified gazes, that mountain-like behemoth was sent flying backward, just like a powerfully kicked soccer ball.
Like an iron plow turning the earth, layers of waves rippled across the desert.
From east to west, rings of white shockwaves exploded. Dragging a long tail of flames, Yammy left a trench tens of meters wide across the desert, ultimately crashing into the ground and kicking up a mushroom cloud made of silver sand!
Having done all this, Naraku Sora stood in the sky, looking down condescendingly at the few shivering little kittens:
"Who's next?"