Kira stood motionless, her back pressed against the jagged bark of the withered tree, eyes narrowing as she locked her gaze with Abirama Redder. The Adjuchas loomed before her, talons buried deep in the sand, its six blood-red wings stretched wide, casting a dark shadow across the pale desert sands. The air between them was thick with tension, the silence broken only by the soft rustle of the wind as it whipped across the dunes of Hueco Mundo.
Kira could sense the reiatsu of her scattered subordinates, faint threads connecting her to each one of them, like an intricate web she alone could feel. With a subtle shift in her focus, she called them to her, summoning her army from the far reaches of the barren wasteland. The sensation of their response sent a pulse through her veins though she remained calm on the surface. She knew they needed to converge on her position quickly, before Abirama struck.
The Adjuchas cocked its head, sensing the disturbance in the air. A dangerous gleam flickered in its yellow eyes as it lifted itself off the ground, wings beating furiously. Without a word, it launched into the sky, ascending with terrifying speed. Kira tensed, her hand gripping the hilt of her zanpakutō, Hōtei no Kōi (法創の狂意, Law Creation's Insanity), readying herself for the inevitable attack.
Abirama hovered in the air above her, his wings beginning to shimmer with a dark, crimson glow. In an instant, he unleashed a barrage of his razor-sharp red feathers, each one heavy and sharp enough to cleave through rock. They rained down like a storm of blades, hurtling toward Kira with deadly precision.
Kira’s eyes flickered with focus as she stabbed her sword into the sand at her feet, her voice firm as she intoned the incantation:
"Stab the sword into the ground, raise walls as strong as blood. Leave a way to escape from within, deny all entry from without. Bakudō #77: Blood Wall Barrier! (Chi ni ken o tsukitate, shihō no kabe o chi no gotoku kyōko ni kizuke. Uchi kara no nigemichi o nokoshi, soto kara no shinnyū o kobame. Bakudō nanajūnana: Ketsueki Kekkai!)"
A square barrier of shimmering crimson energy erupted from the ground, rising up around her like a fortress of translucent blood. The feathers slammed into the barrier with a fierce, metallic clang, some managing to penetrate just slightly before losing their momentum and falling to the ground. The barrier held, but the force of the assault made it clear just how powerful her opponent was.
Abirama let out a low chuckle, his eyes narrowing as he flapped his wings harder, rising higher into the air. "Impressive, little Soul Reaper," he sneered, "but let’s see how long that barrier holds."
Without warning, the Adjuchas began charging a blood-red Cero between his beak. The oppressive energy swirled and crackled, the sheer force of it causing the air to hum. Kira’s heart pounded in her chest as she channeled more reiryoku into the barrier, her hands trembling slightly from the strain. She knew her Ketsueki Kekkai was strong, but could it withstand a direct hit from a Cero of this magnitude?
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Abirama fired. The red beam of energy roared toward her, crashing into the barrier with an earth-shattering impact. Kira gritted her teeth, her knees nearly buckling as the sheer pressure of the attack caused cracks to spiderweb across the barrier’s surface. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and her breathing grew ragged as she poured more energy into maintaining the shield.
The barrier began to falter, on the verge of shattering completely, when suddenly, another Cero—this one a brilliant red—blazed through the air, heading straight for Abirama. He barely had time to react, swiftly abandoning his assault on Kira as he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the beam that would have surely torn through him.
Abirama turned in the direction of the attack, his eyes narrowing in irritation as five Adjuchas-class Menos and three towering Gillians appeared on the horizon, racing toward them. Their reiatsu surged across the desert like a tidal wave, filling the air with their combined presence. Kira’s small army had arrived.
The Adjuchas clicked his beak in frustration, his yellow eyes darting from Kira to her approaching subordinates. "Tch, looks like you're not as helpless as I thought," he muttered under his breath. "But don’t get cocky, little soul reaper. You may have survived this encounter, but you’ve only delayed the inevitable."
Abirama’s wings beat the air once more as he ascended higher, his form shrinking against the vast black sky. "You were lucky today. My master will be the one to take your life," he called down, his voice dripping with dark promise. "And trust me—when that time comes, it will be far more unpleasant than anything I could offer you." With a final, ominous laugh, the Adjuchas disappeared into the night, his reiatsu fading into the distance.
Kira’s knees gave way as she pulled her sword from the sand, the crimson barrier around her dissolving into the air. Her breaths came in heavy, ragged gasps as the exhaustion of maintaining the barrier and calling her subordinates took its toll. Her hands trembled slightly, her reiryoku drained from the intense effort.
Within moments, her eight hollows arrived, Turtlemourne and Lorisveil leading the charge. The towering figures of her Adjuchas-class Menos cast long shadows across the desert as they gathered around her, their reiatsu buzzing with anticipation. The Gillians lumbered behind them, their massive forms radiating a quieter, less dangerous, energy.
Kira straightened herself, her exhaustion masked by a sudden surge of adrenaline and cold resolve. She glanced at each of her subordinates, her gaze sharp and commanding as she called out their names one by one. "Turtlemourne. Lorisveil. Eglark. Veridine. Xansys." She paused, her voice almost sounding like a mad cackle. "We are at war."
Her declaration sent a ripple of excitement through her followers, their reiatsu flaring in response to her words. Although they were under her control their desire to eat and grow was always still present. One of the Gillians stretched out its hand, offering it to Kira. She accepted, jumping onto its massive palm with a determined smile. She stood tall, surveying the desert before them.
"We’ll leave here and build our strength," Kira continued, her voice carrying across the sands like a battle cry. "They may have chased me off for now, but soon enough, they will be the ones to kneel."
A dark smile spread across her lips as she looked to the horizon, where the faint traces of Abirama’s reiatsu had long since disappeared. Her laugh echoed through the night, a sound both triumphant and foreboding. There was no fear in her heart—only ambition and a craving for retribution. All her life people only took from her so now it was her time to take everything she deserved.
As her army began to move, carrying her further away from the scene of battle, Kira’s thoughts turned to Baraggan Louisenbairn. The so-called God-King of Hueco Mundo may have sent his servant to deliver a warning, but she would not cower before him. She was no mere pawn to be crushed underfoot. She was a queen, and queens did not bow. Soon all these lands would belong to her and he would bow before her.
The night stretched on, and as Kira's army marched through the endless desert, she silently vowed that the next time they met, it would not be her life that hung in the balance. It would be his.