Wolf Amongst Sheep [Africatastrophe Act IV]

There was no stopping Igen, and Kaminari knew trying to reason with the pride of a shinigami was rarely fruitful. His injuries were severe, but not fatal. That was all she could take solace in as she watched Igen force himself back to his feet and protect them both using his shield. She knew his reiryoku reserves were very low; the form his zanpakuto was currently taking proved that. She had one thing she could do now, and that was to figure out a way to do what Igen said: kill the hollow.

‘Why…’

“Limit of the thousands hands, respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness,” Kaminari stood up and held her right fist out in front of her. “Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders.” Kaminari took the time she needed, not wanting to make a mistake or lessen the strength of her kido. Ten pink points of reiryoku formed around her.

“Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired." Kaminari held it and then pointed out her left index finger at Igen’s back. “Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat!!” An orange colored rope of reiryoku fired out toward Igen, wrapping around his waist. “Hadō number nine, Horin!” With a swing of her left arm, Kaminari pulled Igen back away from Kasmos, doing her best to send him back behind her current position without causing him any further injury.

“Hadō ninety-one, Senju Kōten Taihō!” Kaminari shouted as she released the kido. All ten points of reiryoku fired at Kasmos from multiple angles, intending to strike the monstrous hollow and explode in a massive burst of powerful reiryoku. Her left arm dropped, releasing the kido she had attached to Igen. Sweat dripped down her face, and Kaminari’s breathing became heavy at the release of such a large amount of reiryoku. She hoped it was enough. This thing needed to die.

Burning out like a blazing torch. If that was what Igen wanted then he would certainly find a fitting end here in this final arena. Carving into that unending mass was not going to serve much purpose beyond showing that he was still a target, raw strength was not what had gotten them this far after all. Not that he was capable of precision any more, the prior maimings might have robbed him of his senses along with his energy. Kasmos could now focus his attacks on the other and wait for the pink-haired vagrant to expire of his own volition.

But this gnat was doing its job, and that was distracting this monstrosity for even the briefest of moments.

The second volley of ceros was just a mite slower than had been intended, the blasts shooting out in a wide array to deflect the incoming storm of kido bullets but taking too long to charge to leave any room for evasion. Several of the pink points of energy slammed into Kasmos directly, several more were only partially hindered and made contact all the same, and a shower of light bathed the battlefield once more as all this energy condensed inside the hollow and tore vast chunks of it apart. Limbs, mouths, masks, nothing was spared from the impact of Kaminari's attack.

But the dust settled and something was clear. Despite the overwhelming power, despite the devastating blasts, Kasmos was not yet beaten. They roared again, the cry quieter now but still echoed from a dozen maws at once, and then the mutilated mass of a creature threw itself forward like a whale flopping on dry land. It would crush them into paste beneath its bulk, that would suffice, and they would be reduced to mist before they found the heart of their power.

It was Kaminari’s minor injuries that allowed her to move. As this monster barreled down on them with its mass, Igen’s previous determination to keep her unharmed let her take the step that was needed to move them both out of the way. Landing far enough away to give them a second to act, Kaminari used her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her brow and focused on leveling her breathing out, at least until Igen began his incantation. At this point, desperation was all they had. Kaminari’s reiryoku reserves were pretty low, but not gone. One more attack, however, and she wasn’t sure she would have anything left without a Second Wind.

Moving in by his side, Kaminari placed her hand behind Igen's and continued the incantation with him. At the same time, her free arm attempted to help stabilize him by wrapping firmly around his back. "Flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens!" Kaminari’s help in this provided the energy, but also the shape. She focused what would normally be a large wave of reiryoku down to a size that could overtake this creatures body. “Sōren Sōkatsui!” The released beam of energy was condensed down into something much more potent, more destructive.

Kaminari dropped her reiryoku down to zero with this kido. Their combined skill let their reiryoku fuse perfectly, so if this didn’t do it… As the beam of blue fired, Kaminari's grip on Igen tightened, her eyes narrowed as she hopefully watched this creature finally be destroyed, each screaming mask shattering under the condensed focus of their Sōkatsui. But for now, she only saw vibrant blue...

Another attempt to end them had proved ineffective, and in turn, only more of Kasmos' gargantuan body had been annihilated and slowly knitted back together. This constant back and forth was exhausting both sides, but did they have enough to close it out? That was the question they were asking themselves. To gamble upon that chance was to risk their own demise, the end of everything that they had achieved, and whilst the warlord had released them purely to cause destruction, Kasmos was not so foolish as to throw his life away for this cause. There were plenty more masks to create, after all. A world here that they had not yet fully understood.

They had fused their spells together into a great wave of destruction, so grand in scale that it nearly enveloped Kasmos' entire form, but therein lay their folly. Still, it could not go unanswered, so that great body twisted around to unleash another broadside of ceros. But that purple light could not quite overshadow their brilliant blue, though it provided a fitting contrast as the entire area around Kasmos exploded into a vast crater from the combined impact. The ground cracked and broke beneath them as the true scope of this collision of power turned everything within hundreds of metres to ruin. What was certainly apparent was that this last desperate attack had not been particularly well targeted, rather than trying to seek out Igen or Kaminari it had simply slammed into the environment and kicked up more rubble and debris in the assumption that destroying everything would likely destroy them.

When the dust finally cleared all that remained of the great Hollow was the outermost edges of its form, its entire core blown out by the powerful spell. A few scattered, broken masks and limbs hung in place like a limp imitation of what had once been a true monster. It persevered for a few moments longer, this vestige of Kasmos, before beginning to wither and collapse into nothing. If they had survived, then it was a victory for them as the beast had been stopped before more chaos could be caused, but had the kill been truly confirmed? The echoes of Kasmos' essence still lingered in the air, like a nagging echo in the backs of their minds, as a dozen separate shadows began to silently slip away into the cracks and holes. Was any one of them their true form or just a final trick spun up in its death throes?