“AAAAAAAAAA-”
The Vagido rings out through the valley, acoustically amplified by the massive crater that surrounds the Vasto Lorde. It serves as a warning siren for the untold destruction yet to come, however its sudden release is surely unexpected. Perhaps this is why the Four Arrancar fail to adequately prepare against the auditory assault. Elliora and her entourage of simpletons had lived for over one hundred years now with the belief that their abilities represented the pinnacle of hollow achievement. The vagido that now rings out would serve as a humbling reminder that they were anything but. Elliora, closest to the vagido’s sound, is quickest to react, having been prepared for the consequences that would come with her decision to feed the Vasto her Bloody Crystal.
The Cero espada coated herself in a Reiatsu-made armor, identical in function to that of a Hierro. The scales of solid pink reiatsu would coat her in an impenetrable defense, and begin to vibrate. Elliora’s feathered armor would only be able to hold its integrity due to the vibrations of its feathers offsetting the vibration of the sound wave. However, the completely exposed ears of Enrico, Abraam, and Galia would not be so fortunate. In unison, Enrico’s, Abraam’s, and Galia’s ear drums would all erupt, an explosion of blood bursting from each ear. Their auditory senses would be completely decimated, leaving only a ceaseless ringing in their place. Fortunately for Abraam, his hearing would restore itself given his regenerative abilities, albeit at a slow rate, as he opens a Descorrer behind him, preparing to retreat. Galia however, would have no such luck, given that his regenerative ability was forsaken to increase his Hierro. Instead, he would leave his blood in the sand, as the Vagido decimates the Arrancar’s pillars of bone, crumbling them into nothing from the sheer force of a single soundwave. Worse off would be the Fourth Espada, Enrico, who believed himself king above all. Enrico prides himself on having the strongest hierro of all arrancar, however this meant that he would have the least healing capability of any arrancar. His hierro may be a mighty force to some, however, the Vagido is a technique known to be so strong that it can shatter a Shinigami Captain’s Bankai, a Bankai that was capable of restraining the former God Queen Tier Hallibel in her fully released Resurrección state. In comparison, the Fourth espada’s natural Hierro was no true obstacle. The sound wave of the vagido would enter through his ear canal, and rupture the liquid-filled drums within, having no need to cut or penetrate the man’s skin. This would leave all three of Elliora’s followers deafened, stunned, and covered in their own blood, from a single assault. Their only saving grace, and the reason they were still able to maintain consciousness, was that the vagido itself was incredibly brief, compared to what came after.
“-AAAHAAAHAAAHAAAAHAAAHAAHAHAHAHA-”
The first lethal aspect of the resulting explosion would be a blinding light. Elliora, Enrico, and Abraam, would all three prevent themselves from looking away, so heavily entranced in the power of this evolving Vasto Lorde. Elliora’s eyes, upon witnessing the light of the explosion, would burst and melt from her skull, only to regenerate and repeat the painful process. The Cero Espada was able to afford such recklessness, given the previously unsurpassed speed of her regeneration. However, Enrico and Abraam, perhaps unaware of the limitations of Spiritual energy, would both coat their eyes with Reiryoku, ignorantly believing this would be sufficient to protect them. However, Reiryoku did not function in such a way, it was simply an energy, an innate power. While Reiatsu was the release of this energy. Neither channelling nor releasing the energy would serve to defend their eyes from the burning light of the Vasto’s explosion. It is expected, given the sheer terror of what they are witnessing, that these two powerful arrancar would have panic-induced laps in judgment, but both should still have considered the fact that they continued to see. Failing to blind themselves, the overwhelming light would still enter through their eyes, causing them to burst from the Arrancar’s sockets, leaving streams of blood to flow from the empty holes in their skulls. Enrico and Abraam would now be rendered deaf and blind, while Abraam was able to recover from these blows and regenerate the damaged sensory organs, Enrico, who relied fully on the strength of his spiritual armor, would never be able to recover.
Following this barrage of light, would be the initial shockwave of the explosion of reiatsu. Not to be confused for a simple reiatsu effect, the bone-crushing wave of force that extends from ground Zero is very much a physical phenomenon, caused by the sudden existence of an explosion, which would push the air outward with nuclear force. Elliora outpaces the wave, utilizing the speed enhancing vibrations of her feathered armor, her mastered skill in sonido, and her absolute control over the air itself. She just barely manages to stay beyond its destructive wave, as the heat of the following explosion closes in behind her. Galia retreats underground, safe from the initial wave’s force, while Abraam finally retreats into his portal, closing the void behind him and likely saving him from death. All that remains is Enrico, who in his hubris believes he can simply tank the wave of force and be unphased, given his aspect of death.
However, Enrico would not be able to see nor hear the shockwave coming. His aspect of Avarice allows him to reclaim what he physically touches, but he would have to intend to reclaim the concept of a shockwave he didn’t know was coming. Perhaps he could time it given that he witnessed the initial formation of the blast, and perhaps he could assume its arrival. However, what does it mean to reclaim a shockwave? Does he reclaim the physical wave of force? If so, then he would not be immune to the damage caused by its momentum. Does he reclaim the damage that it causes? This would do nothing, as the pain of his organs rupturing would very much already have been his own. Beyond this, the strength of his Hierro would again be useless, as it serves to prevent his flesh from being cut or penetrated, while the damage caused by the shockwave would be blunt. Thus, the Espada, blinded and deafened would be hit with the full force of the shockwave, which passes harmlessly through his skin, and causes his insides to ripple, rupturing his internal organs.
Both the light and shockwave, despite the destruction they caused, served only as precursors to the true destruction of the Vasto’s evolution. The explosion of pure spiritual energy causes the skies to go red, the crimson light expanding forth at incomprehensible speeds, disintegrating anything it comes into contact with. The natural heat of the explosion is enough to melt the sands of Hueco Mundo into glass, a feat never before seen. The sands of this purgatory dimension, composed of the bones of the First Hollow, are capable of resisting the heat of a Perfect Vasto’s gran Rey Cero, an attack so powerful that it is the only thing capable of destroying the Chains of Hell themselves. The only other thing in existence proven to destroy the chains of hell, is the power of the Soul King’s Blood, the very power that currently fuels Kassius’ evolution.
Elliora would retreat, already fleeing with full speed to avoid the blast’s initial shockwave. Today her reputation as the fastest Espada would seem to pay off. Her feats of speed allow her to stay ahead of the explosion's instantaneous expansion. In turn, her regeneration would make up for any damage caused by the destruction of her spiritual armor. As her defenses proved fallible, given any variation in movement or speed, the heat of the explosion would burn at her flesh reminding her to pick up the pace, before she would heal once more. She would fly a great distance into the air, until the blast of energy became but a red speck below, correctly deducing that it would be easier to outclimb the explosion, rather than outrun it.
Galia however takes the opposite approach, hoping to retreat into the depths of Hueco Mundo in order to avoid the blast above. Though sound in theory, Galia fails in execution. It would seem that he lacks Elliora’s speed, even in his own terrain, as he fails to reach the Forest of Menos in time. As he swims, he is suddenly shocked to find his surroundings turned to glass. He feels the heat of the explosion, and in his mind he is untouched given the strength of his hierro. However, the unfortunate truth is that by the time he realizes his surroundings are glass. His body would already be reduced to that of a charred skeleton. Even with a proficient Hierro, the lowly arrancar’s defenses were nothing compared to the durability of Hueco’s Sands. The sensation of heat that he felt, the feeling of pain haunting his mind, was that of his very own body being destroyed. What was left of him, would be hollow chambers within the glass, where once his bones were encased, now filled with the blackened ash of his body. How fitting, for the Dinosaur Arrancar to be rendered merely a fossil. His finals thoughts ring out…
"Hyaaaaaah!"
The only one that did not attempt to retreat would be the Pseudo-King, Enrico. The Fourth Espada, as he had his entire life, lacked any fear. What Enrico didn’t realize was that fear is a natural instinct, a drive for self-preservation. Lacking fear did not make one strong, only foolish. To Enrico rushing forward in the face of destruction is a sign of power, but in reality it meant only that the Pseudo-King harbors a death-wish. Confident in his abilities, the Fourth espada manifested one hundred feet away from the Vasto Lorde, well within the epicenter of the blast-zone. His eyes would be destroyed, along with his eardrums, while his inner workings would have been ruptured. Even in this state, should Enrico have realized the folly of his ways, and attempted to flee, he would have been too late. The actions he chose to commit would have already consumed too much time, as the other three arrancar had already chosen to flee at the sight of the Vasto unwinding, while Enrico chose only to watch closer. Still, the Espada likely had no thought of retreating, even now, and would remain confident in the power of his aspect of death. It is true that upon physical contact Enrico is capable of reclaiming an opponent’s reiatsu as his own. However, this would not give him a superior ability to wield the power than the one he reclaims it from. No simple flexing of Reiatsu, what the Fourth Espada hoped to claim for his own body would be an amalgamation of three pinnacles of power.
The first would be the full released natural reiatsu of a Vasto Lorde evolving, the peak of the Hollow species reaching the next step in power, a superior Hollow form to Enrico’s once Adjucha form, now evolving into a superior Arrancar form to Enrico’s current Espada form. Adding onto this would be the second pinnacle of power, the spiritual energy inherent in spending time within the Dangai. After only two months in the Dangai, Ichigo Kurosaki was capable of defeating the Ruler of Hueco Mundo, who at the time was fully merged with a wish-granting object. In comparison, this Vasto Lorde had done nothing but feed on the Dangai for Four Hundred Years. The final, and greatest, pinnacle of power that composes this explosion of energy, is that of the Cristal Sangriento (血の結晶 [Rom. Chi no kesshō] Lit. "
Bloody Crystal"). This object was composed of the Soul King’s blood, the literal life essence of the creator of all, shown to be capable of eroding the chains of hell and resurrecting the dead. This blood was consumed by the strongest Espada, Enrico’s own self-proclaimed superior: Elliora Lillit. The power of the Soul King was too much for the Cero Espada to handle. Even with her previously unparallelled regenerative abilities, Elliora was forced to enter a coma for over one hundred years, as her body fought to heal itself at a faster rate than it could be destroyed. The result of a hundred years of incubation, would be the egg once nestled within her chest, the very egg she just fed the Dangai-infused Vasto Lorde in order to cause such a blast.
These three factors are what contribute to the sheer scale and power of the explosion before Enrico. The simultaneous release of all of this built up spiritual energy is what generates such a potent disintegrating force, a force that if left unchecked would certainly consume all of Hueco Mundo and wipe Hollow-kind from existence. It is this force that the Fourth Espada wishes to claim as his own, and through the means of physical touch no less. The moment the blast touches Enrico’s flesh, there would simply be no flesh left to control it. Even if Enrico were capable of reclaiming the blast as his own, he lacked the power to successfully wield it, as his aspect of Avarice would not grant him immunity, simply ownership. When Elliora owned this power, her body disintegrated on a molecular level, and her high-speed regeneration was only capable of preserving her life, taking over a century before her body could adjust to the increase in power. The Vasto Lorde, upon consuming the crystalline egg, contributing his own spiritual build up to its release, and claiming ownership of the resulting release of power, still had his entire body completely disintegrated in an instant, It is only due to his own regenerative ability, an amalgamation of his own aspect of death and the properties of the dangai, as well as the natural phenomena of evolution, that Kassius would rise from this destruction like a phoenix from the ashes. Enrico, in comparison to his superior Elliora, who herself is dwarfed by the abilities of this evolving Vasto, possessed absolutely no regeneration. If he claimed this power for himself, his body would not be able to contain it, nor heal itself as it disintegrates from the power. That is, if his body was even able to survive the initial physical contact of this blast, or the incinerating heat that preludes it, neither of which could be resisted with Hierro alone. While his proximity to the blast still prevented him from choosing to run. Either way fate ordained, the Fourth Espada would find his body disintegrated into ash upon contact from the explosion. His presence on the battlefield never even noted, equal to the insects that scurried away and died in the dirt. In the end, he was king above none, his final lament echoing in his mind…
"Ahh..."
Las Noches itself would be saved, sparred by the quick thinking of their God King, the arrancar within this structure would find themselves caught within the dimension-shifting beam of a Negación (反膜 (ネガシオン),
Negashion; Spanish for "
Negation"). It is fortunate that their God-King had so little faith in his arrancar’s ability do defend themselves. The scientist Izeel had thought of a plan, however its timing would not have sufficed, given that the residents of Los Noches were not prepared for the initial physical shockwave of force, which would have crippled them and prevented them from acting. Even should Izeel have managed to enact his plan in time and uninjured, simply opening a large Garganta was not going to be enough to prevent damage from an explosion that threatened all of Hueco Mundo. Especially given that the garganta would have crumbled after only absorbing a small amount of the energy. However, the Negación was able to transport the entire palace into a stasis dimension, while allowing them to witness the catastrophe that struck outside of their walls. They would watch as a tidal wave of red energy engulfed their surroundings. The brightness of its light somewhat lessened by the walls of the negaccion, sparing their eyes from exploding, but not their retinas from burning. Then just as suddenly as it arrived, the Explosion would retreat, condensing itself back down into a single individual, far out of their line of sight. The alarm bells had been rung, with the God King and his evolved Vasto companion on their way to deal with this new Vasto Threat.
“-AHAHAAAAAAA FUCK YES.”
The newly formed Arrancar looks upon the white sands of Hueco Mundo with a fresh eye, bloodshot, constricted, high on the adrenaline of violence. The signature smile of his hollow form never seeming to have faltered, as his expansive grin spreads wide from cheek to cheek, causing him to bare his teeth like a rapid dog. At over seven feet tall, the new Arrancar, Kassius, stands in a glass crater of his making. Hunched over, he breathes heavily, the labored panting of an excited animal. His flesh still sizzles and burns as the remnants of the spiritual pressure dissipates. His blonde hair is slicked back naturally, his white tank top contrasts his tanned skin, constricting tightly against his muscular body. By all accounts, the man should appear quite handsome, however any attractive elements of his physical form are drowned out by the pure manic energy he emits, the maliciousness behind his smile, and the intensity of his expression. He forgets all about the disgusting bird, the shitty little shinigami, and the imprisonment in the dangai, as his fresh eyes take in a new world. A new hunting ground.
"¿Como te sientes? ¿Sientes el poder? Ven, ven, quier- ¡¡¡NECESITO JUGAR CONTIGO!!! ¡DIME TU NOMBRE!"
"How do you feel? Do you feel the power? Come, come, I wan- I NEED TO PLAY WITH YOU!!! TELL ME YOUR NAME!"
A voice calls out from nowhere, carried on the very winds themselves. Kassius,having already forgotten about the bird, does not recognize her voice, nor does he possess the sensory ability to deduce where the wind was coming from. Instead, he looks around ferociously, his shit-eating smile growing even wider, his eyes frantically darting about aroused by the sensation of brutalizing some nearby victim. However, after searching for a moment and finding nothing, the arrancar becomes confused. Was this voice in his head a product of his evolution? Would he ever be able to get his hands on it? It sounded as excited to die as he was to kill, it would be a shame if such a thing wasn’t possible…
"Q-quiero saber a que sabes.~♪"
"I-I want to know what you taste like.~♪"
”Huh?”
Suddenly a speck manifests in the night sky, catching Kassius’ attention as its reflection gleams in his single eye. It continues to grow brighter...closer, its details blurry at first. Confused but intrigued, Kassius looks upon the growing light with excitement, constricting the pupil of his eye and allowing him to focus in on it from miles away. What he sees is an ecstatic yet shrunken Elliora, blade in each hand, spinning violently as she hurdles herself towards him. He watches as the woman picks up speed with her wind, causing flames to erupt around her from the sheer friction of her velocity. A smile creeps its way back across Kassius’ face, as white tendrils begin to slither out from the flesh of his arms. As she closes the distance, her daggers carve through the ivory glass, melting it into molten, while Kassius eyes grow as wide as his smile, and his fists clench. Within striking distance, he leaps forward, his arms composed of nothing but pure bone-fibers, rendering his strength superior to anything the woman has yet seen. His kick off of the ground causes the glass beneath to crack, as he launches directly towards the woman.
"¡Dame una probadita! ¡No seas egoista!"
"Give me a taste! Don't be selfish!"
While she cries out in glee, she would feel the slightest of resistance from her blades, as they sever through the man’s arm. His fist would go flying through the air, blood from his stump splattering across the woman’s face. The joy she feels from landing the hit however, would quickly be replaced with nothing but pain. The moment that her blades were occupied with severing one of Kassius’ arms, his other arm would spring into action. His remaining hand had struck at equally breakneck speeds, using the coiled tension of his bone-tendrils like a cobra primed to strike. His enlarged fist would snatch the woman clean out of the air, coming at at her from a perpendicular angle and thus free of the threat of her blades. In her reduced sized, and with the increased size of his fist, he was capable of gripping the woman’s entire torso in a single hand. With her arms pinned at her sides, there would be nothing she could physically do to free herself. Perhaps in this moment she might have had the thought to use her wind affinity to sever the man’s remaining arm. However, she would unfortunately be granted no time to think of such alternatives. The arm that she severed with her blade, though it lost its fist, would not lose its momentum. Kassius continued the swing of his strike completely unhindered by the loss of his arm, unphased physically or mentlaly, and devoid of any pain. His stump would collide against the woman’s head with the full force of his swing.
The impact against her skull would cause the entire floor of glass surrounding Kassius to shatter into a trillion pieces, filling the immediate area with a glittering dust of shining glass, and obscuring the duo from sight. Surely such a blow would have been enough to completely evaporate the woman’s head, and this Arrancar that she created was definitely the type to do so. However, as the dust settles, a peculiar sight might be seen. It would appear that, unknowingly, the arrancar had held back in some regard. As Elliora’s head would still remain attached to her body, albeit severed from the spine. Perhaps it was the loss of his fist that altered his trajectory or somehow cushioned the blow. Maybe he was distracted by a need to regenerate it. Or perhaps….the exposure to the former Cero Espada’s flesh and blood had finally indoctrinated Kassius into its effects. It would be unnoticeable, to even him, but it could be that the new Cero Espada was enthralled with the woman, his affection manifesting in only a single way: Subconsciously, he cannot deliver a lethal blow to her. Though this was the extent of her grip over him, as he did not hesitate to bring her to deaths door.
Elliora’s brain would be severed from its stem, turned to mush within the confines of her cracked skull, which sat loosely upon a broken neck. The shock from this blow, if it didn’t kill her, would undoubtedly stun the woman into a daze, preventing her from utilizing her abilities. Her body, however, would be restricted within the Brute’s grip. His hold on her would be so tight that her bones would crack and compress inwards, what organs aren’t penetrated by the severed bones would pop from the pressure, as her insides squished themselves out from inside her, blood oozing from her mouth and eyes. The woman would not be able to breathe, let alone speak, even swallowing would be impossible, as she choked down on the bits of her that were making their escape. She was like a tube of toothpaste caught within a violent grip, as the pressure enacted on her resulted in her body threatening to burst out from her exposed head. All she could do was watch, with wide-eyes that threatened to pop from their sockets. With his forceful grip constantly imposing itself upon her, there would be no moment for the woman to utilize her regeneration, so long as he continued to squeeze her, she wouldn’t have a chance to heal her ruptured organs. She would be completely and utterly at this man’s mercy...if she wasn’t already dead.
Tendrils burst from his severed hand, rapidly merging into a single limb, a perfect replacement of the fist that he had lost, regrown in but an instant. With this, a shadow creeps across his face, rendering his stare and smile utterly vicious. Still squeezing the woman, he presses the index finger of his free hand against his thumb, placing it before her. His finger alone is the size of her skull at this point, blocking out her vision. With the pure ecstasy that comes with torment, Kassius finally responds to his victim.
“Taste this, Bitch.”
He says, as he releases his index finger simultaneously to his grip upon her. It impacts against her skull with such force that it would cave in the remainder of her face, as her body goes flying once more into the night sky. She would soar with such force that her broken body breaks the sound barrier, releasing a thunderous boom for all to hear, as she propels into nothing but a speck, soaring for hundreds of miles into the infinite night sky.
With no one left to play with, Kassius looks at his new hand inquisitively. For centuries now he had grown accustomed to regeneration, but this was different. It had been some time since he had a human hand, he couldn’t remember how long, or what the sensation was like, he couldn’t actually remember if he once had a human hand at all. What’s more, this regeneration was different as well, beyond the physical capabilities he had as a Hollow. The delay in the healing until this point had been solely because Kassius was so excited to brutalize the woman that he hadn’t allowed himself a chance to heal. It became clear to the new Cero Espada, that he hadn’t even begun to test the limits of his new form. He was just getting started.
Alone once again in this strange new playground, Kassius looked aimlessly around the endless expanse of White Desert, hoping to spot another victim to play with. He soon realizes however, that the destructive force of his evolution had succeeded in wiping out all life within its radius. Feeling the creeping sensation of boredom slowly plague his being, Kassius tried to recall where the disgusting bird had initially flown from. Though she was the only living thing he had seen since arriving here, he deduced that there had to be more like her. It was the nature of Hollows to eat, and therefore she couldn’t have lived here in
complete isolation. Even while isolated in the Dangai, Kassius himself had found plenty of victims to torment. Thus, he sets out, unknowingly in the direction of Los Noches, boredom weighing down his soul, and violence burning in his heart and mind.
Indulgence, Indifference, Avarice, the Arrancar’s many aspects failed to compare to what now roams free within their realm, the red skies of the desert marked the beginning of a new era, an era….of
BRUTALITY.
