Help! I am bound to Aizen!-Chapter 244

Chapter 244

A thunderous blast tore through the night sky, a Cero striking the silver desert and blasting a massive crater into the sand. The explosion hurled a figure backward.

Harribel gazed wearily at the molten pit before her. All she wanted was a quiet life—why did strange people keep pestering her?

Landing on the ground, her long, shark-like tail swished behind her. Sensing danger closing in, her expression changed. She raised the huge white bone-sword across her chest—

Clang!

A long lance slammed into her blade, sparks flying on impact. The force behind that lance was terrifying; even Harribel, a Vasto Lorde-level Hollow who’d partially become an Arrancar, found it hard to bear.

“Hmph!”

Harribel pushed upward, deflecting the lance. Then she used her bone-sword’s shorter reach to her advantage, slashing in a tight horizontal arc. But just before the blade landed, her opponent flashed away in a streak of green light, retreating several dozen meters in an instant.

Harribel froze momentarily. That speed…

Now at a distance, the enemy shook out her arm and readjusted her grip on the lance. She, too, was a Hollow.

From the waist up, she resembled a human with an antelope-style mask covering her face. Though the mask had several cracks, it wasn’t shattered the way Harribel’s was.

Judging by the curve of the torso from neck to abdomen, this Hollow was female. But below the navel, she had the body of a four-legged beast, covered in thick, soft fur.

By Arrancar standards, she was weaker than Harribel. However, unlike Harribel—who had grown stronger by absorbing reishi rather than engaging in constant combat—this one had gone through countless brutal battles. Naturally, she fought on a level Harribel’s “eat-and-grow” style couldn’t easily match.

Watching this antelope knight, Harribel frowned. “Who are you…some new subordinate of Baraggan? We have no quarrel. Why chase me so relentlessly?”

The antelope knight shook her head. “My name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. I’m not one of Baraggan’s men. I’m pursuing you because of your betrayal.”

“Betrayal?”

Harribel was puzzled. She’d never joined any group since her days as an Adjuchas. How could she betray someone she’d never served?

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Nelliel spoke calmly. “Harribel, did you not ally with a Shinigami to bring harm to Hueco Mundo?”

Harribel almost denied it outright—she and her three companions had always wandered around Hueco Mundo, surviving on their own. How could they possibly threaten the entire realm? Yet the words died in her throat.

Allying with a Shinigami…

She couldn’t exactly refute it. After Kaelith saved her a few times, they had forged a close bond. Calling it an alliance wasn’t wrong.

After a pause, she said, “It’s true I have a certain relationship with a Shinigami, but I’ve never harmed Hueco Mundo.”

Nelliel shook her head. “Lies are meaningless. Before coming after you, I investigated. You and that Shinigami attacked Las Noches, causing many Adjuchas to die. Without question, that’s a betrayal.”

Harribel’s brow twitched. What nonsense—she hadn’t chosen to fight Las Noches of her own free will. Baraggan had tried to recruit her by capturing her companions. Besides, wasn’t Baraggan the first to collude with a Shinigami? If Nelliel hated Hollow-Shinigami alliances, she ought to challenge him instead!

A flood of retorts rose within her, but it wasn’t in her nature to rapid-fire them like a machine gun. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed.

“I understand. If you’re convinced, there’s nothing I can say. I’ll have to defeat you first before anything else.”

She brandished her bone-sword.

Nelliel nodded. “For the sake of justice, I, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, will strike you down here!”

She raised her lance, galloping forward on four hooves. One golden reiatsu, one green reiatsu—two streaks of light clashed in midair. Waves of pressure radiated outward, flattening dunes and melting the ground beneath them.

They exchanged dozens of blows before Harribel realized she was slowly losing ground. Though she had greater reiatsu and strength, her every full-force strike was deftly diverted, leaving her open to attacks when her guard was momentarily down. If this continued, she would lose.

She came up with a plan. If a prolonged battle put her at a disadvantage, she’d use a single decisive blow. Forcing Nelliel back with a heavy slash, she pointed her bone-sword at the other Hollow. A swirling orb of gold took shape, rotating rapidly, infused with terrifying spiritual power. A Vice-Captain-level Shinigami would have no choice but to flee at the sight of it.

Yet Nelliel showed not the slightest fear, almost as though facing the Cero with ease. Beneath her antelope mask, she opened her mouth.

“Cero!!”

Harribel’s golden sphere flared at the tip of her blade, erupting in a blazing beam that engulfed Nelliel. Harribel relaxed slightly. She’d won. Though she hadn’t used her full power—she didn’t want to kill—this blast was still nothing an unguarded body could withstand. She lowered her sword, preparing to leave.

But then she felt something and froze, eyes snapping back to Nelliel’s direction. There stood Nelliel, hovering in the air, jaws agape. That supposedly unstoppable Cero was rushing from all around into her mouth, as if a pool of water meeting a vacuum pump.

Having swallowed the entire Cero, Nelliel paused to gather the energy. Then she opened her mouth again. There was no charge time. A Cero many times stronger than Harribel’s own roared out toward her. Caught off guard, Harribel had virtually no chance to dodge.

Who could’ve anticipated an opponent capable of absorbing attacks and spitting them back? Even the original Ultraman wouldn’t see that one coming!

A note of desperation flashed through Harribel. She prepared to fight to the death. But at that instant, a figure descended from above, landing in front of her. As Harribel watched, Kaelith stood there, white haori fluttering in the pinkish glow of the Cero as though he, too, were lit up from within.

In the next second, blue flames erupted from both his shoulders and arms. His dashing white haori was instantly incinerated.