Sector J [Operation Moon Massacre]

Despite the strength that Nemain knew was held within her body's natural defenses as well as within her Hierro, it seemed that it wasn't enough to completely withstand the weight of Cirno's current rampage even before she had truly gotten to the tipping point. Nemain could feel the sheer force of the impact within that ten meter zone as Cirno doubled it, causing bruising along various bones throughout Nemain's entire body and causing the woman to cough blood onto the ground as the Mad Espada's hierro cracked and groaned under the sheer pressure. This kind of strength was enough to make cities crumble, and it was enough to make it glaringly obvious to Nemain that the Angel of Ice was in no way here to fuck around. That, however, was perfect, as Nemain was not one known for her fucking around either.

As Cirno's force in this impact zone came down to bear on not only Nemain, but the environment surrounding, debris began to fly in from every direction like a torrential rain, each individual piece of rubble finding itself caught in the whirlwind of energy caused by this initial assault only to then bear down on Nemain, bringing fragments of all sorts of materials down onto Nemain's self with speed and force high enough to cause some serious damage. That, plus the immense force bearing down on the Espada to begin with, could potentially cause some real problems. The pain shot through Nemain like a freight train as her eardrums protested the forces they were being put under and even her lungs, which had previously survived the vacuum of space, struggled to adapt to the pressure enough to allow her to catch a decent breath.

It was a testament to the girl's pain tolerance that she was still able to think clearly during this onslaught. It was for this reason that her attempts to block the debris were unfounded at best as the most she could think to do under the circumstances was guard her face, crossing her arms in front of it as The Espada found herself thrown clear of the blast zone, so to speak, and of Cirno. Nemain stood at the ready as she took the opportunity to catch a full breath. It would have been instantly obvious that Nemain's defenses had not held up as she had hoped against the Iramasha's assault. Blood began to drip down her skin from a multitude of small cuts along her arms, legs, and midsection where the pieces of debris had pelted her relentlessly.

The espada didn't get the luxury of a moment to relax, though. Even as Nemain's elemental adaptation took hold and strengthened her defenses against the sheer volume of glacial ability that was attempting to influence her person, it seemed to almost not be enough. Cirno's mastery over the cold was obviously enough to where the winter elements pounding down onto Nemain's being had begun to encroach on her skin. The effects were not nearly as dramatic as Cirno may have hoped, but the fact that one could look at Nemain and tell from sight that the cold aura being exhumed was creeping slowly over her despite her best efforts at resisting was a testament to Cirno's ability, if anything.

Nemain didn't get a moment to breath until after her blade had repelled Cirno's physical assault. However, as Cirno had really peaked Nemain's interest by this point, the Espada used the time not to strategize or plan.. but simply to stare directly at this opponent who had so quickly brought her battle thirst out from the coma in had lain dormant in. Nemain could feel her heartbeat quicken and her adrenaline begin to course through her as Cirno spoke, shaking her head as if to pass judgement on the Espada. At this point, Nemain's excitement began to grow even further... Her mouth twisted into a sadistic grin as she cracked her neck, stepping toward Cirno only once before beginning her counterattack.

”Of course it isn't enough! It isn't enough for a few peasants to fall by the wayside! Anything and everything that isn't strong enough to survive shouldn't be allowed to survive. That is my way. That is the ONLY way. I have no points to prove. I just came here to kill as many fuckin' people as I could possibly manage! The only one here with something to prove is you, sweetheart! Wanna prove you can do it? Wanna prove you can save all the people in there? What about the ones I already stomped out like bugs? Huh? What'd you do to save THEM? That's right, NOTHING! So Don't step in here like you have some moral obligation to be here. Don't pretend like you give a shit about the people inside that building. Stop pretending and just admit you're here to beat me!” It was at this point that Nemain watched while Cirno's body was coated in blue and white light.. whether this was simply a visual effect or some sort of ability was not immediately apparent, but it didn't matter enough to Nemain to stop her from attacking head-on while holding all the killing intent she had directly within her fists where it could be best utilized.

The initial bombardment had gone about as well as Nemain could have expected. Cirno had a defense apparently within the wings upon her back in the form of an energy which blasted her cero bullets to pieces. Nemain's grin seemed permanently etched on her face at this point, her eyes wide with joy from how fired up her entire being had become from having her first real fight in a long while. Despite Cirno's efforts to neutralize the assault as it came, the sheer force behind the blasts was enough to not only cause a seismic event, but also cause Cirno to mimic Nemain's earlier injury in the way of coughing up a decent amount of blood. This was just icing, however, as the attack had only ever meant to be a distraction at any rate.. and it had done its job as Nemain had wished for it to, dazing Cirno for just long enough that Nemain got herself inside the Angel's defenses and delivered one of her trademark packaged earthquakes in the form of that right cross to the jaw that had been strong enough to launch Cirno clear from the cloud of dust and rubble, sending the Iramasha into a crater some distance away.

Nemain couldn't waste energy focusing on that at the moment, however, as there was a much more pressing matter which she had to deal with first, and that was the nature of the barrier that Cirno had erected around herself, whatever it had been. The effects had been almost immediate as the progress she had made coursing her energy through herself to try and free herself from the cold that had crept across her skin was immediately undone. This aura was stronger than the one before. Nemain could feel it.. on her muscles.. worming its way past her resistances.. It was thanks only to Nemain's hierro's elemental adaptation having kept her alive this long that her entire body wasn't either numb, frostbitten, or in need of several amputations by now, but it was starting to take its toll..

It was through Nemain's own adrenaline and impulse-fueled rage alone that she was still able to move as well as she was as the Espada vanished with a hollow buzzing noise, trying to gain some distance from the crater she had knocked Cirno into as she focused herself, letting herself loose as her spiritual energy exploded outward from her, instantaneously creating a twin for Cirno's crater beneath the Espada's feet and stretching upward like a twisted pillar into the sky. Nemain hoped the sheer force of this energy, if not the strength of her will and power alone, would be enough to help avert some of these effects. While the ice that was present on her skin would seem to fade as the normal color of said skin returned, her muscles were still not operating at their fullest ability, and Nemain could feel a stinging in her eyes that infuriated her even further.

Nemain had to act, and act quickly. She wasn't going to be able to win like this. She could keep fighting, sure, but unless she was at her peak, she was never going to be happy with the victory she might otherwise have achieved. She didn't have any sort of high-speed regeneration like other arrancar, so she couldn't heal away this damage.. unless... but she really didn't want to have to do that.. but desperate times...

Before the Espada had the chance to even finish that thought, a seperate but interesting point came into her mind as she heard the Iramasha's scream coming from the crater she had previously been bitch-smacked into..

This was the best day ever.

As Cirno's explosive outburst was heard echoing outward from the aforementioned crater, energy also began to flow forth at obscene amounts from where the Iramasha had landed, coursing into the sky like a tidal wave and forming six angel-themed wings with a considerable size and wingspan. Nemain cupped her hand over her eyes, whistling sarcastically as she did so before holding her arms out to the side, her own energy still beating against the sky as her increased hyperactivity at seeing Cirno's display of power succeeded in further boosting her strength and power as her physical ability began to scale even further to match her excitement.

This wasn't helped by Cirno's reemergence from the crater, her face seemingly filled with rage at Nemain for whatever reason she had devised from inside of her time-out hole, but Nemain couldn't give less of a shit abut all of that. Between the surging of the now hurricane-force winds around Nemain and the angel, and the energy and power causing both of the beings' hair to flail wildly under the weather conditions caused by said energy, Nemain was on cloud nine right now. Her primal lust for blood and her adrenaline in relation to this battle had escalated to the point where her sense of pain was all but obliterated entirely. The pieces of debris within the whirlwind that hit her left more cuts in their wake, blood running out of hundreds of tiny cuts seemingly without Nemain even realizing as she stepped closer to Cirno, her violet and violent eyes locked onto the Angel of Ice with a manic expression across her face, being the only thing visible on her body right now without at least one cut on it.

Right as she took that step, the wind forces hit her full force. True to Cirno's prediction, the strength of the Angel's rage imbued the winds pounding against the espada to carry far more strength than they had any right to, not quite carving her up if only thanks to her physical strength, but whipping her skin entirely raw across her arms and legs. Nemain took another step forward despite this, eyes never leaving Cirno's as she did so, the winds whipping against her face and peeling skin as they did so while Nemain began to chuckle psychotically under her breath.

However, this was apparently only the bacon bits on the smackdown salad that Cirno had prepared for Nemain. There was still more to come from the Frigid Heroine it seemed as the Angel clenched her hand, triggering the main aspect of her assault as the wings that were positioned above the Iramasha came down on top of Nemain's position with susprising speed. Nemain's incredible physical strength granted her a considerable amount of speed.. but she had no way of accounting for the sheer destructive power held behind this assault. The combined destructive force and magnitude behind six individual cero oscuras' worth of blast force and spiritual power crashed down on the landscape without mercy. Nemain's Sonido aided her in outrunning the first three, but the back half of the attack caught her in the blast zone as she attempted to launch herself airborne to get clear of it, the force of it enough to fracture bones just from the impact as it jettisoned Nemain from her intended trajectory and slammed her down, hard, into the moon's surface with enough momentum to shatter every bone in her right arm. Beyond that, and the burns covering her skin from where the energy touched her body, Nemain had well and truly had the shit kicked out of her from that technique. There was something else wrong, though. Nemain felt off. It took her a moment to put her finger on why, but it only served to piss her off further when she realized that part of her spiritual power had been sealed off.. there was close to a whole fourth of her reserves that she was unable to access. From where she landed, Nemain could see the vortex of energy as it swirled around the barren and ruined landscape the ability had impacted with, the sky shining from the holy cloud above as the energy from the attack dissipated..

Nemain breathed heavily for a moment from where she lay. If one who didn't know Nemain would've been spectating, they might've assumed that she was about to give up, given that she had just been launched by so many nuclear blast's worth of energy that she shouldn't have even been able to move.. But that kind of situation.. that exact scenario.. is what Nemain lived for.

Peeling herself off of the ground using her legs and her good arm, Nemain stood stock-straight, skin burnt and sliced open in numerous places while also still being frozen in others, blood already drying in places on her top and shorts, and yet.. with that same stretched-out and unnerving expression on her face. A look not of someone who had just gotten their ass knocked to the ground, but of someone who was having the time of their life. Nemain laughed loudly, her broken right arm hanging uselessly by her side as she did so, extending her left arm outward from her body as she looked to Cirno, the girl's rage and determination causing Nemain's levels of excitement to jump through the roof. The madness within the Espada was truly beginning to take hold over her body..

Her energy blasted out of her body in a chaotic and unpredictable manner, the weight of such could've been felt all the way to Sector A with just how worked up Nemain had gotten. Taking a limping step forward, Nemain let out a sharp whistle as her Zanpakutō materialized in her left hand. She clutched the blade tightly as she did so, eyes wide and full of the kind of crazy that people write horror stories about.. and then.. Nemain started laughing. A high-pitched, witch like cackle echoed through the base in the same way Cirno's rage-induced scream had. It was an eerie, skin-crawling sound.. the kind of unnatural laugh that was born of something no creature with any amount of empathy had any business laughing at...

”Now we're talkin'! Where was this when you came in here all half-cocked trying to drag your morality into this?! When are you people gonna learn that there is no morality in battle?? There is only victory.. or death! And honey I know you'd really prefer the former.. but I'm terribly sorry to inform you that I'm gonna be hand-delivering you the latter!”

With that ominous taunt hanging in the air, Nemain brought her left arm up, flipping her blade so that she was holding it in a backhanded style before gripping the hilt once more. ”It was your fault that those people died! I came here to destroy, and if you were in charge of protecting, then it is your failure that caused this mayhem! I really want that to sink in, because your crushing defeat is going to be the last sensation you feel. You're a lucky kid! you're the first person besides my Primera who's gonna get to see this... and with any luck, you'll be the last, too.”

The arrancar's purple orbs that were so full of destruction and chaos that they were practically near to bursting with bloodlust never left the icy eyes of the frigid heroine.. even as she crushed her blade entirely in her fist, the particles of energy falling to the ground.. before beginning a swirling vortex of orange energy around her feet.. the energy traveling up her body and compressing in on itself as it caused Nemain's skin to practically crackle from the power. Nemain took a deep breath, smirking at Cirno as she did so.

”Thrice Repudiate... ONO URAGIRIMONO!!

And with that phrase uttered, the energy that had up until now been coursing around Nemain's legs streamed upward into the sky as a pillar of blinding orange light, capable of potentially disorienting Cirno or causing temporary blindness for a post if she had been looking directly at it. The light obscured Nemain's form, but it couldn't obscure her power. The release of her Resurrección had flooded the battlefield with a thick, vile, putrid kind of power that resonated outward with enough pressure and overwhelming presence to terrify, demoralize, or even flat out incapacitate a good number of weaker opponents. While Nemain's opponent was no pushover, even a ranking Iramasha had to know the kind of destructive force usually held by beings with that kind of sheer spiritual ability channeled into their attacks.

As the pillar of light faded, Nemain was already on the move, the release of one of her forms granting her the only type of regeneration she had access to. As it brought her true hollow power and self to bare, the injuries she had suffered during the initial conflict seemed all but eliminated with the exception of some remaining soreness and scarring. Due to this quick healing granted by the Resurrección state, Nemain had wasted no time in starting another attack. The Espada launched herself off of the ground and into the air, the black hair of her released form visible for but the smallest of moments before Nemain had already closed the distance, positioning herself above Cirno and dropping like an anchor directly toward the Angel Iramasha. As she fell, Nemain focused her released energy into the armored gloves covering her fists that had taken the form of her blade naught but a second ago, channeling that same energy into her released state ability.. Primum.

With this, Nemain began to increase her personal field of gravity by many times normal, increasing the weight with which she was falling and simultaneously increasing her downward acceleration as a result. By the time she had reached Cirno, Nemain was accelerating at roughly sixteen-thousand two-hundred and sixty meters per second squared and delivered a punch downward directly toward Cirno's head that had power enough to potentially split said skull like so much watermelon and drive the Iramasha into the ground like a bamboo shoot. Regardless of whether or not Cirno took the hit, the strength behind it was evident as the wave of kinetic energy that followed Nemain down bombarded the land below her with so much pressure that the ground cracked and splintered before a crater, roughly ten meters across and five deep, opened beneath the arrancar.

Far from done with her attack, Nemain would move mid-air in a way that seemed to defy all laws of physics with the speed at which she had been moving. As soon as her punch was delivered she would roll herself in a small circle so as to be facing wherever Cirno had ended up after that first punch. Her entire field of gravity would change under her command to accommodate this, her acceleration back to her top speed as she aimed herself at Cirno like a rocket happening with frightening accuracy. She launched herself with all of the force she could manage, combined with her current rate of acceleration, and with the aid of gravity itself, blasted toward Cirno like a torpedo from hell. Once again, the kinetic energy from this alone was enough to cause alarm, as sections of the ground behind Nemain as she traveled would be ripped up, causing large chunks of debris to trail the Arrancar as she jettisoned herself toward the Angel of Ice.

”C'MON, RUNT! SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!”

When Nemain reached the Iramasha, did so with both fists extended forward, aiming the brunt power of both arms into a blow centered in the direct middle of Cirno's midsection, right around the sternum. This strike was nothing to fuck with. There were very few who could take this blow as directly as Nemain was delivering it with as much power as she put behind it who would still be able to walk away afterward. The force behind this would cause a shockwave to course through Cirno's body if it were to hit, sending a variable wave of ruptured organs, broken blood vessels, and fractured, splintered, or even broken or shattered bones through the Angel's body.

"GET SCARED, COCK LINT!"

Regardless of whether or not Cirno took this hit, Nemain was still not quite finished. She created a small platform beneath her foot of her own reiatsu just large enough to step off of and disappear in a flash of sonido, leaving Cirno wide open to the hail of rubble that followed Nemain. Each individual chunk of rock and metal would pelt the Frigid Heroine with relentless force, some carrying enough to slice skin open while others were large enough to cause some serious blunt trauma if they were to impact.

Nemain would reappear in sight a short distance away, her energy coursing and crackling around her unpredictably as she smirked, flexing her fingers as she let herself adjust to the way this form felt. It had been a long time.. a very long time since she last had to release her Zanpakutō. All she could do at this point was hope that the fight Cirno put up was worth all the trouble of whipping it out.

And only time would tell.

'It is okay to feel anger. It is okay to feel that the world is not right. It is okay to use this power for what you believe is right. But, Cirno, my child, do not let yourself become consumed by emotion. Use it as a tool to help guide your efforts, but don't lose sight of your goal.'

A familiar, motherly voice echoed in the mind of Cirno Iramasha as she felt her animosity raising to the surface in this ungodly display of power. When it was heard, the rapid nature of Cirno's unbridled fury became more focused and channeled as she had taken a deep breath and grounded herself.

'Yes...Mother Shiro. I won't repeat the same mistakes of the past. I've come too far to let it all go to waste. I have a gift and I won't let it be spoiled by hatred.'

While the sensation of resentment did not leave the aura of The Angel, Cirno made the consciousness choice to not allow herself to fall prey to her weaknesses. As imagery of her family, her guild and brethren of The Iramasha played through The Celestial's mind; she knew that she was fighting for something brighter and more valiant than whatever darkness these sinister forces could muster.

No matter how bleak things were, no matter how far gone the world had become -- there was still light -- and there was still hope to be found in even the most abysmal of wells.

So, as Nemain began twisting the knife which was her words into the heart of Cirno, The Angel Of The Ice's power could only be felt surging as her state of madness increased further. Since, while it did anger her, the self-control of The Iramasha was much more potent than that and she'd use that fury to empower herself. As, The Angel's former self would have surely given way to such toxic thoughts, but the person she was now was stronger than that.

"You've got one thing right, Nemain. Victory is the only thing that matters in a battle like this. So, for the light I want to be, the people I want to protect and the world I want to change for the better....I'll crush the ugliness of your corruption with my bare hands."

Even as the vile energies of The Espada started to churn and eclipse the world around them in a putrid release, the eyes of The Angel Iramashsa never took their sight off of this hellish foe for even millisecond. Instead, she'd use this intense sense of urgency to hone into her holy powers and tap into the wealth of holy energy in the vicinity around them. As Nemain was busy preparing herself for the next round of assaults, The Celestial continued forth with her plan to purify the wickedness out of this Arrancar.

[CLICK SPOILER TO VIEW HEAVEN'S TRIGGER]

Spoiler:

"Heaven's Trigger: Activate."

Now -- LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Like the damning burst of the universe's birth, an eruption of white illumination akin to the big bang overflowed and surged throughout the entire Sector. Riding off the back of Cirno's cataclysmic assault, the immense amounts of Holy Energy which resonated within the vicinity were used as a catalyst to summon a portion of heaven itself within this hellish battleground. It is why everything soon became drowned in an endless sea of paleness -- before the burning blue light of a spherical star arose in the cosmic space above them.

This was the damning weight of heaven's pull drowning this land of such disgusting taint. It is why when this overwhelming atmosphere consumed the region, Nemain may have very well found herself being submerged in a world of pain, anguish and utter decay. The reason for this is because of the fact that that with so much pristine holy energy being summoned in one place, it was almost inevitable that The Espada would see some form of damage, injury or lost of energy.

How could this be? Simple: The Trecera Espada was the epitome of antagonism, corruption and outright malice and sin. Therefore, it stood to reason that the basking glow of heaven's light could stand a great chance at purifying her being. This would result in massive burns which would make it feel as if Nemain's entire embodiment and soul were lit ablaze.

Skin would burn and melt; inducing an unworldly kind of psychological and emotional distress upon the creature. She would be forcibly cleansed of her sins, crimes and misdeeds in the holy light of this judgement. Thus, this spiritual pain sought to strike and burn through her nerves to induce a metaphysical form of damage to dissolve and deplete more of her energy.

All the while, the metaphysical choke and grip this holy light possessed sought to strangle the life straight out of Nemain. As such, it sought to begin doing it's grandest effort to try and impede the high-speed regeneration of The Espada. Since, it was targeting all of her physical and spiritual attributes, The Angel of The Ice would hope that her regeneration would be more of a struggle to use. If, nothing else, become sluggish and unreliable.

[POWER BEING USED]

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Thus, by the time the Trecera could touch Cirno, there was a high probability that her attacks could be lowered and halved by the point of her entry. And, with all of the Holy Aura radiating from The Angel's body, there was no doubt that The Celestial could further dampen the impact of her assault by at least twenty five to fifty percent with her augmented prowess. As, with partial chunks of Heaven being summoned around Cirno, her abilities could be augmented within this one hundred meter radius where the blast had spread.

Which ultimately spelled trouble and disaster for Nemain.

[Equipment summoned]

Spoiler:

As, by the time she unleashed her punch against Cirno, her magic was working at an all time high and she was able to produce her trusted shield: The Guard Of Kazu. With this piece of equipment at her side, all she needed to do was placed her right hand behind he shield, grab hold of the handle and wield this tool in order to shield herself from the incoming punch from Nemain.

Thus, when that blow eventually came, The Espada may very well find her knuckles bleeding and durability further lowered in that fist. As, the defensive attributes of this shield were potent enough to rock and endure the brunt of The Trecera's strike. Of course there was a thunderous boom which rocked the heavens; one strong enough to cause the bones and organs of Cirno's body to feel noticeable bits of strains from even tanking this watered down assault. However, with the precautions she took, these alignments were more than tolerable compared to the alternative.

Ergo, as quickly as the shield was summoned, it would disappear soon enough and dissolve back into Cirno's Aether Energy. As, anything forged by her hand had been capable of being broken down microscopically and divided into millions of different particles of energy so that The Celestial may conceal many different types of weapons and tools in her power. So, to continue this trend, The Angel would seek to call upon the gods to smite this Arrancar with the most sacred of weapons.

[Note: this is an on the spot magic spell, but it was created using elements in the environment already available to Cirno. As most of these holy assault are being piggy-backed off the former massive assault Cirno waged.]

"Immaterial Angel Summon: Forge the Holy Lance Of Longius."

Understanding that Nemain would not cease in her assault, Cirno called upon a pair of dual spears to help bring about her demise. Now, this was not classified as being the true Spear Of Destiny, but The Angel of The Ice yielded such a strong mastery over the Aether Arts that she was able to produce her own pseudo version of it. The factors which contributed to this newly spawned spell had been the fact that unfathomable amounts of holy aether were engulfing them within this realm of heaven, and because of the fact her energies were potent enough to spawn something this powerful.

As she would take the holy symbolism of this lance, infuse it into her magic and utilize her celestial prowess to create two white lances of pure angelic aether in order to counter Nemain's upcoming assault. With each these lances extending for one foot in length, their release had been complete. The proprieties of these tools had taken on the same effect as holy blast Cirno rocked The Trecera earlier, but condensed and made stronger into a smaller form. As each spear was capable of sealing away twenty five percent of Nemain's power; even with her release form. While, the damage from each of these lances could cripple and stun The Espada with unbelievable amounts of pain due to it being the antithesis of her embodiment.

Hence, with her game plan ready, Cirno could utilize her break neck speed to hopefully put The Arrancar down. It was going to be a stretch, but direct combat was the best way to deal with Nemain since she seemed so reckless. Thus, as The Espada came hurdling towards The Angel of The Ice, Cirno anticipated her movements and performed a hard slide to her right in order to evade taking a direct hit by it. While she was in motion, The Celestial would then aim to pierce her right lance towards the flank of Nemain. Then, with her left, she'd move on top of her back and aim to stab her from behind and through her chest in order to see if she could make a dent in her wild progression.

However, this STILL was not without consequence for The Angel of The Ice. Since the power of The Espada was not something to be trifled with, the shock waves were enough to make The Angel's fortified defenses buckle and cause another eruption of blood to spew forth from her mouth. There was strain being placed on her organs and white fluid started dripping out of the pores of her skin to symbolize this. It caused even her frigid wings to begin to crack and buckle; the likes of which generated an extreme amount of pain that caused The Angel to bite down on her lip for a moment before using her willpower and pain suppression to cope.

As, through this exchange, roughly five percent of Cirno's health and energy had been lost and Nemain could sense that much. It is why she needed to hurry up and put a stop to this in order to evade this get out of control. So, as Nemain started hollering off at the month again, The Angel of The Ice scoffed and gave her this lecture:

"Scared? I'm not scared of you in the slightest. I'm furious and ready to smite the sum total of your sins down."

Regardless of where the lances were at this point, The Angel of The Ice would snap her fingers and have them explode in a damning eruption which spread for twenty meters in each directions; and dug twenty meters deep in the grassy misty earth around them. This possessed enough firepower to more than vaporize the projectiles in the air and reduce the rubble to ash. While, at the same time, this angelic power would further melt through Nemain's defenses and hopefully pin her down to the earth. As every fiber of her being would be devoured by a holy rage at this point and she'd face critical injuries from constant exposure to these high amounts of purifying elements.

"I don't care what I am anymore, I don't care what my actions are interpreted as; I just know I want to be a heroine, I want to do what is right and I want to defend those who cannot defend themselves. So I will enforce those truths here and do my best to uphold them."

Voice stern and deepened, it was quite apparent that there was another strong shift in the demeanor which The Angel took. The animosity in her tone of speaking was quite noticeable, but it seemed as she spoke with a much more matured and older voice than previously before. As the face of The Celestial was turned into a heavy scowl; her eyes reflected nothing but a fiery determination to see this battle through to the end and her head was spinning with everything she wanted to protect.

Kazumi, her children, her family, her people, her allies, the innocents; every last one of them mattered and she couldn't afford to let these freaks simply do as they pleased anymore. Therefore, The Angel of The Ice internalized these feelings of self-righteousness in order to summon and materialize her most trusted sword: Sakurai's Blade.

This slim sword of ice appeared in the right hand of Cirno and was pointed directly towards Nemain.

[Reference to the ability activated]

Spoiler:

"Judgement Ruling - Impaling Punishment."

After those words were uttered out into the world, The Blade of Sakurai emitted a blinding white glow and one of it's special abilities were unlocked. Having identified Nemain as an enemy of justice, this protocols of this sword's unique power were allowed to be brought to the surface. Thus, she wasted no time breaking the distance between them in order to try and slash Nemain at her torso, neck, backside, arms and any piece of her body and flesh that she could get her hands on.

All of it was done in the hopes of finishing The Trecera off, or at least mortally injuring her to the point of making her continue this fight painful and undesirable. As each blow was capable of sealing away her powers and attempting to force Nemain back into her base form for the duration of the sword. And, with how much her durability could have potentially been broken through at this point, the potency of the blade was more than able to have damage estimates upwards of 40 to 80%; making it a critical hit.

So, with these facts on the table, The Angel of The Ice would have her oceanic stare meet the crazed gaze of Nemain before stating these words to her:

"Now, begone you witch."

With one final attack, The Angel of The Ice would have the sword be used as an extension of her power in order to unleash one final volley of holy energy at point-blank range to Nemain's face. The likes of which could send her hurdling back towards the earth in a smoldering crater. There was no telling what may have happened in between all of this, or what might happened afterward; but all Cirno knew is that she needed to keep forward and not allow these seeds of doubt to cease her movement towards the light.

As, if she were able to do that, perhaps she could even save this cursed soul before her....

This was without a doubt the most exhilarating thing that the Trecera Espada had felt during a battle in her lifetime. The wild-eyed servant of Shadow Fall was absolutely giddy at the challenge that Cirno had presented. This girl was no pushover.. No matter how hard Nemain pushed, Cirno pushed back with surprising force of will. The espada had truly met a match on this day in a way she hadn't felt equaled in battle in eons. No matter how vile Nemain got, the Iramasha's will would only surge. No matter how much Nemain poked and stabbed at the points Cirno seemed weakest, the Angel's power would only grow.

”Oh you will, will you? I'd like to see you fucking try, whelp! COME GET SOME!!!

Nemain's wish for things to escalate even further was granted as Cirno's next action was one that displayed a kind of power that was otherworldly in nature. This energy.. this puke-inducing holy-aura energy.. it was everywhere.. it was flooding every aspect of the battlefield… blindingly coursing through each inch of their surroundings.. and as that blue light rose in the blackness of the void above them, Nemain could feel the true weight of what this girl was trying to do. The ethereal and blessed energy that bared down on Nemain's being was ripping, tearing, pulling, burning at the essence of Madness that permeated Nemain's being. The energy itself seemed to be trying to purify such things out of Nemain, slowly burning against the newly healed skin of her released form. But Nemain.. was not about to lose so easily..

”Who the hell do you think you are, kid…?” Nemain spoke aloud, her voice gruff as she screamed to be heard over the torrent of energy swirling around them. ”I.. AM THE GODDAMN HERO HERE!” Nemain grinned madly, screaming aloud as the energy that poured from her spewed forth to the full brunt of what her spiritual pressure was capable of, the added strength of her Resurrección's energy aiding in her task as her scream devolved into a high-pitch, spine-chilling cackle that could have been heard from Mars as her energy began to entirely fill the space around her, pouring in such a condensed and powerful typhoon that it would guard Nemain's immediate vicinity from the damning light of Cirno's holy aura.. Nemain's energy seemed to act of its own accord, something deep within the realm of Nemain's true psychotic nature snapping and pouring loose into her reserves. Yes, Nemain was the embodiment of all things wicked, but she was not some simple being made of something she doesn't understand. Nemain was madness incarnate. She truly believed every single one of her actions are justified in the eyes of moral standing, and she truly believed herself to be the sane one. Imagine that. ”Haven't you figured it out yet???” The espada screamed, her shrill voice booming, ”You cannot cleanse THAT WHICH DOES NOT REPENT”!!!!!

Despite Nemain's best foot being forward in terms of defense against this judgmental assault, the sheer weight and light of Cirno's being and this energy was that of one of the Iramasha's strongest fighters, and someone who could be identified as a true protagonist. For this reason, Nemain did not go without being affected regardless of her greatest efforts to the contrary. So while her powers and strength were not sapped nearly as much as they potentially could have been, a good fifteen to twenty percent of the total initial power of her strikes had been shaved off. However, the sheer volume of strength that Nemain held in her being was not to be underestimated. She had brawled with the likes of leaders, shadowy figures that fought only when necessary, and vizard creators with palaces that touched the sky. She was not intimidated by the defenses of some gussied up little brat who's watched too many shounen anime.

When Cirno summoned the shield of hers in question, Nemain's body was rocked by the impact of her fist against the metal. The density of the shield alone was enough to create problems, but Nemain could feel the armored plating of her gloves as well as her hierro straining under the weight of the brunt of the defense, but miraculously, despite some bleeding around the Espada's knuckles, her defense held out, the true capabilities of her released form being brought to light as Nemain's power grew from the pure and unchecked anger she felt coursing throughout her entire being in response to the ice angel's cocksure attitude. Nemain could feel the psychotically happy grin that had spread across her face from her exhilaration at the beginning of the battle twisting into a scowl so vicious and hateful that it could only be described as pure and unabashed nightmare fuel.

Nemain's eyes locked onto Cirno's being as the midget summoned a pair of what looked like lances. The twelve-inch weapons glowing with the same energy that coursed and swirled around the pair still. As Nemain moved to attack Cirno, Cirno's motions were to counter Nemain.. which had been exactly what Nemain was hoping for. As Cirno slid to the side, Nemain tapped into the deeper energies of her released form's ability to immediately shift the force and direction of her personal gravitational field. While it may have looked ridiculous from far away, the sudden change in Nemain's direction was something that was a wildly unpredictable kind of move, the one Nemain was known for and one of the reasons her released form was considered so dangerous. As Cirno would stab toward Nemain's flank, Nemain would suddenly redirect the entirety of her forward momentum north by north west by about two feet, just out of the reach of the lance as Cirno stabbed it toward where Nemain has been, Nemain spun in the air within a fraction of a second, shifting the force of her motion again upward and back in the direction she had come from before the true nature of her deceit might have truly sunken in before the trap she had lain was sprung, placing her above Cirno's form hopefully as the angel's second lance would stab down. Nemain would then place all of this combined physical, kinetic, and gravitational force into a downward kicked aimed directly for the back of the angel's head, this blow was not liable to be a knock out, but it was definitely meant to ring Cirno's bell a little bit as the blow contained enough strength to shatter a good number of defenses, as well as cause headaches, dizziness, and even spotty vision or wooziness (if not a concussion) for a few moments to a few minutes after the blow had landed if Cirno hadn't done something to lessen the blow.

Regardless of whether this trap was sufficient to catch Cirno, the Espada would burst a small distance away with a buzz of Sonido, the damage on herself from utilizing her release ability that way apparent as her skin would show multiple of what looked like friction burns. Along with this, a trail of blood would leak from the corner of Nemain's mouth, running to her chin before dripping onto the surface of the moon below, causing the spite and rage of Nemain's expression to be only amplified. As Cirno spoke, Nemain could feel her anger growing, the espada grateful for her having bailed to catch her breath as she watched the lances explode, tearing into the rubble, the ground, and the energy that coursed through the air in a dazzling explosion. The hatred Nemain held for this being grew by the millisecond as Cirno babbled on about being the hero, about smiting Nemain, about being on a soapbox and needing approval from everyone because someone didn't hug her enough as a child, about being an ignorant, stuck-up little guttersnipe.

”Listen, you prissy little freak. I don't know where these delusions of grandeur have come from. I don't know where you get off trying to be some.. universal judge.. but it is NOT. YOUR. FUCKING. PLACE! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, CIRNO IRAMASHA? DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOURSELF TO BE A HERO? Nemain was practically spitting blood and saliva across the battlefield as she completely lost control, the madness within her beginning to entirely take over her soul as the thick, oozing density of it infected every last vestige of the considerable spiritual power that soared from her being. ”FINE THEN! I'LL MAKE SURE THEY SING LONG, BEAUTIFUL SONGS ABOUT WHAT A PATHETIC, WORTHLESS, FAILURE YOU WERE AS A PROTAGONIST!! GO BACK TO YOUR SHRINE, KID!”

As Cirno scowled at Nemain, the Espada felt something deep within her core entirely snap. Whatever ounces of restraint she still possessed had been destroyed. Nemain's eyes twitched rapidly as she tilted her head back.. and screamed. The sound could have come from a banshee, from the tormented agony of a million souls, from the deepest depths of the worst of pits.. the sound was horrifying. It was a bloodthirsty, vengeful war cry that shook the very surface of the ground below them and tore through the sky above. It had the potential to shake even seasoned warriors to their core as this was meant to be taken in one and only one way. Nemain had set herself on not only ending this fight, but making sure Cirno would never forget the lesson she learned here today.

Nemain's face set into a stone-cold look of absolute fury. The calm, composed, and otherwise completely flat expression on the former Vasto's face should have been telling enough of the killing intent that the arrancar had truly filled herself to the brim with in this battle with one of the most infuriating opponents the woman had ever faced. As Cirno would point her blade at Nemain, Nemain would focus all of the energy from the Primum she had been utilizing in herself into one singular usage of its alternative ability, Condico. Using this, Nemain would funnel her control over gravitational energy from herself into the ground in front of her own person, allowing it to course and run through an area of ground roughly three times the size of Nemain's own person. Nemain's eyes narrowed with a deadly focus, and as Cirno flashed forward in a burst of light and speed the trecera espada would yank this section of ground upward, using it as a temporary shield to deflect the oncoming sword slashes as the Espada would flash back in a burst of speed. Nemain spoke under her breath at the same time that Cirno would have broken through the rubble and would be aiming that blast of holy energy for Nemain's person, finishing just as the Angel's haughty command escaped the Iramasha.

”Cero Oscuras.”

Firing from the front of the released Espada's neck, the all-encompassing darkness of this released version of a high-level Espada's cero would course forward with a piercing shriek through the air and a deadly wave of power and force. This blast would meet Cirno's volley of holy energy head on, the two energies colliding and battling briefly. However, Nemain had overestimated her cero, as her grasp over the usage of energy was nowhere near that of the Angel of Ice. For this reason, Cirno's holy volley would pierce through the Cero Oscuras, Nemain's blast only able to absorb some of the total impact as the remainder of the blast hit Nemain dead on, knocking the Espada off of her feet as she landed flat on her back a good distance away, a loud bang sounding at the point of collision. Smoke and rubble rose from the spot where Nemain had impacted, a sizeable crater from the density of the woman in this form colliding with the ground with the sort of force Cirno's attack had carried.

For a moment, it might have seemed as if Nemain was done for. However, as the smoke cleared, Nemain would have already lifted herself from the crater, her body battered but not broken, bruised.. but not without fight to spare. Nemain lifted her arms, taunting the Iramasha with her very existence as she began to move forward, humming and speaking in a sickly sweet sing-songy tone, the mad nature of the Espada permeating every word she spoke like venom, making even the air taste bitter. ”Come on.. Come on… Is that really all you have… Well, I have a secret, little Iramasha, that you're about to take to your grave..” Nemain let out an otherworldly cackle as two thin streams of blood began to travel down Nemain's face from the corners of her eyes, with two matching ones traveling from the corners of her lips. ”If you do manage to survive this, you spoiled little twat, I want you to learn something from it.”

As Nemain finished this ominous refrain, she would stop moving, her eyes locking onto Cirno's own, the look of superiority coming from the Iramasha boiling Nemain's blood to a degree the Espada had never before felt, so much so that the absolute possession that her rage and madness had over her soul at this moment had brought her full circle to where she was one-hundred percent focused. Every fiber of her being wanted to wipe this little skid mark off the face of creation. And she planned to do just that.

”There is no victory in justice, because there is no justice in the world. The only path to victory.. the only constant truth in the world..” Nemain smirked, her eyes flashing with a fire that burned hotter than any pit within hell. ”...is Madness.. and this, child, this madness.. is justice. And with that in mind.. consider this.. Divine Punishment.” Nemain would quickly raise her hand, and the armored glove she wore on said hand, to her throat, palm facing her as her fingertips curved as if she were going to claw at her own neck. Nemain grinned wickedly, hoping that the true horror of what she was about to unleash would dawn on Cirno, and wanting to see the light die in the kid's eyes the second the arrancar ripped every last trace of hope and light from her smug little face.

”Punish.”

And with that singular word being spoken, Nemain had finally, truly revealed the weight of her resolve to crush this insect beneath her foot. Her spiritual energy flared around her, creating a storm of lighting, energy, and debris that completely obscured her from vision as the orange, electric-like reiatsu would seem to fill with ooze and cease its crackling, the entirety of it corrupting further as the true origin of Nemain's soul infected the entirety of her being, and represented every bit of it outwardly through this display. Said reiatsu now flowed like molasses, filling the very air with its density as it weighed down considerably on the battlefield around them. Nemain pulled her fingers away from here throat.. and the final form of Ona Uragirimono was unveiled.

The moment Nemain had dropped her hand, an explosion expanded outward with all the force of four of the Cero Oscuras she had used previously, the blast ripping through the ground in a hundred yard radius from Nemain's person. This ripped up all the surrounding debris and ground cover, creating another, much deeper crater below Nemain's feet as it did so, leaving the arrancar standing on a platform of her own spiritual energy. This explosion not only tore through the holy energy in its path like butter, but it had the potential to do some damage just by itself if Cirno was still within its vicinity, but the moment the edge of the blast would reach that hundred-yard mark, it would stop immediately, disappearing as if it had never existed at all.. and revealing the force of destruction and carnage incarnate that was Nemain's Segunda Etapa.


Gone was the thin frame and wild-eyed appearance of the Espada who was characteristic of the name Nemain Calliope. Instead, standing atop a platform from which a variable flood of black reiatsu poured outward along the moon's surface, covering the crater almost entirely from sight as it did so, was a woman who would have been unrecognizable to those who could not feel the signature of Nemain's psychotic hatred for this Iramasha within the dark and overwhelming energy that came from this being. This woman's hair flowed to her backside, her figure full and only lightly clothed in an armored top and ornate robe covering from her waist downward. The armored gloves on her hands had gone, replaced by more elegant, formal gloves with claw-like metal nails attached to the ends and a dense, violent indigo energy flowing around them, representing Nemain's pure offensive force in this form. Along with these changes, Nemain's eyes were now glowing a deep purple to match that swirling around her hands. The skin below her left eye would have a jagged crack that glowed with this same energy, showing how the entirety of her was filled with this power in this form. Finally, from Nemain's back would stretch a pair of black, tattered wings that could only be described as those of a fallen angel. These crackled with a dark energy all their own before flapping downward with a considerable force, kicking up enough power and wind pressure to blow all of the ambient energy surrounding Nemain outward, instantly dispersing it from the sheer volume of the wind.

Nemain's energy at this point would no longer be felt at all. Whatever level it sat at, wherever it was located, it would not feel like the same chaotic, unpredictable, all-encompasing energy that flooded the battlefield prior to this. The espada's excitable nature and overzealous attitude were long gone. In its place.. was a declaration of war. In this form, Nemain's abilities, instead of being projected outward, were brought inward, her control over the idea of “gravity” altering in this form to the idea of “compression”. This combines all of Nemain's strength, energy, and even the very systems that support and maintain her hierro, pesquisa, and other such things, and focuses every last droplet of it into pure, unbridled offensive energy. Her sheer, raw power, down to the very core of her being, was now being channeled into one-hundred percent efficiency in the vein of killing intent. While Nemain had experience in stabilizing this form, she couldn't use it forever, and for that reason, she resolved herself to end this quickly.

”Cero Oscuras” Speaking these words once more, a blast that dwarfed the Espada's previous blast in size and power screamed toward Cirno, followed immediately by two regular Cero that Nemain immediately punched in Cirno's direction, notedly stronger and faster than their unreleased counterparts from within the bullets on Nemain's person. However, these were by no means just distractions this time. The pure strength of will channeled into these abilities meant that every single one of them was used with the intent to bring Cirno to her knees. Nemain wanted to watch the little brat realize she was wrong. Realize she was beaten. She needed to see it.

Nemain disappeared, the true terrifying potential of this form revealed as she did so as not a moment later, she was behind Cirno, and tapped into one of her fighting styles meant specifically for finishing opponents, relying on the speed and power she harnessed in this form to get this attack in before any of those ridiculous defenses could resurface. Nemain slid in, utilizing the finishing move Serat as her entire body moved so fast that the strike she unleashed would have seemed like four punches to even those of high levels of focus, when in reality it was seventy-two. While each individual punch was weaker than a full-strength blow Nemain might have dealt in this form, their power was still considerable, and when combined with the speed she made use of in this form, they were delivered with enough precision and dazzling quantity that it was as likely to daze and confuse as much as injure. Once Nemain got in position behind Cirno, she unleashed the strikes in the following order: The first set of eighteen strikes were a series of quick jabs to the ribs and stomach, the second set of eighteen strikes would be another quick set of jabs to the upper arms and upper chest, the third set of eighteen strikes would be delivered back down to the stomach, but including the groin, the next seventeen strikes would be delivered to the upper chest, shoulders, arms, and throat, before the final strike was thrown as a powerful right hook containing the full brunt of Nemain's energy that radiated off of it like heat from a dwarf star directly for the side of Cirno's skull. The sheer number of punches would make it difficult to avoid all of them, even if Cirno was still hiding something in terms of what she was capable of.

To punctuate just how fast Nemain had become in this form, one need only to look at the ground. If one were to look, one could see that a crater had formed in the wake of the route Nemain had taken to get to her position behind Cirno from the sheer force the Espada had put off while traveling in this form. The edge of said crater as it formed reached Nemain's feet just as she threw the right hook, a loud cracking sound from the speed of the movement alone puncturing the air as she did so. Regardless of where Cirno was in terms of retaliation or durability after that assault, Nemain was not done. She had resolved herself to bring an end to this battle, and she intended to do just that. Nemain burst backwards in a blinding flash of sonido, her wings flapping to aid in the speeds she was capable of in this form as she took a stance about twenty yards back from Cirno with her arms at her sides, her lips parting with an utterance of one word..

”Nobrauktuve.”

As Nemain spoke this word, the wings on her back began to dissolve, the deep black coloration of the feathers morphing as they began to flow like water in a wave of a more pure, white energy that one would never have expected of someone like Nemain, especially not in a form as characteristic of a traditional devil as this one. This white energy flowed downward, coursing into Nemain's hand as it formed outward from the appendage into a straight line. Next, all of Nemain's outward spiritual energy, as well as the purple energy that flowed around the Espada's hands and outward from her eyes and the crack in her skin, changed and moved in the same manner, the wave of white energy joining the first as Nemain's eyes were placated, their normal violet color returning as she stared down the Iramasha of Ice. Finally, all of her inward spiritual ability would flow out of her as well, the full depth and strength of all of her madness, all of her power, all of her potential. Every last drop of strength that Nemain had flowed into this same energy.. the three solid bars of white light combining together and glowing brightly with a flash of blinding light before revealing a longsword, roughly four feet in length.


Nemain would instantaneously disappear from sight once more, choosing this time to appear directly before the Angel of Ice, as opposed to behind her. Without so much as speaking another word, the Trecera would bring the blade down to bear, unleashing an unholy and unnatural expanse of energy directly at Cirno at point blank range. This torrent contained all of Nemain's strength. Every last conceivable ounce from every source was poured into one finishing blow that blazed forth in a trail of searing and burning light that was blindingly white despite being rooted in pure destructive energy and feeling like the most evil of things capable of making even an Angel turn from the Lord from the blade nigh instantaneously. If the sword hit Cirno by itself it was capable of doing enough damage with this technique to completely obliterate a good number of the angel's internal functions if she wasn't careful. However, the blast was where the true power of this ability was, as the wave of energy contained more power than all of what Nemain had done thus far. Attempts to “cleanse” the blast would prove naught but ineffective as the energy's destructive power was based off of the principal of divine retribution as opposed to madness or antagonistic intent. She sacrificed the remaining time she could've potentially used this form, as well as any real ability to battle beyond this, to try and end this. Right here in this moment. The attack was large enough, strong enough, and fast enough that, regardless of what this cataclysmic assault did to Cirno herself, unless the Angel of Ice had a way to completely neutralize this incredibly powerful finishing technique, or took the full brunt of the massive, all-encompassing assault herself, the attack's chaotic rampage along the ground would completely wipe out Sector L, taking all of the citizens and soldiers Cirno was trying so hard to protect along with it. Either way, Nemain could call it a win.

Watching the aftermath of this attack one way or the other, Nemain would use the last burst of strength she could manage in this form to utilize a quick Sonido to gain about thirty meters of space from Cirno, back in the direction she had initially come from. The espada's breathing would be heavy, her chest heaving as jagged cracks began to form all over her skin. One by one, the pieces that formed from these cracks would fall off of the woman, dissolving into shimmering orange energy as they fell and dispersing in the winds left in the wake of the blast, revealing Nemain's normally appearing self beneath the “shell”. As the last traces of her Segunda Etapa were swept from the Espada, she fell to her knees, sitting back on her haunches and panting as her Zanpakutō's sealed form returned to its place resting in its immaterial form within her belt's back pouch. The Trecera's skin shone with sweat from the effort of using that finishing strike, and as the blue-haired girl coughed a frankly worrying amount of blood onto the ground before her it was apparent that she was not going to be able to keep fighting Cirno at the angel's maximum strength. Nemain watched closely, waiting to see what the result of her efforts had been. Regardless of whether or not Cirno had fallen, Nemain knew it was time to leave. She would raise a shaky hand, forming a garganta behind her and bringing herself upward onto shaky feet as she stepped back into it.

If Cirno hadn't fallen and had also managed to save Sector L, Nemain had done something intrinsically wrong here. In this scenario, she would be, to put it mildly, kicking herself rather relentlessly. How, after all of her battles, her training, her commitment, her intent.. could she have possibly have failed..? Because of some.. overly self-satisfied runt? If that were to happen, Nemain would leave in the most sour mood she had ever been in, resolving to gather her strength and come back for blood the next time she had the opportunity.

If Cirno had fallen, Nemain wasn't going to check whether or not the angel was still breathing. Part of the Espada wanted to see the little shitstain again after she woke up (if she woke up) to see what destruction that blast had wrought (or not, depending on whether or not Cirno being incapacitated was a result of her defending the Sector). Nemain wanted to see how much this fight affected the way this girl thought, the way she battled, the way she talked, or believed, if at all, after this moment. Nemain would return home happy, with a victory story to tell to Shi upon her fraccion's return. If Cirno had not fallen, but still had not managed to save Sector L, Nemain would leave with Cirno being left to look over the destruction, the monument to her failure. Nemain would be leaving with a swelling of victory in her heart as strong and overwhelming as her need to go bathe and rest for a while. If either of the last two options occurred, Nemain would smile, allowing one final taunt to slip past her lips before the garganta would close, allowing it to hang on the air regardless of whether or not Cirno was going to hear it.

”Remember, kid. The only victory.. is Madness.”




(A/N: Unless Cirno stops or otherwise impedes Nemain from leaving, this is where the Espada will be making her Exit after a well-fought battle!)