12 The First Storm

In order for rain to fall, there were certain requirements that needed to be fulfilled. One of such was precipitation, when water fell down to the surface. Once on the ground, the water would turn into gas and rise back up into the clouds, where it would condense and fall back down to the ground, thus repeating the cycle.

In Hueco Mundo, such a phenomenon didn't occur. There was no rainfall in this forsaken wasteland, even despite having clouds.

Rainfall was beneficial to the environment. It provided plants and wildlife with the energy to sustain themselves, increasing the growth of vegetation. For those who required water, it provided them with clean, drinking water as well. Rain was a large part of life.

That said, the land of Hueco Mundo had never required it. Hollow's thrived off the corpses of other hollows, sustaining their form and progressing their evolution. Even so, rain slowly began to drizzle down on Hueco Mundo as I invoked my resurrección.

"Rise, Lluvia Olvidada," I uttered calmly, hoisting my Zanpakutō into the air as it rose into the sky.

Once it reached a certain height, it exploded into an enormous cloud, situated directly above me as it began spitting out rain. Soon, the entirety of the Negal Ruins had been dampened by the sudden rainfall.

Much to my surprise, my appearance hadn't changed much, unlike other Arrancar resurrección. My only hollow appendage—my crown-like horns, had been replaced by a halo of lightning, eerily similar to the Heiligenschein of the Quincy.

What worried me about this released form wasn't its appearance, though.

"It's starting…" I sighed, glancing up into the air as my Zanpakutō began absorbing reishi.

This wasn't a state I wanted to stay in for long. Despite its immense power boost, similar to that of a Soul-Reaper's Bankai, this cloud could pose a threat to the entirety of the Negal Ruins and the camp if left for too long.

Glancing back, Nelliel had begun her approach. She charged forward at me without any hesitation.

A drawback to this released state of mine was my lack of protection. If the cloud took too long absorbing reishi, I'd be left alone without any form of defense.

'Not having a sword is pretty tricky!' I thought to myself as I weaved through Nelliel's flurry of attacks.

"Huelgo." I said under my breath, quickly moving away from the centaur as the cloud prepared.

A blue light emanated from it, roaring thunder reverberating outwards as a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, blasting Nelliel.

The cloud acted as a syphon, sucking in as much reishi in the area in order to charge the power of the attacks. The more reishi, the more lightning.

Glancing at Nelliel, layers of her double-sided lance began to peel away, the reishi slowly being eaten by my cloud as it empowered itself.

The hair along her body had singed from the attack, parts of her fur-like skin now charred from the bolt of lightning. "You weren't lying... This form of yours is quite dangerous."

Her voice wasn't scared, but there was a hint of worry hidden beneath her remark. Whether or not she found trouble with it was up to her, though. Unbeknownst to Nelliel, this form of mine had one big weakness.

Nelliel drove her lance into the air, spiritual pressure erupting off her like a volcano, her front legs lifting into the air as she charged forward.

As she approached, her lance began spinning around, pink beams forming at each cardinal direction. They charged up, blasting towards the center of the lance while she spun it, now forming an enormous cero.

"Cero Oscuras!" She shouted, a now black and pink beam blasting towards me, the air around the attack combusting, forming miniature explosions around its center as it approached.

"Amp!" I roared, raising my hand into the air as lightning shot out from the cloud. As it hit me, a burning sensation pulsated through my body, the lightning coiling around my arms as it entered my veins, now giving off a cerulescent light.

'This should do…' I thought, kicking up a small rock from the ground as I arched my back.

"Cañón de riel!"

Hurling the rock like a pitcher, it shot forward, charged by the lightning of my resurrección, now reaching speeds faster than I could move with sonido. As it shot forward, I could hear its thunderous roar before it collided with Nelliel's Cero. The subsequent blast was enormous, easily dwarfing my Gran Rey Cero as the land around us ceased to exist, the once mountainous ruins entirely levelled.

The camp was still quite a while away, fortunately, likely causing no harm.

I forced my spiritual pressure throughout the area, forcefully cleaning the dust and sand. As I did, Nelliel's spiritual pressure matched my own, now forcefully pushing me back as she charged forward through the dust cloud.

"Huego," I said under my breath, another bolt of lightning blasting down from the sky.

Before it struck, Nelliel swiftly moved left on her four legs, narrowly avoiding the bolt as it struck the ground. I quickly raised my hand again for another amp, but was instantly cut short by Nelliel as she thrust her lance forward, stabbing me in the chest.

"Aagh!" I groaned, my limp body tumbling away along splintered ground.

Glancing down, the gaping hole was already healing back up, but not before Nelliel could intervene again.

"Hah!" She roared, jabbing her lance into the ground, barely missing my legs as I rolled around.

With her lance still in the floor, spiritual pressure began to build up below me, "Gran Rey Cero!" She shouted, blood trickling out her mouth and onto her Zanpakutō.

The blast launched me into the air, now skydiving down as I weaved through the flurry of cero she was firing form her lance.

'This is starting to get annoying…'

The moment my chest healed, I dashed away with Sonido to put some space between us again.

'I can't get hit like that again…'

Nelliel stood 20 meters away, slowly cocking her arm back, preparing something. Spiritual pressure was building up around her now nearly destroyed lance, its surface entirely black, my cloud still picking at its reishi.

"I'm ending this now! Lanzador Ve—"

"Aluvión de Saturación!" I shouted, sonido whisking me away. The range of this attack, the one I'd withheld from using previously, was enormous, easily covering any escape route Nelliel might have had before.

The enormous cloud above me doubled in size, now hovering above Nelliel as it released the entirety of its built up reishi, lightning erupting from it like a Gatling gun.

"Kamisori, Benihime!"

Suddenly, a flash of red shot from the distance, instantly slashing through the cloud above, slicing it in two as it ceased the attack. With it, two enormous spiritual pressures appeared before me. As it cleared the cloud, the brief rainfall covering Hueco Mundo stopped.

"Let's tone it down a notch, you two…" Kisuke said, his shikai held firmly in his hand, an umbrella held above him with the other.