A soft glow of Kaidō lit up in Nanatsuki's hand as he began treating the deer-, serpent-, and lion-shaped Adjuchas.
Harribel had agreed to spar with Nel in exchange for Nanatsuki healing the companions injured by the Blackshark King.
"This is...?!"
Harribel's gaze shifted slightly.
She could sense a Reiatsu fluctuation—but it wasn't Hollow Reiatsu!
She had assumed the cloaked figure was a Hollow with a special ability. But to her surprise, he was a Shinigami.
Studying the cloaked man more carefully, and then looking at the mask on Nel's head, she muttered to herself:
"A Shinigami... getting along with a Hollow...?"
Her worldview was beginning to shatter. Since arriving in Hueco Mundo, all she had ever heard about Shinigami had been negative.
Just recently, there had even been rumors that Baraggan, self-proclaimed King of Hueco Mundo, had been slain by a Shinigami's blade.
She never imagined that a Shinigami could coexist peacefully with Hollows.
"Thank you, mighty Vasto Lorde-sama, I'm healed..."
"This Reiatsu feels strange... doesn't seem like Hollow energy..."
"Amazing ability. Such serious wounds healed so quickly!"
Moments later, the three Adjuchas slowly got back on their feet. The injuries inflicted by the Blackshark King had already been fully healed by Nanatsuki's Kaidō. Unlike Harribel, though, they lacked knowledge and had never even seen a Shinigami before—much less recognized their Reiatsu.
"My teacher's awesome, right?" Nel said proudly, hands on her hips.
"Teacher?" Harribel was once again caught off guard. "You're actually a teacher and student?"
She had imagined many kinds of relationships between the two, but a mentor-apprentice bond between a Hollow and a Shinigami had never crossed her mind.
In her understanding, the powers of Shinigami and Hollows were completely distinct.
"That's right! I came here to spar so I could refine the techniques my teacher taught me!" Nel explained with enthusiasm.
She felt Harribel was just like her—a Hollow who valued reason and emotion more than base instinct.
From Harribel, she could feel the strong bond and care for her companions.
It made Nel feel nostalgic for the two companions she once had in Hueco Mundo.
"You learned techniques... from a Shinigami?"
For the first time, Harribel began to look forward to the upcoming battle.
She didn't care for meaningless slaughter, but if she could witness something that a Hollow had learned from a Shinigami—that was different.
"Let's begin, Lil' Harr!" Nel leapt into the air and found a relatively open space in the stone forest.
Through their earlier exchange, she had already learned Harribel's name.
Harribel twitched at the overly familiar nickname, slightly uncomfortable, but didn't object.
This was the first time she had met a fellow Hollow unaffected by Hollow instincts and capable of equal conversation.
Even her three companions still regarded her with more fear than camaraderie.
"Lady Harribel!"
The deer Adjuchas nudged its head against her, worried. "Are you really going to fight that powerful Vasto Lorde...? The one who healed us... his Reiatsu felt strange, like he's not a Hollow..."
The deer hadn't heard the conversation between Harribel and the others.
Still, it had noticed that Nanatsuki's Reiatsu didn't feel like a Hollow's—but it lacked the knowledge to identify it as Shinigami Reiatsu.
"Don't worry. They mean no harm."
Harribel gently patted the deer's head, reassuring it.
With a light leap, she flew into the air and landed at the clearing Nel had chosen.
"Come, show me what you've learned from your Shinigami teacher!"
Harribel said, brimming with fighting spirit.
"Then watch closely~" Nel placed her right hand on her sword hilt and lowered her stance slightly.
Clang—
A flash of steel leapt from the scabbard.
In an instant, the sword flash multiplied into countless strikes.
Like a sudden downpour, the blades rained down—fine and dense.
"Such fast strikes!"
Harribel's expression shifted slightly as she saw the incoming "raindrops."
She swung her arm, releasing a surging torrent of water from its tip.
If Nel's blades were raindrops—then she would drown them in an ocean!
Waves surged forth in a massive deluge, crashing against the dense wall of sword flashes.
Some Hollows were born with innate powers.
Controlling and generating water was Harribel's natural talent.
As she evolved, her ability continued to grow stronger.
If she ever advanced to Vasto Lorde-class, her powers might surpass even ordinary "water-type Zanpakutō."
Nel's sword met the torrent, immediately met with heavy resistance.
Harribel had infused dense Reiatsu into the surge of water.
Since Nel hadn't activated her Resurrección, she had little Reiatsu advantage right now—and she didn't plan to clash head-on.
Suddenly, a rapid drumming beat echoed across the air.
Boom—Boom—
Nel's figure vanished from her spot, flashing past two different points in an instant.
From each location she passed, sword strikes rained toward Harribel.
Though Harribel's reactions were fast, she quickly redirected the flow of her water shield, making it spiral around her in defense.
Even so, Nel's Sonído and sword speed had the edge.
Crack—crack—crack!
Several cuts appeared on the bone armor at Harribel's shoulder.
Sonído: Senmai-Oroshi!
By using Sonído to reposition mid-technique, Nel achieved the effect of attacking from multiple directions nearly simultaneously.
"So fast…!"
Harribel tried to counter with another sweeping arc of her arm, directing the torrent toward where Nel would land—but Nel was already gone, her Sonído outpacing the strike. The wave hit nothing and circled back to protect her again.
On a tall stone outcrop, Nanatsuki and the three beast-like Adjuchas watched the duel unfold.
"She's already been hit at the start… Fighting a Vasto Lorde is just too much for Lady Harribel!" said the serpent.
"Lady Harribel's bone armor is incredibly tough. It can even withstand my Cero. She shouldn't be injured," added the lion.
The lion had a bit of a temper. When they first met Harribel, it had challenged her for dominance, trying to become the group's leader. They had fought once already.
Nel also noticed how sturdy Harribel's bone armor was.
Her previous strikes had only scratched the surface—none had pierced deep.
"Looks like I'll need something more concentrated."
As she thought, the water swirling around Harribel grew thicker. She had never stopped releasing the torrent.
The flow now formed a rotating barrier—a thick, spinning shield of water.
Harribel had noticed the rapidity of Nel's slashes and aimed to weaken them using Reiatsu-infused water.
And it worked. When Nel's sword came down again, it only left shallow marks on the armor.
Harribel pointed arm at Nel. From the surrounding vortex, a dozen high-pressure jets split off and shot toward her.