Boom!
Amid the deafening explosion, Liotta Ekk was struck head-on by Nelliel’s Cero.
The instant the blast engulfed him, Lin Huang seized the opportunity.
His Sword Scales instantly extended into a razor-sharp blade of purple spiritual pressure before slashing upward from an unexpected angle, cutting deeply across Liotta Ekk’s clawed arm.
Dark red blood splattered across the white sands.
“AAARGH!” Liotta Ekk let out a shrill scream.
His bloodshot eyes glared at Lin Huang with overwhelming hatred.
“I’ll tear you apart!” Faced with the furious roar…
Lin Huang merely flicked the spiritual blade extending from his tail before calmly replying, “Idiot.” “You arrogant brat!” “I’ll show you the true difference between a Menos and insignificant Hollows like you!” “Do you really think obtaining spiritual pressure comparable to a low-level Gillian makes you my equal?” Before his words had even faded…
Liotta Ekk vanished.
A burst of Sonído instantly carried him directly in front of Lin Huang.
Bang!
A vicious palm strike slammed into Lin Huang’s enormous body, sending the giant serpent flying through the air.
“So fast…” Lin Huang’s pupils contracted.
“This…” “This is Sonído.” Liotta Ekk sneered coldly.
“A power that insignificant Hollows like you could never hope to reach.” Without giving Lin Huang any time to recover…
Liotta Ekk immediately raised both claws.
Dozens of black and crimson Bala erupted from his fingertips.
The barrage poured toward Lin Huang like a relentless rain of cannon fire.
“This…” “This is Bala!” Lin Huang instantly burrowed beneath the Sea of Sand.
Using the desert as cover…
He rapidly swam beneath the surface, barely avoiding every incoming Bala.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Countless explosions erupted across the desert.
Towering waves of white sand shot into the sky.
Liotta Ekk roared again.
His attacks became even more frantic.
However…
Lin Huang quickly noticed something.
Liotta Ekk’s spiritual pressure had begun fluctuating irregularly.
His breathing was becoming increasingly labored.
The wounds covering his body still bled continuously.
His injuries were far more severe than he had initially appeared to be.
He was simply forcing himself to continue fighting.
“You insects…” “I’ll show you what a real Cero looks like!” Liotta Ekk suddenly raised one claw.
An enormous sphere of black and crimson spiritual pressure rapidly condensed above his palm.
The next instant…
A devastating Cero exploded forward.
Its destructive power far exceeded any attack Nelliel had previously unleashed.
It was the strongest Cero Lin Huang had encountered since arriving in Hueco Mundo.
“Now!” “Nelliel!” Lin Huang roared.
The instant his voice echoed across the battlefield…
Nelliel burst upward from beneath the sand.
Instead of dodging…
She charged directly toward the incoming Cero.
Opening her mouth wide…
She actually swallowed the devastating blast whole.
Her cheeks immediately swelled.
Violent spiritual pressure surged throughout her body.
Moments later…
Everything stabilized.
She had completely absorbed it.
“She…” “She swallowed a Cero?” For the very first time…
Shock appeared within Liotta Ekk’s eyes.
What happened next completely exceeded his expectations.
Nelliel opened her mouth.
A Cero several times stronger than the one Liotta Ekk had originally fired erupted straight toward him.
It was her unique ability.
Cero Doble.
“W…
What?!” Liotta Ekk’s eyes widened.
Instinctively…
He attempted to escape using Sonído.
However…
At that very instant…
Lin Huang’s tail lashed out.
It tightly wrapped around Liotta Ekk’s scarred left leg before violently dragging him downward.
Just before the returning Cero struck…
Lin Huang immediately released his grip.
His enormous body vanished beneath the Sea of Sand once more.
Boom!!!
Nelliel’s Cero Doble struck Liotta Ekk directly.
“ROAR!” Already gravely injured…
Liotta Ekk released an agonized scream.
Beneath the desert…
Purple spiritual pressure rapidly gathered around the Sword Scales at the tip of Lin Huang’s tail.
The condensed blade became sharper…
Denser…
Longer…
Then…
It suddenly detached from the Sword Scales.
Like a crescent moon…
The blade of spiritual pressure shot upward from beneath the sand.
Its target…
Liotta Ekk’s neck.
This technique…
Was Sword Scale Kill.
It was the unique technique Lin Huang had awakened after evolving into a Powerful Hollow.
Just as Nelliel, because of her extraordinary potential, had awakened Cero Doble ahead of time…
Lin Huang had also awakened an ability uniquely suited to himself.
Slash!
The spiritual blade tore completely through Liotta Ekk’s neck.
His spiritual pressure instantly plummeted.
Only a few shattered bones barely connected his head to the rest of his body.
His flesh had already been burned black by Cero Doble.
His abdomen had burst open.
Even his internal organs could now be seen through the massive wound.
“Damn you!” “Damn you both!” “You insignificant Hollows actually forced the great Liotta Ekk into this state!” “If that’s how it is…” “Then all of us will die together!” His tattered body suddenly began gathering every remaining trace of spiritual pressure.
His limbs rapidly expanded.
His body swelled larger and larger like an overinflated sphere.
He had chosen to self-destruct.
“Not good…” Lin Huang’s expression immediately changed.
Even though Liotta Ekk had already fallen from Adjuchas and stood on the verge of death…
He had once been a genuine Adjuchas.
If such a Hollow exploded…
Everything within several kilometers would be annihilated.
Neither Lin Huang nor Nelliel would survive.
Without the slightest hesitation…
Lin Huang charged toward the rapidly expanding Liotta Ekk at his maximum speed.
His only chance…
Was Demonic Fetus Parasitism.
Liotta Ekk’s spiritual pressure was weakening rapidly.
This was the perfect opportunity.
If successful…
Not only could he stop the self-destruction…
He could also seize Liotta Ekk’s body, memories, spiritual pressure, and innate abilities.
However…
Just as Lin Huang was about to reach him…
The entire Sea of Sand suddenly began trembling violently.
The white desert rose into the sky like a monstrous tidal wave.
A terrifying Sand Tide Storm descended without warning.
Its overwhelming force threatened to swallow both Liotta Ekk and Lin Huang whole.
Before the power of nature…
The three Hollows seemed no more significant than grains of sand.
“This…!” Nelliel’s eyes filled with panic.
“It’s a Sand Tide Storm!” “Little Huang!” “Come back!” Lin Huang’s heart sank.
There was no longer any path of retreat.
He suddenly turned his head and shouted toward Nelliel, “Go!” “I’ll survive!” “I have a way!” The next instant…
Facing Liotta Ekk’s rapidly expanding body…
Lin Huang finally activated Demonic Fetus Parasitism.
His gigantic serpent body instantly dissolved into countless streams of milky-white fluid.
The fluid rapidly seeped through every wound covering Liotta Ekk’s body before invading him completely.
The instant the parasitism succeeded…
The swollen body that had been moments away from exploding suddenly stopped expanding.
It rapidly shrank.
Returning once again to Liotta Ekk’s battered appearance.
Before either could react…
The overwhelming Sand Tide Storm completely engulfed them.
Both disappeared into the endless sea of sand.
Watching the catastrophic storm rapidly approaching…
Nelliel understood.
If she delayed even another moment…
She would also be swallowed.
“You have to survive…” “Little Huang…” Finally…
She gritted her teeth.
Turning around…
She fled toward the opposite direction with all her strength.
Her black hooves pounded desperately across the endless Sea of Sand.
Behind her…
The Sand Tide Storm roared like an endless white dragon stretching across the horizon.
It pursued everything in its path.
Powerful Hollows.
Giant Hollows.
Even Menos.
Everything unfortunate enough to be caught was swallowed without leaving behind the slightest trace.
Nelliel never dared look back.
She simply continued running.
One day.
Two days.
Three days.
Only after three full days did the terrifying storm finally come to an end.
Panting heavily…
Nelliel slowly stopped.
Turning around…
She silently looked toward the distant Sea of Sand.
Everything had changed.
Every familiar dune had disappeared.
The landscape she once knew no longer existed.
Looking across the silent desert…
A thin mist gradually formed within her eyes.
She had only known Lin Huang for a few short months.
Yet during those months…
They had hunted together.
Escaped death together.
Protected one another.
Without realizing it…
He had become the person she trusted most.
Now…
She was alone once again.
An overwhelming sense of loneliness quietly filled her heart.
After remaining silent for a long time…
Nelliel slowly raised her head.
The sadness within her eyes gradually transformed into determination.
She believed Lin Huang was still alive.
Because…
He had promised her he would survive.
“Little Huang…” She gazed toward Hueco Mundo’s ever-changing sky.
Her voice was soft.
Yet incomparably resolute.
“No matter where you are…” “I’ll find you.”