Upon hearing this, Kūgo Ginjō's pupils suddenly shrank, then a flicker of rage flared in his eyes.
"Stop messing around! Masatsuki Aozaki? Again with Masatsuki Aozaki?! What the hell are you people thinking?"
His voice was laced with fury and disgust, as though just hearing the name filled him with deep resentment.
He grew even more agitated, erupting with anger.
"This is bullshit! Everyone's always like this—it's disgusting! Go to hell, bastard!"
Scarlet eyes burning with rage, Kūgo Ginjō suddenly raised his blade, pointing it at Harribel. A purple ray of darkness quickly gathered at the tip, forming into a condensed collar-shaped light sphere.
In the next instant, a beam of purple light shot forward, dragging a long afterimage behind it before vanishing in a flash—striking Harribel with terrifying speed.
BOOM!!
A massive explosion followed.
The purple Reiatsu erupted like a blaze, unleashing destructive force in an instant. The sheer impact sent violent shockwaves across the ground, tearing everything in their path apart.
Harribel frowned, her expression growing serious as she observed the unfolding scene.
"…Is that... Cero?!"
She muttered in surprise.
As Masatsuki Aozaki's lover, she knew that Hollowfied Shinigami could release Cero. But what shocked her was that Kūgo Ginjō had used Hollow powers without even donning a mask.
"Die!"
A twisted smile crept onto Kūgo Ginjō's face as he opened his arms wide, as if claiming victory.
But then, he suddenly noticed a figure standing not far away—
Nelliel.
She stood silently, unusually calm, showing no sign of alarm.
Given the closeness she'd shown to the blonde woman earlier, shouldn't she have rushed over the moment Harribel was hit by his Hollow blast?
Why was she so calm?
Without even sparing him a glance, Nelliel spoke coldly.
"Harribel's power far surpasses that."
Then she added,
"Your power isn't even in the same league. But you still haven't realized it."
"To be more accurate—your trembling body has already exposed your fear, even if you refuse to admit it."
"Trembling…?"
Hearing this, Kūgo Ginjō slowly raised one hand—and sure enough, it was trembling slightly.
He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.
Then he looked back at Harribel and let out a crazed laugh, madness and glee in his voice.
"Hahaha… You're getting it all wrong. This isn't fear—it's the thrill of wielding such overwhelming power!"
His expression twisted more and more, his eyes flashing with vicious cruelty.
"Can't you tell? Your dumb little friend already lost!"
"What a shame… If I'd managed to take your power, things might've turned out very differently."
"People like you—so powerful—you probably carry fragments of the Soul King inside you."
"If I absorb your power, I'll become even stronger!"
"But none of that matters anymore."
"Next, I'll head to another city and find more of those 'gifted ones'—take their Soul King fragments too."
But right then, his laughter abruptly stopped.
In the fading light, Harribel stood motionless.
She didn't budge, like a mountain unmoved by the wind.
In front of her, the purple Cero had been caught in a jade-colored hand—and was dissipating, as if crashing into an unbreakable wall.
That hand, glowing faintly, seemed to possess infinite strength, calmly unraveling the Cero's energy bit by bit.
In just a blink, the Cero—Kūgo Ginjō's near full-power blast—vanished completely, as if it had never existed.
"No way… How?!"
Kūgo Ginjō's eyes went wide with disbelief.
He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. His powerful attack had been effortlessly blocked—completely neutralized.
This woman, always so calm and collected, hadn't just survived his Cero—she hadn't even been scratched!
Not a single tear on her clothes.
His jaw hung slack from shock.
He knew that Arrancar Hierro was durable—but this? This was unreal.
Kūgo Ginjō couldn't help but be stunned.
He realized he had underestimated Harribel—badly.
She was far more powerful than he had imagined.
And now, standing before such an opponent, he began to feel fear for his own life.
Harribel advanced step by step toward Kūgo Ginjō, her left hand covered in a white glove, her right gripping a large sword with a shark-fin pattern.
Her pace was firm and relentless. Each step seemed to crush his heart beneath her feet...
"Why? Why didn't it work? Why are you still alive?"
Kūgo Ginjō staggered back, eyes wide with shock and a trace of fear.
His voice trembled—he could barely hide the dread he felt toward Harribel.
At this point, he had completely lost his confidence. Confronted with such overwhelming power, he had no idea how to fight back.
"Cero is an instinct of the Menos—just like a beast bares its claws and fangs when it faces prey."
Hearing this, a flicker of confusion crossed Kūgo Ginjō's face.
Harribel continued calmly.
"It only looks powerful. But in truth, it's a primitive and inefficient way of using Reiatsu."
Under Kūgo Ginjō's gaze, Harribel's expression softened slightly, as if recalling something.
"Do you want to see it? A real Cero. This is something Masatsuki taught me."
With a gentle flick of her Zanpakutō, golden Reiatsu began to gather at the tip of the blade.
It seemed to condense slowly, but in reality, the process was astonishingly fast—completed in the blink of an eye.
Before Kūgo Ginjō could react, the Reiatsu had already formed. The space around it visibly warped under the pressure.
"Gran Rey Cero!"
Harribel called out softly, then swung her Zanpakutō with force.
In the next moment—
A blinding flash exploded outward, and a powerful Cero shot forward like a lightning bolt, aiming straight for Kūgo Ginjō's chest.
BOOM!!
As the Cero passed, it tore through space itself, unleashing a deafening roar.
In an instant, Kūgo Ginjō's proud Reiatsu was pierced clean through, the blast slamming directly into him.
His eyes went wide with disbelief, his face twisted in shock, as though he had just witnessed the end of the world.
He stared blankly, unable to comprehend how his Reiatsu had crumbled so easily—shattered by Harribel's Cero without the slightest resistance.
It was like an unstoppable arrow, tearing through his body without pause.
As it continued its path through the sky, the Cero triggered an earth-shattering explosion above.
The force was staggering—so immense that it ripped open a massive crack in the fabric of space itself.
The dark rift loomed like a black hole in the cosmos, devouring everything around it.
And just when it seemed the world might collapse, the tear quickly sealed itself, returning the sky to normal.
But then—another burst erupted.
The Cero struck again, shattering space, only for it to heal once more...
The cycle repeated endlessly, plunging all who witnessed it into a growing, inescapable terror.