Noble Love - Bleach (Kuchiki Byakuya x Oc x A bit of Various)

四十一

The mist shrouding Asa and her Reigai counterpart cleared up, revealing their Bankai form each with the giant gold ring of hiltless daggers rotating along it. Each of them detached a dagger from the ring, and it transformed into a Zanpakutou. They resumed the fight with their blades clashing one another. When the blades clashed, they pushed their swords up against each other as much as they could, and during this time, Asa noticed a change in scenery. The Reigai had conjured up an illusion of a dark open field with a bright full moon hanging in the night sky.

After a short while, they pushed their swords and skidded back. Asa blinked once and the next thing she knew, the Reigai was gone, prompting her to look around in alert. "Hado #4 Byakurai!" came a voice from behind her. Asa managed to glance over her shoulder to see the Reigai pointing at her with her index finger and generate as much as energy as she could. The moment Asa move away with Flash Step, a ferocious bolt of lighting shot out from the concentrated point. At that note, Asa moved to the Reigai's behind and attempted to attack her, only to have her Zanpakutou go through the Reigai, which turned out to be a holograph. But this didn't faze her, because she knew that Reigai-Asa was behind her preparing to attack with another Kidou spell.

"Hado #33 Sokatsui!" The latter aimed her palm at Asa and generated a torrent of blue energy before firing it at her. Asa quickly reached up to grab another dagger and sent it hurling towards the huge blast of energy, managing to split it into two and at that moment, the scene changed into one of a plateau surrounded by rocky mountains, causing the energy to hit the mountain walls behind. She then used Flash Step to get to the Reigai and slashed her across the chest.

However, Asa received the same attack from an unknown force despite the Reigai bleeding in front of her, and to her surprise, the Reigai she'd attacked turned out to be a mirage. The real Reigai, unharmed, was revealed to be standing behind it after it disappeared, with her Zanpakutou blade coated in her blood.

'That mirage merely acts as a mirror.' thought Asa after forcing herself to get back. 'I thought I had got her, but when my blade attacks her, I'll receive the same damage by the real Reigai behind the mirage. I didn't think I would fall for something I'd invented with Kage Odoriko. Looks like whatever attacks I've been using commonly cannot defeat her.' A thought went through her mind and she chuckled lowly. 'It's funny how Kage Odoriko's Bankai is not the only one I try not to use during fights.'

Taking a deep breath, Asa reached behind to grab another dagger and threw it to the front before it glowed, conjuring another illusion. This time, they were in the middle of an open field with nothing but thick mist obscuring their view. Reigai-Asa stood still and glanced around, trying to locate her enemy by picking up her reiatsu, which she successfully did. Using Flash Step, she moved towards her five o'clock with another dagger in her hand, and when she reached her target, the weapon transformed into her Zanpakutou which she thrust forward, finally hitting her target.

However, Reigai-Asa was not convinced that she had won. She may heard the sound of her enemy's flesh being pierced, as well as the smell of her blood spilled from her wounds, but she thought that this victory was too easy. And she knew that the original wouldn't be defeated so easily even though she was the most wounded one among them. With her free hand, she grabbed the dagger and it transformed into her sheathed Zanpakutou again. She then levitated it to her side and lightly hit one of its ends, causing it to spin before the speed gradually increased. "Hado #58 Tenran!" Using the same hand, she stopped the rotation by grabbing the hilt of her Zanpakutou, creating a widening tornado-like blast that blew away the mist and cleared up their surrounding.

When the Reigai was able to see clearly, she was stunned by the sight in front of her. The Zanpakutou didn't pierce any part of her torso, and instead, her real counterpart allowed it to stab through her left palm, causing blood to flow out tremendously with some staining the sleeve of her blue robe. The Reigai was very confused. Why would Asa do such a thing? But it didn't take long for the answer to reach her, because the moment Asa gripped the Zanpakutou and pulled back slightly to let her blood coat the blade more, she knew what she was up to; and this would be the result of the battle.