Again...

[Angel]

The shock was a burning one, but it was worth the endeavor, for it brought the two of them closer together, allowing her blade, allowing for Daten-shi to feed his thirst for blood, launching towards the beast's throat. The shared pain they'd experience would make Angel cry out from the shock, but she had experienced worse. She could persevere, even as the shock made her involuntarily twitch. The glare of Datenshi, only to be diverted, as the blade sank through his forearm, and swerved with a jerking motion away from the neck as she feels her arm pulled with it. With that said, she'd twist the blade in her right hand, ripping through his muscle and tendon as he held her closely. Her teeth were grit as his tail lashes out and grasps her by the waist.

With this distance, as he takes a deep breath, Hikari knew exactly what he was intending to do. This entire time, Hikari had been using incantations, intending on making him believe she needed them to cast everything but the most basic of spells. However, with his inhale, he might find Angel's wince make her go slightly lax as he prepared to scream. Only for wordlessly, six golden rods to shoot, attempting to slam around his neck, her mastery allowing her to tilt the rods upwards, as if to force his head to the sky, but granting his throat protection.

Assuming she was successful in slamming him with this spell at their close proximity, she with her opposite hand immediately swings downwards with the Ossein blade, the blade of bone looking to cut his tail off, with a serrated swing, to hopefully send the Panther roaring in pain at the loss of his appendage. Assuming she was successful in this tactic, she tactically retreats, using the Shunpo to retreat, wary of the Panther's powerful legs and knees, having first hand experienced their powerful blow.

Her blade's extension would pull inwards, sucking back into the eye. With it, as she blurred, there would be now a deep gaping hole in the Panther's arm, a severed tail, and his bleeding leg as Hikari sought to gain distance from him. She didn't need to barrage him with blow after blow. Instead, she just needed to leave calculated ones. With the Panther's right arm now bleeding profusely, she knew that with the wound, the arm's defenses would be weak, and the Panther's mobility was lessened.

Yet...still. She had to stop and wince as she took fast breaths, sweat on her brow as she could feel the pain coursing through her torso. She enters a kneel as her shortsword digs into the earth, and her Katana lays flat along the floor, though he may not have noticed the eye had shifted position at an angle, laying along the flat of the blade. She needed to remain moving, continue to separate herself from him and let his wounds succumb him. Otherwise, it would be over. That, and she needed to also force him to move.

Waste time and energy. With it, she swiftly rises, abandoning her long Katana along the ground, embedded into the stone as she forms a long purple rod in her right hand. That would do nicely.

SPOILER: Click to show

Reiatsu Remaining:



2975/4500


-150 Rikujokoro
-50 Shunpo.



Shikai Duration:



2/10

[Hyapporankan Prepared]

[Rafael]

Rafael could smell the all too familiar scent of his pitch fur suffering burns, first Zadora had fried him and now it seemed the spell that this Shinigami had just cast possessed enough strength to singe his fur. Although he wasn’t one to really lean on looks his fur had become a source of pride. The texture and look was something that pleased him like a true Beast. Holding as much pride in his fur as his muscles and technique Rafael wasn’t fond of it being damaged even if he knew regrowing or mending it wasn’t beyond him. As for the situation, he could feel the sword of this Shinigami twisting inside his forearm.

A dirty move that caused him enough pain that his left eye closed while he was forced to grit his teeth. Regardless, this Shinigami would be in far more pain as her eardrums burst in a moment. Rafael ready to roar while he squeezes with his tail wrapped around the waist of this Shinigami. Ready to unleash his vocal assault though Rafael feels a sudden impact from all sides under his head almost as if being uppercut by four different individuals in unison. An unfamiliar impact that although not very painful forces his head upwards and removes his control over the rest of his body.

To Rafael what takes a few moments of thought to process what’s going on and what could possibly be the cause, to the outside world only a moment would pass. Deducing that the Shinigami must have cast another spell, likely one of the bright golden ones she had used early on him, this time without any sign of her preparation and aiming for a more precision attack. It was a good move, something that Rafael couldn’t deny although it meant he had to take this more seriously.

Sadly, he didn’t have time to break through the rods before he felt the swift bite of the shinigami’s sword slicing through his tail. The appendage cut more than in half as blood poured from the open wound. The tension from his intentional squeezing would be released, but even for a few moments the damage done to the Shinigami could cause problems to her organs. Rafael knew how durable the Shinigami were, but also how strong he’d become. At the moment he began to scream in a mixture of pain and rage unleashing the anger of a Beast. Forcing his head downwards cracking and then shattering the golden rods that had held him at bay.

The Shinigami now had put herself at a distance, one that she likely believed gave her some room of safety. Rafael observed not just the distance between them, but the status of his own body. He was hurt, that much he couldn’t deny nor ignore. Sure he could fight through the pain yet that wouldn’t solve anything. “Well at least this isn’t boring. Finally starting to actually try huh?” Rafael inhales as he watches the Shinigami release his sword to the ground. A strange move, but one that Rafael wouldn’t overlook.

Focusing his energy inwards the massive panther decides it's time to stop playing around and really finish this fight. He’d fought this Shinigami in the past when neither of them had achieved their true power. He hadn’t seen much of hers yet and while he hadn’t been planning on using his own it seemed he’d been too careless and thus it was necessary now. His pupil-less grey eyes shifted into a brilliant bright purple. The crimson blood that poured from his arm and tail doing the same until a couple moments passed and no blood leaves him.

The stump of his tail begins to grow outwards regenerating his lost appendage while the hole in his arm shuts, reforming the cut flesh almost instantly. The wounds that this Shinigami had fought so hard to inflict upon him were all vanishing right before her eyes now. In little more than a few moments Rafael would be fresh while she suffered from the injuries that had been inflicted upon her all the same. Staring him down a purple rod would appear in her hand and Rafael would vanish, executing Shunpo once again.

Accelerating his own movement speed in order to close the distance between himself and her instantly. Only a minute ago almost this exact same situation played out, Rafael knowing the risk of playing the same card more than once wasn’t going to appear to her side nor her back. Instead the massive feline had jumped and now was over the Shinigami bringing his right arm down in a mighty blow positioned to strike the Shinigami in her back hard enough to clash against the ground causing a crater. He wasn’t sure what the purple rod was meant to do, but curiosity wouldn’t be the undoing of this cat.

Yaseishin: ⅙

Remaining Reiatsu: 2550/3000
Shunpo: (-50)
Yaseishin:(-350)

[Angel]

It was in that moment as she see his form alter, some mysterious ability seemed to come about him. Those moments were quiet, as he begins to regenerate from his lost tail, the blood flooding from his wounds. Hikari looked up, a grim shadow over her face as she realized that her tricks and wiles were nearly expended. The differences in their strengths were drastically different. That much was undeniable when one looked at the fact any lasting damage she would have done was essentially negated in an instant. Was this the end? Was this really how she was going to fall? Right here and now?

As the cat blitzes with the Shunpo, appearing in the air above her, his shadow blots out her smaller form, blocking the light as he falls towards her. Not yet. Not yet. Her eyes widen, in that heated moment, and with it, as her instincts flare, the eye along her sword tensing. The crimson insignia widening as the vein like thread becomes more pronounced. Shiryoku no Me. A whistling screech fills the air as the blade extends out from the eye upon his swing, flying out as it looks to not only stab itself into his arm, but extend and push through it, looking to pin it through the cat's chest and into his body. Perhaps even into his organs.

At this close of a distance, she wasn't sure if the cat could dodge. Or even if he would bother. However, assuming she succeeded, and Rafael has his momentum halted, the blade holding him upwards, impaled like a spike, the young Hikari lets her kido drop, instead placing her hand along the extended blade where Rafael's blood may spill. Regeneration. It was a powerful ability for certain. However. One couldn't regenerate fully if something lingered in them to prevent that growth. And usually, one couldn't regenerate something that didn't exist. Was seared to a point of fusion.

"Sokatsui!" The blood along her Zanpakutou would ignite, giving a very vermillion pink appearance, travelling along the blade and attempting to enter into the inside of Rafael's arm and chest cavity. To swell and burst his insides with a flame that threatened to make his blood literally boil and with a flutter of wings turn his insides to ash. Set him on fire from the inside as it threatened to consume him. The licking flames would linger, obscuring their vision from one another in those moments, as the young girl caresses her wounds, knife in other hand as she has beads of sweat dripping down her forehead.

[Rafael]

The position from above didn’t seem to garner much in terms of surprise as his shadow sent this Shinigami into the shade. Having gone for a method of attack that wouldn’t have been as predictable with what he had done so far Rafael brought his right arm downwards with the plan being to break the back of this Shinigami. If he could land a solid blow on her back he was certain that she wouldn’t just be hurt, but unable to continue. She’d already been kicked hard enough that he was certain her body was causing her quite a bit of pain. The fact she was continuing just proved she didn’t want to lose after their first fight.

His attack though was meant with a counter by way of her sword extending upwards meeting his fist. The blade pierced through his flesh at the point of his index finger. The blade sharp by its own right wouldn’t be able to push through immediately as Rafael’s bones had become durable the moment he started to really show his true strength. For a moment the both of them were seemingly just stop in time. The blade managed to cut through his fur, skin and bone though then up and into his forearm. In a moment it punctured through the side inflicting a gruesome wound yet not the sort she had been hoping for due to Rafael’s position.

Pushing down along with his weight though Rafael’s arm along with his hand descends down her sword in an instant allowing him to grab her hand. Squeezing her small hand along with the grip of her sword Rafael feels the bite of the blade slicing through his flesh yet the knowledge he could easily break all the bones in this girl's hand pushed him forward. She’d have to make a choice whether or not she was willing to sacrifice her hand in order to cast her spell or keep hold of her sword. Rafael wasn’t going to let her pull her hand away, but just maybe she could cause his hand enough damage that she could escape.

Either way just squeezing her hand like some nervous prom date wasn’t enough after everything that had gone on. This was the time to end it which meant he wasn’t going to hold back as much. Extending his left hand out to grab her by her robes, Rafael pulls the Shinigami upwards to meet his forehead as it slams right into her face. A blow with the amount of force behind it that Rafael was inflicting wouldn’t just break her nose, but fracture her facial bones. Just what was she going to do though?

[Angel]

He fell, and as he did, his arm was well ripped into, and before long, his paw had gripped Hikari's hand, squeezing it tightly. So tightly in fact that she could feel the sensation of it being crushed, bone and all in a malicious sort of way. She tried initially not to scream, but as she felt the snaps, she gasps as she lets out a high shriek as her wrist and fingers begin to crack and compress under the strain. However, releasing her bade of bone, she slaps her free hand into his chest. The rest?

The fiery burst explosion was intense. Not of a Sokatsui, but that of Soren Sokatsui in a twin joined explosion. One into his chest, the other straight along his closed fist at point blank. While it was without incantation, it was still enough to do what was needed. Create an explosion that was still strong enough to blow off her arm, and quite possibly his, and also send the panther likely flying away, taking the piece of her robe with him.

Enveloping the panther in flames, Hikari felt an adrenaline up to heights that was never before, because for her, she wasn't fighting this battle to win at this point. She was fighting to survive. As her own severed arm burns and cremates itself, she slowly forces herself to rise to a knee, before grasping her blade, preparing to attempt to leave this place. Stumbling all about, as she grasps Daraku no Tenshi. 

Run. Run. Run. Was the thought. However, she stumbles and falls on her face. In moments like these, she could only think about sentimental things. Like her mother. The kindly pale faced woman that seemed so distant at times. She remembered the hand that stroked through her hair, and the pain she felt when she died. At this point, Hikari began to resort to crawling. She did not want to die here, and was fiercely determined to live. Not until she had her vengeance on that certain man.

For abandoning them there in that place. She was a Ku- no. Shinigami that lived by a code, did things by an honor. Ultimately, her energy was expended. She had faced defeat against the Panther and as she inched her way along the ground, she gradually laid down, head slumped against the stone. She couldn't move a single muscle more, and everything was laborious to do. That was it. 

[Rafael]

The sensation of the little female’s hand cracking and breaking under his own palm was something that Rafael honestly couldn’t experience. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to nor that he was paying attention so intently to something else that he missed it. It was the simple fact that his paw had suffered such extensive damage from her blade he couldn’t perceive anything beyond the pain it was causing him. The mere fact he could squeeze her hand hard enough to break it was only due to the extensive training and iron hard will Rafael had developed in order to succeed. That kid in the human world wouldn’t have ever been able to achieve something that most wouldn’t even recognize.

Now though the Shinigami slapped her remaining hand against his chest and the moment that followed was filled with a blaring amount of noise as an explosion was set off right against his chest. A large explosion of fire filled up Rafael’s field of view concealing the second explosion of flames on his decimated right paw. The result of the twin fiery explosions? Rafael was sent backwards several feet from the large burst of energy while his right paw was almost completely incinerated.

Knocked off his feet by the blast, Rafael felt immense pain as his fur burned on his chest, the flesh over his torso melting from the heat. Turning over onto his chest Rafael slammed himself against the ground hard enough that he actually produced a shockwave from the impact cracking the ground outwards several feet and indenting his figure against nature’s floor. The fire sumthered on his chest gave Rafael what he needed to turn around and see the Shinigami trying to get away.

That had definitely hurt so much that Rafael was forcing himself not to scream at the moment, the pain of the fire burning his chest still present as his flesh was mending itself. The melted skin glowing purple as the damage he’d received seemed to just wash away while his fur regrew in just a couple moments. Pain not just from his chest, but his mouth as well, containing his screams by biting the interior of his mouth was all he could think of at the moment, something that ultimately just added to his pain as the wounds began to heal immediately as well.

Getting up onto his feet once again Rafael begins to walk after the Shinigami keeping her in his field of vision. He wasn’t going to just let her walk away this time especially after she’d started all this once again. He could see now that her little attack had hurt her quite a bit as well. Her broken hand was now burned so much that it made Rafael check out his own right hand. What he saw was nothing more than charred bone, a sign that he’d allowed her to get off an attack too dangerous. If he hadn’t already been using his ability he had to question whether he’d still be standing.

Focusing downwards Rafael channels his reiatsu to his right arm. Screaming in pain from what he was choosing to do now Rafael could feel as if all the flesh of his right arm was being pulled from the bone. The purple flesh crawling down the bone reattaching itself in order to build itself back from almost nothing. An aspect of his ability that Rafael was truly grateful for which would allow him to show this Shinigami once and for all that no matter how much she hated him, how much she pursued him, how much she tried to kill him, he’d always remain.

Falling downwards and crawling over to a stone that held her upwards. Rafael watched as the Shinigami that had been such a pain a few times in the past just accepted she couldn’t continue. The look she had though didn’t seem to be one against him now. She looked like someone that still had something to do and just couldn’t accept not seeing it through. Walking up to her it would be more than clear that Rafael was completely fine physically. There was no sign of injury yet mentally he was exhausted, the pain had taken a toll and he wasn’t sure he would've been able to fight all that much longer himself.

“I expect a thank you next time.”

Rafael says while holding out his right hand as it finishes repairing the flesh of his wounds. A few drops of bright purple blood fall onto the shinigami’s charred arm. What happened next would be something maddening for her more than likely. She’d start to experience all the pain of the wounds she’d suffered during the battle all at once. Rafael’s blood was starting to mend everything, even building her arm from scratch once again just as it did for him, she though wouldn’t expect it nor did she have the energy to handle the exhaustion. Rafael would leave now knowing he was victorious and that this likely wouldn’t be the last time this Shinigami came after him.

Yaseishin: 3/6

[Kitai Yoru]

Angel, 44 paragraphs, 440 TP awarded

Rafael, 55 paragraphs, 550 TP plus 100 TP for winning