join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr
Boom!
Ice crystals exploded, and Hitsugaya Tōshirō shot backward like a cannonball.
Matsumoto Rangiku and Abarai Renji were also sent flying with him, the three of them almost knocked away by the countless whip shadows.
So strong!
Hitsugaya Tōshirō was the first to stabilize himself, looking up at the center of the battlefield.
Luppi still stood in mid-air, not moving a single step, and behind him, eight tentacles spun like a windmill, covering an area of dozens, even hundreds, of meters around him.
Although the tentacles were not as sharp as swords, each one was incredibly hard and carried an extremely terrifying Reiatsu. Being struck by one would cause unbearable pain!
And the most terrifying thing was...
At the tip of those eight tentacles, there were sharp iron spikes; once pierced, the body would become riddled with holes.
And this was only with one person attacking!
Hitsugaya Tōshirō's gaze shifted to the fashionable female Espada beside him, who had not yet made a move. Since she could be an Espada, her strength must not be weak. If she were to attack as well, it would be difficult for them to continue holding on.
"Hahahahaha, you still have the leisure to observe others?"
Amidst Luppi's wild laughter, four tentacles simultaneously attacked Hitsugaya Tōshirō.
Of the remaining four, two attacked Abarai Renji, one attacked Matsumoto Rangiku, and the last one went towards Hisagi Shuuhei, who was waiting for an opportunity.
All four were enveloped in his attack.
Seeing this, Hitsugaya Tōshirō gritted his teeth slightly, and with a flap of his wings, he shot up into the sky.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Four tentacles immediately turned ninety degrees, pursuing Hitsugaya. Their speed was so fast that they reached Hitsugaya's back in the blink of an eye.
So fast.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō's expression slightly hardened as he moved again, darting off in another direction.
And the extending tentacles turned with him.
"Useless, useless, useless..."
Seeing this, Luppi laughed even more wildly: "Even if you escape to the ends of the earth, you won't be able to shake me off!"
"A Captain of the Soul Society, can you only run away?"
"Cat Dance!"
Just as Luppi was incessantly mocking Hitsugaya, Matsumoto Rangiku let out a sharp cry.
Whoosh—
A storm composed entirely of dust swept out, bypassing the tentacles and heading straight for Luppi's main body.
"Oh, big-chested sister, did I anger you by mocking your Captain?"
Luppi sneered at the approaching dust storm, his eyes full of disdain.
He didn't even dodge, allowing the dust storm to envelop him, but the moment he was enveloped...
Buzz~
Luppi opened his mouth, and spheres of light shot out from it.
Cero!
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...
Although the power of the Cero was far inferior to the Cero, its speed was more than ten times faster. The sky-full of Cero immediately turned the dust storm into scattered ashes.
"Big-chested sister, do you have any other interesting moves?"
Matsumoto Rangiku stomped her foot in the air, dodging a tentacle, and said: "I've been thinking, you really talk a lot, don't you?"
"Oh?"
"I hate men who talk a lot. It always feels disgusting, like they're trying to show off their presence!"
Upon hearing this, the strange smile on Luppi's face gradually faded, replaced by a gloomy expression.
"I'm showing off my presence?"
A murderous glint flashed in Luppi's eyes: "It seems you haven't realized how powerful your opponent is yet!"
As soon as his words fell, Matsumoto Rangiku felt a surge of energy from behind, followed by Hisagi's voice.
"First Hook~!"
Swish—!
The dark chain instantly tightened. Matsumoto Rangiku glanced at the tentacle stopped behind her, and without hesitation, activated Shunpo to leave her spot, appearing beside Hisagi Shuuhei.
As she dodged, with a crisp snap, the dark chain broke, and the tentacle immediately slammed down onto the spot where Matsumoto Rangiku had been standing.
"Thanks."
Matsumoto Rangiku appeared beside Hisagi Shuuhei, thanked him, and then looked back at Luppi, saying with a sneer:
"Judging by your reaction, my words weren't wrong."
Luppi's reaction aside, Hisagi Shuuhei, looking at the broken chain of Kazeshini in his hand, frowned slightly.
He didn't quite understand why Miss Rangiku would deliberately provoke the opponent.
Hisagi Shuuhei's gaze shifted to the distance, where Vice-Captain Abarai was clashing with two tentacles using his Bankai. Although he wasn't at a disadvantage, he wasn't gaining any advantage either.
And Captain Hitsugaya's side...
He was being chased by four tentacles, constantly fleeing... Hmm?
Fleeing?
A strange look flashed in Hisagi Shuuhei's eyes, but he quickly reined it in, turning to look at Luppi with a cold expression, and said:
"Miss Rangiku, judging by his number, he should be the so-called No. 7 Espada."
"Heh heh, at least you have some discernment."
Luppi smiled upon hearing this, slightly pulling his clothes at his waist to fully reveal the number '7'.
"To my knowledge, the original No. 7 was eliminated by our Ninth Division's Captain during his last visit to the Soul Society, and he was even killed by a single strike from our Ninth Division's Captain Ishikawa, right under the noses of several Espada." Hisagi Shuuhei paused, then said coldly:
"As an Arrancar who became an Espada 'because there was a vacancy', it's normal for him to be eager to prove himself, so I can totally understand why he talks so much nonsense!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Luppi, who had just been a bit smug, suddenly erupted with an incredibly strong Reiatsu.
He waved his hand, and Reiatsu burst forth from two tentacles, sweeping towards the two in a distorted and illusory angle. Their speed was so fast that they left countless afterimages in mid-air.
For a moment, it was as if hundreds of tentacles were attacking the two simultaneously.
This scene caused the two to sink in expression, and they immediately scattered to the sides.
But the speed of those tentacles was more than a notch faster than before!
With two dull thuds, Matsumoto Rangiku and Hisagi Shuuhei felt a violent pain spread throughout their bodies from their abdomens.
As blood gushed from their mouths, the two were sent flying backward towards the ground like kicked balls.
Boom—
The ground trembled, and the two landing created two incredibly huge craters in the ground.
Matsumoto Rangiku tried to get up as soon as she landed, but simply trying to get up from the ground made her feel as if all her bones were creaking.
This made her expression turn incredibly ugly.
Espada who were serious were far from what Vice-Captains like them could contend with. Just taking one direct hit from the opponent had already left her severely wounded.
On the other side, Hisagi's situation was not much different. He reached up to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
They had long known about the Espada from Captain Ishikawa's report, but from text alone, they couldn't directly grasp the Espada's power.
Now, experiencing it firsthand, he realized...
Captain Ishikawa was simply a monster!
Facing the siege of seven such monsters simultaneously, and even killing one of them.
"Hahahahaha—"
Luppi was not in a hurry to pursue, but rather looked at the pale-faced two with interest: "It seems your bodies are not as tough as your mouths, are they? I just got a little serious, and you're already done for?"
"And you're comparing me to that useless Zommari?"
"What a joke!"
A hint of disdain flashed in Luppi's eyes: "I didn't become an Espada not because of insufficient strength, but simply because I didn't want to be an Espada. Otherwise, let alone just No. 7, I could easily obtain an even higher rank!"
"Do you think Espada can just be filled when there's a vacancy?"
Luppi glanced at Tier Harribel, who was staring blankly at the sky in the distance: "You should know that Espada are different from the Privaron Espada and Fracción. The higher the rank, the higher the strength. That useless one over there is the bottom of the Espada. The fact that Lord Aizen allowed me to become No. 7 is enough to show that I am countless times stronger than those useless ones!"
"..." Tier Harribel.
She really didn't expect that just standing by would lead to her being mocked.
Do you really think I have no temper at all?
If it weren't for fear of attracting attention, if it were her old self...
Tier Harribel glanced up at the sky.
Oh well, this idiot has already fallen into someone else's trap anyway.
On the other side, Luppi looked at the two on the ground, the tips of two tentacles covered in dense spikes. He yawned rather boredly:
"Oh, you two probably don't understand what I'm saying. After all, perspective determines insight."
As soon as he finished speaking, two tentacles shot out.
However…
"I agree with that."
A rather flat voice suddenly came from above Luppi's head: "It's just that your insight isn't all that great either."
At these words, the two tentacles beside Luppi suddenly froze in mid-air.
This is?
Luppi looked along the tentacles and only then realized that a layer of ice crystals had appeared on the surface of those two tentacles at some unknown point.
No…
Not just these two, all eight tentacles were covered in ice crystals in that instant.
Could it be…
Luppi's face sank, and he suddenly looked up towards the sky.
Only then did he realize that Hitsugaya Tōshirō, who had previously been chased all over the place by his tentacles, had stopped in mid-air at some unknown point.
And the four tentacles chasing him were all frozen in mid-air by ice crystals, as if connected to the night sky.
"In your eyes, is a Captain of the Gotei 13 just a good-for-nothing who only knows how to run away?"
Hitsugaya Tōshirō met Luppi's gaze, and a composure unfitting for his youthful face was revealed: "Provoked by words, you gave me so much time to prepare. Are you underestimating the Captains of the Gotei 13 too much?"
A visible chill suddenly spread under the moonlight.
Looking around, one could see giant ice pillars, reaching straight into the sky, condensing out of thin air around Luppi, completely surrounding him.
The moment the ice pillars formed, the moonlight was obscured, and the celestial phenomena changed.
The entire world, at this moment, seemed to have entered an ice age.
Just then, Hitsugaya Tōshirō's blade, full of chilling aura, swung downwards.
Seeing this, Luppi's expression changed drastically, and his Reiatsu surged wildly.
But it was already too late!
A fatal chill, as if even his spirit was frozen, made his entire body stiff, and he could only watch helplessly as the countless ice pillars came towards him.
"No——"
"Sennen Hyōrō!"
Countless ice pillars converged simultaneously, forming a gigantic glacier, over a hundred meters high and wide, in mid-air.
Hoo—
Hitsugaya Tōshirō exhaled a breath of cold air, his brows slightly furrowed.
This kind of technique was simply too much of a burden for him at the moment.
And here…
Hitsugaya Tōshirō shifted his gaze to Tier Harribel in the distance.
There was still an Espada here.
However, there was one thing he really couldn't understand.
Although this female Espada was described as vulnerable by that guy Luppi, as if she was completely unworthy of being an Espada.
But she…
She had already noticed his movements at the very beginning of his preparations.
It was just that for some reason, she hadn't stopped him at all, nor had she reminded Luppi.
And while Hitsugaya Tōshirō was observing Tier Harribel, Tier Harribel was also observing Hitsugaya Tōshirō, but what she was thinking was not how to rescue Luppi, but rather…
What was the relationship between these people and Ishikawa?
As for Luppi.
If he died here, she could take his place in the upcoming operation.
However…
Buzz~
A dark flash suddenly shot out from the crescent moon high in the sky.
Hitsugaya Tōshirō, in mid-air, felt the arrival of the flash immediately. With a Shunpo, he instantly disappeared from his original spot.
But just as he dodged, Hitsugaya Tōshirō's expression changed.
Because that dark Cero did not pursue him, but instead…
Boom—
With a loud bang, the Sennen Hyōrō rapidly dissolved under the dark flash.
How is that possible!
Hitsugaya Tōshirō's pupils constricted. The ice formed by Sennen Hyōrō was condensed from water in the atmosphere. Once formed, as long as the moisture in the atmosphere did not dissipate, it would continuously replenish itself and persist indefinitely.
Yet, under that dark Cero, it didn't even last a second, collapsing instantly.
What exactly was that?
Hitsugaya Tōshirō suddenly looked up and only then realized that three figures had appeared in the high sky at some unknown point.
Indeed!
Tier Harribel sighed to herself upon seeing this.
Among the three, besides Harribel, the other two would not care about a comrade's death, but the one who had just acted was Ulquiorra.
This indicates…
They did not wish for her to fill Luppi's vacancy and continue carrying out Aizen-sama's mission.
Thinking of this, Tier Harribel glanced at Szayelaporro. The executor of the plan was Szayelaporro, and the participants in the operation were also chosen by Szayelaporro.
Szayelaporro had excluded her from the very beginning.
Is he already suspicious of me?
"Bastard! I'm going to kill you all!!"
Along with the melting of the glacier, Luppi's furious roar came.
At this moment, he looked quite disheveled, his exposed skin covered in frostbite, and his body constantly trembling from the cold that had entered him.
So many Espada have come?
On the other side, Hitsugaya Tōshirō and the others gathered together, looking at the five Espada who had converged, their faces extremely grim.
"Stop making a fuss."
Ulquiorra looked at the distorted expression on Luppi's face and said coldly, "Our purpose in coming here is not for them."
"Give me a little more time, I can dissolve…"
"Shut up!"
Harribel frowned, a hint of azure flashing in her eyes.
Under her gaze, Luppi opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't continue speaking.
"Our guests have arrived."
Szayelaporro, on the other hand, looked up at a tall building in the distance, a smile appearing in his eyes behind his mask-like glasses: "Get ready to welcome our guests." With that, he glanced at Tier Harribel and said, "Those Shinigami, when we act, can be left for that bitch over there to handle."
Harribel heard this, and a hint of coldness flashed in her eyes as she looked at Szayelaporro.
"The person involved hasn't even spoken, so why are you looking at me with such eyes?"
Szayelaporro smiled indifferently.
Luppi, who was beside him, glanced at Tier Harribel, who remained silent as if she hadn't heard anything, and sneered, "She's just a good-for-nothing filling a vacancy, what right does she have to speak!"
"If that's the case, then you, who were almost defeated by a Shinigami just now, also have no right to stand here—" Harribel said coldly.
Tier Harribel looked at Harribel, always feeling that if she were a man, she would definitely fall in love with this woman…
She couldn't understand why Harribel was so protective of her.
"You…"
Luppi looked at Harribel with a resentful expression upon hearing this.
"If you want to argue, go back and argue. Don't forget our objective."
Ulquiorra interrupted their quarrel.
"Is the target you speak of me?"
A calm voice sounded, and almost simultaneously with the voice fading, a gentle breeze swept by, and a figure appeared in front of Hitsugaya Tōshirō and the others.
The newcomer was dressed in black work clothes, with black knee-high boots, and a pure white short-sleeved haori draped over him. On his back was a black diamond pattern with the character 'Nine' inside.
"Captain."
Upon seeing this figure, Hisagi Shuuhei immediately endured the pain and saluted.
"Mr. Ishikawa (Ishikawa)"
Abarai Renji and Matsumoto Rangiku then said.
"You came too slowly—" Hitsugaya Tōshirō complained with a cool tone.
Ishikawa smiled faintly at them, then turned to look at the five Arrancar in the distant void:
"If you want to argue, you can continue. Don't mind me."
Ishikawa finished speaking and looked at Szayelaporro:
"However, it seems you've completely mastered a way to track me. I really should have killed you last time."
"Hehehe~"
Szayelaporro chuckled: "I'm different from you; I wouldn't bear to kill you. After all, I've already prepared a very large area for you in the laboratory. Would you consider coming back to the laboratory with me?"
"Sorry, allow me to refuse, but…"
Ishikawa smiled slightly, then turned to look at Harribel:
"If this beautiful lady were to invite me, I might consider it."
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr