At this moment, in the southwest corner of the labyrinth.
Looking at Szayelaporro in his white uniform ahead, little Nel trembled with fear.
Pesche and Dondochakka beside her had also lost their usual cheerful expressions, trembling from terror.
Nel didn't remember him due to her injuries, but Dondochakka and the others couldn't possibly forget.
Back when Nelliel was still Number 3 among the Espada, Nnoitra had teamed up with Szayelaporro to remove their Arrancar masks, causing them to regress to Hollow forms.
Learning of this, Nelliel went to confront Nnoitra but was ambushed, losing her power and memories. She was ultimately expelled from the Espada and banished from Las Noches.
To prevent little Nel from remembering these painful events, Dondochakka and the others pretended to be siblings who met by chance.
Originally, they thought as long as they stayed away from Las Noches, they'd never encounter Nnoitra and Szayelaporro again.
But they never expected... to meet Szayelaporro again here.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, no way, am I really this lucky...?"
Behind his glasses, Szayelaporro's gaze revealed excited laughter. He stared intently at little Nel, smiling:
"Look who I've run into... isn't this the former Third Espada, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck?"
Hearing his words, Pesche and Dondochakka on both sides immediately shuddered.
Though little Nel was equally afraid, she still said timidly: "I... I don't know the person you're talking about!"
Hearing this, Szayelaporro first paused, then straightened up, slightly raising his chin with a smile:
"Oh right, if you hadn't said that, I would've forgotten. You've already become complete trash."
"But even trash has research value."
As he spoke, he began walking toward them, saying as he moved:
"When I couldn't see you before, I never thought of this. But now that I see you, I'm even more curious—"
"Nelliel... just what kind of wonderful things are your body and soul...?"
Szayelaporro's face showed a perverted, maniacal laugh.
Seeing this scene, Pesche and Dondochakka were too scared to speak, but they still stepped forward in unison, blocking little Nel's front.
"Don't... don't come closer!!"
"Hmm?"
Szayelaporro paused, making a thoughtful expression.
"Hmm, let me think. You two should be her subordinate officers, right? I think they're called Pesche Guatiche, and Dondochakka Birs..."
"Wait, was it Birs or Birge...?"
Szayelaporro laughed while drawing his blade. "I guess I don't need to worry so much about dead people's names."
Before his words finished, he walked forward again.
With each step forward, his spiritual pressure intensified, pressing down on the three across from him.
Though little Nel didn't know what was happening, she still sensed danger. She quickly squeezed between Pesche and Dondochakka.
Trembling as she looked at Szayelaporro ahead, she shouted with a crying voice: "You, you don't come closer!!"
Hearing this and seeing little Nel's expression, Szayelaporro looked even more excited.
"I really want to see... what happens if I do come closer?!"
With that, he directly raised his blade and pressed closer to little Nel. But at that instant, something unexpected happened!
CLANG!
A white flash suddenly shot forward, slashing directly at Szayelaporro's arm!
SPLURT!!
Blood instantly splattered. His hand, still gripping the blade, fell straight to the ground.
"Wha... what?!!"
Szayelaporro's pupils contracted sharply. Only then did he sense the spiritual pressure coming from behind the three.
He quickly looked up to see a person wearing a white captain's haori walking unhurriedly toward them from around the corner.
Shigure.
"It's you?!" Szayelaporro's expression shifted slightly.
Due to the Moonlight Butterfly labyrinth's effect, he hadn't noticed Shigure's spiritual pressure approaching at all.
At this moment, the three also quickly turned to look. When they saw clearly, they were instantly stunned.
They never expected that in such a critical moment, someone who could save them would actually appear.
Szayelaporro kept his eyes fixed on Shigure while bending down to pick up his hand and press it to his severed arm.
Then the severed muscle and bone began rapidly healing.
After a moment, it was completely restored. He slightly raised his chin, looking at Shigure coldly:
"Hey, hey, are you... stepping in to save these Hollows, Soul Reaper?"
Hearing this, little Nel and the others, who had just been looking at Shigure with grateful eyes, instantly froze.
"So-So-So-Soul Reaper?!!"
Little Nel quickly pressed herself against the labyrinth wall in fear.
She had no other escape route. After all, on one side was the terrifying Szayelaporro, while on the other was the "natural enemy" Soul Reaper that Dondochakka and the others spoke of.
So she could only look back and forth quickly with her big eyes.
Shigure didn't answer Szayelaporro's question. Instead, he looked toward little Nel beside him, smiling lightly:
"Do I really look more frightening than that guy across from you?"
Little Nel listened, nodded blankly, then seemed to realize something and quickly shook her head.
Pesche and Dondochakka both swallowed hard, also showing confused expressions.
Because they were also getting confused about the situation.
A Soul Reaper, supposedly the natural enemy of Hollows, was actually stepping in to help resolve their crisis...
"Soul Reaper... are you... looking down on me?"
Szayelaporro lowered his head slightly, suddenly letting out convulsive laughter.
"Hehehehe hahahaha... looks like I need to teach you a lesson..."
With that, he raised his head, looking at Shigure again with a half-smile.
Then, as if talking to himself, he said: "Attack."
As his words fell, two massive black insects suddenly burst from the sand behind Shigure, instantly lunging to bite at Shigure's legs!
Seeing this scene, Shigure remained calm, but little Nel and the others jumped in fright, quickly looking over.
"Be, be careful!"
But Szayelaporro grinned widely. "Too late!"
The two giant insects opened their mouths, revealing sharp fangs that reflected cold light, and bit down directly!
CLANG!
A sound like steel colliding rang out. Szayelaporro's gaze froze.
Those two black insects' fangs were actually... broken by his skin!
🔥 Want to read the next 50 chapters RIGHT NOW?
💎 Patreon members get instant access!
⚡ Limited-time offer currently running...
👉 [Join on - patreon.com/DarkGolds]