Chapter 21: Gift of Freedom


    Some art Imissioned for Kazuya''s Vasto Lorde form. Looks a lil goofy :D


    Spoiler


    [copse]


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya walked over to Ciri and squatted before her. “As the victor, I have the right to decide your fate. What if I don’t want to y along with your death fetish?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ciri’s face turned horrified as despair took over. “I’m begging you… please kill me and mutte my corpse… I don’t want to end up in <i><span style="font-weight:400">his </i><span style="font-weight:400">research facility.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Trembling with fear and frailty, Ciri pleaded for him to extinguish her suffering. She had abandoned all hope of escaping this ce after failing her mission and damaging her Zanpakutō. Baraggan would hunt her down if she left this ce alive. If she was found dead with an intact corpse, Szayporro would do inhumane experiments on her.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya reached out andpassionately caressed her head. "I won''t kill you. But I''ll give you a choice. The thing is, I want to take down Baraggan for trying to rob my freedom. I know you hold no love for him, either. Will you help me in overthrowing him?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">Defeating Baraggan with his current strength was nothing more than a pipedream. But he had to start somewhere if he wanted to destroy the tyrant who nned to seize his freedom in Hueco Mundo.


    <span style="font-weight:400">No one who wished to shackle his freedom would go unharmed.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ciri''s eyes widened in disbelief, clearly not expecting him to offer her a choice between life and inevitable death. She weighed her options: return to Las Noches and get thrown into Szayporro''sboratory for her failure or join Kazuya in destroying the tyrant who forced her into submission. The choice would be obvious for anyone withmon sense.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I will… I will st Baraggan and his lunatic cult. Help me…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya stared into her eyes as if he was looking into her soul. Ciri didn’t flinch from his stern gaze, instead showing a resolute look.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Wee to the club, Miss Goth.” He smiled. “Now, hold tight. I’mma get you to a safe ce.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Hoisting his fifth ally in Hueco Mundo like a wounded princess, he soared through the sky, his wings carrying them towards his cave. "Goodness, you''re quite heavy in this form."


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her wings and tail contributed a surprising amount of weight to her curvy form.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“...I have armor concealed beneath my undergarments.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It makes no sense for a woman to wear armor there.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Ciri’s delicate fingers sped his neck, her violet lips curving into a sly smile. “You don’t understand the brutality of Hollows. They will resort to any measure to win. Injuring your opponent’s genitalia is a very effective tactic. You were too quick or I’d have definitely smashed your junk.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya couldn’t help but shudder. He had almost lost his penis in his previous life. The fact that Hollows saw no shame in resorting to such a brutal measure worried him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You all are a bunch of animals.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“All Hollows are.”


    He talked like friends as if they weren''t fighting to murder each other a couple of minutes ago.


    <span style="font-weight:400">As they entered the cave, he carefully propped her against the jagged walls. "Focus on recovering. I''ll deal with Dordoni."


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Don’t linger here…” Her voice, barely more than a whisper, carried a note of urgency. "Baraggan will discover..."


    <span style="font-weight:400">Her words trailed off as she sumbed to unconsciousness once more.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya left Ciri to recuperate and joined Harribel, who stared intently at the fierce battle unfolding before them.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Dordoni dispersed his bird-headed tornados and hurled a behemoth version of it. The tornado rushed at M Rose, its maw open wide as if it yearned to consume her whole.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Not today, bastard," M Rose retorted, her voice resonating with steely determination. Grasping her broadsword with a white-knuckled grip, she carved a colossal arc through the air, her golden mane thrashing wildly. The sheer power of her assault cleaved the cyclone, dispersing it.


    <span style="font-weight:400">M Rose descended to the ground, herbored breaths disying her exhaustion. Cuts marred her toned form, yet Dordoni appeared considerably more battered. The Hollow te adorning his foreheady half-shattered, blood streaking his visage like crimson tears. One of his shoulder spikes had snapped clean off at its base.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Were it not for the augmentation of his Hierro by his Resurrión ability, he would have met his demise. His defense was absurd.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With her sword lowered, M Rose extended her palm, summoning a pulsating orb of orange energy. Without hesitation, she propelled Cero forth with a powerful punch.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Take my Cero, Bitch.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">The cataclysmic orange beam surged towards Dordoni, who countered with a series of deft hand gestures, ultimately forming a pentagon with his fingers. A sanguine Cero erupted from within the pentagon, colliding with M Rose’s Cero.


    <span style="font-weight:400">The violent impact catapulted Dordoni through the air, but he recovered with the help of his tornado. As he deflected yet another Cero from M Rose, his Reiatsu had significantly diminished from the time he first released.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya hadn’t expected M Rose to bring Dordoni down to this level. Then again, this Dordoni had yet to gain any power from Aizen’s Hōgyoku.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Harribel, what else did I miss?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harribel recounted the action to Kazuya. Dordoni''s Hierro was indeed impressive, but he couldn’t disregard the full-powered Cero unleashed by strong Adjuchas such as Api and Sung-Sun. Forced to rely on his tornadoes to counter, M Rose seized the chance to deliver her own Cero st.


    <span style="font-weight:400">A mere month prior, the trio would have posed no threat to Dordoni. However, Kazuya’s innate ability, ''Crumbling Heart,'' elevated their prowess to the peak of Adjuchas. As an Adjuchas Arrancar, Dordoni found it nigh impossible to inflict damage upon a strength-centric Arrancar like M Rose.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Great teamwork," he murmured. "Where are they?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harribel cast a worried nce in the opposite direction. He spotted the deer and snake sprawled on the sidelines, apparently unharmed. "Out of energy, I assume."


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harribel nodded. "They did their part."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"By the way, are you upset about my decision concerning Ciri?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harribel''s eyes shimmered with emotions before she gestured with her sword arm at Dordoni. "We''ll discuss the Espada after we deal with him."


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I also have things to talk about,” he whispered,ing up with ways to exin his journey to the Soul Society. “Fuck.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Instead of overthinking everything, he swung his wings and approached Dordoni. A small smirk made its way to Dordoni’s face.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“<i><span style="font-weight:400">Ni?o</i><span style="font-weight:400">, you have finally arrived.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Kazuya disregarded Dordoni and nced over his shoulder at M Rose. "Thanks for wearing him down, Kitten. I''ll take over from here."


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Stop calling me Kitten… Skull Face!”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Skull Face? Is that supposed to be an insult?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">M Rose shrugged and flew toward Harribel. After some talking, M Rose threw Sung-Sun and Api on her shoulders and carried them to their base.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Harribel, alone, intently watched Kazuya prepare to fight another Arrancar. Her hands itched to stop the fight but she couldn’t go against Kazuya’s wishes.