Hollow HEART

BOOOOMM

FOOOSH

At a vast distance from where they were before, Harribel and Yammy had started the fight they had discussed. The distance was to avoid drawing attention and to prevent nearby Hollows from being targeted or caught in the immense waves of reiryoku and attacks from both combatants.

A little way off, standing atop a mountain range, the three beasts and Yammy's loyal dog watched the fight in awe.

"L-Lady Harribel… is she being crushed?" A shocked Sung-Sun gazed at the scene before her. Normally, she was the "stoic" of the group, but seeing someone who matched or even surpassed her lady's brute strength completely shattered her usual composure.

"D-DON'T BE STUPID! Lady Harribel is just playing… right?" The youngest of the trio, Apacci, despite trying to keep her confidence, couldn't argue against her companion's words. Despite matching in power, Harribel was clearly at a physical disadvantage, suffering from the shockwaves and blows of the giant Hollow.

Next to her, an incredulous Mila-Rose turned mechanically to the little Hollow who scratched his ear, seemingly unbothered by the sonic booms from the fight between the two powerful Hollows.

"H-Hey doggie? Has your master always been this strong?"

"WOOF WOOF!"

---

In the battlefield, Harribel and Yammy continued to clash, with Harribel being hit by Yammy's enormous arms and thrown toward the nearby sand hills, generating a huge impact and a cloud of sandy smoke that obscured the view.

After a few moments of disorientation, Harribel stood up, looking at her bleeding body. Her natural bone plates and hierro had cracks in them, and blood dripped from her lips sealed by her mask.

The fight had started well. Thanks to his size, Yammy was clumsily slow and disorganized in his movements, allowing her to dance around and strike with ease.

Then the escalation came, and the giant's rage grew.

And the fight became increasingly difficult, and to her shame, one-sided.

But now wasn't the time to reflect, not with a huge fist coming her way! Thinking quickly, she dodged the fist using her water propulsion and fired a concentrated and sharp water jet toward him.

As the water sliced through his face and body, she saw him roar and glow red, becoming bigger and stronger once again.

"This fight is dragging on too long… I have to end this now!"

Soon, while her wounds regenerated and Yammy became distracted, she distanced herself, charging a GRAN REY CERO at the tip of her blade.

And then—

BOOOOOOMMM

With a sonic and resounding boom, she unleashed her stored energy in that attack.

An attack that would disintegrate normal Hollows and even most Adjuchas. Normally, she wouldn't use this, but it was a request from Yammy himself.

『Don't hold back, fight me as if I were your greatest enemy, use your strongest attacks with lethal intent! I can take it! Not only that, but I guarantee both of us will benefit from this!』

At the time, she didn't understand, but now? With blood running from her ears, adrenaline rushing through her veins, and the immense desire for battle, to keep fighting Yammy forever in this wild dance of theirs, she could finally understand his words.

Bastard… you're right, Yammy… I get it… Before, I gave up my desires and instincts to protect and care for my companions… but I forgot that it was those instincts that brought me this far and allowed me to meet them… I can't protect them while denying my nature and remaining stagnant… for this… I am GRATEFUL, Yammy Llargo… and for that gratitude… I will give you every bit of my primal instincts that I've been holding back… and you will devour them all… like the furious glutton you are! Take everything from me, Yammy, my flesh, my bones… and something more that I had lost!

BOOOOM

A massive blue explosion surrounded a large circular area of the Hueco Mundo sands.

A mushroom cloud-like explosion swept across the battlefield. Silencing it for a brief moment…

…After a few moments, an exhausted Harribel watched intently ahead, gathering what little energy she had left.

'D-Did I… kill him?' With a certain anxiety, Harribel wondered if she had overdone it. The female Hollow slowly approached with hesitant steps toward the smoke curtain that followed.

*Taf*

*Puf*

The sound of her footsteps seemed to echo in the night, while in the distance, her companions remained alert, apprehensive, as they had never seen such a display of power from their mistress.

Until—

"Grrraaaaah!!!"

With a roar, the smoke cleared, and Harribel could only widen her eyes at what she saw.

In front of her, with his massive jaw open, Yammy was generating an enormous cero, but different from the previous ones; this one was dark, as if it had its own void, and just moments before firing, his name was uttered by the giant Adjuchas—

"Cero… OSCURAS!"

Harribel only had milliseconds to widen her eyes and raise her blade to try and defend against the incoming attack.

BOOOOM

And with a gigantic explosion in a straight line, the entire landscape ahead was swept away like trash.

FOOOSH!

"HARRIBEL-SAMAAAA!" The three beasts screamed in panic, instinctively using sonido to rush to their mistress's aid.

After a few moments of sprinting from the beasts and the small dog, both groups reached their respective "masters" and were shocked by their appearances.

For the Beasts, Harribel was burned and covered in soot, her mocha skin raw with pink flesh exposed and blood dripping. Her blade was shattered, and one leg was completely charred to the bone. Her mouth mask was cracked and a part of it carbonized; she looked like she had seen better days.

Soon, they held her as they heard the screams and worried questions from her companions.

Now with Yammy, Kukkapūro whined at seeing his master. Yammy had lost half of his jaw, his torso was severely burned, and one of his arms was scorched. He was crouched on the ground from the exertion. His eye was also shut, with blood streaming down like a waterfall.

But despite their situation, they were still Hollows, and as their wounds slowly healed, both the Adjucha and Vasto Lord had faint smiles on their faces.

Both seemed to have found some sort of harmony. In that brief battle, they had measured each other's abilities.

And they couldn't have been more satisfied.

That day, the future Tercera and the Décima (Cero) Espada had united under a common cause. And this union would ripple through the future.