A Date With a Handsome Ghost [Klein, Open]

A paralysis spell? That was faster than he expected. One more aspect of these shinigami he would need to study. Maybe it was no wonder that he'd hardly been considered a successful project; these shinigami had so many more efficient ways of doing things.

No, that didn't seem to be true. Klein had fought shinigami before. This particular Shinigami just had far more power behind her spells than he was used to. Releasing his resurreccion had been the right decision, and even with it in mind, he had to make a few more sacrifices if he wanted to survive now. There were countless detriments to being made like a quincy compared to most of his arrancar brethren; but, at this moment, it was the only thing that had saved his life.

Most of the feathers he had thrown to the ground began to shimmer as it turned to gold, Klein forming one final burning sphere forming above him from Rheingold's usage on his own feathers below. But a handful of those feathers had found purchase in something Klein would have preferred not to expend this way; corpses of shinigami. His feathers were just an extension of himself, and so he began to apply that cruelest method of empowerment to the miniature sun. Siegfried simply turned the corpses to dust, every last measure of reishi drained from their existence, and Götterdämmerung turned those spent lives into his own power.

Even with that all done, Klein still wasn't quite sure he would compete, not after this witch had released herself. Two of his own wings burned away in turn, one spent to further amplify the burning orb of Rheingold, and the other to create untold layers of external hierro to protect his own life.

The fireball shot downward, intent on barrelling through the Sokatsui and into Lyza, whatever strength might be left in it after the extensive sacrificial power he had poured into it. It would have undoubtedly carried far more power still if he had simply absorbed the attack with his layered hierro, if he had avoided clashing attacks with her entirely, but Klein was far too focused on self-preservation for that.

The exhaustion of all these high level and grossly empowered spells hit Lyza all at once. Her vision swirled from a sudden bout of vertigo as her legs buckled beneath her, sending her to her knees. Yet still her opponent persisted. "Nuisance..." she mumbled under her breath as her Sokatsui was barreled through by a massive sun that was only somewhat lessened by her attack. One more. She could- had to do one more spell. But what could possibly compare to this? Not only that but even if she slew Klein, his attack was massive enough to cause some more damage to everything else around her. There really was but one last ditch effort she could make here.

From her position doubled over on her knees, she managed to lay her hands out on her thighs, palms pointed upwards and... waited. She waited, and waited, unfocused eyes watching that sun grow closer to her until it was close enough to deal with. This spell wasn't particularly ranged nor was she skilled with using it specifically, and on top of that she did not know how to change those facts. Maybe if she was more skilled, maybe if she hadn't slacked off for centuries, but that was neither here nor there. All she could do while her eyes were left unreliable from duress was to gage the distance by how hot it was. And it was infernal. Her skin practically cooked underneath that sun's raw heat, and if it weren't for her natural muscle memory keeping her kaido going at all times on herself, she would have died right then and there. Where skin bubbled and cooked, small rays of green kaido recovered it just in time for it all to happen again. The pain was unimaginable... yet not the worst she had dealt with in her life. At some point she even lost focus, unable to remember where she was and instead assuming that this was the heat of Hell making her atone for past sins.

Even if she didn't know how close it was, Lyza still made an educated guess based purely on primal instincts. She cast her final spell...

"Bakudo #73: Tozansho." She declared, blue lines tracing a pyramid that just barely contained the sun that was weakened from her Sokatsui. The size of her kido would match it, even if such a thing was absurd, and the strength would eat the explosion if there was one. The force, eruption, smoke, fire, all of it was contained, even if her kido shattered like glass and crumbled to pieces afterwards as long as no one but herself was wounded from this, then no one would have any reason to yell at her later. If she lived. Moments passed as she sat there on her knees, not even processing anything that had happened after she cast her final spell. The witch simply...

...fainted. Her horribly wounded body was no longer supported by her concentrated reiryoku platform holding her in the air. The woman's body simply fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Maybe she would break her neck on the fall, maybe she'd get unlucky and be saved by someone. Whatever happened now was purely on Klein and her fellow Shinigami; if they were even around. Lyza was out for the count, and that was that. For now.

If he wanted to be practical, Klein might have killed this woman. Or, if he were more dangerously minded, he could have kidnapped her, done his research. But he liked her energy. He liked a woman who could strike fear into him. And, most of all, he liked the feeling of overcoming her.

So, instead, he raised a hand, a platform of reishi forming underneath the woman's unconscious form and setting her gently on the ground below. There was potential here that Klein would like to see grow, and besides, a girl liked to be let survive, right?

That was enough for Klein to consider this a perfectly good investment. Either he got to fight her again, or she came around on his good nature, and he might get to pull those ears of hers one day.

A smirk rested on Klein's face, injured as he was, as he returned to his work overseeing his nibelungen in their search throughout Soul Society. It seemed things were quickly coming to a close here, so he would need to finish up soon.

Fire crackling filled the air, broken up only temporarily by the sound of a quiet Flash Step which did little to disrupt the heavy smoke-laden air. A raven-haired woman, who's clothes consisted of a Shihakushō's bottom half and a bandage wrap covering her chest which ended at her midriff. Scorch marks were scattered across her arms, though she was otherwise still in shape enough to move around without issue.

After defeating and killing the Sixth Squad Captain, Kanae had traversed the Seireitei, killing any Arrancar and Hollows within her sights. Her plan had been foiled as the Maggot's Nest now mostly lay in ruins, so there was little left to do besides slaughter invaders, a task she gladly assumed. Saving others wasn't in her wheelhouse, yet she found herself kneeling beside Lyza's body brushing hair from the fallen woman's face. What did it matter whether she lived or died? Having lost in war only proved her uselessness.

Kanae scooped the woman's rent body into her arms, blood dripping onto the ground from scattered wounds, and Flash Stepped into a nearby building that had somehow managed to avoid collapsing. Setting her down upon a table, Kanae then tore a shred of her remaining Shihakushō and wrapped it around Lyza's most profusely bleeding wound. She then exited the building and made note of its location so that she may inform the next useless Gotei member she comes across to go provide aid.

Then, she was gone in a flash. From rooftop to rooftop Kanae Shunpo'd, hunting the most powerful nearby Reiatsu, which she surmised belonged to who or whatever felled the woman. After a short pursuit she came upon a white-haired Arrancar with an odd tinge to his Reiatsu, and in a final burst of speed reappeared just a few feet behind him with her Zanpakuto drawn and its blade pointed at his neck.

"You are far from home, Hollow. I came upon a near-dead woman a distance back. Are you responsible?" A tremendous pressure fell upon the air as she, who's voice dripped with venom, questioned the Arrancar, as if a lake of malevolence and hatred had suddenly swallowed the area they stood in.

Nightmare.

Klein's awareness of the world around him was at least enough that he could always be ready for predators. He'd dealt with some of the scariest in Hueco Mundo and outside it; this was definitely not something he should take lightly. Despite the fact that this was dangerous, Klein kept it cool. After all, he was more than adept at getting away from people scarier than him.

"Hm? I stopped her from snapping her neck when she fell to the ground, if that's what you mean."

Mm, he'd have to leave the rest of this to be handled independently, then. Oh well. It wasn't as if things had gone poorly so far, at any rate. He toyed with an Emergency Kumon Capsule, before stepping away with a practiced sonido. He left behind a shell of hierro that mimicked him quite flawlessly, right down to the smug grin it wore, but the real Klein had moved away to give himself a moment of freedom.

"But I'll get out of your hair now, pretty lady. Much as I'd like to get to know you a little better."

Crushing the Emergency Kumon Capsule, Klein offered a brief wave as the maw of garganta swallowed him up, intent on being deposited back safely in his planned landing zone in Hueco Mundo. It was almost a shame, really. She was so his type, but he wasn't stupid enough to risk his own skin just for that.