Gabriel would sonido backwards at an angle, chancing the scrape from the cero in the process. From this he would keep his attention on the swarm that seemed to merge from the spider. He would follow the man by feel, but the swarm as a bit more concerning to him. The scuff from the cero was of little annoyance if anything else, something more of an itch than an actual pain. Keeping his guard up, Gabriel would continue to examine the swarm as it drew closer, readying himself if it came after him.

Moves Used:

The cero was canceled as the Arrancar would apparently call Zanmato's quasi-bluff, choosing to use his sonido despite the danger. That was fine to the Bount however, as he was in no particular rush to strike his opponent. He could literally continue this battle all day if need be. The Bound would move through the air, charging his opponent. The swarm, which was 5m³ and moving as fast as Zanmato himself, was also charging but coming from the opposing direction. When he reached the Arrancar, Zanmato would attempt to bring his sword down from the Arrancar's right side in a slash towards the opposite hip. This would only be be the distraction however, as the swarm was rushing towards the Arrancar's theoretically unguarded backside.

Gabriel would step forward, bringing his blade up to block the striking one with the flat side of his own. From this he would continue pushing the blade down the edge of the others, aiming to cut the mans fingers. In the same instance he would charge a cero in his free hand, which was presently around his stomach and aimed at the swarm. If the other pulled back, he would press forward, and if the other tried to block, he would still press forward. The cero would fire regardless of anything, just a way to try and keep the swam from getting to him.

Moves used:

The sword would be caught on the guard of Zanmato's sword, leaving the Blood Lord's fingers quite intact. This occurred in the instant before Zanmato would apply another Dosen, disappearing and reappearing in front of his swarm. Holding his hand up again, he would absorb the Cero and his body would be pulled into the collection of dark locust-like creatures. From within the swarm, he would direct its movements, with the collection gathering close to his body. Moving back towards the Arrancar, Zanmato would bring his sword back before thrusting it directly forward. If Gabriel attempted to dodge, then he would bring his free hand up and attempt a point-blank Cero against his opponent.

Moves Used:

Gabriel slid back as the man thrust his blade forwards, narrowly escaping the intrusive point. From this he would bring his sword up to block the oncoming cero, watching it go to either side of him as his blade split it down the middle. He was growing tired of the constant cero's being fired through out this struggle, but as was the custom for battle, he had no room to complain. There was something about the swarm that made him uneasy, but he wouldn't give it another thought as he forced the cero in two, standing with his blade in front of him.

Bringing his sword back, Zanmato would attempt to bring the blade directly across his opponent's frame with both of his hands powering the strike.  His goal at the moment would be to initiate another deadlock with the Espada, to hold him there while the Locusts surged forward from his body to attempt to cover Gabriel's own.  The swarm's bites were not fatal, and would not likely even cause the Arrancar any physical damage.  At this point, the Bount was simply toying with the Arrancar, testing out his own powers while he waited for his opponent to release his actual abilities.  "Hey!  When do I get to rejoin this fight?"  Giftspinne whined from beneath the scene.  Without answering, Zanmato simply smiled to himself.  How interesting that the one of them that had the predatory streak was the one sitting this battle out.  "Tell you what, make another sword and you can rejoin the fight."  The Blood Lord yelled down to his Doll while the swarm was either covering the Arrancar or at this point pursuing him, attempting to drag him into itself. On the ground, Giftspinne produced another handle from its bulb, making a sound akin to a long-suffering sigh.

The two words immediately struck a chord, even as Zanmato himself struck an object that appeared to be reminiscent to a coffin.  Even after the coffin blocked his blade, the object, of which there were many similar, began to scatter about in a circular formation.  Without waiting to see what would occur afterwards, the Bount fell down to the Great Wall, where Giftspinne waited with what could be seen to be a rather serious expression.  There was no need for verbal communication, as both Bount and Doll could feel the fact that the reiatsu of the Arrancar was changing, heralding the transformation that occurred with its released state.  Placing a hand along Giftspinne's body just as the darkness was beginning to close around him, Zanmato said to his Doll:  "Venite, Asterion.  Transfiguro."  

That said, the spider appeared to 'melt' into a purely shadow-based form before sliding along Zanmato's body.  The weapon that was forming along its bulb also became of this substance, as well as the weapon in Zanmato's hand, which melted and began to slide along his arm.  Eventually, the Blood Lord's entire body aside from the top of his head was covered in shadow-based liquid.  Looking back at the Arrancar before the darkness began to cover his eyes, it was revealed that the Bount's eyes had darkened so that his sclera were as black as his pupils.  His irises however, were bright silver, forming a piercing gaze that shown bright in the darkness before being covered in the blackness of the Espada's resurrecion.  The shadow-liquid then began to harden at certain points, with more being clumped along the Bount's hands and feet, then his forearms and and ankles.  Then it kept venturing higher and higher, forming a clump along his left shoulder before venturing to his sides, torso, and neck.  The shadows covering the 'clumps' of darkness then withdrew, revealing that there was chitinous armor underneath.  The darkness also partially solidified along areas that were not armored, but only to a web-like consistency reminiscent of silk that covered areas that were unarmored.  

Not doubting that the Espada could still see and hear him even in this sphere of darkness, the Bount turned his gaze to the point wherein he had last seen Gabriel.  "I apologize in advance, Gabriel Zeil."  Though there was armoring covering his mouth, Zanmato's voice could be heard rather clearly, as though it were non-existent.  Another voice could be heard as well, however, speaking simultaneously with the Bount and giving his voice an almost perfect double-tone.  Giftspinne's tones were echoing in Zanmato's voice, and if the Arrancar looked closely, he would see that there was a fanged mouth along the armor on the Blood Lord's shoulder.  This mouth spoke when Zanmato did, giving an answer to where the second voice was coming from.  "When I assume this form, some of Giftspinne's persona leaks into mine for reasons unknown.  Beyond that, I'm afraid that I was not entirely honest before."  Placing a hand along his side as though drawing a sword, Zanmato formed a katana into that hand and held it at the ready even as a thick reiatsu was gathering in his left hand.  "My name is not actually Zanmato; that name is an alias."  Placing his left hand at chest level, the Blood Lord placed the katana so that its point was facing the ground on his right side.  "My true name, my birth name, is Xanthus Revenir.  Try to recall it if you survive.  Now then, let's resume our battle from where we left off, shall we, Gabriel Zeil?"  The Blood Lord's piercing silver gaze began to search the darkness, and true to what Zanmato had said, though his expression was calm it was also partly the expression that his Doll always wore: that of a predator seeking prey.

Armor Appearance (More Chitinous, Less Metallic):

Moves Used:

There were no words for what he saw, just that it left him with a feeling of his skin crawling. The transformation of the other was odd to him, something of a spectacle. Although it left him with such a feeling, he would not allow it to shake him. Keeping his breathing soft and low, he would rush forwards towards the other, his blade at the ready. He would open two of the coffins lids as he got closer, having them slam shut when he was withing striking range of the other. As they slammed, it would create an echo loud enough to drown out any other noises within his darkness, and he would swing his blade horizontally, aiming for just above the others right hip.

Moves Used:

Without moving for the moment, the Blood Lord would momentarily become covered by darkness, the manifestation of his reiatsu which was flecked with silver.  This reiatsu coating would seem to pulse for a moment before expanding outward in a massive swarm of locusts that bore similarities with those that were on the field beforehand.  The swarm would be much more thick than the last, and would be moving about around the Blood Lord similarly to a small tornado.  If the Primera continued with his current action, he would come into contact with these 'locusts' and would find that their 'flesh' was similar to the armor surrounded Xanthus.  His blade would be held back and buffeted about as though he had attempted to swing against intense winds, never reaching the Blood Lord himself.  In addition, this swarm was much more physical than the previous, and would cause physical pain should he come into contact with it.  "Darkness?  How quaint."  Xanthus would state from within the massive swarm.

Moves Used:

Gabriel would stop short of the swarm, standing a few yards away. There was a soft 'tch' from him as he stood, know full well that it wouldn't do any good to get close to the man. He would stand and wait for the other to make a move, irritated that he had to wait for the man.

Even with his reiatsu senses being significantly dulled, Xanthus could at least tell that Gabriel was still directly in front of somewhere. Being that he had not yet felt the cold kiss of steel, the Blood Lord was able to operate under the assumption that the Primera had found himself at a stopping point before the churning swarms. That being noted, he pointed forward and half of the churning mass bolted forward going at a speed that surpassed that which Xanthus himself had been moving previously to entering this new form. Being 5m³, the swarm was rather massive and thus had no need of pinpoint accuracy. Even standing at a few yards away, Gabriel would need to think extremely quickly if he was to avoid the churning mass.

A cero would be fired at the charging swarm, and in the blink of an eye his coffins would be around him, the darkness vanishing instantly. They would form a wall in front of him as he would sonido backwards, his wall of coffins as added protection from the swarm if it made it past the cero. He would hold his blade in front of himself, keeping a careful eye on the man.

The swarm would devour the cero and continue to move towards the Espada, though at a hand gesture from Xanthus the swarm would proceed to move at only a crawl. The cero would appear to simply dissipate within the confines of the mass of insects, which would crash slowly into the wall of coffins. Once there, it would begin to crawl over and around it, as well as simply exploiting the tiny spaces in between the objects. From where he stood, the Blood Lord simply stuck his sword into the ground and looked on with a sinister and confident smile. After raising his right hand slowly, Xanthus would snap once, a clear sound that spread swiftly. At that, the swarm would continue forward at a pace that would almost seem to be a blur to the Primera Espada, rushing forward to overtake him and draw him into the churning depths.

The instant the swarm would get close, his coffins would open, detaching from one another as they rotated around him in a 360 degree sphere. Each coffin would be catching most, if not all of the swarm within them, and once they had done so, they would close. Being the the coffins were near indestructible, the bugs would be trapped within his coffins.

From within the other swarm, the sound of clapping would echo at a slow pace, a mocking applause for the Espada and his apparent cleverness. The swarm would momentarily cease churning and open, revealing Xanthus as the obvious source of the clapping sound. Though his mouth could not be seen, it would be obvious from looking into his eyes that he was smiling underneath the armor. "Impressive, Espada. Though I can't speak much for your power or speed, you are clearly in your ranking for your ability to think on your feet. Though I must wonder, what else can those coffins do? I would be surprised to learn that they are only used for trapping and making a useless darkness."

Moves Used:

The Bount would snap the fingers on his left hand, dismissing the swarm that was hovering around him and presumably the one that found itself trapped piecemeal inside the coffins.  In his strange eyes, amusement was still readable, though now they narrowed somewhat as well.  "My apologies.  I have already mentioned the fact that the boundaries between myself and my Doll weaken when I assume this form."  The Blood Lord would simply shrug at this point, showing his relative lack of caring for the standard at which the Espada held him despite his words.  It might appear strange, as though there really were two separate personas within the man, one speaking and one acting to create a form of disconnect.  "Speaking of holding people to standards, I held you to one of being intelligent.  You have already seen that reiatsu-based attacks simply fail to affect me, and yet here you come, preparing what is obviously a reiatsu-based attack.  Why?"  Here, Xanthus cocked his head to the side slightly, showing the confusion that he was stating in words.  In reality, however, he was thinking about what the Arrancar could be up to.  He had already seen the fact that his theoretically most powerful abilities had simply been brushed aside as though they were mere mosquitoes.  The only explanation for the fact that he was approaching now then, was that he was about to unleash something more powerful than Xanthus had knowledge of or had previously seen.  'Interesting...but ultimately futile.'  The Blood Lord thought to himself, leaving his sword where it was and displaying no outward signs of caring about the Primera's actions.  Instead he began to walk towards his opponent, his reiatsu building and pulsating around his form.

Gabriel would only continue to walk towards the man, the reiatsu now charging at an alarming rate, easily filling the space between the coffins. He would watch the other, his blade held at his side as they both walked closer.
"You were just mentioning my ability to think on my feet, don't drop that concept just yet." He would raise the blade slowly, holding it in front of him as he held the spiraling coffins back.

Xanthus could feel the charging reiatsu, and came to the conclusion that his previous assessment was more than likely correct. His opponent was either preparing something exceedingly dangerous, or was perhaps attempting to bluff. So far, the only one who had seemingly done any form of bluffing was the Blood Lord himself in an effort to lower the morale of his opponent. That tactic had clearly not worked, though he had not been surprised. After all, such a tactic would not have worked on him, and more than likely would not have worked on Kirito, the Quincy Emperor. Why then would it have worked on a leader of Hollows? Either way, bluff or not, the enemy was gathering an immense amount of reiatsu around himself and those coffins.

'Hmm...' At this point, Xanthus figured out what he should do about this development. Underneath the armor that covered his lower face, he smiled a little smile and his eyes resumed their fully calm and amused state. "Don't worry, I won't." At this point, the Blood Lord stopped momentarily and placed both hands on the hilt of his katana, holding it at an almost awkward angle. The angle was roughly forty-five degrees in comparison to the ground, held at his right side. "Don't worry, I won't drop that concept. Instead, I'll simply cut you in half and not worry about it past this point." At this point, Xanthus would rush forward while still holding his katana at the strange angle, his reiatsu condensing around his form and flaring such that it was visible as a black miasma with silver streaks. There was a sudden determination in his eyes that was grim and absolute as he rushed towards the Espada, moving forward head-on and daring the other to try his attack.

With the reiatsu fully charged, and the spiraling only growing faster, Gabriel would meet the challenge presented before him. He would charge towards the man, although he would hold his blade in front of him with his left hand, the right coming up with the coffins. Although it was aimed at the man, he wouldn't fire. He was aware of the level of danger the man held in the style, but he himself had no intentions of backing down. As the two would grow closer, his right hand would come up, grasping the hilt of his blade with the left, entering a two handed sword style. The coffins would continue to spiral, but now they would spiral around both hands. He held the blade directly in front of him as he charged, held within the spiraling coffins, submerged in the reiatsu within.

The Espada would choose to rush towards him, neither man desiring to back down and give the other the satisfaction of seeing his opponent cede this power-match.  The Blood Lord could already see his female advisers rolling their eyes in the back of his mind, but he put that thought aside for now.  He had a plan, regardless of how suicidal this action must have appeared.  Energy began to gather along the edge of his katana, a cero built along his blade similar to the ones that he and his opponent had been flinging around with complete abandon earlier.  At this point, the Great Wall began to crack with each step taken, long scars that stretched halfway into the wall and beyond and revealed the strain that the structure was taking from the massive amounts of reiatsu being released in constant measures.  Soon both men were about to reach the point of no return.  They could not stop moving past this point, or else the other would simply cut them down.  Black and silver eyes looking directly into the Espada's Xanthus would say: "Yield."  The Espada would understand, it was the only warning that the Blood Lord had time for.  In about three more seconds, there would be no more time for words, because one of them would likely sustain a heavy injury.  

OOC: Ooh, dramatic mid-battle tension!

In the instant he realized what the other meant, he would take notice of the wall beneath them. Seeing the destruction they were causing upon the monument, he would make a split second decision. His front foot would hit the air and all movement would stop from him, the air around him actually losing control for a moment as he did so. Lifting his hands, he would fire his attack straight up, as far from the wall as possible. As much fun as this battle was, Gabriel couldn't willingly let something such as The Great Wall fall because of him. The attack he fired would have the power and speed of a gran rey cero, and as he fired it Gabriel would be caught with his arms raised, coffins slowing in rotation. His eyes would still hold on the others even as he let his power lower, his only concern at the moment being the walls condition.

For a moment, a singular heartbeat, Xanthus was tempted to continue forward and bisect the Primera.  One swift application of his sword, one clean slice through the other's body...the top half would slide off and crumble into dust, with the bottom half of the body remaining in a standing position for a few moments before joining the upper half.  It would be so easy, with the enemy holding his hands in the air, and the coffins going so slowly in the Blood Lord's perception that they might as well have been still in the air.  They would not stop him, and the Primera was so open for the attack.  That form of thinking was far too much of Asterion's however, and besides that fact, the Blood Lord knew what had just occurred.  The Espada had redirected his attack to avoid destroying the monument that they were fighting on, leaving himself open for attack.  It would be rather cruel of Xanthus to repay the act with a blade through the spine, as much as his Doll was urging him to perform that exact act.  

Just as the Primera had, the Blood Lord of the Bounts made a snap decision.  He redirected his momentum, jumping a short distance to place his feet on a coffin.  From here, he leapt backwards, performing a backflip in the air to land on his feet several meters away.  Holding only his right hand on his blade now, Xanthus looked at the Primera with a curious expression.  "Explain yourself, Primera."  It was not a demand, though the wording would likely give that impression.  The tone however, was confused, not demanding.  It was understood what had happened of course, just not quite why it had happened.  The growing cero on Xanthus's blade had dispersed, and now he had returned to a semi-relaxed position, though he was still watched the Primera like a hawk.

Gabriel would lower his arms, the coffins around him shifting to rest behind him again. He would bring his arms down, holding the blade in his left hand now as the other spoke to him.
"Such a monument, with already so much damage, shouldn't come to an end just to meet my craving for battle." He would relax himself as the other did, his eyes shifting to the Wall.
"I did have fun Blood Lord, but I must admit that I don't intend to continue if it means the destruction of monuments. I've been around long enough to appreciate their significance, surprisingly enough to even myself." Looking back up at the other, he would just stare, his coffins seeming to shift in turn with his mindset, fidgeting ever so slightly.