"Right here, right now?"
Naraku Sora looked down at Starrk from above, a sinister grin spreading across his face. "You must be joking, right?"
As if recalling someone's previous words, Starrk gritted his teeth and forced his Reiatsu to surge, attempting one final, desperate struggle.
*Falling into this Soul Reaper's hands meant certain death for him.*
*At worst, he would just revert to Reishi and blend back into the world of Hueco Mundo.*
*But Lilynette was different.*
*As a hybrid of a Hollow and a Soul Reaper, who knew what kind of miserable fate awaited such a cute girl if she fell into his hands.*
The mere thought of Lilynette being turned into a weaponized plaything by some unscrupulous bastard gave Starrk a sudden burst of strength, causing his Reiatsu to practically explode.
Spreading his fingers, he tightly grasped the wolf-like blade formed of Reishi.
With a furious roar, Starrk launched a suicidal charge at the monster before him.
From the burning Reiatsu of the wolf blade, the glow of a waning moon suddenly rose. Under the illumination of the moonlight, everything seemed to pause for a fraction of a second.
Brilliant slashes crisscrossed through the air, then forcibly converged into a single beam, enveloping Naraku Sora within.
A sharp hiss echoed.
The air currents split to either side along the blade's light, crashing solidly against the sword enveloped in pitch-black Reiatsu.
*Crack—*
A crisp shattering sound rang out. Under Starrk's disbelieving gaze, the wolf blade, compressed and condensed from countless Reishi, cracked upon impact.
Like a signal, the moment one fissure appeared, countless cracks instantly spawned and spread across the entire blade.
Countless Reishi fragments burst forth, sinking into the nearby trenches.
Starrk still tried to make a final struggle, but a fist rapidly magnifying in his vision suddenly occupied his entire sight.
*Bang!*
A heavy, muffled blow erupted.
Immediately after, his head yanked his neck, and his neck pulled his body. A visible shockwave of air exploded behind him as Starrk, trailing a spectacular tail of flames, streaked rapidly through the night sky and crashed straight through the stone pillars at the edge of his vision.
Dust billowed, and waves of sand shot into the sky.
Naraku Sora stepped forward, charging into the dust cloud. Taking advantage of Starrk's dizzy and defenseless state, he reached out and snatched the weapon tucked at his waist—
Lilynette.
"?"
Noticing Lilynette's disappearance, Starrk immediately panicked.
Sure enough, this guy's goal had been Lilynette from the very beginning. The so-called one hundred billion Kan compensation for the Spirit-Recording Bug was just an excuse.
It was highly debatable whether that thing even belonged to him in the first place.
"If you have a problem, take it out on me! Let Lilynette go!"
Starrk struggled to his feet from the deep crater, his High-Speed Regeneration taking effect and continuously healing the wounds on his body.
Hearing this, Naraku Sora stopped playing with Lilynette. He glanced up and down at the dirt-covered Starrk and immediately showed an expression of disgust.
Although his personal tastes covered a wide range, he couldn't just stomach anything.
This decadent, middle-aged uncle style was better left to Szayelaporro.
That guy wasn't picky; he would probably love it.
"Let me go!"
"You hateful bastard, if you keep staring, I'll shoot your eyes out!"
The dual pistols that Lilynette had transformed into violently shook and resisted in his hands, trying to break free. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no comparison between their strengths.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake him even the slightest bit.
"Actually, I'm quite curious about something. Between you and Starrk, who is the main body?"
As soon as Naraku Sora said this, the dual pistols in his hands trembled even more violently. Lilynette's voice boomed, "Me, of course!"
"Without me, that idiot Starrk can't even release his Resurrección."
Hearing this, Starrk, who had been knocked flat by a single punch, lay weakly in the deep crater. He covered his face with his hand, seemingly giving up the struggle and turning into a salted fish about to dry in the sun.
He could see it now; the things this guy was interested in were quite different from what he had imagined.
Although saying this might be a bit too hurtful to Lilynette...
But with her flat-as-a-board figure, she might genuinely be less attractive than when she transformed into dual pistols.
Naraku Sora looked thoughtful.
"So, what is the principle behind your attacks?"
"Do you inject Reiatsu into the chamber, or do you just need to pull the trigger?"
Hearing this, Lilynette immediately became alert. "What are you trying to do?"
"Nothing, just curious. After all, you're the main body. That salted fish over there is purely an accessory, so asking him would be useless."
"That's true." Lilynette's voice became smug. "Since you asked so sincerely, I'll mercifully tell you."
"Prick up your ears and listen closely."
"There are three methods in total. They are—"
"Injecting Reiatsu to create Cero bullets; absorbing Reishi from the atmosphere to create Bala attacks; and the last one is splitting my own soul to fire the ultimate attack!"
"Oh, right, put me down quickly, or I'll let you taste the soul-splitting attack."
"That's an attack even more terrifying than a Gran Rey Cero!"
Naraku Sora nodded. "I see. So I just need to inject Reiatsu."
In the deep crater, Starrk rolled over to sunbathe in the moonlight on his other side. Since Lilynette wasn't in any danger, he couldn't be bothered to worry about unnecessary things.
*He couldn't beat him anyway, so what else could he do?*
*Of course, he chose to forgive him.*
"Idiot!" Lilynette let out a disdainful sneer. "Starrk and I originally belonged to the same entity, which is why he can blast enemies by injecting his Reiatsu."
"You have absolutely no connection to us, so don't have any delusions..."
Before she could finish speaking, Lilynette felt a surge of tyrannical power violently rush in, rampaging wildly within the narrow gun barrel.
"Wait, what are you doing?!"
"You can't do this!"
A brilliant light erupted from the muzzle as countless Reishi condensed within it, blooming like dazzling, pitch-black sparks.
The next second.
An incredibly frenzied Cero blasted from the muzzle, instantly tearing through the sky and leaving a heavy, ink-like stroke across the night canopy.
In an instant, a surging torrent swept up waves of heat and flames, soaring into the heavens.
Deafening explosions echoed throughout Hueco Mundo as layers of sand waves burst outward, stacking and extending toward the zenith.
Starrk: "?"
*What just happened?!*
*Why did Lilynette suddenly unleash such a powerful Cero, and why was there such a familiar scent lingering in the air?*
*If I remember correctly, I just saw this exact Cero a moment ago, right?*
*Lilynette, did you betray me?*
Looking at the shocking scene, Naraku Sora wore a look of complete satisfaction.
As expected of one of the top five intellects in the Soul Society, he had figured out Lilynette's mechanics just by playing around with her for a bit.
It wasn't exactly simple, but it wasn't too difficult either.
What Lilynette said was true; if it were any other Soul Reaper or Menos Grande, they wouldn't be able to do this at all.
The reason Naraku Sora could pull it off relied entirely on his basic Quincy ability—
Reishi Gathering.
His ultimate micro-control over Reishi and his unreasonable, forceful execution allowed him to synchronize the frequency of his spiritual power and inject it into the gun barrel, thereby releasing a Cero.
The power had increased slightly, which was better than nothing.
But the biggest advantage was actually the firing rate.
Even though his purity was as high as eighty percent now, he still couldn't fire a thousand Ceros at once like Starrk.
That was an ability unique to Starrk and Lilynette.
Just like Nelliel's Cero Doble and Tier Harribel's water manipulation, it was a type of innate talent.
But if he used Lilynette, he could achieve almost the exact same firing rate.
In other words, he could also accomplish the feat of firing a thousand Ceros in succession.
Thinking of this, Naraku Sora's eyes grew even brighter, as if he had discovered a new continent.
Thus, he solemnly declared:
"From now on, you belong to this king!"
In response, Lilynette's gun body trembled, and she roared in fury, "Starrk, say something!"
Clearly, a defeated general had no right to voice an opinion.
When Naraku Sora returned victorious, Aizen, who had been worrying about potential chaos in the Soul Society, risked being discovered by Hirako Shinji and returned to Las Noches.
"Are you saying you traded a Spirit-Recording Bug for two autonomous Arrancar Vasto Lordes?"
"Exactly."
"And you also discovered the correct way to use a Cero?"
"That's right!"
When Aizen witnessed with his own eyes the shocking scene of Naraku Sora holding Lilynette and forcefully executing a thousand-hit Cero barrage, he felt a bit numb.
How long had it been?
In less than a few days, you've caused such a massive commotion?
If there hadn't been specific time records in the laboratory, Aizen would have even suspected that the flow of time in Hueco Mundo and the Soul Society had changed.
For example, one day in the Soul Society equaling one year in Hueco Mundo.
Aizen shook his head, clearing this baseless fantasy from his mind. After spending so much time with a certain someone, even he was inevitably being influenced.
Although it was somewhat unexpected, since it happened to Naraku Sora, it didn't seem like an impossibility.
After all, this guy was someone who dared to clash head-on with Yamamoto Shigekuni.
To use the words of the people in Shino Prison: No matter what Lord Naraku does, it is only natural.
After briefly asking about the underlying principles, Aizen turned his gaze toward Starrk and Lilynette.
For a moment, a chilling sensation enveloped the two.
Starrk instantly tensed his body, and even his eyes showed a bit more vigilance.
Unlike Naraku Sora, this young man wearing glasses seemed gentle on the surface, but in reality, he had absolutely no emotional fluctuations.
He was calm to the extreme.
That gaze was like examining an object, evaluating its worth.
He was the complete opposite of Naraku Sora.
If this guy said he was going to kill them, he definitely wasn't joking; he would absolutely do it.
And judging from his attitude, the other party had one hundred percent confidence in doing so.
*Damn it, are all Soul Reapers monsters?*
Lilynette cautiously hid behind Starrk, trying to find a trace of security through this action.
But she quickly realized that doing so not only failed to provide a safe atmosphere but actually made things even more dangerous.
After thinking for a few seconds, Lilynette decisively hid behind Naraku Sora.
*Yes, safe now.*
Starrk: "?"