This chapter has been rewritten and now contains new information. This chapter leading up to chapter 35 have been altered so if you wish to read please go to the beginning and read from there so that you are not lost. Thank you.
United Against the Legion of Flames
Chapter 09: Ding Ding, Round Two
Ichigo's eyes darted to the side, surprise on his face, he was certain he just sensed something right now. From the look that Ukitake was wearing he sensed it as well, he was staring off in the same direction as the substitute.
"Something is wrong." Ukitake said, he was certain that was an Arrancar's reiatsu, but it was a strange feel to it, a familiar one.
"What is…?" Ichigo thought, before his senses picked it up again, yet this time two others were nearby. "Orihime."
"I think she is in danger." Ukitake said aloud. "Ichigo, go there and see what is going on, I will remain here."
Ichigo looked over to the Captain before glancing at the troll, who was still standing there patiently and seemed to be waiting for them. He had no attacked, and from what he had been told the reason the troll had attacked him was actually because it wasn't him. Somehow that giant wind monster was just an entity that possessed him, weird as it was, and from the fact he seemed to be unable to remember it looked like those two were separate personalities.
'Ukitake and Rukia should be able to handle this.' Ichigo reassured himself.
Without another word, aside from a nod, he disappeared in a flash. This left the roof with the two Shinigami and the Ascendant to discuss the reason for their arrival.
"Are you ready to discuss my presence?" Mojin asked.
Draga's eyes shot up to the roof, the sudden shift of spiritual energy around her was noticeable, and she could feel it being pulled towards something. To her surprise she saw a white garbed figure standing on the nearby roof and firing off a single arrow of pure white into the distance.
"Is that? A Quincy?" Draga murmured, looking at him as her eyes focused on the strange badge attached to his belt.
A five pointed cross adorned it, the same marking her master had seen in his vision, meaning that the man before her was part of the same group they had been sent to warn them of.
"But… he has a mask." Orihime said aloud, watching as the pale man turned and regarded the two of them with smug indifference.
"I see that I have two birds that flew into my trap and good ones too." He said, descending from the roof and landing on the sidewalk.
"You serve them! The Quincy!" Draga roared, raising her axe and aiming it at the man.
"Yes, I have been sent to ensure that no cooperation between your two parties is met, as well as prevent you from escaping." Ebern said, smirking slightly. "I have been ordered to interfere and not be caught by either party, only ensure that you two fight one another."
Draga connected the pieces together quickly, even without his words of confirmation she knew exactly what this man intended for them. He wanted their forces not to just only fight here and continue the aggression; he wanted them to fight each other continually.
"This is not about stopping an Alliance; this is about making us enemies!" Draga yelled.
"Correct, and with this young Lady here, it makes my job easier, with one of the Special War Potentials dead, the coming battle will be all the easier." Ebern replied, raising his hand and summoning up his reishi bow.
It was a massive weapon, appearing to be some sort of crescent platform with movable tubes along the surface. He aimed at them and fired, releasing four beams of condensed spiritual energy at the two young women.
Orihime acted quickly and summoned her shield, absorbing the blast, but it quickly shattered under the barrage. Had it not been for Draga summoning up an earthly construct ahead of them before the shield collapsed they would likely not be alive.
"Run!" Draga cried, turning she grabbed the girl and took off down the street, beneath them currents of air aided their escape.
"You can't escape me! I can easily keep up with you!" Ebern yelled, appearing on a nearby roof and aiming his weapon down at the fleeing duo.
But he was surprised when an arc of lightning moved forwards him, he batted it aside with a wave of his large bow but in those few seconds his targets had escaped around the corner. But he ignored that and fired through the obstacles, blowing apart the building in order to shoot them as well. As the building exploded he watched with some glee as he saw the staggering forms of the two women, the one in armor shielding the human girl.
He aimed again, but he noticed the armored one had risen and thrown her shield, it spun through the air and looked like it was generating some kind of air current. He smirked, it would be easy to dodge that, he quickly disappeared with Sinoda and appeared on the street. But his smirk dropped when he saw something moving right for his head, the axe.
He twisted out of the path but was still struck, the edge of the weapon burying itself into his shoulder. But it did not stop there, he looked to see a fiery aura around the weapon, one that expanded quickly and violently. He was engulfed in a fiery red explosion and felt his skin scorch and burn away, it was agonising as his own muscles burned from inside out.
"Fuck!" He yelled, agony passing through his entire being.
He stepped out of the fire, his face burnt and most of his uniform missing alongside it. He let out a growl, he could not believe he was hit like that, it shouldn't have happened. How the hell did that bitch know where he was going to move to?
"You're so going to suffer for that." Ebern growled out, raising his reishi weapon, but again he was halted from attacking.
A bolt of energy struck his weapon and threw it to the side, a large piece of it shattering and leaving him with only three channels along the edge of the weapon. He turned and saw nearby was a raven haired boy, holding up a bow and glaring at the man.
"I know you, Uryu Ishida, last Quincy on Earth." Ebern said.
"You know me, but I want to know how an Arrancar has a Quincy cross and can use it." Ishida replied, leveling his bow with the Arrancar.
"Arrancar? What makes you think I am one of those abominations?" Ebern said aloud, turning and firing off a quick barrage towards the Quincy youth.
Ishida easily dodged the barrage and retaliated with a volley of his own attacks, quickly taking to higher ground to get a better bead on his target and mitigate damage to the surrounding area.
Draga watched on with surprise, this did not make sense, why were these two Quincy fighting one another. If what she knew was correct than these Quincy should be fighting and attempting to kill them rather than each other.
"Orihime, what is…?" Before he could finish a hand grasped his wrist and another wrapped around his throat.
"I know what you are, I care not why you fight him, I will kill you both!" Draga said, drawing on the fire she called it to the hand around his neck.
"Wait! He is a friend!" Orihime said, trying to stop the Orcess from killing him.
"I have seen it! You and these Quincy intend to transgress on the afterlife and murder the Shinigami!" Draga yelled, but her grip was broken when she was forced to dodge a barrage from Ebern.
Orihime rushed over and created another shield, but like before it cracked and buckled under the barrage. Ishida turned and quickly retaliated against the Arrancar, who in turn retreated out of sight.
He turned and aimed his weapon at Draga, who stood there ready to attack, growling slightly.
"Orihime come here." Ishida said, keeping his eyes and bow trained on the green skinned woman.
"Wait! Please stop you shouldn't be fighting!" Orihime said, stepping between the two of them. "He isn't like him, he's a friend, and he's friends with the Shinigami!"
"Why would he betray his own kind? To work with those they likely despise!" Draga replied, unbelieving of the girl's words.
"My race is dead, they died a long time ago." Ishida replied, not dropping his bow for a second.
"Yet one stands before us both, and you claim innocence, how will fair when more of your kind stand in the light and present themselves? How deep does that loyalty to those you despise run?" Draga growled out.
"Hey! Stop it!" Orihime yelled a small amount of fierceness in her voice. "Both of you should not be fighting, you should be working together against a common enemy!"
Draga and Ishida did not turn away from one another, both glaring at each other.
"You said you came here to warn us of an attack! So what good will you do by attacking someone they are friend with?" Orihime said, trying to be the voice of reason, before she turned from the Shaman to the Quincy. "Ishida she helped me, she didn't come here to fight but help us, put that bow down and stop being so mean!"
The standoff continued for a few moments, before both relaxed and took much less aggressive stances. Draga raising her hand and catching her shield that had flew back around, she latched it back to her arm and then turned to Orihime.
"As you say girl, I came here to bring a warning, I will tolerate the presence of this one if he is not of their ilk." Draga said, completely ignoring the Quincy and instead glaring at something beyond the shield.
"I think I can do the same, although I can't promise I won't shoot her if she goes off tangent again." Ishida replied, pushing up his glasses and following the Shaman's gaze.
They both were staring at the Arrancar, who looked a little worse for wear but he did not appear to be showing any signs of discomfort as he raised his weapon and began to rebuild it. Also ripping the axe from his shoulder and tossing it aside, the wound slowly healing as the flesh knitted itself together.
"Can I expect your aid in fighting this Arrancar?" Ishida asked, his question directed to their temporary ally.
"I can, I hope that your aim is true, and not directed somewhere other than him." Draga replied, lifting her shield and placing it on her back.
"Well, at least they're being civil about this." Orihime said, smiling sheepishly as the two glared ahead at the Arrancar, at least it wasn't at one another.
Aaron ducked under the kick, allowing it to pass an inch over his head, before he straightened up and sent a backhanded fist towards the neck of the Shinigami. Sui-Feng saw this out of the corner of her eyes and easily countered; raising her arm she halted the attack and gripped his wrist tightly. Before she pulled him forward and attempted a quick right hook to the jaw.
Aaron quickly used a walking technique, strafing around Sui-Feng and avoiding the strike long before it could connect. In the blink of an eye he was behind her and locking her arm behind her back. He followed up with a kick toward the side of her head, but she crouched under the swipe, as he failed to connect he continued the kick and planned to add another twist onto her arm. He leaped over her with the kick and held onto her wrist and carried the turn through her.
Sui-Feng saw this and quickly flipped herself forward and followed him through the turn, as he landed she rose up and was and was now able to face him once again. She sent a straight kick for his mid-section, but he dodged the strike and grasped her ankle before turning and moving to toss her away.
Sui-Feng allowed him to toss her, as he moved to let go she quickly grasped the nearest grip on the ground and halted he momentum. While his hand was still around her ankle she kicked up with her other leg and threw the limb away and over his head. As she flipped back to a vertical base she twisted around and quickly sent a jab towards the Monk's face.
He countered with a swing of his own, catching her fist in the side and redirecting it away from him. She followed up with a knee to the gut, but he reacted quickly again and caught her jab before it could connect. With an annoyed snort she glared at the monk, who looked at her with clear fatigue in his eyes and concern.
"You are good." Sui-Feng admitted, quickly disengaging, she leaped back a few feet and observed her opponent. "To be able to hold out this long is impressive, not many people can hold a torch to my skill, especially a human."
"I am thankful for the praise, but I would like this battle to end. Peacefully." Aaron replied, taking in several deep breaths and focusing his Chi.
Sui-Feng snorted at the comment, he expected her to simply let him go after seeing him defend that abomination and claim he was here in peace. Nothing in the world could be peaceful and good if they are allied with that thing.
"You lost that chance by coming here." Sui-Feng replied.
"Listen, what happened two days ago is no longer important, nor is the state of Morgana, what is important is this world. Can you not see something is wrong, that something is happening that is causing problems throughout the spiritual world? Can you not feel that something is coming?" Aaron said, but he was forced to retreat back when she flash stepped forward and swung her fist right for him.
"I know enough, and that these Hollow deaths have been caused by an unknown party we cannot track or identify, and now we have you!" Sui-Feng growled out, turning and sending a backhanded swing for the Monk, who continued to retreat backward.
"No, listen, we are not responsible." Aaron said, ducking under a kick before blocking a second pointed kick to his chest. "We are not the ones who are killing these wraiths! It must be the others!"
"What others!" Sui-Feng barked back, continuing her assault. "There is only you, we have no other enemy that exists that can do what is happening, not anymore. But you come along and show us it is likely you doing it! Worse you are even corrupting the Dangai and causing those energies to taint it!"
"We have done nothing but defend ourselves!" Aaron replied, sending three fast jabs to the woman, who expertly redirected the blows before swiping at his knee. "It was always you we were looking for! You are in danger!"
"We do not need to be warned of anything, if an enemy comes we will crush it!" Sui-Feng yelled, ducking around him and grabbing the back of his shirt before tossing him over herself and into the ground. "Just like we will do too anyone who threatens the stability of the Soul Society!"
Aaron hit the ground hard and groaned, he rolled back and onto his feet, quickly raising both his arms and blocking another kick. He felt his arms shake and jar from the impact, as he leaped away he struggled to raise his arm. They were flaring with pain and he didn't think that he could use them, looked like that last impact did a bit of damage.
"Please, you must listen!" Aaron tried fruitlessly to get his warning across. "The enemy is going to invade you, we have no hostile intent, we want to help!"
"We don't need help from you." Sui-Feng replied, sprinting forward and leaping with a wide kick to his head.
She missed as he ducked but as she touched down she directed a backwards kick to his bowed head and unlike so many missed attempts as before, she connected. His head shot back and his body left the ground, he floated through the air for several seconds before he collided with the ground. He remained there, sprawled out and motionless, he had been taken down.
Sui-Feng approached and checked him, he was alive, still breathing but would likely be out for a good deal of time. That was good, she needed him out of commission while she transported him back to the Soul Society.
"Omaeda!" Sui-Feng yelled, and soon enough her bumbling Lieutenant came running forward and stood there like a dope waiting for her to speak again. "Get him and lets go, we need to deal with that other one before we locate the other targets, hopefully they haven't given the others the slip."
"Yes Captain!" Omaeda said, grabbing the monk and slinging him over his shoulder.
"Be careful with him, we need him in good shape." Sui-Feng ordered, not bothering to look back at her Lieutenant.
She halted when she felt a sudden surge in spiritual energy; she looked over to sense that Byakuya had released his Shikai. That surprised her; one of these soulless monstrosities requires him to release his Shikai, which was abnormal. She just hoped that he would kill her before she gets to him; she didn't want to be anywhere near that thing right now.
Before she left however she noted a strange shift in the spiritual energy around her, she felt something tug on it as well as it disperses with a specific frequency. She could always read the reaction to spiritual energy in the atmosphere when she felt someone using their abilities. But what she was feeling was strange, there seemed to be an Arrancar nearby.
'What the hell is one of them doing here?' Sui-Feng thought.
She turned to the nearby battle and decided to finish this; they would need to investigate the appearance of an Arrancar in the town. It never boded well for one of their kind being in the World of the Living.
"How the hell can you be this good?" Morgana yelled, deflecting a sword swing to her left, and immediately she noted that another swing was coming from her right.
The only thing keeping her alive was the fact that he was aiming for her armor, but she was not going to risk him hitting her. Her armor gave her the defence she needed in case her exterior defenses failed, and she would not reveal that her armor was almost impervious to whatever this guy was using.
Instead an ethereal sword halted by his own; she leaped back, two more blade shot around and slashed at the Captain. Who quickly parried them with a flick of his wrist, repelling her attack, but allowed her the time to gain some distance.
'This guy is damn good, fast and has very precise swings, no motion was wasted.' Morgana thought, this guy was too damn good, better than a damn human. 'Better than those damn elves.'
"Bakudo Number Four: Hainawa." Byakuya said, raising his hand and aiming at the Death Knight.
A golden light appeared and from it a bolt of energy shot out and coiled around Morgana, she felt her arms constrict against her sides. Looking down a golden rope appeared around her body and was halting her movements. With a curse she tried to flex her way out, but it did little good.
"It is over." Byakuya said, from right behind her.
Morgana turned her head to see him already raising his sword to deliver the execution swing to her neck. With a silent mental command she brought her blades to her defense, two blocked his sword before it could connect, while the remaining four attempted to attack. Stabbing and slashing at him from all sides, but he expertly moved back and deflected each strike that moved his way.
Morgana quickly called upon another magical force, her form was surrounded by a small sphere of green energy. Slowly but surely the bindings she was bared by began to disintegrate and shatter, and with a mighty effort she shattered her bindings. She turned and called back her swords, having all six flout around her, she kept four to her back and the other two on her left and right. This guy was very dangerous and unpredictable, almost impossible to anticipate, but he had a method.
'He uses swordplay to put me on the defensive and then blends in his magic, from there he moves in for the kill, only my swords are keeping me from getting killed here.' Morgana thought, his skills rely on using any means necessary to bring her down. 'He mixes it up, but he only uses his magic when he forces me back, when I expose myself.'
Morgana knew that attacking would be impossible, direct attacks could be useless; he expected her only to defend and would strike when he binds her with a spell or after she is staggered. But sadly that left her only enough time to break his attempt on her, but he was getting bolder with his attacks.
'I think I might have a way around that.' Morgana thought.
Byakuya did not have the same thoughts as her, instead he focused on his next attempt, attacking her from behind and such had left her content. She was focusing on her back instead of her front and it left her vulnerable to the front, something he will exploit.
With Shunpo he quickly appeared behind her, drawing back his sword he waited for her counter attack. He was not disappointed when she slashed at him with her two swords at the side, while the remaining four protected her back. As they closed in he quickly vanished and appeared at her full exposed front slashing at her head. She blocked with her sword but he raised his hand, channeling his spiritual energy.
"Hado Number Four: B…"
A hand wrapped around his wrist, and more than that he felt his powers flicker and disperse; he looked around to see a strange ethereal dome surrounding them both. He couldn't bring his powers to bear, something was holding them back.
"Blood Boil." Morgana said, and soon a red energy seeped through her fingers and into the Shinigami Captain's arm.
Byakuya felt it seep into his arm and for a moment he had no idea what happened, until he felt searing pain pass through every blood vessel in his body. He felt his blood burn and his entire body constrict in pain, and he felt his lungs fill with blood. He staggered for a second before he saw the blade coming towards him, his eyes widened as it passed through his chest.
"Got you." Morgana said, scowling in irritation, but she was shocked when instead of having the impaled man on her sword there was nothing there.
She turned sharply to see the man behind her, sword poised to impale her head; she quickly summoned up her defenses and had her blades block his sword. They did so effectively, but she was still caught off guard by the sudden survival and attack.
"How are you not dead?" Morgana demanded as she turned and planned on cutting this guy down.
But he blocked the strike effortlessly and even counter attacked; she brought her swords to bear and used them to block his incoming strikes. Even poisoned with the Blood Boil curse he was still moving, normal humans would be killed by it, those strong enough would be dying. This son of the bitch was still moving like nothing was happening, he may be a spirit but he was partially manifested, so it had to have a similar effect on him.
'This is getting ridiculous.' Morgana growled.
With that she quickly moved back, gaining some distance from her target before summoning up her next spell. Three pillars of ice shot up from the ground, black shadowy chains appeared and ensnared the Shinigami, wrapping around his body tight. Then she raised her hands and sparks of black lightning shot towards the ground around her.
Soon from it emerge ghouls, misshapen and horrifying walking corpses that hissed and howled as they were summoned. Morgana quickly ordered an attack, the half a dozen undead leaping at the Shinigami, who broke the chains and slashed at the first one but was piled on by the five whole ones. Morgana used her next spell, and the five ghouls exploded in a fine display of green gore and plagued blood.
The Shinigami staggered from the green poisonous cloud, coughing and looking to be sick, blood trickled from his mouth from the Blood Boil and the plague causing his flesh to take on a more pale and sickly appearance. Morgana did not stop there, she had him on the ropes and she would not let him get back up.
"I will bring you down Shinigami!" Morgana yelled, charging forward and bringing all her Dancing Rune Swords with her.
She swung at him and he easily blocked and parried the blow, before he followed up with an attack that she blocked. Before she sent three of her blades to strike, he expertly dueled with her, even when wounded, plagued and having only one sword he was holding on. She could not fault him on being a tough one, but she had to end this and find Aaron, that poor bastard wouldn't survive against that monster.
"Bakudo Number Thirty Nine: Enkosen," Byakuya said aloud, and Morgana found her blades block by some kind of barrier, it halted her weapons and she couldn't breach it. "Scatter: Senbonzakura."
Morgana watched in surprise as his blade disintegrated in a wake of pink wisps. Leaving behind nothing but the hilt, the entire blade had disappeared, was this some kind of power he had. Did he make the blade invisible?
"Now I end this." Byakuya said, looking through the yellow barrier at the Death Knight. "Hadō Number Thirty Two: Ōkasen."
Morgana was caught by surprise when she was struck in the chest by a wave of condensed yellow energy; it broke past the barrier and slammed right into her. She flew back several meters and crashed along the ground before coming to a halt. Shaking her head as she rose she looked over to see her target was still standing there.
'What the hell is he planning?' Morgana thought, this guy was more dangerous than anything, he used those spells of his to great effect, and the fact that they were that powerful and he did them that fast just proved how powerful.
But the fact remained that he had not made a move against her, what the hell was this guy planning if he wasn't going to attack?
She took a step forward and halted as soon as her foot hit the ground, her eyes widened when she felt something on her face. Reaching up she brushed her armored glove across her face and found a small patch of blood on her fingertips, barely visible on her black armour she wore.
'I'm bleeding?' Morgana thought, not understanding how that was possible.
She would have dismissed it, until she heard a small grinding sound on her calf, looking down she saw that there was a very small mark along her armored leg. Again she did not understand, until she felt it on her arm, then her back, and then her hand.
She looked ahead at the Shinigami, trying to figure out what was going on, this didn't make any sense whatsoever.
"I see you have noticed, this creature, is my Shikai." Byakuya said aloud, raising the hilt of his Zanpakuto. "If you know nothing of us then I will tell you this, each Zanpakuto possesses a release and unique power. Mine is the ability to break down my sword into many smaller and imperceptible blades, so small that when they reflect light, they appear as but pedals."
Morgana looked ahead, and in that instant she saw it. Ahead of her were hundreds of small pink cherry blossoms, floating through the air and appearing to be so beautiful that they couldn't be deadly. But as she raised her hand she allowed it to brush against her glove, and saw it grind against the Saronite.
'You have got to be kidding me.' Morgana thought, looking at the hundreds of pedals that littered the air around them. 'How does one get a power like this?'
"Now I will tear you apart." Byakuya said, raising his hand and directing the pedals to attack.
They halted in the air and then rushed towards the Death Knight, who could only raise her arm and take the barrage head on. She felt the blades graze against her armor, but the Saronite kept it at bay, and for that she was at least grateful.
"Dammit!" Morgana hissed, feeling her face become drenched in blood as the blades cut into her flesh.
With a roar she released a large blast of ice around her, freezing the barrage of pedals and forcing most to a halt. But they struggled and fought against their icy prison, she could see the blocks of ice that housed these small blades begin to crack and fall apart.
Morgana looked up and saw the Shinigami moving forward, raising his hand and firing off another spell. A blue beam shot out and moved right for her, she was only able to raise her hand and shield her face but was still struck full force and sent flying back.
As she rolled along the ground she watched as he stood in the small field of ice and forced his blades from it, ripping them from the ice and pulling them towards him. The pink pedals flowed around him like a coiling snake, and she could do nothing but prop herself up and figure out how to survive this.
"I can't beat this guy." Morgana said, growling under her breath, she was a cold blooded murderer at times, but she knew when to fight and when not to.
There would be no resurrection for her if this guy was done with her, he would burn her corpse long before this was over. There was no way she was going to let that happen, with that she raised her sword and summoned up six Dancing Rune Swords. She rushed forward and sent them ahead of her, and immediately he retaliated with his own assault.
She watched as the pedals diverged and moved for each of her swords and herself. The first two dancing swords were shattered by four streams of pedals; white the next one was forced and pinned to the ground. Morgana ducked under a stream and moved closer, her sword being dragged right behind her with one arm.
As her next two swords were lost to the wave of pink she sprinted hard, moving right for her target. She shot the last blade forward, spearing it to the Shinigami's heart, but he did not move but instead knock the projectile aside with another wave of his Shikai. Appearing through the small wave was another sword, much more solid and moving right for her chest.
"You cannot beat me." Byakuya said, leaning aside to avoid the strike and then calling his Zanpakuto back toward him.
"Wasn't planning too." Morgana said, summoning up a black mass beneath her.
Byakuya looked down to see that black shadowy hands coiled along the ground and grasped his legs, holding him in place. He scowled at this, but before he could do anything a massive dome appeared around them both, and he felt his Shikai control hinder slightly, preventing him from controlling them precisely.
"Nice match, look forward to another one, next time I won't lose!" Morgana smirked, reaching out and sending out a Death Grip to grasp onto the nearest building ledge and pulled herself away.
As she reached the edge of the building she vaulted over and onto the roof, she quickly ran forward and to the opposite end and leaped down onto the next building below. Pressing herself against the wall she reached into her pouch and retrieved her Hearthstone, she grasped it and quickly tried to teleport out. But to her shock the stone malfunctioned, the arcane energies sparking and failing to actually teleport her away.
"This cannot be happening right now." Morgana growled, glaring at the white marble stone.
But a light above her forced her to look from the stone to the sky and she saw her opponent had caught up with her and was about to fire another spell. Morgana leaped forward as a purplish ball connected to where she stood and ignited the entire roof. As she rolled onto her knee she summoned up six of her swords and readied to defend herself.
But when a stream of pedals came her way she quickly directed the swords to form a shield, crossing over one another and protecting her from the continual stream. Morgana gritted her teeth as she added her own sword to the back of the shield and tried to push forward. But she saw the spell begin the crack and break under the continual barrage.
As they broke she felt the barrage strike her, engulfing her completely and tossing her back and over the street and adjacent buildings before depositing her into a nearby alley. As she slammed into the ground she felt like groaning, she coughed and spit out a wad of blood. With a defiant growl she stood on her feet, glaring at the Shinigami who stood almost smugly at the end of the alley.
"Well, looks like I am going to die." Morgana said aloud.
"You have no soul, no life. You won't die, you will be put down." Byakuya said.
"Fuck you, I remember little about who I was before I died, and that is how they made us, but I tell you what makes me better than you?" Morgana said. "I at least chose who to fight for, you? All you have shown me and the rest of the Seventh is that you are nothing but a bunch of animals in human skin that do nothing but kill anything you don't like or understand. Gods, you think that is what you are? All you are is a bunch of arrogant spirits that think you know how the universe works."
"I don't claim to be a god, nor do I claim to assume I know all, but I do know you are an unnatural abomination to this world, and I will not tolerate your existence." Byakuya said, gathering Senbonzakura together for another attack.
"You are going to pay for this; every death here will be repaid in full, mark my words. War is coming for you." Morgana replied, raising her Runic Blade and reading it for her final fight.
Unohana landed in the outskirts of the park, she glanced ahead to find a trail of dead Hollows. She followed after them, the trail of broken and burnt bodies leading her deeper into the wooded area. It would seem that trailing her quarry would be easier than expected, but still she would need to be on guard, those abilities of her were quite surprising.
It would seem that her abilities are actually tied to the moon, or at least some sort of celestial power. Very strange, she had never seen a power such as that before, that draws upon the skies above and celestial bodies for power.
'I should report this.' Unohana thought to herself, but before that she would need to investigate that Arrancar soon, he seems to be fighting against someone. She could feel the familiar presences of Orihime and Ishida, but another was there, another spiritual being. "I need to hurry."
Using Shunpo she found herself in a small clearing, populated with deceased Hollows, all of them smouldering and there appeared to be craters around as well. Maybe it was the result of that meteor shower she saw before; it would seem it was effective against these Hollows.
But she noticed something; the Hollows were disintegrating at a much slower rate than when killed. That was not normal, when a Hollow is killed they always disintegrate immediately and their spiritual energy is absorbed into the Dangai and transferred through the Cycle of Reincarnation. But it would seem that these ones are slowly fading apart.
"What is causing this?" Unohana said aloud, leaning down and examining one Hollow, from what she could sense it would seem that their bodies are saturated in a unique energy signature.
From what she could sense from this energy, which was harder to do, she had to actually sense the surrounding reiatsu and determine the mass and field of this energy, it was not fading. She could sense the Hollows reiatsu was passing on, dispersing as quickly as possible but it was not taking the energy with it.
"I see, the Saketsu must be trying to dilute the energy presence." Unohana said aloud, whenever a Hollow was killed by a Shinigami the Hollow energies were usually dispersed by the blades edge. While the Binding Chain would actually seal itself on the Soul Core and then allow for any remaining Hollow reiatsu to be dispersed and removed when it is released from the body.
But it seems that it is trying to remove the energy before it allows itself to pass on, these energies are quite strange and they do not seem to match the previous reports of the week. These must be different cases, and from what I can see these bodies seem to be staying within the Cycle.
'Something is not right here.' Unohana frowned.
A light from above stopped her from considering more, glancing up she saw a beam of energy falling towards her. Unohana easily evaded by leaping away, watching as the ground erupted in front of her, before she quickly glanced to the side. Seeing another beam traveling right for her, she sidestepped the attack and then moved for the target that had fired it.
Standing there in the shadows was the elven woman, partially hidden by the shadows. Unohana reached out a hand to mutter a binding spell, but was surprised when the woman lunged forward and vanished in a wisp of mist and passed through her. Unohana turned to see a panther running away from her, it would seem that the woman could shape shift.
Regardless she raised her hand and attempted another spell, but she felt the world brighten and a golden light shone down from above, her spell failing to come to form. Her eyes widened slightly at the failed attempt to summoning up a binding spell, as the light faded she found her query to have escaped.
'She is full of surprises.' Unohana thought, rushing forward and giving chase, she did not have to go far before she was attacked. A beam of condensed energy appeared just as she passed into another clearing; she leaned aside and let it pass by.
"You are certainly giving me trouble, but I feel that you are only stalling." Unohana said.
"I am waiting for reinforcements." Elyssire replied.
"I am afraid that they are all currently being engaged and captured." Unohana replied, and noted that the woman scowled.
"I had hopes for this mission, but instead I am disappointed, no restraint or even consideration, you don't deserve to wear something so human." Elyssire scowled, grasping her staff tightly and calling onto her power. "We give you warning, my allies have likely tried to explain and if the fact you have not ceased this attack only shows how savage you are."
"How far would you go to protect what is important?" Unohana interjected.
"I would sacrifice my life, and sadly I am doing that now, having to come here to warn you and instead having to run and defend myself." Elyssire replied.
"We protect the balance, I do not know what you are doing but it is causing an imbalance of souls, if that continues you threaten to collapse the spiritual realm onto the Present World, of that we cannot allow." Unohana replied.
"Of that I am not aware, all we know of is that these wraiths are a danger and attack, and we defended ourselves. If that is the cause than allow us to leave and we will cause no further aggression, but if you continue this, it will not be them we fight next. It will be you." Elyssire replied.
Unohana could not detect a lie; although her features were concealed she could always feel the fluctuations of someone's soul to determine if they were lying. She could tell that she was not being deceitful about knowing about these Hollows, even calling them the incorrect name proved that, but it was something she could not dwell on.
Capturing her was important; they needed to know who these people were and what damage they could cause with their continued presence. But she was being quite difficult in the task.
Unohana took a step forward, planning on taking her down quickly, but as soon as her foot touched the ground she sensed something. A feint spiritual presence to her left, she turned and too her mild surprise she saw a wooden fist coming towards her head. Unohana leaned back and wrapped her arm around the wooden limb and quickly turned behind the creature and then tossed it over her shoulder and into the nearest tree.
To her surprise the creature seemed to be a tree, a walking Ent that took the strike and rose up to fight again. Unohana was now certain that this woman had some form of control over nature, but to have such diversity was incredible. Control over water, air pressure or even temperature was common, but to be able to call upon so much was a shock. It would seem that they had many capabilities that had it not been limited in potential could be a true danger to the Gotei.
Another presence alerted her to another attacker; she turned and saw one swinging at her from behind. She leaped up and over the attacker, before she raised her hand and pointed down toward the ent.
"Bakudo Number One: Sho." Unohana uttered.
She watched as the creature's face and torso were blown apart by the simple spell. As she landed she kicked the broken stump of the body forward and into its fellow, forcing it back. As that happened she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Knowing exactly what she was doing Unohana leaped back, avoiding a beam sent right towards her.
As she turned she noticed that she had already cast another, instead however it seemed that several small cyclones had appeared and were dancing around the clearing. But there was more to it than it seemed, there were storm clouds above her, crackling with lightning and thunder.
'Incredible, she can defiantly manipulate the environment.' Unohana thought, and she quickly leaped aside as a lightning bolt shot down to where she was standing. 'Imagine more of them? A small force of people like her could decimate entire cities with ease.'
Unohana quickly rushed forward, planning on gaining the advantage as best as she could. As she dodged another bolt she felt something strange, her body was covered in a veil of pink energy. Her movements felt strained, as if it was hindering her, and as she noticed a bolt moving towards her she dodged. She evaded the strike but it would seem that the bolt had damaged her haori, she scowled at that, that has not happened in many centuries.
'She can slow me down as well, very versatile, likely a powerful energy manipulation user.' Unohana thought, this woman must be akin to a Kido master, understandable considering her skill.
As Unohana fought through the binding spell on herself and dodged the lightning she moved for her target, who had begun to ensnare herself within a dome of thorned vines. Unohana scowled, it would seem she would force her to remain outside and weather this storm. That sadly was not going to happen, reaching for her Zanpakuto she drew it quickly and slashed at the vine prison that held her opponent.
As another bolt came down she summoned up a Danku shield, it was actually much harder to summon up above ones position compared to in front. It went against the purpose of the spell, but she managed to do it in time, allowing it to weather half a dozen bolts of lightning before she cut through the outer shell of the cage.
Looking inside she found her target, who was scowling in irritation and obvious annoyance. She had sent a beam at the Shinigami, but it was evaded despite the close proximity. Lunging forward she attempted a stab, but again the woman evaded her, dispersing into mist and reappearing behind her. Unohana turned to see her shifting from the panther and into a more humanoid appearance.
"You likely cannot continue fighting like this, give up and save yourself further trauma." Unohana said, trying to be merciful, but this woman was being difficult.
"No." Elyssire replied.
Unohana sighed before she stepped forward, but halted again, her movements feeling impaired. The veil may still be present but it was not hindering her as it should, it was only a minor inconvenience that she could easily adapt and counter. But she felt her muscles grow stiff and lock slightly, even breathing was harder than usual, she did not understand at first.
But then she noticed the air tasted different; there was something in it that was halting her for the moment. She looked to her left to see a mushroom was in the ground, from it came a green mist that filled the air.
Spores, the woman had poisoned her with spores. Unohana looked ahead and would not have expected such a tactic, only from maybe Mayuri Kurotsuchi, this truly took her off guard. But she did not let that stop her, she took a hard step forward and fought through this veil and the muscle relaxants.
But her entrance was sealed before she could escape out of it, what was this woman planning? It was too late when she saw the vines quickly constrict and move towards her at all sides, ensnaring her completely.
Elyssire looked at the prison of thorns for a moment before she quickly raised her staff and called for the moon and starts. Soon the stars began to shine and from them their energy shot down and towards the prison, taking the light from those starts that reached this world she threw that power down right onto the Shinigami.
Her prison of thorns was shredded under the bombardment, but she did not let us for a moment, she did not for once believe that she had been defeated. Until she was spent she would not stop until she was brought down, power was one thing, but there are always limits to how much one can suffer. The barrage continued for nearly half a minute, and no signs came that the Shinigami had survived or even made an attempt to defend herself.
'I need to keep going, if I can ground her I can aid the others.' Elyssire thought, planning on finding Carmila, she was nearby when they were separated; she could help her find everyone else.
But she was shocked when something shot out of the cloud of light and fire, her eyes widened as she felt searing pain pass through her breast and forced her down to a knee. She looked to see that the Shinigami's sword was embedded in her chest, through her left breath, up to the hilt. Elyssire grasped the blade, trying to remove it, she could potentially heal the wound but she needed to get it done before the wielder appeared. That sadly was too late.
"You did well." Elyssire glanced to the left to see the Shinigami standing there, looking down at her with a grim frown, her eyes seemed different, predatory. "But this is where your fight ends."
Unohana grasped the sword and quickly ripped it free from the Night Elf's chest, causing her to gasp before she collapsed to the ground, the pain and trauma taking its toll. As she fell Unohana looked her over and the wound, it was sealed.
'Good, I did intent to bring her back alive.' Unohana thought.
But in truth she was shocked at the speed and power this woman possessed, she was able to trap her after immobilizing her for a few seconds and then lay a barrage. Her powers were very diverse, something that was rare, if non-existent. Not once had she seen anything that could potentially match this woman in terms of control over the forces of nature, from the trees, the wind, the skies and even the stars.
Sadly it had not been enough; she had erected a barrier around herself when the barrage began. She had not laid a single finger on her whatsoever; although she was surprised by the variety of spells sent towards her it did not catch her completely off guard.
'There is so much to learn from you.' Unohana said aloud, scooping up her opponent and quickly disappearing via Shunpo, she would need to drop her off with someone so she could investigate that Arrancar.
Augustine ducked under the swing and rolled to the Shinigami's right side, as he rose up he spun around with a swing. But it was easily blocked by Toshiro; he parried the blade aside and attempted another slash. But his attempt was for not as the assassin danced away and left Toshiro to pursue.
'Why does my left side feel so numb?' Toshiro thought, his entire body felt drained, as if he was losing what strength he had.
He shook it off and attacked again, but the assassin leaned and allowed the blade to pass him by barely an inch. Before following up with a quick stab, Toshiro knocked the blade aside and then parried the second at it followed after the first. He gritted his teeth, something wasn't right, everything felt off right now.
'You hide in snow…'
Toshiro felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end; he quickly disengaged and looked at his opponent. He looked around with his eyes quickly, he was certain her heard a voice, but where did it come from.
"Captain!"
Toshiro glanced up, and he quickly ducked away from a hail of throwing knives, with a growl he charged forward. With a slash he cut for his chest, hoping to inflict a minor wound, if he was human he would be brought down very easily.
As watched as the man leap back into the shadows, but Toshiro followed, stabbing his sword into the darkness and hoping to catch him. For a moment he thought he did, he felt his blade catch on something, and he pulled it back and towards him. But as he felt the body move forward he halted, his eyes widening in shock as dread filled his heart.
"Toshi… why?" Momo said, looking at him with shock and pain as her body was impaled on his sword.
"No… I…" Toshiro tried to speak, but he cried out when he felt his back flare in pain, he felt the wound burn and he turned to see Augustine behind him, blade coated in fresh blood.
He turned back to find his blade had nothing upon it, Momo was no longer there, not even blood was present. For a moment he did not understand what happened, but he quickly pushed it aside and turned to slash at the assassin. But he had already moved away and skulked himself into the shadows.
"What is happening to me? Why did I see that?" Toshiro said, gritting his teeth at the illusion, was that man somehow bending the shadows.
'The snow, can you not see what is beneath it?'
Toshiro whirled around and slashed, but he hit nothing. He glared ahead of him, he was certain that he had heard something that time. But he could see only shadows ahead of him, so why was it that he heard that voice?
"Captain!"
Toshiro looked to see Matsumoto rush towards him, her eyes darting around to the shadows and looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"Something… is wrong…" Toshiro said, gritting his teeth hard and feeling sweat fall down the back of his neck. "I can't think straight, I feel sick…"
"Captain, you don't look so good, let me…" Matsumoto said, but as soon as her hand landed on his shoulder Toshiro saw something else.
He saw a desolated street within the Seireitei, he saw a man in white robes standing over her, and she lay in a pool of her own blood. Four puncture marks out her back, a grizzly wound. But the most shocking thing was the frozen wings on the back of the man, who wore a white cloak with a pin of a five pointed cross.
He stared back with no emotion; the most distinguishable feature was the small cut on his lip.
'The snow, can you not see it?'
Toshiro looked down, finding snow beneath his feet, it was everywhere. He was in some kind of forest; white snow dotted everything and everywhere. Then it began to turn red, expanding quickly out over the ground beneath him.
'All those corpses, you bury the failures of your life, beneath the snow.'
He looked to see the snow melt, the broken bodies of Shinigami that he knew and worked beside in the Tenth Division, people he considered friends. He felt himself slipping, this could not be happening.
"This isn't real… this is a hallucination."
"Captain…" Toshiro turned, finding his lieutenant standing there, back to him.
"Matsumoto, we need… we need to stop him…" Toshiro said, walking towards her, his steps faltering as he walked over the uneven ground. "This… is an illusion, he is playing with our mind… don't believe what you see… it is not real…"
"Captain… I need it… I need it now…" Matsumoto said, as if not listening.
"Matsumoto, listen, we need to…" Toshiro said, grasping her arm and tugging her around, but he froze when he looked at her.
Instead of the pure face of one of his long-time friends he found the shriveled up husk of his lieutenant there, her face red as blood and appearing as if she was dead. He skin rotting and peeling off and leaving behind a savage undead visage.
"I need it now!" She shrieked.
Toshiro stumbled back, shocked at the sight, and then he found himself pressed against something, he turned and saw a person there. It was a girl, short red hair and a pale face with freckles over her checks and nose. But despite her innocent appearance he could not help but feel he was looking at some kind of horrific monster.
"There is no true distinction between what is real and unreal, in the dark, all your nightmares come to life. When you sleep, I will be there, to take you into the deadlight." She said, her maw opening wide, revealing a row of long thin teeth before she snapped at his face.
Toshiro stumbled back, his eyes on his Lieutenant and his sword poised for her neck, but he halted himself before he could hurt her.
"C-Captain?" Matsumoto asked, shocked and anxious at having the blade at her throat.
Toshiro was hesitant for a moment, not really knowing what to do, those visions of his seemed so real that they couldn't be fake. But he had faced illusions before, but these felt so different, they didn't distort the world he saw, heard and felt, they distorted his entire worlds and everything around him.
'This can't be right, something is wrong.' Toshiro thought, his hand went to his head and he tried to focus enough to figure out what had happened that could have caused this.
"Captain… I don't understand, what is wrong." Matsumoto asked.
But she let out a grunt as she felt something slice into the back of her knee, looking she saw the assassin there. She quickly tried to jab him in the face, but he ducked and quickly sliced into her calf and waistline, before stepping back and away as she drew her sword. With a growl she advanced on him, ready to dispense justice for her Captain.
"What did you do to him?" Matsumoto demanded, raising her sword.
"What is needed, your constant aggression is only leading to more problems, I am willing to allow this to end, as soon as you stop this hostility." Augustine stated. "My mission was to warn you of an impending threat, not engage in combat, yet I am here to kill if you prove to be a danger."
"You will pay for this." Matsumoto snarled.
"Pay? We have lost thirty five good men and woman searching for you, to warn you, and instead you attack and try to capture us. How are we the instigators in this? Every action we have performed is met with aggression, how do you expect us to act?" Augustine said.
"You attacked us! Those bodies we found prove it!" Matsumoto said.
"As I said, we were not responsible for those deaths, we lost twenty in that incident alone, so do not compare the loss to us, we lost just as many as you did. But we were not the ones to inflict the casualties and neither were the Shinigami." Augustine replied. "We are being pitted against each other, and you are acting too rashly to see it."
Matsumoto charged forward, planning on shutting the bastard up, he said they were being the monsters. Her Captain was hallucinating and seemed to be breaking down, and he was calling them rash and hostile.
"I will make you tell me what you did to the Captain! I'll beat it out of you!" Matsumoto yelled, drawing her Zanpakuto and uttering her release command. "Growl: Haineko!"
Augustine looked on in surprise to see her sword disintegrate into nothing but ash, for a moment he had no idea of the possibilities, but he suspected it was some sort of ability. He narrowed his eyes and quickly grasped a smoke grenade; tossing it to the ground he clouded the area around himself.
He skulked to the nearest shadow and began to observe his opponent; it would seem that all she had done was create a small screen around her. He could see that it may be some kind of defense; possibly she is using it so that he could not sneak up of her, an early warning system. Drawing a throwing knife he tossed it towards a car, as it struck the door she was already on the move.
She reacted before he threw the knife, meaning that his assumption was correct, she was using it to try and catching him before he could strike. That would make this tricky, even not armed she could be highly lethal at close range, enhanced strength and more than likely speed. He would need to do this carefully.
Augustine would need to determine the effective range of this ability; as well if it held some other purpose, rarely did a sword simply give only defensive capabilities when changed. More than likely the ash could be used in some manner.
"Niko Rinbu." Rangiku said, forcing the ash cloud to expand out and around her.
Augustine saw this and quickly moved to find some cover, but regardless he was enveloped, and as soon as that occurred he noticed her eyes glance in his direction. With a flick of her sword he moved, but to his surprise he felt his back flare in agony, he has been cut, his protective leather doing almost nothing to stop the strike.
He glanced at her and saw her making another motion; he reached for his pistol and drew it as she made another slash. He let out a growl as his leg was cut, right down his calm; he glared at the bleeding limb. Before he aimed and fired, but she easily dodged the bullet by leaning to the side, he cursed and moved for his second gun while moving to get out of the ash cloud.
"You can't get out!" Rangiku yelled, frown deep and her voice low as she shouted. "Anything within the cloud I can feel, and with the ash I can cut you apart if I wanted to."
Augustine did not reply, he needed to escape and get out before the woman either did him in or somehow that other one got back up. Either case was not a pleasant one. He drew his gun and aimed, but he felt a cut on his shoulder and his arm dropped down, he growled out and tried to rise it up again. But like before another slash struck him. He felt something stab him through the side, looking down he saw a puncture wound.
His hand grasped at it, his gun clattering to the floor, there was no way he would be able to move with this wound now. Augustine looked up to see the woman walking forward, the ash parting around him and her. She glared down at him, before she grasped him by the scruff of his shift and lifted him off the ground.
"What did you do to the Captain?" Rangiku demanded.
Augustine did not answer, and for that he was tossed back and into a nearby car. He groaned and coughed up some blood, he pushed himself up and fell back against the car, leaning on it and unable to move any further.
"What did you do?" Rangiku said, drawing back her ash and sealing her Zanpakuto, reforming her Katana and pointing it at the man's neck. "I will kill you."
"Then do so." Augustine replied, capture was something he could not allow, he knew more than most about the fleet, he could not allow that information to be revealed. The others knew enough, but he knew more, if he had to die he would either goad her into the task, or finish it himself, no sense in letting them get info that shouldn't be in their hands.
"You little…" Rangiku said, ready to lop of the guys arm for his stubbornness.
"Matsumoto." The blonde turned and was shocked, her captain stand there, his hand on his side while holding his Zanpakuto calmly. "That's enough, he is down."
Augustine reached into his coat, he grasped his knife and pulled it free and moved for his throat. But before he could a hand had grasped his wrist and forced it onto the car door. He looked to see the man there, glaring at him, holding him back from using the knife to end his life.
"You don't have the right to take the easy way out." Toshiro said, drawing back his free hand and punching the man, rendering him unconscious, he looked down at him before turning to Rangiku. "Heal his wounds, make sure he survives, we will need to know what he knows."
"Are you sure?" Rangiku asked.
"Yes, we can't rely on the others to take the rest alive or intact, and this one has promise, I want to know what he knows." Toshiro said, walking past her and glaring down at his bloody hand. "Heal him, and then we can move to the others."
Rangiku nodded before she went to work, her healing Kido was not all that impressive but it would do enough to keep this human alive. While she did so Toshiro picked up a few things, the two swords the man had dropped, he would have them analysand by the twelfth. Along with his pistol, he glared at the weapon, before his eyes lingered on his bloody hand. He glared at the malformed bullet within and he could feel something wrong with the thing, it was simply wrong.
"What the hell are we dealing with here?" Toshiro said, placing the swords and pistols on the hood of a nearby car and reaching into his robes, finding the packet the man had tried to give them.
It made no sense really, none of this did, but he had the feeling that maybe they had made an enemy that may not have been.
"Hado number Thirty-one: Shakkahō," Urahara said aloud, aiming his palm at the elven magi.
As the beam shot out the magi responded with his own spell, channeling his energies through his staff he froze the ground beneath him. He summoned up a wall of ice that took the strike, it melted under the intense heat and power but the mage was unharmed.
"Arcane Barrage." Raralas said, releasing several bolts of arcane energy that spirals in from multiple directions at the Shinigami.
Urahara used Shunpo several times, easily evading the attacks and then following up with a binding spell. This time however he went a little higher.
"Bakudo number Seventy-nine: Kuyō Shibari." Urahara chanted, and soon around the mage appeared eight black orbs that immobilized him, with another located at his centre. 'That gravity well should prevent him from escaping with that teleportation spell.'
But he noticed a runic circle appear beneath him, glowing with power and it seemed to be amplifying his own. Then in an instant three flashes occurred, and standing around the man were three images of himself, illusions of some sort.
Urahara watched them for a moment before two disappeared in a flash, while the third released a bolt of arcane energy towards him. Urahara dodged easily enough, but as he moved to the side and attempted to cast a spell he looked down to see the ground cracking and burning. In an instant a plume of flame shot up and consumed him, but he quickly exited the fires none the worse for wear.
'So they can use the same spells as him, neat.' Urahara thought to himself.
He turned and found himself slowing down again, he cursed his luck, it would seem that guy really liked using that temporal warping spell of his. He turned around to see one firing a barrage of energy at him, while another shot a second barrage from his right. It would seem they can coordinate with one another.
As he moved back and avoided the barrage, slashing at the balls of energy as he moved he felt a cold breeze. Glancing up he saw a hail of ice falling towards him, Urahara raised his hand and quickly cast Tenran, blowing the ice aside and then continuing on. He pointed his finger towards a Mirror Image and cast another spell.
"Hado number Four: Byakurai." The beam shot out and struck the image in the chest, its body shattered like glass and disappeared.
He turned to see a lance of ice sailing towards him, with a quick flick of his wrist the lance was blocked by a shield summoned by Benehime. But he noticed along the surface of the ice were glowing blue runes, and in an instant the surrounding area was engulfed in Frostfire. Urahara moved back, flecks of ice on his cloths and hair, this guy was certainly getting annoying.
He heard a crack and then a break behind him, turning he saw that the bound mage had freed himself, somehow sealing the stars in some kind of barrier and negating their gravity. He scowled slightly, they guy couldn't overpower it so he simply sealed them off, this guy was good.
"Why are you following me?" Raralas asked, aiming his sword and releasing a stream of fire towards the Shinigami.
"Nake: Benehime." Urahara muttered, protecting himself behind a Blood Mist Shield and waiting for the attack to subside.
But he looked to his left to see an arcane bolt coming towards him, with that he quickly leaped back and away from the attack, before following up with attempting another Hado spell. But as he made an attempt his entire arm was engulfed by runic circles that clamped down on it. He tried to channel but he couldn't focus the energies, he glared behind him to see the culprit. It seems the guy can seal his abilities to channel Kido.
'Guess I go back to the old fashioned way.' Urahara thought, using Shunpo and appearing above the Mage.
Urahara shot down, his blade poised for his arm carrying the staff, but soon the target sped forward with high speed and avoided being touched. Urahara looked up to see his target touching the ground and laying down some form of spell. Urahara quickly charged forward and slashed Benehime, releasing a wave of red energy that forced the mage to Blink away.
Urahara followed him and quickly appeared in front of him using Shunpo. The mage slashed his sword forward but it was easily parried, and the Shinigami stabbed his blade forward and met his mark. The mage lurched forward slightly, the blade passing through his stomach.
"Sorry, but you were being difficult." Urahara said, looking down at the mage. "If you take this seal off me I can heal you, but you better do it quick, otherwise you may bleed out."
"No need…" Raralas said, placing a hand of the Shinigami's chest, while the two remaining mirror images appeared and grasped Urahara's shoulder. "Supernova."
Looking down her saw a large ball of energy appear over his chest, and the two mirror images began to glow. Urahara looked back at the mage, did he intent to kill himself? But then the man vanished, it wasn't a blink or anything else, he simply disappeared in an instant.
"Alter Time." Raralas said, reappearing several yards away.
Urahara looked over and his eyes were wide, did that man just send himself back in time? His wound was gone and he appeared to be showing no signs of any trauma of healing. This guy was starting to impress him he was.
Before he could think further an explosion occurred, the vicinity he stood in was engulfed by a large explosion of energy. Raralas watched the cloud like a hawk and waited for the Shinigami to step out, and he was not disappointed when he saw it rush out with his sword drawn back to strike. Raralas quickly created a veil of ice around him, and when the Shinigami attacked the barrier reacted and released a burst of ice towards him.
The Shinigami was quickly bound by ice and immobile for the moment, and then Raralas aimed his sword at the Shinigami's neck. It glowed with arcane energies, before he drew it back and plunged it into his gut, making the Shinigami cough slightly.
"One word and I can incinerate you from the inside out, spirit or not, that will put you to rest permanently." Raralas said, glaring at the Shinigami.
When however the Shinigami exploded into confetti and released a strange whistling noise he knew that he had been made a fool. He whirled around and saw the attacker right there, sword raised and ready to use. Raralas raised his sword and attempted a block, but his sword arm was unable to hold back the strong of the swing. He felt his sword drop and soon the enemy's blade dug into his shoulder, cutting down and into his chest.
Urahara let the mage stagger back, before he followed up with a quick binding spell to make sure he couldn't do anything.
"Bakudo Number Sixty-three: Sajō Sabaku." Chains wrapped around the mage and kept him immobile, but he fell to the ground, unable to handle the wound he had been dealt. "Tanma Otoshi."
The mage looked on for a moment before he lurched forward, but Urahara stopped his fall. Keeping the unconscious man upright he pulled down the hood, and low and behold he found an almost shocking sight. He had thought that this guy was not human, the glowing eyes did that, but to think this guy was a mystical elf was a shock.
"Wow, I like owe so many people money right now." Urahara said, chuckling before he picked the guy up.
He looked down at his arm, the seal was still present but he could feel it breaking, he would need to research into this later. Yet, it was the energy that intrigued him the most; there were so many characteristics about it that were mind boggling.
It was an energy source that was almost universal in its capabilities, never had he seen anything like it before. The energy was capable of manipulating spiritual matter such as his own body to seal his powers, as well as counter some of his spells, and also manipulating the present world and the solid matter that existed in it. It was completely unheard of that there was an energy force that could manipulate two dimensions of matter and energy.
It would seem that it could manipulate almost any form of matter that it came in contact with, altering it to a degree and even be used as a weapon. He looked down at his hand to find the results of that last attack. He would need to look at the state of his Gigai when he got back home, this one seemed to have suffered a lot of damage and it seems that those energies were causing problems for him.
'Truly an interesting development, too bad I have to hand you over, hopefully Mayuri doesn't do anything drastic, I would like to see about studying this some more.' Urahara thought, before he picked up the unconscious Mage and then disappeared via Shunpo, he would drop him off.
But before that he needed to see what that commotion is all about, it seems Ichigo is fighting someone. An Arrancar at that, but it seemed to be using something that he couldn't recognise at this distance. He wondered what it is.
There you have it and I hope you enjoyed the chapter and its content.
Byakuya vs Morgana: Now some of you may wonder how Byakuya was affected by an Anti-Magic Zone. The context of it is simple; the dome is designed to counter magical forces, now what is considered magical is not all the same. Supernatural forces are often considered magical and because of that it can be negated. Even if it is hindered it can still cause powers to disperse and be disrupted.
Kido requires precise control otherwise it blows up in your face or just simply doesn't work, expose that to something like this and it will fail. Because energies usually require a certain amount of energy to work and control. If there is something small thrown into it that disrupts it the results can be catastrophic as the spell can fail in a spectacular fashion.
Saronite: Saronite is a metal that has been exposed to the blood and bodily fluid of Yogg-Saron, the Old God of Death. This has resulted in a lightweight and high strength metal that is one fourth the weight of steel and is highly resistant to magical forces and in high enough quantities is virtually indestructible. In the hands of Death Knights they are perfect tools for keeping the powerful juggernauts alive in almost any situation.
It is also been noted that while it is also resistant to magical force it can harm spirits as easily as it harms those of flesh and blood. Capable of killing a soul instantly if the strike is right. But also it can cause harmful effects on the mind and body if exposed to it. Normal humans can actually go insane from hearing whispers in their heads and seeing things, even prone to suicide as well. It is also likely that more spiritually aware beings can actually perceive the source of the metal itself and actually see Yogg-Saron in his more approachable form.
But even so the metal would have a dangerous effect on Shinigami as it would harm them as easily as a human and if implanted into their bodies they would suffer for it. Becoming sick as it siphoned off their spiritual power and likely left them vulnerable to attack and even hearing voices and seeing things.
Unohana vs Elyssire: This fight was hard to get down because simply Unohana is a beast. She is probably one of the most dangerous fighters in the Gotei before Kenpachi regained his full power. So having to fight her is a bad move, but Elyssire held on for a good while. Using tactics and strategies to get an edge against her. But in truth she was simply beaten by a much more skilled and powerful force. Also Unohana did not use much in terms of her power to overwhelm Elyssire instead she went at is at a gentle pace.