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This article, Hunger and Greed: Requiem, is the sixteenth chapter of the Hueco Mundo arc, which is part of Bleach: War for the King's Seal. This chapter focuses on Hikari Raiotto and his continuing crusade against Averian and his followers, specifically the Hollow Clarion, and serves as a sequel to both Fortuitous Meeting and Archon of Storms, whilst running concurrently with Calm Before War. The chapter was authored jointly by Kenji and Brave.
"Well, this is abrupt." A young man dressed in a blue-jean jacket, black shirt, matching trousers and golden combat-boots stated plainly.
Hikari stood on a platform of reishi, overlooking the battle already being undergone beneath him. He could barely see the figures from within the storm that had been conjured by who he could assume was the one fighting Averian. The storm itself was perfectly controlled, despite it raging within the enclosed space of the Forest of Menos, Hikari himself didn't feel so much as a gust of wind. Whoever was fighting Averian, was giving him a better fight than he did, and he was backed by a dozen other people!
Sure, he was more powerful now, but compared to these two? It was clear that he overestimated himself. Again. If Shiratori finds out about this, I'm dead. He thought to himself. But in his defense, it was the spike of Averian'sreiatsu that drew him here. Shiratori was busy with something in the human world and had asked him to keep watch over her laboratory here in Hueco Mundo. Under the expressed promise that he wouldn't go near the Forest of Menos, of course. To any other person, a promise might mean as much as the words spoken to ensure it. Sound gone into the wind.
But to Hikari, it meant more than that. Especially to Shiratori. A man's word is his bond, something his father taught him from the time he could walk. So he would stay away from trying to confront Averian, and it was clear he made the right choice. If he had fought the Arrancar, even as he is now, he would have lost. Decisively. And that made him grit his teeth in anger. He knew that the power Averian showed last time they fought wasn't the full brunt of it. But for him to be holding back this much? It was clear that he had far exceeded Hikari's expectations.
He noticed Gunner and few other notable Arrancar watching the fight go down. If they weren't eager to get involved in this skirmish, then he was definitely staying out of it.
After all that training I did, I would have still been outmatched. He though angrily to himself.
--
Several days ago...
Hikari stood in the center of his Father's training grounds. His eyes closed, fist clenched at his side. His reiatsu spiked as though in the middle of battle.
"Your father was more impressive..." A sinister voice spoke in the back of his mind. Hikari's eyes snapped open! Revealing an infinite expanse of darkness before him, Averian standing on the other side. His smile twisted, eyes maddened, just as he was before.
Hikari leaped at the Arrancar, reishi knuckle dusters manifesting on his hands. He struck at the Arrancar, and battle ensued.
Hours had passed, several dozen battles had taken place, Hikari on the losing end of most of them. Yet his power steadily grew, to the point where he was able to tip the scales in his favor. Eventually, he would defeat this image of the Devour more often than not. His body was bloodied and bruised, but yet he stood over the corpse of the monster that took his father from him.
His eyes opened again, this time returning to the reality of Hueco Mundo. His power had grown exponentially, the process of image training over the course of these past few days had paid off tremendously.
Perhaps now, he was finally ready to put this thing to rest. But it couldn't be now, he couldn't follow his first instinct and rush to Averian's location. He promised Shiratori that he would stay away from the Arrancar for now.
And he never went back on his word. That's not what his father taught him.
But didn't I make a promise to Father? To avenge him?!
Hikari's frustrated thoughts exploded through his mind. Conflicting promises are always the worse.
-- Back in the present
It seems like Hikari made the right choice, valuing the promise made to the living over that made to the dead.
--
When Hotaru Hiroshi fled and his father took up the battle in his stead, I was quick to be elsewhere. To do otherwise would be folly.
Nyx had finally agreed with my reasoning, but she had not been happy at the time.
There were many things that came with being one of Averian's followers and many expectations. Loyalty was a given, strength was paramount, and the cunning required to further the goal wasn't expected -- it was demanded. Failure was met with death, swift and brutal. But perhaps the most important of all was knowing when and where it was appropriate to join in and fight at his side. This was not one of those times. I could do so -- many of my brethren probably expected that very thing -- but to do so would be tantamount to suicide.
And death would not come at the hands of the Shinigami. No, it would come from Averian himself. There was one rule when serving a creature like Averian: never come between him and his prey. And I had no intention of dying today.
"Clarion, we should-!"
"No, Nyx, we shouldn't."
When I turned and walked away, storm clouds at my back and my carapace soaked with the falling rain, Nyx slowly, hesitantly, followed close behind me. Not for the first time, I felt like I had a target painted on my back. Her gaze drilled into me, all fury and spite, but thankfully she didn't put thought into action. The internal battle raging within her ended in my favour. For now, self-preservation and common sense won out.
Her pace quickened, and her tone softened.
"Then what are we to do?"
"Time is against us," I answered simply. "We'll go to the Forest's heart, as our master planned. And then we will see."
The very heart of the Forest of Menos, long known as the heart of Averian's domain, was an ancient place of power, one once visited by ancient Hollow. The reimyaku that flowed through Hueco Mundo was especially concentrated here, a nexus of power, akin to the spiritually-enriched plots recorded in the World of the Living. The ground flowed with power untapped, the soil enriched by countless centuries, and the air sang a nurturing tune for the denizens of Hueco Mundo. Back in the far-flung past, when the Vasto-Lorde ruled uncontested, this place birthed a new phenomenon. For it was here that Averian acquired the powers of a Shinigami and became the first Arrancar.
And now, Nyx and I had completed our own pilgrimage.
We had drank deep of the concentrated power here, letting it feed our souls and strengthen our bodies, our master's power -- the Evolución -- acting as a magnet and amplifier both. As the battle raged above, we underwent a new transformation. We had finally ascended! We were Vasto-Lorde in our own right.
Our reiatsu surged like never before! It joined with the power flowing through this place, another voice joining the chorus, and that tune was beautifully chaotic.
--
Hikari turned towards the Forest of Menos; the power flowing from and through it making the forest thrum with power. Power Hikari was all too familiar with. Clarion... He thought. He promised Shiratori he wouldn't go near Averian. He never said anything about his lackey. Conjuring his Spirit Weapon, a pair of ornate brass knuckles, Hikari's hand became encased with electricity. The energy was then formed into a javelin, and launched at the source of the power swell!
A brash action to be sure, but from the looks of it, Averian wasn't going to make it out of his recent conflict alive. So Hikari had to make someone the target of his anger. The overgrown bug presenting the perfect opportunity.
The lightning bolt crashed towards the forest, becoming larger and sharper the closer it came to hitting its mark. Hiraishin; the technique Hikari developed that allowed a thunderbolt to absorb reishi from the atmosphere in order to increase its strength. The power emanating from the forest was being fed into the javelin at a rapid pace, until it finally made contact.
The silvery trees couldn't conduct electricity, being that they were made from quartz. So, instead of anything fancy, it sent an enormous fireball up into the air. "Tenka." Hikari spoke. At his word, the flames created by the lightning strike swirled into itself, concentrating to the point where it's size decreased to a third of it's original size. With a swift "thumbs down" gesture, Hikari sent the fire ball back into the ground below, reducing the trees surrounding Clarion, and hopefully Clarion himself, to ash.
Nyx, rather than I, was the one who moved first, a blur of white and scarlet red.
Her transformation hadn't caused a drastic change in her physical form, unsurprising given that she -- like me -- had been close to evolving in the first place. Though in truth, I was selling her short; Nyx had been closer to the evolution than me. The only thing that elevated me above her in Averian's eyes was my sense of restraint and cunning mind. She was still sleek and feminine, an hourglass figure accentuated with just noticeable muscle, but altogether looked more Human. The change that had come over her was more spiritual. Her foot impacting the ground, her reiatsu cratering and cracking the floor as she expelled it from the sole of her sleek bone-clad feet, gave a good indication of the difference.
"You dare!?" I heard her hiss.
I felt her scarlet locks wrap around me, obscuring my vision completely, and then my sense of smell was overwhelmed by the scent of burnt hair. Nyx was capable of weaponizing her hair in any number of ways. As an Adjucha, her preferred means of long-range combat was launching it in the form of needles to quickly overwhelm her quarry. Her rapid regeneration enabled her to keep a near limitless supply of "ammunition". When used defensively, it could reach a degree of density equal to the bone-like carapace that hugged tight to her body. And the transformation had seemingly bolstered this durability further. Once she cast aside the burnt strands and rapidly regrew that which had protected us, there was nothing but the scent and the still-lingering flames burning said strands to indicate we had ever been attacked at all.
"Relax, Nyx." I insisted, my voice echoing out from the smoke and lingering flame. "Observe Gundinger and make sure that the old bastard doesn't try anything heroic. We have allowed him to move freely too long."
"But-"
"Go. Now."
I stepped forward, black, circular-coloured streaks covering my new carapace, and clenched two very Human-like fists at my side. I still sported four arms, but only two of them had the pincer-like claws of my former stage, and I honestly felt the sensation of clenched fingers odd. Furthermore, my wings felt stronger; heavy, yes, but durable. But still, I had a demonstration to make, and not just to the invading Quincy. My newfound physicality was backed by my rising reiatsu, which I flung fully at Nyx in a show of force, and I saw her visibly take a step backwards! Evolución had wrought an interesting change in me, one likely felt by Nyx too, albeit on a lesser level. It was no longer an echo of Averian at our backs, bolstering us, strengthening us. His lent power had merged with our own reserves seamlessly, becoming our own, and the power granted me by our master had always been greater than that granted to anyone else. For the first time, Nyx saw that the scales of power had been tipped in my favour.
"Do not make me repeat myself," I warned. "I'll make sure this one doesn't scurry away again."
"You know who this is!?"
"I do," and my lip curled up in a predatory smile. "He is a Quincy, one of Gundinger's current allies. Our master killed his father."
And I said that loud enough to be heard.
Hikari sat on his platform of reishi, cross-legged, a bored expression on his face. The heat crept into his skin even from this distance, as smoke obscured his vision. Eventually, it dissipated enough to where Hikari could see the two Vasto-Lorde shielding themselves from his attack. The lightning bolt wasn't really meant to do any significant damage to them. In reality, it was only meant to destroy the Forest surrounding the two Hollow. If memory served Hikari, it was through the cluster of trees that Clarion escaped last time.
He wouldn't have the same opportunity. Though to be honest, the new confidence he felt emanating from the insect told him that escape was the last thing on his mind. Last time he was only meant to distract Hikari. This time, he actually looked like he thought he could kill him.
The newfound confidence was well founded, he had to admit. The echo of Averian's reiatsu had completely dissapeared. Which meant that their two pools of power had finally become one. Clarion's power was in a completely different world compared to when Hikari met him last.
So is mine. Hikari thought to himself as the reishi platform disintegrated beneath him. He fell to the ground before Clarion, dust and sand upturning and shrouding the young Quincy, who quickly dispelled it with his reiatsu. He clasped his shoulder with his hand, cracking his neck. "'Scurry away again'?" Hikari asked, "I'm sorry, but wasn't it you who ran for the hills last time we scrapped, insect-boy?" He took notice of Clarion's disturbingly human hands. "Ugh, emphasis on boy."
Hikari them seemed to, finally, notice Nyx. "Who's she? Your girlfriend?" Hikari asked lazily as he took a moment to analyze the Hollow compatriot of Clarion. "Gotta say, I'm almost impressed. Wait, or is she Averian's chew toy? Eh, hard to tell with you Hollows..." he rambled on, a clear attempt to annoy Clarion.
At the mention of his father, however, all the humor in him died as his lazy grin was replaced by a predatory smile. He slid his eyes to stare right at Clarion. "Two sides of the same coin, huh?" Hikari spoke. "You master killed my father;"
Suddenly, Hikari flashed out of sight, appearing right in front of Clarion, lightning surrounded his hand as he sought to drive it straight through Clarion's chest.
"And now I'm going to kill you."
Nyx, for perhaps the first time in her life, listened to what I said without any further complaint. She didn't even admonish the Quincy for his remarks; she crouched low, snarled low in her throat, and then sprang into the air and away to the north. Her newfound speed was quite noteworthy, too, for it took no time at all for he to slip completely from my sensory range.
And that was when Hikari pounced!
I was already in the process of putting distance between myself and this Quincy, for I recalled his penchants for direct assault from our last encounter. The strength of my new wings helped immensely, and when I vanished upwards and then darted to the right, I actually appeared to move similarly to Sonido and Shunpo. I was like a dragonfly from the World of the Living, with my direction changing at the drop of a hat!
"You'll have to forgive me the warm-up routine," I said, chuckling in delight. The whole "hovering above and looking down on him" approach was intentional, for I wanted him angry and off-balance. "The bodies kind of new."
And I sped to the south, daring Hikari to pursue.
"A shame," Hikari spoke before vanishing, only to reappear at Clarion's flank! "To bury you when you just got a new coat of paint."
From what he could learn of him, Clarion specialized in hit-and-run tactics. Using his speed and wings in such a combination that it made landing an attack on him nearly impossible. It was how he had given them the slip last time. Though, Hikari had initiated a plan that would hamper Clarion's ability to operate at his best.
His launching a bolt of lightning was just an act of anger-fueled aggression. Well, it was, but not solely. In fact, Hikari destroyed a great portion of the Forest of Menos specifically so that Clarion would have to make a considerable effort to reach to the treeline from the ash-covered sands they were in now. The ash itself creating an idea of the distance he would cross just to start toward the treeline, let alone make it there. This would prevent Clarion from obsuring Hikari's line-of-sight by fluttering among the trees.
Doing any damage to Averian's place of power to where Clarion experienced such a drastic jump in power was just a bonus.
Hikari then flashed to Clarion's right, then behind, upfront and so forth. Creating multiple speed clones that surrounded the Hollow on all sides. Each clone launched a lightning bolt, the streaks of electricity forming a cage around Clarion to prevent him from flying all over the battlefield.
"Welcome to the birdcage," Hikari spoke, his true self, standing above and behind Clarion. He launched a final bolt that would ignite the cage of energy around the Hollow and trigger another explosion of thunderous electricity that sprang out in each direction. One capable of ripping Clarion's wings off, provided this maneuver caught him as off guard as Hikari had hoped.
I could only chuckle. Why this whole situation amused me, I couldn't rightly say. Was it my newfound power increase? Or was I finally cutting loose after so long spent in the shadow of another, and this was my true self breaking free to the surface? Hard to tell.
"For one who studied my habits so closely before, you seem to have forgotten one of my simpler tricks,"
Using the same principal of Garganta to create a tunnel of sorts, linking two spaces in one dimension without actually travelling to another as was the norm, was a technique I had long possessed. Since my days as a single Hollow, in fact. And it had grown more powerful as I had evolved. Hikari had already seen me use this technique previously to escape Shiratori and he, and it was no different now. But I did not content myself merely to flee this time. Rather, as I stepped through my created tunnel, I loosed a Cero behind from one of my pincered arms, whilst charging -- and retaining -- a second between the other pincers. My fired Cero acted as a shielding force, the impact with the Quincy's hurled bolt propelling me through my tunnel and out the other end safely, where I swiftly fired my second Cero straight at Hikari!
Once that was done, I once again began retreating towards the south, two more Cero charging in my pincered hands and ready to fire should they be needed.
The instant Hikari's lightning bolt met the Cero, Hikari was already back on the move Damn it. He thought, frustrated with himself. How could he have forgotten Clarion's Garganta? The chaos of their previous fight must have prevented him from seeing Clarion use his technique often. No matter, as he wasn't the only one capable of opening portals. Hikari clasped his hands, opening them to reveal a small orb of darkness situated in the middle.
Using what little time he might have had to his advantage, he dropped the shadow into the ground beneath him. The Cero was closing in on him at such speeds that the darkness wouldn't have the time to drop to the ground and spring back up towards Hikari. So, he improvised. The Cero crashed into him! Taking the impact head on might not have been the brightest idea on the planet, but oh well. He grasped the burning energy, streaks of blue energy creeping up his arm, preventing the Hollow's energy wave from burning his hands off. He then threw the Cero down beneath him towards the leaping Shadows!
The silhouette leaped from the ground consuming Clarion's Cero, its inky blackness still making its way to Hikari. His hands still outstretched, he shrunk the shadow back it its original size.
What followed next was something Hikari had never tried before, but there was no time like the present, right? He formed another bolt of electricity, the palm-sized orb of darkness suspended at its tip. He hurled it at Clarion before commanding the Shadow in front of what he just then dubbed the "Riot Javelin" to open. The wave of energy Clarion had previously fired ruptured from the darkness, drowning the surrounding area in its peculiar light.
But that was only the first wave. Hikari's Riot Javelin slipped through the darkness of the Shadow into Clarion's returned Cero. Effectively doubling the attack's power and range, the electric current flowing through it provided the additional effect of shocking whatever it came into contact with.
As the shadow faded from the attack, Hikari's own sprang to life. The young Quincy slipped into its depths to await Clarion's next move.
Making a point to charge additional Cero had been a good move, now that I had the benefit of hindsight. Trust a Quincy to excell in ranged combat. And it seemed this particular Quincy was gifted -- his power was incomparable to what it had been only a short time ago. Luckily, my power had undergone a similar evolution.
I released the first of my charged Cero, twisting and turning like a loosed spinning top, my wings vibrating loudly and with power I had never experienced before, the crimson light flying free like a laser beam! As I did this, I charged an additional two Cero in my new Human hands, whilst releasing the second of my charged blasts. I was moving so swiftly, and with enough coverage from my Cero, to give a momentary image of a large sphere surrounding me. Said sphere blunted the worst of Hikari's assault, and before it dissipated, I loosed my other two Cero in Hikari's direction, leaving me free to slip into another Garganta and escape.
But I hadn't escaped unscathed. My bone-like body sported more than a little extra black, smoke rose from me, and an unpleasant odour made my nose twitch. But I had successfully completed my goal, for we were now far enough away that Hikari couldn't turn the nexus of energy at the heart of my master's domain against me. As a Quincy, he had that power. Now I could fight him as an equal.
"Consider me sufficiently warmed up, Quincy," I said, with more than a hint of amusement. "I wonder how it will feel to rip you apart with my new hands? Or maybe I'll try something familiar, and cut you up instead?"
And I opened and closed my pincered-hands for effect. "What will it be?"
So this was his play. Hikari thought to himself as he was ejected from his own shadow. The Quincy translocation technique could not be used in a place drowned in light - as there were no shadows for them to move through. Clarion's two Ceros temporarily eliminated any blemish of darkness found in the desert, forcing Hikari out into the opening, right in front of the crimson waves of energy!
The twin orbs of crimson collided into each other, becoming one as they narrowed in on Hikari. Still in mid-air, Hikari formed a reish platform benath him, halting his fall and giving him a chance to respond to the rapidly approaching maw of Clarion's latest onslaught.
So, no choice but to use it. Hikari thought. There was no way he could evade the Cero, his position made even out-muscling it non-viable. But this didn't mean Hikari was out of options, striking out with a lightning-fast rear hook, his Spirit Weapon-clad fist clashed against the crimson wave. The resulting collision caused Hikari's jacket to shred from his body, the muscles and bones in his striking arm creaking and beginning to tear under its weight! He grit his teeth, activating Blut Vene to prevent any further damage.
He lifted his other arm and launched second fist into the sphere. The cornerstone of every Quincy's power was the manipulation and absorption of reishi. But there was only one problem: the energy of a Hollow was outright poisonous to Hikari's kind. So, never let it be said that Hikari wasn't aware of how risky this next move was. "Hiraishin." Hikari muttered, causing the Hollow's power he absorbed to immediately be converted into electricity. Lightning shot out sporadically across the desert as the blood red light began to dwindle little by little.
But the Hiraishin was reaching its limit, not being able to convert Clarion's poisonous reiryoku fast enough for Hikari to avoid its hazardous effects. The color of his lighting shifted to mirror that of the Cero as the reishi began to swell in his system. Crimson arcs of electricity struck the sand beneath causing a myriad of explosions to litter the white sands beneath.
This...isn't....good. Hikari thought to himself as the Cero shrank in size. The Hollow's influx of spiritual power was now outpacing Hiraishin's ability to convert it. Which left Hikari only one option: focusing the erratic lightning into a single point, Hikari let loose a tremendous bolt that pierced straight through Clarion's Cero, shattering it!
He then expelled the poisonous reiatsu from his nose and pounced, a smile of pure glee and exhilaration on his face. "You almost got me there, Clarion!" He roared as he soared past his own thunderbolt in one leap, he appeared before Clarion, another rear hook lancing straight towards the Hollow, the crimson bolt of lightning illuminating him as it raced towards them in an effort to strike them both down!
If this had been my first meeting with Hikari, I would have happily kept him occupied and manoeuvred him into being struck by his own blast. But given his inclination towards lightning, doing so would cause him no problem, whilst I would come out much the worse for wear.
So instead, I crossed my primary arms in an X-shape, weathering the blow and skidding backwards from the force. That was when I suddenly moved to the left, my wings vibrating loudly, powerful enough to move me in the desired direction despite the momentum I carried. The effort left my arms feeling like dead weight, but that momentary handicap was welcome, given the alternative.
"In a battle of attrition, he has the advantage," I mused. Hueco Mundo was rife with reishi and as a Quincy he could access that power at will. "Let's see how he handles this?"
I opened two Garganta and loosed Cero into their depths. One portal opened beneath Hikari's feat, crimson light, a warning. Another opened to his right. Given a Quincy's sensitivity to reiatsu, there was little hope of me surprising him. With that in mind, I dropped into the yawning void of a third Garganta and closed its entrance shut. With the element of surprise on my side, I opted to wait. Should he evade my Cero by leaping upwards and away, he would find me waiting there, pincers ready.
Hikari couldn't run the risk of absorbing any more of Clarion's Hollowfied reiatsu. His body wouldn't be able to handle the influx. So instead, he grasped the electric current trailing behind him and spun. The lightning acted as a makeshift barrier, buffering the two Ceros barreling towards him both from below. His vision was drowned in crimson light as the two beams of energy crashed onto him. While his barrier protected him from the worst of the damage, Hikari still felt the shock-wave that accompanied the blast. His ears rung and it felt as if his bones were rattling, as he tried to readjust himself.
His sight focused on the clear expanse of the night sky in Hueco Mundo, only the silvery-light of the moon illuminating the darkness. When he found that Clarion was no where to be found, he knew he was stationed in one of the Garganta. The insectoid was no doubt laying in weight for Hikari to step out into the open. There was no way for Hikari to rip him from his little hidey-hole, so his only option was to risk stepping out himself. So he did. He pulled the crimson lightning in around himself, until it formed a thin layer of red energy around him. With a wave of his hand, he dispersed the smoke and ash that surrounded him in the air.
He smirked. "Come on, Clarion. Enough with the whack-a-mole bullshit. If you wanna tear me to shreds, here I am." He stated as he spread his arms wide.
Unseen by all, was a small eye. Beforehand, its mission had been to observe the battle brewing between Averian the unknown Soul who brought with him thunder, lightning, and rain in levels never before seen in Hueco Mundo. And this eye was recording, brodcasting. And not only to the tres Pilares...
Sparring with my father's counterpart was perhaps the closest thing I could manage to the real thing outside jumping worlds and facing the man directly. Yet, it wasn't the same. It was like sparring with Kentaro or Shinrei, who both copied father in their own ways -- a pale imitation of the real thing. That said, even this imitation would give those two a run for their money. This Kenji was fast, strong, and seized on the slightest shift in momentum to turn the tables on me and attack. And I got the impression that he wasn't taking me seriously at all.
"Are you ever going to attack me and mean it?" I asked, hoping to goad him. It didn't work. All he did was lecture me. Different world, same thing.
"No, and why should I? You've hardly shown me your all, either." He sheathed his Zanpakuto. "Kid, I need you to listen to me. If Averian's as bad as you say, and war's on the horizon, and you're our ace-in-the-hole, then I'm about ready to shit myself."
"I do have a plan, pops."
"Don't call me-"
Before we could continue, we were interrupted. Back home, Van Satonaka was my father's oldest rival. In this world, I was happy to report that things hadn't changed. Things just wouldn't be right if Van Satonaka wasn't the whetstone that kept my father sharp.
"Oi, we've had word from Ashido."
I stepped aside.
"Regrading?" Kenji asked, after taking a moment to compose himself.
"That old Arrancar fuddy-duddy," Van remarked. "Apparently, Averian's followers just got a helluva lot stronger."
I stepped forward. "His name is Gundinger Drelairn. And you'll tell me what he said word-for-word,"
"It's not what he said," Van answered. "But rather what he showed us."
"So, he's beckoning me to attack? Very we-!"
Before I could do so, I found my peaceful tunnel rocked by a vicious surge of reiatsu! Rather than risk injury and be expelled forcefully, I left of my own accord and abandoned my planned assault on the Quincy.
"Cursed Shinigami!!"
The storm assailing Averian, and Hueco Mundo by extension, was showing no signs of abating. If anything, it had only grown fiercer. And right now, somehow, I had gained its attention. It had spread far enough for me and my Quincy opposition to be in serious threat. I felt myself being blasted back by the sheer force of the wind.
And that was when I heard the voice: the same one I had heard when my master was stopped from killing the Visored Hotaru.
"Hikari, you don't know me. All you need to know, is that I know the rage that drives you; that impossible anger that chokes back everything. Finish things here, join Gundinger, and help my son stop this. Wasting your time and talents on small-fry won't sate your thirst."
I struck out immediately! Yet he evaded my Cero as easily as a Captain would evade the strike of a lowly Hollow.
"Oh, and one more favour, Hikari, if you wouldn't mind? Give the bug a dig from me?"
And the movement that took him from the scene and back towards the battlefield with Averian had distinct aspects of Hirenkyaku to it.
When Clarion, mysteriously, gave up the element of surprise, Hikari awaited his next move. When the Hollow cursed the Shinigami, he was momentarily confused.
Then he saw him.
A crimson gaze deeper and more intense than any of Clarion's Ceros stared back at Hikari. A long, billowing cloak fluttered in the raging winds he brought with him. But that wasn't his most distinct feature. Not by a long shot. The sheer pressure of his spiritual energy, its volume and intensity, was greater than any power Hikari had ever encountered before. If I'm a bolt of lightning, this guy was the whole goddamn storm. He thought to himself.
The Shinigami's words, however, boomed louder than the storm he beckoned. And his eyes, though steely, still revealed the truth of his statements. He did understand. The pain was etched into his features, scaring his soul. Whatever happened to him, one thing was true, their similarities ran deeper than their choice of element. The sorrow in his eyes matched Hikari's own.
When the Shinigami avoided the Cero launched by Clarion, Hikari immediately took the Hollow's back while he was distracted. The Shinigami didn't need to tell Hikari to finish this, that was always his intention. Hikari placed his hands on both of Clarion's wings, causing the crimson aura to now envelop him. The aura acting as a skin-tight version of the Birdcage used before. Hikari then removed his hands and clasped them together, as though in prayer.
"Shūrai." Hikari called. Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning, several times bigger than any Hikari had fired before, split the sky above them! It distorted the space as it raced its way towards Clarion at blistering speeds. When it made contact with the red aura Hikari had sought to trap Clarion with, the whole word seemed to be drowned in its light.
Hikari himself was rocketed back into the sand below, even with Blut Vene activated to alleviate some of the damage, it still hurt like hell and wasn't an experience Hikari was keen to repeat. He looked up into the sky to see if it was finally over.
So much for my hope that Hikari would be inconvenienced by this storm as much as myself and my master had been. It truly was absurd, but it appeared that Ashido, that traitor Gundinger, the Visored twins, and even this Quincy and his werewolf kin, had all come together in common cause. This other Shinigami, the one responsible for the storm, was merely buying time.
"I know your ga-!"
Taking my eyes off Hikari, however, was a mistake, and my exclamation died on my tongue. By the time I noticed his renewed offensive, he had managed to stop my wings from functioning. Robbed of my usual high-speed movement I could do little but tank his attack! My Carapace gave under the blast as I leaned my left-hand side into the blast, a delaying action to charge a sufficiently powerful Cero; an action which, whilst allowing me to survive and blast free, cost me my left arms!
I tasted blood. "You haven't won yet," I spat.
Here's to hoping the power of that blast had sapped him to the point he called my bluff.
When Hikari saw that Clarion still stood, or rather floated, tall after his last attack he groaned. With great effort, he stood to his feet. Eyes still steely with resolve, he plastered an all to familiar smirk on his face. "Gotta give you credit, Clarion. You're harder to kill than an actual cockroach." His smirk fully morphed into a bloodied grin. "I shoulda brought that big can of raid after all."
Hikari was stalling for time, letting his body absorb more reishi from the atmosphere to help mend his wounds. It wouldn't fully heal him, but it would give him the boost he needed for one last attack.
A stream of electricity charged and flowed between his now outstretched hands. He then slammed his palms together, condensing the stream into an orb of crackling lightning. Guess I'll have to go for it. Hikari thought to himself. His shadow leaped in front of him as he cried out "Shūrai!" The bolt launched from his palms into the shadow!
Though it was much smaller than before due to his lack of energy, Hikari attempted to compensate for its lack of size with piercing power that could, hopefully, pierce through Clarion's weakened carapace.
But Hikari knew better than to just fling out an attack that the bug-man could easily just slip past with a Garganta. That was what the shadow was for. As the light of the attack disappeared into the void of darkness, another opening spawned - this time behind Clarion!
Hikari guessed that they were both relying on hope to win this battle.
Once more, it was a blur of white and scarlet red that flashed before my eyes. And once again, it was a tangle of scarlet hair that saved my life. For the second time today, the smell of burnt hair signalled salvation. It seemed Nyx hadn't listened to me after all.
"You're a disgrace," she hissed in my ear. "It appears our Master still has need of you, otherwise I wouldn't be here. So don't misunderstand,"
Injured as I was, I had no intention of arguing with -- or antagonizing -- Nyx. Given the state I was currently in, I would not survive the reprisal. Instead, I hung my head, and allowed her to support my maimed body.
"Quincy! Next time we meet, you're dead!" There was wildfire burning in Nyx's violet-coloured eyes. "Count on it!"
Her threat was punctuated by the sudden cry of several Menos Grande sounding off in unison!
Hikari's eyes widened as once more his bolt of electricity was thrashed. This time the culprit was Clarion's partner. Nyx? It didn't matter, Hikari didn't have enough in him to fight her too. When she announced her and Clarion's retreat, he was a bit embarrassed at the flood of relief that washed through him.
At the sound of her threat, he could do little more than sneer at the retreating Hollow. "The next time we meet, you'll see your Master dead at my feet." He declared. Ragged breaths of exhaustion and pain interrupted the words of his threat, but hopefully he laced them with enough venom to get the point across.
Before he could make another move, shadows leaped from the sand beneath, latching on to him! Shit. He thought to himself. This wasn't his shadow. So it must mean..."Tori's back from the World of the Living already?" He asked himself as the dark pool began to drag him underneath.
Ugh. He wasn't going to hear the end of this. He flipped off the Hollow and the collective of Menos Grande screeching their heads off. "Hope I run into Averian first, then you might have chance next time we meet." His parting words echoed into the empty desert as he sunk fully into the dark.