Cordelia’s mistake of resigning Taro to a mere side thought cost her dearly in the form of her water advantage being taken from her in an instant. The way she moves currently, this frenzied close range assault tells Taro that this lot must have been relying heavily on ranged based attacks to fight her. With one Captain and a seated member dead by her hands she must surely assume all Shinigami to be weak ranged based fighters, that they are all fragile. It is an interesting assumption to make if that was the one she was making, but it matters very little to Taro Date, in fact with her coming in close she has turned this from a battle into a routine Hollow cleansing.
What of his thoughts on the attack she launched on the other Shinigami? Non-existent. They have their own autonomy, they are soldiers of the Gotei Thirteen, if they cannot fend for themselves and need a Captain to save them at every turn then they are better off dead. His only concern, his only focus is removing this enemy from their home, no more, no less. If he purges the root cause of the problem then all other issues cease to be. She will never distract him by attacking the others, Taro would run through his own mother if it meant being able to stab through this Arrancar as well. Such is the way of things when someone embodies protection of the Soul Society above all else. Now he will show it.
Ruthless Horror
Cordelia launches herself at Taro but not before trying to secure him in place with a tendril around his leg that shoots from the depths of his ink. He wasn’t planning on moving, but it is a choice he will make of his own volition, not one aided by Hollow scum. That tendril slips down his leg and is rapidly pulled off and down into the ink, his Shihakushou is torn and there is some bruising on his leg, a testament to how tightly bound the tendril was. But even if there is a bruise he can still move without limping, it would take the severance of that leg to cause a mobility issue for this Captain. Taro holds up his Zanpakuto to block the jagged arc of energy launched by the Kuchiki, however it is blocked in a way that would only protect himself and not Cordelia, though she has problems of her own…
She uses Chokasoku to accelerate her speed to slam into his gut head first, his face is covered in shadow, his reaction to this visceral attack is unknown. They slam into a wall, all is dust and debris around them for a few moments but with the splashing of ink the dust doesn’t linger for long. Her hand lunges forward and into his core and she feels her hand go numb soon after. Her body shifts against its will with the sound of metal clashing with metal. When all has become clear she has found herself in the one place no one would wish themselves to be, in the vice-like grip of Taro’s hand. Above all things Taro Date excels in close quarters combat, so much so that he has opted to use a series of throws and grabs as the foundation of his Hakuda. Cordelia couldn’t have known this because if she did she would have kept her distance from him.
That shift in her body was the feeling of her cold hand being removed from the core of his body. The hand had gone cold from the immediate loss of blood flow, a grip so strong it forced her hand to remain open, unable to do any further damage once it was latched onto. What of the Chokasoku and the impaling, shouldn’t he be ready to topple over? No, as stated Taro excels in close quarters combat, he knows he will trade blows which is why his Reiryoku reinforces his bodily durability and physical strength. The clashing of metal? The sound of him parrying her golden barb with his own Zanpakuto, did she think he would not use it to defend or counter her? This parry was made easier due to the fact that he forced her to move and twist away from him. Then what came next would be a sound and act that all Shinigami in ear shot will live with for the rest of their lives…
There is a gigantic splash in the ink, blood is barely visible as it trails downward, following the path of Cordelia. Was this splash the thing they would remember? No it is what happened before, the splash merely snapped them out of a trance. Words cannot describe the sound of a humanoid arm being forcefully ripped out of its shoulder socket, tearing of muscle, snapping of tendons, and ripping of flesh. There is no sound effect that can recreate such a horrid sound, no onomatopoeia to describe it either. This alone isn’t enough to lock everyone in a trance, no what aided it was the face of how it was done. Wide eyed, bulging veins in his arm and face, an uncanny look of fury and anger etched on his face, Taro swings her downward with full force, completely severing the arm that dared to invade his torso. The splash into the ink caused this instantaneous moment of barbarity to cease and all that remained was Captain Date, covered in ink, holding the severed arm of the Arrancar. Her bold strategy to blitz him with barbaric fury was countered by his own barbarism.
He drops below the waves of the ink, sinking down, down, and down… He floats down past Cordelia who may be in a form of shock due to the sudden and brutal removal of her arm, something that she may have never experienced, not even at the hands of another Hollow. By this point she should realize that she is not fighting a Shinigami, she is fighting a real, true to life, monster. Taro lets go of her arm and the moment it is set free it is lost to the darkness of the ink. He floats below her, a smile on his face, if she wishes for revenge, then fine she can make an attempt. But down here, in the sea of Ink, she is an unwelcomed guest and also prey to a much larger aquatic beast. If her eyes could focus she would be able to see it, the monstrosity beneath the waves that has been consuming her Arrancar army that she let loose in the Northwest…
Kurogane
As Taro said, he will attack from below while the others attack from above. Cordelia is now below, does she know how far down she has drifted into the sea of ink? Does she possess the mental capacity to snap herself out of shock and swim to the surface? She will have to think very quickly on this topic or let instincts guide her as the leviathan raises its head and looks at her, opening its black maw to reveal white Reiryoku coalescing within it and one of the discs on Taro’s blade go dark. It unleashes a massive beam of Reiryoku from its maw, enough to encapsulate and vaporize Cordelia in one fell swoop. The ink on the surface begins to rumble before the massive white beam rockets into the sky all the way until it hits the soul membrane that surrounds the Gotei Thirteen and is vaporized by said membrane.
In Shikai Kurogane’s fish drift around, seemingly aimless. While they can attack and be used as platforms for Taro they are actually prepping for his Bankai. Consuming ambient Reiatsu to not only affect how much the ocean of ink will spread but also how many times it can fire these concentrated beams of Reiryoku. The amount of Reiryoku Taro possesses does not affect the scale of his Bankai in the slightest, but rather how much energy his foes and allies expend while fighting him or around him. This is why he did not act right away, it was to give Kurogane time to feed. The results paid off well as he can now fight with his Bankai at full power.
Did Cordelia survive the beam of Reiryoku or was she forced back to the surface only to prolong her inevitable death? Either way she will be doing so without an arm and should she regenerate it, Taro will more than likely take advantage of it. Then an announcement came through, one that put a horrifying look of joy on the face of this monster.
"The Espada have been cut off from their access to the Soul King parts, but this is only temporary, and the enemy lost use of Garganta as long as the 12th division stands, so please make this count for all we have lost!"
Standing on the head of the massive leviathan rises Taro, holding his face and laughing hysterically at the news he just got.
”HAHAHA! Such fast and timely work by one of Captain Harai’s people, I’d expect no less! If you survived, you moon howling wretch, know that you are locked in here with us. I shall pull your body apart piece by piece until there is nothing left of you…”
This has become an instance of who is the real monster, Cordelia or Taro?
