Clang!
Two pitch-black Zanpakuto crossed like iron pincers at the last possible moment, locking down Nelliel's twin blades.
"Hey! Hey! Don't ignore us Soul Reapers so easily."
Kyoraku Shunsui's signature lazy voice rang out, but the veins on the back of his hand bulged as he gripped his sword, making it clear this block wasn't effortless.
He really had no desire to go all out against the 1st or even the 2nd Espada, but facing this female Arrancar who seemed ranked a bit lower, he figured he could at least stall for a bit.
At the very least, it would look a little better than getting wiped out instantly.
"By the way, beautiful lady, what rank are you in the Hollow King Palace again?", Kyoraku spoke while straining against her, trying to fish for information.
"So you're Kyoraku Shunsui?", Nelliel didn't press further. Instead, she borrowed the force to drift lightly backward two steps, standing in midair and looking down at them from above, a playful curve forming at the corner of her lips.
"I heard from No.4 that you lost pretty badly in Soul Society. Not only were you toyed with by Lord Rosse, you couldn't even protect your own teacher."
Those words were like a thorn, stabbing deep into Kyoraku's chest.
But he immediately caught the key point, his gaze sharpening.
"No.4? Told you that? Shouldn't it have been Kurosaki Masaki? Or are you saying Aizen is actually the 4th Espada?"
If it was Aizen, everything would make sense.
"Neither."
Nelliel raised a finger and shook it, her smile mysterious.
"The answer isn't for me to reveal. But I can tell you this, she's someone you know very well. And she's much stronger than me. Rank doesn't really represent strength, you know."
"As for me…"
She slowly raised her twin blades. The spiritual pressure belonging to a high-ranking Espada erupted completely, twisting the surrounding space into green ripples.
"My name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck! The 3rd Espada of the Hollow King Palace!"
"Tch! Last time I got crushed by the 2nd, now I run into the 3rd. My luck really is something."
Kyoraku muttered with a wry smile. But in the next instant, every hair on his body stood on end.
Slash!
'So fast!'
'Even faster than that last strike.'
Nelliel's figure vanished straight from his retina. By the time Kyoraku sensed the killing intent, that blade smooth as jade was already pressed close to his carotid artery.
Clang!
A golden spirit bow shot in like a meteor, colliding precisely with the blade.
As Nodt, no, Askin, held the spirit bow up, his whole body sent flying backward. Though his posture was messy, he did block that fatal strike for Kyoraku.
But the gap in strength was merciless.
The massive impact blasted both of them away like cannonballs, carving a hundred-meter trench across the sand.
"Hey! Soul Reaper!"
Even while flying back, Askin still shouted, "That slash you blocked for me earlier, I've paid it back! We're even now!"
"Really won't take a loss, huh."
Kyoraku had just steadied himself and hadn't even caught his breath when a chill crept in again.
"Even? Not necessarily."
Nelliel's light laughter followed like a shadow.
She had crossed the hundred-meter distance again, appearing behind them in midair, both blades raised, casually slashing down.
Rip!
A violent bolt of lightning struck from the side, hitting her blade precisely and forcibly altering the trajectory of the slash.
Immediately after, a heavy Kido barrier rose out of thin air, barely managing to block in front of Kyoraku and Askin.
"Tch! Askin, if you want to die, say it earlier! Did you forget His Majesty's rules? Don't rush ahead and act like a live target!"
A Quincy girl with long green wavy hair and a fiery figure stepped out from the lightning, looking annoyed.
Candice Catnipp!
Though she was cursing, her body was honest, she stood directly in front of Nelliel, who also had green hair.
At the same time, Ushoda Hachigen and Yadomaru Lisa from the Visoreds arrived with Flash Steps, the four forming a fan-shaped encirclement around Nelliel.
"Five against one?"
Nelliel glanced at the hostile figures surrounding her. Not only was there no fear on her face, her smile deepened.
"Numbers don't necessarily decide the outcome."
As she spoke, her gaze briefly met Candice's.
Just for a moment, a flicker of mutual understanding passed through their eyes.
The reason the Hollow King Palace knew in advance that Kyoraku and the others would come, and even precisely calculated every invasion point, was thanks to the 9th Espada standing before them.
Of course, with Yhwach not yet fully recovered, even without an insider, the Sternritter along with these remnants of Soul Reapers would never be able to shake the foundation of the Hollow King Palace.
"Why so much nonsense! If you're going to fight, then hurry up and fight!"
Yadomaru Lisa swung her iron staff impatiently, her face filled with vigilance.
As a former vice-captain, she understood the situation clearly.
She and Hachigen could at most provide support and containment. If they really wanted to defeat this 3rd Espada, it would depend on Kyoraku and those two Quincies.
"Then… let's begin round two."
Nelliel crossed her blades, green spiritual pressure sweeping out like a storm.
"Entertain me to your heart's content, invaders."
———
As Nelliel and Askin's group drew the battle away, the main battlefield became slightly less crowded. But that only made the remaining air feel heavier.
"Tch! I told you already. These weaklings, I can handle them all by myself."
Lilynette leapt forward like a small cannonball, smashing into the center of the battlefield and kicking up a sky full of yellow sand.
Hands on her hips, her still somewhat childish face was filled with undisguised boredom.
"I am the 2nd Espada of the Hollow King Palace, Lilynette Gingerbuck."
"Hey, you trash over there. Who's coming first to die? Hurry up, I'm in a rush."
"Hah, bastard! Do you think we're still the same as before?"
A furious roar rang out.
Muguruma Kensei stepped forward, fists clenched, clearly unable to endure being treated like garbage.
"Against a brat like you, I alone am enough!"
BOOM!
With the release of his Zanpakuto, a violent whirlwind of spiritual pressure rose from the ground.
"Bankai! Tekken Tachikaze!"
Massive knuckle-like blades covered his arms, and a pale Hollow mask snapped onto his face.
In that instant, Kensei's spiritual pressure surged to its peak. A towering pillar of energy shot straight into the sky, and the surrounding sand was torn into trenches by the raging wind.
Just from the spectacle, it carried a terrifying pressure close to first-class spiritual might.
But… Basterbine Bambietta, standing among the Quincies, first gave a strange look at the aggressive Kensei.
Then she glanced at Lilynette on the opposite side, who hadn't even used her full strength, yet whose naturally emanating pressure already covered several thousand meters.
"Pfft!"
This ill-tempered Quincy girl finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
She turned to Hirako Shinji, her tone dripping with disbelief and mockery.
"Seriously, are all you Soul Reapers here to perform this kind of performance art? What do they call that job in the human world again? Comedians? I swear that title was made just for him!"
Even someone as arrogant as her wouldn't dare act like that in front of those monsters.
How suicidal do you have to be?
"Kensei isn't some comedi—"
Mashiro Kuna started to argue, but the next second, her voice stuck in her throat.
Whoosh!
At the exact moment Kensei's punch, strong enough to shatter rock, was unleashed, Lilynette's figure had already appeared right in front of his nose without any warning.
"Too slow."
"Gah!"
Kensei's eyes bulged, blood vessels bursting across them.
A small, slender-looking fist had sunk deep into his abdomen like a battering ram.
In that instant, he clearly heard the sound of his ribs breaking. His internal organs felt like they'd been churned into mush by that monstrous force.
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of organs sprayed out, staining Lilynette's palm red.
"Tch! What are you so cocky for?"
Lilynette flicked the blood off her hand in disgust, like she was shaking off trash. Then she lifted her leg and delivered a heavy kick straight to Kensei's already twisted face.
"Last time you were the one jumping around the most, and you couldn't even take one hit from me. And you're back again? Never learn, do you!"
Boom!
Kensei, along with his Bankai and that freshly donned flashy mask, turned into a shooting star and flew out, carving a long trench across the desert.
Finally, he crashed into a sand dune a hundred meters away, burying himself completely and passing out on the spot.
"Kensei!"
Mashiro cried out in alarm and rushed over to dig him out.
"Seriously, just like Cang Du, all of them are here to be jokes, huh?"
Bambietta covered her face and sighed helplessly, then turned to her companion beside her. A woman with long pink wavy hair and an extremely curvy figure.
"Meninas! Stop spacing out! Get over here, the two of us will hold this monster down first!"
"Ugh! I wanted to fight that cool-looking guy instead."
Meninas McAllon muttered unhappily, but still walked over, her long legs moving with a noticeable sway.
She looked Lilynette up and down, a very gentle smile appearing on her face.
"Oh my, little sister, why do you look so underdeveloped? Is the food at the Hollow King Palace bad? Want big sis to share some nutrition with you?"
As she spoke, she deliberately pushed out her impressive chest.
The air froze instantly. Lilynette's eyes narrowed. Her previously casual gaze turned extremely dangerous.
There were two things she hated most in her life.
One was Starrk slacking off.
The other was people commenting on her figure.
"You big-chested bitch, go die!"
BOOM!
The sand beneath her feet exploded as Lilynette's figure vanished instantly. When she reappeared, she was already in front of Meninas.
That small fist, carrying the force of sixty carts, whistled through the air straight toward Meninas's chest.
"Oh my! You're angry!"
Not only did Meninas not panic, she smiled excitedly.
The pink, heart-shaped spirit particle wings behind her suddenly spread open. Instead of retreating, she advanced, raising her own soft-looking fist to meet it head-on.
Her ability was strength.
Bang!
One large and one small fist collided violently in midair.
The sonic boom from that instant exploded like thunder. A terrifying shockwave spread wildly outward from the two of them.
Within a thousand meters, the white sand was flipped over as if by an invisible giant hand, turning into a sandstorm that blocked out the sky.
"Tch! Not bad."
In the dust, Lilynette slid back a short distance, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
Even with Vollstandig, the other party's spiritual pressure had only just reached the threshold of first-class.
'Yet she can rely purely on physical strength to take my punch head-on?'
Even though she hadn't used her full power, it was still enough to kill someone like Kensei ten times over.
"Hey! This isn't the place for you two to chat! Not all Soul Reapers are comedians!"
At that moment, a deep roar came from behind Lilynette.
Kurosaki Isshin, who had been lurking in the shadows, seized the opening. Gripping his Zanpakuto with both hands, his spiritual pressure fully unleashed, he slashed fiercely toward Lilynette's back with unstoppable momentum.
That was a Getsuga Tensho powerful enough to leave a legend here.
However—
Lilynette didn't even turn her head.
As if she had eyes on her back, at the instant the blade was about to strike, she casually kicked backward.
It was a reaction born purely from beast-like instinct and bodily reflex, fast to the extreme, and ruthless to the extreme.
Bang!
"Gwah!"
Isshin's fully charged killing blow instantly turned into a joke.
That kick landed squarely on his chest, sending him flying along with his Zanpakuto.
He traced a perfect arc through the air, and by coincidence landed right beside Kensei's pit, becoming companions in misery.
"Hmm? Did some big fly just pass by?"
Meninas stood on tiptoe and looked at the distant black figure, putting on an innocent, surprised expression.
"Heh! Just a big idiot who went crazy after losing his wife. Nothing worth paying attention to."
Lilynette snorted and brushed the sand off her pants.
"Huh? Lost his wife? Tell me more! Tell me more!"
At that, Meninas's eyes lit up instantly, curiosity overflowing as if she'd completely forgotten this was a life-and-death battlefield.
"Want gossip?"
Lilynette grinned, revealing a cute little fang as she clenched her fist again, "Then catch my next punch first!"
Boom!
She shot forward again like a cannonball.
"Alright! If I catch it, you have to tell me!"
Meninas laughed like ringing bells, swinging her destructive fist as she charged forward without hesitation.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
In this desert of Hueco Mundo, the two who looked the most delicate and harmless were using the most primitive, most brutal hand-to-hand combat to create the biggest commotion on the entire battlefield.
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