7 Chapter #5 - Two Adjuchas Arrancar?

Kizuna waited in silence for the mole to leave. It would undoubtedly be best for them to be more than a small community. Yet he felt a strange sensation. As if... someone was watching him.

He looked around. He looked, but he could see no one. Hueco Mundo's crescent moon shone toward him like an inviting beauty. When Kizuna looked at it, he could feel a power surging through his blood. This feeling was beautiful. It was like hunting, but much lighter.

For a while he watched the moon in amazement. Then he shook his head from side to side to regain his composure. The others must have already finished their hunt. With that thought, he used Sonido and quickly disappeared from sight.

***

Time passed more pleasantly than he expected. It hadn't been years. It was months or maybe weeks. Kizuna wasn't so sure. Honestly, he wasn't paying much attention. Because frankly, the more Kizuna got along with the rest of the group, the more he enjoyed it.

Apacci, who somehow managed to be endearing with her rebelliousness and headstrongness, Mila Rose, who was a little more sensible but not much different, and Cyan Sung-Sun, who was by far the calmest of them all, somehow managed to participate in the relationship dynamic with fun.

The only problem was Harribel. She was difficult to communicate with. Attempts to get closer were often deflected with irrelevant responses. And because of the clear difference in status, Kizuna could not approach her with disrespect.

Well, there was nothing to be done about it.

And then there were the dreams. Or should he say the test he faced with the other wills within him? Kizuna wasn't sure. It was like the reality he entered every time he slept and had to face. It was frustrating and intimidating.

But somehow he managed to manage.

The biggest problem was that it was getting harder and harder to find prey these days. If he could properly explain where he had gotten it from, Kizuna could expose the hundreds of Hollow corpses in his own inventory without any hesitation.

But he was sure he couldn't do that. So they kept looking for prey and before they knew it, they were caught by Barragan's dogs.

How did he know this? The answer was quite obvious. From the mocking shouts of the Hollow horde that surrounded them at this very moment!

Hollows of various sizes were everywhere. Tall and short, pale-colored monsters of various sizes were surrounding them in a circle. Some resembled animals. Others were close to humans in form. But the majority were freaks of nature!

They all roared with an appetite that would have terrified any ordinary person, but one large one stood out among them. Its cold gaze, visible through the hollows of its flat, salamander-like mask, stared directly at Harribel. It growled coldly:

"You're not supposed to be wandering in this area."

Meanwhile, at the same time, Apacci and Mila Rose stood butt to butt. Cyan Sung-Sun was looking around intently while Kizuna took the back. Harribel stood in front with her sword drawn. Her short hair fluttered in the winds of terror. She answered in her usual flat voice:

"We were going to leave."

But then Kizuna added sarcastically:

"But you don't intend to let us go, do you?"

He had not hunted properly at this time. There was no denying that he craved the hunt. But fighting this big guy... He wasn't sure if they could do it together.

"Exactly. Harribel-sama, let us plunge into them."

"Let's crush them all!"

"Oh, girls... How reckless. But the ones here are really annoying."

One after the other, they were like volcanoes about to erupt. With a single command from Harribel, they would all attack in an instant. But that order never came.

The salamander-masked Hollow, unquestionably the leader of this blockade, tapped its metallic, pale blue chest. It was more or less the same height as Harribel. Ignoring the talking trio, it raised its head slightly, looked directly into Kizuna's eyes and laughed mockingly.

"Hahaha! You must be Harribel's famous dog. Are you as strong as the rumors say?"

A tremendous pressure spread around. Right next to it, noticed by no one, Hollow, with a distant panda-like pattern, also laughed as its print was revealed.

The intensity of the reiatsu, one brown and one purple, caused Apacci, Franceska and Sung-Sun to freeze.

The army was not a problem. No, they were a bunch of toys and a waste of time. But the absurd amount of reiatsu from the two creatures they were up against was tension-inducing.

But Kizuna and Harribel were far from impressed. Harribel's delicate yellow brow furrowed. "If you let us back out, you won't need to see us again.", she said, her voice still calm, but deathly cold.

The bright yellow and silver reiatsu rose like a volcano in response. A Vasto Lorde's reiatsu should undoubtedly have suppressed these two Adjuchas.

But it didn't work out that way. Kizuna's silver reiatsu and Harribel's threatening yellow reiatsu could barely match the brown and purple reiatsu.

This caused both Harribel and Kizuna to frown. Kizuna cursed inwardly as he shifted into a battle-ready stance.

Who - no, what was that!?

The owner of the purple reiatsu, Salamander-Head, laughed and took a step forward. Instead of wasting any more of its reiatsu, it looked directly at Harribel.

"Does it look like there's another option here? You're surrounded. Just-"

It was halfway through the speech when it stopped in surprise, but the pause was only for a second. Harribel tried a vertical slash from the Salamander-Headed's head to the midpoint of its legs, but on the first try her sword bounced back with a sound as if it had struck metal!

"Haha! That's my hierro, my impenetrable skin, stupid woman! Did you really think you could get through? You will die!"

Before anyone could realize what was happening, a massive Hollow horde began to descend upon them!

With that, everyone quickly regrouped and began to attack. The four began to fight in coordination. Kizuna, instead of holding back, was completely covering the girls' vulnerabilities and trying to catch up with everything he had.

He had to admit that he was scared to fight two abnormal Adjuchas of terrible strength. He was sure that a one-on-one fight with one of them would at least stall, but he couldn't see that he stood a chance against these freaks, who together required a Vasto Lorde to focus intently.

For the first time he realized that he was being too arrogant and he had to force himself not to curse out loud.

"Kizuna, behind you!"

At Apacci's warning, he spun quickly, firing a Sonic Howl at the Hollow's face as a Cero was about to fire, shattering its skull!

The Hollows fell one by one as blood spattered everywhere. Kizuna clawed mercilessly at them, tearing their flesh and even blasting balas on their heads!

The girls attacked in the same way, in a variety of ways. There were not many words to explain this slaughter.

Harribel was fiercely attacking these two monsters. But these monsters were far from normal. Their attacks really put Harribel in a difficult situation.

Their humanoid forms and the difference in their masks were striking. They were frightening.

Kizuna considered the possibility that they were Vasto Lorde, but later ruled it out. Their difference could not be explained by being Vasto Lorde.

Kizuna and the others tried to support Harribel when they discarded the unimportant ones. But it was not very possible.

The difference in power was too great. When Harribel realized this, she ordered:

"Everyone retreat."

It would have taken a fool not to understand Harribel's decision. She would put herself forward and protect the others.

Kizuna remembered a scene he had seen before. There, Adjuchas Arrancar, the Hammerhead, was so strong that she wanted them to stand down. But in the end she was defeated.

At that moment, his heart rumbled. Killing it might have triggered some kind of butterfly effect. It was a basic rule that most reincarnators, and even he himself, had forgotten.

The consequences of one's actions changed the future. He clearly remembered killing a Hollow similar to the Hammerhead Adjuchas. That had obviously had an effect.

Apacci's shout came out of his thoughts:

"Harribel-sama, are you sure!?"

At Harribel's warning with a sharp look, no one hesitated and started moving forward. Everyone decided to follow the path, but Kizuna did not.

As the wind blew, he looked at Harribel, who looked like she was about to sacrifice herself. Kizuna closed his eyes and raised Cero and Sonido. When he opened them again, he opened his mouth wide and formed the strongest Cero he could muster.

A powerful concentrated soul force formed, its blood-red hue fading to silver with a mixed tint. Its unsteadiness revealed how terrifying it was, while its tightness made it clear that this was not the work of Adjuchas.

Kizuna did not hesitate a gram as the two strange Adjuchas fired in the direction of Arrancar.

Boom!

Everything was covered in clouds of dust and blood as a huge explosion erased everything in front of them. This was exactly the opportunity Kizuna had created to escape.

At that moment, Kizuna called out to the confused Harribel:

"Harribel-sama, I won't leave you here, it's my fault! Please leave these to me!"

Harribel didn't understand what he meant, but there was no time to question it. Leaving him... She couldn't do that. She should not... abandon a comrade.

But he knew it was the right thing to do. It was the first time Harribel had ever been hurt making such a decision.

Kizuna opened his mouth once more and shouted before throwing a Cero Howl:

"Don't worry! I will be back Harribel-sama, Apacci, Mila, Sung-Sun. To make you all my women!"

With those shameless words he fired a powerful bid blast wave that pushed the two Adjuchas Arrancar as far away as possible!

As it passed by, it suddenly disappeared from sight and appeared somewhere else, a little higher up and in a conspicuous position. It was right in front of the two Adjuchas Arrancars.

When the Adjuchas Arrancars targeted him, Harribel did not miss the chance. To not take advantage of this opportunity created by his comrade was to disrespect him.

So Harribel gathered everyone and walked away.