Shadows Of Desire [Veralia/Open]

Three Arrancar stood in the isolation that was the endless forest of the menos. As the touch from the light of the moon peaked through the trees, the illumination showed that a man and a woman concerned another smaller woman with their swords drawn to kill her.

"Hehehe, darling, she looks pretty. I think she'd make a great practice dummy to try our combination moves on, don't you think?"

The taller woman let out a cackle to her boyfriend before he snapped back.

"Of course, but make sure there is enough of her left so we can take whatever she has on her."

With her eyes closed, the horned Arrancar let out a gentle sigh before the air around them began to boil over. Grumbling with contempt, the air became ignited as the two were choking on their own breath before they let out a blood-curdling scream and they were reduced to ash and burning corpses on the sandy, forest floors by a rapid release of flames from the horned Arrancar.

"Must be nice to both live and die together."

Veralia muttered, her voice laced with deep disdain as she gazed at their remains, hands in her pockets.

But her internal tirade was cut short by a rustling in the distance. Turning around sharply in each direction, she soon raised her hand before calling out to the endless darkness around her in a non-hostile tone:

"Make your presence known. I have no clue what's around here, but I hope you aren't with the lovebirds. I'm not in the mood to burn any more lovebirds today."

Veralia's indifference to the stranger's demeanor was as palpable as the emerald warmth encasing her form. Her scrutinizing blood-red eyes trailed over the woman's robust figure, and a whisper of envy stirred within—a silent acknowledgment of Kurai's more alluring form compared to her understated appearance.

But, as long as she wasn't here to fuck with her, that was less of a problem to deal with.

So, with a cold snort, she'd call back out to Kurai.

"You look like a magnet for lovebirds."

The flames near Veralia flicked around her much like a barrier as they were a sense of warmth. The envious nature of them bleeding in the atmosphere as she placed her hands in her pockets. As Veralai's gaze sharpened, she probed past the surface as she desired to unearth the essence of the Arrancar before her.

"What are you lurking around for anyway? You seem to radiate trouble."

With a tone as probing as her stare, Veralia observed for now.

...

Sometimes fire just has to burn what is in its path, huh?

Her face turned red for a moment as she felt her emotions boil over into a lava of envious inferno within her heart. Veralia was not pleased with her flaunting what she desired in her face. It caused a vein to appear in her fist as she clenched it and her gaze lingered on Kurai silently as her anger started to flow. It's one thing for her to feel envy, but it's another for someone to acknowledge that and then throw it in her face.

So, without making a single word, Veralia made her mouth. In a swift, fluid motion, Veralia closed the gap. Her knee, charged with a volatile mix of spiritual and kinetic energy, surged toward Kurai's face in a blur of emerald fire. Whether the blow landed or not, the impact rattled the ground, creating a crater that spread around them like a shockwave, her fiery aura whipping around like an unhinged beast.

In a single cold voice, she snarled and spoke up.

"Don't act like a haughty cunt."

As her fiery spiritual energy spiked, Veralia hissed with contempt.

"If you wanted to scarp, you could have just saved me the trouble and said that from the beginning."

Veralia stood her ground, the fiery energy pulsating around her signaling she was ready for whatever came next, her eyes burning with a challenge.

"Are you trying to put on a show for me or something? Christ."

Despite her flush red face, the gears were churning within the frazzled Arrancar's mind. She got a chance to feel the strength, speed, and durability of Kurai caused Veralia's mind to become contemplative. Spite and envy ached in her bones, yet it did not cloud her judgment as a fighter to know when to change tactics. As her blood gaze caught a glimpse of the demented expression was telling enough for her to know something foul was in play.

Not uttering a single word in response to her taunts, Veralia used her speed, close distance, and raw energy to summon a burst of destructive emerald energy that drowned out the night sky.

"Cero Inferno Envidioso."

With the incantation uttered, the woman shot out her specialized cero that released a wall of carnage down at Kurai at rapid speeds. Even if she failed to have a direct hit, the blast would consume everything within two city blocks or so. As the cero exploded, regardless of whether Kurai defended, attacked or chased after her; Veralia executed a tactical retreat.

Silent as ever, she soared high into the air, her form cutting through the smoke and debris. The cool night air brushed against her skin, a stark contrast to the heat of her attack below. Steam billowed from her lips, a visual testament to the energy she had expended. She was ready for any move Kurai might make – be it offensive, defensive, or an unexpected counterattack. In the chaos of the fight, Veralia found clarity, her mind racing with possibilities and her body poised for the next phase of this intense battle.

"SHIT!"

Veralia's exclamation cut through the chaos as she witnessed Kurais cero's cataclysmic impact. The night sky was set ablaze, a horrific symphony of fire and explosions, painting a hellish tableau of destruction.

But Veralia was a bullshitter.

What was seen above was an afterimage that was vaporized by the cero. Still in a state of rapid movement and pure adrenaline, Veralia moved with the velocity of a meteor as her heart felt like it was moving at a million miles per second. Now was her chance to attack and she needed to act FAST.

Not wasting a single moment, Veralia lunged at Kurai from behind as she capitalized on her kinetic energy and amplified it through her vast spiritual power by channeling it into her right leg and kicking it in the air with a terrain-alerting force. As she unleashed her technique, "Fury Of Envy," the air itself seemed to shudder under the force of her attack. Her goal was nothing short of apocalyptic: to ravage the next half city block in a cataclysmic line of raw power.

Lacking the desire to pause and gauge the effect of her assault, she then jumped backward by a quarter of a city block as an ominous glow of emerald energy swelled around her body; pulsating with untamed fury.

'Focus.'

She reminded herself, her mind a beacon of concentration amidst the maelstrom of her own making. Her gaze, steely and unyielding, remained fixed on the battlefield, ready for whatever came next in this dance of destruction.

(TECHNIQUES USED)

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