"Your understanding of Garganta is really primitive."
Nelliel let out a soft sigh and slowly sheathed the twin blades in her hands.
"You can only move from one fixed point to another. If you want to go to a different coordinate, you first have to know that coordinate, then adjust the Garganta accordingly."
She extended her slender, jade-like fingers and lightly flicked through the air as if playing a piano.
Buzz!
A massive and stable Garganta screen unfolded out of thin air.
But the scene displayed on that screen made Hirako Shinji, Ishida Uryu, and the others feel a chill run through their entire bodies.
It was the familiar streets of Karakura Town. Yet in the center, there was now a massive crater.
The several dozen meters where Urahara Shop originally stood looked as if they had been forcibly carved out of the map by some divine power. The foundation, the underground space, and the surrounding buildings, all of it had completely turned into nothingness.
"What did you do to Urahara?", Hirako Shinji's voice trembled.
Even though he had already thought Urahara Kisuke might be in trouble, he knew the man's methods well. He didn't really believe Urahara would be killed.
But now, things looked very bad.
"We didn't do anything special."
Nelliel spoke calmly, "We simply erased the coordinate you used to come here completely. That place is now in a violent spirit particle turbulence. Any Garganta trying to lock onto it will get lost."
She turned her head and looked at the pale-faced group, revealing that signature gentle smile.
"As for that shopkeeper who always likes to scheme…"
"Targeted by two Espada even stronger than me, do you think he still has a way out?"
"Impossible!"
Hirako Shinji immediately refuted, his voice hoarse, "You're already No.3. How could there be two people stronger than you? The First and Second Espada are both here."
"No! No! No!"
Nelliel shook her head, "Like I said earlier, my ability is Mercy. In essence, it's not suited for combat. In a one-on-one life-and-death battle, they might not necessarily win against me for sure."
"But for this kind of cleanup task, those two companions whose abilities are designed purely for combat are a hundred times more professional than I am."
"Heh! Looks like Urahara really calculated his own life into this one."
Hearing Nelliel's airtight explanation, Hirako Shinji's heart sank completely.
Every battlefield had been suppressed across the board, and now even their last escape route had been cut off. Their only strategist and all-rounder was very likely already dead.
'What kind of ambush to weaken the enemy is this?'
'This is clearly a one-sided suicide charge!'
Today, this group of theirs, aside from those deliberately left alive because of Rosse's bad taste, probably none of them would walk out of Hueco Mundo alive.
In his despair, his gaze couldn't help but turn toward Yhwach and Jugram.
'Hey! Weren't you Quincies acting all arrogant when you showed up?'
'Why are you all silent now like you've lost your tongues?'
'Come on, pull out another trump card!'
'Think of something!'
And when the situation is already bad, misfortune always comes one after another.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion that made the earth tremble erupted from the farthest battlefield.
The sound was heavy and dull, like a towering divine mountain collapsing completely to the ground with a roar.
Immediately after, Gerard's spiritual pressure, which had been as violent as the blazing sun, faded rapidly like a light bulb losing power, until it disappeared entirely.
Silence fell over the entire battlefield.
No one needed to see it with their own eyes. Everyone could imagine the scene.
Gerard, who possessed the power of miracles, ultimately failed to create a miracle of his own in the face of absolute force.
Buzz!
The next second, space rippled.
Ulquiorra, clad in a black robe, appeared above the central battlefield as if teleporting.
The exclusive Espada black robe he wore had been personally woven by Shutara, allowing it to integrate with his own ability and fully repair itself after battle.
At the same time, in Ulquiorra's pale, paper-like hand, he was quietly holding a heart that was still beating violently.
That heart was not blood-red, but instead a translucent crystal, faintly glowing with a sacred golden light that one could hardly bear to look at directly.
"So Gerard has fallen as well…"
Jugram looked at that heart, silent.
That was the Soul King's heart, and the source of Gerard's power.
After losing the Soul King's heart, even if Yhwach revived Gerard and granted him enough power, he would never reach the same upper limit he had when he possessed it.
At this moment, Jugram truly felt a bone-deep chill.
Not because of the enemy's strength, but because he had finally seen that cruel truth.
Just as Harribel had said, in the new world Yhwach spoke of, there had never been a place for these loyal knights.
They were merely sacrifices.
Tools meant to wear down the enemy, a group of vessels nurturing power for Yhwach.
The reason they had been sent to Hueco Mundo this time was to use their deaths to accelerate Yhwach's awakening.
Jugram could understand Yhwach's actions, but he couldn't accept them.
But what could he do?
Once you step onto the battlefield, you must be prepared to die.
"Grimmjow is too slow."
Ulquiorra coldly commented in midair, casually tossing the precious Soul King's heart down to Harribel.
Harribel raised her hand to catch it. Spirit particles surged at her fingertips, instantly forming a deep blue spirit box that tightly sealed the still-beating heart inside.
"Aren't you worried that little leopard will throw a tantrum?", Nelliel covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"This is His Majesty's assigned task," Ulquiorra's voice carried no emotion, "Delaying it is his incompetence."
Before his words even finished, his figure disappeared again.
In the next instant, a despair-inducing fluctuation of spiritual pressure appeared on Grimmjow's battlefield.
On Hirako Shinji's side, they had considered going to provide support.
But after glancing at Nelliel, who was watching them with a smiling expression, they ultimately gave up on the idea.
At this point, the battle was no different from already lost.
Just now, using words to stall Nelliel had already counted as holding back two powerful enemies.
But now another one had freed up their hands. From here on, it would basically be a complete rout.
Ulquiorra's arrival caused even the one battlefield where the Shinigami and Quincy had the advantage to collapse entirely.
"Giselle is dead too…"
Meninas let out a soft sigh, her tone carrying a hint of sadness.
She lay spread out on the cold sand, her pink hair scattered messily, a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.
She had long been forced out of her Vollstandig state. Every bone in her body was screaming in pain.
Relying only on her special ability to fight against Lilynette, whose spiritual pressure was an entire level higher than hers, she felt that lasting this long was already quite impressive.
Watching one companion after another lose their spiritual pressure, even someone as carefree as her couldn't help but feel a trace of sorrow.
"If you're feeling upset or unwilling, then hurry up and get up and fight to the very end."
Bambietta, still fighting, shot a glare at Meninas lying on the ground.
Her current state was even more miserable than Meninas.
Not only had her Vollstandig been forcibly knocked out, but her military uniform was already torn to shreds. Her body was covered in wounds of varying depths, and blood dripped from her trembling arms.
Even so, she still tightly gripped the half-broken spirit blade in her hand, glaring fiercely at Lilynette.
"What's the point of holding on? If you weren't on the death list, you'd already be dead. His Majesty is still too soft when it comes to pretty girls," Lilynette clicked her tongue and walked over impatiently.
Bang!
She lifted her small foot and casually kicked Bambietta to the ground, then unceremoniously plopped down and sat on top of the stubborn Quincy girl, like she had subdued a disobedient little beast.
"Speaking of which, I actually quite like the two of you. Originally, you were marked by another Espada to be trained into her subordinates. But how about coming to me instead? I can protect you," Lilynette suddenly grinned, revealing a cute little fang, though her tone sounded like a bandit tyrant.
At this moment, she completely ignored the annoyed glare from Candice, who was lying on the sand not far away.
'She actually dared to poach right in front of me?'
'And from someone His Majesty doesn't even favor.'
'Just wait!'
At the next Espada meeting, she would make this brat understand that among the Espada, rank wasn't what determined who had the final say.
"Huh? Who took a liking to us?"
As soon as Meninas heard this, she perked up. She flipped up from lying down like a salted fish and asked with a smile, "Is it a cute little girl like you, or a mature big sister like the others?"
She wasn't stupid.
At this point, with no movement from Yhwach and Jugram, even a fool could tell they had been abandoned.
Even if they weren't killed by these Espada, returning to the Wandenreich would mean execution for mission failure.
But she didn't want to die.
If it had been a normal mission she failed, she would accept whatever punishment came.
But a mission where death was inevitable, there had never been any intention of letting them live from the start.
Their power came from Yhwach. If they were truly vessels breeding power for him, then after they died, that power would return to him.
That was probably their emperor's real goal.
'Sigh!'
'Look at the Hollow King's palace, turning a group of Hollows into gods. Then look at our own emperor, treating a group of geniuses like rechargeable batteries.'
The gap was enough to make anyone who heard it feel sad.
'Just like that Miss Nelliel says, our emperor really isn't that great.'
Meninas complained in her heart, but only dared to do so internally.
If she said it out loud, she was afraid their emperor would activate Auswahlen on the spot and wipe her out.
"Tch! It's a woman who's got nothing going for her except big boobs. That woman relies on His Majesty's favor all day and acts arrogant as hell."
Lilynette crossed her arms and clicked her tongue.
"Oh right! That Shinigami named Sui Feng who came earlier? She got taken down by her, bullied like a dog."
"Huh? That extreme? Then if we're switching sides, I'd rather go with you," Meninas exclaimed.
"Meninas! Are you going to betray His Majesty?", At that moment, a weak yet angry voice sounded.
Candice dragged her heavily injured body forward, stumbling as she walked.
Her long green curly hair was now covered in sand, making her look extremely disheveled.
She glared fiercely at Lilynette, especially at her flat chest, her eyes full of a taunting look that clearly said you're the one with nothing going for you.
"Oh? Another one!"
Lilynette narrowed her wolf-like eyes. Right now, Candice wasn't the Ninth Espada Candice, she was just Quincy Candice.
That meant she could bully her however she wanted.
Whoosh!
The next second, Lilynette appeared behind Candice and kicked the back of her knee.
Thud!
Candice fell to her knees.
Before she could struggle, Lilynette skillfully switched mounts and plopped down onto her back.
"You bastard! Get off me!"
Candice's face turned red with anger.
She swore that once this was over, she would definitely report this to Rosse.
'This wolf brat is absolutely abusing my authority for personal revenge!'
"I don't want to betray His Majesty either!"
Watching this scene, Meninas spread her hands helplessly and sighed.
"But when your life is in someone else's hands, do I even have a choice? Look at you, you can't resist either, right?"
As she spoke, she quietly observed Candice pinned beneath Lilynette.
As long-time close friends, she knew Candice's hot-tempered personality too well.
Normally, being humiliated like this, ridden on like this, even if it meant self-detonating her spirit particles, Candice would have dragged the other side down with her.
But now…
'Candice is only raging helplessly?'
'And that anger… why does it feel like there isn't much despair in it? Instead, it carries a certainty like she'll get her revenge next time?'
'Why?'
'She is a defeated captive, what makes her think she can take revenge?'
'Unless…'
Meninas' pink eyes narrowed slightly as an extremely bold and absurd guess surfaced in her mind.
Thinking back to before the battle, even Yhwach himself had said there was a traitor among the Quincy.
'Could it be that this damn Candice already defected?'
'And judging by how familiar this interaction looks, has she actually climbed into the higher ranks of the Hueco Mundo royal palace?'
Maybe even the Espada who had specifically requested the two of them as subordinates was this very woman with the big chest and no brains.
At that thought, the way Meninas looked at Candice completely changed.
'No way… no way!'
'Why her?'
'Even if it is said that the ruler of Hueco Mundo likes women, why would he pick Candice instead of me?'
'In terms of size, I am bigger than Candice.'
'In terms of personality, I am gentler.'
'In terms of curves, I also have the advantage."
[T/N: Umu, she's got points though.]
'It can't be that Candice is just more shameless than me, so she got picked by that ruler of Hueco Mundo, right?'
Meninas couldn't think of any other reason.
If this had been before the battle, and she knew Candice had defected, she would've mocked her with everything she had.
But now, she was insanely jealous.
'Damn it!'
'Why can't I be the one chosen by an Espada?'
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