Heilige Pfeil and Kido flew across the battlefield, filling the world with thunderous crashes and explosions. Members on both sides screamed. In rage, in grief, in bloodlust, in pain, but things so far were pretty evenly matched as far as the Shinigami and Quincy went. A combined detachment of the Houses had met a large group of Shinigami and naturally come to blows. Johan floated at the back of the line, slowly approaching mid-air with his gun in one hand and his Seele Shneider in the other. With quick flicks of his wrist, Johan dispatched low-level Shinigami left and right with the greatest of ease. He didn't seem like a man wading through a battlefield, he seemed more like a man taking a leisurely stroll through the park. His gaze, however, was trained ever-forward as he saw a similar wake of devastation approaching him with intent.

War was an interesting character builder.

Somewhere still was a man yelling out and stumbling, floundering like a man in fire or lime. He was in neither, but the burn his body experienced in these last cherished moments was incredibly real. The battlefield was dim through the misty panes and thick green light of the night. Every murmur scream and whimper cut through the dark night air with horrifying precision, each registering with a new level of intensity as the battlefield became increasingly lively and more cluttered together. Ika saw the next one drowning in his own fluids, his face was marred with acid and his lungs weren't any better off. It was like a dream for a moment until he plunged forward, guttering, choking, begging for a swift departure from this world. As Ika struck the finishing blow he was stricken by the writhing white eyes, the hanging wound that was once his face resembled a devil sick of sin.

He could hear in every moment the blood gurgling forth from the froth-corrupted lungs of the soon to be a dead man. It was obscene as cancer, bitter as vile and there was an innocence that washed over the man's visage that only a dead man could hope to achieve. Those who saw things such as this would never seek to tell others desperate for glory to seek war. War was filth, war was an exercise in suppression and detachment. Thankfully, both of those skills had been long-since picked up by Ika along the way. He approached the Quincy across from him slowly, his eyes danced across the falling bodies of Shinigami whose only purpose in this affair appeared to be acting as fodder. Ika stepped over one of them, using what was left of the arrow lodged in his skull to light his cigarette. He took a drag, letting the smoke further dim the air in front of him as the Quincy immediately took notice. "I suppose one of us is going to have to stop the other at some point, better now than later eh?.."

Johan inclined his head towards the mean, a simple gesture full of weight. A greeting, an acknowledgement, a warning all rolled into one. "Ja, I suppose we should get this over with, hmmm?" The man spoke with a German accent, just enough of it to be noticeable. As the two spoke, the war and death around them seemed to fall away into nothing. Compared to these two titans of might, they were but peons. Lambs to the slaughter thrown into the meat grinder of war. Johan twirled his revolver on his finger with a great deal of ease while gesturing to himself with a Seele Schneider. "I suppose introductions are in order, ja? My name is Johan Dammerung."

With only the amount of warning that a man with a great deal of speed under their belt could see, Johan flicked his wrist up and popped off three Heilige Pfeil shots in Ika's direction then Hirenkyaku'd backwards about 50 feet.

Perhaps the most interesting part of war for men such as this was how quickly they could remove themselves from the battlefield. What was once a sea awash with blood and dying men had now become a venue for two. The screams that once filled the night air were now gone, long since drowned out by the tension of this new encounter. This was the part Ika enjoyed, feeling his blood begun to pump at a slightly different pace, feeling his mind begin to process each and every aspect of what he saw.. Combat such as this brought a level of focus and a high that he couldn't really get anywhere else in the world, it was uniquely reserved for moments such as this.

The Quincy introduced himself and Ika cast a lazy glare in his general direction, letting the smoke from his cigarette obscure his face from view. "I don't know how badly I needed to know the name of a dead-man but I'll return the honor, my name is Ika Mazi. Shame we have to meet in these circumstances, I'm sure in another time-"

As Ika was about to finish the sentence he saw three shots fired off in his direction, prompting him to Shunpo up then back down in order to avoid them as he stared forwards. "You know, it's not nice to interrupt a fellow soldier when he's giving what could be his last words, and now I'm gonna have to keep that in mind for the end of your own life. Melt away, Sansei Ikari." As Ika said this a thin coat of black armor covered his skin as his gauntlets shifted in their form. A lazy smirk was currently occupying Ika's face as he waited for the man to make a move. "I'm not chasing you, come fight me or stay there and sulk. Your choice."

Johan didn't even blink as the Shinigami, well, Ika, dodges his shots like they were nothing. Idly drawing a Seele Schneider with his left hand, Johan let out a thoughtfully noise as he pursed his lips together. His gaze tracked over the man, seeming to evaluate him before nodding. Definitely a threat, and no push-over either. At the mention of not chasing him around, Johan's lips curled into a slight smile that was almost an amused smirk. "No, I don't think I will. Nice armor by the way, it makes me feel-" As Johan spoke, his body was enveloped by silvery flames and blue light. A single silvery-blue wing sprouted from his back as his body was covered in what looked almost like plate armor, the kind of thing you'd imagine a paladin wearing. If it wasn't for the high-caliber revolver appearance of his bow, he'd definitely look the part.

"-Underdressed. Ahh, much better..." Johan rolled his shoulders as glowing blue lines crisscrossed his features, the telltale signs of Blut Vene. "Now then, dance for me, Shinigami." Johan snapped his gun up with lightning-quick reflexes, his gaze cool and focused as he popped off 5 shots in quick succession, twisting his wrist as he did so to spread them out in a line while swiftly creating a mirror 20 feet behind Ika in the trajectory of each.

Passive Abilities:

The Quincy didn't so much as blink when Ika evaded his attacks, almost as though they were used to test Ika's proficiency more so than to harm him. It made sense, the feeling out phase of a battle was slow but necessary in most instances and it appeared that it was already drawing to a close. The man began to draw a Seele Schneider with his off-hand, letting out an odd noise as he seemed to do his damnedest to keep a healthy lock on Ika's position. When Ika mentioned the Quincies options the boy seemingly shot back with a quick and easy refutation of his situation. Was he really going to make Ika sit here and dodge all fucking day? God these Quincies were so troublesome and-

Man what a fucking fit. So unlike most Quincy this was a man who possessed a certain level of flair, 'drip' as the youth of today might say. Ika's mouth pursed itself into a shit-eating grin as he observed his opponent's new visage, he threw a pair of finger's in his mouth and whistled with a coy and clearly sarcastic flair to his antics. "Gotta say, you certainly look the part Quincy and... dance you say?"

As Johan's gun snapped to attention Ika took note of the 5 shots popping off in quick succession. He did his best to bob and weave through them, yet as Ika Shunpo'd through one found its mark lodged in his right shoulder. A small grimace was all Ika could muster as another sliced his cheek open, and another arrow took his cigarette out, eviscerating it along with some of Ika's facial hair. In spite of this, Ika had avoided the worst damage he could've received and was now breathing down the neck of the Quincy in quite a literal sense as he used Shunpo to take his back. He swung wildly with his arm, in a sideways motion, letting the force of his gauntlet knock the man aside and damn near silly if the swat were to land. Wherever Quincy would end up, Ika would attempt to stay on top of him. "Fuck it, chase it is then."

Johan felt the Shinigami move moreso than he saw his position shift. Many of his peers spoke in hushes whispers about how it wasn't his bizarre fighting style that made him deadly - it was his sensory capabilities. His ability to feel Reishi flowing around him was so fine-tuned that he essentially had eyes in the back of his head. The mythical creature Argus wished it was as perceptive as he was. In any case, with nothing but a ripple of sensation over his skin, Johan acted pretty much instinctively and performed a Hirenkyaku backwards maybe a foot or two and it helped keep him from getting his blocked knocked pretty hard. Well, mostly. His evasion (coupled with the Shinigami's unorthodox use of fisticuffs) left his German shnoz in the path of the strike, getting broken sideways in the process.

Johan let out a quiet hiss of pain as his broken nose pulsed with veins of blue light. Blut Vene was something else he was excellent at - but even the ultimate defensive technique of the Quincy had it's limits. Johan didn't attempt to flee or create space as it were, Ika was obviously on par with him in terms of speed, perhaps even faster. To take any steps backwards, give any ground would be tantamount to suicide. Of course, this fight was far too close for comfort in Johan's humble opinion, but that wasn't the only reason he chose to swing his Seele Schenider with one hand in a tight and defensive arc at his opponent's left arm. Johan snapped his pistol to his hip, firing a Cero-level shot at practically point-blank range towards the Shinigami's stomach with a wicked grin.

Passive Abilities:

Active Techniques:

Well, one out of two wasn't bad. As the Quincy hissed in pain from Ika's fist impacting his schnoz, he was then greeted by flickers of blue lights radiating from every vein in this Quincy's body. Blut Vene was an interesting art, to put it mildly, and Ika was more than impressed with the fact that he was, for the first time in his life seeing it up close and personal. Nonetheless, Ika knew that he couldn't allow himself to be distracted as the man swung a Seele Schneider towards Ika's left arm. The collision was painful and impactful, but Ika's gauntlets were able to weather the blow. Unfortunately for Ika, that wasn't the only attack coming his way.

Ika noticed the pistol being leveraged towards his body well in advance of any forward movement from the projectile. Ika's hand moved at Shunpo speed, burying the gun in the dirt as it fired off. Ika's armor was enough to mitigate some damage, but the bullet had still found it's mark blowing through his calf and out the other side as Ika's face contorted in pain and irritation. Unfortunately for the Quincy, he had a grip and he wasn't keen on letting go of it.

A small smirk replaced the pained grimace that once marred Ika's face, and the blood spilled from the bullet immediately shot into the Quincies face towards his eyes. Ika's intent was to blind the man, and he pulled him forward with the gun into a lariat as soon as the acid had a chance to make its mark.

Provided this had worked, Ika's leg would buckle for a moment forcing him to release and Shunpo backward to regain his footing and composure. The wound was starting to regen, but fighting up close on one leg wasn't exactly a challenge he'd anticipated.

Here's to hoping Johan was blind now and Ika wouldn't have to worry about it.

Johan cried out in agony as Ika's blood splattered into his eyes and began chewing through his fucking eyeballs. The man's blood was acidic to this degree? Damn the Shinigami and their bio-engineering. Of course, he was fighting to keep a smirk off his face. He rocked his body back, tilting his head as he tapped into the pain in his eye sockets while he felt himself get pulled forward. He felt the Shinigami's arm, not just the way the ambient Reishi thrummed off of him ,but also how it clipped him in his already broken nose, sending fresh waves of agony through it and making his concentration quaver a bit. Johan was no stranger to pain, he had endured much of it to become such a high-level commander amongst the Quincy's forces.

Blood ran in rivulets down his lips and onto his chin, and he let out a pained cry while thrashing his Seele Schneider about in front of him for show while focusing on the feeling of the Reishi around him. Yes, Ika had moved backwards and seemed to be trying to compose himself as well... Johan definitely couldn't have that. With a harsh battle-cry, Johan pretended to fire blindly, 3 of his 5 shots going wide and two streaking past Ika by about a foot as Johan exerted an effort of will, forming mirrors in the arrows' flight paths so that the 5 shots would bounce off of the mirrors and be redirected right back at the Shinigami. Ika was in for quite the surprise.

Passive Abilities:

Active Techniques:

So Ika's acid into lariat combination had worked out roughly as he expected it to and fully intended to finish his job, unfortunately for him, the Quincy had managed to survive the onslaught and was seemingly more durable than Ika might've expected in the beginning. He expected the Quincy to be broken by now and yet, he wasn't at all. Sure, he was convulsing on the ground like a brat denied his binky but there was something seemingly intentional about his actions, they lacked the organic nature of a typical tantrum or so it seemed and what was he doing with...

Oh that made a LOT more sense.

The Quincy blind fired some arrows and Ika would Shunpo forwards to avoid them, thinning his body out by moving sideways as he prepared to strike. It was strange that a Quincy this fierce had missed his shot, he was blind but the aim of a high-level Quincy was the stuff of legends. There was apprehension, even as Ika's boot shot forward towards the prone Quincy's jaw. This seemed like a victory, at least until Ika felt the sudden piercing thud of an arrow piercing his back, and one more piercing his upper thigh. Ika's eyes grew wide as he Shunpo'd away, feeling the arrows work their way through his flesh until they touched bone. Ika's face contorted with pain, even as his Regenerative abilities went to work healing him as best they could. "Quincy, remind me what you said your name was?"