Of a Biblical Proportion [Africastrophe IV]

Even as the sizeable creature continued to ramble and rant as if he were a missionary, Johann remained on the defensive, keeping a steady distance between himself and Metatron, while also making sure that he was not far, should he need to intervene and aid his comrade, who stood between them.

However, in his bursts of Steigen, flashing and drifting to the side of the field -- safely out of Metatron and Lukas' immediate range -- he saw the creature close the gap, charging Lukas with a sword, and watched his comrade respond in kind. Affixing four Ginto tubes to the tips of his arrows, Johann's returned to stance faster than he ever had before. This was their chance. Within fractions of a second, His fingers drew back the string of his bow, pulling it taught before unleashing four arrows in a linear format toward Metatron's head.

"Feel the wrath of battle, and accept this sacred chalice! Heizen!"

In the aria's conclusion, the four tubes ruptured and exploded, energy connecting to one another as a long, flat burst of energy surged forward, erasing and purging everything in its path. While it was not in the typical rectangular format, with how close the tubes had been, there was nothing that would stop it from targeting the creature's head, intent on bifurcating it just as it had everything that came before.

If those Shinigami he had faced before were strange, these Quincies were downright freakish. Abhorrent mockeries of God's creation, apparently quite determined in being sentenced to perdition instead of salvation. The flimsy-looking Quincy he sought to burn from this Earth had lunged forward and struck with something imaginary, a blade supposedly capable of cleaving through him. Though it was the man's intent, an achievement such as this would not be such a simple matter.

Though it would feel to Lukas as if his attack had struck true, at least at first, reality would quickly set in that he wasn't so lucky. The outer carapace that is Metatron's armor would be avoided, but the Reishi flames surrounding him and the gargantuan Reiryoku within him prevented his sword from stabilizing. The Zealot was discomforted, an agony felt within his chest, but he stood towering over Lukas without visible injury nonetheless. Such insolence could not go unanswered as a tremendous Cero was set off from Metatron's body, enveloping the two even as his foe's release unleashed a torrent of power nearing his own.

As for the elderly Quincy's spell, a little more progress was made against the duo's enemy as it struck Metatron's extended wing like a brick, leaving behind a smattering of cracks that extended a few inches in every direction.

Creating a bit of separation between himself and Lukas so as to not be caught unawares, Metatron buffeted the air with his massive wings and sent himself backwards a dozen yards or so. As he observed the tremendous spike in Reiatsu coming from his prey, Metatron came to the conclusion he could not underestimate these heathens. If one of them could very nearly replicate his own power, fighting both of them in these elevated forms would be dangerous even for him, Asher's mightiest lieutenant.

Once more Metatron glowed brightly, this time less as a brilliant flame and more as the Sun itself. He formed and released the energy of a Cero within himself, using Barachiel's Blessing to further enhance his speed, strength, and durability. In addition, the injuries he had sustained thus far had already healed in their entirety as his high-speed regeneration returned his holy body to its unblemished form.

Behind his raised fiery blade, Metatron's left hand tightened into a fist then opened, revealing a marble-sized sphere of black. To all those above and below the Heavens this pulsing mass of energy within his palm would feel as if it brought an ocean with it to crush them all with. Shinigami and Quincies alike collapsed to the ground far below the trio as they struggled to remain standing with the full weight of a Cero Oscuras held above them. This Cero was fed into his Michael's Blade, which promptly exploded forth into a cataclysmic tidal wave of gold-and-black energy that swiftly expanded across the sky, seeking to overwhelm and destroy both of Metatron's enemies at once.

Keeping his distance had been a wise decision, allowing him to get more time to move when Ceros were fired his way, and to provide ranged support for Lukas as he went up close. Perhaps, were young again, he would have argued and fought to get the glory and honor of fighting and eventually slaying such a Hollow. But now, he knew where he was best needed.

However, in seeing Metatron make a retreat backward, Johann thought he saw an opening. In a blitz of steps, he was quick to start closing the distance. Readying his bow, he drew a Seele from his belt, nocking it in the string and drawing it back.

But, as a black sphere manifested in the creature's hand, a new feeling of dread washed over him, as if a large wave was about to crash over them and drag them under. Instinctively, he removed the Seele from his bowstring, putting it between his teeth, and Ullr shifted from its Almsima form to Rand, and a large, oval-shaped shield began to manifest from the walking cane's shape.

'I made a mistake. I can't back out in time! No. Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to cover enough range to escape!'

In a panic, he pulled a Ginto tube free, readying his Blut. Yet, everything told him it wasn't enough. Gold and black erupted, overtaking the sky.

"Gri-"

Before he could cast the spell, was engulfed by the blast. His shield shattered in an instant, and his Blut was quick to follow, the force of the Cero sending him flying backward. His body rapidly hit the ground again and again, as if it were a stone tossed across a river. Despite being covered in dirt and grime, his body singing and his bones aching, Johann managed to stand, using Ullr as a crutch to rise.

Without an aria, without a word, Ransotengai went to work through sheer will. Even through the sudden severe damage he had taken, he was still alive, and he could still fight. He looked around, before picking up the Seele that had fallen from his mouth in the blast. The hilt had been charred, warped, and destroyed.

Tossing it aside, Johann drew another from his belt. As he lifted his cane from the ground, a wave of spiritual pressure erupted as his Letzt Stil activated, and a ice-blue cloak and hood manifested around his shoulders and head. The cane switched to its Almsima form, and ocean-blue eyes stared down the creature from the distance. Fighting the pain and ache, he drew his bow back with expert posture, loosing the Seele toward one of Metatron's legs.

Even if its regeneration was potent, it would still have to deal with the backlash of losing that balance, even if temporary.

Spoiler:

For just a moment, Metatron observed his handiwork. Of the two gnats buzzing about, one had seemingly done everything in his power to survive the wave of gold and black while the other took its full power head-on without so much as an attempt at dodging. The decrepit one had been blasted all the way to the ground, where he now stood still in defiance of Heaven. Like the other one, the grey Quincy brought forth a burst of power, and though it wasn't quite at the same level it was substantial enough to gain Metatron's attention.

All the Zealot could think of as the old man drew back his bowstring and fired was how illogical it was to keep fighting against God with such feeble, inadequate rebellion. Another arrow? Nothing more than the bite of an ant. As the buzzing arrow whizzed through the air Metatron raised his Michael's Blade, and when it reached him he swatted it away like any other insect. Such an attempt was too meager to even consider a possible threat. Yet, was that still the bug's sting he felt upon his leg?

When Metatron's sword struck the Seele Schneider, it's vibrations distorted and tore through it, after which it ate a chunk of his thigh just above the knee. Pain?! But how?! From his lofty position far above the ground Metatron remained standing, but there was no doubt Johann's attack had proven partially successful, in more ways than one; he was injured, but he was also consumed with fury. A blast of Reiatsu erupted from the Zealot as he was reminded of the pain those disgusting Shinigami inflicted upon him some time ago.

Red overtook Metatron's vision as he stared Johann down, his leg regenerating slowly from its fresh wound. Without any care for other Hollows fighting on the ground below, he moved to finish his judgment of these two vile heathens with a show of power. In place of his Michael's Blade, a black sphere appeared in his right hand with the same oceanic weight as his previous Oscuras, and in his left the same appeared. The sky lit up in contrast to the all-encompassing black of his two Ceros, but he did not release them to rend the battlefield asunder. Instead, he raised his hands to the heavens and spoke in a monstrous voice as the two were forced together to create a single, blindingly bright sphere that darkened the skies and covered the land in shadow.

"I am the Archangel Metatron, Knight of God! I sentence you to eternal damnation in Hell."

With a burst of speed, Metatron shot from the sky and came down upon Johann like a bolt of lightning, his arrival bringing doom along with it. Even in his hands this Lucifer's Apple, two full Cero Oscuras combined to create something greater than the sum of its parts, felt heavy; but such weight did not need to be carried for long, as the miniature Sun of energy exploded into a cataclysm of white-hot power which swiftly consumed a huge swath of the battlefield with soldiers on both sides swallowed up by it. It reached far into the sky as well, leaving little space to run from it.

Back in the sky, the fury of Heaven turned back to Lukas. After last time when those Shinigami managed to escape him, he had no intention of allowing these two an opportunity to flee his judgment. Fire ignited upon his right hand as Metatron used Auriel's Fire again, only he did not spread it across his body. Instead, he concentrated the heat into a ray of flames he aimed at the Quincy which continued channeling without letting up.

AFRICA
That's not right. The blow connected - but it couldn't solidify. Even as he attempted to force into Letzt, the moment of opportunity slipped through his fingers like sand. A massive cero erupting from the mockery of an angel, the explosion of Lukas' own reiatsu likely the only thing keeping him relatively unscathed.

Reeling from the blinding explosion, the Quincy's eyes adjusted as Metatron flew backwards, shifting his focus to Johann as he'd attack the hollow. Yet the attack from Metatron was not solely for the elder; turning instead to an erupting wave of energy, filling the sky. He'd shift as he could, the arm of his letzt taking a massive brunt of the blow; his other arm, however, was not so lucky. From the elbow was char, nothing left but ash. His right leg bare, the skin blackened from damage. A ringing pain in his ears, his chest, Lukas' eyes flickered for a moment.

Then filled with rage.

Johann, taking a nasty amount of damage, erupted into raisotengai - a twinge of annoyance as he realized the ginto tubes he had brought were discarded on the ground below.

The pair would continue despite such results. A conference of projectiles, his opposition's argument more capable than his allies immediately. The twin black cero firing off as Lukas focused, his fluctuating reiatsu compressing inwards, Ahnengeist's edge intensifying as he swung it downwards, propelling himself forward on a whirlwind of reishi. His attack would not me unmet, a beam of fire erupting from Metatron in turn.

"You and your god can go fuck yourselves." A step on the air, pushing forward with all of his might into a thrust, challenging the cero to run it through, and pierce its maker.

Finally, an attack of substance. Regardless of however long it would take to recover, Johann was quick to continue his act. In moments he had gathered Reishi to his bow, concentrating the immense power of his Letzt Stil. A seemingly endless flurry of arrows suddenly manifested, loosing at a pace that would put any archer to shame. The air only grew colder and colder as more frost-laden arrows soared through the sky, manifesting into a countless array of even stronger slowing fields.

Anyone or anything that moved through them would find the effects from before tripled in effect. Yet, the white-hot blast was still able to encompass him again, and the elder could hear his Blut melting, cracking, and fracturing under the heat and strain of the blast. He felt himself being pushed back, and the old man grit his teeth, preventing himself from crying out in pain.

He would keep going -- even in the last throes of his life, he would still live it to the fullest. Perhaps there was some honor to die in such a manner.

But, he didn't care. There was greater honor with what he sought out to do.

Nevertheless, Johann flew through the sky like a frozen star, all the Reishi in the area freezing and being drawn to him. Despite the searing pain as he endured, Johann forced more energy and Reishi throughout his body, forcing it even further so that his Blut could recover and allow him to escape the blast with his life.

His clothes were heavily damaged, his body was laden and littered with burns, and he could feel the fuse of the greatest card in his deck dwindling rapidly. A wide, wild grin plastered the elder's battered, aged features as he raised his voice that, while crackled and tired, still resounded with the strength and will of a man that had endured so much suffering, all to continue forward so that no other would ever experience it as well.

"And I am Johann Arant, monster! Administrator of the Vandenreich's Sternritter! If you want to sentence me to any damnation, then I'll be sure to drag you down with me! Tonight, we show you the strength of man, a strength you've forsaken!"

Even now, there were sparks of pride that never would truly fade from the forgotten patriarch -- the father, the grandfather, the soldier, the scholar.

Taking three more Seele from his belt, Johann drew the string back, firing the man-made arrows toward the creature. Even if it avoided, he ensured that the angle would allow them to still implant themselves in the ground in front of it. A last resort, should all else fail, but one that would perhaps go unused.

The spoken death knell of an enemy was not worth listening to, not to a Higher Being like Metatron. The words these Quincies screamed at him, no doubt both speaking more blasphemies, were ignored by the Hollow who was preoccupied with sending them on their way to Hell. A massive shining light show lit up the sky as blinding Cero met freezing arrows, creating a ceaseless chain of explosions that whipped up terrible gusts which could be felt from Heaven to Earth. The creeping cold pervading the air was felt within and without Metatron, but he did not falter nor waver as the beam of flames continued from his fingertips.

As he continuously formed and fired huge blasts of energy to keep Johann's volley at bay, Metatron's attention refocused on the other insect who had managed to survive his holy Oscuras. Now, perhaps as a final sacrilegious act of rebellion against God, Lukas was using his sword to fend off his Auriel's Flame while surging toward the Zealot. Pitiful. Unimpressed with his attack from earlier, Metatron sought to meet him head-on and deliver a final judgment in the process.

When Lukas' weapon reached him, Metatron moved to simply step out of the way, but as the sword's blade burrowed its way into his shoulder, Metatron realized he had miscalculated the effect this cold from the underworld was having on his body. A roar escaped Metatron as he eyed the massive sword impaled through his shoulder and torso. With fury erupting within him, the Zealot reached forward and slammed a glowing fist, heavy and strong as a concrete block, into his attacker's skull which would explode into a fiery Cero upon contact.

The distraction of his shoulder being pierced caused a lapse in Metatron's focus, temporarily ending the barrage of Cero he had been sending at Johann. Though his attention was on Lukas, the Zealot could sense more of those dangerous arrows loosed from Johann's bow and with a surge of strength from his hulking body, Metatron shoved forward mightily, narrowly dodging the first of three. He wouldn't be so lucky as the second pierced an extended wing, nor as the third clipped his right leg that had helped him shove forward.

For the first time, Metatron felt vulnerable. His power had been matched by this duo and bleeding wounds covered his body. Was that the possibility of defeat coldly clawing at the back of his mind? But how? He's God's chosen! He's Lord Asher's right hand! There are none above them in this world. Yet, for a moment, defeat did seem possible.

No, you are Chosen. Even should Asher fall, you alone have the Will of Heaven. Nothing can stop your Rapture.

A horrific, otherworldly scream erupted from Metatron, his Spiritual Pressure accompanying it to deliver a bloodcurdling warning to Lukas, Johann, and any others who may still be remaining in the area. Though currently at risk of being lopped off, Metatron's left arm reached for the heavens as yet another pitch black sphere of energy appeared within his hand. Instead of exploding and taking Lukas with it, this sphere shot from his grasp into the sky where it vanished from sight and even still kept going. Nothing occurred, leaving Metatron in this perilous situation with nothing but silence. Deafening silence.

Then chaos erupted.

Thousands of Bala began raining from the sky like a world-ending storm sent from God himself. Each Bala was twice as strong and fast as normal, and like fire to touch. The storm of Bala stretched for hundreds of yards, and it wouldn't take long for the earth to be reduced to burning craters. Seeking to completely restrain Lukas and damn him to his fate, Metatron reached out and aimed to grasp tightly around the Quincy's neck with strength enough to crumple tungsten.

AFRICA
If he survived this, Lukas would be a lot more thankful for adrenaline in the future. The pain in his missing arm and torn up leg becoming far more real as his attack collided with the hollow, Johann having kept his escape attempt under wraps. Fire had exploded around him, a flash of pain erupting from memory, and the hollow aimed to strike back.

Lukas' body flooded red as his Letzt stil began to fade, pushing the last remnants of his monstrous Ahnengeist forward, and slamming a headbutt with every ounce of force he could muster into the hollow's fist. Blood erupted from his nose and forehead, a cracking noise deafened by the battlefield. Dizzy from the impact, Lukas pushed against the air to disengage - another barrage from Johann forcing Metatron away from him.

Enough to refocus, an involuntary gasp of pain, as the hollow roared.

As it raised a damaged arm to the sky, dread pooled in the man's gut, his reiryoku recognizing the end of Letzt Stil. Ahnengeist had returned to its base form, the core swirling with reishi, ready to fight; but attacking again from this position would be suicide. The cero that exploded into the sky affirming his caution, the current of reishi around him began to buckle as he aimed to get out of range.

But the false angel wanted to do things personally.

Every ounce of his reiatsu flexed, pushing, propelling the reishi in the air for steigen. Pockets of reishi exploding against his chest, angling himself away from the much larger hollow as he'd approach him again with hands extended. Aiming himself towards the ground beneath, what looked like a desperate attempt to flee was slightly more considered. Panic had ignited the quincy's thoughts, enough to try and put Metatron between himself and the rain of destruction.

His power was dwindling fast. The bright frozen star had begun to pitter out, heat returning to the immediate area around him. In the time he had left, Johann drew two more Seele Schneider, firing them in the opposing direction of the first three.

With that, he had managed to complete a pentagram shape. Summoning Reishi under his feet, he soared through the skies as the last specks of power dwindled to nothing, the swelling pressure dying. The cloak and hood dissipated, and the elder's breathing was heavy, ragged, and tired.

Yet, even then, he continued to push himself onward.

The moment he was able, he shifted the bow to its shield form, Rand-Ullr, as the creature screamed. It was purely on instinct. He did not feel fear in the creature's roar, but there was the innate warning in his brain to defend himself, that something was coming. Keeping his shield ready, Johann continued to ride through the sky to support Lukas.

"Keep him within the pentagram and get him to the ground!"

It was a breathless, but frantic shout that came from the earpiece as the elder closed in, attempting to protect both Lukas and himself as the countless Bala crashed into his shield, being repelled and pushed around them in random directions. He could hear the beginnings of cracks forming, but he banished the thought from his mind.

Furiously tearing every remaining Ginto tube from his belt, he surged forward in a sudden burst of Steigen to continue forcing Metatron to the ground, as well as give them further coverage from the creature's final barrage. All they needed to do was get to the ground.

Like a trapped animal acting out of desperation, at least to Metatron, the Quincy cocked back and slammed his head forward into the Hollow's fist, the ensuing explosion from his Cero-enhanced punch enveloping the two totally. A moment later they were separated, and the man who's Reiatsu had returned to its previous state was now fleeing towards the ground. In lieu of pursuing his prey, Metatron remained in the air where he was safest; his own health a consideration for the first time in this battle.

Silent, the enraged Hollow watched as the grey Quincy did his best to shield the duo from the Lord's Rapture he had showered the Earth in. If as he gave up on the shield and moved to run him down Johann believed the end of the apocalyptic typhoon was nigh, he was sorely mistaken; powerful and blindingly fast Balas continued falling from the sky, with Metatron's presence not enough to prevent explosions from covering the land in ashen craters.

Though even Metatron's gargantuan pool of Rieryoku was beginning to dwindle, he had no plans to quit in his execution of these blasphemers. As Johann neared him in the sky, his nearly-regenerated left arm lifted and yet another black sphere appeared within his grasp, its presence a threat to the approaching Quincy; only, it wasn't sent his way. Instead, Metatron's hand shoved the Cero into his own chest where it vanished within his body, no harm brought to either of his enemies. Depending on their outlook, what happened next might be even more foreboding, however.

The energy within the Cero Oscuras flowed through every inch of Metatron's hulking, bloodied body. Except as his Reiatsu once again exploded from him, it was clear he hadn't simply recycled the same Reishi. No, the energy of the Cero was doubled as it recovered his stamina, the true power of Raphael's Restoration on display. Renewed to a degree Metatron set his sights on Johann who was flying at him like a man possessed, re-conjured a glowing blade of energy in his right hand, and braced himself with a raised left arm for the incoming tackle. When Johann struck him, Metatron was surprised to feel himself pushed back, though he did not fall to the Earth as planned; instead, he cocked his right arm back before slamming it forward to skewer the Quincy upon his Michael's Blade.