And the Szayelaporro before her crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.
But from the sideanother Szayelaporro appeared, his expression grim.
"How did you know?" he asked, jaw clenched.
Nelliel didn't answer.
She didn't need to. The "feel" of a hitshe could tell when it wasn't right.
But the corrosive liquid dripping from Szayelaporro's body made her frown in revulsion.
Disgusting...
After a brief moment, Nelliel clearly decided she didn't want to get her hands dirty.
She raised one hand. A vibrant emerald light began to shimmer in her palm.
"Capricorn Queen Devil: Lance Trajectory!!"
(Lance Trajectory: Summons three emerald spirit lances that auto-target vital points. Each causes spatial disruption. )
Vmmmm
As her voice rang out, three lances of pure magical energy materialized around her, spinning in place.
Nelliel had finally remembered her ranged option.
With a wave of her hand
Shhhhk
All three green lances launched at once, ripping through the air like bolts of lightning, leaving behind radiant streaks in the sky.
Szayelaporro's eyes narrowed. He instantly used Sondo, vanishing from his spot and reappearing in the distance.
"You think that little trick's gonna work on me?" he sneered. "Sure, I'm not the strongest, but you really think something like that's enough to take me down?"
But before he could finish gloating, the sound of space being torn apart erupted behind him.
An intense sense of danger slammed into him.
He spun aroundjust in time to see the three green lances racing toward him.
Shlunk
No hesitation. No escape.
Each lance pierced a different part of his body, dead center.
"Ghhhk"
Blood poured from Szayelaporro's mouth as his eyes bulged wide in disbelief.
"Wh-Why how?!"
Nelliel walked toward him calmly, her lance slung over one shoulder, her voice devoid of emotion.
"Forgot to mention they home in on their target."
Szayelaporro's body wavered in mid-air, trembling, barely holding together.
One more push, and he'd drop like a rock into the sea belowsummoned earlier by Ingvild Leviathan.
But then suddenly, Szayelaporro's head snapped up. His bloodshot eyes flared with madness, and a twisted smile crept across his face.
With a furious shout, he screamed"Gabriel!!"
A shrill screech echoed through the air as a strange, whip-like tentacle launched straight at Nelliel's abdomenhis last desperate gamble.
But Nelliel's eyes darkened. Her Reiatsu surged, fusing with her magical energy in a violent burst.
The moment the tentacle crossed into her aurait was shredded instantly.
Szayelaporro's triumphant expression froze. His eyes glazed over.
"You know," Nelliel said softly, towering above him, "Lord Aizen once said something I really liked"
She looked down at him, cold and detached.
"Fights between Shinigami are decided by whose Reiatsu is stronger."
She paused.
"And the same goes for Arrancars."
Flick
She snapped her fingers. A small green bullet formed and shot into Szayelaporro's already mangled body.
In the next secondSzayelaporro's body began to swell uncontrollably.
"Gaaaaaaah!"
His scream was the last thing anyone heard before
BOOM!
He was completely obliterated.
Szayelaporro Granz: eliminated.
Thud!
Grimmjow instinctively stepped back, eyes wide in horror as he looked at Nelliel.
Two Espada gone in a matter of minutes.
He swallowed hard, his mind flashing through every past interaction he'd had with Nelliel.
"Please tell me I never pissed her off"
Around him, the others were racking their brains toofrantically trying to remember if they'd ever gotten on her bad side.
—
On the other side of the battlefield
Coyote Starrk and Tier Harribel narrowed their eyes, staring at the pressure radiating from Nelliel's body.
Mixed within that Reiatsu was another kind of energy.
One they'd felt before.
The same energy that came from Katerea Leviathan.
And more than that
It was incredibly powerful.
.
.
.
Devil Piece's Reaction
High above Las Noches, green Reiatsu tangled with ocean-blue torrents in a chaotic storm.
Nelliel retracted her lance, her amber eyes scanning the remaining Espada. Eventually, her gaze locked onto Coyote Starrk.
"Honestly, I appreciate you guys not interfering, but"
Her voice was softyet it hit like a sledgehammer to the chest.
"We're here for the whole of Las Noches. All of it."
The statement sucked the air out of the sky.
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez instinctively took half a step back. Whatever pride he had left as the Sixth Espada vanished instantly.
He glanced at Baraggan Louisenbairn, who was just moments away from being swallowed by the rising sea, then looked at the blood dripping from the tip of Nelliel's lance. His throat tightened as he swallowed hard.
"Whoa, whoa! This has nothing to do with me!" he shouted, throwing up his hands. "It was those two idiotsNnoitra and Szayelaporro! I didn't have a damn thing to do with it!"
Tier Harribel shot him a cold glare. Her bronze-toned skin shimmered like metal under the weight of Reiatsu.
She didn't say a word, but the look in her eyes said it allbegging for mercy at a time like this? Pathetic. An embarrassment to the Espada.
Starrk scratched his head lazily. The usual indifference on his face faded for the first time.
He looked up at the sky where Katerea Leviathan hovered, then at Nellieland finally at Baraggan, still fighting desperately to stay afloat in the rising sea.
A long sigh escaped his lips.
"What a pain"
Lilynette, draped over his shoulder, muttered, "Are we really doing this?"
"Yeah," Starrk said, rubbing her head. "Looks like we've got no choice."
His eyes suddenly sharpened.
He didn't care much about the rest of them.
But Baraggan? Baraggan absolutely couldn't die.
At least not in front of him.
And with that thoughtHe moved.
Fzzzt!
A pale blue orb of light crackled into existence at his fingertip.
Cero.
A standard attack for Hollows and Arrancar alike.
ButHis cero wasn't like the others'.
Unlike the usual wide beams of destruction, Starrk's cero was tightly compressed into a tiny sphere, no larger than a marble.
Yet, anyone paying attention could feel itsomething terrifying was packed into that little orb. Something catastrophic.
It was as if all the destructive force of a conventional cero had been condensed into a miniature doomsday device.
Starrk flicked the orb toward Ingvild Leviathan.
Fwoooosh!
The air split with an ear-piercing shriek.
But
"You think I'm just gonna let that slide?"
Katerea's voice rang out sharply.
In a blink, she appeared in the cero's path.
Hummmm
A thick wall of ocean surged around her like a shield.
SssszzztBOOM!
The cero slammed into the barrier, hissing and shrieking as it met resistancethen detonated with a thunderous blast, lighting up the sky in blinding blue.
ButThe sea didn't falter.
Katerea's water churned violently but held, absorbing the full brunt of the explosion. When the light faded, she stood unharmed.
All that noise and it hadn't made a dent.
Starrk narrowed his eyes.
That was all he needed to seeKaterea Leviathan wasn't going to be easy.
Moments passed.
As the shockwaves faded, Katerea dismissed the seawater shield and stared coldly at him.
"Who gave you permission to attack Ingvild?"
""
Starrk let out a sigh. "Wow. You really sound like you're in charge."
There was no frustration on his face, even after his cero was completely nullified.
He glanced back at Baraggan, his voice tinged with reluctant resignation.
"Looks like you'll have to hang in there a bit longer."
"Tch!"
Baraggan clicked his tongue. "I don't need your help."
Of course, his bravado didn't quite match his situation.
His skeletal eyes flared like flames, locked on the dark phantom surrounding Ingvild Leviathan.
His proud abilityAging Flamewasn't doing a damn thing.
Should he drag this out?
Wear her down?
He'd already figured it outthe phantom wasn't independent. It existed because of Ingvild. As long as she had energythat strange, non-reiatsu powerthis cursed shield wouldn't go away.
He just had to burn it out.
And he had been trying.
So why was it still going?
A sliver of anxiety crept into his heart.
ThenBOOOOOM!
Ingvild clapped her hands, and a massive tidal wave came crashing toward him like a living mountain of water.
Baraggan's eyes flared in alarmthen his figure was swallowed whole by the sea.
Harribel moved instinctivelybut a young woman in a shrine maiden outfit stepped into her path.
She halted, eyeing the girl.
And in that moment a strange, primal fear gripped her heart.
Like she was facing a natural predator.
What was this feeling?
She forced it down and glanced toward where Baraggan had vanished.
""
No sign of him.
Still, he couldn't be dead already. Could he?
He was the former king of Hueco Mundo, after all.
Harribel relaxed her brow and refocused on the shrine maiden.
She drew her blade and pointed it toward her.
"So you're my opponent?"
The girl smiled gently, like a friendly housewife.
"I'm Midoriko. Let's have a good match, okay?"
But Harribel instinctively leapt back.
A split second later
A talisman covered in strange, arcane symbols flared into existence where she'd just stood.
"Oops~" Midoriko said playfully. "Guess you noticed."
"No it was just instinct. I felt danger," Harribel answered honestly, watching her with more caution now.
She looked harmlesskind, even.
But her moves were quick, decisive, and deadly.
""
Midoriko blinked.
First time someone actually answered her in the middle of a fight.
And she seemed like a decent person?
Her eyes flicked to the Devil Piece inside her, glowing faintly.
A new thought crossed her mind.
Maybe, she could try to bring this one into her familia?
After all, if even Katerea Leviathan could become one of them
Then surely Tier Harribel could too.
Of course, that might require a proper fight first.
Midoriko suddenly noticed something shockingthe Devil Piece reacted to the other Espadas as well.
"Did Lord Lynn lift the 'women only' rule? Didn't he say no men were allowed in the familia?"
She couldn't quite understand it, but one thing was clearLynn was starting to change his ways for some reason.
It felt like, at least for now, everyone was allowed in the familia.
.
.
.
Either Join our Familia or End up as Food
In the distance
Yotsuya Miko noticed that Midoriko and the others had already found opponents. She blinked, then pointed at herself.
"So what about us?"
Hearing that, Kikyo shifted her gaze toward Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.
Grimmjow: "?"
Why did he suddenly get a bad feeling?
...But it vanished just as quickly as it came.
Kikyo shook her head. "Espada-level opponents are still a bit too much for you, strength-wise."
Even though Miko's ability was pretty effective against their type
The raw power difference made it risky.
That said, there were still plenty of other enemies scattered around Las Noches that could serve as perfect leveling opportunities.
Kikyo narrowed her eyes, sensing the presences hidden throughout the fortress.
Ingvild Leviathan's massive area-of-effect magic had already cleared out a portion of them.
The rest were clearly the trickier ones.
These must be the Nmeros.
That level of opponent should be just right for Miko and the others to get stronger.
Just as Kikyo was about to speakBOOM!
The calm ocean exploded into chaos as a swirling vortex of dark purple energy shot into the sky!
From within it, the battered figure of Baraggan Louisenbairn emerged, stepping atop the whirlpool like a death god rising from the abyss.
"He's still alive?!"
Grimmjow's eyes widened in disbelief.
Baraggan looked like he'd been through hell.
His once-imposing skeletal form was cracked all over, most of his right arm was missing, and the flames in his eye sockets had dimmed significantly.
But the pressure he radiated was even more brutal than before, his Aging Flames now a menacing shade of pitch-black.
"Just some seawater" Baraggan's voice rumbled like it came from the depths of the underworld, "...you think that's enough to bury the King of Hueco Mundo?!"
On the surface, Ingvild visibly trembled from his overwhelming presence, nearly falling out of her Leviathan phantom's protection.
She clung to a corner of the Leviathan phantom, her face pale. "Th-that scary skeleton uncle is seriously terrifying"
The Leviathan phantom let out a helpless sigh. Its massive hand gently supported its master, Ingvild.
"Focus on maintaining your mana output. Don't get distracted."
"O-Okay!" Ingvild frantically nodded and adjusted her magic.
The water beneath them instantly deepened in color, revealing glimpses of countless deep-sea creatures swimming within.
Baraggan panted heavily, the flames in his skull flickering wildly.
He gave Ingvild a quick glance before locking his gaze on Katerea Leviathan.
"You"
"You've officially pissed me off."
Katerea raised an eyebrow, her crimson lips curling into a mocking smile. "Oh? And what are you gonna do about it?"
She didn't even bother to descend from the skyjust lazily flicked her wrist.
A deep blue magic circle lit up beneath Baraggan's feet as countless blades of water erupted from every direction, ready to shred him.
Baraggan roared and conjured a shield of aging flames.
Water blades slammed into it, hissing violently, clouds of steam billowing out.
But this time, his defense couldn't hold. A few blades cut straight through, leaving deep gashes across his skeletal frame.
"Damn it!" The flames in his eyes flared wildly.
He had used up way too much Reiatsu just to survive earlier!
He looked up sharply, chains rattling.
"Respira!"
A wave of dark purple mist surged from his mouth, instantly turning even the ocean black as it spread.
It moved fasttoo fastheading straight for Ingvild!
"Watch out!" Nelliel flashed between them, her spear sweeping across the air and splitting the mist apart with a burst of green light.
Katerea let out a snort, spreading her fingers wide. "Deep Sea Prison!"
BOOM!
Five massive pillars of water shot upward from the sea, forming a giant cage that trapped Baraggan inside.
