Chapter 44: The Last Member |
Las Noches was not a palace or a fortress in the literal sense of the word.
In fact, it was a vast architectural complex consisting of many diverse structures.
One could even say that Las Noches, situated in the heart of Hueco Mundo, was the counterpart to the Seireitei in the center of the Soul Society.
From the outside, it appeared as a colossal grey edifice, surrounded by several large grey buildings and countless sand dunes.
Las Noches boasted a higher concentration of Reishi than the rest of Hueco Mundo, and the sands were much less pervasive there.
Somewhere on the outskirts of Las Noches, a loud, furious roar erupted, accompanied by a powerful surge of Reiatsu.
"Harribel!"
The voice belonged to a terrifying skeleton wearing a purple cloak with a black fur collar and a golden crown upon its bony skull.
This was the Vasto Lorde and self-proclaimed ruler of Hueco Mundo, the master of Las Noches—Baraggan Louisenbairn!
Opposite them stood a dark-skinned woman with short, messy blonde hair and a frightening bone mask covering the lower half of her face.
She stared intently at Baraggan, who stood atop a low hill before her.
Her Reiatsu was slightly weaker than Baraggan's but far more potent than that of the surrounding Adjuchas.
A Vasto Lorde!
Tier Harribel!
One of the few female Vasto Lordes currently dwelling in Hueco Mundo, alongside Nelliel!
"I already told you, I haven't touched your people!"
Harribel stated coldly, her eyes fixed on Baraggan's every movement. "It is pointless to use such cheap excuses to subjugate me."
"Nonsense!"
Baraggan barked, glaring at Harribel with eye sockets as dark and empty as ink. "More than ten of my men have vanished lately!"
"I see... you are simply afraid to confess to this crime against me, the great King of Hueco Mundo! No one in Las Noches but you is capable of such a feat, Harribel!"
Not only had more than ten of his subordinates disappeared without a trace recently, but none of them could be considered weak. Some were even regarded as exceptionally powerful compared to other Adjuchas!
To carry out such acts without raising an alarm required a Vasto Lorde, one who far surpassed the development of an Adjuchas!
As it stood, there was only one other Vasto Lorde within the confines of Las Noches besides Baraggan himself—Tier Harribel!
Therefore, only she possessed the strength required to commit such an outrageous crime!
"I would not deny it if I had actually done it," Harribel replied icily.
Baraggan watched Harribel in silence for a moment before shouting, "Harribel! There are far too few Hollows in Hueco Mundo with the potential to become Vasto Lordes, so I have no desire to kill you! Not only did I generously invite you into my army, but I even tolerated your presence in Las Noches after your refusal! And how... how have you repaid me? By murdering my subordinates?! I am tired of your defiance..."
"Leave Las Noches at once! Never let me see you again! Otherwise... I will show no mercy!"
Following his furious roar, a massive pulse of Reiatsu surged from Baraggan's body, kicking up clouds of grey sand.
Harribel narrowed her eyes, watching the enraged Baraggan.
Initially, she thought Baraggan was simply looking for a pretext to force her into service, but it seemed he truly had been losing subordinates lately.
However, that had absolutely nothing to do with her.
Harribel glanced back at her companions hiding behind her, then turned to Baraggan once more. "Fine. I will leave Las Noches immediately."
"But I truly did not kill your men. Perhaps you will encounter the real culprit later."
With those words, Harribel turned and walked calmly away, followed by the three female Adjuchas under her protection.
Soon, the four figures vanished from the self-proclaimed king's sight, disappearing into the dunes of Hueco Mundo.
"Hmph!"
Baraggan snorted. "It matters not whether it was you or someone else. There is only one king here!"
He watched Harribel's retreating back for a while longer before turning and stepping toward the inner sanctum of Las Noches.
The numerous Adjuchas followed their king respectfully.
...
In the middle of the sand dunes.
A female Adjuchas with a yellow lion's head, following behind Harribel, asked cautiously, "Harribel-sama... are we really never going back to Las Noches?"
Harribel spoke calmly, looking at her out of the corner of her eye. "Yes, we are leaving Las Noches. It's for the best. Chaos will break out there sooner or later if Baraggan was telling the truth about his missing men."
"You're right," another female Adjuchas agreed, nodding.
Harribel led the way deeper into the grey desert, intending to put Las Noches far behind them.
But as soon as the group moved further from the central part of the city and away from the eyes of other Hollows, an unexpected change occurred.
"Watch out!"
Harribel's eyes sharpened as she shouted, warning her comrades of the looming threat.
But the warning was a second too late.
Splat!
Following Harribel's cry, a sharp blade lunged from the sand, slicing one of the female Adjuchas trailing behind clean in half!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Simultaneously, two figures lunged at their small group from different directions.
The Hollows following Harribel were merely ordinary Adjuchas; they stood no chance against the stealthy strikes of these sudden attackers!
"You bastards!"
Harribel let out a furious roar and swung the massive white blade that was an extension of her arm at the nearest figure.
Thud!
The figure merely stumbled back a few steps, blocking the enraged Vasto Lorde's attack with surprising confidence.
The other two figures fanned out, flanking Harribel and trapping her in a triangle.
These attackers possessed a strange and unusual Reiatsu that was neither quite Hollow nor Shinigami, and their appearance was far closer to human than even a Vasto Lorde's!
Arrancars!
These were Arrancars who had shed their masks while still at the Adjuchas stage.
"Baraggan's men have been disappearing in Las Noches because of you, haven't they?" Harribel said coldly, eyeing the three men surrounding her.
The Vasto Lorde could clearly feel that none of these strange men were inferior to her in terms of Reiatsu!
One of the three men standing before Harribel said indifferently, "That's right... Harribel, you are strong enough to be our comrade."
"Yes, become a subordinate to our master, Harribel!" another added.
"Is this how you invite others to join your group?"
Harribel's voice grew even colder, her gaze sharp and aggressive.
She couldn't remember the last time she had been this livid.
Not only had these three dared to murder her comrades, but they had the audacity to invite her to join them as if nothing had happened!
Even Baraggan didn't seem so bad compared to these three bastards!
"It seems you've misunderstood. This isn't an invitation. It's an order."
Nirge tilted his chin up and spoke dismissively to the fuming Harribel. "You're coming with us, whether you like it or not."
Boom!
Harribel swung her massive white blade with savage intent, aiming to cleave Nirge in two.
Clang!
Nirge swung his own blade, blocking the Vasto Lorde's attack.
Under the weight of Harribel's monstrous blow, the Arrancar's legs sank into the sand nearly to his knees, yet his stance remained steady.
"Go!"
At Nirge's shout, the other two Arrancars lunged at the Vasto Lorde simultaneously.
As the two figures closed in from both sides, the surrounding Reishi began to vibrate violently under the pressure of the three Arrancars' surging Reiatsu.
They didn't intend to kill Harribel; their goal was to beat her unconscious and take her prisoner!
"..."
Harribel leaped into the air, narrowly dodging the pincer attack, and immediately countered with her white blade.
Since each of the three Arrancars possessed Reiatsu equal to her own, Harribel could not hope to withstand them alone, even considering they were holding back to capture her alive.
She couldn't find a single opening to escape, let alone fight them head-on.
'What is this... these Hollows aren't Adjuchas or Vasto Lordes, yet their Reiatsu is just as strong as mine!'
Harribel gritted her teeth, trying to understand where these powerful and bizarre Hollows had come from.
The one-sided battle raged on.
Nirge and his two companions inflicted more and more superficial wounds on Harribel, slowly sapping her combat strength.
Harribel resisted fiercely and relentlessly, but as the fight dragged on, her Reiatsu depleted and her injuries grew more severe.
"Hey!"
Nirge roared and swung his blade at Harribel's arm, taking advantage of her exhausted state.
Whoosh!
The massive white blade that was part of Harribel's arm was sliced clean in two by Nirge's strike!
Harribel stumbled back, the loss of her weapon nearly toppling her, but she managed to stay upright. In the depths of her green eyes, a flash of helplessness and regret flickered.
'Was I wrong? I could have been so much stronger now if I hadn't been so stubborn about refusing to devour other Hollows just to gain power...'
'Then I wouldn't be in such a pathetic state, and I could have protected my comrades...'
"Stop resisting, Harribel."
"You're no match for us, and we won't let you escape."
Nirge spoke indifferently, pointing the tip of his blade at the battered and drained Harribel.
Watching the approaching Arrancars, Harribel's green eyes burned with cold defiance.
She would rather die right here than become a prisoner of the bastards who murdered her friends!
But then.
Just as Harribel gritted her teeth and raised her shattered blade to continue the fight, several figures suddenly appeared in the middle of the battlefield.
"Who goes there?!"
Nirge shouted and spun around, swinging his blade to meet an incoming bone spear.
But the power behind that bone spear was far beyond anything the Arrancar could have imagined.
Boom!
Nirge's body was sent flying, crashing into the ground and kicking up a massive cloud of grey sand!
At the same time, Ulquiorra, with his night-black bat wings unfurled, indifferently tore another Arrancar to pieces. Meanwhile, Starrk casually pinned the third attacker to the ground with his foot, crushing him into the sands of Hueco Mundo.
Nirge, sprawled in the sand, looked up in shock and confusion at Nelliel, who was pointing the tip of her bone spear at him. He then looked at Ulquiorra and Starrk, who had effortlessly dealt with his companions.
"This Reiatsu... Arrancars... you're all Arrancars... how... why... where did you get this kind of power?!"
"This power was granted to us by the King."
Whoosh!
Nelliel spoke indifferently and thrust her bone spear forward, piercing through the stunned Nirge's head.
Thud!
Starrk lazily raised his foot and brought it down hard, finishing off the Arrancar pinned in the sand.
"You..."
Harribel whispered in shock, staring at the figures of Starrk, Ulquiorra, and Nelliel with wide eyes.
Soon, her shock turned to tension and wariness. The Reiatsu of this new trio was not only similar in nature to Nirge's group, but it was also vastly more powerful!
What on earth was happening here?!
Who, or what, were these three?
Why had they ignored her and killed Nirge's group, who clearly shared their nature?
As Harribel watched Starrk and the others, trying to process the situation, another figure approached them slowly.
The newcomer glanced briefly at the bodies of Nirge and his men, then looked up at the sky above Las Noches and sighed. "I never thought the legacy I left behind would be used for such purposes."
Yeruashi then lowered his gaze and shook his head, looking at the shocked and guarded Harribel. "Forgive the trouble they caused. Though they were not my subordinates, it doesn't change the fact that my power gave birth to them."
"You... just who are you people..."
Harribel's mouth hung open as she struggled to get the words out.
Nelliel, Ulquiorra, and Starrk continued to watch the stunned Harribel in silence, making no move to answer her.
Silence fell over the dunes.
With a welcoming smile, Yeruashi addressed Harribel. "My guard is currently missing one member."
"Follow me if you wish to gain the power to protect what you hold dear."
"Let's go... I intend to reclaim my property and drive out the rats."
With those words, Yeruashi stepped forward and vanished.
Silence returned.
The wounded and exhausted Harribel stood alone before Ulquiorra, Starrk, and Nelliel, who watched her with varying expressions.