Las Noches.
Buzz—
Above the palace, a figure appeared.
It was Coyote Starrk.
When he saw the endless ocean pouring down from the sky, his pupils shook violently.
Lilynette leaned on his shoulder, eyes wide, and shouted, "Starrk! The sky is falling!!"
Coyote Starrk rubbed her head and replied blankly, "What do you mean 'the sky is falling'? It's obviously an enemy attack..."
"Enemy attack?!"
Lilynette hurriedly looked around. "Where? Where's the enemy?!"
Starrk didn't respond. He simply looked into the distance with a calm expression.
From his perception of spiritual pressure, over there, a group of people stood…
And...
There was no spiritual pressure coming from them.
But...
The energy radiating from their bodies was very similar to the fluctuations from the sea in the sky.
So...
"Is it them?"
Suddenly, a cold voice echoed in Starrk's ears.
"You're here too, Harribel..."
Starrk didn't even need to look back to know who it was.
Tier Harribel stepped forward, standing beside Starrk with a composed expression.
Her tanned skin gave her a wild charm, but her cold demeanor added an ascetic edge.
She looked up at the massive surge of seawater and murmured, "This kind of power…"
"The person behind it isn't ordinary."
Starrk nodded. The laziness on his face had vanished, replaced with seriousness.
Noticing this, Harribel paused for a moment, then remarked, "It's rare to see you like this."
"Yeah..."
Starrk replied helplessly, "This time… I can't slack off."
"Indeed..."
Harribel narrowed her eyes.
For Starrk to react this way…
It meant the threat was very real.
Just then—
Buzz—
The space around Starrk and Harribel rippled.
Several figures in white appeared one after another.
"Ohhh yeah~"
A lanky man wearing an eyepatch chuckled. "Someone actually dared to attack Las Noches. Could it be..."
He paused. His grin faded, replaced by a chilling aura.
"...they don't know where this place is?"
The temperature seemed to drop as he finished.
"Let me go pull those pests out one by one!"
As he spoke, an overwhelming spiritual pressure burst from his body.
Seeing this, Harribel frowned slightly. "Nnoitra Gilga, don't be careless."
"Hey now, if you wanna lecture me, wait until I'm back, Third Seat..."
The next second.
Nnoitra Gilga vanished.
Tia frowned deeper.
Starrk shrugged. "Let him go."
Perfect timing...
He could help assess the enemy's strength.
Also...
Starrk raised his gaze. "We've got another problem to deal with."
The others followed his line of sight.
Crash—
The sound of the crashing sea echoed through the air.
Starrk scratched his head. "If the palace gets wrecked, Aizen's not gonna be in a good mood."
At those words…
Everyone's expressions turned grim.
Even though Aizen rarely showed emotion…
His name alone carried immense pressure.
And...
If that guy decided to punish someone, he'd never give a warning.
Thinking about that, everyone instinctively took a deep breath and didn't hesitate.
"Cero!"
Buzz—
Colorful beams of light shot out at once, blasting toward the downpouring seawater.
Seeing this, Starrk slightly curled his lips.
Ah...
Time to slack off again.
Of course…
He couldn't leave it entirely to them.
Boom!!
The seawater and the incoming energy beams clashed violently!
But...
Instead of being torn apart, the seawater only slowed down.
No!
It was still falling...
Just at a reduced speed.
Ulquiorra Cifer narrowed his eyes. "Our combined Ceros… only managed to delay it?"
They hadn't even released their Resurrección forms...
And yet, the sheer pressure from that wave told them everything.
Whoever was behind it wasn't ordinary.
"Tch..."
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez scowled. "Where the hell did this come from?"
Whoever could unleash this kind of power definitely wasn't from Hueco Mundo.
If they were...
Aizen would've wiped them out long ago.
So...
They all understood.
The enemy had to be from outside Hueco Mundo.
"Hey!"
Grimmjow glared at Szayelaporro Granz and the others. "You guys brought them here, didn't you?"
"If you mess up Aizen's plans, you'll have to deal with the consequences yourselves!"
"Oho~"
Szayelaporro narrowed his eyes, his voice cold. "Don't go pointing fingers without proof~"
Grimmjow snorted. "We all know what you're like."
Of course...
They all had another suspect in mind.
Aizen Sosuke.
After all...
This was exactly the kind of thing he'd do.
But...
No one dared say it out loud.
Harribel glanced at the others, then shifted her attention back to Starrk. "You're not going to make a move yet?"
Starrk: "..."
"Well..."
He sighed. "I was hoping I could get away with being lazy."
Harribel replied flatly, "Your lazy habits should've been fixed long ago."
"Yeah, yeah~"
Starrk responded half-heartedly, then raised his index finger. A blue energy bullet began to form.
With a flick of his finger, he launched the bullet.
Buzz—
As it flew, the bullet left a blue flame trail in its wake, crashing directly into the collision point between the Ceros and the seawater.
Upon impact—
Boom!!
A blinding light erupted where the energies met!
Starrk's bullet detonated the entire intersection.
Boom!!
The deafening roar echoed throughout Hueco Mundo!
Crash—
From above, the sound of trickling water followed.
The massive downpour of seawater was gone...
Replaced by raindrops the size of beans.
Watching this, Starrk muttered, "Didn't expect to see this kind of weather in Hueco Mundo."
Hmm...
Even if it was artificial.
Seeing that Starrk had handled the seawater, Grimmjow and the others finally relaxed.
As long as Las Noches was safe.
But...
Bang!
Another explosion rang out in the air!
Moments later, a white figure came flying back at high speed and slammed into a white building.
(To be continued.)
***
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