The day after my comrades and the captain fell to the Arrancar. I made it my life's mission to eradicate them and any other Hollow that served Barragan. To prevent another tragedy like that from happening again and to avenge all those that I have lost.
And over the past decades, I threw myself onto the battlefield to eliminate the enemy at any cost, regardless if they were, weak or strong, defiant or surrendered...or even strived to defend their commands from harm.
To me, they were nothing more than vermin that needed to be exterminated and monsters who knew nothing than sadism, rage, and hypocrisy.
Eventually, I have slain so many of Hueco Mundo's forces on my own. That none of them dared to oppose me on the battlefield anymore while my fellow Quincy praised me as an undefeated Hero.
Both of them calling me...the Ice Monarch.
However, I cared nothing of titles and neither for fear nor praise. As my mission for Vengeance continued until all the forces of Heuco Mundo were exterminated.
Then Seeing the threat that I have posed the Hollow King Barragan finally decided to send his Third Espada Tia Harribal to eliminate me. Which then resulted in a battle that froze entire lakes and seas, submerged mountains, and all but wiped out an entire country off from the face of the earth itself. Her rage rivaled if not surpassed my own.
But despite all that, she still lost me.
And from her defeat...I learn the truth that made me lose my resolve.
Twenty Years ago in the Middle East
'It is over Espada...' Kyiv said with a tone colder than the very he cast ice. 'You have lost'
Tia Harribal struggled to get her bleeding body up from the ground and lean on her broken Pato. 'I refused to accept defeat' She declared hatefully. 'Not until I make you pay for taking my comrades away from me!
Kyiv's eyes then glowed white like the fury of a winter storm. 'Your comrades, killed and murdered my friends, my captain, my family!' He then formed a longsword out of ice and pointed at the fallen woman's face 'Do you honestly believe you have any right to demand vengeance when your people were the first ones who have committed wrong upon my own!?'
Tia Harribal then looked at Kyiv in confusion, then she smiled before chuckling. Which made Kyiv furious.
'And now you think killing them is Funny!' The Sternritter accused in contempt but Harribel shook her head.
'Despite acting like a man you are still very much a child...' Tia Harribel said in a taunting sympathetic tone and then stared menacingly into Kyiv's eyes. 'My girls did not strike first in annihilating your squadron...' she then narrowed her eyes. 'But rather it was your squamates that struck first!'
Kyiv then winded his eyes in disbelief. 'You are lying!
'Oh, I am afraid not' Harribel corrected. 'To counter the growing Arrancar army, your king organized a hunting party, to target any Adjuchas or Vasto Lords in Hueco Mundo to decrease the quality of the Arrancar soldiers that can be recruited by Barragan' She then bared her teeth into a grin. 'And your captain was the leader of that very party along with several other Sternritter!'
Jeager then looked unsure. 'He was just following orders and you and your-
'We weren't part of Barragan's army back then and nor did it matter!' Harribel snapped at Kyiv, stunning him into silence. 'The only thing that mattered was that we could have been a threat. Not that we were, or wanted to but simply because we might have. Thus it is only right that we took our vengeance and make the enemy regret turning us into what they fear!'
The man then began to lose his grip on his sword and his once stone face began to fall away as guilt began to consume him. 'But...none of them told me about that'
Tia then laughed once more. 'And why would they?' she taunted. 'To them, you were a stupid, idealistic child, that they could manipulate to be their soldier and weapon!' She ranted as she walked up to Kyiv who then began to step away from her. 'Meant to destroy people...' Kyiv then flash-backed to all the hollows and Arrancar he killed. 'Meant to destroy the helpless...'He then remembered all the hollows and Arrancar running away from him 'And those that swore to protect them!' 'And finally, the hollows and Arrancar who stayed behind to face him so that could protect their retreating comrades...and then killed them all anyway.
Kyiv then dropped his ice sword as it shattered to pieces upon hitting on the ground and then stared at the struggling Tia Harribel.
'But do not be an afraid boy...'The woman sneered and then raised her broken weapon to strike 'I will be sure to send right to you comrades, as they all burn and repent for what all they have all done in hell!'
The Espada then went on to strike down the stun Sternritter...and then she tripped herself on the ground and fell face flat on the earth. While no longer having the strength to get up.
'DAMN YOU QUINCY BASTARD!' Harribel screamed out as tears poured down from her eyes. 'IF YOU DON'T KILL ME NOW!' I SWEAR I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I KILL EVERYONE ElSE YOU HOLD DEAR! She ranted out in a hysterical tone. While Kyiv looked at the scene in shame, pity, and remorse before turning his back on his enemy.
'I am sorry...' he said with a soft voice and then disappeared.
However, despite the apology, Tia Harribel became even more enraged.
'DON'T YOU DARE OFFER ME PITY YOU SCUM I TOLD YOU HAVE TO KILL ME, OR I WILL KILL EVERYONE ELSE THAT YOU LOVE AND HOLD DEAR!' She screamed out into the distance as she raised her head but was unable to do the same for the rest of her body. 'PLEASE...' Her rage then turns into sobs as the woman began to break down. 'Don't...leave me like this!' She then burst out crying at her powerlessness and defeat. Until reinforcements arrived to take her back to Hueco Mundo.
Later that day at the grandmaster's office of the Palace of Governance
Is it true?' Kyiv asked Jugram. 'About my captain being in a party that hunted down menoes in Huco mundo?'
The Grandmaster remains quiet for a moment and then let out a short breath.
'It is' he answered solemnly which made Kyiv grab his fists in anger.
'And you're telling that our king our captain did that...just to weaken Barragain's army!?' he shouted in disgust and Jugram sighed.
'Given your level of power, you may not realize this Jeager...but the Holy Kingdom is severally outmatched by the Hollows due to their sheer numbers. Along with the fact that even Adjuchas class Arrancar can challenge a Sternrriter at their full power. An army of them would be devastating. Especially if some of them were to become strong enough to achieve the rank of an Espada' Hashwalf explained as he then stared out of the window of his office. 'So of course, if there was any chance to keep the Arrancar as mostly villains, then it would at least partially prevent our own Sternritter from getting overwhelmed...But unfortunately, Barragan grew wise to our tactics and now personally breeds Aduchas and Vasto Lordes within farms that are near his Fortress of Las Noches where they are more heavily guarded' He then closed his eyes and looked up at the full moon in the sky. 'And so with the party's efforts now proving futile, they were then repurposed to hunt Hollows and Arrancar that threaten the holds and Shielded cities, which have proved to be far more effective
'More Effective!?' Kyiv spat out. 'My men and captain killed innocent people just for some superficial advantage and you only stopped when it...actually turn out to be superficial!?'
Hashwalf then narrowed his eyes. 'I know it may sound ridiculous to Kyiv, but as I have said before, the Holy Kingdom is at a massive disadvantage when it comes to the overwhelming numbers of our enemies and if there is even a slight chance to weaken or at least prevent them from becoming more powerful, we have to capitalize on it
Jeager then grinds his teeth. 'But it was our very actions, that lead those Arrancars to become strong enough to kill my captain and my entire squadron, or do you believe that it was a worthy sacrifice if it meant for me to become your weapon!?'
Jugram then raised an eyebrow at Kyiv. 'We never made you into a weapon' The Grandmaster explained and Kyiv remain quiet. 'You choose to follow the Holy Kingdom in the same way that every other Quincy chooses to. Whether it be for glory, status, power...or a simple means for survival and in terms of fighting against the Hollows...you went well beyond the call of duty. All because of your own belief that they were vermin that needed to be exterminated'
Kyiv Jeager then lowered his head and looked down in shame. While Hashwalf continued.
'I will not fault you in not knowing about Gernomes past, as he as captain should have told you, however, you are going to decide yourself whether or not this war is worth fighting for
Twenty years later and one day before the invasion.
In the bedroom of a Mansion. Kyiv sat down naked in a bed with only his bed sheets to cover him modestly and stared up at the full moon.
'Kyiv?' A female voice called out to him and when he turned around it was Bambeitta who was also lying in bed naked under the covers next to him.
'You still don't feel comfortable fighting again as a Sternritter do you? Bambeitta question and Kyiv remain silent before answering.
'...For the longest time, I wanted to be a Sternritter, to be the hero who fights against evil spirits, to be worshiped, adored, and protect the innocents...' his hand then shook. 'But now?'
Bambettia remain quiet for a moment and then placed her hand on Kyiv's face. 'You are far the only one who once thought about the war that way Jeager'
Kyiv then began to shed tears. 'Even so what I did to her and her comrades her...family...' his entire body was then shaking uncontrollably. 'Was unforgivable and not just them but with all the other hollows and Arrancar I hunted down for vengeance and spite, even when they retreated, even they begged even when they...tried to protect their friends from me'
Bambettia then looked at Kyiv and sighed. 'That is the thing about war...' she began. 'Often people view war as a simple game of good and evil. Such as when the enemy is either an invader that threatens to destroy us or conquer us. It's often too easy to view them not as people, but as monsters, who are unreasonable, irredeemable, and deserve to be wiped out She then stared silently as she looked deep into Kyiv's tearing eyes. ' And it only when seeing that the enemy is none of those things...do we, in turn, see ourselves as monsters'
Kyiv then grabbed hold of both of Bambietta's hands. 'Then how do you move on from that, knowing that you can never be forgiven?'
Bambettia then grabbed Kyiv's hands and stared into their eyes. 'You keep moving forward anyway and try to be better next time' She then lowered her head. 'I know that it isn't easy, maybe even impossible...but it has to be done. If not for ourselves...' She then hugged Kyiv. 'Then for others
The scarred man then remained quiet as he took everything that Bambeitta said and then looked at her with resolved eyes.
'Yeah...and I will...'
Later in the present time, Kyiv flashes back to reality and saw Tia Harribal still seething in rage as she was all those decades ago, and Jeager knew that as much as wanted to beg for her forgiveness and have her see reason...He knew that was an impossibility.
And so he will keep on marching forward and face her as an enemy. One that didn't need to bring down because of vengeance.
But to protect the innocent from being caught up in her wrath.
The soundtrack of choice: Wolf Path Volfgang Twins
Tia Harribel stood still as she saw the rest of the white wolves surrounding her only to then sneer at them.
'Have you already forgotten?' She mockingly asked and then raise her Pato up in the air. 'I am capable of boiling entire seas into vapor. so your little snowstorm is nothing to me!' she declared loudly and then she slammed her weapon into the frost-covered ground instantly the snow and ice began to evaporate but to her shock, her technique could barely reach a few feet beyond her before the vapor in the air immediately refrozen itself and recovered the ground in another layer of snow and ice.
'My Hevonara...can't evaporate the ice!? She thought dumbfoundedly.
'It seems you are not one for listing...' Kyiv spoke out from the blizzard. 'The power of the Rime doesn't just manipulate and conjure ice, but controls the very weather itself, including the level of temperature in the environment' Harribel, then growled in frustration and then widen her eyes when she sees her Pato slowly being frozen over. 'But of course, that is not the only thing you have to worry about
Then as if on cue the dozens of wolves within the storm then ran at the Espada all at once with their jaws open. Ready to bite down and tear the female's flesh apart, Harribal countered by swinging her shark fang in a swipe and cutting them all in half at once. Yet more suddenly came out of the snow in front of her and lunge at Tia, forcing the latter to jump out of their way to escape from being mauled to death.
Only for her back to get immediately cut apart by a wolf that managed to get behind her. Then when she tried to swipe at it, she was then immediately attacked again by another wolf behind catching her off guard and once again Tia tried in vain to strike her attackers down. All the while steadily slowing down by the cold and snow freezing her body.
Then when the pack of wolfs came in with another group assault. Harribel in a moment of desperation charged a yellow cero on the edge of her Pato and unleashed a massive slash of spiritual energy that vaporized the snow on the ground in hope that it will at least temporarily prevent any more wolves from coming out of the blizzard. But to her shock, when the cero blasted through the wolves, they immediately without missing a beat reformed themselves behind the blast and continued to lung at her.
'They are not hiding within the snowstorm like those bears...' She thought in grim realization as the wolves began to bite down on her sword and heels, while more came in to chomp on her arms and stomach. 'They are part of the storm itself!
Soon dozens upon dozens of more wolves began to pile on top of the Espada. While her body slowly but steadily began to freeze over and Harribel knew that if something isn't done soon she will die.
The Espada began to consecrate on her Pato.
'If your power is to control the cold of the heavens themselves' The weapon began to glow a bright yellow of her spiritual power. 'Then that just means I will just dry them up as well!' Then using all the spiritual power within her soul. Harribel melts the snow and ice into water for miles around and transformed the entire blizzard into a city-sized cyclone of water that stretched thousands of feet into the air, before dispersing into a shower of boiling rain and when it stopped falling, the woman collapsed to her knees in exhaustion and began taking deep breaths.
The soundtrack of choice: Frost Giants by Brandon Fiechter
But then just before she could even begin to get herself back into the fight again, she suddenly felt another unearthly chill overcome her. But instead of surrounding her like an ice field or a storm, it came from the mountains in the north.
And when she gazed up her eyes widened in bafflement and her jaw gasped in awe.
For among the mountains was a giant man so huge, that he used the rock formations as stepping stones and his head breached the dark clouds themselves. His skin was blue while being completely naked save for a loan cloth made of ice, his hair a white long main with a beard, along with curved antlers that sprouted from his head, and standing on top of it was Kyiv, in his Holy Form. Which consisted of two large wings made out of the frozen mist and a halo in the shape of a highly detailed Norse star, while a massive Blizzard swept out of both of their forms and the sky above.
'Third Hunt: Ymir' Kyiv uttered and then he gestured his Giant to form an equally gigantic battle axe of ice from his right hand and began to walk towards Tia Harribel with unnatural speed and then when he was upon the Second Espada The Frost titan then put his other hand on his weapon quickly struck down on the woman. Which unleashed a humungous spiel of ice that engulfed the entire landscape in front of it and towered over the giant itself. As it pierces straight through the dark clouds and above the heavens themselves.
