Nnoitra leaped out from underground.
A mansion had once stood here, but a Cero had reduced both the house and its owner to ashes, leaving a seemingly bottomless crater in their place.
He landed on the edge of the crater, tall and lean, and looked up at the rooftop to the west.
Beneath the gray sky, a petite woman stood on the roof ridge. She had a small face, straight black bangs, and two long braids.
She wore a black Shinigami uniform beneath a sleeveless white haori. She was probably a Shinigami captain.
"Hey, shorty, were you the one who killed Takehiko Tsunayashiro?"
Soi Fon didn't answer. She glanced across from her, but saw no one.
His ability to conceal his Reiatsu made it easy to lose track of Shiraishi if she let her attention slip. Had he run away? Or was he hiding nearby?
Neither possibility was good for her.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, shorty." Nnoitra asked again. He had been in the underground laboratory and didn't know what had happened outside.
All he knew was that Takehiko Tsunayashiro's Reiatsu had suddenly vanished, followed by an extremely powerful Reiatsu signature.
Aizen had ordered him to remain in the laboratory and wait for the enemy to come.
But he trusted his own judgment more than Aizen's orders. He immediately blasted open the ground with a Cero and chose to take the initiative.
"I have nothing to say to a Hollow."
Soi Fon replied coldly, then struck back at his use of "shorty." "Much less a filthy, modified Hollow like you. Now that your master's dead, do you want to bark everywhere?"
"Haha!" Nnoitra laughed, then said murderously, "Why is it that you females can always make me angry enough to want to crush you? Tesla!"
Thud. A blond Imitation Arrancar with a Hollow Hole where his right eye should have been and otherwise handsome features appeared beside him with Sonído.
It was a method of movement developed by Menos Grande Imitation Arrancar. Faster than a Shinigami's Shunpo, it was the equivalent of spatial displacement and ignored all obstacles.
The drawback was that it was too fast-even its users had trouble adjusting to it. As a result, Sonído sometimes appeared slower than Shunpo, or only as fast.
"Lord Nnoitra, what are your orders?"
Tesla's face was full of respect.
Nnoitra looked toward the Tsunayashiro Clan's guards. More than a dozen walls stood between him and them, and they were roughly three or four kilometers away.
He couldn't see them, but Reiatsu wasn't restricted by such a short distance.
His gaze made all the Tsunayashiro Clan guards and Stealth Force members feel a heavy pressure coming from afar.
"Kill those guys." Nnoitra looked away. He had no interest whatsoever in weak small fry.
Of course, if he did fight them, he would show no mercy. Strength had nothing to do with it; his creed was to crush every enemy with all his might.
"Yes." Tesla bowed his head and vanished with a Sonído.
"Watch out!"
Soi Fon shouted a warning to the force members in the distance.
Thud.
Without warning, Nnoitra used Sonído to reach her side while she was distracted by the warning.
From the moment they established that they were enemies, even a single breath was part of the battle. Without that awareness, worrying about others would get her killed!
His enormous crescent blade swept down with the roar of wind and thunder, determined to cleave Soi Fon in two and end the battle in a single blow.
The moment the shadow fell over her, Soi Fon reacted. Instead of retreating, she rushed forward, taking advantage of her small size to slide between Nnoitra's legs.
Suzumebachi's pointed tip touched his ankle, and a black butterfly pattern appeared. There was no time to strike a second time.
Nnoitra kicked backward with his left foot, aiming for her face.
She sprang up to avoid it, nimbly hooking both feet around Nnoitra's neck. She flexed her slender waist and rose, tapping the back of his head with Suzumebachi in her right hand while her left hand, wrapped in Reiatsu, chopped fiercely at his temple.
She wanted to daze him, then take the opportunity to strike twice.
She only needed to strike the same spot twice for Suzumebachi's ability, Death in Two Steps, to take effect and kill Nnoitra on the spot.
Bang.
A muffled impact rang out, and Soi Fon's left hand went numb. The surging force of the recoil made her movements falter.
Nnoitra seized the chance to grab her foot with his left hand, wrench it free, and slam her downward.
With a crash, the roof ridge broke apart, and shattered roof tiles crumbled into powder amid the rising dust.
"Pfft." Soi Fon spat out a mouthful of blood and kicked Nnoitra in the chest with her right foot. The force, enough to shatter rocks, did not hurt him in the slightest.
Nnoitra ranked eighth among the Espada in strength, but when it came to the hardness of his Hierro, he was unquestionably number one.
Not a single other Espada had Hierro as hard as his.
"Hahaha!" Nnoitra laughed wildly, twisting his waist and flinging Soi Fon away.
The air exploded. Houses and trees along Soi Fon's path flew apart like scraps of paper in a storm, and a deep furrow several kilometers long was plowed into the ground.
He bit the tip of his tongue, then opened his mouth wide. Golden Reiatsu rapidly gathered at the bleeding spot on his tongue.
Boom!
Gran Rey Cero was an advanced Cero that differed from ordinary Cero in both form and power. Only the Espada could master it.
It came racing toward her like a bolt of golden lightning.
Soi Fon had only just stopped herself when gold filled her vision. With no time to dodge, she planted both feet firmly in the upturned earth.
"Sōkotsu!" She used an advanced Hakuda technique created by Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto, turning her Reiatsu into a torrent that surged onto the surfaces of her fists and built up before erupting.
Boom!
The Gran Rey Cero exploded, and its tremendous force shredded both of Soi Fon's sleeves and her Captain's Haori.
An intense, numbing ache swept through her body, leaving her frozen with both fists extended. Buildings for several kilometers around were torn apart by the impact, their fragments fluttering down, with flashes of scarlet blood occasionally visible.
Thud. Nnoitra used Sonído to advance, raising his weapon and chopping down.
Soi Fon gritted her teeth and forced herself backward, but she was still a step too slow. The crescent blade nearly cleaved her body in two.
The numbness came before the pain. She fell backward, blood pouring out freely. Then searing pain reached her mind, sweat poured from her forehead, and a muffled groan was her last act of defiance.
"It's over." Nnoitra laughed, the corners of his mouth stretched to their limit in a display of madness as he raised his weapon high.
Soi Fon's eyes narrowed halfway with pain. Sweat ran across her eyelashes, her vision grew ever blurrier, and her whole body was weak.
This time, I'm going to meet the same end as my brothers.
She thought this, abandoning all hope of survival and even letting the figure hidden deep in her heart come forth.
Lady Yoruichi...
"Tesla?" Nnoitra stopped and turned to look behind him. That familiar Reiatsu was gone. Impossible. Those people couldn't possibly have killed Tesla with their strength.
His right eye widened as he looked back at the ground. There was no one there, only traces of blood.
"You're really light," Shiraishi muttered as he gently laid Soi Fon beneath a tree. He smiled and said, "I saved your life. I won't ask you to offer yourself to me, but at least don't repay kindness with enmity."
"M-meddler." Soi Fon's whole body was limp, but her mouth was still stubborn.
Shiraishi smiled without continuing the conversation. He deliberately released his Reiatsu, then used Steel Tempest to leave.
With Tesla dealt with, all that remained was Nnoitra.