To Slay a Tyrant [AfriCatastrophe, Act IV]

Each attack he made was met in kind. The whispers of the creature locked away, the roaring screaming of his pulse and heart in his ears, the thrill, the freedom -- everything else was so loud. He hadn't felt like this in so long, not since flying through the sky, free from everything. This, the power he spent centuries cultivating, the thrill of a fight against another at the pinnacle of existence.

His arms trembled with excitement. Something like this, an Arrancar Resurreccion -- perhaps it was possible to attain himself. Another potential layer of strength to reach. But, that was a question for later, for further down the road.

Regardless of his attacks being deflected, Yuuto continued to swing with wild, deafening fury, more electrified arcs of pressure swirling around them, the sound of weapon and clawed hand clashing being more akin to thunder, winds buffeting and crashing all around them, scarring the Earth even further, and creating more lacerations across his face and body that healed just as quick.

In any other circumstance, Yuuto would never have dared harm the planet he dedicated himself to. But, this fight required everything he had, and the liberation he felt through this fight made his heart soar. Even without the dedication it demanded, there still lay the heart of a fighter inside him.

Resolve began to flicker to life in the bolts he commanded, augmenting their strength gradually as the rings behind him began to move around, slowly, but surely, positioning themselves. A platform silently manifested behind him, ready to be used. Lightning surged through his body and coiled around hid sword once more, screaming through the air with every slash.

He didn't have the time or ability to worry about Elyss right now. But, she was a Captain -- he knew she wouldn't hold that position for no reason. She was capable, and she wouldn't die from something like that. At the moment, however, he intended to prepare, to finally bring this to an end.

"Ah-"

Eyes opened to the sky greeting them, the clashing of unimaginable souls rattling her ears. Her breathing, erratic, slowed and she slowly rose to her feet. Her body's heavy, but that doesn't matter. She just needs it to move until her job's done. She can make out Yuuto and Asher fighting, even with her eyes unable to follow them. Their Reiatsu is blaring like airhorns, but the problem here is blatantly clear. She's just a hindrance, again, like every fight she's in.

However, even as a hindrance, she only needs one, one moment to change this entire fight. Her body's going to hate her for this, but all she needs to do is give Yuuto one opportunity. She has faith in him, so with all her attention on herself, she closed her eyes.

Her arms trembled as she focused on gathering all of her energy into a single cluster, her chest burning at the forceful integration. She's not the best at this, but even she's capable of something like this with brute force and stubbornness.

Still, the way it made her whole body hurt isn't helping, but pain's just pain. She's used to it. For now, she just made sure everything she has is where it needs to be before she took a single breath and let it all flow free. That's when she felt it rush through her entire body like a wildfire, setting her entire person aflame.

Shishiyuki had asked her what direction she'd travel. Her energy knows how to travel out of her, not everywhere inside of her, so forcing it to explode inside of herself made every fabric of her being tingle and ache, and as she felt herself burning up, she understood she'd have only one shot at getting anything done, so with intense focus on the fight, she launched herself, fire literally blowing up her feet and lower legs as she aimed directly where she felt Yuuto and Asher clashing.

Her only goal was to tackle him and to hold on. Even if he slashed at her, cut her, beat her senseless, she'd hold on, her entire body empowered by energy that's tearing her muscles to pieces. She's not going to last long at all, but she doesn't have to, hopefully.

Asher's speed slowed, his body adapting and maintaining an active defense as he met every strike as it came. Yuuto's preparations meant little to one such as him; disrupting them was an act as simple as trampling on an antpile. He refocused his own capabilities again, another pitch-black cero barrelling toward the Captain at a scale beyond even the first one he had used.

His senses had told him of the approach of the other combatant, but his own adaptations, and his commitment to having fired such a cero with such overwhelming power, meant that he lacked the time to evade the attack. Not that he cared overmuch, of course. He was willing to let this creature struggle against him for now, cling to him like moss upon a mountain.

It was only after she had already made her grip that Asher fully understood the actual physical capabilities of the shinigami. His eyes lost none of their fearless intensity, and his presence remained that of a conqueror. Even as he was held in place, further cero simply burst from the four holes that marked his eyes, unwilling to concede even the faintest ground to his opponents simply because he had made an error in judgement.

He would wrench out, in time. It was only a question of what would happen until then.

His opponent's body continued to adapt as he attacked, meeting his attacks with equal fervor. Burning resolve continued to surge from his lightning as, in the blink of an eye, he zipped backward to the manifested platform, immediately pushing himself off it to the side, narrowly avoiding the next pitch-black Cero as he fired through one of the previously set up rings, causing it to shatter behind him.

Even with only a moment between the slim confines, he soared through the air even faster than before. An azure blur soared to each ring and passed through. With each ring, he felt himself growing faster, stronger as his movements grew more and more indiscernible. Eventually, all eight rings had been consumed in this act, the Captain likely unable to be seen as he danced through the wild Ceros released.

While few would be able to see him, all would hear the rumble of thunder with every step he made. Bright blue light erupted, a new pressure of raw willpower roaring from the lightning wreathing his sword.

Kakan Inazuma.

Nothing was spoken -- it wasn't as if any sound could be heard at this speed, but, even when recounted through mind alone, there was still a power held by those words. His focus shifted to this ability, his body suddenly surging toward Asher, like lightning itself. There was no sound of bone creaking and cracking as the mask once again made its way into Yuuto's face, another terrifying eruption of corrupt power came from the Captain as he closed in even faster.

Without a moment's hesitation, all of the energy channeled into his sword and the lightning it cradled, everything focused on slaying, decapitating this creature, this blight that represented just one of his many failures.

The instant he was closed enough, Yuuto swung with a will that burned like the Sun itself, one that sought to protect -- his loved ones, the world itself, the countless people he had failed to protect and promised to do better by.

Everything he swore on burned bright in that lightning.

"I hope you're reborn, Asher. You're strong, and no doubt your next life will be just as strong. When we meet again, let's throw down."

Despite the situation, Elyss couldn't help herself, staring the Arrancar down as he fired his Cero. Of course, being so close to him, she felt her skin melt under the intense heat and pressure he emitted, but she couldn't stop here. If she let go, he'd be able to move, he'd be able to dodge Yuuto's attack, and he'd be able to keep going until they couldn't. It's now or ever, so why not put every last bit of herself and even more into her next attack.

""Ye lord!" She started, pulling her right arm back, feeling her energy piling through her body towards her hand. Muscles tightened as she forced every ounce of herself to move, defying her own incapability to grant Yuuto his one chance. She could feel her energy fighting her, tearing her muscles and popping veins, but she clenched her fist and gritted her teeth.

"Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"

Her clenched fist is slowly forced open as she chanted, a ball of red burning energy growing larger by the second as all of her Reiatsu is given form, a gift that none other but herself could give Asher. Even as she found herself tearing apart, she put on a smile, a deranged flashing of teeth like none other before she clenched her fist and popped her own Kido spell around her fingers, causing it to spill and encompass her fist, that energy spiraling as she thrusted herself around Asher to his front.

"Hadō #31. Shakkahō!"

She punched, swinging her arm wildly for his face. She didn't care which mouth she hit, and she didn't care as she completely annihilated her own arm as she punched through one of his Cero, literally forcing his own energy to bend around her flaming fist, ascending the power of her own strength by pushing his own attack and her fist into his open maw. She didn't care if Yuuto took her arm off with his attack. She didn't care if he cut right through her entire body.

The thrill of putting it all on the line like this for no other reason but a good fight, what other reason is there to do something like this? She could hardly even think about protecting the world, but she knew that at the end, she's either a hero or a failure.

Words rang hollow in Asher's ears, unconcerned with everything that had been spoken forth, everything that had happened on this battlefield. His opponents had bested him; that much was abundantly clear in this moment. He had underestimated them. It had not been a matter of his own weakness, for he could not be bested in pure power. He had simply miscalculated.

The thought of reincarnation did not please him, for he knew that to reincarnate was no different from death. To be something else, no different from a hollow consuming another. His next life meant nothing to him; if anything he hoped only the worst curses upon it, simply for trampling upon his legacy by existing.

No matter. His thoughts ended as swiftly as they had begun, as his mask was split in two by the charged blade, as his body crumbled under the combined might of two captains.

His conquest had ended, unfulfilled. A thousand curses upon not only his next life, but upon all life. That was the final wish of Asher the Empty-Hearted, as his body dissolved and the cycle of reincarnation began its work.