Fate in Bleach: Unlimited Blade Works!

After throwing Uryū, Pesche Guatiche jumped onto Dondochakka Bilstin's head. Their spiritual pressure began to coalesce.

Luppi Antenor, noticing the light emanating from Dondochakka's mouth and the sword in Pesche's hand, frowned.

No Hollow was unfamiliar with that energy signature. It was a Cero, the most powerful attack a Gillian could muster.

These two… insects… possessed a Gillian's power? Who were they? And why did that smaller Hollow's sword resemble a Zanpakutō?

Despite his confusion, Luppi didn't hesitate. He launched his Giro de la Muerte, his spinning tentacles, towards them.

"Combined Cero!" Pesche and Dondochakka shouted in unison.

A purple Cero fired from Pesche's sword and a yellow Cero erupted from Dondochakka's mouth, merging mid-flight into a larger, more powerful blast that hurtled towards Luppi.

"Interesting. A combined Cero?" Luppi grinned. "But before true power, it's nothing but a child's toy!"

The spinning Giro de la Muerte collided with the combined Cero, creating a deafening roar. Luppi's attack sliced through the Cero, scattering its energy.

"Insects should know their place. Your arrogance is… irritating." He swatted at Pesche and Dondochakka, sending them flying. While the combined Cero had weakened his attack, it hadn't been enough to stop him. He had only injured them, not killed them.

Luppi approached them, studying them intently. A cruel smile spread across his face. "So, you're not Gillians, but failed evolutions, devolved remnants."

Hollows devoured souls to evolve, ascending from Menos Pequeño to Menos Grande, to Gillian, to Adjuchas, to the pinnacle of Hollow evolution: Vasto Lorde. However, not all Hollows reached that final stage. After evolving into a Gillian, a Hollow with consciousness could choose to devour other Gillians, triggering a transformation. This granted them a unique form, distinct from ordinary Gillians.

They then faced a choice: to retain their current form, ceasing their evolution, or to continue devouring other Gillians, striving for further ascension. Those who chose the latter path couldn't stop.

The fear of regression haunted them. If they ceased their consumption, their memories, their power, would begin to fade, eventually reducing them to mindless Gillians, wandering the Menos Forest. The countless Hollows within that forest were all failed evolutions, remnants of those who had faltered on their path to ascension. Only by reaching the Vasto Lorde stage could a Hollow maintain its form, its power, its consciousness.

In Luppi's eyes, Pesche and Dondochakka were such failures, Hollows who had stopped evolving and begun to regress.

"While you would eventually become mindless trash even without my intervention, I think I'll… accelerate the process."

Pesche and Dondochakka's eyes widened with fear. They weren't afraid of death, but of what would become of Nell without them. As her Fracción, they didn't fear their own demise. They feared for her safety, her survival in this desolate world.

Nell was different. They, as Adjuchas, had regressed quickly after their masks were removed. While they had stabilized at Gillian level when Nell had arrived, their reiatsu had continued to fade. Within a decade, they had been reduced to Menos Grande level.

Nell, however, was a Vasto Lorde. While her shattered mask had caused a significant loss of reiatsu, reducing her to a childlike form, she wouldn't regress. A Vasto Lorde remained a Vasto Lorde, her memories and power intact. Her current weakness stemmed from the constant leakage of reiatsu through her broken mask.

"Pesche," Dondochakka whispered, "do you think that Shinigami will help Nell-sama?"

"He will. I know he will, Dondochakka." In their final moments, they placed their hope in Ichigo.

"What are you mumbling about?" Luppi's voice snapped them back to reality. "Die quietly! Stop wasting my time!" Not seeing the fear he had anticipated, he raised two tentacles, preparing to finish them off.

"Stop! Don't hurt Pesche and Dondochakka!" A child's voice rang out. Luppi looked up to see Nell running towards them.

"Nell-sama! Run!" Pesche and Dondochakka shouted.

Luppi grinned. "Little girl, do you realize what you're doing? You dare command a Privaron Espada?"

"I'll show you the consequences of defying me!" He raised more tentacles, ready to strike.

"I told you to stop!" Nell's voice, filled with a sudden power, echoed through the desert. Her small body surged with reiatsu, growing rapidly, transforming from a child into a mature woman with long green hair and big tits.

Boom!

A figure was sent flying, skipping across the sand like a stone across water.

"Damn it!" Luppi groaned as he clutched his stomach. He had been kicked, sent flying by an unseen force. The attacker's speed had been incredible.

"Who?" He looked up, trying to identify his assailant. He didn't recognize the female Arrancar before him.

"Pesche, Dondochakka, are you alright?" Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck rushed to her Fracción.

"N-Nell-sama!" Pesche and Dondochakka stared at her. How long had it been since they had seen her in this form?

"Waaaaah! Nell-sama… we were so scared…" They clung to her legs, releasing years of pent-up fear. They always maintained a cheerful facade before Nell, constantly trying to make her laugh. But before Nelliel, they didn't have to pretend. She was their protector.

"It's alright. You're safe now," Nelliel reassured them.

"The… the Tercera Espada?"

As the dust settled, Luppi finally saw the number 3 etched on Nelliel's back. "No… that's impossible. The current Tercera Espada is Tier Harribel."

He recovered quickly, a mocking smile spread across his face. "So, you're a former Espada? While I don't know why you still have your number, do you really think you can scare me?"

"Pesche, Dondochakka, take care of those humans. I'll deal with him."

Nelliel turned to Luppi. While kind, she wasn't naive. She had spared Nnoitra's life after defeating him, because she considered him a comrade. But when he had attacked Pesche and Dondochakka, if not for her shattered mask, she would have killed him and Szayelaporro Granz. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

She drew her Zanpakutō.

"Sing, Gamuza!"

Her spiritual pressure exploded and forced Luppi to raise his tentacles defensively.

When her Resurrección was complete, she stood before them in a centaur-like form, her Zanpakutō transformed into a double-headed lance. She raised the lance, then hurled it at Luppi.

The lance blurred ahead and struck Luppi's defenses.

Boom!

Luppi's tentacles were torn apart, and he was sent crashing into the sand.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

He struggled to his feet. That large hole in his chest made his face contorted in disbelief. He was a Privaron Espada, nearly a Sexta Espada. How could he be defeated so easily by a former Espada?

He didn't realize that Nelliel was different. As a Vasto Lorde, she wouldn't regress. While her shattered mask had drained her reiatsu, reducing her to a childlike form, she had retained her rank. She had spent decades healing her mask, slowly regaining her power. Her ability to access her true form in moments of crisis was proof of her progress.

Of course, no one's strength remained stagnant. Nnoitra, decades ago, had been the Octava Espada. He was now the Quinta Espada. Nelliel, however, having focused on healing her mask, hadn't improved her combat skills. Still, even at her current level, she was far stronger than a pseudo-Espada like Luppi.

"Cero!"

Desperate, Luppi fired his most powerful Cero. The red blast, destroying everything in its path, shot towards Nelliel and her Fracción.

"Oh my, he's actually using a Cero against Nell-sama? How brave."

"Doesn't he know her ability? A Cero is no threat to Nell-sama." Pesche and Dondochakka's casual remarks highlighted Nelliel's unique power.

Nelliel opened her mouth. The incoming Cero, changing course mid-flight, transformed into pink smoke that she swallowed.

"Aaaagh!" Then, to Luppi's horror, she opened her mouth again, firing a Cero far more powerful than his own.

This was the former Tercera Espada's Gran Rey Cero, known as Cero Doble. Any Cero directed at her was absorbed, amplified, and then fired back.

BOOM!

Unable to defend himself, Luppi was annihilated.

"Nell-sama is amazing!"

"Nell-sama is the strongest!"

In the back, seeing Nelliel had recovered her strength, Pesche and Dondochakka found a branch somewhere and hung Pesche's underwear on it like a flag and cheered for Nelliel.

Nelliel smiled, turning to walk towards them. However, before she reached them, she suddenly reverted to her childlike form.

"Huh? Huh?"