บท 117: Getting Away With Murder
=Hueco Mundo, Las Noches=
Almost three months had passed since Hisashi had killed Szayelaporro. It took a while before anyone even figured out he might be dead. At first when they thought he was missing they tried tracking him down and found that according to the records he had left Las Noches on his own after he finished helping Harribel.
This delayed any further investigation as they simply awaited his return. Eventually they had to concede he might not be coming back and had either left or found trouble elsewhere and was unable to return or possibly even dead.
Though there were some investigations at first, but beyond Szayelaporro's Fracción no one really cared all that much leading to a lacklustre effort.
Maybe Aizen did care to some extent, but it was hard to tell exactly how much. Hisashi knew it couldn't be too much though given how he ended up treated any Arrancar that failed to live up to his expectations. Hisashi was sure dying would be considered failing to live up to his expectations.
There was more of an upheaval regarding Szayelaporro's position as an Espada than about his disappearance itself. Someone had to take over his position after all and there were plenty of Arrancar interested in taking it for themselves.
Since none of Hisashi's group stepped up to fight for the spot it was actually taken up by a familiar face. At least to Hisashi. It was an effeminate looking male Arrancar with short black hair, lavender eyes, and a mask fragment in his hair that looked like a hairpin. He wore a the standard Arrancar clothing customised with long sleeves and cut-outs over his sides.
Luppi Antenor.
[IMG]
Despite not being part of Hisashi's plan it seemed Cirucci was actually in luck as Szayelaporro's death would seem to have extended her stay as part of the Espada. As long as none of the others in Hisashi's little group decided to challenge her for her spot. He doubted she would be very thankful even if she knew about it though.
He pulled up the progress report in his system.
[+9 weeks to age]
[+7,029,828 XP from Hollow]
[+344,520 Spirit Power from Hollow]
[+277,337 Spirit Power from Spiritual Energy Absorption]
[+14 Levels]
[+14 Stat points]
=Status Panel=
[Name: Saito Hisashi]
[Soul Age: 59]
[Race: Hollow]
[Rank: Vasto Lorde]
[Level: 295 > 309]
[XP: 108,914/478,950]
=Stats:=
[Strength: 335]
[Dexterity: 666]
[Constitution: 175]
[Intelligence: 265]
[Spirit Power: 5,204,678 -> 5,826,535]
[Available Stat Points: 0 -> 14]
=Passive Skills:=
[Spiritual Energy Absorption]
[Ultra-Speed Regeneration]
[Acidic Touch]
[Silencioso]
=Active Skills:=
[Soul-Body Separation]
[Spirit Power Concealment]
[Illusory Aura]
[Blut]
[Energy Blade]
[Transcribe]
[Hachigyō Sōgai]
[Cero]
[Kūmon]
[Negación]
[Skill Infusion]
[Sonído]
[Karinzanjutsu]
=Active Missions:=
[New Mission: Allow the system to absorb the Hōgyoku]
[Reward: Evolution into a perfect Arrancar giving the host the best offered by being Hollow and Shinigami.]
'Go ahead and put 9 points in Dexterity and the rest into Strength,' he ordered.
[Strength: 335 -> 340]
[Dexterity: 666 -> 675]
[Available Stat Points: 14 -> 0]
He felt just a little bit satisfied seeing rounded numbers in all his stats. Was that some minor form of OCD or just the nature of an RPG gamer? He wasn't sure.
He sighed. He could barely even notice the changed when adding stat points anymore. He was sure they were still working as the system had never lied to him before, but even if he were to save up a hundred points and invest them all at once that would still be an increase of less than 10% to his total stat values. When splitting so few points over multiple stats it was barely even a percent change to any one of them.
He could only reminisce about his early days as a Hollow where a single point took mere days to earn and made a world of difference. He had to remind himself of how dangerous it was to do so too. Unless he miraculously ran into a captain class Shinigami in Hueco Mundo he was pretty much safe at all times. As for the snakes amongst the Espada he had already taken care of Szayelaporro and though Nnoitra could cause him some grief he believed so long as it was just Nnoitra and he didn't have any other allies on the Espada he could still make it out alive.
He had returned because once again their turn to use the Hōgyoku again. This time it was Apacci's chance. Now that Szayelaporro was gone the odds of something being done to them while they were vulnerable was far lower, but he wasn't going to leave it to chance as Nnoitra was still around and he didn't know if there were any other Arrancar on his side. Not to mention that he didn't trust Aizen whatsoever.
He gently patted the top of Nelliel's head to get her attention. "It's time to get up. Today is Apacci's big day," he said.
Nelliel stirred lightly, he eyes opened and she looked up at him. "Mmmm... good morning," She mumbled.
He chuckled watching her. It wasn't like they actually needed sleep. She just liked relaxing with him and it was cute to see her like that anyway.
They headed to the living area just to find Apacci pacing there already.
Hisashi smirked. "Oh? Nervous already are we?" He teased.
Apacci turned red. "Who's nervous?! Your face is nervous!" She yelled.
He laughed out loud. "That doesn't even make any sense," he said.
Harribel joined them. "Stop teasing her. She's got enough on her mind as is," she admonished him.
Apacci shot her a grateful look she though Hisashi wouldn't notice.
Harribel smiled. "So are you all ready?" She asked.
Apacci gave a determined nod.
"She'll be fine," Hisashi said.
Apacci looked away to hide her embarrassment. "Shut up..." she mumbled.
Mila Rose and Sung-Sun came from their bedrooms together. Sung-Sun yawned lazily and looked around the room. "Is it time already?" She asked.
Her lazy expression was quickly replaced with a smirk. "Are you ready to get beaten again after becoming an Arrancar?" She asked teasingly.
"I'm not gonna lose! I'm gonna kick his ass!" Apacci retorted aggressively.
-X-X-X-
If you enjoyed the chapter leave a power stone.
If you're looking for more content check out my patreon/subscribestar:
https://www.pâtreon.com/Prognastat
https://www.subscribestâr.com/Prognastat
Writing Soundtrack: In This Moment - Various Tracks
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง