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Powerful. Confident.
Harribel floated high in the air, regal and proud.
Her gaze was cool and detached, looking down from above without the faintest ripple of emotion.
Even after carving a deep wound into Hitsugaya, her expression didn't change at all.
To the Shark Empress, the strong defeating the weak was simply how the world worked. There was nothing to celebrate.
Hitsugaya, on the other hand—
Even with Hyōrinmaru defending him, the left side of his captain's haori was torn open, revealing a bloody slash pouring fresh crimson onto the ground.
"Damn it… she's so fast. I didn't even see her move!"
Half-buried in a crater, Hitsugaya's breathing came in harsh, uneven bursts. His once clean, boyish face was now streaked with dirt.
All the confidence he'd shown while fighting Luppi was gone.
What remained was fear—tight, suffocating fear.
Hueco Mundo.
Las Noches erupted in cheers.
Seeing the stark contrast between Hitsugaya and Harribel, the Arrancar army, whose morale had been sinking moments ago, rekindled their arrogance and disdain toward the Shinigami.
"Hmph! Now this is satisfying! Who said Arrancar are inferior? Those guys who went out earlier were just weak!"
Sung-Sun practically glowed with excitement, waving her sleeves in delight.
She hadn't been the one to strike, but her mind was fully immersed in the moment, venting her frustrations with gusto.
The slump she'd been in a moment ago had flipped back into smugness thanks to Harribel's overwhelming display.
"Hm?"
On the eastern steps, Yammy, who had been silent the whole time, frowned at Sung-Sun's words.
"Sung-Sun… what's that supposed to mean? You calling me trash?"
Among all the Arrancar, Yammy was arguably the most frustrated one.
From the very first ranking reveal, he'd been reduced to a background prop to show off Urahara Kisuke's strength—getting beaten into a swollen mess by the shopkeeper.
After that humiliation, Yammy shut down completely.
He'd sat through the rest of the screenings with a dark expression, simmering in silence.
Sure, in the second round Zommari had also been one-shot by Byakuya and didn't fare much better…
But Zommari wasn't hot-headed. He'd been annoyed by his own fate, not enraged.
Only Yammy had been stewing nonstop.
He'd finally perked up earlier when Luppi got obliterated by Hyōrinmaru. With Luppi at the bottom, he could finally stop feeling like the biggest embarrassment.
But then—
After seeing the "spoilers," Grimmjow went berserk and killed Luppi outright.
Which meant things were back to the start.
Once again, Yammy stood alone as the only Arrancar who got toyed with like a monkey from beginning to end.
So…
Hearing Sung-Sun's comment now was like lighting a fuse.
"What was that?" Yammy exploded. "Say it again!"
"I didn't name anyone," Sung-Sun replied, hiding behind Harribel's authority while throwing out snide comments. "If you feel targeted, that's on you."
"You—!"
Yammy stomped in fury.
If it weren't for Harribel's presence, he would've torn her to pieces on the spot.
But—
Their argument was cut short.
The visual feed abruptly jumped—one flash, and the scene skipped ahead.
A deafening rumble cracked across the sky.
Thunder roared!
From the pitch-black clouds overhead, bolts of lightning snarled through the darkness.
Beneath that storm—
Hitsugaya hovered with wings of ice, glowing with a pale white radiance like a child of the weather itself.
He was covered in wounds.
But the ice wings behind him continued to swell and expand as moisture poured into them, growing so large they rivaled the sky.
Each flap of those wings sent out bursts of wind cold enough to freeze the world.
Hitsugaya's aura surged in response, climbing sharply, frighteningly—rising to its peak.
"W… what's happening?" someone murmured.
"I can feel it… his aura's almost equal to Lady Harribel's!"
Sung-Sun felt the chill cut through her.
Every hair on her body stood on end, goosebumps racing over her dry skin. The cold seeped straight into her bones, freezing her blood solid.
"No… wait…"
"This guy's spiritual pressure is climbing like crazy—he's charging up something huge!" Nnoitra's pupils widened.
He was a brute who relied almost entirely on his blade, yet even he could feel the crushing force building inside Hitsugaya.
It felt like the warning tremors before an avalanche.
A faint rumble at first… followed by a devastating collapse.
As the one facing him directly, Harribel sensed it even more intensely.
Her power controlled water.
Which meant she was naturally opposed to cold—and ice.
So when the moisture of the entire sky began converging toward Hitsugaya, her instincts screamed in alarm.
And sure enough, what happened next left her eyes wide with shock.
"Harribel, right?"
Hitsugaya raised his blade with both hands. Hyōrinmaru gleamed bright white, freezing the air around him.
"My Zanpakutō, Hyōrinmaru, is the strongest of all ice-type blades. It can turn every bit of moisture in the air… into a weapon."
He spoke with a frostbitten calm, his voice dropping to a piercing chill.
"So what?" Harribel answered coldly.
The oceanic power bursting from her great shark-toothed blade churned forward, forcing back the waves of icy air.
"Heavenly Phenomenon Manifestation—that's one of Hyōrinmaru's basic abilities," Hitsugaya continued. "It lets me control the weather itself and command every drop of water in the air."
White hair whipped wildly around him.
Crystalline frost shimmered across his skin.
His spiritual pressure peaked, erupting into a blinding pillar of white light that pierced the sky.
A booming crack split the clouds apart.Waves of icy pressure swept outward, freezing the heavens.
Then Hitsugaya shouted, voice sharp with killing intent:
"Ice Heaven — Hundred-Flower Burial!"
"..."
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