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Expecting his labors to prove fruitful, the Captain witnesses Shoumetsu’s ascension. With the stage perfectly set, all that is left is to deal the finishing blow. Time itself seems to freeze for Yū Nakamoto as Shoumetsu’s descent brings him closer and closer to Sword Eater. He grits his teeth in anticipation–
“It’s over… just one strike!”
… he assures to himself. Unfortunately for the optimistic Yū, things were merely heating up.
All of a sudden, a debilitating sensation overtakes him. Although this indescribable pain he felt would pulsate from his palm first, this profuse outrage is felt virtually everywhere. His eyes immediately dart down to the cocoon he holds and widen at the sight of what is there– or in this case, what is not. A result of his glowing hand firmly placed over the punctured area of the cocoon, his palm falls victim first to the parasitic ability of Shinjitsu Kyo; Not even blood spills from the gaping cavity that remains of what once was his hand. Instinctively, he moves to drop the cocoon but finds himself stuck to it, as the void continuously leaks out from the entry hole his palm once covered. The exit hole would be directly below him, the void threatening to leak out onto his hip. Arching his back outwards to create as much space he could fathom away from the cocoon, Yū finds himself in an awkward position in the face of a fast-spreading death.
The pain begins to process once more– White-hot agony instantly radiates throughout his entire body, stiffening his every nerve and muscle fiber; The Captain’s head throbs uncontrollably, overwhelmed by the pain as if his very soul was set alight by pure hellfire from the inside. To him, it feels as if he’s even unable to even think clearly as waves and waves of nausea wash over him to the point of his limbs impersonating jelly and his sight becoming darkened. His eyelids flutter for a moment as the landscape below him becomes blurred… was he losing consciousness?
Once hard focused on Oyama’s words of wisdom that he had unfortunately not taken into account clearly enough upon Sword Eater’s acquisition of his zanpakuto, Yū hadn’t witnessed the Quincy’s unexpected fall from grace yet he had almost no reason to hesitate. The void matter encroaches further up his body, his forearm now dissolving into the air as seamless as sugar within a cup of tea. Adrenaline washes away the once debilitating pain and instead replaces it with sheer panic– there had to be a way out. His elbow is next; He has no more time to think, not another second could be wasted leaving the young Captain with the quickest option he could execute. For virtually anyone else it would be near impossible and hard to recover from in the heat of battle, but for Yū Nakamoto…
“Hadō #32. Ōkasen!”
… this would be child’s play. His free hand is engulfed in golden light and within a breath comes slamming downward on his elbow joint, severing the remaining bit of forearm he had left in a single stroke. He grits his teeth in strain, saliva escaping the minuscule gaps in his teeth as he contains his grunts of endless torment; This time, he fully experiences every ounce of unfathomable agony that exudes from his removed limb. Unfortunately for him, there would be no adrenaline rush strong enough to grant him relief as he had expected this injury to be coming. While his arm is now free, the rest of Yū Nakamoto still is not. His wings beat maniacally in a furious attempt to distance himself further from the now unfolding void. The silk threads that contain it now have dissolved as he flutters harder, the void now already grazing his Shihakusho. With a pained expression, the young Captain releases one final surge from his wings and coupled with his prowess in Shunpo, his frame becomes an unstoppable blur, breaking free from the mighty pull of the black hole that once was Shinjitsu Kyo’s body. He has no time to reminiscence, no time to reflect on his mistakes nor time to mourn his fellow Shinigami’s death– especially while facing the very real possibility of his own.
He rematerializes a considerable distance away from the void’s source, its pull still relentless and further amplified by the Hell Gate’s own suction. The Captain’s wings are not the only things that are hard-pressed as the minor touch from the void now proves even more potent as nothingness eats away at Yū’s side. His expression is riddled with stress– just how much more can he take? Even the mere touch of the breeze against his exposed ribcage is debilitating, but the young Captain has no time to display his misery, only time to stop it. He wouldn’t be able to escape this in the same manner as his arm for what was there left that was feasible to remove? His only option would be to sever his entire frame in half, down from his shoulder… but that was unimaginable. The healer promptly is aware that isn’t an option, leaving him to do what was merely second nature to him– heal.
“Seimeikasseihō!”
His remaining free hand slams against his own chest, now enveloped in a glossy, emerald light. Without hesitation upon his calling, the green light’s luminance grows in intensity and instantly shrouds his entire body, seemingly slowing the process of the void’s approach before it comes to a complete halt. The crippling pain lingers but upon his spell’s cast, the boy’s body withholds its shape. While it may seem that Yū has outlasted the void, this wasn’t entirely the case. The void still persists and continues to devour away at Yū’s now exposed ribcage yet visually, it’s making no progress. Exerting his reiatsu steadily at a 1:1 ratio with the void’s incessant eating, Yū is proving to restore himself at essentially the same rate as he sustains damage.
But as the Seireitei’s greatest healer, even in this state, even on the assumed brink of death, he still can do better. The standstill is barely short-lived as the remainder of his torso now begins to regenerate unimpeded by the deceased Shinjitsu’s void and within a blink, downwards from his shoulder, his arm begins to return. Bone materializes from thin air, extending and splitting downward to lay the framework for his arm before a hunk of muscles and nerves sprout from his shoulder joint. Like serpents, they coil around the shifting bones before they instantly tighten; Simultaneously, flesh erupts from the crevices between the muscles themselves, his manifested skin now casing them in a flawless sheet of white.
As his body is restored, his sight darts back directly ahead, witnessing what would be Shoumetsu's barrage of blows. Instead, his worst nightmare comes true. Familiar wings have sprouted from Sword Eater's back and while it seems that itself won't be enough to break free from the Captain's trap, his adversary has other plans. Similar to his own method of escape from the void only moments ago, the Togabito comes to the same realization that the only way out is to leave something behind. With a powerful flap of its stolen wings, Sword Eater rips itself in half from the midsection up, discarding its mundane pair of legs to fall into the hellish terrain below them. Despite an attempt to rip itself in half from the waist up, the Togabito would find its lower forearms enduring the same fate as its legs, as the Rikujokoro had found itself joined there prior. Despite now being legless and practically armless, a trapped Shoumetsu is still in grave danger with a free-flying Sword Eater only meters away.
Adrenaline floods through his bloodstream, his quickened heartbeat mimicking his equally swift pace as his free hand once more races to work to correct his miscalculations. The green energy that engulfs his palm persists but not before transforming in both color and shape. It begins to evolve, again becoming golden in color and soon after, more liquid-like in consistency.
With a powerful declaration and one swipe of his hand, the following actions occur near simultaneously.
“Bakudō #63. Sajō Sabaku!"
Not a moment after his exclamation, the golden blob of reiryoku that swirls around his palm hardens in form and shoots straight in Shoumetsu’s direction. As the energy around the Captain’s own palm had become more fluid, the same could be said for the rods of light that entrapped Shoumetsu in Sword Eater’s position. They no longer take on the form of rods; For a moment they loosen, freeing his arms and now encircle him like a lasso from the waist, strikingly similar to the one that is discharged towards him. Like a magnet, the rope that binds him likewise shoots in the opposite direction towards Yū and with ease interlocks with the approaching Sajo Sabaku and forms a singular rope. An action that would already be quick enough and take merely a second is now halved, making the perfect union of the two chains virtually instantaneous.
In a moment of panic and strength only explained by overwhelming anxiety, Yū underestimates his own might and yanks Shoumetsu much more violently than anticipated. The young Captain’s open palm now squeezes shut and with a strong grip, heaves his own body upwards and to the side; A process resulting in vigorously tugging Shoumetsu both upwards and away from the fleeing Sword Eater. As Shoumetsu soars towards the Captain, the last remaining orb of his Kuyo Shibari also dissolves, dismissed by its creator as easily as it was established.
While he would reach Yū in a timely manner, the Shinigami is also subject to a savage spin in the air– and with Yū already turned to the side luckily, they both are at just the right position to avoid instant blindness from the Quincy’s unsuspecting lightning strike. The deafening sound from the lightning’s impact however is startling to say the least– disorienting Yū with a sharp ringing in both his ears. Despite his hearing taking quite the blow, the image of a crippled Sword Eater is burned into his memory– and that's all he needs. By the time the lightning strikes and Shoumetsu is already by his side, the golden chains linking them together dissipate and without wasting a moment further, Yū prepares for his counter upon the fleeing and halved Togabito. He barks a single command to Shoumetsu...
“Again!”
… before taking off at high speeds in Sword Eater’s direction.
The air around him has risen dramatically in temperature, but Yū’s soul is umpteen times hotter. For the first time that he can remember, the urge to kill beckons to him to be resolved. Focused rage fuels the soaring Captain, unstoppable in his overly enthusiastic charge. He knew he wouldn’t get another opportune moment like this against his now crippled adversary. With or without Shoumetsu by his side, the young Captain’s time to end this charade is ticking with no other end in sight. Upon the first glimpse of his mimicked wings and Sword Eater’s daring escape, Yū understood his Bankai at this point would be practically useless; As an uncontested healer himself, he is able to break his Bankai’s imposed rules as the damage he sustains can just as easily be restored… but now in the face of one with potentially matched prowess and a plethora of other devastating abilities at its disposal, it was simply kill or be killed. His jaw clenches as he approaches the idle Sword Eater, now attempting to regenerate its lower half with Yū’s own tricks.
Manifested from the hellfire itself, two black strips of fabric abruptly fasten themselves around Sword Eater’s neck and pull themselves taut with no evident sign of their birth nor their extremely rapid approach. There would be no ripping itself free this time, unless the Togabito wished to lose his head– but, this would only be the beginning of its worries. As silk threads leak from underneath its torso to restore itself, the Fairy’s glowing silhouette now comes into clarity amidst the sweltering heat and smoke. The Captain’s hands have already joined together as he calls…
“Bakudō #99, Part 1. Kin! ”
Seemingly from every angle, dozens upon dozens of freshly conjured black strips of cloth promptly shoot at Sword Eater, a plethora of said strips skyrocketing right below its torso to further foil its attempt at reassembling. The rest quickly begin their sole duty, immediately wrapping the floating hellspawn in multiple sheets of black from every conceivable direction.
Iron pillars rain down like meteors from the sky, each landing with a powerful thud upon the collapsed school and pinning the ends of the strips to the ground. The downpour of iron weights follow a set pattern, crawling quickly upwards the already pinned strips of cloth and further tightening their grasp upon Sword Eater’s body until they form a solid X atop the rubble. Along with the strips, the swaddled Sword Eater follows the same fate, its body instantly flying forward; However, the same isn’t said for its head.
As the iron weights lock the ends of the strips that wrap around Sword Eater’s body, the two pieces that find themselves knotted around its neck remain undisturbed, still pulled firm. The moment the first weight drops, the shockingly barbaric detachment is instant, a violent ripping noise booming throughout the dawning battlefield that rivaled that of its stolen lightning.
The masked head falls languidly and rolls a few meters away from the rubble, away from its now fully pinned down body. Without missing a beat, the young Captain still isn’t finished. His joined hands now separate, laying flat before him and facing downwards. White light exudes from his palms…
“Bakudō #99, Part 2. Bankin! Prologue… Halting Wraps!"
… before the rubble that lays underneath the beheaded Sword Eater is shifted. Strips of white cloth slip through the cracks of the debris, further swaddling the already confined Togabito.
“Refrain… Serial Hundred Bolts!”
Aside from his lips, Yū’s frame doesn’t move an inch as sharpened bolts of steel pierce through the heavens towards the white cocoon. Already pinned beyond incomprehensible measure and assumedly lifeless, the bolts almost seem redundant in use– yet the barrage doesn’t relent. Countless spears proceed uninterrupted, impaling Sword Eater’s torso and puncturing it through the fresh cover. The young Captain now rises to his full height, clapping his hands together once more.
With one more final roar…
“Finale… Fully Prohibited Great Seal!”
… the darkened clouds above immediately part. Where one would see the young, rising sun, instead is greeted with the sight of impending destruction. A massive cube plunges through the opening in the sky, undisturbed in its descent. At first glimpse, the cube seems to hover for a moment, almost taunting the ruins beneath it. Then, it drops– within a heartbeat, the large cube grows even larger and larger in comparison to the ground, its' sides glistening and reflecting off the bright orange that colors the catastrophic field its' entering. Dead center on the pinned Sword Eater's body and stretching for dozens upon dozens upon dozens of meters in each cardinal direction, the final nail to the excessive sealing ceremony is hammered in with a calamitous...
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
