She escaped!
Feeling the faint violent Reiatsu fluctuations behind her, Harribel finally let out a breath of relief.
She didn't know why that guy was after her or where those Shinigami had come from, but Harribel eased up just a little.
She had to admit, she'd gotten pretty lucky this time.
Not only had she avoided having a chunk of her body devoured by a powerful Vasto Lorde, but she'd also dodged any serious injuries.
In a place like Hueco Mundo, survivors like her were few and far between.
But just as she prepared to slink deeper into the desert, aiming to slip out of the area…
"Hey."
A haughty, faintly wicked voice rang out above her.
Harribel's heart jolted.
Instinctively, she ducked, trying to burrow deeper into the sand.
But before she could move, a massive force seized her sword-like dorsal fin.
The next moment...
Harribel's three-meter-plus frame was yanked skyward with overwhelming strength.
With a thunderous boom, Saitō hauled her up, flinging her into the air amidst swirling sand.
Trouble.
Harribel's body tensed.
Saitō smirked down at her, tongue dangling at her lips, her voice soft. "You didn't think you could just use us and then skip out, huh?"
The instant her words fell, the twin-tailed girl's Asauchi flashed from its sheath.
A pale crescent arc sliced through the air.
"Scorching Sea Current!"
Harribel unleashed everything, her body erupting with terrifying Reiatsu. Endless water surged from her form, heavy with crushing pressure.
Yet in Saitō's eyes, it was nothing.
Her blade, dense with Reiatsu, cleaved through the torrent. At blinding speed, it tore a bloody gash across Harribel's chest and abdomen, slamming her into the ground.
Boom!
A dull thud echoed.
Harribel's eyes widened in shock.
Completely… out of her league.
Saitō stood atop the dry dune, gazing at the rushing water below.
The girl raised her blade, her tender tongue sliding along it, licking the blood with a hint of delight.
"It's been a while since I last tasted blood…"
Maybe because Saitō always lost to Unohana, Makoto and even some of the Captains harbored doubts about her strength.
But facts were facts.
Saitō have Tier-2 Reiatsu.
For an average Adjuchas to survive even one swing from her was already impressive.
Not just anyone could lose repeatedly to Yachiru Unohana's blade.
"You… who are you…?"
Harribel stared up at Saitō on the dune, her wariness thickening, even… fear.
"Yep."
"Cutting down weaklings like you is just no fun."
Saitō griped, casually pointing at Harribel.
"Bakudō 63: Sajō Sabaku!"
Thick serpentine chains shot from her fingertip, mercilessly binding Harribel's body. The other end landed lightly in Saitō's hand.
Harribel didn't know whether to cry or lament her misfortune realizing her current state...
Out of the wolf's den, into the tiger's maw.
What kind of luck was this?!
Saitō didn't care, hefting her up and dragging her along. With a clang, she dumped the mermaid-like figure next to Makoto's zanpakuto who sparking a cheer.
[Saitō-chan! Hooray!]
"No kidding!"
"So it really was you making wishes, huh?"
Hearing the zanpakuto's gleeful cry, Saitō glanced at Makoto locked in fierce combat and rubbed her chin, feeling like she'd stumbled onto some truth.
[Heeey! Guhehe!]
While the zanpakuto cozied up to Harribel, Makoto was clearly on the ropes.
When a sword strikes slices the air carving arcs laced with wind.
Makoto dodged at breakneck speed, bloodshot eyes tracking each blade's path to the limit.
[Bond Trait: Flawless Circle]
[Bond Trait: Teetering on the Edge]
In Makoto's eyes, the world slowed to a crawl yet this Doragon Azeras thing's swings remained blisteringly fast.
If his output hadn't hit a perfect threshold, he'd have died instantly.
But it was this dire straits that kept Makoto at his peak.
Brain, body, consciousness, all at their zenith!
"Not enough! Not enough! Not enough!"
Even as he pushed his physical limits, Makoto's expression grew wilder, faint wisps of smoke rising from his body.
Until, at last...
Boom!
Twin blades slashed down in unison.
A deafening roar split the air.
Then stopped dead, hovering above Makoto's shoulders.
"What?!"
Doragon gaped at the scene before it.
His wrists were locked in Makoto's iron grip, forcibly halting the blades that would've carved him into thirds.
But…
How could he have this kind of strength?
Makoto's bloodshot eyes bore into his opponent up close, his grin growing more feral.
If Hakuda was about channeling will into the fist...
Then…
What if he spread that will across his entire body?
Whoosh!
Makoto's figure seemed to vanish for an instant, leaving a faint afterimage.
The next moment, an explosive, terrifying force slammed into Doragon's chest and gut.
[Secret Technique: Kotsukudaki] [1]
[Real men! Gotta go hard against real men, yo!]
[Hakuda +10]
[Hakuda Bottleneck Phase · Stage Three]
[Deathmatch in Progress, Hakuda Bottleneck Breakthrough ↑]
[Hakuda: Tier-10↑]
Amid the deafening roar, the Vasto Lorde's body tumbled violently into the pale desert, dragging a long trench under the moonlight.
Makoto held his elbow stance, slowly easing out of it.
With his will infused throughout his body, he could feel it draining at a breakneck pace.
Yet, under the Wall of Sighs's effect, his will snapped back to full in the next instant.
The rollercoaster of depletion and recovery fueled an irrepressible mix of exhilaration and exhaustion.
"This is…"
"Not bad."
Makoto sighed low, blood trickling from his eyes and nose.
There was a reason Yamamoto never developed this move.
But right now, Makoto couldn't care less.
"Impressive talent."
"But how long can you sustain this state?"
The Vasto Lorde rose slowly.
Though it looked a bit roughed up, a shallow crack splitting its chest armor, Makoto could sense its Reiatsu hadn't dipped an ounce.
The gap between Reiatsu levels was absolute.
He could devise countless ways to bridge it, but that didn't mean it vanished.
A truth both understood.
Yet Makoto seemed to realize something, glancing casually at his panel with an unconscious smirk.
"Right."
"Hm?"
The Vasto Lorde braced itself to watch this guy crumble into exhaustion and despair, only for the Shinigami to abruptly drop his heightened state.
Makoto waved lazily toward the dune behind him, his tone breezy. "Hey! Saitō!"
"Tag in!"
Doragon froze.
The next second after his words landed, it finally clicked, its gaze locking onto Makoto in disbelief.
Wait?!
You mean… you're not even the strongest Shinigami here?!
In this era's Hueco Mundo, untouched by outsiders for ages, knowledge of the Seireitei, nobles, Genji School, or the Gotei 13 was laughably thin.
The next moment, a burst of Reiatsu from afar confirmed its hunch.
Buzz!
A surging Reiatsu flared outward, unleashing a low-frequency rumble like infrasound. The space in everyone's vision warped under the relentless pressure, blurring faintly.
Doragon's eyes widened.
T-This Reiatsu…
Pre-Arrancar Vasto Lordes didn't have the Resurrección that Aizen granted them.
Most of them had merely piled up quantity through endless devouring, breaking through the quality barrier of Reiatsu to reach Tier-3 or higher.
What's more, this Vasto Lorde ranked beneath Baraggan and Szayelaporro, among the weaker of its kind.
Against Saitō, that gap in Reiatsu class became glaringly obvious.
"Seriously, so slow."
Saitō sauntered up to Makoto, grumbling, "A guy like this? If it were me, I'd have chopped him down ages ago!"
Makoto grinned carelessly. "Then… show me what you've got!"
"No problem!"
Saitō turned to face the Vasto Lorde, her blade dangling loosely as a sickly smile crept across her face.
"Devour all to extinction! Shuketsukyū!"
The moment her voice fell, her blade seemed to drown in blood, transforming into a purple-hilted tachi with a star-shaped guard.
At first glance, it looked unremarkable.
But both Makoto and the Vasto Lorde sensed the subtle shift.
All her Reiatsu had been drawn into the blade.
Unlike later generations whose lifespans rarely exceeded three hundred years. these First Captains of the Gotei 13 had endured nearly a millennium in Rukongai, honing their abilities to an extreme over those long years.
Their mastery of Reiatsu and Zanpakutō went without saying.
Saitō stepped toward it, explaining in a quintessentially Shinigami tone, "My Shuketsukyū has one simple ability."
"It rends the enemy's flesh, absorbs their blood, and bends it to my will."
"Healing, wounding, defending, even… devouring."
"All possible."
"So…"
Her tender tongue grazed her lips.
"Don't let me cut you, okay?"
The instant her words landed, the Vasto Lorde's eyes widened.
The next moment...
Saitō's petite frame materialized at its side, her speed blinding. Her deep purple twin-tails stretched taut in the air.
Clang!
Doragon, its arms blade-like, snapped them to guard its waist.
A deep gash marred its smooth, snow-white bone blade amid the sharp clash of metal.
So fast!
The thought barely formed when Saitō's speed surged again.
Her blade sliced through its calf with a muffled shnk.
The razor-sharp edge flung blood into the air, droplets hovering as they traced a long streak.
Bang!
Before the Vasto Lorde could turn, Saitō's small frame darted low, coiling around its leg like an agile monkey. With a twist and leap, she slammed a fierce kick into its back.
Boom!
The Vasto Lorde spun wildly through the dust, stabbing its blades into the sand to steady itself as its vision blurred in the haze.
Doragon's mind reeled with shock.
Not just speed, her strength outclassed it too.
This power, while not on Baraggan's level, might rival Szayelaporro's!
The gulf between Vasto Lordes could be as vast as heaven and earth.
But before Doragon could track her, the gash on its calf silently split wider, blood surging forth.
Shhh!
A blade of pure blood erupted from the other side of its leg, carving an even larger wound.
"Hm?!"
Doragon instinctively glanced down.
In that split-second of distraction, Saitō leaped, plummeting from above with her blade poised.
Doragon rolled out of the dust cloud.
Emerging, it decisively severed its own leg, regenerating a new one at lightning speed.
But…
No sooner had it ditched the limb than blood-blades sprouted from its left arm, chest, and back slashing and crossing in sync!
Shnk! Shnk! Shnk!
Three minor cuts ballooned into six gaping wounds.
Saitō tilted her head, her wicked aura palpable.
"Idiot!"
"That wasn't one swing, it was… four."
As her words fell, the severed leg exploded with a bang. Blood swirled around her like floating beads, forming a faint crimson barrier.
Doragon stared, finally grasping the colossal, insurmountable gap between them.
A glint of despair flickered in its eyes.
"Lord Baraggan…"
Saitō flickered to its side.
In the shadow, Doragon's head fell with a heavy thud.
Its final murmur escaped.
"…Long live."
---
[1] Kotsukudaki means Bone-Crushing Strike.
Kotsu means bone.
Kudaki means crushing.
***
Bonus Chapter:
100 Power Stones = 1 BC
300 Power Stones = 2 BC
500 Power Stones = 3 BC
700 Power Stones = 4 BC
1000 Power Stones = 5 BC
***
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