Posted by: @leonhartcartelfrancis

He would activate the second ability of his Seele Schneider, the Anhäufer[2], which would absorb the surrounding reishi and reiatsu of his opponents abilities; should she release another arrow. He intended to completely deny her of her ability to use reiatsu and reishi based abilities when he had not permitted her to. She was in his palm, and she ought to dance properly to his tune.

His Seele Schneider sang a pleasant melody as it vibrated in the rain. His hands dripping of water, his hair now relaxed and his clothes hung tightly on his soaked body. His goal clear, ever focused as he waited for Tia to make her move. His focus was such that when she knocked her arrows, he could sense her reiatsu build up and it was then that Julian knew she was about to make a move. He summoned 30 small cubic shaped structure which would hover around him, waiting and ready for instructions.

She attacked like he thought she would. The Shinigami Tia; would cast a Kidō at Julian. Julian would raise both Seele Schneiders which would absorb the energy of the wide energy blast that was directed to him, it was a Kidō of low level, but it was strengthened with whatever incarnation she had muttered, However, with the effects of Anhäufer doubled, it would speed up the absorption rate.[2] Anhäufer made sure that the energy attack from the Shinigami would be absorbed, recycled and then made into Julian's nourishment.

She wasn't done yet. She released ten arrows at Julian almost immediately, arrows mixed with lightning. Same old story which was otherwise getting boring. Ten cubes moved to encase the arrows, which would split[1] the arrows into tiny versions of themselves, extremely small to do any damage and to be of any significance to him. Like an ant attempting to sting an elephant, the arrows got crushed.

Tia released another arrows, same amount as the first; another Ten cube structure would move and like the first the result was the same. He wasn't satisfied, he was yet to be entertained and he felt foolish enough to had hoped that she would make a suitable match for him. He moved.

Solely reliant on his innate speed, she was just 30 meters from him, not a distance he couldn't close in an instant. The Leader of the Sternrriters' appeared right in front of the Shinigami whipping his blade in a downward slash. He was at a close distance such that it would be difficult to draw her bow, and he whipped his Seele Schneider aided by his Blut Arterie, his great strength increasing by a level, the air would tear apart from the full force, the rain would melt away from his brute strength alone, his blade moved like a bullet, bringing it down in an attempt to cut off Tia's right hand in one full swing. 

The after effect would blow Tia away if not properly defended, like a dome of rain expanding and exploding from immense impact with Julian alone at the eye of the storm.

As expected, her attacks were dealt with in the same efficient manner seemingly no matter how she approached them. She hadn't really intended any damage, and her burst of rage at losing her two youngest subordinates fizzled out as quickly as it had come on, leaving her cool, collected and largely in control of herself.

The past few attacks she had strung together had one purpose and one purpose only - the gathering of information, which to the Shinigami in times of war was just as important as the outright elimination of enemies and acts of outright subterfuge. The cellphone in her pocket, specialised as it was for outwards excursions into Gense, recorded everything it had picked up so far. It analysed Julian's energy output, the abilities he had demonstrated so far both innate and honed, and spat out quick readings that made their way back through to the Gotei 13. It couldn't identify Julian, though. As it stood, neither Tia nor the Gotei as a whole knew that the one and only Jagdanführer of the Wandenreich had made an appearance in the material world, and just how devastating that would turn out to be. 

Still, Shiroshiki Tia was no fool, and her keen eye told her much about the situation. This was no ordinary member of the Quincy forces, and his abilities thus far matched her own experiences analyzing Sternritter on several previous occasions. She did not know which epithet he embodied, but had gathered an inkling as to his abilities. She also knew, however bitterly the thought crossed her mind, that she was severely mismatched with this enemy and her best option would be to stall for backup, now that the Gotei knew she was in combat. They would expedite a response to this brazen attack on their forces far faster than if it had been a simple hollow, for the Wandenreich were the enemy, and the Soutaicho had ordered their elimination without exception or leniency. 

Julian moved with all the grace she had come to expect from such a great enemy as the Quincy, though the speed at which he moved betrayed the mastery he held for the art and it was all she could do to spin her bow in her right hand slightly. As her bow came into contact with Julian's Seele, the light sheering with an ear-splitting resonance made her head ache and eyes water - it was enough to block the blow, yes, but also enough to knock her clear out of the sky and back down towards the island. So powerful was the strike and so unprepared was she for the attack that the result would much have been the same, even if the enemy hadn't deployed his Arterie.

Tia hit the sand with a loud crash - winded but otherwise unharmed for the most part, she recovered quickly and broke into the fastest Shunpo she was capable of, heading for the thick cover of the forest...

Julian's eyes narrowed in surprise as Tia tilted her bow just slightly enough to block his Seele Schneider from ripping off her right hand.

He had made contact with her weapon and all he did was order for the weapon; her bow to split into three tiny sized bow too small to hold. 

His attacked knocked her down from the sky, and would send her crashing. However, the Jagdanfühere would not let her be. He would deny her a moment of rest as this time, he deployed his reiatsu. 

His reiatsu fizzled into his Seele Schneider which he now used as a sword, still on the air, moving to a Battojutsu stance(sword draw), his face down, his right leg pushed forward and his left leg slightly bent and pushed backward, he could feel his power bubble as he drew his sword to creat a crescent arc made from his reiatsu. It's length would be as long as a truck.

The crescent arc would race with bullet speed at Tia who now had her back turned against him. If not properly defended against, she would be divided in half by the sheer force of the slash which was aided by his blut Arterie.

He was not done yet. He would also simultaneously appear, having employed the full extent of his reiatsu, he would appear above Tia with his Seele Schneider bearing down at her head as he would hope to drive it down her skull all the while releasing an energy blast[1] in the shape of a cube, which would disintegrate anything upon contact, covering a blast radius of 100m

Time. I need more time!

The thought shot through her with the same urgency as she willed herself to move. Now hidden from sight beyond the thick treeline, she felt a pulse of reiatsu grow behind her as Julian readied his attack. Looking down at her bow, her suspicions regarding her opponent's powers appeared correct - he apparently had the ability to reduce her attacks at will, though she did not know the range of his powers or the limitations. Her shikai had changed form - instead of the brilliantly majestic shortbow she had spent oh so many years training with, she held in her enclosed fist three smaller versions, thin enough to be held side by side.

Somewhere behind her, she sensed Julian's energy hit a peak. She felt the searing heat of raw energy hot on her heels, and it approached her with such speed she knew she couldn't outrun it for long. Whatever it was, it was best avoided altogether. 

She gambled and changed her trajectory. Although this one seemed just as competent in close quarters, the true strength of the Quincy would always be their ranged combat and she intended to take full advantage.

It wasn't an arrow that chased her down, however.

Veering off to the side suddenly, she launched herself between the trunks of two massive trees and threw her hands up behind her as her shunpo reached its apex. With her reiatsu flaring from both her hands and feet, she knew her location would light up bright to one such as Julian, and counted on it. Muttering an incantation under her breath as she heard the telltale crunch of trees being blown to bits behind her from Julian's arc, she shot downwards into a small valley and cast another kidou.

"Kyōmon!"

A giant white barrier formed on her heels as she moved, covering her back and head - a formidable defense should Julian chase her as she intended. Which is precisely what he did. The giant white door took the brunt of both his Seele Schneider and his so far unknown cube attack, and where it lasted well and valiantly took both of the aftermath, Tia took no chances. With her bow now useless and for who knew how long, she grit her teeth and took action. She knew she wouldn't last like this. She cast another Kyōmon to reinforce the first, but that too was shattered after a few long moments.

"Bankai! Asa no Hijiri Tenshi!"

As the outwards explosion of Julian's attack sent entire trees flying, Tia's cell beeped in her pocket - she couldn't read the message but knew it couldn't be good. The Gotei didn't usually respond to requests for reinforcements - they just simply appeared. Could it be something had happened?

No, she couldn't waste time thinking on such things. As the wings of her bankai unfurled with opalescence, she used them to put even more distance between her and Julian, knowing she didn't have long in this form.

The three bows that had been her shikai had vanished entirely, reforming into a giant blue greatbow that defied how heavy it looked by weighing next to nothing. It didn't hinder her in any way as she took to the skies again and let loose a heavy volley of arrows saturated with her Captain-level reiatsu. If she couldn't rely on backup, whatever the reason, she had to end this quickly.

The fire arrows she launched blazed with the inferno as she set the whole forest below alight - so hot did it burn that the wet foliage evaporated with an equally hot steam that covered the entire area. A thick, black smoke rose up from the burning trees as she launched herself ever higher, until she approached cloud level and the very lightning clouds she had stoked earlier became her backdrop.

Near misses upon near misses. It became a trend for the Shinigami, for someone as weak as her she sure knew how to wiggle herself out of a tight spot.

His eyes furrowed into a frown when she blocked his seele Schneider attack with a weak sealing spell. It should not have been possible but here it was defying the laws of logic for the Quincy. His energy blast had not so much as dented her clothes, maybe there was an anomaly somewhere, maybe she was just blessed and his interest grew more when she released her Bankai. 

He would use his godstep to close the now new distance she had put between him after fleeing from his attacks to about 50 meters. She released her flaming arrows. "Anhaben[1]." He muttered under his breath.

A forcefield with the shape of a dome would come into existence. This was Julian extending his Blut Vene outside his body to create the forcefield. It would form 360° light blue transparent dome with white veins on the surface of the flaming arrows that hit the dome. Anhaben would consume the flaming arrows to keep it alive, it would strength the forcefield as it feeds off of everything which does not exclude living beings to maintain its generation.

Julian brought out his medallion from his pocket. It would shimmer, as it came to life. He would attempt to steal her Bankai using his Medallion. Should it become successful, she would find her Bankai would be gone. She would return to her normal form, just an ordinary Shinigami. 

Julian on the other hand, with her stolen Bankai, would release the exact same attack she had used on him a few moments ago. Large flaming arrows, blazing as hot as an inferno that would light up the forest more would blaze there way like a bullet towards Tia. Should contact be made, Tia would find herself totally devastated, having great burns but would just be alive long enough for Julian to appear right in front of her with his seele Schindler raised up.

"Die." 

His hand blurred as he made a vertical slash to behead the Shinigami in one swift slash.

Tia wasn't sure just how Julian was able to use Anhaben - there was only one other documented case she had analysed whereby a Quincy displayed such mastery over their reiatsu and the reishi they drew into their body. Perhaps she had underestimated him? A miscalculation?

She didn't give it much more thought.

As the Anhaben expanded, the arrows she fired pelted it over and over and over again - at such a distance, each arrow absorbed a great amount of reishi as they struck the surface of Julian's blut bubble. The bubble fizzled out each arrow in turn with a startling level of efficiency, and though the attack did very little, Tia felt great satisfaction that her Bankai's ability to destroy and absorb reishi effectively nullified the bubble's ability to do the same. In the end, Julian ended up with no more reishi than what he had expelled initially to summon the horrific thing.

It seemed that no matter what tactics she used, the Quincy always had an answer, and it was the same one regardless of any skill or trickery she deployed. Her cell had recorded the entirety of the fight, relaying the way that her enemy had grown attached to using his two Seele Schneider, and the information would be delivered to the 9th Division immediately for research and development of a remedy to this nuisance. No matter the result here, the shinigami of the future would be well prepared for such toys.

As the bubble swelled, she uttered the first words she had spoken to Julian since their fight began. "Do you quincy envy us and our duties so much you must mimic our ways?"

As Julian brought out his medallion, her eyes narrowed. "Apparently so."

She had seen such a device before, and knew what was her lot before he even had chance to utilize it. Her Bankai began to disintegrate as rays of black enveloped it entirely - with her other hand she summoned a hell butterfly and prepared a senkaimon gate.

No sooner had the gate materialized, a rain of familiar arrows pierced the sliding paper doors. With her unsealed zanpakutou now in her hands, she came face to face with her own weapon. Her lip twitched in amusement. She was starting to understand her Husband's disdain for these humans who so haughtily leeched from powers they had no right to.

The Senkaimon began to crumble behind her as her body was pierced by a veritable volley of flaming arrows. Coughing a spray of blood, the grin never left her face as she muttered "Enjoy it whilst you can, human."

Her eyes rolled back as the Seele sliced through cleanly - there was one thing to be said for the arrow, it did indeed cut well.

Her last words was funny. Of all the things she could say it was that he should enjoy it? He looked at her head on the blackened ground evidence of the forest burning moments before.

"You can come out now." He said with a sigh. At his call, a certain figure appeared before him. Eckhard Thorn smiled mischievously. "Ah so you knew?" He said while laughing. 

Julian sighed again before taking his mask and placing it gently back on his face. The moon reflecting on his blue eyes, his reiatsu went back to a lower seat level, his powers sealed. "It was obvious from the very beginning. I could feel your interest on the Shinigami from a mile away." Julian said as he placed the medallion back to his pocket.

"While I was interested in her, I have never seen you struggle like you did today. Perhaps you're getting old?" Eckhard would laugh at his rather not funny attempt to pop a vein on Julian's head. Julian ignored his attempt to get a reaction from him as he summoned the Sun gate. Moments later, a portal came into existence and just before he would leave, he turned to Eckhard and ordered that he bring Tia's corpse back for proper study.

"Such a stubborn fly, you're struggle has ended." Eckhard spoke directly to Tia's lifeless head which was held up, only that this time around Tia heard nothing.

THE END

Epilogue...

The senkaimon opened quietly, and the Soutaichou stepped through with a grim expression, cell in clenched fist. Two ours earlier, the order had been given for all shinigami to retreat from gense and return to their respective divisions ahead of the Gobantai Taichou Takahashi Morimoto's little so called rebellion - most, if not all, had heeded the order and returned immediately. All except the 7th Division Captain and her two subordinates.

This was their last known location, and as the downpour soaked him from head to toe, he didn't seem to notice. High above the burnt out island, so reduced to smoke and ash as it was, the Soutaichou easily spotted the outline of two crumpled figures at the bottom of a large crater on the beach. They had been killed instantly, and though the arrows that had done the job were long since gone, the wounds were obvious in their origin.

His cell beeped in his hand, urging him to make quick work of what would otherwise require a lengthy and thorough investigation.

Shiroshiki Tia was not here. He closed his eyes, reached out with his enhanced reikaku to find...

Gone. He sensed a sizable pool of her blood in the waters below, still saturated with her energy. He knew so much came from a mortal wound and she was no more. There was enough ambient reishi in the area to confirm what his cell told him - her last battle had been against an unknown Quincy and she had fallen.

The plastic of the cell creaked in his fist as he clenched them. Turning his back on the world, he vanished through the senkaimon. A sleight to be settled at a different time. She had been a gentle soul, his wife. One of a few, yes, but no less for it.

He would send for the other two bodies to be recovered later. So destroyed were they that not even the hollows would be interested in scavenging their remains.

Fin~