A deep-blue lightning dragon tore through Hueco Mundo's eternal night, ripping a fleeting hole in the black curtain overhead.
Asano Kiyoshi's body trembled slightly. Green light flickered over his arm, healing the flesh that had been scorched from forcibly casting high-level Kido.
A faint scent of burnt flesh wafted from him. Nel stared blankly at the figure before her, seemingly frightened by his wounds, and murmured to Asano Kiyoshi:
"L-Little Kiyoshi..."
Hearing Nel call from behind him, Asano Kiyoshi endured the pain and turned back to her gently.
"It's okay, Nel. I'll be fine soon. Trust me, I'll protect you."
Nel seemed to want to say something after hearing him, but in the end, she could not bring herself to speak. She merely nodded, then hugged the box Asano Kiyoshi had entrusted to her tightly. Her eyes reflected nothing but his not particularly tall back.
The sand melted into gold, while the lingering lightning struggled on in the air, striving to give off one last trace of scorching heat.
An arm slick with viscous blood tore through the smoke and dust, revealing the body that had been struck by lightning.
Its heavy armor had long since shattered. Its skin and flesh had melted together from the intense heat, and more than half its body had taken on an unnatural red hue. Small blisters covered many places—flesh steamed by the lightning's searing heat.
Even under that fully incanted Kido, this Adjuchas had suffered only moderate injuries!
Yet those wounds only stirred the beastliness within the Adjuchas. It roared, its muscles swelling further as its scorched throat struggled to form words.
"Shinigami! I'll grind your bones to dust! I'll make you eat your own heart! I'll crush your head beneath my feet!"
Watching the Adjuchas charge rapidly toward him, Asano Kiyoshi knew