The storm above brought life to the thorns around the edge of the plaza, making it risky to approach the sisters standing unharmed at the edges, for despite the storm and lurking shadows, they were fueling it with demonic energy and as such incurred no wrath from the thrashing tendrils. The large snake Bankai of Hihio Zabimaru struggled between staying away from the walls and not crushing the warriors in the field with them. Lights were summoned by the African warriors in order to back off the shadow monsters trying to approach, Kadin using his own power over shadows to help, his blade in the form of blackened claws that allowed him to attack what was otherwise untouchable to the others. The shamans gave him boosts with their magic since he was one of the few who could tame the shadows, protecting him so that he could continue protecting them.
Hollow mask over his face, Ichigo hurried to deal with the other sister, Kazara, before her storm grew too powerful. Lightning dashed across the sky as they clashed and shots echoed through the air as she kept the Royal Guard at a distance with her guns, powerful pieces that she imbued her lightning into, essentially turning it into a deadly rail gun. After blocking one such shot, Ichigo realized he probably shouldn't do so again as the electricity racked his body painfully and the force knocked him backwards. Instead he would use his own attacks to redirect the shots, but that meant he hadn't made much progress actually getting to the shooter. Even in Bankai with the mask, the rail gun shots were impressively fast and Kazara had the eyes of an eagle, as expected of a gunner.
'Definitely can't get to her on my own.' Ichigo scowled to himself. 'I'll have to see if I can keep her attention while someone gets behind her.'
The other problem was the thorns. A shield of lightning protected the Demon Lord from their grasp, which meant anyone trying to get close would either become the next target of the mindless field or get zapped by the lightning shield. He needed someone who was also a long-range fighter… Uryu and Orihime had followed his group, right? Orihime had probably stayed with the healers, actually, so there was a chance Uryu stayed with her and the American forces to guard the wounded. A quick glance told him yes, that seemed to be the case since no arrows were flying. Just his luck… he was glad they were safe, but he could have used that annoying Quincy's help.
Hihio Zabimaru came flying past him, jaws opened to snatch up the storm demon. Frowning, Kazara finally moved from her position to avoid the snake, jumping upward to land on the zanpaktou's head and aiming her gun at the skull. If she shot, her power would likely destroy the head, and for a Bankai that was very bad news.
Ichigo jumped back in, sword baring down on the Demon Lord and forcing her to shift her focus to him and block his attack, her guns strong enough to hold the black blade at bay. She tried to point the second gun back at the snake, but at this point Renji had enough time to react and had his zanpaktou thrash to knock her off. With a click of her tongue she jumped off and returned to the wall to get away from the two, a shield of lightning sparking back up as the thorns tried to constrict around her. She didn't seem nervous about getting double-teamed, just annoyed that she wasn't able to kill one of them quicker.
With Renji's help, Ichigo was able to keep Kazara from strengthening her storm over the army and hold her attention, perhaps even keeping her on the defensive. Seeing this, Kadin decided he should start making moves to defeat Korla rather than just stop her shadows, the archer still perched smugly up on the wall, content to watch them struggle with her silvery bow resting on her lap. Her malicious amber gaze looked to Kadin when she noticed his glare. A smile graced her lips. Shadow versus shadow, the Demon Lord looked excited to see the ending.
"Come to me, my wraiths, and play with your new friend." She twisted her hand in a pattern, creating a sigil in the air. It turned a blood red and dripped down to the ground below, creating a pool of shadows where creatures unlike the shifting shapes already pestering the army began to rise. One rose up on the top of the wall next to Korla, remaining in a shadowy form that allowed it to remain ignored by the thorns, blood red eyes glowing in the darkness. Her personal pet.
The wraiths held shapes of men, cloaked in black that fluttered in ghostly winds, faces covered in darkness but the sounds of raspy breathing echoing from within. Their hands were nothing but bone and taut black flesh, scarred and scabbed, fingers sharpened into claws. They brought with them an aura of cold and despair, a natural ability those of the dark had to drain all happiness and will to live. Three of these wraiths were mounted on horses of deepest black with eyes of ruby and body thick with muscle. They possessed a wicked horn between their eyes, fangs in their mouth and a spine down their back save for where the black saddles rested. Their manes and tails flowed like pure shadows, creating a black mist in the air.
The air of negativity the wraiths brought with them was the more difficult obstacle for the warriors, as it had no physical form to fend off like the wraiths themselves did. As they clashed with the creatures, they had to constantly fight off the feeling of dread and depression that filled their hearts, ignore the urge to kneel before the creatures and allow their heads to be severed from their bodies with no struggle. Shamans had magic to help fend off the darkness, but if the wraiths weren't dealt with it would be a downhill battle.
Only one seemed unaffected – not counting Ichigo and Renji above the field fighting Kazara – as he approached the wraiths with determination in his gaze. Korla watched with fascination as Kadin stepped through the dread mist as effortlessly as he would a normal mist, his zanpaktou shifting into a sabre that he struck down one of the walking wraiths with, the creature screeching at the unexpected offense.
"I see, with a blade made of shadows, you aren't scared of the dark." Korla muttered to herself in amusement. "You might be useful to me…"
As the archer plotted something against him, Kadin took front against the creatures, who were now far more vicious than before. With a foe that was immune to their blight, they sought him out as their greatest threat, claws aiming to tear off skin and pull out his eyes, horses stomping angrily with heads down to skewer him. It made fighting them a little more dangerous, especially the giant horses, as they could run him over even if he blocked their horn strikes, the wraiths on their backs wielding horrid black swords that they could swipe at him with as they passed.
Rukia did her best to help by countering the dreaded cold with her own, snow sprinkling over the area and bringing with it a softer light than the black mist. She managed to catch one of the wraiths in an ice pillar despite its negative effect on her mind, doing her best to have Kadin's back as he tried to deal with the mounted shadows.
There was a crash nearby as Hihio Zabimaru was knocked aside by a blast of lightning from the storm above, the bony segments crushing two of the walking wraiths beneath it and spooking one of the dark horses, nearly knocking off the rider. This one was disoriented enough the Kadin flashed by and severed the head of the wraith with a sabre before switching his zanpaktou into a spear and piercing the beast, both vanishing into the shadows once more.
"You okay Renji!?" Rukia turned to shout at the red-head.
"Yeah, just a bit singed!" He called back, a scowl on his face as he got his Bankai up and moving again, the cowl of fur over his shoulder indeed a small bit burned from the lightning that had passed down the snake body.
The giant snake lashed out for Kazara again, red light in his jaws as he released his signature attack. Currently aimed at Ichigo, the Demon Lord had to stop her fire to dash away, lifting an arm to the storm and summoning another bolt of lightning at the snake. It would not be fooled by the same attack twice, however, and twisted away from it before lunging at her with jaws open wide. Clicking her tongue in annoyance she fired a shot into the open mouth. It reared back with a hiss, still intact but smoking from the injury.
"Put more effort into your zanpaktou, son, or she's going to shatter him way too easily." Oetsu's voice startled Renji a bit as the swordsmith appeared near him. He'd almost forgotten there was another Royal Guard with them. "An unloved zanpaktou breaks easily, I taught you this already. I can only fix a Bankai so many times, it's you who keeps it alive."
"Right." Steeling his determination, Renji focused back on the fight once more, Oetsu joining in with his 'failed' zanpaktou, the sword so sharp it couldn't be contained in a sheath.
Kazara didn't seem interested in the new fighter, still focused mostly on Ichigo and his Hollow mask. When she noticed the Royal Guard robe on Oetsu when he got too close for her comfort, she narrowed her eyes at him. So she had both the Royal Guards on her… well, if she could entertain them long enough for Korla to deal with the army, then they wouldn't be too much of a problem. She had separated the strongest from the group as told, so Korla needed to do what she did best and perform some crowd control. The army had taken few losses since the shamans of the African Soul reapers had magic to fend off demons and shadows alike, so the plan was running a bit behind.
But Korla no longer seemed interested in the army, her shadows attacking at random and not strengthened with any power, her focus on powering up her wraiths and attacking Kadin and Rukia. Getting annoyed with the snow user, Korla finally picked up her bow and aimed, a black arrow forming between her hands on the weapon, no doubt deadlier than just as a projectile. She would remove the small female and focus on trying to corrupt the shadows of the Captain.
Rukia just barely dodged the black arrow as it flew centimeters from her face, shearing off a few strands of black hair from her bangs. Eyes wide, she turned to look at the archer perched above, noticing another arrow already notched and ready to fire, a cruel sneer on the elf-like woman's face. She wanted the Soul Reaper's attention.
"Fine, I'll take you on." Rukia turned her surprise into a firm glare as she held up her zanpaktou, the gleaming white blade cutting through the black mist.
Korla stood up on the wall without any shift in her aim, letting the arrow fly shortly after. Black clashed against white as Sode no Shirayuki countered the projectile. The ground beneath the Reaper lit up with white light as it was stabbed four times in a semi-circle.
"Next Dance, White Ripple." The familiar wave of white snow made its charge towards the wall, the ice that formed spreading upwards quickly and endangering the archer's position. It also pushed wind in Korla's direction, and for one who used a bow such a dramatic wind change was a problem. Even if the ice wasn't a major threat she would need to change position due to the wind alone.
The archer leapt into the air with graceful movements, aiming downwards from the air and taking a shot once directly above the Soul Reaper where the forced winds didn't flow, allowing gravity to do all the work, shadows flashing from the speed as it aimed to pierce the small figure's head. Flash Step saved Rukia from getting skewered, jumping into the air to strike back at Korla. The bow ended up being strong enough to serve as a defense should someone get close enough, catching the blade in one of the prongs. Rukia was given a harsh kick to the gut that sent her crashing back down to the ground, though she at least kept her zanpaktou in hand as she stood with a cough. Korla landed on the ground, no longer up in a perch though this didn't seem to bother her if her sneer was anything to go by.
Her reason for the confidence became clear as three of the walking wraiths descended on Rukia while she was preparing to continue fighting Korla. Caught by surprise, Rukia barely avoided getting caught in those horrible claws, left with simple scratches across her shoulders before she managed to strike one down with a stab through the head. The other two ignored their fallen comrade to attack her at the same time. Ice covered them from the ground where she had already frozen it, encasing them inside and allowing Rukia to get away, pivoting around to break the new statues before they could escape.
Shadows bled from the walls, bringing with it more wraiths. Rukia might have been able to defeat them easily enough, but they were still stronger than the phantoms and also beginning to converge in numbers. Three more mounted wraiths appeared as well, adding to the last one that Kadin was fighting after finally destroying the other two. The more the black mist spread, the easier it was for the wraiths to appear. The one controlling them would have to be defeated.
Rukia distracted, Korla covered herself in shadows and began moving to her main target. She would leave the wraiths here for the army, without one of their Captains that had trained in the Soul King realm they would be easier to overwhelm. She was sure her shadow soldiers could take care of crowd control while she left for her own project, she could follow the Master's orders and give him something extra.
Tensing, Kadin dodged back away from a wraith strike before looking around at what was disturbing the shadows. His zanpaktou was sensing something, someone approaching rapidly in the darkness, hissing as it got closer. A mounted wraith charged at him once more, the horse rearing up to crush him beneath massive steel hooves. He took that chance to run a spear through its chest from below, shifting to the side to avoid the flailing hooves and shifting his weapon to a broadsword to knock off the rider and impale it through the heart. That wraith down, he tried to focus back on the shadow approaching him unseen, letting his zanpaktou lead him so as not to be caught off guard.
A shadow rose up behind him. He turned his zanpaktou to claws and pivoted around quickly to attack, the shadow jumping back to avoid getting sliced.
"My, you're perceptive of what's in the shadows, how versatile." Korla said with a slight frown. She hadn't expected him to be that adept with them, as no one had her level of ability with the darkness before. It would seem Kadin was more than just immune to the mist and able to control the shape of his blade, he was tuned in to their nuances and changes. A smile came back to her face… she had always wanted an apprentice. "I have some plans for you, boy."
Eyes narrowed, Kadin prepared to fight the archer one-on-one if necessary.
The army was quite surprised when the wraiths converged on them in full force, wondering what had happened to their main defense. Rukia was doing her best and the African leaders were very helpful in assisting her so that losses were minimal, but it was definitely a noticeable rise in difficulty.
"Where is Captain Thane?" Rukia wondered as she looked around for the silvery blonde. She could not see the flowing white robe of a Japanese Captain. Where was he? Renji and Ichigo were still fighting Kazara in the sky… now that she noticed, the violet-haired archer was gone as well. The shadows no longer spawned more wraiths.
Did Korla and Kadin both vanish?
Though worried for Kadin, Rukia decided they should focus on eliminating the shadows first before trying to put together a search. He was a Captain, he could hold his own for now, especially when it came to shadows, his area of expertise.
"The phantoms aren't spawning anymore, destroy the ones here and push on to the Demon Lord!" Rukia ordered since others above her were preoccupied elsewhere. T'Chaka, the African leader, spread this order to his people quickly. If they could be done with these demons, then victory was close. They might be able to destroy another Demon Lord.
Kazara glanced to the field below briefly, lips curling into a scowl as she noticed Korla had abandoned post and only took the Captain with her. Of all the times for the archer to suddenly have other plans; she was usually more reliable with mass killings. Did she decide to make a new pet?
Whatever the case, Kazara was now on her own with the Royal Guards and army. She could no longer play around with them as she had to do the work of two Lords now. It was a good thing that she had been setting up the storm.
"You best protect your men." She spoke for the first time that battle, the three men fighting her coming to a stop in confusion. "Once the storm starts, even I can only channel it."
Understanding, Renji and Oetsu returned below to try their best to start moving the army away, but there was no telling the storm's range. Korla's shadows blocking the exit were gone, so they could began evacuating, but it was still a narrow hall. Ichigo remained in the sky with Kazara, mask still over his face and his Bankai still active.
"Are you still going to try and stop me?" Kazara questioned him.
"People are usually pretty defenseless when they do a big attack." Ichigo responded, his voice still carrying an echo from his mask.
The tiniest hint of a smirk crossed the gunner's face.
"What makes you think this is a 'big' attack for me?"
Hollow eyes narrowed as Ichigo lunged forward to attack.
"Chaos Dragon's Lightning Fury." While setting off the trigger for her spell, she also pulled the trigger of her gun to stop his assault. He Flash Stepped out of the way and slashed at her side only to cut through sparks as she darted away with lightning at her feet. He gave chase and struck again, their blows clashing in time with the crack of thunder as the storm released a hail of lightning to the field below. It struck phantoms and Soul Reapers both, as nature had no preference to its victims. Hihio Zabimaru used his body to shield those below as best it could until they could all escape, Oetsu and Rukia dealing with the remaining phantoms so as not to be stabbed in the back on their way out. Even still, a good number were lost to the storm, and Renji had to seal his sword away again once clear of the chaotic lightning to avoid too much damage to his zanpaktou.
"Your friend is brave to fight in a storm like that." T'Chaka said to Renji as they used the thorns above the halls as lightning rods. "It is no wonder he was made a Royal Guard."
"Yeah, well, he borders on stupid instead of brave sometimes." The red-head replied, watching the continuing fight with concern.
Kazara proved her words as she was chased underneath the storm, standing within the churning electricity without fear and redirecting the lightning right towards Ichigo. As he dodged the bolts, he noticed that the gunner had stopped moving as much. In order to change the chaotic paths of the storm currents, she had to make herself a ground to attach to, which meant moving would throw her off. Unsure if he was right, as he had pursued assumptions before and been wrong, he sent a small wave from his sword at her while she was in the middle of channeling a bolt. Her other arm came up in front of her and channeled a bolt to counter his attack rather than dodge. It wasn't definite proof, but it was something.
"That all you got!?" He taunted her, darting in closer in order to seem threatening. She did not back away to keep room, simply narrowed her eyes and channeled another bolt. Her style of attack didn't change though he had hoped he could force her to channel a larger attack to throw her off. 'Lend me a hand, Hichigo?'
His inner Hollow gave a wicked grin and eagerly added more firepower to the mix. Their cooperation was something they had learned during the intense training in the Five Trials and further honed in the years after.
Kazara was most certainly not expecting the red Cero that got aimed her way from the tip of the black blade. She released her position and just barely escaped the attack beam that came flying at her and decimated one of the walls. So this was why this particular human born Reaper was regarded highly enough to be knighted as a Royal Guard. His power over Hollow abilities would make even the demon elites quiver in fear. If she recalled this level of power was reserved for the terrifying Vasto Lorde Hollows… even she wouldn't pick a fight with one unnecessarily.
In retaliation of such a powerful move, Kazara picked a new position and became a ground once more, dragging in multiple bolts of lightning this time, glancing at the storm above as she noticed the clouds beginning to lighten. There was not much energy left in it. If she didn't remove this Royal Guard now he would become a problem.
Too late did she recall that he wasn't just powerful, but fast. Despite the chaotic lightning surrounding her, Ichigo darted in close, his blade alight with Spirit Energy.
"Moon Fang Heaven Piercer!"
The enormous surge of energy of Ichigo's signature attack struck the Demon Lord point blank. Her collected lightning scattered most of it, but as she was knocked back against the wall the splatter of red signified that she did not get away unharmed. Her arm had streams of blood running down it and her shoulder looked broken… she showed a fierce expression of fury for the first time since Ichigo had begun fighting her.
Lightning sparked around her feet. Tensing, Ichigo held his sword up and prepared for the next attack, ready to finish her off before she could transform to her demonic self.
And then she was gone. Mouth dropping in a gape, Ichigo looked around quickly for where she could have jumped to, but saw nothing. She had retreated.
He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
I've heard a complaint before about translating Getsuga Tensho and how it's unnecessary because everyone knows it, but i'm translating every other attack due to the fact I have original, non canon attacks that I do not want to butcher Japanese trying to give names to, so I'm just going to be consistent and put all the attacks in English. Just say the Japanese name in your head if you want, I prefer being consistent and not putting bad names up, I speak English.