Seaside Fight Night: Kikoto vs Nero

As Kikoto went to deliver the open-palm blow, he realized that Nero had moved. He could sense the energy signature had moved up, and Kikoto took a stance, shifting his gaze skyward. He crouched down to prepare himself as he leapt into the air, creating a barrier under his feet to let him move freely in the air, but it wasn't long before he was suddenly subject to a rain of fiery arrows from above.

He brought his arms up to protect his face, casting Enkosen again to try and mitigate some of the damage, but the sheer number of arrows that Nero had loosed toward him shattered the protective disc in an instant. They impaled him mercilessly, cauterizing the wounds that they made as he protected his face.

It hurt, but Kikoto wasn't going to let that stop him easily. Adjusting his arms, he pointed a finger toward Nero again, whispering the word, "Byakurai," and unleashing another concentrated bolt of lightning at Nero to try and disrupt his concentration and throw him off, or at the very least stun him for a moment to catch his breath.

If this continued, it wasn't going to be very likely for him to be able to counter this without some big, extravagant move of his own -- something that could spell his defeat.

Nero was both satisfied and dissatisfied by the results of his arrow-laden volley. On one hand, it appeared to do a discernible degree of damage. On the other, Kikoto still proved to be unexpectedly resilient. If nothing else, he found that sort of will commendable, offering a smile at the very least as he challenged him in the air. Another spell followed as Byakurai roared the air, striking Nero's frame directly as he clicked his teeth, wincing at the shock damage that assaulted his frame.

It hurt a great deal, yes, but if Kikoto thought that Nero would easily allow that to force him into letting up on his assault, he was sorely mistaken. Coughing up a few drops of blood, his insides somewhat on fire, Nero poised the string of his arrow back again from his vantage point in the air.

Fiery reishi gathered along the bow once more, magenta eyes pinpointed his target. Exhaling roughly with his focus entirely given unto another strike from above, he uttered those words once more, repeating the ceaseless rain of fiery arrows from above to strike him unrestrained vigor in voice and frame.

"Ha... Agh... Sonnenlicht...Regen!"

His whole body was on fire -- not just because of the fiery arrows that his opponent had let loose on him. He wasn't as durable as he'd like to be -- but, he wasn't exactly a powerhouse, far from it, really. Even still, Kikoto prepared to try and get further into the air, but, Nero was not going to let that happen.

Another seemingly endless barrage of burning arrows tore through the empty air, impaling him again and again. He brought his arms up to protect his head and face, but, it did little besides direct the pain and damage elsewhere. Falling and crashing to the ground, Kikoto struggled to get up.

He knew that he still had enough spiritual energy to do at least one last attack. Physical energy, however? Yeah, he was running really low on that. As he tried to keep himself guarded, he mumbled the incantation to himself, putting all of his energy into this last attack:

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hadō #33: Sokatsui!"

Promptly turning around, Kikoto held his hands out, and another discharge of blue flames surged from his hands, engulfing the arrows in his immediate vicinity and targeting Nero. It wasn't anything particularly impressive compared to the Kuchiki Clan members that could use this, but it was his last resort. He wasn't going to try and hurt himself or worse by trying to overindulge -- at least, not now.

Were he stronger and had more energy, he'd try and throw out Kurohitsugi or something. But, for now, he was fine with just trying to use Sokatsui to create a show of his own before he would be done.

Nero truly desired to finish the battle with his second volley of arrows. He held a great deal of respect for his opponent, no doubt, but somewhere deep down... he couldn't shake his dormant annoyance at his opponent's persistence. Perhaps that was simply the result of his quincy pride in effect, but he would never admit that openly. Either way, there was something admirable that sort of resilience, too. Try as he might to be frustrated, Nero simply resolved himself to finish the task at hand.

If the first two volleys failed, then perhaps the timeless adage "Third times a charm" would ring true in this pavilion today. As he did before, Kikoto employed another kido spell, weaving the aria through the air until a wave of azure flames overpowered the arrows in his immediate area, burning Nero's arms and legs even from his vantage point in the sky. Of course, for one who pridefully viewed himself in a grand light, Nero had no intention of allowing this last resort spell to defeat him. The flames would not extinguish his radiant will.

For the third time, Nero held that bow and arrow at the ready, his finger pulled against the string of the longbow. Even in the midst of the azure fire, the fair archer repeated the name of his technique for a third time. Without restraint, without pause, he targeted Kikoto as he descended toward him from above, collecting reishi in preparation for another...

"Khhhrh! Sonnenlicht...Regen!"

That spamming bitch!

Well, in all fairness, he wasn't really much better. He was slinging spells like a spamming bitch, too. He wanted that to be the last attack he made and have a cool finisher, but, this prettyboy was just as persistent as he was! To that, however, he respected it. They both wanted to win, and were willing to withstand whatever punishment they could in order to grab it.

But, his energy reserves were teetering on empty with that last blast of Sokatsui, and as much as he wanted to finish it with a bang that he made, he didn't really have much of a choice but to lay there and take it. Covering his face, he tried to cast a barrier spell with what little he had left, but was unable.

Stinging and searing pain overwhelmed him as he tensed up, unable to fight back. He didn't want to surrender, but, with him being on the ropes like this -- there weren't many options for him.

"I surrender! I can't do any more!"

Tch. This young man was certainly a resilient fellow, wasn't he? Three times were, much to Nero's chagrin, not the charm, at least not the extend that he desired. Perhaps, to a certain degree, it was a rather drastic thought to wish his opponent had fallen under the weight of his attack entirely, laying on the ground as a result of his attack, but Nero was a prideful sort. He wished to defeat him in his entirety, wished to see his attack earn so much purchase that there was no question of his victory.

In that sense, even a ring out would have sufficed. He was still standing, and to him, that felt more a slight against his own skill than whatever perception he had developed so far about Kikoto's resilience. As he landed onto the ground, he cocked his head to the side, magenta eyes regarding him with incredulous stare. He had withstood so much up until then, and he was choosing to bow out now? Nero clicked his teeth, his lips curved into a competitive pout as he looked around the crowd.

"Really? That's it?"

...He was upset? He had basically won by a landside, and he was upset about it?

Kikoto's head peeked out from behind his arms, looking confused. Surely he understood the difference between them in power, didn't he? Why was he so upset about beating him? Standing up. Kikoto didn't even pay heed to his wounds as his expression went from just confusion to irritation alongside it.

"What do you mean, 'that's it'? Unless you want me to start spamming Sho at you like you were spamming that big arrow rain at me, I don't have a lot of options left!"

To prove the example, he pointed his index finger at Nero, quickly and sloppily unleashing a blast of kinetic force to his stomach. It wasn't something that would do anything more than knock him off his feet at worst, but it was something to prove the point.

"And I don't wanna be turned into a pincushion because you're a spamming bitch! I don't wanna lose, either, but I don't really have a choice besides giving up! Maybe if you didn't just keep throwing the same thing at me, we wouldn't be in this situation! I was at least giving you some cool variety of spells!"

Part of him was tempted to sucker-punch him, but, while he was competitive and loved to show off and win, he wasn't going to be that kind of jerk. Unlike the prettyboy that mostly spammed the same attack over and over again!

Perhaps, simply by merit of Nero being at a genuine loss of words and action, he didn't bother to recognize the clumsy kinetic blast that crashed against his frame. Stumbling back slightly, magenta eyes regarding the man with utter disbelief that slowly turned into exasperation, Nero stomped his feet with a pout. He was really giving up over that!? What happened to the concept of a warrior's pride!? Here he was, fighting in the name of his realm and his division, and he was giving up over something as simple as him repeating the same technique!? Nero fired an arrow off in response, targeting his chest as he started approaching him, positioning one hand at his hip as pointed at him.

"What are you, a child!? How are you going to blame me for an attack that should've struck you down ten times over? If there's someone who should be upset, it's me! Three Sonnelichts, and you're still standing! I always told soul reapers have tricky endurance, but that's just unfair! I have people to impress, you know!"

Childish?! He was being even more childish by stomping his foot and pouting like that! Kikoto's expression turned to one of annoyance, casting Enkosen to block the arrow, the gold disk shattering upon contact. He got even closer to Nero, getting up in his face, prodding his chest accusingly. Each poke and prod released a small blast of Hadō #1: Sho, pushing him a little bit further back as Kikoto continued to close the tiny distance they had.

"Yeah, and so do I! It's not unfair for me to be durable! I'm not even giving up because you're spamming, I'm surrendering because I don't have a lot of spiritual energy left to use! Plus, you're acting like more of a child with you stomping your foot and pouting!"

"How dare you accuse me of being the child when your the one choosing to give up in the middle of a battle! And stop pushing me in the chest with those kido spells if you've given up, you actual ape!"

Nero was livid. There was no doubt about it. If he had bowed out honorably and stated he could no longer go on, then perhaps Nero would have simply walked away with pride, his held head high. But this was another matter entirely. He didn't even care if the announcer had declared anything, his ears barely registered any of that. At the moment, he flexed his hands with the continued prodding at his chest, raising them up to press him backward with a push. He wasn't some symbol of strength, so the likelihood that he'd be pushed down was close to zero. Regardless, Nero balled his fists up, shrouding them in fiery reishi of reishi that expanded outward as he threw a punch against his chest.

"Here! Happy!? If you want me to use something other than my superior quincy techniques, then I'll best you in a close quarter combat!"