Midnight Duel [Veralia/Kanako]

Previous thread: https://www.platinumhearts.net/t24692-sands-stained-in-judgement-veralia-kanako?nid=4956#176710

Home sweet home.

Stepping out of the swirling void of the garganta, Veralia stepped into the sands of Hueco Mundo as her blood gaze looked upward at the endless night sky above her. This place always had a dreadful air to it, but that was the least of her concerns at the moment.

As she walked away from the vortex, Veralia promptly moved a few feet forward and spun on her heels. In that motion, she moved her left hand into her shirt and pulled out an emerald ember before it transfigured itself into a blade forged from the fire of her spirit. This was her Zanpakutō and she would need for the titan that was coming out of the black hole ahead of her.

"Our souls are eternally chained to our nature, representing humanity's darkest aspects. It's a shadow we can never fully escape"

The air around the two would soon start to ignite with a smothering aura as the envious power of Veralia's soul bled out.

"We play the cards dealt to us, gain strength, and rise above the mindless fury of our former hollow selves."

With her free hand, Veralia then motioned for Kanako to charge her.

"Now come."

Her stance was confident, ready for the clash, yet there was a flicker of curiosity in her eyes — a silent question of what this encounter would reveal about their shared nature.

Veralia's instincts were on high alert, ready for Kanako's retaliation. As the aqua light of Kanako's cero hurtled towards her, Veralia’s response was instinctual and fierce. With a guttural snarl, she summoned a vortex of emerald flames from her blade, directing it with unerring precision at the oncoming energy.

These two forces would clash and obliterate everything in their wake as the dance of fire and energy swirled into a blinding light show that lit up the night around them. Chunks of scorched earth scattered, while plums of sand and smoke shot up in every direction; making it harder to see in the area.

Amid the carnage, Veralia borrowed herself underground and dug until she emerged behind Kanako with her right leg drenched in vivid emerald flames. In a swift movement, she lashed out in a powerful kick aimed at Kanako's spine. The strike was intended not just to impact but to explode with the force of a grenade, a testament to Veralia’s relentless fighting spirit.

"Let's see how tough those damn muscles are, eh? We'll see what rebelling gets me."

Veralia's voice dripped with sarcasm as she taunted Kanako by using her words against her. At that moment, her eyes glinted with the thrill of the challenge, eager to test the limits of her formidable adversary and blow off more steam.

The flick of Kanako's tail had a violent whip to it; causing Veralia to feel a sting of pain from her action as she hissed in irritation. Body reacting on adrenaline and instinct, she bolted backward away from Kanako to avoid the woman gripping her ankle and slamming her zanpukto into her. However, what she hadn't anticipated was the release of the cero coming from the beast.

Veralia's eyes widened as she caught sight of the incoming cero, a surge of surprise flashing across her face. Time seemed to slow as she focused intently, channeling her emerald flames into her hands, transforming them into protective shields. The flames wrapped around her palms, casting an eerie glow on her determined features.

Gritting her teeth against the swelling pain, the woman roared out into the empty night and chucked the aqua-drenched cero into the air as it became devoured by her envious inferno. As the flames and energy twirled around, they exploded a half mile in the air as it painted the midnight heavens with a blend of blue and green hues that brought color and light to the dull blackness around them.

With a scorching pain in her palms, the woman needed a moment to recover and let the physical anguish settle in. It felt as if her heart was beating at a thousand miles per second, but Veralia made a series of repeated jumps backward for a few hundred feet; but she kept her eyes locked like a hawk on Kanako.

"I'll burn everything that strives against me."

Veralia's tone was as defiant as ever as her spiritual energy bled out around her body in the form of an emerald blaze meant to protect her.

The battle had given her a taste of Kanako's formidable strength, but Veralia was already calculating her next move, her mind racing with strategies to overcome this formidable foe as she kept her distance for now. Her stance was poised, ready to leap into action, the fire in her eyes unquenchable.

Veralia's body reacted on instinct and unleashed a powerful punch to dispose of the swirling smog to avoid being placed in an unfavorable environment.

Sensing that she was going for another energy attack, she put her body to use to rapidly approach Kanako by tapping into the kinetic energy she already produced jumping backward from the lizard beast.

Eyes narrowing in, she used her superior soindo to emerge before Kanako and disrupt her cero before it could fire off. Utilizing the Flare of Envy, she ripped out her fiery blade at her side and slashed down at the beast of a woman to prematurely cut off her Relámpago Cero.

In the next instant, a torrent of emerald flames erupted, tearing through the desert sands. The vibrant inferno spread across the vicinity, its fierce glow casting an eerie light across the night, painting the scene with a surreal, green hue as its flames crackled amongst what would otherwise be a quiet scene.

Amidst this chaos, Veralia stood poised, her "Hierro Ardiente" igniting into life. A radiant aura of intense heat enveloped her, the fiery green light threatening to melt anything that dared come too close. She was a tempest of fury and fire, a beacon of her envious soul's power.

With this factor at play, if Kanako still charged at Veralia, it would be hell to pay as her body was radiating the heat of its envious soul. Her blazing zanpukto would be there to meet her strike for strike.

Thus, amid this heated standoff, Veralia's voice cut through, sharp and clear.

"Help? And how do you intend to do that?"

It was a challenge in a way; as her tone was a mixture of skepticism, curiosity, and irritation as their battle flared on.

Veralia sucked her teeth in disdain as Kanako went on the counter-attack. The diversion of her initial strike irritated her, so she made sure to stay the hell out of the way of her Relampago Cero Infusion.

With her instincts screaming for her to dodge, her body responded with an explosive burst of soindo. She poured every ounce of her formidable speed into distancing herself from the impending devastation, her form becoming a blur against the backdrop of the battlefield. The effort was monumental, and draining, evidenced by the bright emerald aura engulfing her legs—a visible testament to the sheer force of will and energy expended in the maneuver.

Breathing in and out rapidly, Veralia kept herself perched in the heavens to observe the hellfire below. Despite the fatigue from that frantic sprint, her mind remained in the moment and was thinking over a means to deal with this situation.

Given that there was still an inferno around them, there was no point in wasting energy until she had a second to recover herself and go back on the offensive. So, Veralia wasted no time clapping her hands together as if she were praying and having the flames around them converge on Kanako's body to drown the woman in a sea of envy. It was meant to burn, degrade, and drag down the woman's durability as Veralia caught her breath.

"Train, huh? Fine. You'll serve as the perfect forge to temper my strength."

Projecting her voice throughout the battlefield, her determination flared as brightly as the flames that danced at her command. This fight was more than a mere clash of powers; it was an opportunity to refine her might.