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Post by Takuya on Dec 15, 2009 2:36:43 GMT 1
Volume Two – Begin
Chapter One – Black Sun Rising
Rika Takuya stood astride the world, exercising his might over it all. Or at the very least, over the town of Karakura. On the roof of the highest building in the town, his sandals rested lightly on the railings. There was nothing higher than he. It was his duty to protect this specific city, and he was doing so. Karakura Town was the most important place in the world at this moment; the juureichi. It was here that the greatest souls in the world gathered, drawn by the spiritually enriched land. When he was a human youth, it had been Maebashi, the place of his death. Now, it was here… He wondered if there would be a battle as great as he had seen some day.
Hopefully, he would get to take part in it. He was a Shinigami of the Seventh Division, but sometimes he felt like he belonged in the Eleventh. He felt a whispering within, sometimes, that urged him on to fight, to kill, to test his mettle against the Hollows and prove his worth in defending the city. Sometimes, just sometimes, he felt the urge to give in to it. Still, he wouldn’t do so. Not as long as he was a Shinigami, through and through comprised of the reiatsu of life. That much, he had learned. Reiatsu was comprised of life and death in balance. Shinigami represented life, and were full of it. Hollows were the emblems of death, and they shone with that power… Arrancar fell somewhere in between. He frowned.
He hoped he’d never have to encounter one of those beasts. They were powerful, scarily so. He couldn’t hope to fight one off. Not yet, at least. He dreamed, like any other Shinigami, of unleashing the secret of Bankai, of becoming a great and powerful captain, even of becoming next in line to become Captain-General of the Gotei Thirteen. Still, he was realistic. It was a long way off; most the captains were twice or even thrice his age, while the Captain-General could be as much as ten times that. His soul seemed to show no signs of aging. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Something had happened to it. His zanpaktou had changed one final time, assuming the shape of a standard katana, wrapped in black and trimmed in blue. This change felt final to him. It was a shock, to him. It wasn’t just his zanpaktou; it was his entire reiatsu that felt different to him. It felt thicker, a little heavier, ever since his experience with Rescuezo. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it… He shook the thoughts from his head, focusing forward. He needed to be alert, ready for any sign of reiatsu. Ready for any sign of hollows…
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Post by .devious on Dec 15, 2009 3:22:35 GMT 1
Ah, but it was a beautiful night, was it not? The moon hung over in the air, giving its' cold and baleful light to the unworthy denizens of the human realm. Then again, what defined the worthiness of the individuals within it? Was it their strength? Power? Tenacity to survive? It was strange, definitely, that all of the spiritual beings in the world somehow evolved from the weakest and most vulnerable of all the creatures on this planet. The ones who had the potential to become aware, to become powerful...
Shrugging a bit, I'd continue my stroll through the town of Karakura, once more up to my old tricks. My Hollow body was long gone; I had much taken a fancy to become humanlike in appearance, a Hispanic youth with loose dark hair that flowed freely down my head and towards my shoulders. My angular face held emerald eyes that pierced through the darkness that they were very much accustomed to. With the moon hanging suspended within the sky, its' eye glancing down upon all who would be there, I was reminded of my homeland, of Hueco Mundo, the most dangerous place ever conceived of.
It was during my stroll that I felt... it. Was this man going to be everywhere? With a sigh, I knew that I had better prepare for his coming, for though I could not see Riku Takuya, I knew that he would be able to sense my reiatsu, especially if I were capable of it. Since our last encounter, it made only the greatest amount of sense that he would want to kill me. A narrow escape from Seireitei it had been, but I had done it, and recovered... and now we would meet again.
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Post by Takuya on Dec 15, 2009 22:18:00 GMT 1
Chapter Two – Scent
So there it was… The first hint of reiatsu. Strong reiatsu, bubbling and seething with the dark essence of death. My senses sharpened at that. I rested a hand on the hilt of his new katana, feeling the energy coursing between my zanpaktou and me. Soon… Soon I would be able to unleash that lurking power within his sword on his enemies. I knew it was waiting. I still didn’t know what kind of zanpaktou it would be. Someone older or more experienced in handling reiatsu than I might be able to tell what the nature of his sword was, but not me. I couldn’t tell what family it would be from, let alone an inkling of its powers.
I moved quickly from the edge of the rooftop, gathering my might around me like a cloak. I wondered if my opponent had perceived me yet; even if he had, he would be unprepared for what I would deliver to him. I gathered my reiatsu, funneling it into my hands. I wasn’t going to take any chances with this; after my experience in the Seireitei, I wasn’t going to take any chances with the Hollows that moved around here. I’d love to take another shot at Rescuezo… I had some new kido spells I would have liked to introduce to him. I dropped from above once I detected the Hollow beneath me, beginning my chant.
“Blue and white rain!” I proclaimed, thrusting my hands out in opposite directions. “Ten candles, fourteen suns, the loss of a single chariot! Blue lines intersect the core of a threatened king,” The reiatsu loomed beneath me, and I grit my teeth as I continued to chant. It was large… wet… familiar. I narrowed my eyes at the figure beneath me. “a thousand white links hold the heart of the assassin at bay!” It was… Rescuezo! I landed before him, thrusting my hands forward and forming a square with my ten fingers. I said nothing to him, only continued my kido. “Bakudo no Nijuusan: Juujika Awaikusari!”
Crosses, assembled from glowing blue-white reiatsu, would arise around him in each of the cardinal directions, each four meters distant from another. I growled, feeling the energy flow down me as chains of white light burst free from the crosses, seeking to ensnare my enemy. I kept my hands in the picture frame form, focusing my will towards him. Hopefully, he would be captured, but he was a clever one, and might avoid it yet.
“Rescuezo.” I snarled, blue eyes little more than icy slits by now. I was angry. I wanted revenge. I felt a black sensation within me that roared in triumph at the dark emotions I was experiencing. I pushed aside that. I was a Shinigami of the Seventh Division. I did not give in to my baser instincts. Unlike the Hollow before me, I still had my heart in place in my chest. “What the hell were you doing in the Seireitei? Answer me.”
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Post by .devious on Dec 23, 2009 4:55:30 GMT 1
It was without a doubt Riku Takuya. I could feel his Reiatsu, coming ever closer, and I knew that he was onto my presence. Cursing my luck, it was only with the greatest surprise that my eyes managed to catch a silhouette upon a rooftop. Luckily for myself, it was night and the town, though still remaining fairly busy even through the darkened hours, was much quieter than it would have been during the daytime. As the proclaimed his incantation, I felt a sudden chill run down my spine and I was quite aware that I would need to do something or risk danger.
However, I wasn't quite prepared for what the man had done. Within just a few moments, I witnessed four crosses appear from nowhere, azure in their glowing presence, and without wasting any time, chains erupted from the center of the crosses, which formed a square around my presence, and restrained both of my arms and both of my legs. Staring in surprise at the move, which I had never encountered before, I knew that I was damned this time; at the full mercy of the Shinigami whom I had encountered so many times.
As he approached, he spoke, questioning why I had been within Seireitei. I wasn't quite sure how to answer that question. "I'm not sure. I had never been, and I wanted to witness what it was like." I could sense the weakness behind the answer; or what would be perceived as weakness. Unfortunately, it was the truth, and I could not think of a passable lie at this time. Well, all I could do in my bound state was wait... wait and begin to saturate my body with reiatsu. If things got too hairy, I would be ready to defend myself, even bound as I might appear.
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Post by Takuya on Dec 24, 2009 1:37:17 GMT 1
“Gah.” Takuya sighed, growling under his breath. He’d successfully captured the Hollow, but now he wasn’t sure what exactly he intended to do. Surely, he wasn’t going to slash the face off Rescuezo just like that. He frowned, cracking his knuckles, resting his hand on the hilt of his zanpaktou. He readied the katana, preparing to move if he had to. He narrowed eyes at his foe. Was he his foe? “What the hell, Rescuezo… This is flat out unacceptable.” I drew my blade, pointing it at him.
“You are a Hollow.” I said matter-of-factly. “You don’t get to see what the Seireitei looks like.” I sighed, slapping my head with my palm. “God damn it, I’m trying not to kill you, but you’re making it really hard not to do.” He bit his lip. He could probably deal quite a bit of damage with a strike through the face, possibly even break the mask and send Rescuezo to his next life. Still, something about that didn’t seem right. Something inside him seemed to disagree.
“Rescuezo…” He said dangerously. “You need to promise me that you’re going to stay the hell out of the Seireitei.” His eyes were deadly serious. So was his blade. Every part of him screamed danger and tension. “Either that, or I’m going to kill you, right now.” He hefted his sword, gripping the hilt with both hands. He was serious. He didn’t know why he was going so far out there for a Hollow of all creatures, but he had to do it. It was a compulsion… One he would sever if need be.
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Post by .devious on Dec 24, 2009 3:56:37 GMT 1
"Why must you see me as a monster...?" The words that came from my mouth were simple, yet strange. To ask a Shinigami why he saw a Hollow as a monster was simply ludicrous; we had been their enemies since time had begun. "Nevermind... I am sorry that my answer is not good enough for you. However, it will not change, and that is not a promise that I can afford to make." With a pause simply long enough for a breath to be taken, I'd continue. "Since you can only see me as a monster, then I shall show you a monster."
And with that said, the reiatsu that I had been building within my body would release; with a burst of speed, I'd feel my muscles expand as my body quickly doubled in size, parts of myself stretching out. Returning to my natural Hollow state, with the exception of being perhaps twice as large, standing at 12' 4", and weighing a little over six hundred pounds, I was a hulking beast. My white bone mask covered my face, leaving little doubt within the mind of the Shinigami that I was a monstrosity.
It was likely that the sudden outburst of strength, speed, and muscle would overcome the Bakudo that had been placed on me. Wasting no time, my fist would launch forward to attempt to take advantage of my opponent's cockiness and his close position. Performing a quick jab, I would attempt to damage the opponent while he may have been caught off guard by the sudden shattering of his spell and the unsuspected increase in my power. While a hulking beast, I knew that I was not the fastest of fighters, but I had both momentum and surprise on my side, and I prayed that my attack would work. All the while my eyes watched my opponent, ready for his counter, so my body could begin the counter of its' own.
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Post by Takuya on Dec 26, 2009 21:03:54 GMT 1
“A monster?” I repeated his words, momentarily confused. A sense of heavy foreboding came over me. Rescuezo, in my brief encounters with him, had always attempted to speak reasonably and debate the classifications of our races. To hear him give in to that thought, to accept it, was a sign of something very bad. It was clear this wasn’t going to be settled with mere words. I readied my sword, reviewing my kido spells. He wasn’t going to catch me off guard. I narrowed my eyes at him, flowing my reiatsu.
Or maybe he was. With a rush of energy, he exploded outward. Literally, he exploded outward, snapping the chains of my Kido spell like paper. He was growing, at an exponential rate. In a matter of moments he was hulking over me, trembling with great power. I barely had time to lift my sword half-way in front of my face before his fist struck me. With my other hand half-way up my blade, I resisted his blow, pushing back it it. Even so, his strike was enough to drive me back several feet, pushing my sword against my chest violently. I winced, letting out a breath. That was going to bruise later on.
“Ye Lord!” I intoned, skipping back from him, my eyes narrowed on him. Reiatsu gathered into my right palm, filling it with energy. I flowed that energy into the middle three fingers of the hand, growling. “Thunder of earth and heaven, roar of midnight loss, shivering fins, steadfast three as bright as the empty soul!” I placed my left hand, still gripping my sword, against the crock of my right elbow. “But thrice give out your merciful roar! Hado no Nijuunana: Sanrai Shunha!”
Reiatsu, shaped by my incantations, exploded outward from my fingers, forming into three rapidly extending claws. I grinned. Kido was my specialty, and hopefully my spell would be powerful enough to pierce right through Rescuezo. If he wanted to play this game, I could play this game… No, no game. This was a war. He had made his choice, and I mine. We were going to see where the rabbit hole went. I felt the whisper of my Zanpaktou, urging me into combat. Speak my name, Takuya… F__u ___su__…
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Post by .devious on Dec 27, 2009 15:39:47 GMT 1
As my fist shot forward, its' monstrous shape bulky and full of muscular strength, the Shinigami's blade was rapidly inverted, with an attempt to block the attack. Takuya was intelligent, and a skilled fighter, it would seem, for he brought his other hand towards the blade as well, using all of his physical strength to parry the blow. Still, the attack sent him flying backwards a few feet, and I could tell that the attack had at least wounded him. However, if my opponent thought that that was going to be the end of my attacks, he had another thing coming.
Just as he began to fly backwards, my arm was being brought back towards my side, and I was charging forward, my body turned to have my right shoulder facing his body, and I would perform a singular darting move, enhanced by the ability known as Sonido. With my shoulder facing in the man's direction, the sudden burst of movement would most likely have me crashing straight into his body. In addition to the damage that he would most likely receive, the quick action on my behalf would most likely prevent him from ever even starting the incantation for his Kido spell, let alone finish it. If he had time to even react with a Shunpo of his own, I would have been surprised.
Were my attack to be successful, my rushing body would have him jammed into a wall from a building behind him, and even through it, with the full strength of my behemoth form crushing his spiritual shape and inflicting as much pain as would be possible.
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Post by Takuya on Dec 31, 2009 16:58:22 GMT 1
My incantation was cut off by his rushing strike. I cursed under my breath, gritting my teeth as he slammed into me at high speed, the kind of speed afforded to the powerful Hollow ability known as Sonido. It was a rough parallel of Shunpo. It achieved the same burst of speed through entirely foreign methods. I focused my mind, condensing energy all throughout my body. He was pushing me towards a wall, I knew. I had only the slightest time with which to move. As I felt the wall looming behind me, I moved.
I moved faster than the eye could follow, disappearing through the use of Shunpo, letting him crash into the wall alone. I was behind him, my eyes narrowed and my blade held ready. I took a powerful swipe at him with my sword, cutting vertically in an effort to cleave his fat spine in two. It may have been successful, but perhaps not, so I held myself ready to move again if need be, ready to disappear again if I needed to dodge another punishing blow. My body was going to be angry tomorrow…
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Post by .devious on Jan 1, 2010 2:10:57 GMT 1
OOC:
I'm going to take this and the timing in your post; you Shunshin after being caught by my body, but before I crash into the wall. You would end up positioning yourself behind me - which would mean that after I went through the wall, you're still outside, and I doubt that without the use of another Shunshin, which you didn't utilize, you would end up close enough to me to perform a swipe at me with your sword. Because of that, I'm going to ignore your sword attack; if you would care to dispute this with me, you know where my IM is.
IC:
It would seem as if Takuya himself was used to fighting at high speeds, and prepared his own defense. By performing Shunpo, the high-speed step of a Shinigami, after my body had slammed into his, he would vanish roughly at the same time as my body crashed into the wall. However, from his positioning, he couldn't be sure of where I was, for he appeared roughly behind where I would have been, if I stopped at the wall. However, the combined force of my bulk and the speed at which I was moving were more than enough to send my body crashing through the stone of it. Sure, it hurt, as I didn't have the cushion of Takuya's body, but it couldn't hurt any less than Takuya, after blocking one of my fist strikes and then taking the full force of my body crashing into his own.
At any rate, my opponent wasn't going to let this go lightly either, I supposed. Rolling to the right, I'd allow my reiatsu to once more funnel through my body, fueling another transformation. My right arm, at my command, would begin to shift and change, becoming both in appearance and reality a large, eight foot long buster-type sword, dually edged so that it was sharp on both sides, ending with a strong point. My eyes would quickly glance through the rubble and floating debris, looking for my opponent, and awaiting his strike.
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Post by Takuya on Jan 6, 2010 2:13:08 GMT 1
“Damn it…” I murmured, watching him crash into the wall, forcing himself through it. He was fast; he was strong. He was stronger than me. He must have hurt himself when he impacted the building, yet his hulking physique showed no signs of it. Obviously, he still had far more fight in him than I expected. I never thought that Rescuezo was a Hollow with this kind of power, one who posed a threat this great. I growled under my breath, regarding him. He was stronger than me. That, I could not allow. I wouldn’t let myself be beaten by one of those disgusting beasts who took my human life from me and killed so many of my friends.
That’s when it happened next; his transformation. I had always known Rescuezo possessed some kind of shape-shifting powers. His ability to take the form of a human was evident of that. When he reformed back into the monstrous form that he called his true self, I knew for sure he had a hidden power. But this cemented it for me. As a rush of reiatsu tickled the edges of my spiritual senses, his right arm rapidly transformed, turning into one hell of a nasty looking sword, dual-edged and just as deadly on the tip as on the length of it. I felt my eyes widen slightly. This was not going to be good.
“Oh, fuck me sideways.” I groaned, watching him. I was going to have to play this cautiously. As his transformation completed, I was moving, my feet taking me forward, into the dusty wreckage of the building, my blade held at the ready as I moved to slash him. Hopefully, he would be disoriented enough from his own strike to not detect mine coming towards his left side; the abdomen was where it was aimed. If I struck, or even if he reacted, my next action would to be move backwards, skipping backwards and putting several meters of distance between myself and the creature. I was not going to get hit by that thing…
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Post by .devious on Jan 7, 2010 16:23:54 GMT 1
With the monstrous transformation of my arm complete, my eyes would finally lock onto Takuya's persona. He definitely looked surprised by the change, to say the least; and almost frightened. Anger and resentment were definitely boiling inside of the Shinigami's eyes, truthfully, and it made me wonder what exactly had been the cause of so much hatred. Then again, he was a Shinigami, and they always hated my kind, no matter our ability to control ourselves. As he began his sprint towards me, I prepared my own defensive stance, ready for any attack that may be coming my way.
It would seem that once more, he was favoring his bladed weapon, the soul-stealing blade known as the Zanpakutou. This shouldn't have surprised me, as it was the Shinigami's main staple when going on the offensive, but for some reason it did. Bringing my bladed Buster arm down, it would be turned so that the blade was facing towards the ground, but at a diagonal slant that let it move halfway crisscross my chest. When the sword strike came towards my abdomen, the tiniest shift of the arm would allow me to block the sword's strike, the hardened steel that had become my arm releasing a swift clang as the two weapons met. Giving a small shove in an attempt to disengage, I'd watch as Takuya moved backwards several meters, as if heading backwards were his own planned defense.
Taking the moment to stand in my gargantuan glory, I'd then speak to Takuya once more, the same soft and gentle baritone that I had spoken to him with earlier in my human transformation. "And this is the monster that you have given birth to, Riku Takuya. This is the fruits of your labor. How do you feel, knowing that it was your words that transformed me, and turned me from something wishing for peace into one that will only forever more wish your demise... In the end, when it is your blood that is splattered against the walls, let it be known that you were the farmer who spread the seeds, and I was merely the seed that sprouted..."
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Post by Takuya on Jan 7, 2010 23:47:50 GMT 1
I grit my teeth, feeling his adjustment block my strike. He was good; or maybe I just wasn’t. I was no master of Zanjutsu, far from it. As the Gotei Thirteen went, my skills with a zanpaktou could even be thought of as a little under par. My true specialties were in Kido. He was too fast for me to catch with an incantation. Still, I kept my distance, preparing myself for another strike. It seemed, though, that he had something to say, something he had been preparing to comment on. To irritated ears, it seemed a bit like he was gloating. I narrowed my eyes at him, muttering under my breath.
“White chariot! Blue soldiers, rustled leaves, thirteen black clouds, unleash the skies!” I began my incantation quietly, preparing my body with reiatsu. I had enough of him. If he tried to attack me and interrupt my incantation, I was ready to move away with a quick Shunpo, disengaging from the spell. Hopefully, he’d be gloating and posturing long enough for me to finish my spell. “Hado No. Yon: Byakurai!” I lifted a crackling finger, pointing it at Rescuezo. A thin burst of lightning reiatsu exploded from my finger, aiming to smoke a hole right through his right shoulder.
“My god…” He said after, as the creature finished talking. “Do you ever stop twisting and lying? Shut the hell up. You can’t pin your psychosis on me.” I hefted my sword, ready to counter his reaction, regardless of how my previous action was reacted to. Hopefully I struck him, but you could never know with a Hollow, and especially not with Rescuezo. I was fighting a battle that I might very well lose, but hell if I was going to die fighting this monster. If he wanted to be one, then I would treat him like one…
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Post by .devious on Jan 8, 2010 0:03:50 GMT 1
As I spoke, Takuya seemed to listen, but my eyes could not be deceived quite so easily. One might have thought that he was mouthing the words that I spoke, but they moved to a different rhythm, a pattern meant to spell out my own destruction. It was such a shame for him, then, that I had had the displeasure of falling to his Kido techniques before. Such as it was, that while I continued my speech and while he began his mouthing, my bladed arm, whose point was already facing downward, would punch its' way towards the floor below me; the ceiling to the floor that existed below mine.
The quick strike, in combination of my brute strength while in this form, would quickly sunder the floor open, creating a whole in which my whole being would begin to descend; fall, whatever you might like to call it. Although I was prepared for the self-imposed strike, the rate at which I found my body going through the floor would catch me somewhat off guard, and my body would tilt backwards at the slightest. Upon landing on the floor below the one I was on, I'd do two things. First, I would witness the beam of lightning that soared above my skull. Secondly, I'd stumble, losing my balance and falling down.
As I rushed to recover my balance, I would roar, and keep my eyes moving in order to attempt to see where the next strike was from. I knew now, for sure, that Takuya was going to be a long-range fighter, and so I knew that I would need to get close to him to really push for any strike. I had to prepare... and so I would begin.
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Post by Takuya on Jan 8, 2010 1:38:11 GMT 1
He was one hell of a sneaky devil, I’d give him that. As my Kido passed over his head, he collapsed into the roof, his body passing through it. I snarled. I wasn’t about to let him get away. As soon as I saw my Kido had been dodged, I began to chant again, gathering my strength. I was preparing a much more powerful spell, one that would hopefully damage the creature. I ran as I did so, passing the few meters to the hole he had created as the words flowed at high speed from my mouth. I wasn’t going to let Rescuezo make a fool of me. I was going to take him down, one way or another.
“Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!” My hands moved in a circle as I ran, mirroring one another. “On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens!” I leapt, my body moving through the air over the hole. I would pass over it at just the right moment, thrusting my hands downward, towards his roaring form as he recovered his balance. “Hadō no. Rokujuusan: Sōren Sōkatsui!” An explosion of blue fire would leap from my hands.
Fueled by his reiatsu, the fire exploded in massive wave of blue reiatsu, forcing downward into the hole and hopefully charring Rescuezo’s flesh. I doubted I could kill the beast with it, but I could certainly burn through most of his flesh if he didn’t have a way to repel it. After the energy left my hands, I’d land on the other side of the hole, panting slightly, my sword gripped in my hand. I hoped It had worked; I didn’t have too many more tricks left up my sleeve…
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Post by Takuya on Jan 10, 2010 6:07:04 GMT 1
His reiatsu was wasn’t gone. I cursed under my breath. He was too strong for me. I closed my eyes, masking my reiatsu from the world around me. I couldn’t defeat him. I would inform the Gotei Thirteen of an exceptionally powerful Hollow roaming in Karakura. Perhaps a seated officer could take care of Rescuezo. Whatever he was to me, I couldn’t allow my personal sense of intrigue get in the way of defending the people of Karakura. I flickered away, leaving the wounded demon behind. This wasn’t over…
[Exit]
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