Religion or superstition? [NDE/R]

The desert of Hueco Mundo was a strange place. Like all deserts, it was desolate and dry. And in most cases, it was chock full of predators. However, none of the common hollows were in this area today. Myza had let word get out ahead of time that she desired empty space for this area, had told some of her old contacts in the Forest of Menos who had not yet ascended into the Chosen People that she would be coming here. Her memory still lingered in the minds of many of the Adjuchas there, reminding them of the time that she had ruled over a portion of the forest with an iron fist. Her reputation for torture, combined with her new-found attachment to the Primera Espada himself, had allowed her arrival to this area to quickly spread through the grapevine. There were few common hollows that would dare to try and defy her now.

And yet... It wasn't enough. She was strong, one of the strongest in Los Noches. But that was only if you didn't take the Espada into account. Compared to them, she was still nothing. And that was what brought her to this confrontation today. There was a new Espada in Hueco Mundo, a replacement. His name was Arhellai Lagross, and he had taken the position of Noveno. A position without any true power, if being behind the likes of Cierro Muerte was any indicator.

But the potential lack of power wasn't what bothered Myza about this new arrancar. What bothered her was the fact that she knew absolutely nothing about him. She prided herself on being able to tease information about up and coming Menos from other Hollows, and regularly kept track of them for her studies on the Hollowification process. But this one... This one had not come onto her radar. She knew nothing about him except his name. Not his powers, not his ideas, not his potential. She had nothing on this new Espada, and that bothered her. This is what had lead her to challenge the Novena. This was not a fight, as far as she was concerned. No, this was another trial, to see how fit this unknown factor was. If she found him wanting... Well, it would be quite unfortunate for him, that much was certain.

Myza stared at the man, her eyebrows furrowing together. Just the man speaking caused the briefest twitch of annoyance in her. She quickly bottled the emotion back up, though not in time to prevent it from showing on what little of her face was visible. Myza would look into the man's eyes then. Myza was basically living, breathing proof that eyes really were the window to the soul. Arhellai would see her ever-burning desire to see other reduced to sniveling, pain filled wrecks by her hands. No one, not even other Arrancar, would escape the attentions of her need to see others in pain.

She would then unwrap her chain from around herself, taking a brief moment to activate her Pesquis, then started spinning it to prepare for battle. "Bah. And here I was thinking that the Espada had madness represented by Mr. Silverhult. Clearly I was wrong." Her voice possessed its typical tone, one that would seem more in place in a college dorm room from a woman trying to lure someone in for a night together rather than one of the most skilled torture technicians in the known multiverse. "No matter. Yes, Arhellai Lagross. I am the one who challenged you. I hereby accuse you of weakness of mind and stupidity. This trial shall begin now."

The chain would lash out then, coming in at the other arrancar in an upward-angled arc towards his thigh. Unfortunately for Arhellai, he wasn't exactly easily capable of interpreting others fighting styles, nor was he in a battle ready stance yet. He would be more than likely hard-pressed to pre-empt the Fraccion's attack. Whatever the reaction, Myza would use the opportunity to retreat a handful of steps, establishing a longer distance between the two of them. The chain would be back in its whirling motion then, ready to strike out once again.

Reiatsu: 2000/2000

Sadly for Arhellai, he more than likely wasn't able to keep very good balance when he dodged backwards. Going from a relatively relaxed state to dodging backwards wasn't exactly the best of ideas, and probably made him stumble somewhat to regain his footing. This would give Myza the time to start her next move before he used his Sonido. The spinning chain she had would have its course altered slightly, impacting the sand to her side and causing it to fly up into the air, partially obscuring her lower body and partially filling the space to her right with some sand.

If Arhellai had gone to her right with his Sonido, he would have forced some of the tiny particles into his eyes. This would do nothing other than greatly irritate the sensory organs. However, regardless of the direction he took around Myza, he would still be forced to turn around to face her in order to fire the Bala. It would be at that moment that most of his field of vision would be covered in a green energy. The Bala would be easily be subsumed by it, with the attack hurtling towards him.

What had happened was quite simple. Myza was able to tell as soon as the other Arrancar dodged that he was far, far faster than her. However, she was more than used to dealing with individuals who were faster than her. After all, most real opponents she fought against were. Myza thus fell back onto her typical strategy when it came to dealing with people who out-speeded her: Simple, short movements.

The sand she had obscured her lower half with had also covered her charging Cero from sight. The energy for it was located in her Hollow Hole, and she didn't have to take a stance to fire it due to her mastery of the technique. It was a bit of a gamble, since he would definitely be able to tell that it was there even without seeing it if he had energy sensory. But, as Myza quickly found out when he simply stepped behind her, he wasn't actually able to detect energy. She didn't even have to take a stance to fire it, and was able to fire it towards his exact position without even moving. This is what had lead to him to his current predicament. And what a predicament it was.

The Cero easily spread out to a 20 foot diameter, and traveled towards him with impressive speed, covering a few hundred feet in less than a second. What Arhellai had to worry about wasn't the Cero itself. No, he could still possibly dodge that, though his chances of escaping were rather slim, due to his overall circumstances at the moment. No, his problem would lie in what came after.

The Cero would detonate, sending a tremendous quantity of sand into the air, fully obscuring both Arrancar from each other's view. Myza would have her eyes already closed by this point, protecting the sensitive organs from any irritants. She could also tell exactly where Arhellai was, thanks to her active Pesquis, and would even be able to tell his general direction with her natural ability to sense energy. Arhellai, unfortunately, did not currently have that sort of luxury. This was ultimately what would make his situation even worse now.

Myza threw 10 feet of her chain in a wide arc to her side at what would roughly be Arhellai's thigh level, then utilized her Sonido to move past him, wherever he was. Her closed eyes protected her from getting any sand in them, while the sand prevented Arhellai from being able to see where she was until she was already past him, while the remaining sound of the explosion would help conceal the distinctive static noise of Sonido. If Arhellai didn't find some way to react, he would be hit by Myza's chain at a total speed stat of 2366. At this speed, the chain's effects on his legs would resemble less a strike from a barbed chain and more an attempted evisceration with a chainsaw, leaving the Noveno in bad condition.

Remaining Reiatsu: 1600/2000 (-100 previous Pesquis, -200 Class 6 Cero, -100 Sonido)

Pesquis Count: 2/5