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Hueco Mundo
Katerea Leviathan stood tall, grinning wildly as she waved her arm. "Let's raise some hell!"
Midoriko: "…"
Lynn-sama, why would you send someone like her over here?!
Katerea, sensing their hesitation, gave the girls a hearty slap on the back and flashed a toothy grin. "Relax! I'm here, so there's nothing to worry about!"
"And besides…"
She paused, grin growing even cockier. "If you keep leveling up at this slowpoke pace, we'll be stuck here forever."
Her gaze turned toward the looming white palace in the distance, eyes gleaming with intent. "You want real EXP? You go for the big boss fights."
Midoriko: "…"
She wasn't wrong.
But still, that kind of thinking could get them all killed.
Midoriko, Kikyo, Miko, and others exchanged looks, clearly resigned to their fate.
But what could they do?
Right now, Katerea Leviathan was easily the strongest among them.
The Devil King, a true Satan.
Probably the most powerful of all the Familia, second only to Lynn himself.
And honestly, she did have a point.
Midoriko also turned her eyes toward the white palace.
Whoever was in there, they should be a worthy challenge, right?
A spark of excitement lit up inside her.
She clenched her fists. "Alright! Let's go all out!"
Katerea nodded with satisfaction.
One vote secured!
And not just any vote—the most important one.
With Midoriko on board, the rest would naturally follow.
After all, she was the leader of this advance team.
Just a few seconds later, with everyone in agreement, Katerea couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.
Sure, she talked big about storming the place.
But she still made sure to get everyone's input first.
Because if Lynn ever found out she just barged in, overruled Midoriko, and pulled rank to take over command.
She'd definitely get punished.
Not that she minded punishment too much, in fact, there was a little part of her that… kind of looked forward to it?
Still, if Lynn started to hate her because of it, that would be a real problem.
She still wanted to bear his children one day, after all. She couldn't afford to screw this up.
So for now, the once-chaotic Devil King of the Old Satan Faction was learning to play nice with the rest of the Familia.
A few seconds later, Katerea raised her hand.
A massive sea-blue magic circle burst to life in the sky, instantly enveloping the entire white palace.
"This place is way too dry and dusty," she scoffed with a laugh. "Let Mama Leviathan give you a nice little shower!"
And the moment the words left her mouth—
BOOM!!
A colossal pillar of water crashed down from the heavens, slamming into the palace like a divine punishment!
...
Las Noches.
Coyote Starrk, who had been lounging around in his usual lazy daze, suddenly snapped to attention, eyes sharp.
"Whoa… That's one hell of a move. And it's right above Las Noches?!"
BZZZ—
A moment later, high above the palace, a Coyote Starrk appeared.
The moment his eyes caught sight of the endless sea of water pouring down from the sky like an overturned ocean, his pupils twitched in shock.
Lilynette clung to his shoulder, eyes wide in disbelief. "Starrk! The sky's falling!!"
Starrk—still half-asleep as usual—rubbed her head and sighed. "It's not the sky, dummy. This is clearly an enemy attack…"
"Enemy attack?!" Lilynette quickly darted her eyes around. "Where? Where are they?!"
Starrk didn't answer. He just looked off into the distance, his expression turning serious.
In his spiritual sense… he could feel a group of people standing far away.
The weird thing was—None of them had any detectable Reiatsu.
However, the energy coming off them felt oddly similar to the strange ocean above.
"So… it's them?"
Suddenly, a cool voice echoed in his ear.
"You showed up too, Tier Harribel…"
Starrk didn't turn around. He already knew who it was.
Tier Harribel stepped forward, stopping beside him. Her face was calm and unreadable.
Her sun-kissed skin gave her a wild, exotic beauty, but the stoic expression added a distant, almost abstinent edge.
She glanced up at the sea crashing overhead. "This power…" she murmured, "These invaders… they're not ordinary."
Starrk nodded. The usual lazy look in his eyes was gone, replaced by rare solemnity.
Harribel paused for a moment before speaking again. "It's not often I see you looking like this."
"Yeah…" Starrk sighed. "This time I can't slack off."
"Is that so?" Harribel narrowed her eyes slightly.
For someone like Starrk to take something seriously… That alone said a lot.
BZZZZZ—
Suddenly, the space around them started to ripple.
More figures began appearing one after another, all dressed in white.
"Ohoho~"
A tall, thin man wearing a single eyepatch grinned as he looked around. "Someone actually dared to attack Las Noches? Don't tell me…"
"They don't know where they are?"
As he finished that sentence, his smile vanished. A wave of killing intent rolled off him.
"Well then… let me go rip those insects apart one by one!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a terrifying Reiatsu exploded from his body.
Harribel frowned slightly. "Nnoitra Gilga, don't be reckless."
"Yeah, yeah~ Save the lecture for when I get back."
And just like that, Nnoitra's figure vanished in a blur.
Harribel's brows furrowed even deeper.
Starrk shrugged. "Let him go. Might as well use him to figure out what we're dealing with."
He looked up toward the sky. "We've still got another problem to deal with."
The others looked up at the same time.
SPLASH—
The roar of rushing seawater filled the air.
Starrk scratched his head. "If the palace gets destroyed, you know Aizen's gonna be pissed."
That got everyone's attention.
Even though Aizen Sosuke rarely showed any expression…
Just hearing his name was enough to make them all nervous.
And when Aizen did want to punish someone—he never gave warnings.
HSSSSSSK—
Realizing that, the others all drew in a sharp breath.
No hesitation.
"Cero!" (xN)
BZZZ—
Multiple beams of energy—each one glowing in different colors—blasted upward, crashing head-on into the falling sea.
Starrk watched with a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Ah. Guess he could slack off a bit longer.
Well, maybe not completely.
BOOM!!
The massive blasts collided with the ocean above, sending shockwaves echoing through Hueco Mundo.
But, the ocean didn't shatter like they expected. Instead, it slowed… and held its position.
No, wait—It was still falling. Just slower.
Ulquiorra Cifer blinked in surprise. "Our combined Cero… only managed to slow it?"
Sure, none of them had gone into their Resurrección forms yet, but still—
They weren't sure if this strange ocean was even the full extent of the enemy's power.
But after just this first clash, they already knew—whoever was behind it was seriously strong.
"Tch…" Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez scowled. "Where the hell did this come from?"
Whoever could unleash a power like this definitely wasn't from Hueco Mundo.
Otherwise, Aizen would've wiped them out long ago.
Which meant this enemy came from outside the realm.
"Hey!" Grimmjow snapped, glaring at Szayelaporro Grantz and his crew. "This has to be your fault, right?! If this mess screws with Aizen's plans, don't come crying when he skins you alive!"
"Oh ho ho…" Szayelaporro narrowed his eyes. "Now now, don't go throwing baseless accusations."
Grimmjow muttered, "Like anyone trusts you, bastard."
Of course, they all had another suspect in the back of their minds.
Aizen Sosuke.
After all, this kind of crazy unexpected thing was exactly his style.
But none of them were dumb enough to say that out loud.
Harribel glanced at the group and decided to drop the topic. She turned back to Starrk. "You still not going to make a move?"
Starrk: "..."
"Sigh…" He let out a long breath. "I was hoping I could nap through this one."
Harribel responded calmly, "That lazy attitude of yours needs to change eventually."
"Yeah, yeah~" Starrk replied halfheartedly. He raised his index finger, and a small blue orb of energy formed at the tip.
He flicked it.
WHOOSH—
The orb left a bright blue trail as it shot toward the clashing point between the Cero and the sea.
The moment it hit—BOOM!!
A blinding flash exploded from the collision point.
The blue orb triggered the energy from the Ceros to detonate all at once!
BOOOOM!!
The sound thundered across Hueco Mundo!
SPLASH—
A soft, pattering noise echoed from above.
The sea was gone.
In its place… fat raindrops began falling like marbles from the sky.
Starrk looked up and let out a soft breath. "Didn't think I'd see weather like this in Hueco Mundo…"
Well, even if it was artificial.
Seeing the water disappear, Grimmjow and the others finally relaxed.
As long as Las Noches was safe and no damage was done, it was fine.
CRASH!
Another blast rang out in the air!
Moments later, Nnoitra came flying at high speed, smashing straight into one of the white palace buildings with a loud boom, destroying the building.
Starrk: "..."
Grimmjow: "..."
Everyone: "..."
.
.
.