Dropping another one today!
Yeriel's movements after activating her Bankai were fundamentally different from before. Even when clashing with the Hollowfied Engetsu, she was no longer easily pushed back. Her agility and reaction speed had skyrocketed, reaching a tier far beyond her previous limits. More importantly, the hesitation was gone; her strikes were now the calculated moves of a butcher, driven solely by the intent to kill.
"Engetsu Kenmu, Second Form: Kyōen Bakuu!"
Flames erupted from Yeriel’s blade, soaring into the sky. A heartbeat later, the fire transformed into a torrential downpour of arrows, screaming as they rained down upon the arena. It was an area-of-effect attack designed to be inescapable, yet the Hollowfied Engetsu simply walked through the rain of exploding fire with chilling indifference.
Boom! Boom! Bang!
Despite the continuous explosions erupting against its form, not a single scorch mark appeared on the Hollowfied Engetsu’s body. It possessed an absolute immunity to fire—a perfect resistance. However, that was only the beginning of the horror the spirit possessed.
"Engetsu Kenmu, First Form: Engetsu Ten'en..."
A voice far more sinister and gutteral than the usual Engetsu echoed through the space. A mass of pitch-black fire coalesced at the spirit's blade before hurtling toward Yeriel. Startled by the sheer intensity of the dark reishi, Yeriel's evasion was a split-second too slow. To buy herself time, she frantically countered with the same technique.
"Engetsu Kenmu, First Form: Engetsu Ten'en!"
Yeriel’s orange fireball collided with the Hollowfied Engetsu’s black sphere. The result was horrifying—her orange flames were effortlessly consumed, swallowed whole by the pitch-black fire as if they were nothing more than fuel. Desperate, Yeriel leaped into the air to escape the black fireball's path, but the Hollowfied Engetsu was already there, waiting for her in the void.
Clang!
Crash!
"Gah!"
Yeriel barely managed to raise her sword to parry the overhead strike, but the sheer weight of the impact slammed her straight into the ground. The floor shattered upon impact, and a pained groan escaped her lips as she lay in the crater.
The ability of the Hollowfied Engetsu—specifically, the nature of the Kodoku Hollow Yeriel had cannibalized before it was modified—was diametrically opposed to Wonderweiss Margela’s nature. While Wonderweiss was designed to absorb and seal fire to protect others, the modified Hollow Lucifer had engineered was designed to grow stronger by consuming and wielding fire, boosting its own resistance through constant exposure.
If Wonderweiss was the ultimate shield, Lucifer’s creation was the ultimate spear. Having assimilated that elite Kodoku Hollow, and with that power merging with the Zanpakuto spirit Engetsu, the Hollowfied spirit's fire now overwhelmed Yeriel's by several orders of magnitude. That was why her Engetsu Ten'en had been instantly devoured.
"Kehehehe! Engetsu Kenmu, First Form: Engetsu Ten'en!"
With a distorted, monstrous laugh, the Hollowfied Engetsu launched another mass of black fire. Still reeling on the floor, Yeriel caught the approaching orb in her peripheral vision and executed a desperate Shunpo to roll clear.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions didn't just shatter the ground where she had been standing; the spiritual heat was so intense it actually melted the surrounding Reishi-enriched stone. Cold sweat trickled down Yeriel's neck as she took in the devastation. This was a battle where a single direct hit meant absolute death. She couldn't afford a single moment of distraction.
"Let's see you handle this! Engetsu Kenmu, Third Form: Gesshō Enki!"
Upon activating the third form, pillars of fire erupted from Yeriel’s blade, hands, and feet, wrapping around her limbs like blazing serpents.
The Engetsu Kenmu consisted of three fundamental forms and one ultimate technique. While the First Form was a compressed projectile and the Second was a wide-range bombardment, the Third Form, Gesshō Enki, was a self-buff. It infused her limbs and blade with the raw essence of the flame, maximizing her physical output.
Dash!
Yeriel kicked off the ground, rocketing toward the Hollowfied Engetsu floating in mid-air. With her physical strength drastically bolstered by Gesshō Enki, she bypassed her opponent in a blur, reaching a higher altitude before spinning to deliver a thunderous downward cleave.
"Haaah!"
Clang!
With a fierce battle cry, her blade collided with the Hollowfied Engetsu’s sword. At the moment of impact, the fire surrounding Yeriel's blade flared outward, lashing at the spirit. Pushing with every ounce of her reinforced strength, she forced the spirit toward the ground. As they neared the floor, she unleashed a point-blank blast.
"Engetsu Kenmu, First Form: Engetsu Ten'en!"
The fireball, fired at zero-range, slammed directly into the Hollowfied Engetsu. Fearing the recoil of the massive explosion, Yeriel used the momentum to flip backward and create distance.
KA-BOOM!
"Huff... huff... Did that do it?"
Releasing Gesshō Enki to conserve energy, Yeriel breathed heavily as she stared into the rising wall of smoke. Because Gesshō Enki boosted her stats so explosively, it drained her Reiatsu rapidly and placed an immense strain on her body. Coupled with the zero-range Engetsu Ten'en, her fatigue was reaching a critical point.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Suddenly, a blur as fast as a crimson flash darted out from the smoke. Before Yeriel could even blink, a clawed hand had seized her by the face, pinning her head in a crushing grip.
"Aargh!"
Yeriel groaned in agony as the Hollowfied Engetsu tightened its grip, the brute strength in its hand threatening to crack her mask and skull alike.
More horrifyingly, the spirit's body was completely unscathed. Not a single burn, not even a nick on its uniform. It meant that even a zero-range Engetsu Ten'en was utterly useless. Defeating this monstrosity using fire was, quite simply, an impossibility.
Throwing it out there! Another one dropped!
This is the start of bad-boy Lucifer's 'Make Yeriel a Munchkin' project!
Lucifer didn't even make an appearance in this chapter; it was purely focused on Yeriel's struggle.
Since the Hollowfied Engetsu has perfect fire immunity and master-tier techniques, most of Yeriel's attacks are essentially nullified! It’s even showing off by using Engetsu Kenmu better than she does. What a cheat character.
Anyway, I'll leave it here for now and head back in.
Replies to comments:
To lady.scotia: Regarding the Quincy story heroine, I'm asking the readers to decide via comments. I won't just pick based on a majority vote, but whoever is mentioned more than 10 times will become the heroine. Regarding Gender-Swapping (TS), it doesn't matter if they are male characters. Wait, 'Umoira-seo-nim,' are you telling me to write a female protagonist?! A gender-swapped Uryu?! Is that... moe?!
To Jeok-wol-ha: The reason I only write Bleach stories right now is because it's the only material simple enough for me to work on while at my part-time job. To put it simply, I have to have the story clearly mapped in my head to write while working, and since I'm writing 'Soul Reaper Chronicles,' I have the Bleach lore memorized. It's not that I don't write other novels, I just can't right now. As I've said a few times... I'll stick to what's easy to write at work. Still, since I change the plot and endings for every Bleach fic I do, it doesn't get boring.
Besides, since Bleach is on a two-week hiatus and it doesn't seem like it's ending yet, new lore will likely change the endings and settings anyway. The only issue is the MC's personality. If they are too similar, it loses flavor.......
To Muk-cheon-ryong: Basically, when I finish one story, I don't usually think about sending the character to another world. That's why 'Soul Reaper Chronicles' didn't originally have a Part 2, but since everyone asked for it, I'm giving it a go. Since this story is a lighter project, I never planned for world-traveling.
To Star-fragment-of-El: There's a difference between writing at home and at my part-time job. For the successor to 'Soul Reaper Chronicles,' I've said it'll be either Sekirei or Fairy Tail. First, I'll finish Part 1 of 'HOD.' Currently, I'm leaning toward Fairy Tail since it has more episodes to work with. I'm brainstorming the MC's skills lately, but nothing is confirmed yet, so the next project is still undecided.
Others suggested Quincy or Hikaru... but it seems many people prefer Original Characters (OCs) over possessions? It doesn't matter to me either way as long as I can squeeze out a story. The Quincy story doesn't have to be a 'possession' type; that was just my initial thought.
Also, many might hate harems, but I like both single heroines and harems. It's just that harems allow me to connect with more female characters, so I write them more often. Most of my future novels might be harems too. It's hard to avoid since Japanese anime is designed to lead toward harems anyway.
Regarding the military and the CSATs, I'm going to the military next year. January or February at the earliest, April at the latest... My family wants me to go as soon as possible, so it'll probably be early next year.
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