moltenconflict03: cataclysm's heart

It took notice of Nabill first, and the first thought in its mind was food. Then something approached it, something nearly as strong, and the Vasto Lorde turned its flaming gaze towards the approaching arrancar. He was tall, and a large amount of power had been gathered in its hands, but it discarded all of that information. It was the three bullets of reiryoku coming towards it that captured the demons attention. 

But then they too left its mind, for the moment they were within a few yards of the beast they were vaporized. A low growl came from its throat as it took a step towards the approaching arrancar. The lava under its claws bubbled and sent waves of heat climbing upwards. It took another sizzling step, and then another, walking over the molten terrain as if it were walking on sand. 

And then it was gone. 

The Vasto Lorde, as all hollow were incapable of, could not use sonido. Normally against someone who could, that was a detriment. The arrancar was like to be shocked when he saw that the raw physical speed of the beast matched that of the fastest sonido in El Renacimiento. The sonic barrier was shattered and large waves of lava were birthed in the wake of the beast. Next thing anyone knew, the Vasto Lorde was just above Vaaen, its left upper arm coming down and swinging the vicious black blade that extended alongside it with the goal of removing head from shoulders. 

The arrancar was faster than the ones that had died to pay tribute. The Cataclysm’s Heart found its blade smashing into golden armor, and in the next moment pain it hadn’t felt in a thousand years stunned the beast. It landed in the lava, took a staggered step back, and-- 

“Weak.” 

Its lower right arm shot out and grabbed the cero as it was being formed. The doom blast instantly grew unstable and sent spokes of energy flying every which way. Underneath the two hollow, the lava was blown back along with the molten earth underneath, creating a large crater that was growing larger from the clashing spiritual powers. 

With a grunt, the cero was crushed in the Vasto Lorde’s hand like glass, sending smoke and shards of energy flying every which way. Sparring no hestiation, the Cataclysm’s Heart reared back its spiked head and smashed it into Vaaen’s own. The force alone was enough to sending him flying into the nearest object, but it was the raw heat being produced from the demon’s body that made it such a deadly technique. Had Vaeen not had hierro, a blow this hot would have melted through the skin, bone, and brain beneath. 

Cataclysm’s Heart stalked through the dirt and smog Vaaen’s beam birthed. It was unwounded, or maybe it had regenerated the damage done to it. Truth be told, even the hollow didn’t know. It didn’t care enough to think on it. Heat was building up in its body, turning the once white exoskeleton and even darker red than before. Ten meters from Vaaen, the demon stopped and growled. 

“Burn,” it commanded. The two mouths on its shoulder opened up, gathered a handful of embers, and breathed. What followed next could only be described as catastrophic. Two thin beams of heat, both a burning white in color, shot towards the arrancar and began to spin around each other. The power was so enormously condensed into them that even if Vaaen dodged, whatever was hit was destined to be consumed in an atomic explosion. “Burn!” 

The twirling beams missed Cataclysm’s Heart. The beast dashed forward, ducked past the blast, and ignored the tremendous explosion behind it. Mountains were flattened by the force and a massive wave of debris and smog washed over the battlefield. In this black hell, where the scream of the smoke made it impossible to hear, the smell of brimstone deafened the nose, and the blackness blinded the eyes, Cataclysm’s Heart was at home. It could feel the heat Vaaen was putting off.

A black hand lashed out to grab the arrancar by his throat. The strength was enormous, much higher than that of the espada’s in his sealed state. And the heat it produced was disgusting. Just a slight touch was enough to cause the skin to boil. A vice-grip like the one the hollow was trying to perform could have seared through the throat, veins, flesh, and spine. Every attack the vasto lorde made was unforgiving.

The rolling avalanche of smog was blown away by the force of the arrancar’s cero. It obliterated the hand and arm that swung at Vaaen’s face, and continued on for a long time before finally colliding with some cliff or mountain and explosion. Cataclysm’s Heat reeled back and cried out in pain. For the first time in more than a thousand years, something had truly hurt it. That pain became fear, and that fear became wrath in a short order. 

It reappeared on top of a burning tree some thirty meters away. It was crouched, with its tail swishing back and forth. Blood steamed as it poured from the wound, but soon the flow was stemmed. With a grunt, a white arm mirroring the last clawed its way out of the wound. Flames and heat enveloped it, turning the white armor an angry red. 

Again Cataclysm’s Heart growled, but this time there was something else. The lava underneath Vaaen that had bathed the land suddenly turned into cold obsidian. Night suddenly overtook Vaaen’s kingdom, as the heat that kept the country alive was removed from the equation. Volcano’s died, rivers turned into black ashen stone, and the ground became soft like sand. 

Cataclysm’s Heart rose from its crouch. The tree it stood as king of held the last embers of Vaaen’s kingdom. When it stepped off and landed on the ground, that flame died as well, and the wood joined the black hills. “You have five minutes before I annihilate you and everything else in a thousand miles.” 

“No one talks to Cataclysm’s Heart like that. No one!” the Vasto Lorde screamed. 

It contorted its body out of the way of the yellow bullet. For the third time this fight, a tremendous explosion occurred. This time instead of simply buffeting the mountains, it flattened them. Like a nuclear bomb, a massive flash of yellow washed over the battlefield, followed by the rising mushroom cloud. A shock wave was rose up like a tidal wave and crashed down on the two combatants. It screamed as it blew everything to dust, and the hurricane force winds birthed small tornadoes in the dust storm. 

A flaming tail whipped around to smash Vaaen across his face. Following it was the right upper arm of Cataclysm’s Heart, lined in a vicious black blade. Both sought to burn through and eviscerate the foolish arrancar who dared speak so brashly too it.