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Post by Clyde on Mar 9, 2012 1:35:19 GMT -5
Clyde struggled against Karzan’s clawed hand, which bore down upon the human’s weapon. When the Lord of the Deep had attempted his mental control by aiming his grip at Clyde’s throat, the boy was forced to use the incomplete spear to stop the hand from reaching his skin, knowing the effect it would have on him. Having been dominated before by that power…and being reminded by Kyoshin in his battle with him, he knew better than to let something like that happen. However, with his weapon not completely formed, and Karzan’s higher strength he was powerless to stop the arrancar from forcing him backward through the gargantua behind the two.
Both of their vision would go dark for several seconds as sharp wind cut past them, both yelling against the other as they struggled for control as they passed through the portal, emptying out in the large sands right outside the enormous Los Noches. Karzan’s strength ended up being too much, and when they entered the hollow world Clyde was tossed down to the ground, ramming into the dirt with incredible force and sliding a good distance. With an exertion of his power he fully formed the spear and stabbed into the ground, slowing his movements until he finally came to stop on his knees. Blood seeped through the cloth on his chest; blood trickled down from the top of his scalp.
Breathing heavily, the human stood to his feet, his eyes scanning forward. In front of him Karzan floated where the portal had once been before it closed. Los Noches lay behind him, towering over the two as if they were only specs of dust in comparison to its size. The sands spread out infinitely in all directions, it was like life had long since been forgotten, absorbed into the dunes long ago. It was foreign, and yet familiar to his gray eyes. This is where it had all begun. The philosopher’s stone and its secrets were found here, and with it came Clyde’s own eventual birth. It was here that Karzan would take over as the Lord of the Deep, and rage his campaign against the shinigami and Humans. It was here that this battle was coming to an end, for one side…or the other.
The future depended on the outcome of this battle. Heuco Mundo would be the final stage. “Somehow,” Clyde spoke calmly through his breathing, “A part of me…knew it would end here.” He admitted, grabbing his weapon with both hands once more. “Every enemy I’ve fought…every battle I’ve won…every ally I’ve made…Everything, I’m putting it all on the line right here…right now. Karzan, you wanted to make me strong, make me something people could look up to. I promise you…that when this battle is done I will be that person.” The spear was raised; the human stabbed it forward into the air…pointing it in Karzan’s direction. A powerful wind swirled around them creating a booming sound; a call to the humans words. “I will show the hope they have placed in me; the hope that we can change the suffering we all face. The hope that these battles do have end.”
“With this power; everything will change.” His last promise. It was one he did not make lightly. With those words, he leapt towards his enemy to engage him for the final battle. He did not fight out of anger or a sense of revenge. Even after everything Karzan had done the boy fought for greater good; for the hope of something better to come from all this. Was it naive? Perhaps. Would it be difficult? Of course. But somehow...Clyde would find a way. It never had anything to do with Karzan...it was as if this was the path he was meant to choose from the beginning; long before they had ever met. A Hero's path.
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Post by Karzan Zaraki on Mar 9, 2012 10:33:08 GMT -5
(Just so I have them as a reference) Reiatsu: 230 + 65 + 10 = 305
Attack: 255 + 65 + 15 = 335
Speed: 230 + 65 + 15 = 310
Weapon Skill: 160 + 65 + 10 = 235 Karzan looked down at Clyde, his anger still apparent in his face, but his features were no longer twisted with rage. Here in Hueco Mundo, Karzan would bury the hope that Clyde embodied in the same sands that swallowed any Arrancar that were too weak or foolish to see what needed to be done, the sands he had come to despise. As Clyde spoke, and the wind picked up, Karzan looked at his now bare hand, cursing his carelessness. Focusing, he attempted the regenerate the armored claws, just as they would when he fires the tips, or as if he were extending them, but the result was botched, covering his hand and locking his finger together, and tapering into a short curved blade a few inches longer than hand was originally. Looking at the blade-like appendage that had replaced his left hand, Karzan smiled...it was rough but it could be refined for better use in the future...he should have thought of it sooner. "You're right," Karzan said suddenly when Clyde finished speaking, everything will change here."Karzan charged at Clyde as well, firing 2 fang bala from his right hand, and preparing his new weapon to strike at Clyde, howling as they moved toward each other, hoping to get in at least one strike before the effects of the howl wore off. |
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Post by Clyde on Mar 30, 2012 13:46:27 GMT -5
With a wave of Clyde’s hand a burst of his reiatsu would extend towards Karzan’s bala’s causing the attacks to collide into each other and cancel out. The blasts created a small amount of debris from the sand at the two’s feet. The human would soar right through it though, immediately dispersing it from the force of his movements as his weapon would collide with Karzan’s.
The clash was brief, however, as Karzan’s howl locked Clyde’s movements up causing him to be pushed back from the strike between him and the lord of the deep, which Karzan capitalized on by delivering a slash against the human, cutting into his side before the force of the attack knocked the human away.
Flying towards the ground Clyde activated his power to change the spear into an orb like barrier around him. The paralysis from the howl prevented him from moving, but the human could still access his powers so long as he had his reiatsu. When the orb made contact with the ground, two spike-like protrusions fired from it directly at Karzan. As they got near him however, they would both explode sending two waves of energy around Clyde’s opponent.
During the time of that attack, the human concentrated on his body as the paralysis was beginning to wear off from the howl. He hoped his attack would slow Karzan down enough for him to regain full control over his body before his opponent could counter attack, however it seemed unlikely.
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Post by Karzan Zaraki on Apr 2, 2012 19:29:56 GMT -5
Karzan charged toward Clyde after the human had been knocked back, blocking one of the spikes, while the other grazed his shoulder, shattering the armored plating, and leaving a shallow gash. When he got close to Clyde, he had time only to tear down the barrier between them before the paralysis would wear off, before he slashed at the human with his makeshift blade, his face calm as he tried to remain focused on the fight, blocking out everything else.
When Clyde responded to his attack, Karzan would be ready, and he would jump back, only to dash back at him for another chop. If their weapons clashed again, Karzan would try and use his greater strength to keep them locked together, so that he could get Clyde to look closely at him as he spoke. "This place is a graveyard Clyde," he said with complete calm, "I imagine that only Hell is worse than this place...I wish to free my kind from the emptiness of this place...from the emptiness that once plagued us as Hollows...we regained a semblance of Humanity, and became new beings, entities that feel as you and the Shinigami feel, but we are forced to believe that we are the same...that we are nothing but faster, stronger Hollows, even though I feel the greater difference in my soul...so I will fight so that they have a chance to cast of the shackles that bind us to the Hollow."
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Post by Clyde on Apr 2, 2012 23:45:17 GMT -5
Karzan rammed against the barrier the boy had made, and with slash with his hand he smashed right into it causing that section to shatter like glass before the energy gathered back around Clyde’s as he just barely had enough time to regain his composure from the paralysis to block the exposed blade on Karzan’s arm. The weapon would clash against a sword-like shape, which would erupt with the reiatsu it gathered from the barrier to try and knock Karzan back. The human boy would move forward and try and catch the arrancar as he was pushed back, but Karzan prepared himself before Clyde could get the attack off and came barreling right back towards him. The two’s weapons clashed with a roar of wind and energy around them; sparks that were the color of their reiatsu flared all around their swords.
The Lord of the deep continued to argue with Clyde as his superior strength was pushing the human further and further across the dead sand at their feet. The human as well seemed to digest what he said calmly and simply as gray reiatsu was forming behind the humans back. He looked on with a stare that revealed more than any words could. The boy saw Karzan’s ideals; from the beginning he knew why Karzan was doing what he did. He knew that the culture between the shinigami and hollow forced constant death and devastation on his people. Yes, Clyde’s own experiences with the arrancar showed that they could regain some of their humanity…he saw it in Kyoshin, and he was seeing it with Karzan as well.
With a flash Clyde recreated the pairs of wings on his back and with a flap of them used them to separate himself from the arrancar, flying high in the air. “You’re freeing your kind by trying to destroy mine.” The human said plainly to the lord of the deep as he looked down from the sky above his opponent. The moon seemed to have aligned itself with the human as he floated there.
From the beginning Clyde never had a choice either. Other humans and shinigami made him into a philosopher’s stone, then the hollow attacked him and forced him to find an ally in Ryo to protect himself, and finally he received Karzan’s attention and was forced into battle…forced to become a hero he might not have even considered to be until now. “You don’t even seem to understand that you created the very enemies your fighting. The one you cross blades with right now, even!” The human announced as he gathered up another blast of energy. “You’ve become so absorbed with power that your very ideals have been compromised…and it’s placed your own kind in the danger you’re trying to get them to escape! Innocents are dying because you were too quick to follow the violent actions your people are associated with!” He argued.
“That, Karzan, is why I pity you.” Clyde flew downwards back at the arrancar, swinging his bladed weapon right at the Lord of the deep. At the moment of impact all the energy he had gathered would be released as once, moving like a torrent of wind down the battle field at his opponent. "And why I will stop you."
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Post by Karzan Zaraki on Apr 5, 2012 17:15:49 GMT -5
"I may have created the enmity between us Clyde," Karzan shouted as the boy moved towards him, "but the Shinigami have always been in our way...they interfere with nature by hunting Hollows in the first place, just as your precious Humans interfere by causing the other species on the planet to go extinct...that they should hunt us Arrancar as well is nothing short of an act of war, so I decided to bring the war back to them. There are no innocents Clyde, only those who have yet to commit a crime!"
Blocking the boy's attack last minute, Karzan was knocked back into the sand by the released blast of energy. Tumbling back to his feet, he launched himself back at Clyde with Sonido, a new wound in his chest leaving behind a crimson puddle on the ground. As he cleared half the distance between them with the Sonido, he charged a fired his Rascar Cero from his left hand, before slashing with his bladed arm. "There is no right and wrong, there's only what you must do to survive!"
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Post by Clyde on Apr 5, 2012 23:55:14 GMT -5
The human raised his weapon up to defend himself against the cero’s that came his way; The first two of the cero’s attack went right passed his blade, cutting across the tops of his shoulders and a third went right through his left side causing blood to spray out and paint the battlefield the two were fighting on. Clyde moved on through the pain however, and finally managed to duck down from the last two just in time for them to fly overhead towards the sands behind him. In that motion, he would lift himself back up and collide his weapon with the arrancars once more. “Gaaaaaah!” He yelled out as he held back the espada’s strength as best he could. “You’re wrong! Look around you…there are no shinigami here. Hueco Mundo was never their target! They stay and they fight…on Earth! Because they need to protect those who can’t protect themselves, because they would try to bring peace to a war you started!” The human argued as he was quickly being pushed down to the ground, lowering his chances of maneuvering. "You hide behind the reasoning that it’s for survival… but I can tell you that you are wrong! Did any of the innocent humans you slaughtered, and continue to slaughter, have a chance to effect your survival!?” He yelled out, his eyes burning with fire. “…Did Tsukiko need to die for your survival?” His voice lowered somberly as the reiatsu burning between them was crashing into each other now. “What good is surviving, if you need to sacrifice everything to obtain it? I’d rather die, and give everyone the chance to survive, than taking it all away for myself!”
Reiatsu: 280 + 25= 305
Attack: 275 + 25 = 300
Speed: 275 + 25 = 300
Weapon skill: 275 + 25 = 300
Posts remaining: 9
A power began building up in the human, a condensing of his reiatsu that seemed to be giving back some of the ground he had lost up until that moment. The reiatsu, which at this point had been slightly in Karzans favor, became completely even between the two. “The arrancar can be more than they are; I’ve seen it in Kyoshin…I’ve even seen it in you! Every species can change… but you’ll never be anything more than crazed killers unless I stop you here. Karzan, for my people…for the shinigami’s…and for yours…” His weapon at that moment would expand itself, wrapping around the arm blade and running itself up his arm towards his head, “I. Will. Stop you!” At that point the human pulled down on his weapon, separating the section that had wrapped around Karzan like he was removing the pin to a grenade. The moment he did this, the reiatsu gathered around the Lord of the Deep and dispersed with an explosion of reiatsu which even injured Clyde due to his close proximity, sending him hurdling across the ground. The area that had been struck at their feet exploded into sand and debris…energy cackling in the area as if permanently scarred by the power the two were releasing now. The thing was...Clyde's power was stirring. Particularly his bandaged right arm, which was gather more and more reiatsu around than normal. This was different from how the boy usually gathered his energy; it looked as if the air around him was bending to his will. It was a power Karzan would be unfamiliar with even after probing the humans mind. ...It was the power he obtained from learning his origins and regaining his resolve. The True Power of the Philosopher's Stone...Clyde was preparing to show it for the first time. He was going to put it all on the line. |
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Post by Karzan Zaraki on Apr 9, 2012 22:21:50 GMT -5
"This war has gone on much longer than you can understand boy!" Karzan shouted back as Clyde began to push back, "there's no way for you to know what it will take for the Arrancar to move forward...its not just about removing the Shinigami...this is also to motivate my kind...I'll drown them in the blood of others until they realize the truth...that at our most basic levels, we are all as "human" as you are!"
As the explosion sent Karzan flying, it would tear most of the armored hollow skin from his upper body, the collar removed completely, and his lower arms the only things still covered. His body was bruised and bloody, and as he struggled to his feet he would roar loudly into the desert, venting his rage and his pain. "You were created as a tool to end this war Clyde," the Lord of the Deep shouted as he brought his crazed glare to rest on the boy, "the Shinigami thought they could use you to end my kind, but they were wrong! I won't sit by as my kind vanish into the shadows! Battle is all we know, and we have no opportunity to learn anything else...Humans are the same, you fight over land, over money, over other Humans. The Shinigami fight over rules and over Humans and Hollow, and the Quincy fight over us all! The Hollow and Arrancar fight for our lives...what else have we to fight for!?"
Karzan did not expect an answer, because he knew there was no answer. He had pondered it for his entire reign. What did the Arrancar have to fight for...they were too stubborn to fight for each other, so they fought for their lives, to feel something other than emptiness. It was all they had, for this world of theirs was barren...nothing to console their loneliness...all they had that was worth fighting for was their existence. So he would fight for theirs...and give them an existence worth the bloodshed. So he waited where he stood, for Clyde to confront him. He would not run, and he would not charge blindly. He had bared his soul here, to the only enemy he had fought who understood what he was and what he wanted, and the only enemy he understood.
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Post by Clyde on Apr 12, 2012 23:56:33 GMT -5
“What about peace, Karzan? Do your people not deserve to fight for that as well?” The human retorted; his voice was ferocious but controlled, as if it were the most obvious answer. The human, to the end, believed that there was an end to the conflict. Not just the battle between him and Karzan, but the battle at large. The cycle that they were all forced to play, it had an end. It may not be easy to find, it could even be near impossible to achieve but he would find a way. It was something he had that he could fight for, something everyone could fight for. Change…a means to break this cycle forever, and allow everyone to live in peace. He looked ahead towards the Lord of the Deep. He knew why the man fought; he understood where he stood and why he did what he did. Clyde also understood what this existence had done to him, how it corrupted him and twisted his very ideals against him. A silent nod was sent towards the arrancar; it was his sign that he wished all of this had no fallen upon Karzan, its burden turning him into the monster he was. Clyde could not forgive him for the actions he had taken, but he could still not entirely blame him for what he had become and what he wanted to achieve. For the human, he had come to peace with the decisions that lead the two into this final battle. All that was left was to decide the victor…who was stronger and who was weaker…who was right…and who was wrong. The bloodied left hand lifted from the boy’s side over to the wrist of his right where the bandages end. His index finger and his thumb pressed against those bandages as the howl of hollows in the background were heard; spectators that had formed safely around the perimeter of the battle. It was a cry for their home, a desperate plea for this battle to end. On cue with their cries the human pulled up on the wrap and loosened the bandages and allowing it to slide off effortlessly. What was revealed was not an injured, scarred arm as Karzan would have remembered it, but a seemingly tattooed one. The arm had the pattern of ancient alchemic circles and glyphs; the formula of the philosophers stone. Upon removing the bandages the reiatsu in the air quickly gravitated towards the arm causing Clyde’s gray reiatsu to flow outward in all directions. It hid the boy as more and more reiatsu seemed to release from the arm, its color gradually changing as it did. The gray reiatsu became a fiery red that matched the passion of the human’s ideals. When things finally died down the boy’s right arm was encased in this fire-like reiatsu, it flowed out of it and extended into two tendrils like forms that twisted and contorted to the humans mind. In the palm of his hand was the spear of gray reiatsu he more calmly used, but its form too began to change as the fire reiatsu seeped into it. Within a flash the spear had changed and become a solid object. It was no longer manipulated energy; Clyde had preformed a transmutation on it…it was a true weapon now. “The philosopher’s stone, it created me so that it would have a conscious, so that its power could have boundaries until it could find a purpose. With that purpose found, this is what it has become, a celestial punisher for those who have fallen.” The spear was stabbed into the ground, immediately turning the sand to glass around it. “With this…everything will change.” Removing the weapon from the ground, Clyde would create the wings on his back once more, though they were red in appearance like the wings of a phoenix. The wings made a single flutter, sending a forceful wind into the ground and allowing Clyde to charge forward with his weapon poised forward towards Karzan. Reiatsu: 280 + 25 + 35= 340
Attack: 275 + 25 + 35= 335
Speed: 275 + 25 + 35= 335
Weapon skill: 275 + 25 + 35 = 335
8 posts remaining of weapon bonus
3 posts remaining for fullbring final form
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Post by Karzan Zaraki on Apr 13, 2012 8:24:00 GMT -5
As Clyde spoke again of peace Karzan merely roared to the sky as the Hollows began to gather around them. Why could this boy not understand that peace was an illusion created by war? It was impossible for everyone to feel safe, especially when there people who preferred it otherwise. Battle is the basic instinct of mankind, the hunting of prey for sport and for survival, passed down through every stage of evolution. "Peace" was a lie, and he would not indulge it. Karzan's thoughts were interrupted, as Clyde triggered a transformation in himself, as the Lord of the Deep stared in disbelief at the surge of power it brought. Karzan did not listen as Clyde explained his new form, he simply let go of the power he had be holding back...there was no longer any point in words between these two. As Clyde charged at him, Karzan used Sonido to do likewise, blade arm raised to strike back. He was right, he knew the truth of this...Clyde was simply naive. Even if it didn't happen today, Karzan would put the Arrancar at the top of the food chain, it was just a matter of time. Reiatsu: 230 + 65 + 10 + 20 = 325
Attack: 255 + 65 + 15 + 20 = 355
Speed: 230 + 65 + 15 + 20 = 330
Weapon Skill: 160 + 65 + 10 + 20 = 255
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Post by Clyde on Apr 13, 2012 16:34:10 GMT -5
The human’s reiatsu poured with such ferocity, that even with Karzan using every ounce of his remaining power he would still feel as if his reiatsu was losing out in their battle. When their weapons collided an aura of red and teal circulated the battle field that they floated above and the hollow that watched quickly ran in fear of such a release of power between two opponents. The mere force of their weapons clashing, causing whiplash to cut into both of their chests. Clyde stared down the Lord of the deep, his eyes burning red like the power that radiated from his arm. The two tendrils of fire extended as their weapons clashed together and circled around the arrancar.
“Crescent Slash!” The human yelled as both tendrils of energy launched condensed crescent shaped blasts of red reiatsu, sandwiching the arrancar between the two. Clyde then lowered his weapon from the clash before striking the front of the spear against the side of Karzan’s bladed arm in an attempt to knock it off balance. He would follow through with the strike and aim his spear right for the Lord of the Deep’s stomach.
The Tendrils, having fired their attack began to close in on the espada with the intention of keeping him place. They roared with the energy pulsing from them, and their alchemic power would begin to effect Karzan’s reishi’d body. The closer they got the more influence they would have…Karzan would recognize it as a similar move Clyde had used to defeat Virgil back when the war had started; now, however, it was augmented by the philosopher’s stones true power.
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Post by Karzan Zaraki on Apr 15, 2012 21:36:23 GMT -5
Karzan flared his reiatsu violently in an attempt to ward off the tendril of energy, but could not avoid the blasts, which destroyed the armor on his back, and badly burned his chest, causing it to bleed profusely. He roared in pain and swiped the tendrils away from him as best he could when they tried to deconstruct him. "I am not so easily destroyed!" he shouted as he fired Fang Bala at the tendril, and gripped at his chest to soak his right hand in blood, "Not by someone like you!"
Roaring loudly, Karzan charged a Gran Rey Cero in his right hand, waving his bladed left from side to side, slashing at the boy wildly. With an even louder roar, Karzan fired the Cero, not caring any more how much damage he took, he just wanted this infuriating boy to die, so that he could move on.
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Post by Clyde on Apr 18, 2012 0:58:13 GMT -5
The Tendrils broke away from Karzan and retracted as he attacked them and forced them away from him before they could manipulate his reishi. Clyde watched on as Karzan prepared the ritual to use a Gran Rey Cero, his eyes remaining still as they had since their battle began. Throughout all the speeches and attacks, the human refused to compromise his ideals, his beliefs. He knew Karzan would not either, that the only way to show him the truth was to stop him right here…right now. Clyde held his ground as they two remained clashed and suspended above the battlefield, and made no attempt to escape when the Gran Rey fired and consumed his battle with its energy.
The Lord of the deep, however, would see immediately that something was holding the blast at bay. The bluish energy was warded off only directly in front of the boy as the tip of the spear he held rammed against it. The tendrils of fire had collapsed directly around the weapon, aiding it with their power as it pushed against the cero that threatened to destroy the human. The cero’s close proximity sent a surge of energy at the human, burning into his body and further damaging his wounds…but he did not back down. Even as the cero threatened to kill him he knew that it was here that he needed to make his final stand.
Karzan would feel the pressure of the human’s power as the cero began to lose steam; the arrancar’s heavily weakened body unable to maintain it as he normally would have. The lord of the deep would be forced downwards, back towards the sands below. The wings on the humans back expanded and molded around him as he used every thing he had left to end this war once and for all. The fiery body that formed around him resembled a large bird made completely of fire, its beak formed at the tip of the spear. All of this energy focused directly on the tip of that weapon as the gran rey cero began to collapse against the human’s reiatsu.
“Karzan!” The human yelled out as their descent was increasing in speed with each passing second, “Everything I have done has built towards this; every battle, every victory, every defeat, every ally! Everything building towards this one chance; the chance to change things for the better! For the future we all deserve! So for everyone back in Karakura; the shinigami, the humans…and even the arrancar…for all of them…I will defeat you right here!”
As he yelled out the cero would be pushed completely back as Clyde’s weapon finally pierced through and stabbed into Karzan’s chest, just below the hollow hole. “This is war ends with this attack…Rising Phoenix!” The energy surrounding the human all pushed forward, flowing through the spear and consuming the Lord of the Deep in its radiant light. At that very moment the two would collide with the ground below…and all of the reiatsu flowing around them erupted into the sky, completely consuming miles of sand in red and teal reiatsu, creating a crater in the land against the Lord of the Deep’s back. So much power was battling at once, that the very fabric of space and time literally ripped where Karzan had hit the ground, forcing them through the remnants of the gargantua that the arrancar had made back when they first arrived in Heuco Mundo. With Clyde pushing against his opponent the momentum carried the two into the portal and they disappeared from view. The area they had fought remained consumed in the flames of their reiatsu...a deep scar had been left from the impact.
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Post by Karzan Zaraki on Apr 24, 2012 13:39:48 GMT -5
Karzan simply roared as things unfolded, no words could express the rage he felt. Into the portal they went, darkness enveloping them, and taking hold of what little heart Karzan had left. He had been made a fool, but he would not let this be the end. Stretching his bladed arm toward Clyde, the energy that burned him so shattered the armor, revealing the flesh of his hand beneath. "The war never ends boy!" Karzan roared over the rushing air as he grabbed the arms that held the spear protruding from his chest, "Not so long as the Shinigami, and the Arrancar continue exist! Our two kinds live to fight!"
Karzan then began to squeeze the boy's arm, charging a Cero in his free hand. "I should do my part as well." Karzan smiled as he coughed up blood. The Cero was not meant for Clyde; it was for those they would crash into once they came out the other side.
[Exit this thread]
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