Azoth and Cien stared each other down for what felt like an eternity. However, Cien made one slight movement, prompting Azoth to close the distance, using Sonido to sneak past Cien and grab Chad and move to Orihime's position.

Cien: *thinking* Her Sonido is impressive. Perhaps more so than Zommari's.

https://youtu.be/yAeaeIK-DMU

Azoth quickly made her way back to Cien, enveloping her hand in purple spiritual energy, landing a devastating punch directly to Cien's face.



The punch was so strong, the sound of Azoth's face making contact with Cien's jaw could be heard in the surrounding area. Of course the punch propelled the arrancar across the battlefield. Cien was dumbfounded.

Cien: *thinking* This... thing... Hollow or not, it can give Zaraki a run for its money. And she hasn't even used what I assume is her Zanpakuto.

Cien lifted his body off of the ground and immediately realized that his jaw was dislocated. With his medical knowledge and pain tolerance, Cien relocated his jaw before laughing.

Cien: Alright then "Azoth", you had my curiosity, now you have my attention!

Azoth: Is that so? Then allow me to enlighten you on my true strength!

Cien fired a Gran Rey Cero at Azoth as the beam made its way towards the hollow, Azoth simply raised her staff-shaped zanpakuto.

Azoth: Decompose.

The Gran Rey Cero approaching Azoth simply faded away before it could make contact with her.

Cien: *thinking* I see... Her body heavily resembles that of a Homunculus but her weapon acts like a philosopher's stone, allowing her to perform techniques and abilities similar to the practices of alchemy.

Azoth then started to form a Gran Rey Cero of her own.

Azoth: Recompose.

A Gran Rey Cero, the same color as Cien's, flew directly at him, making direct contact.

Azoth: How do you like the power of my zanpakuto, Magnum Opus? My power is unrivalled and my knowledge is ever growing! The possibilities that I can create are endless! Observe!

Azoth slammed her staff into the ground as it glowed. The surrounding sands in Hueco Mundo then start to rise and move towards Cien. The sand then turned into metal blades, stabbing into Cien.

Cien: Like a true alchemist... you transmuted the sand and changed its element.

Azoth: I'm glad you noticed. However, this is far from my only trick.

Calcination

Cien's eyes widen.

Cien: You're insane! You'll also catch lead poisoning from this trick of yours!

Azoth: An inaccurate claim. My body is similar to that of a homunculus. I have no need for air.

Azoth used Calcination to melt the metal blades now stuck in Cien's body. However, just as Azoth did that, her body started to disappear.

Azoth: I see... My first official appearance is coming to an abrupt end. This was their first successful attempt after all, it's only right it was only as quick as a measly minute...

.

.

.

.

IF THAT'S THE CASE, MY LAST EXPERIMENT WILL BE GRAND!



Azoth used her staff one last time to turn the now melting blades inside Cien into gold.

Azoth: Be thankful to see a true alchemist achieve what the others have tried to do after centuries of research! The creation of gold from a lowly substance like lead!

Cien: So you intend to encase me in gold to keep me sealed, is that it? Do you believe you have the spiritual energy to spare such a feat? More and more of your body is disappearing as you perform the transmutation!

Cien was right, so far, only half of Cien's body was encased in gold while Azoth's body rapidly disappeared.

Azoth turned towards (Y/N) and Wiz before completely disappearing.

Azoth: I do hope my first performance was a satisfactory one...

And with that Azoth completely disappeared.

Cien: A measly minute was all she could've mustered...

Cien then turned towards (Y/N) and Wiz.

Cien: Your one chance at killing me failed! I have to admit, she was a dangerous one, but you both only gave her enough energy to stay in this world for one minute! You should know that alchemy is all about the Law of Equivalent Exchange! Had you been prepare to sacrifice all of your energy, she would've stayed around long enough to get the job done! Now look at you! You all have no more cards up your sleeves! "Are you sure about that?"

Standing, albeit, stumbling, was Soi-Fon. She had activated both Shunko and Jakuhō Raikōben. Similar to her fight with baraggan, Soi-Fon had activated her Bankai for a second time in one day.

Soi-Fon, with the use of Shunko disappeared in an instant making her way into the air above Cien and fired Jakuhō Raikōben.

Cien: You shouldn't have done th-

Cien immediately started to cough up blood. He also struggled to breathe due to Azoth's previous Calcination not only burning the metal but also burning the gasses in the air, leaving only oxygen. And because half of his body was now encased in gold, he didn't have enough time to build up the strength needed to break out of the

Cien: *thinking* with only oxygen in the area, the explosion will be far worse than it was originally...

(Y/N) noticed right away that Soi-Fon was in danger of getting caught in her own blast because of the pure oxygen in the area. (Y/N) had no time to warn Soi-Fon and instead released his resurreccion and entered Bankai seamlessly as he flew towards Soi-Fon. The moment it got into Soi-Fon's vicinity, the missile made contact with Cien, resulting in an explosion that practically created a crater and pillar of flame. The explosion produced so much heat that the sand around them was hot enough to transform into glass.

(Y/N) caught Soi-Fon mid air and protected her from the explosion as they were caught in the blast radius. In a last minute desperate attempt of protecting the two of them, (Y/N) partially summoned Baraggan's hand again, this time in resurreccion form. (Y/N) then tried to recreate the veil of Respira that Baraggan coated himself with to reduce the damage of Soi-Fon's Jakuhō Raikōben in their original fight.

(Y/N) had to be careful pulling off this technique or he would risk accidentally using Respira on Soi-Fon herself. Time felt frozen for (Y/N) as he envisioned himself using just a small bit of Respira around himself and Soi-Fon and attempting to activate the ability.

(Y/N) and Soi-Fon finally made contact with the explosion and were sent hurtling almost out of sight from the rest of the group. If that wasn't bad enough, (Y/N) took the full brunt of the crash landing. The entire experience left (Y/N) dazed for a bit. The moment (Y/N) snapped back to reality, he got up and checked to see if Soi-Fon was still conscious.

(Y/N) shook Soi-Fon's body gently.

(Y/N): Hey, Soi-Fon... stay with me...

It took a few tries but eventually Soi-Fon started to cough as she started to regain consciousness.

Soi-Fon: Did... Did I get him?

(Y/N) swiftly pulled Soi-Fon in for a hug.

(Y/N): Yeah... you did... If I knew you were pulling off that crazy stunt I would've told you the dangers of it.

Soi-Fon: I wasn't expecting the explosion to be as big as it was...

(Y/N): Azoth took most of the gasses out of the immediate area in order to suffocate and seal Cien. Calcination makes things much easier to combust because of oxidation. The more oxygen in the area, the faster and hotter something burns.

(Y/N) released Soi-Fon from the hug before he stumbled to his feet. Soi-Fon then sensed something... Cien's spiritual pressure was still present although feint.

Soi-Fon: He's still alive...

(Y/N): Not for long... He's probably holding on with sheer willpower at this point.

Further into the battlefield Cien was back on his feet. However, Cien had a huge hole in his abdomen from the explosion. Cien was definitely on his last leg.

Cien: I can't... die without taking one of you with me...

Cien then looked towards Roka. Roka returned the glare with a pitiful look.

Cien: Why are you looking at me like that?

Roka: If you were Szayelaporro, you would have realized my true objective. That's why.

Cien: Wh-What?

Cien then felt a mass amount of reishi coming from Roka.

Cien: What? How can this be?! You've condensed Reishi from all over Hueco Mundo?! Is that Lord Aizen's technique?! That means data on Lord Aizen after he fused with the Hogyoku must have existed somewhere! Does that mean your threads reached all the way to the prison of the Soul Society?!

Roka: You are aware that my threads have been in the World of the Living as well, right?

Cien: What?

Roka: The power I've replicated is the power that stopped Aizen.

Just then, Roka started to weave threads with the power she took from Hueco Mundo.

Cien: What is this?

*thinking* A shinigami's power? No, a Hollow's? Which is it?

After observing the power one last time, fear for the first time since becoming "perfect", started to enter Cien's psyche.

Cien: Stop it. If you use that power, you won't walk away unharmed either, Roka Paramia!

Roka: I am well aware of that fact.

As (Y/N) and Soi-Fon limped their way back to the battlefield, (Y/N) saw Roka finish her preparations for her final attack.

(Y/N): I still can't believe it... She actually recreated it...

Soi-Fon: What... What is that?

(Y/N) saw the threads that Roka stitched together. It took the form of something (Y/N) remembered all too well with his battle with Aizen.

(Y/N): That's the attack that defeated Aizen... The one that caused Ichigo to lose his Shinigami powers... Mugetsu.

(Y/N) still wasn't sure how Roka was even able to reproduce that ability but she managed to pull it off somehow. The bundle of threads rose its makeshift reishi sword similar to Ichigo. And then swung its blade, creating the same familiar black veil of energy. The attack made contact with Cien as it silently slipped through him.

Cien: What is this place? It smells like death. This nostalgic scent of a fresh death. But what was it? What is it? Just what have I left behind somewhere?

...

...

...

Cien: That's right, I still haven't done what I swore to do. I haven't kept my first promise I made since I was born. I need to get back there right away. Back to where that Shinigami is. Back to that sweet struggle to kill each other. That dance drenched in the smell of death.

Out of sheer willpower Cien was still somehow breathing but he was practically a mangled corpse. (Y/N) limped towards his body, wrapping his scythe around his neck and finally ending the fight by cutting his head off.

(Y/N): It's finally over...

(End Song)

(Y/N), once again, felt the exhaustion of using a lot of spiritual energy. Between the multiple kido skills, partial summons and the massive amount of energy that he used to muster a minute of Homúnculo Parca, (Y/N) wasn't sure how he was going to face off against Azashiro. Then there was the issue of everyone who got injured in the fight. He'd have to leave their injuries to Orihime. But (Y/N) wasn't sure how much people Orihime could realistically heal. (Y/N) looked over to Orihime's position and realized she had use her powers to create a shield for her, Chad and Wiz. At the very least she was able to protect them.

(Y/N) then looked for the other arrancars. Most of them were moved further away during Cien's fight with Azoth. Roka who was now feeling the after effects of using Mugetsu, was being healed by Orihime. He wasn't sure how much healing Roka would need but it would be much more than most people on the battlefield.

(Y/N): We're in a really bad spot... How do we get everyone medical help...?

Almost as if his prayers were being answered, a Garganta opened up, as he saw a familiar Captain walk out of it. Following behind her was multiple Shinigamis.

(Y/N): Captain Unohana?

Unohana: Oh, it seems we came right on time. Are you hurt, (Y/N)? Captain Soi-Fon?

To be continued

Prepare for another "Science lesson with Based99" authors note. Seat down everyone.

As promised, here's some more interesting facts that went into the creation of Azoth that will explain her powers a lot more for people who don't know anything about alchemy (or haven't seen Full Metal Alchemist for the basics)

-As stated before, (Y/N) and Wiz main inspiration was to create both Homunculus and Alchemist by combine both worlds into one. This is even confirmed by Cien, as Azoth herself is a Homunculus while her Zanpakuto allows her to transmute things, essentially meaning her Zanpakuto is a Philosopher's stone. However all of Azoth's Physical feats are due to her Homunculus-like physique. This even confirmed by Azoth herself who claims she has no need to breathe.

-Azoth's zanpakuto is named Magnum Opus, which is in reference to the term used for the process in working towards the Philosopher's Stone. The word Magnum Opus itself in modern times means "a work of art, music, or literature that is regarded as the most important or best work that an artist, , or writer has produced." Azoth herself believes her power is the best thing to ever exist.

-The process of Magnum Opus is broken down into four steps.

1. Nigredo - also known as Decomposition

2. Albedo - also known as Recomposition

3.Citrinitas - which stood for the "awakening"

4. Rubedo - which signified the completion of the Magnum Opus.

As you can tell, Azoth used Decomposition and Recomposition in her fight by decomposing Cien's Gran Rey Cero and recomposing it to shot it back at him. There's more ways to use this technique but the easiest way to interpret these two steps is that, decomposition breaks something down and recomposition rebuilds it in the same or alternate form.

-Another thing that Azoth used was Calcination. Calcination by definition is "the heating of solids to a high temperature for the purpose of removing volatile substances, oxidizing a portion of mass, or rendering them friable". When metals are melted they often lead to the creation of lead. One of the main goals of alchemy was to be able to transform lead into gold. Which is why she later started to encase Cien in gold before she faded away.

Also, lead is very poisonous to living beings, as lead entering the body leads to lead poisoning. Calcination also burns the gasses in the air, leaving only oxygen. As explained earlier in the chapter, putting something combustable in an area with pure oxygen will burn hotter and faster. Also, oxygen is harmful to breathe in by itself. Doing so can cause internal organs to collapse.

And finally, Azoth's short summoning time is in reference to the Law of Equivalent Exchange. The law of equivalent exchange in alchemy means that something cannot come from nothing. In order to obtain a particular something, something else of equivalent value must be given in exchange or lost. Essentially, if you want to gain something, you must give something in return. Essentially, if (Y/N) and Wiz wants Azoth to stay summoned much longer, they have to sacrifice more spiritual energy to extend her timer. Obviously if Azoth is summoned and there's no fight happening, then she isn't expending spiritual energy, which means she'll technically be summoned for as long as she wants.

And that's all for my Azoth rambling. Now let's get to the next elephant in the room.

Roka using Mugetsu. Yes this is a thing she did in the Light novel. Now as explain in earlier chapters, Not all of Roka's replications are perfect. For example, she can't use attacks like Barragan's Senescencia with her threads alone.

But yeah, we're close to the end of the arc. Hope yall been enjoying it.