[BSD-RP] Human World: Karakura Town

[BSD]

Blitzkrieger
The chance of the initial bullet making its mark only had the smallest margin of success. Such a standard form of weaponry against a Quincy? Let alone two. It would be a state of true naivety to assume a crude tactic like that would work. That is to say if there wasn't a contingency in place. Jeuno's specially developed weapon was made for but one purpose, one he had hoped wouldn't end anticlimactically, this exact moment. This was an act of revenge against a family, by eliminating a promising member of it. A statement had to be made, even if it was from the shadows. A death by a headshot only makes so many waves.
Eyes honed down the sights of his rifle, Jeuno watched for the slightest reactions from the pair. The mere seconds it took for the bullet to travel seeming to last for full minutes. His breath slowed to a point of near nonexistence while he rested his thumb against the switch along the side of his equipment. Every meter that passes leads to stress upon the lever. All culminating to the moment that the Empress's bodyguard began to move from the bullet's path.
Click
With that sound the lights from the armament faded and instead brought ones to life upon the projectile itself. The outer layer of the trailing shot divided down the center, opening a compartment that housed many tiny holes. As it reached the duo, a crimson mist expanded throughout the air around them. One even the slightest awareness of spiritual energies could find that it carried with it the presence of Hollow Reiryoku, a surprise that was hidden away by the outer layer. Through the merger of the process of constructing a Gintō capsule and mechanical engineering, Jeuno had gone and created a wicked knife in the dark. Though the projectile did not contain his own Reiryoku it instead housed that of the very thing his kind tries to destroy. Delivered through a system that leads to a bullet acting as a payload for the now vaporized substance, it became an object of chemical warfare. The mist when inhaled by a Quincy would infiltrate their bodies and lead to the process of Soul Suicide (魂魄自殺, Konpaku Jisatsu). Jeuno had to push beyond the moral implications that such a technology brought, but for this one objective, he looked beyond them. Making sure that this one act was the only one that would be carried out in such a ruthless way.
The Krieger son quickly slung the rifle over his shoulder and brought the hood of his attire over his head. He could not waste any time between alternating to his secondary positioning. Even if the Hollow Reiryoku bullet worked, it would not be a swift execution. Retaliation was incredibly likely regardless of how the pair handled the expanding toxin. In the instance that they did allow the substance to enter their bodies, their powers would weaken and stressors would accelerate the process that ultimately lead up to death by a failed Hollowfication.
His feet pulled him with an upmost swiftness out from the building and into the path of scattered trees that laid within the area. The infrequent and scattered lights of the area bringing no assistance in seeing the assailant strafing along the conifers. As he moved, his eyes remained in the direction of his mark. He reached into his pocket and grasped a device that laid within giving it a click that brought to life the next stage of his plan. Jeuno clung to a specific tree, honed in on the woman who clearly was within her own mind. Likely taking the time to try and find his trail. Lucky for him he had abandoned his previous post but that would only postpone a direct confrontation.
He unslung his sniper and whipped it around the corner, gaining a clearer visual of them as he pulled the sight upon his eye. It was not long before she had vanished from view. This was not Hirenkyaku, it was something else entirely. Jeuno lowered the weapon to rest against the tree beside him, while continuing to look about. A line of sight was not to be had. Where she had gone was not to be seen. It was within his other senses that he had to rely. Again he stilled himself to not let any nerves slip through and sully his strategy. Albeit being unaware of this technique, there was no sign that his mental blueprint would falter.
Jeuno anchored his thoughts, instead listening to the shifting wind, the flow of energies, the very place he currently resided. The smallest break in the silence would result in the proper response. For he was the one who spun the web for which he stood and now he just had to wait for his prey to become tangled. A spider awaiting its meal.

 

[BSD]

Crimson smoke begins to cover them prior to her departure, and just as alluded, the familiar, sickening aura that belonged to their eternal enemies began to plague their field of view and Blume could only click her tongue in distaste. Those few seconds in which Jueno had triggered the secondary action of their bullet and chose to flee. That bullet continues to sail over her head as she trips, and Dominic is quick to point out that general direction. The area would become enclosed in red from the mist however as quickly as it expels it is gone with a wave of darkness that had dealt with it in gusto.
Jueno fails to recognize the lingering presence of a third entity, one that had been there long since the beginning to cover the bases in which his Empress or her right-hand may fail to deal with properly. A righteous son named Elende who protects his mother uses those same dark shadows to consume the red mist into the black abyss. It was quick, undetectable, untraceable, no matter the person. Any Quincy capable of using the technique Shadow would have their reiatsu completely go undetectable upon departure. It is in tandem that Blume continues with her searching and departure. Even if he were to keep his eyes on them, there’d have been nothing but a large sea of black in his way as he fled from his original firing position, and all who would be left in that place was Dominic, idle until told to act.
“Run. Make this more fun for me.”
Blume has never sought a fight unless she was truly stressed. The Fullbringers were hardly of her concern, however her annoyance began with Dimitri who’d practically been the most difficult part of her day. Among that fiasco, a series of armored soldiers hurled bullets at her, and while it piqued her interest, it was a pain having to deal with that right after the mess of a priest, especially with getting no real information other than the scores of corpses and broken armor for Lukas to dissect later. Now what did she have? A sniper who thought to poison her. If she were anyone else, then maybe, just maybe she would have felt alarmed. Even without the protection of her bodyguard or her son, she would have dealt with it accordingly, but that would have required some fine tuning.
Shadow to shadow, the Empress gets closer and closer, still following the signatures of moving figures when she finally locks onto a fleeting outline that has taken calculated steps from his original position and Blume lets out a rather enticed chuckle that slips past her painted lips. Her movement hastens in the darkness and Jueno is left to himself, waiting and listening to anything out of place in the forest, yet it is the forest that he lies in that he is the most vulnerable, and it is the fabric that sticks to his skin that is the most dangerous. The shadow casted by his hood sticks to his neck and in eerie succession her fingers latch around the flesh of his throat from behind and Jueno would feel nothing but the drain of his reiryoku from the death-grip she had on him. It was something least expected by anyone to be attacked from the inside of their own clothing, but such was available from such mastery of the dark, by no one less than the Empress herself. Even if he were to do something to cut at her fingers, the defensive properties of her blut were indefinitely strong and use of mortal items would have no effect on her. Even if he had managed to conjure up a spiritual weapon, the draining of his reiryoku would be far too severe to properly create something threatening enough to harm her.

As a Quincy, he surely had his own arsenal of things, that among his weaponry that carried those bullets such as the one he'd fired. Until it was confirmed that he was no longer a threat, she would not let go, and any struggle would only result in a tighter grip, her nails digging into his flesh deep enough to break the skin and cause his blood to dribble from those punctures.

 

[BSD]

Alternative Function
Jeuno had entered this confrontation being the one with shadows on his side, but the tables turned in an instant. The ability that Blume had utilized to leave from where she stood was not something that the Krieger had any knowledge of. The one oversight that could potentially foil his plans if not handled. He could not trace the woman in that moment, for it was as if she had just ceased to exist. Despite his keen talent to sniff out most skilled opponents, there was no trail to follow. The nerves he had tried to keep at bay began to set in a bit. A single bead of sweat trailed down from his brow as he wondered if his trap would still hold any chance against whatever ability it was that she had been using.
All his cards had not been drawn but if he could not spot her... it may be all for not. With his back still pressed against the tree he used as cover, he tossed the rifle to the ground beside him with a single hand. The other limb raised to aim at the side of a tree about twenty four meters away from where he stood. Jeuno drew in enough Reishi to form the simplest form of his spirit weapon, Verwurzelte Erinnerung (異端のヘビ, Nedzuita Kioku, Rooted Remembrance), which caused it only to take the shape of a mass of particles along the outer side of his hand. This state took less time to conjure and less Reishi to fuel it. As quickly as it came into being, the mass of shimmering energy released a singular bolt that soared on its course, volliding with the targeted tree and rooting itself. The slightest ripple of spiritual energy rung out from the munition, casting its unique trait for a great distance.
The power of his Verwurzelte Erinnerung was not something that directly influenced his combat prowess but instead gave him omniscient perception of all that dwells within the arrow's radius. Nothing can be hidden from its influence no matter what they hid behind, how well they concealed themselves, and what kind of being they were. With his senses pulled beyond their former constraints, it shredded the stealth factor of Blume residing with shadows. He could feel every shift of her location as she snaked her way to him. It mattered not in this instance to where she was for he could tell she was out of reach, but she had to surface eventually, and then he'd act.
The speed at which she maneuvered was remarkable but he expected no less. He returned his hand to his pocket, resting his fingers between the two tools that were housed within. The Diamante woman closed the gap, hoping to quickly subdue the Quincy that attempted at her life. Her move was to use the shadows cast within his hood to take hold of his throat. Though Jeuno reacted to the sudden emerging hand by bringing his open palm towards his own neck. Intercepting the woman's grasp and closing down his fingers around hers to eliminate the chance of her pulling back quickly. He had also prevented her fingers from constricting around his neck directly but still would fall victim to his Reiryoku being leeched.
Delaying action would certainly bring this bout to an end. He removed his other hand from his pocket, acquiring one specific object from it. Jeuno could feel the Reishi in her veins fortifying her with horrifying results, preventing him from escaping her grip by conventional means. Without a second thought he activated that which he held with his free appendage. The object came to life forming a blade made of relentlessly revolving spiritual particles. It was none other than the Quincy tool Seele Schneider. He tightened his clasp on the Empress's hand and brought the bladed arrow upwards along the back of his hood. The weapon acted like a chainsaw, ripping clean through the cloth and making a course for her breaching limb. Upon connection with her flesh, the Seele Schneider would begin to rip through her arm and even the Reishi that flowed through her veins, further fortifying the capabilities of the whirling edge.
In the instance of success, Jeuno would make way for an area set between multiple of the devices he had set before taking his shot at Blume. Then setting himself up to react from her next move. Should his attempt fail however, it would be likely that he'd succumb to a state of fatigue that would prevent him from continuing the fight.

 

[BSD]

“Faszinierend!”
In the dark, her grin widens with Jeuno’s capability of such a reaction. Though they’d managed to avoid getting their neck snapped, the hold she was given instead still depleted him just the same. Blume feels a rush in her body, one that she hardly gets to experience due to having Dominic deal with these types of things. She imagines him being filled with frustration and boredom since his retirement, so she lets him have all the fun he can have; yet it is also her that is prevented from these types of things. Trivial as they may seem, Blume yearns for a good fight, or something that can surprise her to pique her interest. This little fellow before her managed to catch her eye with the desperate fight in order to survive from her movement. From what she gathered, he was alone considering he hadn’t tried to kill himself the instant in which he got caught. Not to mention he had attacked her outright. If someone was knowledgeable enough, the directness was rather foolish if they knew anything about the Empress and her bodyguard. While their attacks were layered, there wasn’t enough research done into their execution, and this was how it was ending.
Even the fruitful efforts of his seele schneider tearing through his hood in order to get rid of the shadow in which she resided failed as it only attached to the shadow casted by his entire person against that tree. Blume’s defensive blut was disgustingly rough, having been activated since he’d fired off his first shot. Jeuno goes so far even as to grip her hand tighter as if to hold her in place as he tries to sever her arm before she can escape. Blume provides no resistance, only because she fears nothing of his actions. A seele schneider was not a sword, but an arrow, and one that was able to feed off the reishi of an opponent. Considering she had none present, it had nothing to feed off of, merely acting as a blunt object otherwise after crashing into what was exposed of her arm.
“What a waste of talent...”
Her voice is hauntingly close to his ear and with terrifying strength, she takes the hold she has on Jeuno’s hand and extends it outwards from his body in tandem with her other arm coming out of the shadows to hook around his neck instead, trapping his weapon wielding hand against his chest as she grabs a hold of that wrist too. The shadow extends higher and outwardly as the golden glow of her absorbing his reiryoku begins to become more translucent and brighter. Her face appears from the shadows and sits atop of his head, looking down in gentle glee at her captured prey.
“Do you wish to die here?”
She asks in curiosity, slowing the process of her absorption just enough to leave him intelligible enough to speak. She wouldn’t kill him, at least not yet. Perhaps he could be of some use to Lukas alive, but if he pushed her hand, then what was she to do? Blume disliked violence, but she was not one to just be a sitting duck and take attacks without cause. The only reason she’d done nothing during the armored-giants attack was because of Dominic. The Empress had sought out this one personally, and even after being attacked back to back, she was merciful. Perhaps this mercy would be the end of her one day, but when that day came, she would be ready.
“Are you willing to die for nothing? Is this revenge? Don’t you want to make this fun when you kill me?”
The way she speaks is sickly, but she is completely serious. While she needed people, it was rather dangerous to keep the ones pining for her life alive, but it was what made her feel alive. If she kept her enemies close like this, dealing with them would be so easy. Her thoughts momentarily fall onto a particular blue-haired entity and her gaze hardens for a moment, as does her grip on Jeuno. At this point, Jeuno would have been unable to conjure up any form of reishi in order to attack her, and the reishi around them would begin to flow gently towards Blume to feed her even more. He’d begin to feel the fatigue get to him, his body growing frail and fall lax in her grip; yet even as Jeuno’s body would only grow weaker, her grip only tightens as if it were the only thing to keep him awake.
“If your only purpose in life is to kill me, then I’ll let you live just to see if you can make it a reality, what do you think?”
He had a single chance, and she was curious on whether or not he would take it.

 

[BSD]

Cornered: A Bitter Decision
The grip of the Empress was unwavering which left little room to adapt, especially with the steady draining of his Reiryoku. He did have one more Hail Mary but was it worth the attempt? He still would be incapable of likely escaping her clutches and might meet his end. The nature of his trap as well could likely take him out in the process given his current state. It'd be unwise to take such a measure even if he could survive it. There was honestly a lack of proper research in his planning and not to mention a misstep in his planned actions. Desperation was not within his nature, it is something he shook away at a young age, or rather had beaten out of him. Struggling without a clear head often made for sloppy results, a thing that almost always came at a cost.
“What a waste of talent...”
Her words broke through the haze that was overcoming him, resulting in him pressing his teeth firmly against each other. Those kind of words were not foreign for him but still carried weight. His eyes shifted towards the arrow he had fired earlier, watching it disperse both from the loss of his focus and his strength. The fading lucidity that clung to him as his consciousness wavered brought forth a strange yet familiar sound to his mind.
Tick - Tock - Tick - Tock - Tick - Tock
A ghost of the past squeezing his very heart, something even more noticeable than the Blume's grasp.
“Are you willing to die for nothing? Is this revenge? Don’t you want to make this fun when you kill me?”
She was right on the matter of it being an action of revenge. If he retaliated any more now, he'd simply die for his self-motivated vendetta. The truth was she was simply an object of his strife. A focus merely for the position she held. That bullet could have been for anyone within her family but it was her 'crown' that brought it towards her. Her death would have simply been a statement. Jeuno felt it was partly an act of revenge and the other part being to test his worth. Both of these motives were brought about by the same origin.
The Seele Schneider dropped to the ground with a resounding clank. Jeuno's body felt increasingly heavy. Each second that passed felt as if they dragged on, his only lifeline being that of his desire to not pass out. Though he was capable of doing so he made no effort to acknowledge her first set of questions.
“If your only purpose in life is to kill me, then I’ll let you live just to see if you can make it a reality, what do you think?”
“This... is hardly my only purpose.”
His words were faint but still plenty audible for the woman who rested upon him. This was clearly enjoyable for her, but he didn't understand how. Back to back her life was tried for. Yet here she was living in the glow of both attempts. Was she simply that insane as to not feel a sense of anger towards such a matter? Or was this a matter of contempt towards him? An instance of sheer pity. The Empress's nature made the words that would follow all the more painful.
“I yield...”
Those words were Jeuno's last before his consciousness escaped him. This left his fate solely in the hands of the one he just tried to kill. If those words of hers proved to be true, then he'd live to fight another day. However if they were false, then this moment would certainly be his last.