Once everything was ready, Shin placed his finger against Nel's lips.
At the moment the ability activated, threads of visible reishi seeped from his fingertip, streaming silently through her mouth and nose, flowing into her body.
At first, Nel showed no reaction, her demand for reishi was simply too high.
But as Shin kept at it, the steady flow began to accumulate. At last, after a soft whimper, she slowly opened her eyes.
Her gaze was hazy, unaware that she had been unconscious, uncomprehending of the situation before her.
But as soon as she realized what was happening, she hastily raised both hands and clutched his wrist.
"Shin, don't take it away, Nel still wants more~"
Shin smiled, patting the mask on her head. His voice was gentle. "Don't be afraid, Nel. Shin's right here. If you like it, then eat as much as you want~"
Throughout, he never withdrew his finger. The Reishi Infusion kept flowing.
Only Nel had misunderstood.
She opened her little mouth, bared her sharp teeth, and tried to bite his finger.
Shin nearly jumped out of his skin, yanking his hand back. "Hey, hey! I said eat the reishi, not me!"
Nel pouted, eyes watery with grievance. "Shin… do you not like Nel anymore?"
Faced with this ridiculous soul-deep accusation, Shin flicked her nose with a finger. "You little trickster, don't start that. If you don't absorb the reishi properly, you'll be flat-chested forever~"
Nel glanced down at herself, then glared up at him. "Th-that's way too cruel!"
After that, she stopped speaking, stopped fooling around, and focused only on drinking in the reishi…
This sight left Pesche and Dondochakka completely dumbfounded.
In one move, Shin had revived the weakened Nel, and she was now brimming with spirit.
Dondochakka blurted out, "Shin, how did you do that?! You've been hiding this kind of ability all along!"
Pesche added, "The amount of reishi you're transmitting, it's several times more than what you'd get from devouring an ordinary Hollow!"
Shin said nothing, continuing to feed reishi into Nel's body.
Nel, meanwhile, clutched his finger with both hands as if afraid he would flee, her teeth pressing down as she greedily savored the delicious energy, unwilling to stop.
The two retainers were still staring in awe when the sound of disturbed sand reached their ears.
They turned, and saw a small Hollow dart past a few meters away, clearly just passing through with no intent to fight.
But Pesche wasn't about to waste such a chance.
Years ago, they had been ambushed by Nnoitra and Szayelaporro.
Their masks had been shattered, an injury that, for Adjuchas-class Hollows, meant their evolution was forever halted.
Without devouring other Hollows in time, they risked regressing back to Gillians, losing self-awareness permanently.
So whenever they encountered a stray Hollow, especially one weak and defenseless, they never hesitated.
The creature scrambled on all fours, oblivious to the four of them.
Pesche sprinted after it, vanishing with the Hollow behind a dune.
Shin couldn't help staring. "He's really running like that in nothing but a loincloth? Bold guy…"
Minutes passed with no sign of Pesche, the desert falling into silence again.
Shin kept the reishi flowing, but was soon interrupted by a chilling sound: a long, piercing howl carried from the opposite direction.
It was deep and resonant, yet sharp enough to cut through the air, the unmistakable cry of a Gillian.
Sure enough, from behind the dunes emerged two towering figures, each more than twenty meters tall.
Their pitch-black bodies loomed like buildings, grotesque masks stretched over their faces, eye sockets empty and void. A guttural hum vibrated from within their chests.
"Ahhh! We're gonna get eaten! Run!"
Nel's shriek made the already dangerous situation even worse, sending both retainers shivering in fear.
In a flash, she threw Shin's hand aside, hopped into the sand, and buried herself completely, wriggling until she looked like nothing more than a mound.
"Nel-chan, that's way too obvious. It's like you're not hiding at all~" Shin muttered, crouching down.
"Shhh! Don't talk! Nel's not here!" came her muffled reply, before she fell silent.
"Shin! Lady Nel is in your care. You must protect her!"
Dondochakka's voice was grave as he stared ahead.
Normally, one of them always stayed behind to guard Nel.
But today, with two Gillians closing in, he had no choice but to face them directly.
Shin knew Dondochakka's situation well.
Once an Adjuchas-class Arrancar, his mask's destruction had crippled his power. His strongest attack was the combined Cero he performed with Pesche, formidable when together, but now, with his partner gone, how could he stand against two Gillians?
Before Shin could respond, Dondochakka slammed the ground and charged.
The Gillians might appear slow and clumsy, but in truth their speed was frightening.
Within seconds, Dondochakka intercepted them head-on.
Against their colossal forms, he looked pitifully small. But in Hueco Mundo, size alone didn't decide strength.
Without a shred of fear, he drew his weapon, a short-handled spiked mace, and leapt at the left Gillian.
The blow struck with a deafening crack, forcing the giant backward several meters.
But he had aimed for the mask and fallen short, wasting the chance.
Still, he didn't stop, climbing onto the second Gillian to use its size to his advantage.
The battlefield grew chaotic. One Gillian, struck, retaliated wildly, accidentally tearing into its companion.
The clash of titans shook the desert, their cries echoing.
Shin winced as he watched, heart pounding.
"Don't tell me… he's been swallowed already?"
But just then, a faint cloud of sand burst from the Gillian's shoulder.
Dondochakka emerged from the shadows, mace raised high. He slammed it down on the left Gillian's mask, cracks spread, then shattered.
The Hollow roared once more before collapsing lifelessly into the dunes.
But the victory was short-lived. The second Gillian had locked onto him, jaws opening wide.
"Behind you! Watch out!" Shin shouted.
Before he could act, a third roar split the desert. From another dune rose yet another towering Gillian.
Shin's eyes narrowed. "An ambush? Gillians aren't supposed to be that clever…"
Usually, Gillians were mindless amalgamations. But some rare ones developed self-awareness, hunting their own kind to evolve into Adjuchas.
This one was different. Its mask was sharper, its gaze faintly glimmering with thought. Clearly, it had orchestrated this.
The weak Hollow earlier must have been bait.
Shin cursed softly. "To be outplayed by a dumb species like this… what a disgrace."
He pried Nel out from under the sand and tucked her under his arm.
"Let me go, Shin! Under the sand is safest!" Nel wailed, pounding at him with tiny fists.
Shin just flicked her forehead and smirked. "Keep fussing and I'll feed you to him~"
At that, she went quiet, trembling as she burrowed deeper into his hold.
The Gillian's target was clear: Nel. Her small, powerful body was worth more reishi than hundreds of Hollows.
No matter where Shin moved, the monster followed, kicking up clouds of sand to obscure him.
Visibility shrank to nothing, and Nel began coughing in the dust.
Using sound, the Gillian could track them easily.
Shin had no choice. He flashed away with Sonído, reappearing beyond the smoke.
The Gillian's gaze snapped to him immediately.
It wasted no time, preparing its ultimate move.
Mouth wide, reishi condensed into a blazing sphere, its Cero.
The scarlet glow lit the night, vibrating the very air.
"Get out of the way! That's not something you can fight!" Dondochakka shouted, alarmed.
But Shin only tightened his hold on Nel and stood his ground.
The Cero swelled, then detonated, tearing a massive trench through the desert.
Dust and light engulfed everything.
The Gillian advanced, certain its prey had been obliterated.
But from the haze, Shin shot upward, rising to its eye level.
"System, activate the attribute Columnar Cero."
[Acknowledged. Attribute Columnar Cero activated.]
At his fingertip, reishi condensed, dense and focused.
The beam erupted, cutting straight through the Gillian's mask and body, slicing it in two.
The giant crashed to the ground, lifeless.
Shin landed softly, setting Nel down and smiling gently. "You did great, Nel. You didn't even cry."
She spat out sand and whispered nervously, "But… compared to those monsters… Shin, you're the scariest of all."
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Support me by adding this fic into your library!
150 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter