Chapter 24: A Grand Escape in Hueco Mundo - Bleach: This Captain Is an Uchiha

Inside the cave was a crude stone chamber.

Mila Rose introduced excitedly:

"Lady Harribel, look at this Adjuchas. Doesn't he look like a lizard? I asked him—he has venom glands too!"

"I think he can most likely remove the poison from your body. As long as you're no longer weak, with your constitution, you should be able to walk again soon."

"Then why would we still need to hide from those lackey pursuers?"

"But I promised him that once it was done, I'd give him a few Adjuchas-class Menos Grande for him to devour. So we can knock those pursuers unconscious..."

"Lady Harribel, why aren't you saying anything...?"

The spirited lion's voice gradually grew quieter.

Even someone as thick-nerved as her could tell that something was off.

Harribel withdrew her gaze and closed her eyes wearily. After a long while, she said indifferently:

"Hueco Mundo does not welcome Soul Reapers."

"Soul Reaper!?"

Mila Rose's lion eyes widened as she turned around as though she had seen a ghost.

With his true identity exposed in a single sentence, Uchiha Yato no longer maintained his illusion. With a soft pop, a tall, handsome youth appeared in the stone chamber.

"Bastard! Soul Reaper! You actually tricked me!"

Mila Rose roared, the lion's bellow shaking Yato's eardrums.

The youth drew his Soul-Cutter Sword and backed toward the entrance of the chamber while resisting the crushing force of the Adjuchas's Reiatsu.

"You can only blame yourself for this." Yato spoke helplessly.

"I already told you, I didn't want to get involved in your business."

"All Soul Reapers deserve to die!"

"Hm, you want to fight? I'll oblige." The youth pointed behind Mila Rose.

"But that one seems like she's about to die."

The lion-type Menos Grande suddenly froze and looked behind her.

The next instant, her face twisted in agony, her eyes nearly splitting apart.

Harribel, who lay on the ground, had somehow been clamped in the jaws of a massive mouth. Its savage, sharp teeth pierced her skin and flesh, churning her insides into a mess.

"Bastard, aaahhh!"

Mila Rose instantly went berserk. Having lost all reason, she charged at the giant mouth like a madwoman.

Even if I die, I'll be with Lady Harribel!

Yet at that moment, an all-too-familiar voice sounded beside her ear.

"Calm down, Rose."

—It was Harribel.

Her voice was weak, but it was clearly nowhere near the state of someone on the verge of death.

"You fell for it again."

The lion Menos Grande stood rooted to the spot.

The illusion vanished, and the grotesque giant mouth disappeared completely.

The blonde Vasto Lorde was still lying there perfectly fine.

Mila Rose blankly turned around. Sure enough, that hateful Soul Reaper had already vanished.

"Lady Harribel, I..." Mila Rose lowered her head in frustration, filled with unease and guilt.

"I've disappointed you."

"That seemed to be the ability of his Soul-Cutter Sword. An illusion-type ability? That's rare." Harribel paused, seeming inexplicably hesitant.

"...Forget it."

"My lady, what did you say?"

"There's no need to worry about that Soul Reaper, Rose. Can you feel it? Sung-Sun and Apache's Reiatsu has weakened."

"Damn it, Lady Harribel. It looks like those pursuers have reinforcements!"

"Go help them, Rose."

"Uh? But in your current condition, someone needs to stay by your side..."

"This is an order, Franceska Mila Rose." The blonde Hollow spoke her subordinate's full name, her tone leaving no room for refusal.

"Sung-Sun and Apache cannot hold on much longer."

"...Yes, Lady Harribel." Mila Rose could not argue with her and accepted the order quietly.

However, as she was leaving the stone chamber, Mila Rose suddenly stopped. Her tone was incomparably solemn.

"My lady, once, twice—I fell for that Soul Reaper's illusion techniques. But I swear to you, there will not be a third time!"

Harribel looked helplessly at the ceiling, truly exhausted.

"Yes, I believe you, Rose."

The lion Menos Grande strode out of the cave and rushed toward the distant battlefield.

Only Harribel remained silently lying in the stone chamber.

After a long time, she suddenly snorted at the empty air.

"Come out."

"..."

"Come out." Harribel's voice was steeped in exhaustion.

"Rose has already gone far away. Even if she turns back now, it'll be too late."

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps sounded from a corner.

The youth's figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

"Is there something a little..." Yato pointed at his own head, too embarrassed to finish the sentence.

"She isn't stupid. She merely loses her composure when my safety is involved."

"Fine."

"What are you going to do next? Kill me?"

"Your reckless subordinate did bring me here, and I was hoping to return to Soul Society sooner." Yato waved his hand.

"The Seireitei's rules are different from the Quincy's. We don't have to wipe everything out completely. Besides, you're a Vasto Lorde? To be honest, even in your current state, I wouldn't dare get too close."

"You really..."

"Really. It truly was a coincidence."

Rumble!

At that moment, a tremendous clap of thunder interrupted their conversation.

Yato looked toward the cave entrance, his brows knitting slightly.

In his perception, three Reiatsu signatures were rapidly weakening.

Harribel's turquoise eyes darkened with sorrow, and her beautiful face seemed covered in a layer of frost.

"Soul Reaper."

"Hm?"

"Take me away."

"...What did you say?" The abrupt shift left Yato dumbfounded.

"Or you can kill me."

With difficulty, she raised an arm, lifted a corner of the bone armor over her chest, and pointed to her breast.

"Use your Soul-Cutter Sword. Stab in from here, separate my ribs, and cut my heart to pieces."

Uchiha Yato stared at her blankly, then suddenly understood Harribel's meaning.

"You intend to sacrifice yourself so your subordinates can escape?"

"That's right." Harribel's voice remained low and hoarse. Even at such a critical moment, she stayed calm and restrained.

"Rose, Sung-Sun, and Apache intend to sacrifice their lives to hold back the pursuers and buy time for my escape."

"As long as my Reiatsu remains here, they will not leave."

"To seek sacrifice is to pay a price."

"Then let me become the price of that sacrifice."

Yato's expression became exceedingly serious. He stroked the blade of Scarlet Eye, stepped forward, and spoke each word slowly.

"In Soul Society, those below are encouraged to sacrifice for those above. A Vasto Lorde is an existence even captain-class Soul Reapers must respect. Dying for Adjuchas would not be understood by others."

"Oh, is that so? But I am Tia Harribel." The blonde beauty seemed to smile.

"I am a Hollow feared by others."

Uchiha Yato was visibly stunned for a moment.

Even someone so taciturn and cold looked beautiful when she smiled.

"So, Tia Harribel, is this the sacrifice you admire...?"

"You're right. Kill me and take my bone armor, and the Seireitei will reward you handsomely."

"By regulation, a Soul Reaper who slays a Vasto Lorde rises eight seats at once, capped at vice-captain, and receives fifty major merits!"

"If they have a family and descendants, Central 46 will grant them lower-noble status, honoring their martial valor!"

"So, are you ready?"

Harribel said nothing. She merely closed her eyes in relief, ready to receive the Soul Reaper's blade.

Yet the pain and sacrifice she had expected did not come.

She felt herself being lifted into someone's arms.

"But unfortunately, those rewards have nothing to do with me, because I'm not an official Soul Reaper yet."

She caught the youth's scent, felt his body heat, and heard his smiling voice.

"After talking for so long, I still haven't introduced myself. That's not very gentlemanly. My apologies."

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A Grand Escape in Hueco Mundo