The battle began again, and this time Charlotte took the first strike again. Closing the gap, he unleashed a barrage of downward slashes. All talks about beauty were thrown out of the window as Charlotte reverted to the feral nature primal to every Hollow.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!" Charlotte growled with each slash.
Mila Rose used Charlotte's own style to go toe-to-toe against his feral attacks, her laughter growing louder with each clash. "You won't beat me like this."
Charlotte switched his grip to one hand and started throwing a mix of slashes and thrusts. He switched his style to a refined swordsman in a heartbeat. His swordplay threw her off the loop, allowing him to push her back. Overwhelming her momentarily made her full of openings.
He lunged for her heart. "Die with my sword of beauty!"
Mila Rose caught his sword between fingers, shaking her head. "I have fought better swordsmen."
All those spars with Visored to exhaustion hadn't improved her swordsmanship. She never intended to improve her sword in the first place as her fighting style relied on her instincts. However, those spars had thoroughly sharpened her intuition in fighting against different weapons and styles.
As Mila Rose let go of his sword, Charlotte attempted to distance himself with a back handspring, but Mila Rose pursued relentlessly. He barely ducked under a swing that would've taken his head off, the second of the day. She really wanted his head.
Unfortunately for him, Mila Rose's offense had just begun.
She swung down her broadsword with full force, forcing him to dodge in either direction.
Charlotte chose left.
A feral grin curled her lips as she stepped forward and rammed her shoulder into his chest, following up with a high kick to his 'beautiful' mug. Sword, fist, elbow, knee, leg — every part of her body was a weapon made to deliver brutal punishment to her enemies.
Charlotte tried to recover, attempting to maintain his composure even as blood trickled from his split lip. "You fight like a savage beast."
Mila Rose tilted her chin and shot him a fierce grin. "I'm a savage beast. I evolved from a lioness for god's sake."
Charlotte vanished with the signature resounding thump of Sonído. In that same instant, alarms echoed in her head. Knowing in her heart that he'd try something sneaky, she twisted her body around.
Her instincts were right on point.
Charlotte was behind her, his right leg in the middle of motion of kicking her in the butt. She grabbed his leg, pulled him closer, and headbutted his chin.
"Ouch-my beautiful face—"
Mila Rose followed up her dizzying attack with a sequence of hitting his weapon arm with the flat of her blade, knee to his ribs, elbow to his temple, and then whipped her leg in a low arc that swept his feet out from under him. The entire combo was precise and calculated to disarm him and knock him down while preventing him from properly defending or counterattacking.
"Ugh…" He raised his face and spat out a mouthful of blood-stained grains of sand. Red fluids streamed down his nostrils, which he wiped with his thumb. "You've fought a lot of battles. More than me, in fact."
She slid her Zanpakutō into its scabbard and extended him a hand. "You can't learn anything without making an effort — that's what my pride taught me."
"Your pride must be something to make you so arrogant."
A soft smile curled her lips as she thought about her pride. "They are all beautiful souls. Every one of them. I'll fight anyone to protect them."
Charlotte brushed her hand away before picking himself up and dusting his clothes. "This isn't the time to get sentimental. I haven't shown you my true beauty."
"Ah, finally using your Resurrección."
He held out his katana in front of him. "Glitter, Reina De Rosas (Queen of Roses)!"
A cloud of smoke came out of him. His blade glowed violet, and a large burst of violet Reiatsu covered him. When the smoke settled, Mila Rose saw Charlotte's released state — he was now dressed in a white crop top with wing-like shoulder pads and a short pink cape attached to the back. His white underwear had wings extending at the hips, and a flowing pink miniskirt.
The most eye-catching part was the replacement of his pubic hair with a pink heart outline with a smaller heart above it.
Charlotte placed his hands on his hips and proclaimed, "Behold the princess in her true glory. The most beautiful being in this universe."
"You'll be a popular villain in children's shows." She howled in laughter, clutching her sides. "What does your Resurrección do? Makes you shine and glitter?"
"Who are you calling a villain?! I'll break you in half, you gorilla!" Charlotte pointed a finger at Mila Rose. "You invaded Las Noches with your pride. You are the real villain!"
The accusation stopped Mila Rose in the middle of her hearty laughter. She unsheathed her sword and aimed it at him. "My mate killed Barragan. The throne has been ours ever since."
The atmosphere immediately grew cold, so did Charlotte's Reiatsu. His eyes glowed with murderous intent. "You said your mate… killed Lord Baraggan?"
"He did," Mila Rose said with a proud life of her chin. "I don't care if Barragan meant something to you. Barragan chose to hunt us down. My mate had to kill him."
"You'll pay for it. YOU WILL DIE FOR IT!!!"
All the empathy he had gained for Mila Rose disappeared, replaced with intense hatred. He was one of the few retainers completely loyal to Barragan. He was part of Espada, which was established under Barragan, for a long time.
He struck a dramatic pose that ended with him putting his hands in a heart shape. "Disappear with my Beautiful Charlotte Cuhlhourne's Final Holy Wonderful Pretty Super Magnum Sexy Sexy Glamorous Cero."
The heart glowed pink and fired an extremely wide, violet Cero. Flooding her legs with spiritual energy, she darted to her right. The extremely wide Cero blast caught her, surpassing the speed of her Sonido dash. Her sleeveless white top and shorts were charred, leaving her with a few burn marks on her body.
"This is only the beginning!" Charlotte roared at her. "You and your pride will suffer for killing Lord Barragan!"
***
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