Watching her dragon sister fall brought out a malicious fury within the shape-shifter Korla. Kazara was meant to be the strongest of them, the great Storm Dragon who could wipe out several cities in one breath and bend the skies to her will. But the dragons had rallied against her, combined in their hatred to follow the Dragon King's lead in defeating her. The Soul Reaper called Kenpachi only made it worse, his ridiculously high power proving too much for the armor of a dragon. He only kept getting stronger as he fought the Demon Lords, making him a huge threat.
But it wasn't just Kenpachi. All the Soul Reapers present were refusing to die. If they got close, the annoying healer would pull them out behind the barriers made by the pink-haired Visored, not wanting to risk another life to this fight. She hoped her darkness would snuff out the life from a few of them. If she didn't have to make the wraiths she could focus her strength on the enemies around her, but without her sisters she had to split her power between shape-shifting to protect her heart and overwhelming the Reapers with numbers.
"Master, it might be time to stop playing with them." She muttered under her breath, but she didn't need to shout to be heard by him, not when they shared in powers of shadows. She shifted into a dark-skinned nymph in order to jump atop her terrifying mount, bow in her hand as her steed used impressive speed to get some distance on her opponents.
Kamai didn't respond, but he agreed. With Kazara's loss they now had the dragons to worry about, an outcome they weren't expecting. Fighting the girls was a light exercise, but with Ichigo joining in and now their draconic partners, he was having to put more effort than he would have liked into his fight. Momo had been carried away by the Fire-Flora dragon, the poor girl unable to withstand his power any further, but Miyuki and her familiar were more resistant to it and the Kurosakis both had a habit of turning their fear into fury, ignoring their shaking limbs and wild swings to just keep going.
He found it rather annoying. Impressive, but annoying. He couldn't just let them continue with the idea they were actually holding him off, not when only one of his Demon Lords remained surrounded by Reapers and their dragons, her power stretched thin to make her army.
"Must you two be so stubborn." He let out a heavy sigh as he snapped his fingers.
Karin and Ichigo both blinked only to find their blades pointed at each other, just moments from piercing skin and tearing the other apart.
"W-What happened?" Karin quickly pulled her claws back as Ichigo let his blade drop to his side, shocked.
"I see you have some hostility towards one another." Kamai chuckled, standing calmly with his hands behind his back.
"What kind of trick was that!?" Ichigo scowled fiercely at him.
"There was no trick, you two suddenly turned on one another." Aberon spoke up, looking concerned.
"What?"
"I told you, Lord Kamai twists your heart against you." Miyuki warned them. "He can use anything and make it a priority in your mind. If there's any sort of spat that you two have had, he brought it back out against your will."
"It's rude to spill a magician's secrets, my dear." Kamai's smile was malicious.
"This is just Aizen's stupid illusions all over again." Ichigo spat.
"The only illusion is what your mind tells your heart to keep it in check. Remove that illusion and give the heart a direction to go and it is simply instinct. That is why my darkness makes you want to run away in fear. It instills within you a terrible danger present all around you, and so your heart wants you to run away even if your mind is trying to tell it not to."
"The only way to be immune to his power is to not have a heart." Miyuki added on. "That's why the Demon Lords have hearts of crystal, so he can use his power without affecting them as well as to make them stronger."
"Telling them my limits is all well and good, but perhaps don't leave out my range." His expression was malicious as he sneered at the three fighters and their dragons.
A sense of dread creeping up their spine, they turned around to observe the field of battle. Despite the very easily exploitable opening they left for attack, Kamai stayed put to first let them watch the fighting and despair. Their comrades were still fighting the wraiths and Korla, but they were arguing and taking side shots at their fellow Reapers as well, distracting them from making any actual progress. Korla laughed gleefully as she pulled back on her demon mount and let her puppets take advantage of their faltering defenses. The dragons were snarling at one another and no longer watching out for their partners, the newer ones especially aggressive and even prone to snap at other dragons' partners, making them a risk in the fight. No one saw anything wrong with their behavior. Most of them hated one another anyway and just acted on it without thinking.
Up until that point, everyone had been fighting side by side against the demon forces, eager to be done with the war. But it was as if everything they had worked together for was pointless now, and it was back to petty squabbling and low blows. The wraith annoyance seemed to just make tempers flare even more.
"There's no point yelling at them." Kamai spoke up as Ichigo stepped forward to snap at his comrades. The Royal Guard turned back towards him with a glare. "Just as you don't remember the moment between striking at me and almost decapitating your sister, none of your friends are actually processing the scenario around them. It's all just their heart acting out, their mind is silent and unable to process, therefore no memory of the event is made. Only past memories can be used."
"Past memories, huh?" There was a glint in Ichigo's eyes. He was planning something.
"They are stuck in a rage, there is nothing you could say to pull them out of it." Kamai warned, not liking this. "Until I remove my power, they will act with their heart first."
"Then cut it out." Karin sent a burst of fire at Kamai, following closely behind it with her wings. As the fire was dispersed by his magic she struck with her claws. His blade slipped between the blades and pushed back against her, keeping her from tearing apart his face.
"You'll have to try harder than that, my dear. I have faced off against the Bankai of the previous Soul King before he lost his zanpaktou, and yours is much less refined."
"You piece of-" Karin's words were cut off as she sensed a projectile coming her way. She released Kamai's blade and jumped back as an arrow flew between her and the Dark Master. Since everyone else was busy fighting the wraiths, Hunter or each other, Korla had come to aid her master.
"Stay back." Miyuki brought the earth spiking up beneath Korla's steed, the beast screeching in anger as it twisted around to avoid being impaled. Korla turned a scowl at the mage.
"I liked you better as the quiet and nameless witch." She spat. "A loyal little pet for our master just like that wolf demon is for you."
Kamai sent a disapproving glance at the archer but said nothing to correct her. It had already been made clear that he did not think of Miyuki as a pet, but they were enemies now, so no point wasting breath defending her.
"You always did hate me the most out of the Demon Lords, a jealous shadow who can't stand sharing an apprenticeship with others." Miyuki shot back as she created icicles to shoot at the shape-shifter.
"I was hardly jealous of you." Korla scoffed, enveloping the barrage in shadow and changing their direction towards the battlefield. "You were just always in the way. I looked forward to the day I would get to be rid of you, it was so easy to see you would betray us for that runt of a brother you have."
As Miyuki held off the archer as best she could in a duel of projectiles, Karin returned her attention to Kamai. He was still fairly calm about his situation, but considering she seemed to be the only one left to fight him she could understand his confidence. Even with her brother and dragons beside her they hadn't made a scratch other than the wound from Miyuki's familiar, and now both of their dragons were busy baring teeth at each other and Ichigo was turned away planning something.
"Even if it's just me, I won't let you get anywhere near Toshiro." She promised firmly, determination in her gaze.
"I admire your bravery, princess, but that alone won't be enough to stop me." He responded, lips curving into a smirk.
"I don't have to stop you, just stall you."
"It could be another week still before your precious king recovers from his injuries, and he is already a victim of my power as well."
"He'll beat it. We already had a miracle healer fix his wounds, so once he beats your parasite you're done for."
Kamai raised a single brow in curiosity at who the miracle healer might be, unaware of the power of the Fullbringers since that was a matter for just the Soul Society and not important to his war with the Soul King.
"I have seen his deepest fears and insecurities in my time with him. It will not be so simple for him to overcome."
"But he'll do it." Karin held her arms up, claws back at the ready for more fighting. "And we'll keep fighting you until he does. You've only got one bodyguard left."
A flicker of anger passed in Kamai's gaze at the reminder of the loss of his lords.
"Up until now it seems your spat with me is stronger than any rage you have for the others." Kamai spoke up. "That's the only reason you have continued to raise your claws against me and not them. If fear only makes you angry and your anger is strongest towards me, I will need to explore a different weakness in your heart."
Not about to let him get the upper hand again, Karin went for a quick attack, aiming for his head as he just stood there with a transparent sphere twisting above his raised palm.
Something stopped her attack. Kamai didn't lift his blade and Korla was still playing with Miyuki, so it was no physical defense.
"Now you see." Kamai's tone was barely above a hiss, something dark inside it. His eyes held an unnatural glow that did not belong to a human spirit, an eerie light more foul than the demon magic the Demon Lords used to transform. "Fear might have been too weak for you, but not even a warrior princess can resist survival instincts."
Karin was shaking, her eyes wide and locked with his as if they were the force that locked her in place. At a glance it would seem Kamai was just standing there, but she saw something else. A horrible, gruesome sight. She had faced horrible monstrosities in all forms when facing Hollows, had stood her ground to the Demon Lords, but the monster hidden in the depths of Kamai's soul, the twisted creature of dark magic he had become, was unlike anything she could have expected. She felt like she was in one of the stories of Lovecraft, unable to properly describe this image of terror other than the feeling of knowing that if she took one step closer she would die. The weight of Spiritual Pressure in the air as Kamai turned his power up took the breath from her lungs. He wasn't twisting his power around her, all he'd done was finally unleash his restraint, letting her see who their enemy truly was.
The first thought that came to her mind was that she couldn't let this thing anywhere near Toshiro. If THIS was the being that wanted to be Soul King, then no matter how much of peace he preached for, he could only bring about a world of ruin, a twisted fantasy he thought of as peace but was a nightmare to everyone else.
"Let's see if you're still wanted when the demon magic takes hold." The hissing threat made her blood run cold as the twisting sphere reached out to grab her. "I need some new Demon Lords after all."
A new weight of Spiritual Pressure tinged the air, disrupting Kamai's power enough that Karin could take a breath and Flash Step back out of the Dark Master's range.
"Ah… Kazara did tell me you were one of those souls with Hollow powers." Kamai's eyes narrowed as his attention turned towards Ichigo, the young man's mask covering his face and fury burning in his golden irises.
"You talk about instinct and acting on the heart." Ichigo growled, the air rippling with Hollow energy. "Well… what's a Soul Reaper's worst nightmare?"
"You would actually do such a thing just to undermine the effect of my power?" Kamai scowled.
"Better that than let you turn my sister into a demon. We only need one in the family, and besides, I'm on better terms with mine."
"Ichigo-" Karin started, cursing the shaking in her voice as the memory of what Kamai was still lingered in her thoughts.
"Don't worry, my Hollow and I have worked some things out." Ichigo's shoulder rolled back and his posture seemed to relax for a moment. "The other Visoreds will have my head for this, but for now…"
His breathing changed pace and the air became thick with the power of a Hollow, spreading over the whole field. Whatever dark presence Kamai had spread out seemed to shudder at the invading power, breaking its hold as the Soul Reapers all stopped where they were and turned to the source with wide eyes, ready to fight for their lives. It was enough to stop their bickering and fighting, the dragons baring their teeth in Ichigo's direction and raising hackles if they had fur. They were no longer focusing on each other, but they looked ready to take on Ichigo as a whole instead.
"Time for a wake up call!" The eerie echo in Ichigo's voice could only belong to one creature. The rest of Ichigo's skin turned pale white and his body twisted into the form of his Hollow self as it took complete control. Ichigo being a Visored was not so strange to Kamai after seeing the others in the ranks and hearing Kazara comment on it between their fights, but this… he knew the Hollow was strong to get Kazara's attention but not this strong, not Vasto Lorde.
"So you do have brains within that brute strength." The Dark Master was irritated. Only a Vasto Lorde would have the presence to overwhelm his magic, and Ichigo was right about the instinctual fear of Hollows being enough to get the attention of the Reapers. "I had intended to remove the Royal Guards next as my biggest threat, but you in particular were the wild card I didn't plan for. Hunter was designed to counter each of those guardians… you were an addition I had no time to deal with."
"Flattering, but now that mistake will cost ya!" The Hollow sneered, adjusting his grip on Zangetsu before charging forward.
"Ichigo wait!" Karin warned, not sure if even the terrifying Vasto Lorde could stand up to what was hiding in that human body.
Kamai did physically block the strike coming his way even as he caught the Hollow's gaze with his own. Hichigo did give pause, a bit of respect in his gaze for the monster more menacing than himself. But as with all Hollows, the challenge was simply exciting. Their instinct was to consume, more and more and more, consume anything more powerful.
The hunger Kamai sensed repulsed him. Then he realized; Ichigo didn't just let his Hollow self take over to snap the others out of their trance, he did it because Hollows had one special trait that Miyuki had earlier mentioned was the only way to ignore Kamai's dark possessions.
Hollows had no heart. That's why they hungered. That's why they consumed souls without mercy. They could have instincts towards other emotions just like humans, but without that heart any push he made would only make them hungry. A monster like himself was simply a challenge to overcome for a beast like a Vasto Lorde. An Alpha at the top of the food chain would not accept anyone else taking their spot.
"Clever little brat." The hiss in Kamai's voice would have made any of the other Soul Reapers shudder in terror. Hichigo only let out a menacing growl deep in his throat as a response.
As the two monsters clashed, Kamai debated releasing his form fully. With the Hollow's presence tangling against his own, he couldn't keep the Soul Reapers and dragons fighting one another, and now they had gone back to tearing apart the Wraith army – a few kept arguing with each other but it was a more natural setting that didn't deter them from fighting their way closer to Korla. Things were decidedly turning against him.
Karin looked up to the palace, her limbs starting to obey her again as she shook off the darkness holding onto her. They were winning now… but she knew once that horrific entity decided to fight them fully they were in trouble. Would Toshiro wake up in time?
There was the sound of a pained yelp as Miyuki's familiar, Anya, was tossed to the side after a vicious blow from the shadow steed. Miyuki herself was hardly in better shape, her arms cut up from grazing arrows and out of breath from using too much magic. The steam rising softly from her wounds did not bode well either, but she knew enough about Korla's magic to keep an immunity to the dark poison. She worried who else might be suffering from it, however, and who might already be lost.
"A strong mage, but not quite a Demon Lord." Korla's spider-woman form hissed gleefully at Miyuki's pain. With her shape-shifting she could basically erase any injuries she had, and Miyuki's spells weren't fast enough to strike the crystal heart as she shifted to do real damage.
"I am glad I was never tainted the way all of you were." Miyuki replied with a tired huff.
Korla snickered, stepping closer and kicking the exhausted mage to the ground.
"You speak like you haven't been living among demons your whole life, you little brat." The shifter spat. "Just because you ran back to your brother with your tail between your legs doesn't just erase everything you did with us. Your familiar is a demon, you know how to use demon magic, and whether you like it or not, you ARE tainted. You killed souls with us, don't forget that." Korla pressed a spidery leg heavily down onto Miyuki's thin frame, causing the girl to cry out in pain. "Just because you never got the honor of becoming a Demon Lord doesn't mean you're some kind of saint now that you're back home. You're just a lost little doll trying to find where she's wanted, and they will never want you here."
Miyuki wanted to glare up defiantly at her, but could only stare up to the sky with no way to know where Korla's head was. It was hard to be stubborn when you couldn't see your opponent, or anything for that matter. She could still feel though, every painful moment as Korla crushed her closer to the ground. There was a searing fire of pain in her chest as something snapped and it became harder to breathe.
The weight suddenly lifted off of her, allowing her to breathe but in very painful gasps. She heard a loud thud and a grunt from Korla as she supposedly slammed into the ground some distance away.
The archer looked back up with a seething glare at the souls that dared attack her. With the Reapers back to their senses, their senses on constant high alert with the presence of a Vasto Lorde, they had made their way back through the mess of Wraiths to fight her.
"Honestly, you're still just the little brat I used to know, picking fights with Mayuri and Zaraki like that." Yoruichi casually poked fun at the noble next to her. Soi Fon was close beside her idol as well, a look of shame on her face at realizing she'd tried to pick another fight with Yoruichi in the strange haze that had clouded her thoughts.
"You fared no better than the rest of us." Byakuya replied stiffly, an almost unnoticeable twitch in his brow at her annoying presence.
Kadin finished off their group and rolled his eyes at them. Kamai's power had gripped him as well, but it was useless to dwell on it now that they had their heads back on right. Four dragons followed behind them. Shadow and Hasyl kept their gazes on Korla as she got back to her feet, the other two were new. One was the Lightning dragon from earlier, the lithe figure finding Yoruichi a suitable partner and giving her name as Nereus. The other was a Dark-Flora dragon named Endri, small in figure not unlike the Squad Two Captain she chose to be her partner, a mostly black scaled form with stripes of a dark gold down her back and splotched against her underbelly, her claws and spines down her back a sharp poisonous green, tail ending in a poison barb of the same green. Her eyes were a harsh amber and she had short black horns and huge feathery wings of pitch black, short whiskers at the front of her muzzle.
Korla shifted into a multi-armed creature sporting several of her bows and a paired arm for each to wield the arrows. She was finally taking them seriously, their arguing cutting short as they took their stances.