The cross-shaped block of ice wrapped around Grimmjow layer upon layer. Hitsugaya Tōshirō's blade tip touched the tail of that cross, and with his own body he traced out two long, narrow wing-tails, completing the outline of a massive ice crucifix.
Grimmjow was slammed up into the sky, then dropped in a steep parabola.
As the ice crystals around him shattered again and again under violent friction with the air, Grimmjow—sealed inside—could feel his body being erased bit by bit.
His reiatsu seemed to freeze along with those crystals, dispersing into the air together with their powder.
"Damn it…
I…
won't…
lose like this!"
Grimmjow wasn't about to sit there and wait for death. He poured every ounce of strength he had into trying to break through the giant ice frame from within.
Maybe Grimmjow truly had that kind of potential… or maybe in this state Hitsugaya Tōshirō couldn't unleash a perfectly complete Ryūsenka (Dragon Ice Flash).
Either way, cracks really did appear on the falling ice crucifix.
Could he actually do it?
For now, that answer wouldn't come—because in midair, a surge of water appeared, billowing with steaming heat.
With lightning speed, it "caught" Grimmjow as he fell.
And the ice crucifix sealing his body melted rapidly in the boiling current, turning into a skyful of water vapor.
"How pathetic, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez!"
From within the hazy steam, a woman's voice rang out.
Brown skin. Emerald-green eyes. A fragment of mask still clinging to her neck and chest. Crisp, short blond hair. Dark-blue, lightning-shaped markings on her cheeks.
Every inch of her carried a fused, intoxicating aesthetic—sexy and razor-sharp at the same time.
With one glance, Grimmjow recognized her: the current Hueco Mundo Jūbari (Espada) No. 2—Tier Harribel.
"What's it to you?"
Standing in the mist formed by the melted ice, Grimmjow bared his teeth and snapped back without a shred of gratitude.
"You think I wanted to babysit you?
This mission was mine to begin with. Not only did you run off to the World of the Living on your own, you almost lost to the target…"
Tier hovered in the air, holding a massive, shark-gill-pattern greatsword already in Kirin (Resurrección), staring down at Grimmjow with cold indifference.
"Which eye saw me lose to that pint-sized Shinigami?!
If you hadn't stuck your nose in, I'd have gotten out myself!"
Grimmjow shot back just as fiercely.
He'd always been furious that two female Arrancar ranked so high above him in the first place.
From the moment he was born, he'd looked down on female Arrancar—and now he'd been saved by one?
If word of that got out, wouldn't everyone laugh their fangs off? Wouldn't they all mock Grimmjow for being useless?
Like hell!
He, Grimmjow, was going to become Hueco Mundo's strongest Arrancar—how could he allow a stain like this in his life's record?!
"Hmph. Believe whatever you want.
Either way, that Shinigami is mine."
Tier understood perfectly what kind of attitude Grimmjow had toward her—and toward women Arrancar in general.
And?
So what.
She hadn't ever once put Grimmjow in her eyes.
A mere Sexta. What right did he have to challenge her?
Just a clown scrambling on the stage.
But Tier's words snapped something in Grimmjow.
The Shinigami he'd fought tooth and nail to the brink—now Tier shows up and wants to claim the credit with one sentence?
And more than that, that was his opponent. If she wanted to steal the kill, did she ask his permission?
"Sero (Cero)!"
Grimmjow hadn't fully recovered, but it didn't stop him from lifting his right arm toward Tier without hesitation.
Terrifying reiatsu condensed—then a red Sero (Cero), blasting straight through the clouds, tore past Tier's side.
"Right in front of me, you think you can steal my enemy?
Dream on!"
Grimmjow roared up at Tier.
In the sky above, Tier avoided the blast—and frowned at this colleague who had, in practice, already committed an act of betrayal.
…Maybe she could kill him here.
That bold thought took shape in her mind.
After all, she'd never liked the Hueco Mundo Jūbari (Espada) system Aizen-sama established. The only thing she cared about was the women-Arrancar group she'd secretly formed with Neliel on Shuuichi-sama's advice back then.
Now that women-Arrancar group had gathered not only many female Arrancar who didn't love fighting, but also many male Arrancar and Daikyo (Menos) who felt the same.
Together, they'd built a hidden base—living in harmony, in warmth, in peace.
That kind of society… that kind of environment… was what Tier truly longed for.
The only reason she continued to remain among the Jūbari (Espada) was for Shuuichi-sama.
Even though Shuuichi-sama hadn't appeared for a very, very long time.
Still, Tier believed—absolutely—that Shuuichi-sama wouldn't vanish so easily.
He must simply have had something to handle, something that kept him from paying attention to Hueco Mundo for the time being.
And so, outwardly, Tier always carried out every mission Aizen-sama assigned her.
Outwardly, she played the role of Jūbari (Espada) No. 2.
But as for the others—everyone except Neliel—Tier held not even the slightest goodwill.
And now Grimmjow's behavior had clearly crossed her line.
Even if killing one Grimmjow only meant another "Grimmjow" would eventually fill the vacancy… Tier still felt the intent to kill rise in her.
"You're courting death, Grimmjow."
Tier raised her Zanpakutō and thrust it toward him. The blade—already saturated with power—released reishi like a cascading waterfall, the streams tangling together mid-flight and compressing into a dense beam.
Sōkenhō (Azure Sword Cannon)!
One of Tier's techniques.
Its power was a bit inferior to Sero (Cero), but its activation speed was faster by a noticeable margin.
Whether others could dodge it was another matter—but Grimmjow, who'd just fought hundreds of exchanges with berserk Hitsugaya Tōshirō, truly couldn't.
A dull, heavy impact echoed through the air.
Grimmjow was slammed into the ground at last.
But an attack of that level still wasn't enough to completely scrap Grimmjow in Kirin (Resurrección).
Even embedded in the earth, Grimmjow struggled—trying to force himself back up.
That absolute refusal to lose was one of the few things about him that could be called a shining point.
Unfortunately, in Tier's eyes—who already despised him—it was just another trait that made him even more irritating.
Why couldn't he just die cleanly?
Tier was about to raise her hand and finish him when she noticed, on the other side, the Shinigami who had been fighting Grimmjow—Hitsugaya Tōshirō—had, after a brief respite…
…stood back up, swaying, covered in wounds.
His body was badly damaged, yet the reiatsu rolling off him was still terrifying—like a feral beast driven mad.
"Is it coming…?"
Facing this special state of Hitsugaya Tōshirō, Tier didn't dare relax for even a moment.
The infighting with Grimmjow could wait. With a major enemy in front of her, priority had to be the enemy.
Yet what Tier didn't expect was that Hitsugaya's target wasn't the newly arrived Arrancar at all—
—but Grimmjow on the ground, the one he'd already battled for hundreds of rounds.
Dragging his Zanpakutō along the earth, Hitsugaya Tōshirō's eyes seemed to contain only Grimmjow.
He sprinted at him. Cold burst outward around his body, and countless ice crystals sprayed up behind him along the path carved by his blade's trail.
They piled higher and higher, until even the starting point had climbed into the sky—those towering crystals looking like they could pierce the clouds.
And at the very end of that long, ice-boned ridge—Hitsugaya stopped a dozen meters before Grimmjow, yanked his Zanpakutō out of the ground with both hands, and raised it overhead.
At the same time, the enormous ice ridge behind him swung with the motion.
"Ryūka Mai (Dragon Mist Dance)!"
His Zanpakutō cleaved forward—and that massive ice ridge traced a gorgeous arc through the air, following the swing as it came crashing down toward Grimmjow.
Grimmjow tried to dodge, but then realized that what landed first wasn't the ridge—
—it was the ice crystals shaken loose during the swing.
They formed a breathtaking frozen panorama around him, every crystal like a tiny sprite dancing midair.
They sealed off Grimmjow's escape routes.
No matter where he lifted his hand, the pain of that icy scene stabbing into his body answered him.
"Is this… a new technique he learned after going berserk?"
In the distance, Higashino Shuuichi watched the scene unfold. He was certain that in the original story, Hitsugaya Tōshirō didn't have this move.
But judging by reiatsu alone, in Higashino Shuuichi's eyes, it didn't fall far short of the powerful trump cards Hitsugaya would master in the future.
If it was used on Grimmjow…
Higashino Shuuichi narrowed his eyes.
If Grimmjow stayed in this half-baked state, he was in trouble.
But Grimmjow still had a chance to turn it around.
Because this was a true life-or-death moment. If he kept holding back, taking it lightly, being careless—
—he would actually die.
Sure enough, in that field of white, Grimmjow thrust his right hand forward again.
Reiatsu gathered.
The Sero (Cero) starting posture.
The difference was that this time, Grimmjow mixed his own blood into it.
"Witness the strongest blow, Shinigami!
Guran Rei Sero (Gran Rey Cero)!"
Unlike the red Sero (Cero) from before, this one was a blue-green blaze.
The earth was flattened.
Even the café where Higashino Shuuichi had been observing—its last remaining wall—turned to dust in that instant.
"Losing cover completely… that won't do at all~"
Higashino Shuuichi glanced at the ruins around him—now utterly exposed—and chuckled, shaking his head.
In the distance, both Hitsugaya Tōshirō's and Grimmjow's reiatsu signatures still remained, which meant they were definitely both alive.
So there was no need for him to worry about their lives.
In another direction not far from him, Nemu and the battle between two of Grimmjow's Jūzokukan (Fracción) had also been caught in the aftermath.
They were forced to halt their attacks and defend against the sudden, overwhelming shockwave.
But when they dropped their guard—
—they found themselves brought into a pitch-black world.
"This is the Shadow World. Anything that happens here won't affect the outside."
At Nemu's ear, Higashino Shuuichi's low voice drifted in.
And in front of her, the two Arrancar she'd needed to face at once had been split—one separated out for her alone.
Edrad Liones.
That was the opponent Higashino Shuuichi chose for Nemu.
As for the other one…
"I want to sit here and enjoy the view outside in peace. You can choose to watch with me."
Higashino Shuuichi smiled at the Arrancar opposite him—Shawlong Koufang—and spoke.
Arrogant. Overbearing.
In Shawlong Koufang's eyes, the man before him was like Hueco Mundo's ruler, Aizen-sama himself—utterly above everyone.
But Shawlong Koufang knew this man had the right to speak that way.
"Shuuichi-sama?"
As the first successful Arrancar created when Aizen-sama began using the Hōgyoku for experiments, Shawlong Koufang naturally recognized Higashino Shuuichi—one of the veteran Shinigami at Aizen-sama's side.
"Oh?
You know me?"
But Shawlong knowing Higashino Shuuichi didn't mean Higashino Shuuichi knew Shawlong.
After all, who would deliberately memorize a minor character who only appeared for a few scenes in the original story?
Higashino Shuuichi remembered Shawlong's abilities, but as for his appearance—he only recovered fragments of that memory after Shawlong showed up now as Grimmjow's Fracción.
"Of course I remember. I was Aizen-sama's first successful Arrancar experiment. When my Arrancar transformation succeeded, Shuuichi-sama, you were right beside Aizen-sama."
Shawlong answered with visible unease.
He couldn't figure out why Higashino Shuuichi had appeared here.
Had Aizen-sama learned that their king, Grimmjow, broke the rules and rushed to the World of the Living ahead of Tier-sama—so he sent Higashino Shuuichi-sama to punish them?
Shawlong glanced at the environment around him: only himself and Higashino Shuuichi. One Shinigami. One Arrancar.
It looked far too much like a private execution ground…
In an instant, the air turned awkward and tense.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810