Chapter 21: Gift of Freedom

Chapter 21: Gift of Freedom

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

Spoiler

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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. She had abandoned all hope of escaping this place after failing her mission and damaging 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 Las Noches and get thrown into Szayelaporro's laboratory for her failure or join Kazuya in destroying the tyrant who forced her into submission. The choice would be obvious for anyone with common sense.

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

Kazuya stared into her eyes as if he was looking into her soul. Cirucci didn’t flinch from his stern gaze, instead showing a resolute look.

“Welcome to the club, Miss Goth.” He smiled. “Now, hold tight. I’mma get you to a safe place.”

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."

Her wings and tail contributed a surprising amount of weight to her curvy form.

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

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

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 strong 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. Her hands itched to stop the fight but she couldn’t go against Kazuya’s wishes.