Gabriel watched as his wife left her seat next to him. How sad, the seat remained empty—well, it was her seat.
No one else was deserving of being there.
Since Nell won, she would fight Harribel.
That would prove to be a pretty interesting fight, even if he himself knew the victor. Nelliel's powers were quite strong, and she and Harribel had the same or close enough rating for mission completion.
So it should be nice.
Plus, he got to see his wife fight. Why shouldn't he be happy? Yes, this was blatant favoritism, but that was his wife.
And he was a supportive-ass husband.
POV change.
Nel lightly bowed her head to Harribel.
"Your Majesty."
"No need for formality. In here, we are equals. Do not hold back against me just because I am the queen," Harribel said in a rather stern voice.
"I..." Her eyes went to Gabriel, who had an approving look on his face.
"I understand."
She just needed to be sure. Gabriel's love for his wife was pretty easy to figure out, considering the fact that he didn't have, like, 300 concubines and that he trusted her with running the kingdom when he was busy.
She was like his second half. He leaned on her when he needed aid, and she did the same.
So, you know, beating the king's wife while you were within Sonido distance... was not a good idea.
BZZZT—BOOM!
Harribel struck first.
With a swift motion, her blade sliced through the air, summoning a violent surge of water that swallowed the battlefield. The water was pressured so much that it could now even cut through a mid-tier Arrancar's Hierro with ease.
Nel's response was immediate. She dashed forward, her movements fluid, dodging and weaving through the attack with ease.
One of the flaws of her pride-related power was the fact that she herself had to have some of that pride for it to activate.
Harribel was not beneath her.
"This water cannot harm me," Nel said.
The water managed to hit her, yet she remained untouched—no damage could be seen.
Yet, she felt some of her Reiryoku drain.
Oh... that was Harribel's doing. Sure, the water couldn't damage her, yet it still made contact, and Harribel used that contact to siphon away some of her Reiryoku.
Plus... with her wording.
Nel could still drown. All she said was that the water couldn't hurt her, not that she couldn't die from a lack of oxygen.
Plus, Nell hadn't reached the level where she only needed to think of it for her power to activate, so all Harribel had to do was take away her ability to speak in some way.
Harribel began flooding the arena...
Nel wasn't fazed.
Touching the water.
"No water can exist in this area."
And just like that... the water vanished.
Goddamn it, that was still quite OP.
Harribel's brow furrowed. The moisture in the air increased greatly... oh, so that was where her water went.
Wasn't that good to know?
For every blow Harribel delivered, Nel had a counter. For every wave that rose, her lance carved a path through.
Yet, despite her immunity to damage, the pressure didn't let up. Harribel wasn't trying to hurt her—she was forcing her to exhaust herself.
Neither she nor Harribel needed to call out their blade. Sure, they looked like Zanpakutō, but they weren't Zanpakutō.
It was still their own power as Hollows sealed in that blade. With enough mastery, they could somewhat access the form without fully entering it.
However, if they wanted to use the full power of their Resurrección...
"Declare, Gamuza."
"Hunt, Tiburón."
Okay, now they were going semi-serious.
The whole arena began to shake under the might of their power. Weaker Hollows felt like they were being crushed. If not for the barriers put in place before the fight, they would have surely died.
The two women began clashing once more, yet Gabriel noticed something.
Nel's ability reached its cooldown.
Her body stiffened for just a moment. A single moment.
Harribel's eyes flickered with understanding. She had been waiting for this.
Without hesitation, she raised her sword—
And the entire battlefield went dry.
All the moisture in the air condensed into her blade, vanishing in an instant. The once-soaked ground cracked under the sudden absence of humidity.
Nel's eyes narrowed. She knew what was coming.
"La Gota."
A single, pinpoint jet of high-pressure water fired at blinding speed—too fast to dodge, too precise to deflect.
"I..."
She couldn't say a word... water... there was water in her lungs... wait, what...?
When?
She didn't get the time to think too much about it as—
SCHLK!
Blood came flying out from her stomach... she began bleeding heavily.
"All the oxygen within a 50-meter radius of me... vanishes."
BZZZT—BOOM!
"You are strong," Harribel said, the tip of her blade making contact with Nell's neck.
Nel bowed her head.
Well, she did her best.
"My High-Speed Regeneration is the best in the kingdom."
And that wasn't enough to beat Harribel.
"Thank you for the praise, Your Majesty," Nell said calmly, as her High-Speed Regeneration took over and her wound healed near instantly.
Hm.
A/N Think of that woman from My Hero who got dirty, that American hero, that is Nell power.