"Grimmjow's spiritual pressure is still too far below Nelliel's."
Sora shook his head gently. The power gap between Grimmjow and Nelliel was not small.
Nelliel hadn't even used her full strength, yet Grimmjow was already at a disadvantage.
[Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez]
Talent: S
Spiritual Pressure: Lv 80
Affinity Level: Hostile
Status: Unwilling, Furious
Grimmjow's spiritual pressure had already reached the lieutenant level.
In this era, before the mass appearance of Arrancars, Grimmjow was no weakling in Hueco Mundo.
With his speed advantage, he could even defeat some Menos with spiritual pressure higher than his own.
However, after Nelliel evolved into an Arrancar, her strength had increased significantly, and her spiritual pressure was still growing.
In her Resurrección state, Nelliel's spiritual pressure was comparable to that of Yoruichi, who had just entered the captain level.
Even in her base form, she far surpassed Grimmjow.
The two were not on the same level.
However, the rapid increase in spiritual pressure also made it difficult for Nelliel to adapt, which was why she had not yet completed her advanced training in spiritual pressure control.
During this time, he had designed a modified sword technique for Nelliel, but it required her to break through her bottleneck in spiritual pressure control before it could be completed.
Sora had brought her to Hueco Mundo for a real battle precisely to help her break through this bottleneck, so they could test the modified technique.
Grimmjow put all of his spiritual pressure into the Cero, but he still couldn't stop the slowly advancing blade of light.
Thump—
Grimmjow gave up on maintaining the Cero and vanished from the spot.
The next moment, he appeared behind Nelliel, lunging to bite the back of her neck.
"The little panther has slowed down a lot."
Nelliel leaned slightly to the side, dodging the attack. Then, she swung the hilt of her sword to the right, striking the panther's left shoulder.
Grimmjow was sent flying.
Boom—
Grimmjow crashed into a hill, sending up a large cloud of sand and dust.
"I think I used too much force. Controlling my spiritual pressure is really hard."
Nelliel was a bit frustrated. She was currently in a period of spiritual pressure growth, and it easily got out of her control. The last blow had released more power than Grimmjow could handle.
Nelliel walked over to the sand dune where Grimmjow had crashed.
The white Panther King had lost his former glory.
The area connecting his left arm to his body was caved in, revealing shattered white bone. Blood pooled on the ground.
"Damn it..." Grimmjow endured the pain and tried several times to get up, but failed each time.
Finally, he lay on the ground and closed his eyes.
"Fallen Vasto Lorde, you win. Kill me."
Grimmjow said coldly.
"Fallen Vasto Lorde???"
Nelliel didn't understand why she had been given such a title.
"It's probably because he saw you with me, a Shinigami," Sora chuckled.
Neither Nelliel nor Grimmjow had noticed when he had appeared beside them.
"Heh, colluding with a Shinigami to eliminate Menos like us who are on the path of evolution. Am I wrong?"
Grimmjow sneered.
"...The little panther might have misunderstood something. I'm not here to kill you..."
Nelliel quickly waved her hands.
"The winner is king, no need for explanations! Kill me!"
Grimmjow said gravely.
"I refuse."
Nelliel shook her head.
"Are you humiliating me?!" Grimmjow said angrily. "I don't need your pity!"
"We went from humans to Hollows, becoming mindless beasts. We went through countless hardships to regain our sanity, not for this kind of senseless killing."
Nelliel frowned.
She refused to kill Grimmjow.
"Professor, can we let him go?"
Nelliel turned and asked.
"If you don't want to kill him, then don't. You don't have to force yourself."
Sora looked at the now powerless Grimmjow and said slowly, "But you must remember, even after defeating an enemy, you cannot let your guard down. Be careful they don't use a sneak attack to turn the tables when you relax."
"Watch out for sneak attacks?" Nelliel nodded. "I'll remember, Professor!"
"Professor?" Only then did Grimmjow notice the way Nelliel addressed Sora.
A Vasto Lorde-class Menos calling a Shinigami 'Professor'?
Unheard of!
"Little panther, we're leaving now," Sora crouched down and ruffled the panther's head. "I hope to see you again in Hueco Mundo."
The panther subconsciously tried to pull away from Sora's hand but felt a terrifying spiritual pressure pressing down on him.
"Damn Shinigami... ugh—" the panther whimpered.
"Let's go, Nelliel. You need to find stronger opponents."
Sora stood up and left with Nelliel.
Grimmjow's talent was very good, and his personality was straightforward. He was one of the few Hollows in Hueco Mundo worth taking as a disciple.
Sora was interested in taking Grimmjow as a disciple, but not now.
He and Aizen had not yet unlocked the secrets of the 'Soul King's Power'. He couldn't properly teach Grimmjow in his current form.
When he had ruffled the panther's head just now, he had taken the opportunity to leave a shadow in a gap on his head as a tracker.
With the shadow tracker, it would be easy for Sora to find him in the future.
With Grimmjow's current strength, Sora had no worries that he would be able to detect the hidden shadow.
"Damn Shinigami! Damn Vasto Lorde!"
After the two left, the panther became even angrier. He had survived!
He considered himself a warrior, the King of Panthers. He should not have survived because of his enemy's pity!
The panther endured the pain in his body, trembled as he got to his feet, and slowly crawled towards the corpses of the Menos he had killed earlier.
"I will become stronger..." The panther's injuries were severe. Each step took him a minute or two.
After a long time, the panther finally reached the corpses and began to devour them.
"I will become stronger... until I find you... and defeat you..."
However, a few nagging questions remained in the back of his mind—
Why did that Vasto Lorde call a Shinigami 'Professor'?
Could they actually have a master-disciple relationship?
What could a Shinigami teach a Hollow?
"Right... that Vasto Lorde, she used a sword?" The panther's chewing motion paused.
He hadn't had time to think about it during the fight, but now he suddenly remembered that the Arrancar had used a sword!
"Is that a characteristic of an Arrancar? Do Hollows become humanoid and gain a sharp blade after becoming an Arrancar?" The panther felt his head was about to explode.
He had never even seen Baraggan before. This was the first time he had seen a Vasto Lorde, so he had no point of reference.
"That thing like a blade of light, it could even cut through my Cero... was that a sword technique the Shinigami taught her?"
The panther's mind was filled with more and more questions, but there was no one to answer them.
"Forget it... thinking about this is useless. I should just eat more and get stronger faster." The panther couldn't figure it out and decided to stop thinking.
-----------------------------
Access more than 400 chapters across more than 7 different novels on Patreon!
For this novel, there are already over 100 chapters available, and we're only 3 subscribers away from unlocking up to chapter 150!
And many more projects are in progress!
If you find any mistakes or inconsistencies, don't hesitate to leave a comment — your feedback helps me improve and fix them!