The large-scale explosive flame shaped like a shark's dorsal fin spread instantly with Bazz-B's wave, swallowing the Cascada conjured by Harribel. The fiery construct surged forward with terrifying intensity, burning everything in its path until the battlefield itself seemed to twist into a sea of flames, advancing toward the Espada with unstoppable force.
Even before the flames touched her, Harribel felt the suffocating heat, as though her very skin and lungs were already scorched.
Her technique, Cascada, had always been her most powerful move after releasing into her Resurrección form. It was a torrent of overwhelming water pressure, a defense and attack fused together, born from her discipline and control over her element. Yet now, against this quincy's blazing assault, even the Cascada was consumed and reduced to steam.
She clenched her teeth, her aqua-green eyes narrowing. If even her most refined strike had failed, then she had no better defense left to offer. Was she truly going to be consumed here, reduced to nothing more than cinders in the desert of Hueco Mundo? The thought scraped against her pride like a jagged blade. She was an Espada, once among the most feared beings in Hueco Mundo, entrusted now with the command of her division under Mazuru. Dying in a blaze without resistance was not her way.
Memories flickered at the edge of her mind. In the days when Aizen ruled Las Noches, he had established a strict command—Espada were forbidden to unleash their most destructive abilities within the palace walls. It wasn't out of mercy, but out of preservation. He feared that techniques of such devastating scale—such as their ultimate Cero, Gran ReyCero—would reduce the very palace to rubble.
Of course, when war had been waged in Karakura Town, the remaining Espada who stayed behind had ignored this prohibition. They clashed, experimented, and tested each other's strength freely, until Harribel herself returned from the battlefield only to find Las Noches in ruins. The once-pristine halls were scarred, walls collapsed, and the ground cracked beyond repair.
That image had seared itself into her sense of responsibility. From then on, Harribel had disciplined herself even more strictly than before. To her, power was not indulgence—it was duty. If unleashed recklessly, even victory tasted of failure.
Yet now… there was no other choice.
Facing the overwhelming crisis of death, she lifted her massive weapon. Golden reiryoku gathered at the tip of Tiburón, surging and condensing with each breath she forced into her lungs. The air vibrated, space itself quivering beneath the intensity of her release. It was more potent than anything she had summoned so far, far more dangerous.
The roaring sea of flame loomed before her. She swung her blade.
*BOOM!!*
A massive golden beam of condensed energy erupted outward, cutting against the inferno.
The attack was Gran ReyCero—the unique and devastating ultimate Cero wielded by Espada of her rank. Its brilliance lit the desert battlefield in a violent flash, distorting the very air around it as if space could not contain its destructive force.
The two titanic powers clashed. Golden light tore into scarlet flame, colliding in a storm that warped the horizon. The pressure shook the land beneath their feet. Even the dense skies of Hueco Mundo rumbled with distortion.
But Harribel's heart sank as she realized the truth—her beam was not piercing through.
Bazz-B sneered, his hand still raised, fingers glowing with searing reishi. "Burning Finger Four!" he roared, and the flames intensified with a deafening roar. The quincy's technique was stronger, faster, and more merciless than the last.
Her Gran ReyCero, magnificent though it was, barely held its ground. It blazed against his firestorm but could not overcome it. The sea of flame roared forward, smothering the golden beam and devouring it piece by piece.
Her eyes widened. Her strike was failing.
The inferno pressed against her, unstoppable. In seconds, the flames swallowed her entirely.
Bazz-B's grin widened. "It's over!" he declared, watching her silhouette vanish amidst the burning tide.
Within the firestorm, Harribel closed her eyes. She had gambled everything on her attack, and she had lost. In those final moments, she accepted what she thought would be her fate.
But the pain never came.
The flames around her suddenly flickered, collapsing inward, their heat vanishing as if doused by an unseen force.
Bazz-B frowned. He had extinguished his flames deliberately, curious to see her smoldering remains. Yet to his shock, there was nothing left—no ash, no trace of her body at all. She was simply gone.
"What…?" he muttered, his gaze darting around. His sharp senses extended, reishi perception sweeping across the battlefield. As a quincy, he was adept at tracking spiritual energy down to its faintest flicker. But Harribel's reiatsu had disappeared entirely. She hadn't run, hadn't hidden—it was as though she had been erased.
A chill crept down his spine.
Meanwhile, within the great hall of Las Noches, space split open. Crimson light flared, forming a cocoon that deposited Harribel's body onto the polished floor. She gasped, her eyes snapping open as cool air filled her lungs.
The first thing she saw was the familiar ceiling of the palace. The next was Mazuru, standing tall beside her, with Kenpachi Azashiro and Ichimaru Gin nearby.
"Harribel!" Nelliel rushed forward, kneeling beside her. "Are you hurt?"
Harribel shook her head, still dazed. Her gaze inevitably lifted to Mazuru. There was no doubt—it was because of him that she had escaped.
Even she, disciplined as she was, could not suppress the shock welling inside her chest.
Gin's fox-like grin widened, eyes narrowing into slits. "My, my. Captain Mazuru grows stronger with every passing battle." His voice was playful, but his words carried weight. "That trick just now reminded me of someone else's ability… but yours seems more refined."
He remembered Mazuru's original Shikai. With it, Mazuru could move within the network of crimson threads created from his spiritual energy. That ability had always been limited, affecting only his own body within the space he wove. But this… this was different. He had transferred someone else.
Kenpachi Azashiro folded his arms, studying the fading traces of reiatsu that lingered in the air. "You've merged with Las Noches itself, haven't you?" His tone was sharp, analytical. "I felt your reiatsu spread across the entire structure, even beyond. When the quincies arrived, you sensed them instantly. Now, you've used that same expansion to tear space and pluck Harribel out of certain death."
Neither Gin nor Azashiro could fully measure the depth of Mazuru's power now. Was this an evolution comparable to Aizen's? Or something different altogether?
Mazuru, however, dismissed their scrutiny with calm detachment. His eyes turned back to the vast screen before him, where the battlefield continued to rage.
"As expected of the elite of the Wandenreich." he murmured, his tone carrying both admiration and a trace of mockery. "To force two of my strongest Espada to such a point in such little time… impressive indeed."
His gaze sharpened as he watched. Grimmjow struggled against Cang Du's impenetrable defense. Harribel had nearly been consumed by Bazz-B's fire. Two of his most trusted warriors, both formidable in their own right, were unable to secure advantage.
And yet, amid the chaos, another scene caught his eye.
Kariya Jin of the Bounts—an existence often overlooked and dismissed—was holding his own against Quilge Opie, one of the Sternritters. Not only holding his own, but pressing forward, driving his enemy onto the defensive.
*****
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