BOOM!
The white Cero instantly swallowed Ggio whole. Caught off guard, Ggio was nearly engulfed completely.
Even though he was a strong Adjuchas, facing a Cero on par with a Vasto Lorde's was something he simply couldn't withstand.
"WAH!!"
Ggio, his entire body burned, plummeted from the sky and collapsed powerlessly onto the ground.
"Useless trash."
A shadow flickered in Barragan's hollow eyes as he looked down at the fallen Ggio.
When Aizen had come here before, it had been almost exactly the same.
He'd killed most of Barragan's subordinates, then held a blade to his neck.
That humiliation, Barragan would never suffer it a second time.
Not everyone possessed such a monstrous illusion ability, after all.
But Barragan also had no intention of personally joining the battle now. What king would step forward the moment an enemy arrived?
"Nirgge!"
At Barragan's command, the mammoth-like Nirgge stepped forward, swinging his long trunk down toward Sung-Sun.
"Eww! What an ugly nose!"
Sung-Sun lightly covered her mouth and nose with her long sleeves, disgust flashing in her eyes.
Just as the trunk was about to hit her, she suddenly spoke, "Strangle her, White Serpent Princess!"
In that instant, a pale white spiritual pressure burst outward from her body, an overwhelmingly strong force at the very peak of Adjuchas level. It swept through the entire Las Noches.
The slightly weaker Adjuchas could hardly even lift their heads under that pressure.
Even someone as strong as Nirgge, a fellow Adjuchas-class Hollow, felt the weight pressing down on him.
At the same time, Sung-Sun's form began to change.
Her lower body turned into a white snake's tail, her face became more alluring, and her figure grew even more slender and graceful.
At that moment, the most surprised ones weren't the Hollows in the field, but the three watching from afar, Aizen, Gin, and Tosen.
"Oh? Is that Captain Aizen's 'complete Arrancar form' he's been researching? Looks like that Hollow's ahead of you, Captain," Ichimaru Gin spoke with a smile, his tone dripping with mockery.
A while ago, Aizen had been talked down by that very same man. And now, even his research into Arrancar evolution lagged behind. Truly, a whole level of difference.
This Aizen didn't seem so terrifying anymore.
"Gin," Aizen said calmly, "Lord Rosse walking ahead of me is a good thing. It proves my path isn't wrong. A forerunner doesn't necessarily mean they'll reach the destination first."
He stood composed upon a high ledge, his gaze on the distant battlefield filled with awe and admiration.
All his life, Aizen had found this world boring. No opponents, no rivals, no equals... But now, he seemed to have found one.
A Hollow more advanced than him, stronger than him, with ambition greater than his own.
And precisely because that being was not a Shinigami, Aizen found it all the more fascinating.
———
Back on the battlefield, Nirgge, after having his first attack scattered by Sung-Sun's spiritual pressure, immediately reorganized for a second assault.
Her reiatsu was powerful, but not enough to make him afraid.
As long as he didn't act as carelessly as Ggio, this fight was still winnable.
"Where are you looking?", Though Sung-Sun was still standing before him, her voice suddenly sounded from his side.
The next instant, a white Cero enveloped Nirgge's head.
And after that, he knew nothing.
At such close range, the full-force Cero obliterated his skull entirely, leaving not a shred of consciousness behind.
"Fool!"
Barragan's skeletal hand clenched tightly on the armrest of his bone throne, crushing off a large chunk under his immense grip.
At his level, he could see everything clearly.
Nirgge had fallen to that female Hollow's trick, entranced without even realizing it.
The very moment Sung-Sun had released her Resurreccion, Nirgge had already been drawn into an illusion.
She had simply walked right up to him, charged a Cero, and finished him off effortlessly.
For such useless subordinates, Barragan didn't even feel like intervening.
Besides, with two Vasto Lordes standing ready and watching him, he couldn't have stepped in even if he'd wanted to.
Having lost yet another underling, Barragan cast a glance at the last one, Abirama, and shook his head inwardly.
That one's power was even weaker than Ggio and Nirgge's. Sending him up would just feed Sung-Sun another kill, no point wasting the effort.
"Then let me... personally greet you," Barragan slowly rose from his skeletal throne, a violet-blue aura of decay spreading from his body.
"Lord Rosse, please allow me to engage."
Harribel looked toward Rosse, eyes full of fighting spirit.
"Go," Rosse nodded lightly, remaining where he stood.
Letting his subordinates handle such opponents, it was an almost relaxing feeling.
Truly, what he looked forward to was a decade or so later.
When Luffy set sail, his side would have an even grander lineup, he could sit back and orchestrate everything perfectly from the shadows.
Upon receiving permission, Harribel swiftly drew her bone sword from her back and began stepping forward.
Sung-Sun tactfully reverted to her normal form and returned to Rosse's side.
She was only good for dealing with fools. Against a true powerhouse, she'd shatter in an instant.
She had already clearly sensed it: both Abirama and Nirgge had been susceptible to her Resurreccion's charm-like effect, but Barragan himself had been entirely unaffected.
"Oh my, the Vasto Lorde-level new Arrancar's taking the stage. Captain Aizen, do you think she might be stronger than you?", Gin said lazily, still teasing without restraint.
"The Vasto Lorde stands at the pinnacle of Hollows. I've yet to witness the true power of one who's achieved perfect Arrancar evolution," Aizen smiled faintly, his expression modest. But in truth, he didn't take Harribel seriously at all.
A powerful pet was still just a pet, never comparable to its master.
Harribel might be strong, but she was nowhere near his level. Only Rosse, the one who had made her stronger, was worth his respect.
"It begins...", Aizen murmured softly as the battle commenced.
BOOM!
Golden spiritual pressure erupted violently from Harribel's body, the massive wave of reiatsu shaking the very air around her.
Even without releasing her Resurreccion, her sheer reiatsu alone was enough to crush a normal Adjuchas to death.
"What powerful spiritual pressure...", Barragan looked at Harribel in mild surprise, but only mild.
His spiritual pressure had long stagnated thousands of years ago, yet his unique power of aging had continued to evolve.
Harribel's reiatsu was indeed strong, but it still fell within the range of a Vasto Lorde, it wasn't enough to ignore his power of decay.
Buzz!
A violet-blue miasma of death poured from Barragan's body, surging forward under his control, racing toward Harribel.
"Cascada!"
Harribel lightly raised her blade.
In an instant, a tremendous scorching current burst from her bone sword, colliding head-on with the death aura.
Sizzle!
Death aura and scorching stream clashed violently, but since both were pure spiritual pressure, they began to erode each other continuously.
The essence of the death aura indeed surpassed that of Harribel's scorching current, but only enough to achieve a trade of one unit of energy for two.
If the battle continued at that rate, Barragan might not necessarily be the one to win in the end.
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