Anyway, today was Gabriel's day off... ish.
Harribel was currently ruling and passing down orders. He did this quite often. Some Hollows seemed to have that mentality that a woman couldn't rule, so after having her showcase her strength—
And crushing a lot of powerful Hollows, making her fight Belial (who lost badly)—
They learned real quick.
There were tiers of power in this system, and even if Belial was high-tier, Harribel was the third strongest. Fourth was Belial. The gap between third and fourth was wide.
A wider gap existed between second and third, though. Starrk was leagues above. Granted, he couldn't beat her in his base form.
He had to use his Resurrección to beat her Segunda Etapa.
Yeah, he also had a second release. So, hum, there was that.
And that second release? Boosted as hell. It made the first release look pathetic.
The gap between Starrk and Gabriel was pretty small, close to equal... but if they fought, Gabriel would win all the matches. Because of his busted-ass power, being "close to equal" to him basically meant you were free eats.
One cheese touch, and you're gone.
Well, Starrk could split his soul... so heh. A fight between them would last days, or until Starrk ran out of steam.
So much hassle.
Anyway, right now, Gabriel was training the girls. Even though they had gotten way stronger, somehow that Lilith chick was Harribel's right-hand woman.
She was stronger than them.
Well, her power basically meant she slept with people and got a copy of their abilities. A temporary copy.
So all she needed to be was a glorified slut, and she'd get a power boost.
She probably had taken more Hollow meat than he would care to count, but power was power. The way to get there didn't really matter much.
She was strong, and that was the end of that.
Anyway, back to training them.
Well, "train" was a generous term. Getting their asses handed to them was more accurate.
From his spot on the throne-like rock formation, he could see how much stronger they'd gotten. Their movements were sharper, their Reiatsu more refined. They weren't just swinging blindly anymore—they were actually thinking before attacking.
Progress.
Still weak as hell, but progress nonetheless.
With a lazy stretch, he called down, "Alright, go into your Resurrección."
The three exchanged glances before nodding, their spiritual pressure flaring up as they released their forms.
—"Grab, Cierva!"
—"Slither, Anaconda!"
—"Pound, Leona!"
With a burst of power, the battlefield was suddenly filled with a white deer-hybrid, a serpentine warrior, and a lioness in armor.
"Good. Now let's see how you handle this." He began to do something with a transfigured soul.
With a flick of his wrist, a new Hollow materialized before them.
It wasn't just some mindless brute. It was Ifrit.
Or, more exactly, his copy of Ifrit. He knew how the Hollow's soul looked, so he made an exact replica.
Only thing he changed? He removed the huge nerf Ifrit had. Since Gabriel had practically transfigured the man's whole body, he had been fighting at like 5% of what he could actually achieve.
He had been an Adjucha Arrancar, so Gabriel made one like that.
Even imbued it with the same flames.
Wonder how they would do against him.
Such a shame he died. He would have made a strong Sin or, at the very least, a Lesser Sin.
Time skip.
All three of them were flat on the ground, panting like they had just run through all of Hueco Mundo.
The clone, though heavily damaged, still stood tall.
"Welp," Gabriel clapped his hands. "At least you managed to injure it. That's progress. You're still ass, but not that ass."
Apacci groaned. "That thing was freakishly strong!"
Gabriel tilted his head in mock confusion. "Why are you acting surprised? That clone is only as strong as I was when you first found me. You know, before I became a Vasto Lorde."
That was bullshit. That thing was stronger than the version of him they had found.
Though he didn't lie—he had gotten stronger than it before he became a Vasto Lorde.
Silence.
The three women slowly lifted their heads, faces twisted in disbelief.
"...Wait. What?" Mila Rose finally said.
"You were that strong back then?" the snake woman added.
Apacci looked absolutely horrified. "And we thought we could hunt you?!"
Gabriel smirked, shrugging. "Oh, you definitely would've died."
The sheer realization of what could've happened sank in.
"...We were dumbasses," Apacci muttered.
"Were?"
Apacci's eyes widened. The fuck did he mean by "were"? Was he implying that they still were?!
She wanted to hit him so badly, but she couldn't.
Gabriel let them wallow in existential dread for a moment before adding, "Anyway, not that it matters. The clone started at my old strength, but it got stronger as the fight went on. So yeah, the reason you lost is 'cause you were sloppy."
That did not make them feel any better. Who the hell wanted to know they were buns?
Completely drained, the three just lay there, catching their breath.
Sun-Sun, ever the opportunist, glanced up at Gabriel. He saw it. He knew she had something planned.
"You know... what kind of man beats his wives?"
He saw this coming from a mile away. He would not fall for this. "It's not beating. It's training."
Sun-Sun's eyes gleamed mischievously. "So you're not denying the wives part?"
Gabriel exhaled through his nose, smiling at her. "I refuse to give you the satisfaction of denying it just to let you mess with me more."
Sun-Sun pouted. "Hmph. No fun. You're adapting to my tricks."
"Of course I am."
He booped her nose.
"You are not going to get me for long."
Hm, he felt like she would find a way to do something to him soon.
Well, no biggie. He had an army to run.