Search and Destroy [Africatastrophe Act II]

Backpedalling, Ignacio was immediately aware of the sudden shift in balance as his strike was deflected. This was becoming far more than an irritation, as his grip upon Tigre Garra shifted and he continued to dance away from Lukas with a duellist's grace. The wound at his side was cauterised in a matter of moments, the familiar pain shooting across his body as the infernal spirit atop his back roared in response to the other man's provocation. The roaring inferno travelled with them as they moved, pockets of fire erupting across the battlefield as they continued to clash.

"Karinzanjutsu, First Ring. Black Flame Aegis."

Another ring swirled around his Zanpakuto before bursting forth into a jet of black flames that spewed from the tip of Ignacio's sword as one might a flamethrower. No sooner did it shoot forth did the flame begin to solidify and form a barrier between them. The heat it was giving off was enough to make clear the danger should Lukas attempt to press through it, but his strikes would still carve chunks out of it like they would any other structure.

They were not intended to entirely halt Lukas though, rather it would form a distraction as Ignacio clamped a hand to his chest and gripped tightly upon the ashes that had once been his blood. There was an ear-spilling cry as he launched forth a Gran Rey Cero, a brilliant pink beam that tore the ground around him asunder as it compressed and decompressed like a whirling razor blade of destruction.

AFRICA
Stinging sensation all throughout his arm as Lukas pushed forward his assault, teeth baring into a snarl as he slashed into the arrancar's barrier. Ignacio's eyes showed nothing of retreat, and the noise that followed agreed.

If for anything but the sheer energy flowing through him, Lukas would've been reduced to ash.

Yet reishi around him, it felt so alive, each of his movements having pushed and pulled the pair like leaves. Under his heel, it was remarkably easy to explode to the side, an opposite foot coming down to shoot the quincy back towards Ignacio, Ahnengheist turning in pirouette with its user.

Behind the arrancar, Lukas pushed forward with the final power of his letzt. Elbow pitching back, the brilliant blue explosion of a thrust aimed to skewer into the arrancar's back - and slam Ignacio into his own cero.

Ignacio had little time to appreciate the effectiveness of his cero in levelling even more of this battlefield as he did not feel his opponent backing off or retreating. No. For all his crudeness, this man was a warrior too and he would not relent until his body could fight no more. Respect had no place on the battlefield, but he would honour him by holding nothing back.

The tiger atop his back howled out something between a warning and a battle cry as Lukas stepped behind him, the current difference in their speed clear as Ignacio did not even manage to turn to meet him. Instead, rather than meet that glowing blade with his own, Ignacio kicked upwards and leapt into the air. Crimson trailed behind him as his back was cleaved open, a gnarly wound, as Lukas' weapon cut through his Hierro and the flesh beneath with ease and launched the Arrancar even higher into the air with his thrust. At first, it might have appeared like he had exposed himself to further attack - and this was certainly true in the abstract - but, as soon as he began his ascent, black rings began to flow from both the spirit on his back and down his Zanpakuto and gather in his core.

Ignacio's heat signature spiked once more, his appearance becoming suitably molten as the surrounding air was blasted with enough thermal energy that his own skin began to crack and break. The pain from the forced cauterising of the deep wound across his back was enough to illicit a piercing yelp that might well have brought him to tears if he was capable of emitting such a thing in this state, but he bit down hard and clenched his jaw as he focused upon this next devastating attack. His tiger claws were ready to defend him, to try to buy what little time this technique needed, as more rings continued to condense around him. Each one added to the mass within him that was bubbling closer and closer to the surface, it was only a matter of moments before it was released.

The pressure had been raised, the stakes set, and all that remained to be seen was if either of the two men would be left standing in the end.

AFRICA
Stinging gave way to numbness, the massive encapsulation of reishi collapsing underneath it's own strain. Quickly taking as a stack of straw would to wind, it gave way to the man underneath. Charred triangles showed themselves amidst the scar tissue that was Lukas' left arm - the flesh taking more brunt than the man expected.

An immediate weight on his shoulders, adrenalin standing firm. Ahnengeist held tight, the remaining bit of Lukas' strength forcing a fist. Flickering red in his veins with a heartbeat.

A sword of light, come to match with a sword of black fire.

I can see it. The thought came after he moved, reflex to chase even as his reiryoku buckled. An explosion of reishi underfoot towards Ignacio, teeth fusing together to hold back a guttural scream as pain forced itself through Lukas.

I have to. A sword strike upwards, silver eyes razor focused on the blade. Striking skywards, Ignacio's wrists the target of the ethereal weapon. Tiger claws would make for a poor defense, should the Quincy make it in time; watching it slip right through.

Fitting that his opponent would not yield even as the flesh was seared from his body when the air around them simply became one with Ignacio's fire. Ignacio would be glad when this twisted soul was little more than ash beneath his boots, that would be a fitting end for any warrior. The energy he was building had reached the limit at which he could sustain, the black rings gathering in his core having condensed now to the point that the individual rings were indistinguishable from a ball of darkness that still gave off an ominous glow. Through gritted teeth the Arrancar spoke again, his voice loud enough to be heard by Lukas but far from a yell.

"Des..int..e..grarse."

A single word was all it took and then the surrounding area was engulfed in that darkness, all that energy blasting out of Ignacio in an eruption of utterly apathetic destruction. Lukas, diving towards him as he was, might find some satisfaction in the ease with which his sword passed through those tiger claws. The spectral ones and Ignacio's own blade. But his triumph would be pretty short-lived as he brought himself right into the heart of this explosion, his sword could cut and cleave to his heart's content and yet the impending eruption would not be ceased now by wounds to his wrists or hands or arms as they moved to shield the rest of his body as a brace before impact. Even the destruction of his whole body would likely have not been enough in that instant, but at least it did not come to that.

It was likely fortunate for the others gathered at the hole that their fight had taken them further and further from the base of operations, out into the surrounding desert, as the immediate vicinity was reduced down to little more than blackened dust and an immense heatwave resonated out for hundreds of metres in every direction that melted all but the sturdiest of things. After all, this was the greatest expression of his power, a dream of pure incineration.

AFRICA
At a point, he couldn't feel the heat any more. Pain left his body as nerve endings were reduced to ash, numbness filling Lukas' skull.

That's... not a good sign. Averting his gaze from crossing himself, dried out and bloodshot silver locked to Ignacio. The crunch of charred earth underfoot, a burnt ground zero.

A shuddering breath, bringing Ahnengeist forward, every last bit of muscle and spiritual power pushing Lukas forward. Even as he drew in the reishi, it was unfelt; yet it burned all the more.

Scraping the air, the quincy and his sword flew forward, the reishi gathering around its tip sparking against the arrancar's own pressure. Aiming to remove his head, Lukas' blade speared towards Ignacio's face.

One last hurrah.

They landed, the crash from impact kicking up a cloud of black sand that swirled around them, and yet neither was done. With a clatter, Ignacio's sword fell from his grip as his hands simply lacked the means to hold onto it any more. Cuts and scrapes, scars and burns, all lined his body as it began to cry out in pain. His limit was approaching, that distant horizon now looming ever closer, but he could not permit himself to rest yet. A gloved hand clenched, the diced fabric flashing the cybernetics contained beneath, as he reached into the pit and found his resolve.

The heat did subside in a sense, the release of his final technique having taken enough out of the Arrancar that the only flame that remained was the infernal spirit on his back, but a fire still burnt in those golden eyes as they stared straight into the silver of his approaching enemy. Grace was long since gone from this bout, he did not have it in him to dance away and find his own weapon, so Ignacio stepped forward to meet that thrust. It was far from the finest that had been sent his way, the desperate muster of one that had no more to give, and yet Ignacio's own defences were equally compromised. His Hierro was still recovering, the patchwork shield all but destroyed by the use of Desintegrarse, but his feet were firmly planted.

Ignacio went to duck the blow and counterstrike, his form twisting sideways as he turned to afford his strike the distance it would need to connect, but his body could no longer match the speed at which he needed it to move. Lukas' blade managed to make contact, slicing its way up Ignacio's cheek before running straight across his eye socket and marking the last in a long line of injuries. Blood spurted out from the gash, not instantly cauterised this time, but he was far too committed to stop to complain about it. A flaming fist flew forwards, the limb twisted and scarred but the threat was very much real, as the tiger spirit's claw joined in on the assault to slam all four spectral blades into his opponent's gut and then tear outwards. All the power that these embers could muster was forced into this one great rending blow.

He did not stop to appreciate his handiwork, whether it was enough or not, as the Arrancar knew already that his time was up. With a familiar buzz, he crossed the short distance to his fallen weapon to retrieve it, then a second and he was racing back towards the hole and his companion. All that was left behind was his afterimage in the swirling cloud of ash and sand.