Boom.
Kurotsuki Renya struck Tristan hard, knocking her into the sand. He exhaled sharply, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he stared at the white monstrosity before him.
At this moment, Tristan's entire body save for her feet was enveloped in thick white Hollow armor. She no longer resembled a human at all, but a feral Hollow-beast, attacking Renya relentlessly with instinct-driven violence.
"How long has it been?" Renya asked loudly.
Nelliel answered without hesitation,
"Almost fifty-nine minutes."
Renya grimaced.
He was already the fourth to take part in suppressing her. His own fifteen-minute window was nearly exhausted, yet Tristan showed no signs of stabilizing.
"I completed mine in under twenty minutes…" Renya muttered. "Fifty-nine minutes is dangerously long."
Of course, Tristan was not the longest case in history.
Both Kurosaki Ichigo and Saraki Hiyori had exceeded sixty minutes during their Hollowfication yet both survived.
"Continue," Renya said firmly.
When the sixty-minute mark passed, Renya did not withdraw. Maintaining this level of reiatsu output was not particularly taxing for him.
Sixty-five minutes passed.
Still no change.
This duration had already exceeded the safe Hollowfication threshold. If it continued, Tristan risked irreversible Hollow domination.
"Tsukishima," Renya said sharply. "Use Book of the End."
Renya seized Tristan's arm as Tsukishima Shūkurō appeared behind her and slashed downward.
Pshhk.
The blade pierced Tristan's body.
Nothing changed.
Tsukishima frowned and shook his head.
"No. I can only insert myself into the past of objects or memories. Altering the past state of a living soul directly is far more difficult."
He had rewritten terrain against Kuchiki Byakuya.
He had restored Kurosaki Ichigo's Zanpakutō by manipulating its past condition.
But even Tsukishima had never overwritten the existence of a living being's soul.
If he could, his ability would be nothing short of absolute.
Cold sweat slid down Renya's temple.
By all logical measures
This Hollowfication had failed.
Worse still, once Tristan's feet were fully covered, Renya would be forced to kill her.
"…Wait."
Renya's eyes narrowed.
For six or seven minutes now
Tristan's feet and calves remained un-Hollowfied.
That made no sense.
By progression speed alone, they should have been overtaken long ago.
At that moment
Light suddenly bloomed around Tristan's feet.
Her shoes dissolved into radiant particles, and as the light surged upward, the white Hollow armor across her body began to disintegrate.
In its place
Only her feet and calves remained encased in pristine white armor.
"…Did it work?" Renya whispered.
Tristan's Hollow mask vanished.
Her breathing steadied.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
A faint smile formed at the corner of her lips.
"It worked," she said.
Renya exhaled deeply.
"What happened?" he asked. "Your shoes why did they turn into armor?"
Tristan looked down at her feet.
"When I entered Hollowfication… another version of myself appeared. I fought her endlessly and kept losing."
Her voice grew quiet.
"Just before she killed me, my shoes resonated. A wave of soul pressure surged from them, and I merged with it… gaining enough power to defeat her."
Renya's eyes widened in realization.
"So that's it…"
A Fullbringer's true power lay in extracting the soul of matter and reshaping it through attachment.
The medium was affection.
The stronger the emotional bond, the stronger the Fullbring.
Most Fullbringers could draw power from air or ground to enhance movement.
But only a cherished object could fully manifest its soul.
Ginjo's cross.
Tsukishima's bookmark.
Tasawa's pocket watch.
And Tristan's
Shoes.
At the brink of defeat, Tristan's Fullbring had intervened at the soul level, merging fully with her own spirit and suppressing Hollow domination.
Human soul + Fullbring soul overwhelmed the Hollow aspect.
This was the true Hollowfication path of a Fullbringer.
Renya nodded.
"Your current strength?"
Tristan smiled.
"Even without Hollowfication, my speed is far beyond before."
She vanished.
A heartbeat later, she appeared far in the distance.
Renya narrowed his eyes.
"…That's significantly faster."
"And with Hollowfication?" he asked.
Tristan turned toward Harribel.
"Would you mind testing it for me?"
She stomped the ground.
White armor surged over her feet and calves.
Whoosh.
She appeared behind Harribel instantly and kicked.
"So fast!"
Harribel barely raised her arms.
Boom!
She was sent flying, but stabilized midair.
Before she could land
Boom!
A black Cero erupted from Tristan's kick.
Harribel drew her blade, gathering Hollow energy and firing back.
Boom!
The collision detonated, tearing up the desert.
Renya observed carefully.
Speed and power both had increased drastically.
Her Hollowfied speed surpassed Renya's base state and even un-released Espada.
Still below Resurrección-level Espada
But close.
"If I use the perfected Hōgyoku…" Renya thought,
"…she could rival a released Espada Captain-level combat."
Satisfied, Renya turned to the others.
"You're next."
Renya Hollowfied Tasawa, whose pocket watch manifested as a white armored shoulder with a rotating pointer granting adaptive enhancement based on its direction.
Tsukishima underwent partial Hollowfication without bodily fusion and defeated his manifested self.
Ginjo's case required special treatment due to his Shinigami power. Using a Quincy reishi-based stabilizer derived from Ishida Uryū's spiritual signature during the Seireitei conflict, Renya prevented soul collapse.
Ginjo's cross remained his Zanpakutō, not merged.
Both Tsukishima and Ginjo now possessed combat power rivaling upper Espada-class.
With full Hollowfication
They could surpass Captain-level entirely.
Two potential Super-Captain-class assets.
Ten Espada still capable of further growth.
This force alone could alter the balance of the Thousand-Year Blood War.
But then
Renya turned sharply.
"Who's there?"
A figure emerged atop the distant dunes, eyes burning with destructive intent.
Renya frowned.
"…You?"
"Weren't you supposed to be imprisoned in the Seireitei?"