Battle Against the Espada (Fourteen)

Nelliel, standing still, underwent a dramatic transformation, yet perfectly retained her original elegance and power.

The emerald green Zanpakuto in her hand had vanished, replaced by a uniquely shaped, double-headed spear, exuding a divine and wild beauty! The spear was entirely white, with a warm, jade-like sheen. Its shaft was long and straight, with a long, sharp, slightly curved blade at each end, resembling an antelope horn. The blades were engraved with fine, ancient, pale green patterns, emanating a faint Reiatsu. The entire spear seemed to be a perfect combination of a work of art and a weapon of slaughter, tailor-made for her.

She was covered in a set of flowing, exquisitely designed, and predominantly white full-body knight's armor. The armor was not heavy plate armor, but a composite lightweight armor that conformed more to the body's curves, combining flexibility and defense. The shoulder armor, arm armor, and leg armor were decorated with beautiful patterns resembling antelope horns or vines. A faint milky white halo flowed across the surface of the armor, making her look like a Valkyrie straight out of mythology, heroic and unapproachable.

The most striking change lies in her lower body. From the waist down, her human legs have vanished, replaced by a robust and graceful antelope body covered in short, white fur! Four long, powerful antelope legs stand firmly on the sand, their hooves strong and brimming with explosive power and agility. This does not make her appear strange; instead, it adds a sacred, animalistic beauty and a sense of natural grace, creating a wondrous harmony with her upper body's knightly form.

The antelope mask on her head became more complete and exquisite, blending perfectly with her face. The two curved antelope horns on her forehead also became longer and more elegant, like a crown that signified her status.

Reiatsu, a blend of azure and emerald green, enveloped her like a veil, flowing gently with her soft breaths. Holding a double-headed spear, she stood on the sand, her gaze calmly fixed on Nnoitra ahead. Her eyes transcended ordinary fighting spirit, carrying a detached indifference befitting a higher level of existence.

Nnoitra felt a sense of foreboding as Nelliel began chanting her release incantation. When the pure white Reiatsu engulfed her, and when the double-headed spear radiating divine aura and the figure of the antelope knight appeared before her, the pupil of her single eye involuntarily contracted sharply!

An invisible sense of oppression, originating from the essence of Reiatsu and the power of a superior over a subordinate, along with a deep-seated apprehension and... fear of this power, like a cold, venomous snake, instantly coiled around his heart.

"Antelope... Knight..." he murmured almost subconsciously, uttering the name that once represented absolute power and status in Las Noches.

At that moment, Nelliel, having completed her Resurrección, didn't even give Nnoitra any chance to adjust her mindset or launch a preemptive attack.

She merely raised her right hand, which held the double-headed spear, with a relaxed and casual movement, as if she were simply preparing to throw a javelin.

Then, he slightly pulled his arm back, and then—thrust forward with a jolt!

There was no running start, no power-gathering process; it was as if the heavy double-headed spear was nothing in her hands.

"Call out--!"

The sound of something tearing through the air was extremely shrill, exceeding the limits of sound propagation!

The moment the double-headed spear left his hand, it transformed into a pure, space-tearing white meteor! The spear shaft spun at high speed, the antelope horn-shaped blades at both ends drawing two deadly spiral trajectories. Wherever it passed, the air was completely displaced, forming a visible vacuum channel, emitting a deep and terrifying roar!

Nnoitra only saw a flash of white light before his eyes, and the spear had already crossed the distance of dozens of meters between the two of them, appearing in front of him with a terrifying power that seemed to be able to pierce through the stars! Before the spear even arrived, its incomparably sharp edge and the heavy, suffocating sense of oppression had already made his entire Hierro feel like it was being pricked by needles!

"Roar--!"

At the critical moment of life and death, Nnoitra let out a beast-like the Roar, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart. He dared not be negligent in the slightest. Of his six arms, the four closest to him crossed and overlapped the four scythes in his hands in front of his chest at the fastest speed, forming a dense net of blades as a shield! At the same time, his feet sank deep into the sand, his body leaning forward, pouring all his strength and Reiatsu into this hastily assembled defense, trying to withstand this thunderous blow!

Clang--!

An indescribable, deafeningly terrifying impact suddenly erupted!

It wasn't the crisp sound of metal clashing, but rather a dull, deafening roar, like a giant bell being struck head-on by a battering ram—a sound powerful enough to shatter its internal organs!

The white, spiraling spear tip struck the center of Nnoitra's four crossed scythes with perfect precision!

The instant they made contact, Nnoitra felt an irresistible, terrifying force, like a mountain collapsing, surge through his scythe! His arm strength, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, seemed so insignificant and laughable in the face of this power!

Click! Click--!

A series of ear-piercing sounds of metal twisting and cracking rang out! The blades of the two foremost secondary scythes instantly shattered and deformed! The two main scythes behind them also groaned under the strain, and fine cracks appeared on their blades!

Even more terrifying was that the force wasn't completely blocked! Despite the scythe's obstruction, a significant portion of it still struck Nnoitra's crossed arms and his broad chest!

"Ughhh--!"

Nnoitra let out a painful groan, feeling as if he had been hit head-on by a train traveling at full speed! The crossed scythes were pressed firmly against his chest armor by the spear, and the terrifying impact pushed his feet off the ground. He was like a kite with a broken string, or a boulder thrown by a catapult, flying uncontrollably backward!

He tried to steady himself, swinging his remaining arms backward as if to grab onto something, but it was all in vain. The force from the spear was too overwhelming, propelling him wildly backward, smashing through several crooked stone pillars, overturning dilapidated walls, and carving a deep trench a hundred meters long in the Desert!

Final--

Boom!!

With a deafening roar and the sound of countless stones shattering, Nnoitra's massive body crashed heavily into a relatively intact wall made of pale, massive stones! The solid wall was deeply dented by the impact, covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and a large amount of rubble fell down, almost burying half of his body.

"Puff--!"

The violent impact and the immense pressure on his chest made Nnoitra unable to hold back any longer. He suddenly coughed up a mouthful of red blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, staining the scythe and bone armor that the spear was pressing firmly against his chest. He felt that at least half of his ribcage was shattered, and his internal organs had suffered severe shock damage. The excruciating pain overwhelmed him like a tidal wave.

He struggled to lift his head, his vision blurred through the swirling dust and the blood gushing from his mouth.

In this blurred vision, a tall, holy figure, wielding another identical double-headed spear (clearly, the spear that had been thrown had somehow returned to its master after the attack, or perhaps the spear itself possessed the characteristic of multiple spears), appeared before him silently, like a ghost.

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck — the Gamuza —stood silently before Nnoitra, who was embedded in the wall, her four antelope legs as steady as a rock. She lowered her head slightly, her emerald green eyes calmly looking down at her battered, grievous, and blood-spitting opponent below. She slowly raised her spear, the tip pointing at Nnoitra.

Her voice, like a judgment descending from the heavens, Nnoitra's ears clearly and coldly:

"It's over, Nnoitra!!"

"Ha... hahaha!!" Amidst the rubble and dust embedded in the ruins, Nnoitra Gilga abruptly raised his head. Though he continued to vomit red blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, his chest bones shattered, a near-maniacal light, a mixture of excruciating pain, resentment, and a twisted excitement, blazed from his single eye. He laughed hoarsely, the sound echoing like a broken bellows across the empty ruins, carrying the shrill, frenzied rage of a dying beast.

"It's over?! Nelliel! Are you dreaming?! As long as I have a breath left, as long as my heart is still beating, as long as my Reiatsu hasn't completely died out—the battle isn't over!!" he the Roar, his voice broken by his injuries, but filled with an unyielding stubbornness.

He tried to raise his arm, his fingers gripping the scythe in a spasm-like motion, the blade trembling, still pointing at Nelliel was so close. Even with shattered bones and damaged internal organs, the desire for battle and slaughter etched deep in his soul seemed to drive the last instinct of this broken body, wanting to deliver a final blow, even if it was just a futile slash at the hem of her clothes.

Seeing the pure, almost obsessive fighting spirit in Nnoitra's eyes, and the struggle of not giving up wielding his sword even on the verge of death, a faint, indescribable, complex emotion finally flickered in Nelliel's emerald green eyes, as tranquil as a lake. It was neither pity nor hatred, but more like... a heavy understanding of witnessing some inevitable, cyclical fate.

She gave him no further chances and said nothing.

With just a slight flick of the wrist, the movement was as fast as lightning, yet it carried an indescribable precision and decisiveness.

"Laugh--!"

A soft sound, the sound of a sharp object piercing a tough body.

The scythe that had pierced through Nnoitra's crossed parries, and the white double-headed spear pressed against his shattered sternum, were effortlessly thrust forward by Nelliel's precise control, like a hot knife through butter, piercing his chest covered in pale bone armor and emerging from his back! The spear tip trembled slightly, carrying a wisp of eerie red Reishi light.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Nnoitra's maniacal laughter and struggles abruptly froze. He looked down in disbelief at the spear that had pierced his chest and pinned him to the wall like a specimen. The excruciating pain swept over all his senses like a tsunami, but strangely, the frenzied fighting spirit receded as quickly as the tide, replaced by a cold, rapidly spreading sense of emptiness.

His maniacal laughter turned into a hoarse, suffocating hiss, and more red blood gushed out like a fountain from the wounds in his mouth, nose, and chest, staining his own arms, the white shaft of the spear, and the pale sand below.

One of his arms—the one that had just tried to raise the scythe—fell limply to his side, but not completely free of the weapon. His fingers, in a strange, almost desperate gesture, gripped the shaft of the spear that pierced his chest. His knuckles were white from the strain, a stark contrast to the flowing red blood.

He slowly and with great difficulty raised his head, the madness and violence in his single eye receding like the tide, revealing a rare, almost empty calm beneath. His gaze pierced through the gradually blurring blood-red vision, focusing on Nelliel's calm and unwavering face.

His lips twitched, and a twisted smile, a mixture of excruciating pain, mockery, self-deprecation, and a kind of inexplicable relief, appeared on his blood-stained face.

"Nelliel... ha... I never thought... I would end up..." He gasped for breath after every few words, blood gushing from his mouth, "... still... dying... at your hands..."

His voice grew extremely weak, yet he stubbornly continued, as if performing some necessary ritual:

"Do you remember... what you... once told me..." Nnoitra's gaze seemed to drift to the distant past, to cold palaces, to endless battles, and to that emerald-green figure who always tried to temper violence with words. "You said... you... didn't like... meaningless... battles... and even less... meaningless... killing..."

He was panting, the rise and fall of his chest aggravating his wounds and bringing even more intense pain, but he seemed to have lost all feeling for it.

"But... we... are empty..." His voice carried an almost sorrowful, fatalistic sigh, "From the moment of birth... the soul... is incomplete... We... are born... to... devour... each other... to... slaughter... to... fight... until... complete... annihilation... or... reaching... the... pinnacle... this is... our... nature... our... essence..."

His gaze refocused on Nelliel, his eyes no longer fierce, but carrying an almost inquisitive, final inquiry:

"Now... I... die... in... the battle with you... die... by... the... spear of... the former... 3rd Espada... Nelliel... told me..."

With his last breath, he asked, word by word:

"Did... my... death... have... it... been... meaningful?!"

As the last syllable was uttered, the last faint glimmer of light in Nnoitra's eyes flickered violently like a candle in the wind, and then went out completely. The hand that had been gripping the spear loosened its knuckles one by one, extremely slowly, until it finally fell limply to the ground below with a clatter, along with the scythe that it had been tightly holding.

His massive body remained pinned to the ruins by the spear, his head drooping limply, lifeless.

Only that final question, seemingly still lingering in the air thick with the smell of blood and gunpowder, weighed heavily on the mind, unanswered.