"I can't understand your beliefs," Sombravida said after a long silence.
"I don't need you to," Harribel replied evenly. "I simply follow what I believe is right."
She did not waver.
Hueco Mundo had shaped her convictions through blood and survival. She would not discard them because of one Vasto Lorde's opinion.
Sombravida exhaled slowly.
"I may not understand your ideals," he said, "but I can offer you something you currently lack — a territory where you do not need to flee. A domain defended by Vasto-level power. You would only need to act when that territory is threatened."
Harribel's eyes sharpened slightly.
This was not the tone she expected.
"This does not violate your principles," Sombravida continued. "You would protect those under your command. That is what you already do."
Nel stepped forward gently.
"Our forces began in the Great Forest of Menos," she explained. "We climbed from Gillian territory. Lord Sombravida forged strength through battle — even earning Barragan's acknowledgment before reaching Vasto Lorde."
Harribel's gaze flickered.
"Then you are aligned with Barragan."
"Strategically," Sombravida replied. "Not subordinately."
Harribel's expression cooled.
"I will not stand beside him."
Sombravida's patience thinned.
"Then let us discard diplomacy."
His spiritual pressure surged.
"If you defeat me, I leave. If you lose — you either join or die."
Golden reiryoku flared from Harribel.
"I have no quarrel with you."
"I require combat power," Sombravida replied coldly. "And you possess it."
Without further warning—
He moved.
Flash-step speed comparable to Vasto Lorde combat.
The Sky-Splitting Greatsword materialized mid-motion and descended toward her skull.
Clang!
Harribel raised her massive forearm blade — Tiburón's base form — intercepting the strike.
The force nearly buckled her knees.
Her eyes widened internally.
They were both early Vasto Lorde.
But his physical strength was abnormally dense.
Sombravida did not hesitate.
A point-blank Cero condensed between them.
Golden-white compression screamed as it detonated at near-zero distance.
Boom!!!
The explosion engulfed both figures.
Outside the battlefield, Mila Rose and Apache tensed but did not dare interfere. The difference between Adjuchas and Vasto Lorde was absolute.
When the smoke cleared—
Harribel still stood.
Her breathing had grown heavier.
Her armor bore scorch marks.
"That Cero…" she muttered internally. "Its density rivals my own."
She raised her blade.
Golden spiritual pressure surged — transforming into water.
Unlike ordinary elemental manifestation, her reiryoku condensed moisture from the atmosphere itself — compressing it through spiritual pressure.
"Cascada!"
A high-pressure torrent erupted forward like a roaring sea.
Sombravida's eyes narrowed.
"Sky-Piercing Slash!"
His blade released a spatially-infused crescent wave.
The sword beam split the torrent momentarily—
But Harribel amplified the water volume instantly, expanding its radius and pressure.
The spatial blade dispersed under sustained force.
Three seconds.
That was all Sombravida needed.
Space distorted.
He appeared behind her.
Dimensional energy flooded his blade.
"Dimensional Slash!"
Harribel reacted instantly — forming a pressurized water barrier behind her back.
But water lacked structural rigidity against spatial tearing.
The blade pierced through.
Blood sprayed.
Harribel staggered forward.
Sombravida pressed the advantage.
Shadow Flash.
His speed exceeded hers in raw acceleration.
Before she stabilized her footing—
He thrust again.
Clang!
She barely raised her blade to intercept.
The impact sent her skidding across the sand, cracking stone formations behind her.
Without pause—
Sombravida released another Cero.
Harribel forced herself upright.
"Cero!"
A golden-blue beam clashed against his.
Their blasts collided mid-air.
Her output was stable — controlled — oceanic.
His was denser — more compressed.
The collision exploded outward.
Steam filled the battlefield.
Harribel did not retreat.
Instead—
She raised her spiritual pressure to its peak.
"Cascada Avanzada!"
The torrent intensified into a spiraling water dragon, pressure and heat rising simultaneously through compression.
Sombravida braced.
He did not dodge.
He met it head-on.
His blade anchored against the torrent's core.
The water dragon forced him backward across the sand, carving trenches beneath his heels.
"Impressive," Sombravida muttered, increasing output.
Azure-gold spiritual pressure surged into the blade.
With a violent upward swing—
The water dragon split apart.
Residual steam burst outward.
Harribel moved again.
Multiple high-speed water blades formed and fired in rapid succession.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Sombravida parried efficiently.
His spatial reinforcement disrupted the structural cohesion of the water constructs.
Harribel observed carefully.
"He disrupts my flow… not decay… not time…"
Her eyes sharpened.
"Space."
She ceased attacking.
Adopted a defensive stance.
Reiryoku gathered steadily instead of explosively.
Sombravida noticed immediately.
"Planning attrition?" he muttered.
Foolish.
Their total volume may be similar.
But his spiritual pressure was more compressed — higher density per output.
Attrition favored him.
He advanced.
Blade against blade.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Each impact drove Harribel backward.
Yet she endured.
And with each exchange—
Microscopic water infiltration accumulated along Sombravida's manifested blade.
She was layering pressure into his construct.
Once saturation reached threshold—
She would detonate it.
Sombravida allowed it deliberately.
Testing limits.
After dozens of exchanges—
The weight became noticeable.
Enough.
He dispersed the Sky-Splitting Greatsword instantly.
The accumulated water pressure lost its anchor and vaporized.
Harribel's eyes widened.
He already knew.
Sombravida stepped in bare-handed.
Spatial force coated his right claw.
He seized her forearm blade at its base, locking it in place.
With his left hand—
He gripped her face.
A pale-gold Cero began forming at point-blank range.
Her back was to the battlefield.
No angle to dodge.
No space to counter.
Steam drifted between them.
His voice was low.
"Join. Or die."
Visit patreon.com/ShiroTL for more chapters.