"Come out. The 'Oorgami(Great Weave Guard)' who has been secretly watching us all this time."
Candice's gaze was sharp as lightning as it shot toward an empty sand dune.
There was clearly no one there, yet she seemed absolutely certain that something was present.
There was even a rare heaviness in her voice.
"Oh my! When did you notice? You even know my title."
A soft, charming female voice tinged with playful amusement seemed to seep out from the cracks of space itself.
Before the words had fully fallen, the space above the watched sand dune rippled like the surface of water.
A slender figure stepped out of thin air, so graceful that it seemed she was not walking on coarse sand and gravel, but strolling through the magnificent garden of her own home.
The newcomer wore an exquisitely patterned, extremely luxurious kimono. Her jet-black hair was swept up high into a bun, adorned with a huge and splendid golden hairpin, making her pale face appear even more refined.
A faint smile lingered at the corner of her lips. Her bearing was dignified and composed, like the most noble lady in the world.
However, completely out of place with that extreme elegance were the several slowly unfurling, pale and slender skeletal arms behind her back.
Those arms resembled a spider's legs. Every joint of bone was clearly visible, their tips decorated with golden ornaments that reflected a cold sheen under the pale light of Hueco Mundo.
They moved silently, forming an incredibly eerie and heart-stopping contrast with her proper posture, giving her whole body an otherworldly, bewitching beauty.
"Since I've already come out, then out of courtesy, you should come out too," Shutara Senjumaru smiled sweetly, her half-lidded eyes sweeping over the empty stretch of sand.
It was not just the two of them earlier.
By her perception, before Sui Feng left, there should have been at least twelve people.
Buzz!
As her words fell, the entire world seemed like a canvas being twisted with great force.
Space let out an unbearable wail. The disguised illusion shattered on the spot, cracking inch by inch like a mirror.
It was as if the stars were shifting, or heaven and earth were flipping over.
The scene before them changed once again.
Seven earth-shaking pillars of spiritual pressure shot straight into the sky. Spiritual pressures of various colors surrounded Shutara Senjumaru at the center, interweaving and shining against one another in the heavens.
Including Candice, the Espada had gathered six in total. Seven streams of spiritual pressure pressed down on Shutara Senjumaru.
"Oh my, how terrifying. If it were the Gotei 13 running into you, they might be wiped out the moment they clashed."
Standing within the storm of spiritual pressure, Shutara Senjumaru seemed completely unaffected by the suffocating oppression.
If it had been someone like Sui Feng or Kensei Muguruma, they would probably already have been crushed flat by the torrent of spiritual pressure.
But, she was Shutara Senjumaru, a member of Squad Zero known as the 'Great Weave Guard'.
This level was nothing more than enough to make her feel a hint of danger.
"Not enough. Still far from enough. I would like to meet your king."
Amid soft laughter, a completely different kind of spiritual pressure, as if from a higher dimension, erupted violently from her body.
Buzz!
That spiritual pressure did not win by quantity, but by absolute quality.
It was like a red-hot, indestructible golden needle, effortlessly piercing through the massive net woven from seven forces, carving out an absolute divine domain for itself.
Shutara Senjumaru looked around, gazing at the faces that were arrogant, lazy, or calm, and a noble lady's composed smile spread across her lips.
"Come then, all of you called the Espada. I hope you can entertain me!"
"Tch! Arrogant bitch," Grimmjow snorted coldly, glaring at Shutara Senjumaru with clear displeasure. Yet the usually reckless him made no move, only standing there with his arms crossed.
If they joined forces with everything they had, Shutara Senjumaru would not last long at all.
But there was no helping it. This was the king's order.
They wanted to personally experience just how strong this so-called Squad Zero really was.
Whoosh!
The Fifth Espada, Ulquiorra, moved. Today was the stage of the top five Espada, and also their moment to prove themselves to Rosse.
"Not bad speed. Faster than the captains of past generations in Soul Society, and even faster than Kirinji before he joined Squad Zero."
As Shutara Senjumaru casually commented, the skeletal hands behind her reacted instantly, blocking Ulquiorra's attack path.
BOOM!
Attack met defense in a violent collision.
The shockwaves, powerful enough to easily shred vice-captain level fighters, spread outward again and again.
In just a short moment, the two had already exchanged dozens of blows.
But no matter how Ulquiorra attacked, Shutara Senjumaru did not retreat a single step.
Instead, as the assault continued, more and more wounds appeared on Ulquiorra's body, and the uniform of Las Noches was torn apart.
"No.5. It seems that when facing the expeditionary force, you did send out some strong fighters," Shutara Senjumaru looked at the number on Ulquiorra's chest and let out a series of light laughs.
Then, while fending off Ulquiorra's attacks, she cast an interested glance toward Harribel's direction.
According to Soul Society's intelligence, the Hueco Mundo expeditionary force had been easily crushed by three people.
One No.5, one No.2.
'So what number is the last one, exactly?'
BOOM!
A deafening explosion drew a full stop to this battle that had lasted less than thirty minutes.
At the center of the battlefield, Ulquiorra's body was embedded awkwardly in the sand. His skin was covered in dense, fine cuts made by threads, and green blood slowly seeped out.
Shutara Senjumaru, on the other hand, still stood where she was. Only a bit of dust stained her magnificent kimono, and one corner of the golden crown atop her high bun had been neatly sliced off, like a tiny, insignificant flaw on a perfect work of art.
And just as Shutara Senjumaru raised the pale skeletal hand behind her, about to bring it down with surgical precision...
BANG!
Lilynette, transformed into the Wolf King, appeared at the center of the battlefield and kicked Ulquiorra, smoothly sending him to a safe position.
"Oh my, someone finally took over."
Seeing the newly appeared enemy, Shutara Senjumaru did not give chase. She merely turned around gracefully and said softly in an almost regretful tone,
"You seem to look down on me. If you worked together against me, I might actually feel a bit strained."
What answered her was Lilynette's wild pounce.
After releasing her sword, her speed was astonishing. Her sharp claws carried a shrill scream as they tore through the air, aiming straight for Shutara Senjumaru's throat.
Yet, faced with this deadly attack, Shutara Senjumaru did not even lift her eyes.
The skeletal hands behind her seemed to possess independent will. In a flash, they interwove and darted before her. Countless spiritual threads too fine to see with the naked eye instantly wove together, forming a delicate yet resilient spiderweb shield.
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