Lisa rushed at Tōsen as the darkness converged around her. She suddenly dissolved amidst the blazing charge. His honed instincts screamed a millisecond before Lisa erupted from the darkness behind him, not with a roar, but with terrifying silence. Twin blade arms thrust for his spine. She could've gone for his heart, his head, and even his neck. But she aimed to cripple him.
Only a desperate pivot and an upward flick of katana blocked the insidious attack.
The clash of blades sparked a bloom on Lisa's helmet, her eyes glaring venomously into Tōsen's.
Before Tōsen could retaliate, Lisa pushed off his blade, the force staggering him, and melted back into the shadows like ink dropped in water.
Her Resurrección consumed minimal Reiryoku while active. Still, it came with a glaring weakness in being utterly dependent on the environment. No shadows, no power.
Tōsen turned like he was trying to catch her through his sharpened spiritual senses. She was everywhere.
Lisa's laughter echoed. "Aizen... he's too far beyond my reach right now. So I'll settle all my grievances with you. I hope you cherish every moment of this dance as much as I will."
Tōsen slashed violently at the empty air where her voice seemed concentrated. Lisa's form flickered into existence three feet to his left, shadows bending unnaturally around her before she vanished again.
Tōsen's senses howled—above!
He threw himself sideways. Lisa dropped like a falling star from the fractured ceiling's shadow, blades aimed at his skull. He rolled, feeling air ruffle his hair as the blades gouged deep into the floor where his head had been.
Before he could regain his footing, she was gone.
A strike came from his own shadow, opening a searing line of red on his thigh. Strike from the left scraped a wound on his forearm. The descending blade arm grazed his cheek. From behind—a deep gash across his back that sent him tumbling forward.
Lisa no longer engaged in frontal battle, even though she could. No, she tormented him from the shadows, appearing and vanishing with accuracy that would impress a veteran assassin.
"Stop!" Tōsen's voice cracked. He clutched a bleeding wound on his side. "Look at yourself! You've become a complete Hollow—a monster! Is it worth becoming this abomination?!"
The swirling darkness suddenly took shape. Lisa materialized, but she wasn't standing. Tendrils of shadow suspended her gracefully armored figure upside down directly in front of him. Her clear aquamarine eyes reflected his bloodied, desperate face, though he couldn't see it. However, he could feel the crushing wave of pure killing intent pouring off her—so thick it made the air heavy and cold.
"Rich words coming from a coward who serves a snake like Aizen and calls it justice." She tilted her head, her voice filled with sarcasm. "And whether I'm a monster or not is not for a traitorous hypocrite to decide."
A flicker of genuine emotion crossed Tōsen's face—surprise and clear realization. He understood that negotiation and reason were futile against Lisa. This rage-filled woman, this monster she had become, wouldn't stop until he was dead.
"I regret not finishing you off."
Someone he never took as a threat had grown to a being that could do as she pleased with his life. That, too, in an hour.
Lisa burst into laughter. "You're mistaken. Do you see my man over there? He was there when you knocked me out. Even Aizen can't kill me on his watch, much less a weakling like you."
"The likes of you don't know the unfathomable powers of Aizen-sama." Tōsen's spiritual pressure spiked as he jerked Suzumushi high above his head. "Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihikō!"
The blade shook violently. He slashed a blinding half-circle through the air. The arc burst outward, shattering into hundreds of glowing swords that rained down at terrifying speed.
Lisa didn't dodge. She just merged into the very shadows cast by the falling blades and the fractured light. To the naked eye, and even to spiritual senses, it seemed the blades passed harmlessly through empty space.
She reappeared right in front of Tōsen, both blade-arms already slashing toward his heart. Tōsen's eyes went wide behind his visor—even blind, he could sense death coming. He hurled himself backward, pouring everything he had into the desperate leap. The killing thrust punched through his shoulder instead.
Pain made him grimace, but he lived. He survived another clash.
However, there was no relief in his heart. Only coldness. Lisa was too quick, too strong, and too absurdly strange in her movements. The next exchange would end him.
Cornered and bleeding, he smashed his palm onto the ring on Suzumushi's guard.
"Bankai."
The ring spun, releasing waves of spiritual energy.
Lisa patiently waited, showing no desire to stop Tōsen's bankai release. Was she fully confident in killing Tōsen once he unleashed his Bankai? No, absolutely not. Most, if not every, Bankai had powers and abilities of transcendent level. Even in her new Resurrección form, she may not win.
But winning cleanly wasn't her goal anymore, not since Kazuya arrived. Her purpose was to make Tōsen feel the despair, the helplessness, the pain of being weak like she was against Central 46 and Aizen. If she loses, Kazuya will finish Tōsen.
The ring on Tōsen's Zanpakutō blazed into a blinding halo. The circle inside it expanded violently until it encircled Tōsen himself. Then it split into ten glowing rings with a slash of his katana. The rings surrounded the area, each erupting with a black void. A massive black dome formed with Tōsen at the center, anchoring itself with these ten rings.
Each ring was inscribed with a unique kanji, which included Skeleton (骨, Hone), Scatter/Squander (散, Bara), Daring/Tragic/Pitiful (敢, Kan), Inflamed/Fester (爛, Ran), Blood (血, Chi), and Stretch/Spread (張, Chō).
"Suzumushi Tsuishiki: Enma Kōrogi!"
Lisa found herself in darkness. Sight vanished. Sound died, swallowed by an infinite vacuum. The scent of blood faded. Even spiritual awareness was nullified, leaving only the terrifying isolation of touch.
"Welcome to Mumyō," Tōsen's voice came from everywhere and nowhere. "Here, you'll be freed from your monster mind."
Even so, Lisa showed no signs of panic. Only calmness. Partly from the absolute trust that Kazuya stood beyond this void. Partly from her deep confidence that came from her intuition—that she could survive in this sensory-deprived world as long as she had the cover of shadows.
Tōsen swung his katana. There was no sound, no light, no ripple of air, no eruption of spiritual energy. Yet, Lisa knew. The sharp instincts of a Hollow–instincts she was learning to trust and accept as her own–screamed EVADE!
The powerful Reiatsu pierced her chest piece—
And cut through the shadow.
Tōsen halted, a look of disbelief on his face. He sensed her Reiatsu, discovering traces of it everywhere at once, spread through the shadows of Mumyō. "I see…"
A/N: My guy definitely sees everything...
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