After Harribel won, Gabriel was, unsurprisingly, very happy.
His wife was now the strongest Sin and had just proven to every Hollow watching that she had surpassed the standard for the Sin Tier.
He was, as of now, the happiest a Hollow could get, as if he had hit a jackpot. Do not judge him—his wife had won, and he was just being hella supportive.
Now, one thing he must do was give a speech, you know, to motivate the Hollows present to strive for more than they had, or some shit like that.
Gabriel made a speech, congratulating all the Sins for their efforts. They had fought well, pushed their limits, and given Hueco Mundo one hell of a show.
But, as with all competitions, there had to be a top three.
Yes, top three. Not top five. There were seven Sins—top five would be a bit too loose. At first, Gabriel wanted for it to only be top two, but top three was good enough, so he chose that.
And he could choose the top two because Harribel and Ulquiorra's fight was the last fight to happen.
So the rankings were set now.
And so, as a reward for their strength and determination, the top three Sins—Harribel, Ulquiorra, and Nelliel—were given an Orb of Evolution.
What is an Orb of Evolution, you may ask? Well, it's simple—just thousands upon thousands of souls fused into one to create a shiny little ball of energy that helps Hollows adapt and evolve. (Not the Hogyoku.)
Sometimes, for shits and giggles, he even put a tiny piece of himself in there, and whenever he did that, he would create a red orb. Fun fact: those orbs in question were the rings of the Four Horsemen.
For regular Arrancar, it allowed them to access their Segunda Etapa, and if they already had their Segunda Etapa, it buffed it greatly while lowering its cost, practically making it so that the Horsemen could stay in it for like eighteen hours straight.
Yes, it got that efficient, perfectly fusing their Hollow powers together and temporarily removing the limits of their power.
It was good. Very good.
But this was not the orb he was giving out now.
Nelliel, who had secured third place, received a bronze orb containing 50,000 souls. This would help her grow immensely in power.
She thanked Gabriel sincerely, to which he merely waved a hand and said she deserved it.
She worked very hard—she deserved that. Might even give her access to more training rooms.
Ulquiorra, the second-place finisher, was given an orb worth 150,000 souls. The ever-nihilistic bastard gave some detached, emotionless response, which Gabriel didn't particularly mind.
At this point, he just accepted that Ulquiorra's personality had all the warmth of a goddamn ice cube.
And finally, there was Harribel.
He had to hold himself back 10,000% not to show bias... He, in fact, was very biased toward her. Oh, the shit he would let this woman do to him.
As the undisputed first-place winner, her reward was on a completely different level—an orb containing a staggering 500,000 souls.
The sheer quantity of power contained within it made the air itself feel heavier.
It was causing the space to slightly bend. Also, these weren't just regular souls—they were Adjucha souls.
As to why Gabriel had so many... Simple.
He made a farm—went to the Menos Forest and started forcefully evolving a lot of them.
Plus, with the billions, if not trillions, of Hollows joining the afterlife, he could do this. No biggie.
As the winners consumed their prizes, their power surged dramatically, their very presence growing more refined, more overwhelming.
Gabriel, watching the process unfold, could barely contain his giddiness.
His wife was only going to get stronger from here, and that meant so was Hueco Mundo.
Then, using the momentum of the moment, Gabriel formally declared Harribel as the Horseman of Famine.
Because this was the best time as any.
"If any Hollow wishes to challenge this decision," he announced, "then fight her and prove you deserve the title more."
Silence.
No one stepped forward.
Because no one was that stupid.
The fight had made it abundantly clear—Harribel hadn't used her Second Release because she was being pushed to her limits.
No, she had used it because she wanted to end the fight quickly.
To challenge that was to challenge death itself.
With that settled, Gabriel smiled and spread his arms wide.
"Then let us feast on this glorious occasion!"
And with that, the celebration began.
Drinks were served. The Arrancar—some willingly, others because they didn't want to get drop-kicked across Hueco Mundo—began distributing meals.
Granted, the meals were souls... but hey, to a Hollow, that was fine dining.
Laughter, cheers, and the sounds of celebration filled the night.
Hueco Mundo had a new Queen of Famine, and her reign had only just begun.
Now, two more Horsemen to go...
The Horseman of Death—Gabriel's eyes landed on Ulquiorra.
And the Horseman of Conquest—
Those two were the only ones missing from his puzzle. All he was missing.
A/N vote with powerstone