He's become stronger!
Dordoni looked at his opponent with a solemn expression; after being enveloped by the light pillar, the opponent's Reiatsu had surged dramatically, becoming much stronger than before.
What exactly happened to them?
"It's a pity, if this is all your full power."
Dordoni's opponent paused, and the skin exposed from his clothes took on a steel-like sheen: "Then you can no longer harm me."
Hearing this, Dordoni frowned slightly.
Because the opponent was right; earlier in the battle, even after using his Second Cero, he had only barely gained some advantage, but he couldn't kill the opponent.
And now…
He might even lose that slight advantage.
Although he had long realized the huge gap between himself and the Espada, it was only now that he truly understood the Espada's might.
Looking around, he noticed that even though these monsters had gained significant buffs, whether it was Lady Harribel or Lady Nel… facing the enhanced enemies, even if they no longer held an absolute advantage as before, they were still single-handedly resisting several individuals who called themselves Sternritter.
And both he and Gantenbainne, not far away, were at a disadvantage in one-on-one combat after the enemies grew stronger.
"Hey, big guy."
Just as Dordoni was thinking about how to defeat his opponent, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
Turning his head, he realized that Lady Harribel's three subordinates had appeared behind him at some point. Apacci, among them, met his gaze and grinned: "As Lady Harribel's predecessor, aren't you giving up too easily?"
Dordoni was startled by this and subconsciously said, "Your…"
But before he could finish, he was interrupted by Cyan Sung-Sun, who was next to Apacci: "Don't worry, Roka just used Negación threads to help us clear the toxins from our bodies, although moving is still a bit difficult."
"But the enemy has invaded our home base! As Lady Harribel's subordinates, how could we hide and recover from our injuries?!" Mila Rose interjected.
At the same time, in another battlefield area not far away, two figures also appeared beside Gantenbainne.
However, unlike Apacci and the other two…
"Lord Gantenbainne, please don't trust us too much."
"Hmm… we might be weaker than you think."
"…"
Gantenbainne looked at Lady Nel's two subordinates, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
…
"Hahahahaha—"
In front of the Ninth Tower, excited and fanatical laughter continuously rang out, mixed with bell-like sounds similar to a boxing Kan: "A hero will never fear being besieged by villains!"
Unlike the one-on-one duels in other areas, the battle in front of the Ninth Tower was somewhat peculiar.
Looking out, on the flat ground outside the Ninth Tower, stood densely packed, identically shaped skeleton soldiers. At this moment, these soldiers were surging like a tide, endlessly flowing towards a tall, robust figure in the center.
These skeleton soldiers were precisely the Funeral Procession Squad, once specifically responsible for handling defeated Arrancar, and now in charge of Las Noches's security!
And behind the tide-like skeleton soldiers, Rudbornn had transformed into a towering giant tree. The surface of the giant tree was covered with dense purple Reiatsu Crest, and each time the purple texture flickered, the skeleton soldiers in the field would strengthen slightly.
Rudbornn's opponents, though two people, one large and one small, could also be considered as one person.
The one currently being besieged by the skeleton soldiers was a burly man wearing a golden mask with a star emblem, a bow tie around his neck, and a star-emblem belt around his waist, dressed like a boxer.
Behind the burly man, a small Fat Man was squatting, not participating in the battle, but constantly cheering on the burly man.
Rudbornn had previously tried to bypass the burly man and directly attack the cheering small Fat Man, even killing him many times, but no matter how many times he killed him, this small Fat Man would revive in an incredibly bizarre manner.
This made Rudbornn understand that this small Fat Man should be an existence similar to his own skeleton soldiers; if he couldn't defeat the burly man, this small Fat Man would not be killed.
"Look, our hero has become even stronger!"
The small Fat Man shouted with a fanatical expression: "A hero will inevitably grow stronger the more they fight against evil, and evil villains will eventually meet their end before a hero."
Rudbornn didn't pay attention to his incessant chatter, but instead focused on creating skeleton soldiers.
This was Lady Cirucci's residence; he had to stop the opponent here at all costs!
As for the small Fat Man's words about growing stronger the more they fight…
The light in Rudbornn's skeleton eye sockets flickered; he was no different!
Aizen had bestowed upon him the ability of a creator, and Ishikawa had made his creator-like ability even stronger.
"Kill, the more you kill, the stronger the enemies you face will become!"
Infinite stacking.
Just as the burly man continuously grew stronger under the small Fat Man's cheers, Rudbornn's skeleton soldiers would also continuously grow stronger!
After each skeleton soldier died, it would turn into Reishi, then merge into the purple texture on the newly born skeleton soldiers, further enhancing their overall capabilities; when they died again, this step would repeat, cycle after cycle, continuously stacking!
In other words…
As long as his main body was not attacked, in a prolonged battle, Rudbornn had no need to fear the opponent's increasing strength.
…
The battle in Hueco Mundo continued, but the Sternritter, who were previously being unilaterally crushed by the Espada, were gradually regaining their disadvantage as their strength increased, causing the battlefield of Las Noches to subtly appear to be evenly matched.
Of course, this was only overall…
Individual battlefields still saw Las Noches holding an absolute advantage!
For example, at the missing canopy, even with the Sternritter's increased strength, Harribel still single-handedly trapped several Sternritter enemies.
And not far from Harribel, two figures collided in mid-air.
"Hahahaha— Where's your arrogance from just now!?"
Grimmjow's incredibly arrogant shouts continuously rang out, while his enemy, Bazz-B, had completely lost his previous arrogance, replaced by an expression of frustration and anger!
Boom~
With an explosion, Bazz-B crashed heavily onto the ground.
"Damn it!!"
Bazz-B wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. As soon as he stood up from the ground, two black and blue intertwined tails wrapped around his waist, making Bazz-B's expression change. But before he could react, a hand was already pressed against his face.
An indescribable force came, and Bazz-B was uncontrollably shot out.
A distance of nearly a hundred meters vanished in an instant. Before Bazz-B could stabilize himself, he felt a sharp pain in his back, as if he had hit steel, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
But the immense force did not dissipate there; instead, it caused him and the person he collided with to both explode backward.
He flew back several more tens of meters before finally stopping like a rolling gourd.
"NaNaNa, you bastard…"
Only then did he realize who he had collided with; it was none other than B. J. 9, who had previously escaped from Harribel!
"You've been watching for so long, you must have seen enough, right?"
Grimmjow appeared above the two, looking down at them: "Both of you come at me."
At this moment, he had already released his Second Cero. His original blue hair had turned white. His bare upper body had purple branch-like Reiatsu Crest, while his lower body was covered in white fur, with strange patterns on top of the fur, and his feet had transformed into a leopard-like shape.
NaNaNa didn't react much to Grimmjow's words; strictly speaking… with that axe-shaped iron mask covering his face, even if he did react, it wouldn't be visible.
And just as Grimmjow said, NaNaNa, taking advantage of Harribel being trapped, escaped from that battlefield and had been observing Grimmjow's and Bazz-B's battle. At the same time, with his ability to analyze all of an opponent's used techniques in an instant, he continuously analyzed Grimmjow.
Extremely impatient, after suffering a loss against Harribel, he patiently deciphered all of Grimmjow's used techniques. Although being suddenly caught in the crossfire was somewhat unexpected for him.
But…
This time, he was fully prepared and would absolutely not be as disheveled as when he faced that 'Third Espada' before!
Unlike NaNaNa, when Bazz-B heard Grimmjow's words, his whites of his eyes were instantly filled with bloodshot veins, and his face became incredibly distorted:
"Get lost!"
He wasn't speaking to Grimmjow, but to NaNaNa beside him.
"Give up, you alone cannot defeat him."
A muffled voice came from under NaNaNa's mask: "You should know that better than me. Now is not the time to show off. Our performance has already disappointed His Majesty. If you continue to be toyed with by him, it won't be long… before you become fodder for others!"
Hearing this, Bazz-B opened his mouth, but ultimately did not retort, instead grinding his teeth loudly.
…
Outside Las Noches.
Boom—!
Two dark Ceros collided in mid-air, canceling each other out. The rampant impact stirred up countless white sands, forming a giant mushroom cloud in Hueco Mundo.
Two dark figures shot backward, simultaneously stopping in mid-air, revealing their forms.
One of them was none other than Ulquiorra!
Like Grimmjow, Ulquiorra's Second Cero also had white hair, and behind him were two pairs of four wings, looking like demon wings. His lower body was completely covered in dark feathers.
And his enemy was…
Himself.
Looking out, in the void opposite Ulquiorra, stood a figure identical in appearance to Ulquiorra, even with no difference in Reiatsu. The only difference between this figure and Ulquiorra was one point!
That was, this 'Ulquiorra's' body did not have the purple branch-like Reiatsu Crest.
And in another corner of the battlefield, there was another monstrous figure, none other than Äs Nödt, who had previously defeated Picaro with his 'Fear' ability.
"Loyd Lloyd…"
Äs Nödt looked at the 'Ulquiorra' without the texture on his body, a strange glint in his eyes.
At the beginning of the battle, he and Loyd Lloyd had confronted this 'Fourth Espada' from their intelligence. At first, Lloyd had only teamed up with him, fighting the opponent with Holy Destruction.
But when the opponent transformed again after Cero, Lloyd unhesitatingly chose to transform into the opponent's appearance.
Although it looked normal, Äs Nödt could clearly feel that Lloyd's current state was subtly off, even his consciousness becoming somewhat deranged and unclear.
This was not because the 'Yourself' ability had any side effects, but because the power of his imitated target was a kind of power that was not suitable for a Quincy to casually integrate… even calling it a poison.
Unadvisable, but there was no other way!
Because the opponent's strength was simply too great, and…
Although the opponent was also affected by his 'Fear,' whether it was due to emotional detachment or that subtly emanating 'void' aura, his influence under fear was not particularly severe, and his 'Fear' was not as effective as when facing those Arrancar brats.
Probably for this reason, the opponent attacked him first and brought him to this place far from Las Noches!
Fortunately, his fear could still affect the opponent's performance.
No matter how detached the emotions, or how dense the void aura, fear is an emotion that living beings cannot avoid, because the fear his ability can induce is not only about what the opponent fears, but also… the opponent's fear of the future, such as a future where all comrades die!
Although the opponent appeared detached, as if without emotion, in reality, he also had comrades he valued.
If not for that…
Even if Lloyd imitated the opponent, he wouldn't have been able to last until now.
Normally, when Lloyd imitates an enemy, he can gain exactly the same power and combat experience as the enemy, but when imitating this person, the displayed strength is significantly weaker than the original body. So even with his 'Fear' weakening the opponent, Lloyd still didn't gain any advantage.
It wasn't because the imitated target was an Arrancar, but because of…
That purple branch-like texture!!
For some reason, Lloyd, who could imitate all powers, was completely unable to reproduce the texture on the opponent's body on himself.
Troublesome—!
Äs Nödt felt a little anxious. Lloyd's condition was getting worse, and even communication was becoming difficult. If the battle continued, the situation would only become more unfavorable for the two of them!
He actually wanted to leave here and go to the center of the battlefield to use his abilities against enemies who wouldn't restrain him.
But Ulquiorra simply wouldn't give him that chance. Even if he had to endure Lloyd's attacks, he wouldn't give him the slightest opportunity to escape, instead dragging the battlefield further and further away from Las Noches.
"Hmm?"
Just as Äs Nödt was contemplating a countermeasure, Ulquiorra, who was engaging Lloyd in mid-air, suddenly slowed his movements and was directly sent flying backward by Lloyd, who was almost identical in appearance.
What's going on!?
This scene made Äs Nödt, who had been continuously influencing Ulquiorra from the side, slightly startled.
But then he understood what had happened, and his eyes immediately lit up.
Looking out, he saw that in the sky above Las Noches in the distance, azure flames filled the sky, and a god-like figure overlooked everything below.
And below that figure…
Two people fell like meteors towards the ground.
Those were…
Cirucci and Starrk!!
This scene caused all the Espada currently fighting in Las Noches to momentarily pause their actions.
The previously stalemated situation was shattered in this instant!