i. BURNING WINGS, TURNING PAGES, AND SHRINKING SHADOWS [O]

Respect. The word stung like a slap to the face. Did he really believe that? Did he really believe himself? No. The shadowy words crossed over Alastar's mind, his mind calming. Nobody has respect for anyone else. They watch above as their kin, the other birds, who have had their wings stripped down to bone get devoured by the rats which scurry every which way. Alastar still managed a martyr of a smile, however, his body stopping for just a brief moment in the sands. "They send the weakest to combat the strongest. I bare you all the ill-will and contempt in the world, you foul-smelling pile of puss and puke."

Words wouldn't describe how Alastar felt, even if he could properly explain them to such a simple-minded fool like Ao. A quick flick of his wrist and Alastar upholstered his Zanpakuto, bringing it around full-circle, allowing it to begin to consume his body in hellish black, which ran down on him with hearty glee. "Dominate, Exótico." The simple release of his energy was more then enough to incite the thought that Alastar wasn't simply just having a hissy-fit or rebelling like a teenager. No, as the energy departed from his body, swirling out into the wind, and breaking the tense silence with the weight that had been applied being relieved, only to instantaneously be reapplied at the five thousand pound ratio down onto Ao within an instant of entering this form¹. The thousands of pounds itself was hardly the width of a pin; and was aimed towards his torso, aimed to slice clean through the uppermost of his shoulder and remove the arm before the battle even began with it's thousand pounds of pressure having the easy task of dismembering even the strongest of Hierros.

Alastar did not stop. He would kill everything. The Espada, the Shinigami, he would return the world to dust and recreate it into a place wherein only the strong would survive. The Humans, albeit with a good amount of potential, would not live either; no, he would destroy all of these worlds and recreate it in the tepid void which would be left over. Alastar shot forwards at speeds equal to his power, appearing right where Ao had probably shot himself off to, his sneering and obviously off-the-rocket face sneering down on him, energy unbridling around from his body and releasing thereout², aiming to consume and shatter his body into pieces.

--

PERSONIFICACIÓN ASURA¹, FURIA DE ASURA².

The quaking blast of Ao's Gran Rey Cero was more than enough to beckon the Segunda to the battlefield, returning less than winded, and slightly wounded from the previous engagement. Immediately after entering the wasteland of the hollow domain, the blonde could feel the reiatsu running rampart - and its owner being reckless with the power he possessed. It was almost enough to conceal that of Ao's, and maybe he wouldn't have paid any mind if it wasn't for the blast coming from the military base. Another conflict the man was forced to resolve.

With a single set, he fell into a sonido, one of heightened energy behind it, nearly exploding onto the scene with force. He stood before the two and the devastation that was caused to Luucio's men, a sentinel against the landscape. The sword was rigid behind his back, its edge in contact with the sword as he held it with a reverse grip. Icy eyes met the two, and he made no eager attempt speak or ask for the situation. It would be explained.

However, whatever the answer was, Ezel felt confident that once more in this day he would be forced to raise his blade in order to quell conflict - an annoyance at this point.

He watched on, jaw clenched and brow furrowed. His Gran Ray Cero was reduced to nothing. Even though the power between them was vast, something like that was.. incomprehensible. Was he really this weak? With the back of his paw he wiped away the blood that stained his lips, spitting the rest to the floor with a layer of contempt. Rarely did he look adversity in the face with a sense of hopeless dread, but, this was beginning to look like that very thing. The spiritual pressure of the second Espada caught his attention, his visage appearing, distorted by the heat waves of Hueco Mundo and pressure of the Cero. Perhaps he was here to help? Ao wasn't sure if he wanted it or not. Blue hues turned brighter⁴, his perception becoming more acute then ever before. Through the dust, sand and smoke, he saw the rebellious Espada and the power he was surging forth in his flurry of angst. His emotions manifested themselves in pulses of power, three hundred and sixty degrees around, though powerful enough to force a catalyst reaction in the sands, the range, he figured, would most likely be no more then five hundred feet. Something he'd test.

His feet moved across¹ the desert of Hueco Mundo in the form of a back step; sand not even being kicked up by the insanely fast and light footsteps of the Espada as he moved. Ao caught his breathe then, as he felt the intense pressure of thousands of pounds of weight. He was out of the safe zone, if not by nearly thirty meters, before his body was forced heavily into the sands below, tripping him and causing him to tumble aimlessly. Catching his footing, sliding his paws across the surface he looked up in time to catch a glimpse of the cero charging towards him, the grand power he held in his hand undoubtedly being that of equivalence in name- not power- to the Sixth's own Gran Ray Cero. Thinking quick on his feet- no pun intended of course to his rather current lack of actual footing- he opened his mouth wide, canines stained in blood and sand lining his cheeks. The angry rampaging Espada's Cero engulfed Ao, and while to the untrained eye it would appear that he had caught him off guard, looking closely, one would find the Sixth consuming⁵ the energy itself that surrounded his form only, into his maw. Seeking to consume it entirely would be suicide, but he could control a portion of it, and when combined with his own power, it would make a devastating blow- even to the Cero. In a tremendous display of power, he released it.

The attack would take on the very same strength plus his own as it shot forth. The range allotted for the two being mere meters now due to Alatar's rash decision to rush in, the attack would surely hit. While not as wide as the original (about two meters, to be precise), the raw power in itself was something that he would recognize as it would seek to consume him. Even if this didn't kill him, it would be enough. Perhaps the Segunda would interject and put this dog down; something every creature in a thousand miles would be happy for, he was sure.

For the most part, Alastar remained unaffected by Ao's increased perception of the fight. He managed to hold up like a weak woman from her attacker, but only slightly so, managing to sustain damage so early in the fight would be his deathbed. Yet, when the cero came in, Alastar saw what others may not have seen. The suction of his own Gran Rey Cero was quick, very quick, yet a moment of delay was more than apparent, one to get rid of the excess energy that Alastar had over what Ao could handle without self-imploding.

Alastar had a hunch that the energy that Ao had voluntarily taken in would not stay. As after-all, a Cero was, at large, a beam of volatile, unkempt energy. On the back side, Alastar saw the oncoming Segunda, who for all intents and purposes had engaged him as an enemy. Yet, this meant this had degraded into a two-on-one fight, and this had made it harder to win, if only by a small fraction of what it was prior.

The energy that had been consumed back out, just as planned, and with it from the opposing side did Ezel try to strike him down. Anyone, no matter their Hierro, would be slain easily with these two attacks coming at them. Not even the Godking, or in theory, could possibly hold out to such energy consuming him at different directional forces. Yet, Alastar spiked his reiatsu, which tore skywards in a huge dome, his Hierro Aura, an infinitely powerful technique coming into power as both attacks slammed into it, making rough contact. The resounding explosion was massive, consuming the ground around him and rendering a good amount of the sand to a molten liquid. Yet he stood there, a testament to his power, unharmed, not even a fraction of the energy had touched his skin, and his red eyes, devoid of interest on the behalf of the two around him, stared deeper then prior.

They had made such a huge mistake with that attack. It was a gamble, a good one, one that could have killed him if it wasn't for his repertoire of abilities. Moreover, it was smart, but had a huge downside. Right beside him now; after a quick flicker forwards to make contact with Ao for the time being, Ao stood, unaware and unprepared for what was about to befall this land. He would not release it yet, but he had to even the odds. So without much notice that he was doing so, Alastar applied more pressure onto the feet of Ao, at their maximum of 4000 on each foot, grounding him for the brief moment as his hand came around, primed towards his head, and with a Gran Estrella Cero.² If it was to connect, Ao would be no more.

--

hierro aura¹, gran estrella cero².

He caught his footing shortly after releasing the torrent of energy that was inside of him. Smoke clung, hesitantly rising from his armored form. The close up attack had left it's own fair share of damage across the Sexta's form. Armor cracked and fell away in places revealing the human skin underneath and the patches of his blue fur were stained in blood, from from numerous cuts and from wiping it away from his maw. The chest of the Espada heaved slowly, the breathe of keeping up with an Espada whose strength was beyond his in all aspects taking a toll on him. The combined attacks of both himself and the Segunda devastated the Cero, the full effects still not being seen. But he knew one thing: he had an opening.

Now that the weight was gone- if not at the very least lessened by the state of the Cero- he stood straight, tail lashing behind him in a way to ensure he kept balanced. "Rabid dogs should be put down," he said aloud for the first time since the battle began. The Espada's voice was more feline than human, his eye narrowing. A simple nod to the helping Segunda would be all he needed to thank him for the help in dealing with this problem; he wouldn't admit it, but he needed it. He surveyed the entire field in just under a second, understanding and taking it in like a professional tactician. Knowing that getting too close to that man- especially when he retained a form still stronger than this- would be suicide, Ao decided to stay back.

With what little blood he had left in his maw, he mixed it with the energy inside. He opened his maw as wide as he could, creating an orb more blue then clearest water. Lightning danced upon it's surface like a child, unknowing of it's fate. Though it would've taken more then a few seconds in his normal form, under the full release of his power, it was almost as if instantaneous. Both Espada (if able) would recognize the attack as something similar, though weaker, then their own. Once the static died down it shot forth², 4 meters wide in length and extending for nearly a hundred meters itself past the intended target should it consume him. Even the Segunda would be caught in it's path, though, the armor of the man would undoubtedly leave him unscathed.


Sonido¹, Gran Ray Cero², Huelga Bendito (delayed)³, The Lion's Eye (active), Cero Consumir⁵

Alastar had sustained heavy damage. Perhaps not enough to be close to fatal, but enough so that the incapacitation that hovered over him made it more or less near impossible to recover in time to reply to an instant attack. A perfect chance to kill me, Alastar's eyes glowered darker than prior, awaiting his death.

Yet it did not come.

Instead, he felt the rough dull steel against the back of his skull, a splitting darkness forcing it's way through the midsection of his head, causing tremendous strain on keeping his eyes open. When he did keep his eyes open, however, he saw Ezel save his life with his own body, only replying with a dark 'hmph'. They were all cocky, or Ezel was, he could at the very least give props to Ao for trying to kill him, and rightfully so. He was being underestimated, by someone who was superior over. There was a reason he was 'Cero', and the man infront of him was Segunda.

Yet in the time that Ezel had tried to knock him unconscious and act as a barrier, he had ignored Alastar. This would be both of their downfalls, and it would all rest on the shoulders of the man who would not allow for Alastar to die with pride or his own arrogance. Alastar could feel the fury incarnate rising up past his chest, swimming into his head, warming the wound, burning forth with the insatiable desire to kill, to destroy. No longer did he only wish to remove of the Godking, he now wanted to bleach the stains that laid out infront of him from the face of the sandy hills.

"You lost your one chance." Alastar spit out, flashing to his feet with near instantaneous speed. Energy unraveled the sand around him, from the sheer quantity and nature of it causing the sand to spontaneously combust with hellish blue energy. The sand around Alastar and Ezel turned to magma under the explosion, bubbling out and overflowing from the ground, searing everything in it's path to crystal.

Then, it began to rain. Like blood pouring from a wound, the sky bled with stars, all of which fell in a myriad of beautiful colors. Such colors were too beautiful for what was the cause of it, each and every one of the stars being an innocent thought, now falling to the floor and exploding in a puddle of energy. The rain continued to fall, heavily spattering against the ground and those around ground zero.

"Segunda Etapa."

Alastar's voice was heavy with taint, and with his voice fluttering along the infinite dunes of sand, one thousand pounds of force dropped down onto every point around him. Ao and Ezel included, the force would very will shatter the ground underneath them with huge craters, with them as the epicenter. Along with this, the dunes around them turned to dust, burning away into crystal and then into dust. The sheer strength of Alastar's release was barred from release for four-hundred miles of Las Noches, and would rather not even be in the same realm, and now he was only a mile away from the capital itself. This was the one and only rule that Alastar had recently broken, Luucio had never told him not to come at him, or to not kill other Espada and Arrancar, infact, he had quite been interested in those events. This showed Alastar's true conviction; he had just broken free of subjugation underneath Luucio, breaking one of the very few rules that had been put in place.

"Only god can judge me now." Alastar spit out, his hands outstretching instantaneously afterwards. His entire body was black; the only feature that set him aside from a humanoid-shaped black plastic doll was the set of eyes, which glowed with a hellish crimson color. Now in this form, and his posture, the world began to spin for Ao; churning into itself almost instantaneously. If it made a full spiral, Ao would be reduced to a crystal, instantaneously compacted and imploded to create a beautiful amethyst, which seemingly remained outside of the realm of reality. The same applied to Ezel, just the spiral itself was much larger then the one set on Ao.

--

NEBULOSA DE DEVA| Deva Nebula is the true effect of "The Oncoming March". By increasing the weight of Alastar's spiritual energy and condensing it to the utmost perfection, Alastar can essentially create a void. This void can be created within 200m of Alastar's current location, and rapidly expands in a galaxy swirl design. Deva Nebula allows for Alastar to create areas in which nothing can exist whatsoever, and thus anything caught in Deva Nebula's formation becomes skewed, revolving into a spiral pattern before consuming in on itself, creating a pitch-black crystal. This crystal has no attributes which could be used as a physical or spiritual increase, and the only factor is that the person who was killed by Deba Nebula is permanently chained within the crystal, as they had been consumed to create such a universe, which is plain and clear within the crystal, as it is full of stars and planets. The person in question within the crystal is also forced to relive their arrogance in hundreds of millions of different scenarios for the rest of eternity. The crystals phase in and out of reality, rendering them invulnerable to any attempt at breaking them.

PERSONIFICACIÓN DEVA| Deva Personification, or formerly Asura Personification, was one of the more intimidating abilities of Alastar's ressureccion. Now in Segunda Etapa form, Deva Personification is heavily improved in it's power, moreover being a direct replacement to the oncoming march technique. While in Segunda Etapa, Deva Personification is always active, and will instantaneously reduce any soul that does not harbor a Great Spiritual Power level or higher to ash within one-hundred meters of Alastar. Ontop of that, those who can brace the effect of it are burdened by five-hundred kilograms of pressure applied right on the top of them. This effect cannot stack, however, and cannot be elevated and applied in other areas.