"What exactly are you trying to do? Did Aizen send you?", Hirako Shinji glared at Lilynette and demanded.
Now, aside from him and Hachigen Ushoda who had to maintain the barrier, everyone else had already lost their fighting capability.
But his Bankai was actually not suitable to release now. With his un-Bankai strength, he most likely had no way to deal with the Hollow in front of him.
Too strong.
The opponent's strength, in his feeling, was already enough to rival or even surpass a captain like Kyoraku Shunsui who had over five hundred years' experience.
"Huh? Aizen? You mean that insect that follows the lord around groveling? Me listen to his orders? Are you kidding me, blond ugly man," Lilynette scoffed. She did know Aizen, but her impression of him was mediocre at best.
These past few days in front of Rosse, Aizen had been acting subservient. His attitude toward Rosse was even more deferential than theirs.
"Not Aizen? Then who is your lord? Why would even Aizen respect him?", Hirako Shinji was startled but still fired off the question angrily, trying to draw out more information.
"That would be our Hueco Mundo...", Lilynette stopped halfway through speaking. Hirako Shinji immediately showed an eager expression.
"Haha! Why would I tell you that? That pathetic provocation just now?", Lilynette issued a string of taunts and had no intention of continuing.
She was blunt but not stupid.
Rosse had told them not to reveal his name, so she absolutely would not utter a word.
Even information about Hueco Mundo and the Espada was something Rosse authorized them to leak; she was only ready to use this opportunity because of that.
"But I already know. You are from Hueco Mundo," Hirako Shinji concentrated and said, firmly committing the name to memory.
Hueco Mundo, by the sound of it, obviously had a huge connection to Hollows, maybe even comparable to the Seireitei.
But over so many years, the Seireitei had known nothing about this organization. That was terrifying.
It could not be that this organization only appeared within the last century and that was why he knew nothing.
"So what if you know?", Lilynette's expression turned cold. She slowly raised her left hand. The gray fur on it faded away, revealing the white skin beneath.
And on the back of her hand, a number was clearly written, "2".
"Listen carefully. I am the Espada number twenty of Hueco Mundo, Lilynette Gingerbuck! Whether it's you or those lying on the ground, remember this name."
"Espada number twenty?", Hirako Shinji was shocked again.
From Lilynette's words, it wasn't hard to guess that for someone as strong as Lilynette, Hueco Mundo had at least twenty members.
The first Espada must be stronger than Lilynette, and above them there must be an Hollow King.
Otherwise they would not be named Hueco Mundo.
And if they are called Espada, it implies there are ten of comparable-rank elites.
Hirako Shinji truly felt that Hueco Mundo could match the Gotei 13, and might even beat a non-bug-level captain. They might well win.
This time, Hirako Shinji didn't provoke Lilynette again. He silently took the others and returned to their abandoned warehouse.
The other side's meaning was obvious: they did not want them to take part in the battle over there.
Judging from the spiritual pressure, the burst of reiatsu over there was no weaker than Lilynette's.
Hirako Shinji could only silently pray in his heart that the unknown captain from the Seireitei over there would survive the battle.
They were powerless and could not rush to the battlefield.
———
Meanwhile, beside the riverbank.
The fight between Rosse and Harribel finally ended in a draw.
Neither of them had unleashed full power, but the danger and intensity of that battle shook Kurosaki Isshin to the core.
He had lost reiatsu, but his vision was intact.
A fight that concentrated reiatsu to the extreme was far more perilous and difficult than one that flung reiatsu outward.
No exaggeration: if Harribel's or Rosse's weapons merely struck the ground, they could reduce a two-kilometer area to nothing.
And this reiatsu-less useless man would be blasted to pieces.
Fortunately, both Rosse and Harribel had restrained themselves. That was one of the few consolations.
Kurosaki Isshin felt that even if he had entered a Mugetsu state ten years ago and sacrificed all his reiatsu for temporary power, he would at best have matched the level of these two.
If ten years ago his opponent had been these two rather than that strange Hollow, he likely would have died. There would have been no chance for marriage and children.
"Matsumoto, please take Ichigo and leave with me!", Kurosaki Isshin held Kurosaki Ichigo in his left arm and clenched his right fist tightly.
As a man who failed to protect his wife, he felt utterly powerless.
He did not even have the strength to draw his blade and vent at Harribel.
And to avoid alerting the Seireitei and causing Ichigo and the others further suffering, he had to have Matsumoto Rangiku lead him away.
"All right, Kurosaki, live your life in the World of the Living,"
Matsumoto Rangiku sighed but did not try to persuade him. She took Isshin by the shoulder and escorted him away.
———
Five minutes later she returned.
When she came back, Rosse and Harribel had already separated in the sky.
Harribel stood aloft, looking at Rosse with appreciation and recognition, "Your strength is good. Come to Hueco Mundo. You belong among the Espada."
"I am a captain of the Gotei 13. I will not become any Espada," Rosse said breezily.
Hearing that, Harribel sneered, "A captain of the Gotei 13? How are you so sure none of them are our members?"
With that she tore open a black cavity and left while Matsumoto Rangiku stared in a daze.
"Captain, what did she mean just now?", Matsumoto Rangiku couldn't help asking.
Harribel's parting words were highly ambiguous.
'Could there really be members of Hueco Mundo among the captains of the Gotei 13?'
'If so, who could it be?'
And just as the battle ended, a transmission arrived in the communicator Matsumoto carried.
["Captain Rosse, why didn't you stop them?"]
Clearly, the Seireitei had learned of the fight and had been watching.
"Is General Yamamoto beside you?", Rosse didn't bother answering directly and instead replied with a question.
["Captain Rosse, you still haven't answered me!",] Mayuri Kurotsuchi's voice was full of grievance.
Such good experimental material had been let go by Rosse; Mayuri Kurotsuchi's mood soured greatly.
"I do not converse with fools. This is the World of the Living. Leaving a first-class reiatsu-level powerhouse here, are you joking?", Rosse couldn't help but sneer.
He truly felt that among the Soul Reapers, captains were far stranger than him at being unreasonable.
'Oh, Soul Reapers are not people, then that's fine.'
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@t
reon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.