Re: Heaven's Light [Africatastrophe Act II]

Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:56 am

TAGS; - here NOTES; - here WORDS; - here MUSE; - Cometh The Hour

It seemed her gambits were working, her barrier held against the powerful blasts that the hollow unleashed outwardly, shielding Shura from further damage. Additionally it gave her the time she needed for the casting of Kuyo Shibari, locking the hollow in place... or so she thought. Unfortunately, when she saw the hollow shatter the binding kido she'd placed on him she admittedly was a bit shaken, she'd spent no small amount of time practicing her kido... and the kido she used she thought would be powerful enough to hold him. She had, however, already placed one hand against the other, her palm outstretched towards Metatron as she prepared the single most powerful Hadō she could conjure; Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō.

By ancient forces merged, shake heavens founda-

She was interrupted as Metatron made a single swift movement, and a single massive explosion was released. Even had she been several hundred meters in the air, the time it took for her body to hit the ground was less than a second, such was the force of the explosion. Her body, like a ragdoll, rocketed into an already collapsing building, through several floors and out the other side before it was jammed into the ground. It all happened so fast that the first thought she had was to try and dodge, yet this thought had come only when her body was now firmly in the ground.

Her Shihakosho was thoroughly damaged to be certain, and Shura was covered in no small amount of visible wounds. Admittedly she was more concerned about the pain she was in than the wounds she'd sustained, even so... the strength of that explosion was something else entirely. "Shit... This thing might even be a challenge for Rio's Shikai..." She thought I gave no command to lay around. He is no angel, a mere mockery. You will crush him. There is no other option available to you. Stand. Shinmetsu Tai, gracing her with his voice for the second time in recent weeks. The last time he'd spoken, she was battling Kanae.

"This thing is nothing, its power a faux existence thinking itself powerful enough to challenge the Soul King's servants. Stand." Her Zanpakuto Spirit was one who had no love for Hollows, but it had even less love for slackers. So Shura's hand reached forward, pulling herself from the ground. "Loss... such a thing is impossible for me to do. Fight." Shura took in a deep breath as her eyes lifted to face Metatron, her Zanpakuto was quite chatty today it seemed. "Show this thing the retribution of the divine, teach him who is the true servant of God."

"HEY! HOLLOW!" She cried up to Metatron as she rose into the sky, one arm outstretched to the side, small veins of Reiatsu beginning to spiral around her arm and axe, siphoning her Reiatsu directly into the blades of her axes. "You claim to have Gods Judgement? Let me show you why you couldn't be farther from the truth... Come and face,"

Heaven's Light [Africatastrophe Act II] - Page 2 DzIS6GW

Divine Retribution... Sure she'd used it both against Kanae and Rio in training... But they both earned its use. Metatron? He hadn't earned it... No, he needed it. Such a mockery that continued to be a blaspheme upon the Soul King's name and such would not be allowed within Shura's presence. The hollow need not understand what her Zanpakuto represented, but to be sure catching Shura off guard again like he had would not be something he'd do.

Techniques:

made by RR of DD, steal and i will sentence you to the true death!

Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:44 pm

Heaven's Light [Africatastrophe Act II] - Page 2 HEADERO_FtIHro4agAATQ8q

Lerna missed a good chunk of that exchange, having to brace herself, and release her Zanpaku'to. It was only when that enormous burst rocked the area, cratering the ground below that she had to move. Plowing through the building and scooting out, the shockwave slammed the structure itself, all but leveling it as she flared her own spiritual energy. That sudden burst from her release showering the surrounding area with her spiritual pressure, meeting the incoming shockwave and explosion with her very own darkening aura. Her own body bearing the brunt of what had managed to blow through the building, scorching her shuhakusho before dust roared through.

But she didn’t stay idle. Even with the dust still settling, Lerna rocketed toward the Hollow, MUCH faster now thanks to the repease of her zanpakuto, and for just a single moment, she could be seen speeding out from the dust and debris. The hard, stony externior she'd built around her body already restored along the length of her recently-shed arm, as MUCH of that surging spiritual energy was funneled into her skin. That hard casing slowly turning black and scaly as it crawled over her skin, a soft, screech sounding as the material was further compressed, hardened, and sharpened.. Once she cleared the smoke, she vanushed. A shunpo propelling her toward the hollow at speeds far exceeding her earlier movements.

Just as Shura had begun to prepare her attack, Lerna suddenly appeared before the Hollow. Her eyes glowing a deep violet as her spiritual energy burned around her body. A twisting coil of black and violet spiritual energy mixed with her own malicious intent, her spiritual pressure screaming through the area in the visage of a giant looming serpent hanging over the angel's head. A mere vision produced by her spiritual energy venting from her body, but no less intimidating.

Sake was flowing from her body. The bright shine of that fluid filling the air around her as it spiraled outward and twisted like a many-headed serpent. No less than three serpents formed from the manipulated alochol coiled around her. Fangs bared in that fraction of a second before it suddenly went quiet. That roaring energy all suddenly vanishing as the energy escaping her form was suddenly concentrated throughout her body.

"Mimata Zanshu 三岐斬首" _{(Three Branch Decapitation)}

Her body blistered into action, seemingly multiplying as afterimages trailed behind her, Stabbing her zanpaku'to into those three serpents made from her corrosive spirits, flowing into bright, shining slashes as if there were three of her each executing the attack in sequence. An X aimed at either side of the hollow's neck clean through the Hollow's chest, bathing both the hollow's front, and the sides of it's neck in that burning fluid, before that final strike had Lerna streaking past the hollow, skidding to a stop behind him as that final strike was aimed horizontally across the beast's throat. An attempt to Slit the Hollow's throat after hopefully chewing through that rough armor with the first two strikes.

And just as quickly as she'd arrived, Lerna promptly shunpo'd straight down, not only to try and avoid another sudden grapple, but so that Shura's Tenbatsu could slam into Metatron the instant her attack ended, intent on overwhelming the Hollow with consecutive attacks.

Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:50 pm

Heaven's Light [Africatastrophe Act II] - Page 2 Kw232Cq

METATRON THE ZEALOT

"Why must you deny the embrace of the Almighty? If you simply accept His love, you will experience the Divine. Lay down your arms, form an orderly line, and I shall smite you for Him."

It appeared they would not relent. Metatron sighed and shook his head softly, disappointed in the sinners' continual flouting of the Lord's Will. If bathing in Heaven's light had not been enough so far, he understood in order for the Chosen, Asher, to succeed, he would have to use his own power to defeat those arrogant enough to call themselves Death Gods.

"If you insist upon profaning the Lord, the consequences shall be grave."

Metatron could sense the impious duo elevate their powers further than they had already. The loudmouthed heathen calling him Hollow appeared to be using an ability of some kind, while the other had transformed herself in a similar way to the former. Such sacrilege could be punished in only one way, and in this Metatron would be God's willing tool.

Not even the visage of the Serpent itself could cause Metatron's zealotry to waiver. In the face of true sin, affronts to his faith, he stood bright and tall like a singular light in the face of the Shinigami's endless dark. His focus remained wholly trained upon Lerna's strange and mystical conjuring of ephemeral snakes, and upon their dissolution he decided it was merely an illusion meant to distract his gaze. Using the powers granted to him by the Chosen, Metatron used more than his physical senses to track the blond's trickery; and with his physical superiority he was able to raise his shining Michael's Blade to block and overwhelm one of the slashes, but his lack of trained skill left him open to the second. Though not entirely according to plan, Lerna would find success in her attack as his armor was partially seared through allowing the final strike to dig deeply into his throat. For the first time actual blood left Metatron's body as trails of crimson ran down his chest, causing him to recoil and grab at his throat as he roared in shock and anger.

Metatron pulled his bloodied hand away from his injured neck and stared at it in disbelief. Due to his lack of real battle experience he was unable to contain his rage as he screamed at the heavens above before once more addressing the duo of women.

"Heathens! Godless, witless, blasphemers!! You shall suffer! Repent or not, only death awaits you now! Witness the Lord's Rapture!"

Before Shura would have an opportunity to unleash her empowered attack Metatron raised his hand and fired an empowered Cero Oscuras directly into the sky above him. The night sky was lit up by a brilliant light as if God himself was descending from Heaven, foretelling not a savior's dream but instead a glorious nightmare. Metatron pulled his hand down and pointed directly at Lerna and Shura's location as hundreds of gleaming white Bala, all twice as fast and powerful as normal, began raining from the clouds in a cataclysm of burning-hot energy blasts. The earth became riddled with fiery craters yards wide and deep, turning the battlefield into a burial grounds for all those unlucky enough to be within Metatron's sights.

IN GOD'S NAME | END POST

Tue Jun 06, 2023 1:52 pm

Blood.

That was all she could manage? Just how weak had she become? How strong was this beast? Even with her corrosive sake eating away at that armor, she'd only managed the slightest nick to that throat, the only reason that wound hadn't closed already was probably because of her sake. But she didn't get the opportunity to lament. The sudden blaring swell of a Cero Oscuras caught her attention, and her Raikaku immediately warned her that this was about to be bad.

And in that moment. Instincts took over. Seeing that sudden explosive burst in the sky, she ceased to think like a shinigami. With the energy pumping through her body from her Shikai, for just a moment, she made a snap decision. Bright, glowing violet crackling along her skin as she suddenly PUMPED more of her reiryoku into her skin.

The main reason? Because she saw Shura charging TOWARD the beast rather than away from them. Fuck. She made a snap decision, and for a moment, gauging the incoming attack, she decided to act. She could deal with the consequences and complaints later.

She crouched down, before LAUNCHING herself back up and into the air, soaring up toward where Shura was heading toward those falling spheres of death, and with a sudden series of Shunpo, shot past the woman, turned, and then RAMMED into the Fourth Division officer. Tackling the woman out of her approach as her arms LOCKED around their frame. She ignored any protest from the woman as she and Shura plummeted toward the ground, her arm clamped around the woman's waist and cocking back her other clawed hand. Once they reached the ground, she SLAMMED her clawed hand into it. Cratering the ground below and burrowing the pair of them inn, the rubble and debris collapsing in around them, over them as Lerna promptly pinned Shura to the ground and hunched her frame. That shell aroudn her body promptly crackled, hardening to the point where Lerna's joints locked, the skin on her front and chest promptly returning to normal as ALL of that shell was concentrated into her back and spine.

And then the bala began to rain down. The chunks jof earth and debris that had caved in around them exploded violently and the air around them shook. That concentrated barrage peppering the ground and obliterating the landscape. Several explosions was all it took before those things started exploding around them. The air suddenly filled with the concussive rip and tear of compressed air rushing through them. Until at long last, Lerna and Shura were left in a crater of burning spheres blown into the ground. Lerna's frame also was riddled with cracks. Blood cascading down her frame and onto Shura as she panted just a little. Several thick slabs of metal and wood were buried in her sides.A length of rebar propelled by the exploding bala had gone straight through her bicep. But for the most part, she would have spared Shura most any damage thanks to her own incredible durability.

But when the explosions finally died off... she slumped onto her side. Out of breath. For all appearances. She seemed to have tanked that onslaught of Bala very well. But in actuality, she had used almost her ENTIRE reservoir of energy condensed into her skin to take the attack. And it STILL hadn't been enough to leave her unscathed. And what was worse. She didn't sense a similar dip in the spiritual pressure up above .The beast up there still had energy to spare.

"We need to leave." She managed to pant out, shaking just a little as she stood up. Not out of pain, but because the shockwaves had messed with some of her muscles. She twitched a little as she redistributed some of her body mass to repair them. "And shut up. Before you give me any noble nonsense. That thing is too strong, and I'm fucking wiped. If it weren't for me, you'd be full of holes and blown to chunks." She hissed as she rose to her feet and peered up at the last vestiges of rubble giving them cover. Prying a bit of rebar from her bicep and tossing it aside. Truth be told, she didn't even know if she had the energy to run if that thing fired another one of those. But she was gonna fucking try. The best she could do was stand tall, and give the illussion that she wasn't about to collapse. Maybe that would be enough to get Shura to listen.

Tue Jun 06, 2023 2:30 pm

TAGS; - here NOTES; - here WORDS; - here MUSE; - Lucifer's Dance

As if to buy her time to recover and gather the energy needed, Lerna made her presence once more known to both Metatron and herself. As those ephemeral serpents appeared it gave a smoke screen that would allow Shura to begin closing the distance, given the distance she'd been thrown this was quite fortunate for her. Each of the three making the distraction that much more potent.

Yet even in the face of this assault of the senses, the hollow continued his blasphemous speech of gods will. Additionally it seemed that Lerna's attacks were landing on their mark, the blade he had forged blocking one of the attacks yet failing to do further. Shura had wondered if his initial block of her attack was a stroke of luck on his part, and this all but confirmed it. He wasn't a match for them, for her. To think she compared this cretin to the mighty Shihoin Rio... Pathetic. No he was nowhere near close to Rio's strength, nowhere close to her capabilities. He was a mindless beast, spouting words for which he knew not the meanings.

As Lerna made her escape the hollow roared in anger at his own wounds, truly he believed himself some kind of chosen messiah. It was likely he was beholden to another more powerful hollow, perhaps the one that had deigned the release of her Captain. If that were the case she needn't worry at all for Nagoshi Kanae, she would crush his leader and it was her job to crush this false prophet with every ounce of her strength.

She did, however, still have some distance to cover, enough that he fired another Cero Oscuras. Yet this time he fired it into the sky, she'd initially assumed this to be a result of his overblown rage at being injured, or perhaps thinking to catch her off-guard and hit her with one this time. But this was proven wrong when the bala's began to rain down from the sky, this was when things began to piece themselves together, of what happened down in that hole with Yuuto. She understood now what it was that he faced, and why it had nearly killed him. But such fate would not be hers, not this day... She was not as powerful as Yuuto, she knew that much for certain, however Yuuto was alone in his battle... and she was not.

Though it was subtle, Shura's stance did in fact change. Each foot placed slightly differently than before, to let her utilize the momentum she had already built up to help increase that very momentum. At the same time she began spinning both chains in opposite directions, utilizing a mixture of the whirling blades and her shunpo to dodge or slice away each Bala that dared near her Divine Being. Yet as if to spite her previous opening she was knocked off-course by Lerna, tackled and being brought down towards the ground. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?" She screamed out in anger and rage towards the woman as she watched the creature slowly getting farther and farther away now until she felt the hard ground slam into her.

Stupid girl, had she just let Shura do her job... Grrr.... She could do little earnestly without potentially hurting the girl. However if hiding was what she wished to do, if this was the path she wished to take... Then Shura would not let her challenge go quietly, no she'd use this chance to give the hollow a taste of what she had been wanting to do previously instead! For Lerna's part, she was indeed using her own durability as a shield for Shura, however this merely gave Shura the chance to begin chanting once more.

"By Ancient forces summoned and merged, Ancient and Divine heralds that reign destruction and consecrated with divine lightning, I call forth the twinned dragons to shake the foundations of heaven!"

As soon as the bombardment had ended, Shura's right arm reached up underneath Lerna's arm as her left arm wrapped around her to grasp hold of her own arm and brace it.

"Hadō #88, HIRYU GEKIZOKU SHINTEN RAIHO!"

One of the single most powerful Kido to be created, shy of that which was capable of warping reality itself and a kido only practiced kido users could think of pulling off. The thunderously loud eruption of the kido and the sheer size of it would be far more than enough to be visible and audible from most anywhere on the battlefield, truth be told... even if others found out at this point, it mattered little if she was dead. This was why if Lerna wished to run, she understood... this creatures powers were beyond formidable, its raw strength was quite easily on par with a Captain even if she didn't consider it to be the same threat level as a trained Captain.

So why was she doing this? The answer was simple, diversion. She expected the creature to challenge the attack, and the resulting explosion that came just from the kido, let alone anything that clashed against it, would be more than wide enough to give them a smokescreen not to retreat, but to tactically withdraw and live to fight another day. At this point they both rose, likely as the explosion of the kido began to erupt outwards. "If you tell a single fucking soul that I used kido I swear I'll fucking kill you myself."

She snapped as she lifted the girl off the ground and dismissed her Bankai, dropping her Spiritual Pressure as low as she possibly could before darting as quickly as she could manage backwards and away from the hollow with gritted teeth. Her aim was to make her way back deep into their encampment, enough to either reach the Senkaimon they'd arrived in or far enough away that she would have time to use her Zanpakuto to open a new Senkaimon they could escape through.

As she moved, she made one final move, pulling out her spirit phone and sending the message to all current Battlefield Commanders, especially those within the Fourth Division "This is Kurata Shura, 3rd Seat of the Fourth Division. My position is compromised, I am withdrawing to the Senkaimon effective immediately. This.... This hollow is on par with you, Captain Kanae Nagoshi."

Techniques:

made by RR of DD, steal and i will sentence you to the true death!

Wed Jun 07, 2023 1:02 am

METATRON THE ZEALOT

"So the heathens wish to perish together!

The blond's actions surprised Metatron. Up to this point the duo seemed bent on being as aggressive as possible, and now here was one of them desperately attempting to save the other. The Zealot's rage at being injured prevented him from interrupting their scheme as he wanted to watch them suffer beneath the deluge of destruction the Lord's Rapture would provide, like ants clinging to each other in a torrent. Even for someone as spiritually attuned as Metatron, tracking the duo beneath a mountain of rubble and explosions proved difficult. His assumption was they had finally breathed their last while hiding, convincing him it was now safe to turn and survey the rest of the brutal battles outside the chasm.

By the time the barrage of Bala came to an end the wounds Metatron had received from Lerna and Shura had recovered, returning his armor to its typically impeccable state. Yet despite his surface appearance being healthy, he had used far more energy than he was comfortable with stomping out just two sinners. After all there was an entire planet of sinners yet to be sent to the great beyond for judgement. As a tool of Asher and Heaven, his wrath grew as he witnessed the difficulty their allies faced in their own conflicts as well. Metatron couldn't understand the cause of all this resistance, to him there was no rhyme or reason behind it. These fools should just accept their judgement peacefully.

Lost in thought and with powerful feelings of anger welling up within his angelic form, it was no wonder Metatron didn't notice the survival of his opponents. Nor did he notice the condensing energy at their location as Shura prepared to cast her Hadō spell. His lack of combat experience prevented Metatron from considering this fight may not be over, especially after underestimating the Gotei duo their whole bout. By the time he noticed the roaring beam of energy coming for him, there was little time for even him to respond; but Metatron still tried nonetheless. He turned to face his attacker and was shocked by what he saw as his body became painted in blue light radiating off the energy rushing at him. With too little time to conjure anything stronger, Metatron charged and rapidly fired a Cero from each hand which met the number 88 spell in a massive clash of power. The resulting explosion was large enough to envelop the Zealot fully within, as well as a hundred yards' distance in every direction.

Pain.

Metatron's mind was fully engulfed in the agony of having every inch of his body electrocuted and lit on fire simultaneously. Even his mighty defense struggled in the face of such an explosion of power and wills. Plenty of time to retreat had passed for Lerna and Shura by the time the dust settled after their final attempt on his life. Left behind was a blackened and scorched Metatron covered in cracks and leaking wounds, though it wasn't long before both had recovered. Yet as he returned once again to his pure, clean self, he did not recover from the anguish Heaven's enemies had inflicted upon him. Out of blind rage Metatron began rapidly firing more and more Cero at random, further increasing the destruction dealt to the battlefield while entirely missing his intended targets. His roars filled the air between the screams of careening Cero blasts sent in every direction but the right one.

IN GOD'S NAME | END POST