BLEACH Chapter 21: Gift of Freedom

Kazuya walked over to Cirucci and squatted before her. “As the victor, I have the right to decide your fate. What if I don’t want to play along with your death fetish?”

Cirucci’s face turned horrified as despair took over. “I’m begging you… please kill me and mutilate my corpse… I don’t want to end up in his research facility.”

Trembling with fear and frailty, Cirucci pleaded for him to extinguish her suffering. It seemed she had abandoned all hope of escaping this place. She had failed her mission and nearly destroyed her Zanpakutō. Baraggan would hunt her down if she left this place alive. If she was found dead with an intact corpse, Szayelaporro would do inhumane experiments on her.

Kazuya reached out and compassionately 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?"

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 planned to seize his freedom in Hueco Mundo.

No one who wished to shackle his freedom would go unharmed.

Cirucci'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 Szayelaporro's laboratory as a mere test subject or join Kazuya in dethroning the tyrant. The choice would be obvious for anyone with common sense.

“I will… I will blast Baraggan and his lunatic cult. Help me…”

Kazuya's smile broadened. He had seduced his fifth ally in Hueco Mundo. “Welcome to the club, Miss Goth.”

Hoisting Cirucci like a precious gem, Kazuya soared through the sky, his powerful wings carrying them towards his hidden cave. "Goodness, you're quite heavy in this form."

Her wings and tail contributed a surprising amount of weight.

“...I have armor concealed beneath my undergarments.”

“It makes no sense for a woman to wear armor there.”

Cirucci’s delicate fingers clasped his neck, her violet lips curving into a sly grin. “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.”

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.

As they entered the cave, he carefully propped her against the jagged walls. "Focus on recovering. I'll deal with Dordoni."

“Don’t linger here…” Her voice, barely more than a whisper, carried a note of urgency. "Baraggan will discover..."

Her words trailed off as she succumbed to unconsciousness once more.

Kazuya left Cirucci to recuperate and joined Harribel, who stared intently at the fierce battle unfolding before them.

Dordoni dispersed his bird-headed tornados and hurled a behemoth version of it. The tornado rushed at Mila Rose, its maw open wide as if it yearned to consume her whole.

"Not today, bastard," Mila 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 asunder.

Mila Rose descended to the ground, her labored breaths displaying her exhaustion. Cuts marred her toned form, yet Dordoni appeared considerably more battered. The Hollow plate adorning his forehead lay half-shattered, blood streaking his visage like crimson tears. One of his shoulder spikes had snapped clean off at its base.

Were it not for the augmentation of his Hierro by his Resurrección ability, he would have met his demise. His defense was absurd.

With her sword lowered, Mila Rose extended her palm, summoning a pulsating orb of orange energy. Without hesitation, she propelled Cero forth with a powerful punch.

“Take my Cero, Wind Bitch.”

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 Mila Rose’s Cero.

The violent impact catapulted Dordoni through the air, but he recovered with the help of his tornado. As he deflected yet another Cero from Mila Rose, his Reiatsu had significantly diminished since the genesis of his Resurrección.

Kazuya hadn’t expected Mila Rose to bring Dordoni down to this level. Then again, this Dordoni had yet to gain any power from Aizen’s Hōgyoku.

“Harribel, what else did I miss?”

Harribel recounted the action to Kazuya. Dordoni's Hierro was indeed impressive, but he couldn’t disregard the full-powered Cero unleashed by apex Adjuchas such as Apacci and Sung-Sun. Forced to rely on his tornadoes to counter, Mila Rose seized the chance to deliver her own Cero blast.

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 Mila Rose.

"Great teamwork," he murmured. "Where are they?"

Harribel cast a worried glance in the opposite direction. He spotted the deer and snake sprawled on the sidelines, apparently unharmed. "Out of energy, I assume."

Harribel nodded. "They did their part."

"By the way, are you upset about my decision concerning Cirucci?"

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."

“I also have things to talk about,” he whispered, coming up with ways to explain his journey to the Soul Society. “Fuck.”

Instead of overthinking everything, he swung his wings and approached Dordoni. A small smirk made its way to Dordoni’s face.

“Niño, you have finally arrived.”

Kazuya disregarded Dordoni and glanced over his shoulder at Mila Rose. "Thanks for wearing him down, Kitten. I'll take over from here."

“Stop calling me Kitten… Skull Face!”

“Skull Face? Is that supposed to be an insult?”

Mila Rose shrugged and flew toward Harribel. After some talking, Mila Rose threw Sung-Sun and Apacci on her shoulders and carried them to their base.

Harribel, alone, intently watched Kazuya prepare to fight another Arrancar.