Grimmjow, Harribel, and Nelliel marched forward with their Fraccion behind them. Nelliel was the last Vasto Lorde trio and the ally Harribel had spoken of earlier.
Unlike the two that resembled humans with animalistic traits, Nelliel appeared as a true hybrid between a beast and man. Her mask covered her entire face and also had a pair of swirling horns on both sides of her head. Green hair came out of the back of her mask and reached all the way down to the middle of her back. Her upper body was protected by bone armor that resembled a knight's armor. Both of her arms had large spaulders on her shoulders while her forearms were small, white lances. Her lower body looked like that of a horse but it had an unusual color that resembled both green and brown at the same time.
"Are you sure that the Shinigami will be useful? Even if he is as powerful as a captain, he should not make much of a difference in a battle where Vasto Lorde are fighting," Nelliel asked as they marched through the first few pillars of Barragan's court. Barragan was so arrogant that he did not build walls or a roof. He said that soon, all of Hueco Mundo would be his territory so all of it was part of his castle.
"Don't doubt that bastard. If he is getting involved in our battle, you can be sure that he will make a big impact," Grimmjow replied. Yami was his rival. The only person that could look down on him was himself.
Nelliel nodded but did not reply. They were already surrounded by countless lesser Hollows and Adjuchas but none of them made a move. They were all scared off by the aura that the 3 Vasto Lorde were giving off.
Harribel's force was able to quickly make their way to Barragan's court where he and his most loyal subordinates were. And even though there were only 9 of them and they were outnumbered, they were by no means weak. Especially since two of them were Vasto Lorde themselves.
"Little brother. You and your friends have come to surrender?" a purple octopus asked
Grimmjow's Fraccion member, Yylfordt Granz, who appeared as a bull was the older brother of the octopus.
"Ha! Why should we surrender to a skeleton that is already halfway into the grave? We come to declare war!" Yyfordt replied just as arrogantly as his own king.
The skeleton on the throne heard the words but did not seem impressed. His eye sockets swept across the 3 Vasto Lorde before him and then their followers. And if he was being honest, he was impressed.
"You all...," Barragan began slowly, "are not here to declare war. War is when two nations or forces of similar strength go against one another in order to gain resources, land, or honor."
Barragan's eyes focused on Harribel as he could tell she was the leader.
"You three are nothing more than rebels with dogs behind you. And there is only one fate for rebels..."
A bird-like Adjuchas and the Vasto Lorde who looked like a seraph with the lower body of something out of a Japanese hentai doujin, took to their air with their wings while all of the Hollows on the ground lowered their bodies as they were ready to pounce.
Seeing the other side had gotten ready, Harribel's forces also prepared for the conflict. They each got into a position where they would be able to maximize their bodies and coordinate the best with one another.
"is death," Barragan finished.
Just as his words left his mouth, that was when it all happened. The former commander of the Executive Militia made his move.
--- 5 minutes prior ---
Yami stood atop an insect-like Hollow, about a mile above Barragan's 'palace'. He was hiding his spiritual pressure, aura, and breath.
'Looks like I must be an assassin once again.'
Even with them having 3 Vasto Lorde on their side, it was not like they had the absolute advantage. Not only was Barragan a Vasto Lorde who had reiatsu greater than any of the trio alone, but he also had a powerful ability that was frankly broken. He could not only slow down physical objects or beings near him but he could also cause anything to age rapidly. He did not declare himself king for no reason.
And he was not even the strongest person on his side. For he had managed to convince a Vasto Lorde that was even more powerful than him to submit to him. This creature had reiatsu that would make even Grimmjow want to flee with his new Vasto Lorde form.
Along with the 7 Adjuchas who had absolute loyalty to Barragan, the outcome of a straight-on battle was not great. At best, they would lose two of their Vasto Lorde and almost all of their Fraccion before being descended on by the countless Hollows and Adjuchas that would want to consume them and the dead in order to gain their power. At worst, they would die miserable deaths without even accomplishing their goals.
Which was wear Yami was to come in. His target was to kill the other Vasto Lorde, Cien. By taking him down, the rest of the battle would be much easier.
Thanks to Dondochakka, one of Nelliel's Fraccion that had the ability to tame and store insect Hollows, Yami was able to use it to get and height advantage over Barragan's army. And thanks to Barragan's arrogance, the lack of ceiling meant that there was nothing stopping him from attacking from above.
Yami had been waiting above the palace for nearly 17 hours without moving from his exact position on the bug. The insect flew around the area but would always fly over the palace once every couple of hours. And when Harribel's army came, it was able to fly in place above the palace without attracting suspicion because so many other Hollows were doing the same.
And when he saw the two flyers take to the air, he knew it was time to make his move. He used his feet to flip the insect on its back before kicking off on it. He used so much force that the bug exploded after the impact.
Yami went soaring through the air and reached his target in a moment. With a swing of his blade, he cleaved through Cien's body, bisecting him from his head to his pelvis.
After him, he cut off one of the bird Adjucha's wings to send it tumbling toward the earth.
And when he crashed into the ground, Yami used his sword to block most of the damage but the force behind the fall was still enough to make him cough blood. But he was not done.
As soon as he landed, his blade began to glow green and a green dome appeared around all of Barragan's forces.
"Tsumi no Kobayashi"
Destructive energy filled the dome, taking out all of the Adjuchas almost instantly.
The others watched on in amazement. They initially thought that it was only going to be Cien who Yami was going to injure, and not even kill. But from his attack, it looked like he had taken out all or most of Barragan's forces.
"He! Told you he would get the job done," Grimmjow stated arrogantly.
Nelliel nodded without saying anything else. She had indeed doubted Yami's abilities and he had proven her wrong. There was nothing else to say.
When the light disappeared, it was only a badly injured Yami left standing while the rest of the Adjuchas and Cien were lying dead on the ground.
"An assassin. Truly the work of rebels."
And Barragan sitting on his throne unharmed.
"Good. Didn't want Yami to get all the fun anyway!" Grimmjow charged ahead, ready to battle another Vasto Lorde for the first time