54 Echoes of Honor: Nelliel and Byakuya's Clash (2)

The skies above Rukongai continued to be stained with the blinding lights of battle. Byakuya, sensing the increasing intensity of Nelliel's power, knew he had to push his Bankai to its limits.

With determination in his eyes, he declared, "Senkei!", and suddenly the petals of his Bankai converged to form multiple swords around Nelliel, aiming to trap her in a cage of blades.

Nelliel glanced at the surrounding swords, noting the intent in Byakuya's eyes, "You aim to confine me...", She noted calmly, her voice echoing through the blades, "But I am not so easily trapped."

As Byakuya prepared to strike with "Ikka Senjinka," turning all the Senkei blades into one potent strike, Nelliel revealed her newfound powers.

The moon's glow intensified around her, her spiritual energy radiating with an ethereal luminescence. This was her Segunda Etapa, the amalgamation of the moon and stars.

"Cielo Lanza!", Nelliel whispered, her lance now brimming with energy mirroring the vastness of a spiraling galaxy. She parried Byakuya's concentrated attack, the sound echoing like a clash between celestial bodies.

Byakuya, slightly taken aback, continued his assault, forming a protective barrier around him. "Gokei...", He commanded, enveloping Nelliel in a spherical cage of blades, attempting to crush her with the sheer force of his Bankai.

However, as the blades closed in, Nelliel invoked, "Guardián de la Luz!", And a starlit shield repelled the blades outward. As they broke through, the sky was showered in shimmering particles resembling the very cosmos.

"Your strength has indeed increased!", Byakuya commented, though not one to give praise easily, his acknowledgment was clear.

Nelliel nodded, "As has yours, Shinigami. But the battle is far from over." She then raised her lance, and the tip sparkled with a fury resembling the brightest of stars, "Cero Estrella!", She announced, releasing a devastating beam toward Byakuya.

Byakuya, forced to defend, invoked, "Shukei Hakuteiken.", His entire being was enveloped in a concentrated aura of his Bankai, forming large white wings and a halo, resembling a luminous bird of prey.

The colliding energies were formidable, producing a shockwave that reshaped the very terrain beneath them.

But Nelliel wasn't done. Sensing the weight of Byakuya's energy, she channeled the serenity of the moon, "Curación Lunar!", She intoned, and a healing aura enveloped her. The wounds she had sustained began to heal, and her energy was replenished.

Byakuya, seeing the restoration of her vitality, knew he had to resort to more drastic measures. He began chanting, his voice echoing with a grave intensity, "Break the chains of Raijin, and unleash your wrath... Hadō #96: Raijin's Fury!"

A storm of electricity surged around Byakuya's hand, manifesting into a massive lightning dragon that lunged toward Nelliel. The raw power of this Kido, combined with Byakuya's desperation, made it devastatingly potent.

Yet, the moonlit warrior was not to be outdone. Using her "Gravedad Lunar," Nelliel manipulated the gravity around her, bending the trajectory of the lightning dragon, allowing her just enough time to brace herself against the impending attack.

The electricity scorched her armor, and for a moment, both warriors seemed to stand still in time, engulfed in smoke and raw energy.

As the dust settled, a heavily breathing Nelliel stood, her armor charred, but her spirit unbroken. Byakuya, on the other hand, looked visibly strained from invoking such a formidable Kido.

"You wield powers I've never seen, yet you're unfamiliar with them, probably only just used them for the first time right now in a battle, although probably not conceiving them on the spot. Just like my last Kido...",

Byakuya rasped a rare admission of vulnerability, "If you had them mastered now, then I'd have been defeated already. You have some real natural fascinating power and mystique about your Reiryoku seeing how it is related to the vast galaxy..."

Nelliel sighed, her celestial aura dimming slightly, "Leader's gift is a double-edged sword. Power at the cost of instability. But I won't let that be my downfall. I will control that power."

Byakuya readied himself, his reiatsu flaring, "Then let us continue until one of us can no longer stand."

Both warriors, bearing the scars of their celestial clash, braced themselves for the next round of their epic confrontation, each respecting the other's resolve and might more.

However, just then the entire realm quaked, shifting the focus of every being within it. The skyline was ablaze with the phenomenal clash of powers. The radiant energy of Yamamoto and the Zero Squad leader battled against the chaotic maelstrom that Aizen and Esteban wielded.

Nelliel's gaze shifted, her eyes widening as they traced the destructive trail leading to the epicenter of the clash. Memories of their meeting in Hueco Mundo there flashed in her mind.

Nelliel had felt a strange draw to Esteban, an enigma amongst the Arrancar. His energy was always chaotic, wild, but it was different now—it was as though that raw chaos had been refined, controlled, and channeled into something even more formidable, something higher.

His transformation was astounding. He looked like he was no longer an Arrancar, but some kind of an evolved being, perhaps like a God. Even his enemy looked equally terrifying but Esteban faced him head-on and matched him in the residual spiritual energy emitted.

Nelliel's heart raced, and a maelstrom of emotions surged within. Was it a concern? Admiration? Or perhaps lingering affection? Esteban's newfound might reminded her of their unresolved tensions and the unsaid words.

As she felt the overwhelming energies from the distant battle, she closed her eyes for a moment, her thoughts a silent prayer, 'Esteban, may you find your path amidst this chaos, and may our destinies intertwine once more.'

Byakuya, sensing the shift in Nelliel's focus, followed her gaze up to the apocalyptic confrontation in the distance. His usually impassive face betrayed a hint of concern, "It seems the fate of the realms might be decided elsewhere today...", He said, his tone grave.

However, the two warriors readied themselves once more. Their battle, though possibly overshadowed by the monumental clash in the distance, held importance in its own right.