https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-597-Ascending-to-the-Palace-of-Nothingness-/12559985/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-599-Curious-About-the-World-Through-My-Eyes-/12559987/
Chapter 598: The Last One
Chapter 598: The Last One
The Palace of the Wicca Night was not a palace in the traditional sense. Despite its name, it was, in fact, a collective term for an enormous cluster of structures, akin to the Seireitei in the Soul Society.
While the Palace of the Wicca Night may not have been as expansive or bustling as the Seireitei, it still encompassed a substantial area. Within, one would find vast expanses of white buildings, while the outskirts were dotted with hills and mountains.
The sand here was sparse, and the area teemed with more vibrant life compared to the deserts beyond the palace.
On the outskirts of the Palace of the Wicca Night, a voice, laden with anger, rang out.
"Herrezuel!"
There stood a skeleton, cloaked in purple and crowned with gold, holding a scepter in its hand. It was none other than Baraggan Louisenbairn, the ruler of Las Noches, a Vaizard-level Hollow who had proclaimed himself king.
Surrounding Baraggan were countless Hollows, a significant number of which were Adjuchas-level, serving as his subordinates.
Below the hills, a woman with short golden hair and a white bone mask covering the lower half of her face stood staring up at Baraggan. It was Tier Harribel, her spiritual pressure slightly inferior to Baraggan's but far surpassing that of an Adjuchas—she, too, was a Vaizard!
"I've said it before, I didn't eat your subordinates," Harribel said coldly, fixing her gaze on Baraggan. "Don't use this as an excuse to find a reason to come after me."
"Damn you!" Baraggan glared at Harribel, his voice laced with anger. "In the recent period, more than ten of my subordinates have gone missing! Within the confines of Las Noches, only you are capable of such feats. Don't deny it, Harribel!"
Indeed, in the recent past, ten of his subordinates had vanished, and among them were some of the stronger Adjuchas-level Hollows. Only a Vaizard could have accomplished such a feat. And within Las Noches, aside from himself, Harribel was the only other Vaizard-level Hollow, leaving no doubt in his mind that she was responsible.
"If I did it, I wouldn't deny it," Harribel replied coldly.
Baraggan's gaze intensified as he said, "Harribel! I don't want to kill you! It's rare for a Hollow to reach your level of power. I've offered you a chance to join me, even tolerated your presence in Las Noches, but you've disappointed me!"
"Leave Las Noches, Harribel! And never return! Otherwise, I will take your life, and there will be no forgiveness!" Baraggan's roar reverberated through the hills, his spiritual pressure shaking the very ground beneath their feet.
Harribel stared at Baraggan, her initial assumption that he was merely looking for an excuse to try and bring her under his control again wavering. It seemed his anger was genuine, and there had indeed been disappearances among his subordinates of late.
However, she had nothing to do with them and knew nothing about these incidents.
Glancing at the three female Vaizards she had taken under her protection, and then back at Baraggan, she eventually turned and began to walk away.
"I will leave Las Noches," she said, pausing briefly. "But your subordinates weren't killed by me. It was someone else, and perhaps one day, they'll come for you too."
With that, Harribel disappeared into the distance, her three proteges swiftly following suit, vanishing from Baraggan's sight, obscured by the layers of rocks.
"Hmph!" Baraggan snorted derisively. "If it wasn't you, then it was some other petty Hollows. I'll be waiting right here!" He slowly calmed his spiritual pressure and, after one last glance in the direction Harribel had left, turned and strode away, his entourage of Hollows following respectfully.
...
Within the hills, a lion-shaped Hollow whispered to Harribel, "Lady Harribel... are we leaving Las Noches?"
Harribel glanced at it and replied slowly, "Yes, let's leave this place. It's no longer safe here. If what Baraggan said is true, chaos will eventually engulf this place."
"Mhm."
The other Hollows nodded in agreement, and the small group made their way toward the outskirts of Las Noches, intending to leave its boundaries.
However, as they ventured away from the inner sanctum of Las Noches and into the rugged hills on its periphery, disaster struck.
"Watch out!" Harribel's instincts kicked in, her pupils narrowing as she let out a warning shout.
But her warning came too late. A blade tore through the earth, slicing through one of her companions, cleaving them in two!
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Simultaneously, two figures emerged from the shadows, weapons in hand, and launched their attack.
The companions Harribel was protecting were all weak Adjuchas-level Hollows, and they stood no chance against this ambush, perishing on the spot.
"Damn it!" Harribel roared in anger, brandishing the heavy blade fused to her right arm and swinging it toward the nearest assailant. However, her attacker merely deflected the blow with a horizontal swing of their sword, causing her to retreat a few steps.
The other two attackers closed in from both sides, forming a triangle around Harribel, their cold gazes fixed upon her.
Their spiritual pressure was peculiar—not that of Hollows or Shinigami, and their forms were more human-like than even Vaizards—they were Arrancars, Adjuchas-level Hollows that had evolved!
"So, it was you who have been acting in the shadows recently?" Harribel found herself surrounded by the three, their spiritual pressures matching her own, and her voice was ice-cold.
Chapter 598: The Last One (Part 2)
"That's right, it's us... Harribel, you are strong, and you are qualified to be our companion, to be a subordinate of that Great One."
"Is this how you invite people?" Harribel asked coldly, her eyes sharp with anger. Never before had she been so furious; these people had killed her proteges without a word, and they didn't even show any sign of caring.
Even Barragan wasn't this rude!
"This isn't an invitation, it's an order," Nnoitra replied, gazing at Harribel indifferently. "Whether you agree or not, we will take you with us."
Boom!!!
Harribel raised the heavy blade in her hand and brought it down on Nnoitra with the intention of smashing him to pieces and cutting him in half.
Nnoitra lifted the sword in his hand to block Harribel's attack. Despite her furious strike, his feet sank into the ground, but his body remained steady.
"Attack!" he shouted coldly, and the other two joined in.
The spiritual pressure of the three Arrancars erupted in the confined space, causing the spiritual particles in the air to tremble violently. Two attacks struck from both sides, aiming to incapacitate Harribel.
Although they weren't aiming for vital points, it was clear that they intended to disable her and then capture her!
"...!"
Harribel leaped, dodging the attacks from behind, and faced her assailants, brandishing her weapon.
However, each of the three assailants' spiritual pressure was only slightly inferior to hers. Fighting three against one, she was clearly at a disadvantage, and even though they didn't intend to kill her, their restraint in their attacks due to that fact only made her struggle to defend herself against their onslaught.
She couldn't even think about escaping.
"How is this possible... They're not Vasto Lorde, nor Adjuchas, but their spiritual pressure is as strong as mine. What are they?!" Harribel wondered, gritting her teeth as she sensed their spiritual pressure, completely baffled.
The intense battle continued.
Nnoitra and his companions worked together to capture Harribel alive, gradually inflicting wounds on her and weakening her fighting strength.
Harribel struggled to withstand their assault, and from the beginning, she could only barely hold them off. Her injuries became more and more severe.
"Haah!"
Seizing an opportunity, Nnoitra let out a low shout and slashed his sword, splitting Harribel's heavy blade in two!
Harribel staggered back a few steps, her weapon broken. She wobbled but didn't fall, and her eyes flashed with determination.
Had she done something wrong?
If she hadn't insisted on not devouring other Hollows to strengthen herself, she would have been much stronger by now. She wouldn't have been unable to protect her companions, and she wouldn't have ended up in this desperate situation.
"Don't resist, Harribel," Nnoitra said as he approached her, his expression unchanged. "You can't win against us, and you can't escape."
Harribel glared coldly at Nnoitra, then at the approaching trio. She clenched her fingers slightly—she would rather die here than become their captive in such a humiliating way!
But just as she steadied herself and raised her broken heavy blade, intending to continue fighting, several figures suddenly appeared in the distance and rushed into the battlefield.
"Who?!" Nnoitra's eyes narrowed as he turned to face the new arrivals, only to be greeted by a long bone spear.
He raised his sword to block, but the force of the spear striking down was beyond his imagination, and it hammered him into the ground!
On the other side, Ulquiorra, with his black wings spread, expressionlessly tore through another Arrancar's body, while Stark calmly stepped on the last one's back, pinning him to the ground and immobilizing him.
Only Nnoitra's head remained on the ground, and he stared at Nel, who stood before him with a long spear in her hand, and at Ulquiorra and Stark, his eyes widening with disbelief.
"This feeling... Arrancars... You're all Arrancars... How is this possible? How can you possess such power...?"
"It's the power bestowed by the Great One," Nel replied calmly as she looked at Nnoitra. Then, she lifted her spear and thrust it down, piercing through Nnoitra's head and killing him.
Stark also stomped down, crushing the Arrancar beneath his foot.
"You..." Harribel stared at them, taken aback by the turn of events. For a moment, she couldn't comprehend what had just happened. She looked at Nel, Stark, and the others, her eyes filled with grave concern.
The spiritual pressure of these new arrivals was even stronger than that of Nnoitra's group, and it felt similar to her own. They seemed to be the same type of life form!
What was going on?
Who were Stark and the others, and why had they killed Nnoitra's group? Moreover, they seemed friendly towards her.
As Harribel stood there, perplexed, Feng Ye walked over from a short distance away and stepped into the battlefield. He glanced at the dead bodies of Nnoitra's group, then looked up at the sky in a certain direction and softly exhaled.
"I didn't expect my residual power to be utilized like this."
Feng Ye shook his head slightly and turned to Harribel. "I apologize. Although I didn't send them, they are beings born from my power, and it seems they have caused you a lot of trouble."
"Who... who are you...?" Harribel asked, panting slightly as she stared at Feng Ye.
Nel, Stark, and Ulquiorra looked at Harribel but remained silent. The battlefield fell into a momentary silence.
In that silence, Feng Ye looked at Harribel and smiled faintly.
"I'm missing one subordinate."
"If you want power, if you want the power to protect what you cherish, then follow me. I'm going to retrieve something that originally belonged to me."
With that, Feng Ye strode forward, leaving only Stark and the others standing in place, their gazes on Harribel filled with varying emotions.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
