"Na.. Nani?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Above Vasto Lorde? Could it be that Vasto Lorde is not the end for Menos Grande, and there's an even higher level beyond that?"
"Could it be.. Nelliel, that woman." The returning Cirucci's eyes were filled with shock, her gaze fixed on Shinji.
Evolution, for a Menos Grande, what an immense temptation it is!
How many Hollows live their lives in a daze, unable to even evolve into a Gillians, only to be killed by a Shinigami or become food for other Hollows, dying on the path of evolution.
And even evolving into a Gillians is only the first step of evolution.
Gillians are the lowest class of Menos Grande.
Hundreds, even thousands, or more Hollows mutually devour and merge, ultimately forming these monsters known as Menos Grande.
Because of their massive size, they began to be called Menos Grande.
Their Reiatsu is like that of an Adjuchas, even approaching a Vasto Lorde, but tragically, Gillians cannot use it.
Because.
All Gillians are mindless monsters.
They cannot control Reiatsu at all.
They can only instinctively attack other Hollows, continuing to devour them.
Afterward.
After the Hollows inside them fight, the last one remaining can evolve into an Adjuchas.
This is the intermediate Menos Grande, Adjuchas.
Having fought their way out of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of Menos Grande, they formally begin to evolve, breaking free from the lowest layer of Hueco Mundo.
But this is far from the end.
From this stage onwards.
Adjuchas become even more dangerous.
Because the Reiatsu required to evolve into a Vasto Lorde is an extremely vast amount.
Adjuchas need to attack each other, devouring the Reiatsu of their own kind, and in this process, they must try their best not to get injured Only then is there an extremely low chance of evolving into a Vasto Lorde.
Key point: it's extremely low.
As an Adjuchas, one must absolutely not sustain serious injuries, especially to the mask on their face.
And if an Adjuchas's mask suffers any degree of damage, its growth will immediately stop, and it can only maintain the state it was in before the mask was damaged.
Afterward.
When a certain number of its kind have been preyed upon, two divergent paths emerge.
Evolution stops power reaches a bottleneck, unable to increase further; this means the Adjuchas has reached its peak strength and cannot evolve further, meaning this Hollow can only remain an Adjuchas.
This is the cruel and greedy life of all Menos Grande.
They spend their entire lives fighting for evolution.
"What did you mean by that just now? Does he possess knowledge that can help Hollows evolve?"
"Beyond Vasto Lorde?" Cirucci was somewhat agitated.
Most of the Espada, and even Arrancar, joined Aizen to pursue greater power.
Because.
Aizen possessed the technology that could help Hollows become Arrancar.
No Hollow could refuse the temptation of power and evolution.
None!
It was precisely because Aizen could bring them power and evolution that the Menos Grande pledged allegiance to Aizen.
Or rather, they were pledging allegiance to power and evolution.
Thinking of the possibility of further evolution.
Cirucci rushed in front of Shinji, her emotions starting to spiral out of control "You have the technology that can help Hollows evolve?"
"Give that to us, help me evolve!"
"As long as you can help me continue to evolve, I'll do anything!"
"Pledge allegiance? Work myself to death for you? Whatever you want!"
Under Gantenbainne's astonished gaze, Cirucci almost screamed.
She had stopped evolving for too long.
She was clearly one of the Espada at the very beginning.
But.
Later Arrancar, due to the gradual maturation of Arrancarization technology, showed a higher degree of evolution and greater power than her.
Precisely because of this.
She was abandoned, abandoned by Aizen.
After being removed from the Espada Legion.
Aizen never inquired about her again, and Cirucci completely lost her chance to evolve.
She had stopped evolving.
For this lifetime, she could only be an Adjuchas.
This was her limit.
But this was absolutely not the limit She wanted!
Because of instinct, because of desire, she wanted to become stronger, to continue evolving, to evolve into a Vasto Lorde!
For this, she was willing to give everything!
"So, we're not fighting anymore?" Shinji cautiously took a step back.
This Arrancar was too close to him.
Arrancar, is similar to Shinigami, have some strange and wonderful abilities once they release their Zanpakuto.
What if this Arrancar in front of him was just putting on an act to trick him?
"No fighting." Cirucci took a deep breath and pressed on "As long as you can help me continue to evolve, I can accept any sacrifice."
The temptation of continued evolution was simply too great.
She had just heard Gantenbainne's words, and then thought of Nelliel, who had been beaten back to an Adjuchas, then being able to evolve into a Vasto Lorde again, Tier Harribel could no longer suppress the ambition in her heart.
Shinji: "..."
So, they really weren't fighting anymore?
This plot development wasn't quite right, Shinji scratched his head.
However, it wasn't bad either.
Anyway, Shinji originally just wanted to catch a few Arrancar for Nelliel to use as test subjects.
Anyone would do.
Thinking of this, Shinji asked "You might die, Are you still willing to accept that?"
With almost no hesitation, Cirucci nodded directly "As long as you can help me continue to evolve, as long as there's still a possibility for me to evolve, even if I die in the process, I can accept it."
For a Hollow, what is the most painful and despairing thing?
Death?
Not at all.
For a Hollow, the most painful and despairing thing is undoubtedly reaching the limit of an Adjuchas and realizing that's as far as it goes.
Without the talent to evolve into a Vasto Lorde, and no means to continue getting stronger.
They can only struggle painfully, consumed by ambition and desire.
Shinji: "..."
Hollows are a race that inherently reveres power and evolution.
Since he can offer her the possibility of evolution, it's perfectly normal for her to abandon Aizen, who no longer needs her at all.
Moreover.
Shinji also possesses the technology to control their lives.
he's not afraid of them backstabbing him.
"Then, what about you, big guy?" Thinking of this, Shinji looked up and pointed at that interesting Adjuchas.
"Ah, of course I wouldn't give up the possibility of continued evolution either."
Gantenbainne thumped his chest, revealing a mouthful of white teeth "And Shinigami, my name is Gantenbainne Mosqueda."
-Meanwhile, on the other side.
Szayelaporro blocked Nelliel's Zanpakuto attack with a single strike, but before he could release the Cero in his hand, he was directly sent flying.
Boom!
The immense force turned him into a black shadow, tumbling repeatedly across the ground.
Then.
Nelliel appeared before him almost instantaneously, her eyes cold as she aimed her finger at Szayelaporro's head.
Cero!
A crimson spiritual pressure, carrying a high-energy reaction, descended, Szayelaporro rolled away in a messy fashion to dodge it.
Boom!
The crimson light, accompanied by a massive shockwave, directly sent Szayelaporro flying.
He landed on the ground hundreds of meters away, slowly getting back up.
"Damn it.. truly damnable."
He looked down.
Gazing at himself, covered in dirt, Szayelaporro painfully clutched his hair.
For someone with his extreme cleanliness obsession, his current appearance was almost more unbearable than death.
Whoosh!
Nelliel instantly appeared with a Sonído.
Szayelaporro barely reacted before he was kicked in the head, his neck seemingly broken in an instant, forming a strange arc as he flew out like an afterimage.
And that wasn't all.
Nelliel appeared again, pressing his head and slamming it hard into the ground.
Rumble!
The ground was ploughed into a massive trench.
Nelliel stood in mid-air, waiting.
"Nelliel!!!"
An angry roar came from the smoke.
Szayelaporro instantly traversed hundreds of meters and flew over.
Touching the blood on his head, Szayelaporro's eyelids twitched incessantly, He licked the blood, the veins on his forehead clearly visible, throbbing as if they might burst at any moment.
How long had it been since he had smelled his own blood and looked so disheveled?
"I've already told you, I'm Lieutenant of the Tenth Division of the Soul Society's Thirteen Court Guard Squads, Nelliel."
"You, how did you do it? Your mask was shattered by that idiot Nnoitra, so why did your spiritual pressure recover so quickly?!" Szayelaporro wiped the blood that dripped into his vision, his face grim.
The power Nelliel possessed before him was absolutely the genuine strength of a Vasto Lorde Arrancar.
Not only had her form recovered, but her spiritual pressure had also truly fully recovered.
This, how could this be possible?
She was hit by his drug and then heavily injured by Nnoitra.
Even if Nelliel could recover, it would absolutely not be possible in such a short amount of time.
So, what exactly happened to Nelliel?
And why was she following that Shinigami named Kuchiki Shinji?
Fell in love with that Shinigami?
Szayelaporro didn't believe such a thing would happen.
"Szayelaporro, this ends now."
"I don't want to leave Shinji's side, not even for a few minutes, so I won't hold back."
Nelliel drew her Zanpakuto and a light-red spiritual pressure instantly lit up the entire sky.
In an instant.
As if the sky were falling, a terrifying pressure descended and oppressed.
This spiritual pressure, under Nelliel's control, precisely suppressed Szayelaporro, without affecting Karakura Town in the slightest.
"How strange, Nelliel, for you, a Menos Grande of the Vasto Lorde Arrancar, to be concerned about human lives."
"Is it because of that Shinigami named Kuchiki Shinji?" Szayelaporro uncontrollably lowered his head slightly, his entire body trembling at a very high frequency.
His bones seemed to have already begun to crack.
His soul even started to waver.
This was the spiritual pressure of a Vasto Lorde Arrancar.
The world seemed to be bowing in submission, and the sky itself was showing its allegiance.
Everything in creation could only crumble under this spiritual pressure.
By the time Szayelaporro regained his senses, it was too late.
A light-red spiritual pressure flashed, slicing across his body, The ensuing slash instantly pierced through everything in its path, even cutting a long mark in the sky that lingered for a long time.
The sword wind howled, and the volatile spiritual pressure continuously detonated.
The air was filled with chaotic spiritual pressure and the aftershocks of the slashes.
In mid-air.
Szayelaporro was directly cut in half at the waist, slowly falling from the sky.
"You're not dead, it seems you've modified your body." Nelliel gazed at Szayelaporro, who had suddenly stopped falling.
From his bisected body, tiny flesh tendrils suddenly appeared, connecting together.
Then.
A disgusting scene unfolded.
Those flesh tendrils, as if alive, pulled the two falling halves of his body together, and a large amount of bloody foam gushed from the joined area.
But even more, there was the strange sound of the flesh tendrils wriggling.
Under normal circumstances, this injury would almost be fatal to a Menos Grande, yet Szayelaporro was able to reconnect his body!
"This is.. painful." Looking down at the white marks left on his abdomen after his clothes were torn, Szayelaporro's eyes were sinister as he slowly drew his Zanpakuto.
"Resurrección!"
"Drink, Fornicarás!" Szayelaporro swallowed his Zanpakuto, and a pink spiritual pressure rapidly bloomed, forming a pillar of light.
All his injuries instantly healed upon Resurrección, and even his spiritual pressure surged to an incredible degree in an instant.
That was a level just one step away from a Vasto Lorde!
"Nelliel, I was able to shatter your mask, making your power regress to an Adjuchas."
"I can do it a second time also."
"This time, I don't need that idiot Nnoitra, I'll do it myself." Szayelaporro looked down.
The tentacles on his back twitched.
Then, a vast, thick black ink, covering the sky and earth, sprayed out.
the sky were completely covered by this black ink.
Whoosh!
Nelliel vanished from her spot, standing in mid-air, her raised index finger pointed forward.
Cero!
The crimson Cero instantly evaporated the black ink before her, The Cero, over a thousand meters long, trailed a long fiery tail, disappearing from sight, finally exploding in the cloudless sky.
"You fell for it, Nelliel." Seeing his attempt to replicate Nelliel's clone fail, Szayelaporro suddenly looked up with a cruel grin.
His hands came together, and a pink spiritual pressure, carrying a massive amount of spiritual energy, instantly tore through everything, flying towards Nelliel
This is Gran Rey Cero!
Boom!
A deafening sonic boom echoed through the sky.
The pink Cero, capable of tearing space, shattered everything in its path as it slammed into Nelliel.
The next second.
It was like a nuclear explosion.
Everything in front of her was swallowed by pink light.
Sound, thoughts, sight, feelings.
Everything vanished.
Only spiritual pressure continuously exploded, exploded, and exploded again.
The high-energy reaction at the very center even caused space to crack countless times.
The ground looked as if it had been plowed, disappearing several meters deep.
"Disgusting woman, you're finally dead." Szayelaporro took a deep breath, ran a hand through his pink hair, and a triumphant smile appeared on his face.
But then.
A hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.
Then, his mouth slowly widened.
In the dissipating smoke.
Nelliel still stood in the same spot, her right hand extended forward, her expression calm.
That light pink Cero had actually been blocked by her hand!
"How is this possible!" Szayelaporro's golden pupils contracted sharply as he looked at the scene, unable to comprehend it.
With his spiritual pressure, even a Vasto Lorde Hollow should absolutely not be able to easily withstand his Gran Rey Cero!
Don't forget, he was once a Vasto Lorde!
Although he voluntarily regressed to an Adjuchas to evolve more perfectly, he was indeed a Vasto Lorde without a doubt!
His strength was not on the same level as an ordinary Adjuchas at all!
"Could it be that your spiritual pressure already far surpasses mine? That's absolutely impossible!" Suddenly, a terrifying thought appeared in Szayelaporro's mind, and he shook his head violently, discarding that idea.
Nelliel crushed the Cero with one hand.
"It seems you still don't understand, Szayelaporro."
"My spiritual pressure and yours are no longer on the same level at all."
"Even without Resurrección, you pose no threat to me whatsoever." Nelliel stood behind Szayelaporro, whose pupils had suddenly dilated.
"This is as far as you go, Szayelaporro."
"I'm tired of this battle, I want to return to Shinji's side immediately."
"It's over." A line of blood spread.
The Zanpakuto slowly returned to its sheath.