Search and Destroy [Africatastrophe Act II]

Unlike in Germany, there was no grand entrance this time as yet another Descorrer opened up quietly in the vicinity of the hole. Two more figures stepped out into the darkness, bodies illuminated only for the briefest of moments before they descended into the chaos. With a single nod, Ignacio's accompaniment vanished into the night. Her mission was to be carried out whilst he did the heavy lifting, for a change. A point of indignation that he had wished to contest on such harsh judgement but was offered little opportunity to do so.

Eventually, his approach towards the hole itself was checked. A squadron of Vandenreich Soldat rushing to apprehend him. But, with a single swing of his sword, the area was bathed in a fire hot enough to set the very sand beneath their feet alight. They retreated after that and he did not pursue, instead continuing his methodical march forwards. Ichigo had told them to pull no punches, but that was not Ignacio's way. He would mete out death only to those that longed for it this day. Those wise enough to steer clear might be spared his wrath.

Alone, Ignacio continued to advance. His senses reaching out to search for even the faintest traces of that which they sought, whilst a hand remained wrapped tight around his sword lest an opportunist try their luck against him.

AFRICA
A jolt awake.

At first, he thought it was another nightmare The same repeats from before, maybe a greatest hits collection. Explosions, screaming, panicked spiritual pressure seeping into the air - terrifying. But familiar. Silver eyes shone wide as reality came to meet Lukas, an alert coming to life with incredible volume on his phone.




Helpful. The remark held silent as he threw it to the side, assembling some idea of dress before he burst from the tent he was residing. A man he recognized from the Vandenreich rushing by slamming into him, dropping a duffel bag of medical supplies before turning to curse at Lukas.

"Look where you're going m-!" Lukas back handed the man across the mouth, anger coursing through him before his voice deflated.

"Look, we need to mobilize." Almost soft, apologetic.

"Fight with me later abou-" A puppet with cut strings as Lukas' voice halted, a knowing flickering across his eyes. "Go to the hole." A finger shot into the man's face, Lukas' intensity spiking with locked eyes as he all but ran out of the tent.

The spiritual pressure pouring out didn't stop with the hole - another flare in the distance.

The quincy wasn't the best when it came to sensory abilities, particularly with the sheer quantity of acid in the air. So many hollows he could feel it in his stomach. This other pressure? He could feel from memory. Not the same, no. But familiar.

"Fucking Arrancar." A pitch of rage as he cursed alone, brushing past several half alert Vandenreich members. Some surprise crossed his mind at their lack of immediate pants-shitting death, breaking into a sprint as he broke through their majority. This surprise was quickly forgiven, a squad running opposite into him.

"Run! Run!"

Lukas couldn't take this shit right now.

"TURN THE FUCK BACK, OR I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!" Killing intent exploded from the man as his Ahnengeist materialized, the blade coming immediately to rest on one of the men's throats as Lukas stepped forward. "ALL OF YOU!"

Whatever awaited him was far closer now, the group of soldiers staring in silence as the assassin pushed the man in front of him back, nodding towards the spiritual pressure.

"You don't get it-"

"Now." the sword raised, the glow illuminating his features, sleek silver hiding his face in shadow. "Or you die." Sheepishly, they turned with weary eyes, and the smell of smoke on their heels.

To the horizon, Lukas could see a figure approaching, the Soldat running from the pan and into the fire. He'd stop for a moment behind them, a slow, low whistle as his vision corrected. With much of the distance made up, his expectations were raised.

"Don't bitch at me, boys! That's not even Ichigo." A half laugh, a broken tic of anxiety. Sword spinning in his hand, he began walking forward, eyes narrowing in focus. And they want me to take these losers seriously?

Drawn to him like moths to a flame, the soldiers returned with newfound courage. Such foolishness would win them only the prize that he had promised for those that blocked his path, though that did not bring Ignacio any particular comfort. A haze had gathered around him, even in the dark of night one could see the heat distortion that his presence was causing, and then suddenly he vanished.

There was the telltale buzz of a Sonido, then suddenly Ignacio was between the group and the lone figure that skulked behind them. Those unfortunate soldiers to have found themselves in the middle of the group, and directly along his line of travel, were set aflame seemingly by his presence alone. Their bodies lighting up like torches in the night and casting flickering shadows across the battlefield as they danced around and no doubt desperately sought to extinguish themselves before they expired. The others were free to help them or engage him, it mattered little, as a withering golden gaze locked onto Lukas.

“Karinzanjutsu, Second Ring. Swirling Radiant Incinerator.”

With little more ceremony than the words that Ignacio spoke, a single black ring formed at the tip of his weapon. For a moment it remained still, before suddenly beginning to glow and expand. In the blink of an eye it was already a blinding white light, and then, with one swing of his sword, the ring blasted out in every direction at roughly waist level. Like red-hot cheese wire, it would slice through most anything that got in its way for several metres before dispersing with a fiendish hiss. Flesh, bone, or any other unreinforced substance.

AFRICA
Cannon fodder. As was expected.

Lukas' gaze tracked the arrancar's movement, flicking from corpse to corpse as they'd appear. An attempt to feel it out, some gauge of what he was dealing with. Fast. Doesn't seem fast-er though. Not that he was given much time to think.

Surrounding the arrancar was a troubling aura, becoming clearer as the distance rapidly closed. The mounting pressure that followed all the more as Ignacio drew his blade. A slight wide eyed, but silent acknowledgement from the quincy.

The explosion of radiating fire forced Lukas' hand, leaping skywards as he drew reishi under and around himself. The sudden darting greeted with a sky-eye view, the radiance of explosions catching the corner of his eye. The hole looks like a worse place to be than this.

The remaining soldat said goodbye to their lower halves in that moment, a few curdled screams as they attempted to drag themselves back together. Nothing too distracting. Not much one for naming his attacks, the man had a much classier, reserved response:

"Go fuck yourself."

Drawing Ahnengeist back, Lukas thrust the sword forward as it's tip dissipated, a stream of arrows loosing into the arrancar's direction as he began to descend. A controlled fall with small tufts of reishi under heel, intense focus on the monster in front of him.

This one was faster, it seemed, and keener of instincts even if he was not sharper of wit. Ignacio’s gaze shot upwards, following the surviving Quincy’s movements as those few remaining comrades of his went about their death throes. This time Ignacio did not move, seeing that his opponent was bold enough to come to him, so instead planted his feet and raised up his free hand.

Forming up a ball of dazzling magenta energy in the palm of said hand, a cero soon launched itself upwards to intercept those descending arrows. Whilst not enough by itself to entirely stop them, it would take enough out of their sails that they would falter and crumble by the time they impacted upon Ignacio’s Hierro. The intention for his attack had always been such though, a distraction to shield him from harm and give him the time he needed to accumulate several more rings along the length of his blade.

If he came within reach then Ignacio would slice upwards remorselessly, fully intending to bifurcate Lukas before he could get going in this contest, but failing in that then Ignacio would launch forth a torrent of black fire as he swung. The fire seemed to curl and shift according to his whims, stretching out and seeking him down should he attempt anything as mundane as a sidestep.

AFRICA
Contact! And dissolution - Cero registering with sheer brightness. A slight wince in his eye, a hiss of air escaping clenched teeth. Tough.

As his descent continued, Lukas took notice of the rings forming on Ignacio's zanpakuto. That mean he's preparing an attack?[

So many possible decisions, so little time. Fast. But not faster.

A sharp inhale, the swivel of his sword. Reishi condensed around Lukas as he exhaled, the center of Ahnengeist and his heels sparking with intensity. Flaring red in his veins, a stare pouring killing intent in front of him. For a moment, he didn't exist.

Cracking air, a shockwave of reishi.

Lukas careened towards Ignacio a missile, a combination of Steigen and Ahnengeist ripping him through the space fast as he physically could. His payload the emerald blue blade, aiming to run the arrancar through in a single blow before he could retaliate.

Failing that, he could imagine clashing blades. A scenario Lukas wanted to avoid, having freshly seen what the blade was capable of. The fight was never the point; Lukas only knew how to kill.

Ignacio’s upward slice collided with nothing but nighttime air, his blade briefly sparking against the darkness as those rings failed to detonate and instead remained. Lukas had not retreated, though, he had accelerated his approach, and the Arrancar welcomed such a brazen challenge. He did not move to parry though, carrying through his strike and twisting his footwork to present the Quincy with a suboptimal selection of targets. His guard was high, face and core well-shielded unless Lukas wished to imply propel himself onto that infernal blade, but his guts and thighs were less protected.

Ignacio’s defences were quite formidable, his Hierro tough enough to deflect tank shells, but Lukas’ blade and falling momentum were enough to penetrate through despite that. There was no shock written upon his face from taking a single injury though, as a meaty hand shot out to grab ahold of his opponent now that he had brought himself within striking distance. There was a sweltering warmth that came from being near Ignacio, a discomforting amount of heat for even a seasoned veteran of the deserts, but the real danger was the predicament that the errant fist presented.

Should Lukas withdraw his blade to defend himself then a truly blistering blast of steam would shoot from the hole left by his attack as Ignacio’s Infernal Hierro activated in response to his injury, but should he choose instead to engage in the grapple then Ignacio would waste little time in bringing his own weapon around to return the favour and attempt to cut down his adversary before he succumbed to heatstroke.

AFRICA
The heat became apparent before the resistance. A wave of stinging fatigue, annoyance by the name of sweat. Turning the blade as the distance dissapeared, hilt slamming into Ignacio's gut. Blade extending from the arrancar's back, Lukas' teeth grit. Like pushing through a wall. Getting hotter, too.

A red pulse, underneath the skin - veins exploding to the surface of his face and arm, illuminating against Lukas' hair. The heat of the reishi in his sword becoming more uncomfortable, there was only one solution to the Quincy at hand.

Pushing forward, Lukas' foot stepped, cracking the earth underneath with force. Shoulders braced, and he drew Ahnengeist skywards, a second hand grabbing the remainder of its hilt. A singular strike, reishi pumping through his entirety. Whatever grapple or strike Ignacio intended on retaliating with a nonfactor for the man, silver eyes locking onto the Arrancar in front of him. Filled with disgust and rage.

The thought that his opponent would simply remain in place and attempt to slice him in twain had not occurred to Ignacio in that initial exchange, but it was hardly something that he intended to just allow. His hand changed course and clamped down upon the arm that sought to guide this errant blade upwards, muscles flexing across his body as he also fought to stop the blade from within, but that was not before a little movement had occurred. Blood spilt out of his gut and evaporated almost immediately on contact with the air, as scalding heat was pouring from the broken layers of Hierro and right into the Quincy, and yet the Arrancar could only smile. A wide toothy smile as burning orange eyes locked with those of his opponent.

"Answer the Call, Ardiente Tigre el Espíritu."

The air rippled from the sudden burst of energy as Ignacio released his Resurreccion, flames bursting from his back as all that heat was rapidly amplified, and then down came his flaming Zanpakuto accompanied by a spectral tiger's claw. All five blades looked to slice Lukas' arm from his body and promptly disarm him, he would settle for nothing less. Meanwhile, he would use a good deal of that newfound strength to rip his body free from the blade regardless of the cost to his lower chest. These wounds could heal, but he would not permit anything more grievous to befall him so casually.

AFRICA
A desert of fire spread before Lukas. He could see it, in the Arrancar's eyes. Feel it, in the air around him.

Sand scorched black, a billowing pyre reaching into the ash stained sky. Bones littered the ground, claw and bite marks rendering them illegible. Puttering black flames pushed from underneath, a shuddering breath. An expansive obstacle that thrived on death.

The reality of his situation roaring to life as Ignacio released his resureccion, blade and massive claws of flame looking to rend Lukas' arm. Reishi surged in response, fire of his own erupting as the cross on his shoulder illuminated - a crystalline blue.

Amidst the flurry of combat, a small, robotic voice came from the lining of the quincy's jacket. < Pre-Authorization: Emergency >

A vacuum of reishi around Lukas, Ahnengeist exploding in size as Ignacio attempted to pull away. The air taking a hint of blue, fighting against the radiance of the arrancar's fire. Shoulder down, Lukas' arm clad with an enormous amount of reishi, catching against the attack with an audible roar from the quincy.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME, YOU ANIMAL!"

A thrust would launch the pair backwards several hundred feet, the currents of reishi exploding around them. Matching with any output from Ignacio, slashes from the left and right forcibly throwing them into either direction with tremendous force. The rush of energy glowering in Lukas' gaze as he kept locked to Ignacio, each blow in desire to see the monster fall, to see it break.