No colors anymore I want to Paint it Black. [OPEN]

Gazing down at the figure consumed by the shadow's yielded a sense of empathy as he heard his words littered in pain. Flashing back to his own friends, family and very lifestyle that had faded to the red abyss of World War Three; Zin often questioned why he fought for others as well during that period of isolation and separation. Imagery of Iori Sugiura death faded into his mind first as she would be the beginning of many deaths associated with those in the original Karakura Defenders. Jade, Thoma, Mizore, Midori, Chinchuro, Ritsuka, Tsubine, Kenshin, Kitty and so many others were lost to the sounds of time or the embrace of death; leaving only him and his brother to pick up the pieces of this foreign world they were plunged into. Through those sensations of abandonment, self-doubt and solitude brought about a profound change in Zin however.

These hardships taught him that it was necessary to rely on himself just as much as he can confidence in others were a key part of molding his new will to life. Indeed, Zin learned it was but a fool's errand to look for another spirit to find the salvation a person so desires. While it is certainly important to understand how to love others, it is equally urgent to know when to let go of others. For at the end of the day? This life that they lived was a long one -- potentially spanning for centuries and millenniums. So for a journey this long and harsh, self-love is certainly a must and a comprehension of when to let things pass. As people WILL hurt you, people WILL leave you, those you love WILL die, the world around you WILL change and you WILL be all but left alone to your own devices. However, it is through these hardships that tests a person's endurance to face these ugly truths of life. It was all but the curse of this prolonged life.

"There is nothing I can do for those who have failed you, nor is there anything I can do about the effort you vested in hopes of another soul fighting for you. What I do have to offer is your own liberation. Liberation that comes from having the will to press forward in this world of suffering. You are alone, wicked Washi. We all are alone and we each face this vicious world alone from the moment we take our first breath to the very last. Yet, it is through this anguish that one finds hope. When the world wants to break you -- a choice must be made. One must either turn that sorrow into hope to fight it, or fall into the blackened abyss of hopelessness and grant it permission to destroy you. I reach my hand out to you as another lost soul in this world of pain wanting to help another, but you must have the drive within yourself to want it."

Even as the world around him was contorting, twisting and morphing into a void of stillness; there he would be speaking these words of his perception, his truth and his way of enduring the burden of this existence. The King was aware that this was entirely his interpretation of the world, but even as subjective as it may be, one could argue that it was a far better alternative state of mind to have then the one the Washi was under. Seeing him become more unhinged, increasingly unstable and losing all sense of himself certainly cemented those sentiments. And if The Washi unable to cope with the way this eternal life functioned or find something to cling to escape this darkness? The prediction Zin gave was grim -- as he expected the male to become consumed by this torment and give birth to a monster. Not a monster that terrorizes others, but a monster of the self. A monster of the self that scares away the inner hope, potential and will of a person until they are nothing more than a mindless, incoherent and brain-dead version of themselves aching to be killed in order to be placed out of their misery.

So it is with a heavy and heartfelt sigh that Zin kept track of the movements associated with the male before him; viewing each action that The Unstable Washi took as another step closer that leads off a cliff and falls into that abysmal end at the hands no one else but himself. Thus, as much as he sought not to fight this male based upon these observations, protecting himself and those around The Vizard took a higher priority. Glancing at his hand with a questionable expression, of course he knew better than to allow even a trace of this stuff to reach his hand; the flickering of a flame seen burning away the blackened ooze that touched his skin. Blood beginning to boil, the adrenaline kicked in and the senses of The Yuudeshi soon went into overdrive as he prepared to counter the male's misguided attacks.

The first blow that would come was a slash to the neck -- before a spiral of immense fire produced by Zin's spiritual energy had more than vaporized it. Through it's destructive power alone, the properties of this blaze could melt and burn through reishi with the utmost of precision through The Vizard King's control. So it is along these lines that The Yuudeshi desired to eradicate this blade on a complex and microscopic level. And going along the notion that attacks come in waves, Zin was more than prepared for the next jab at his leg. He'd repeat the same move again, but behind his calf in order to null it's reach and avoid getting stabbed if all panned out as he had intended.

Paying attention to his surroundings gave Zin the forewarning required in order to prepare himself for the next round of attacks. Noticing that The Washi managed to slip through a Garganta caused The Yuudeshi to brace himself for another attack. Watching the right foot of the male come out of the tear in the space around them made Zin react by engulfing his entire right arm in a burning red fire. Then, in another swift movement, he'd meet the cutting force of The Shadow Figure with the scorching fury of a hard punch. The intent was to overpower the kick and make contact with The Washi. These flames could then have a source of direct touch in order to ignite and spread across the aggressor's body. From there? Combined with the physical impact of Zin's punch being able to shatter many city blocks for as far as the eye can see, and flames being able to melt through the spiritual realm, something would have to give and force The Washi back into taking a hefty blow to lower the effectiveness of his rampage.

And, in spite of all that was done, normally there would be a beaming smile coming from The Yuudeshi due to exchanging such mighty blows with an opponent. But today? That confident smirk would be nowhere to be found. A battle like this wasn't one that Zin could find himself enjoying. This was a battle of trying to save a madman from himself and he honestly had no yearning to pursue this battle. Yet, as with all things in this world, he'd continue to press forward with the unforgiving hand that was dealt. Witnessing that the flow of the song playing on The Washi's guitar started to take a change, The King had reasonable clause to believe that an adverse effect would surely come of it. As, all throughout this clash, music seemed to play a crucial role in this male's attacks or enhancements.

So as he endured the cuts generating from the attackers ability attempting to pierce his defenses, a sharp pain was briefly felt across his skin. Noticing that while the cuts themselves weren't too terrible to endure physically due to his body's own hardened durability, there was something funny about the smoke and blackness now beginning to make him feel pain just by touch. Ergo, to combat this, Zin increased the amount of flames around his body to neutralize the second wave of blackness falling on the area by outright burning them and turning it into ash. He'd then spread this influence throughout the battlefield around them; being sure to place trace amounts of his spiritual energy around The Feline-Like Woman and The Clueless Half-Breed Demon to protect them in order to avoid turning them into a burned crisp.

Consequently, as the rapid Washi charged at The Yuudeshi, Zin decided to engulf himself within his blazes aura and fight fire with fire. Forming as a layer of protection, The Vizard King's inferno of fire shielded Zin from the assaults given to him by The Mad Shadow Figure. And so, through these attempts to cause increased injury to The Yuudeshi, the efforts from this assailant would only generate the result of more of the male's flames attempting to extinguish the darkness consuming The Washi. For, at this point, Zin was now channeling his on the spot kido into work. In order to better assist the male to find his way out of this deprived mess, The King tapped into his own spiritual particles associated with the fire to create a remote link to them through extremely thin lines comprised of The Vizard's reiatsu.

Bridging this connection through would then allow The Yuudeshi to potentially invoke a seal across any part of The Washi's body that his fire was able to touch. The inscribed effects placed within "The Vessel Of Despair", a title given mentally by Zin, were to swallow, devour and absorb the blackness across The Attackers bod. The purpose of it was to revert The Young Washi back to his original body and confirm just who was it; while allowing him time to regain himself and hopefully tear apart the influence of that accursed darkness. While the final attribute of this spell vested more in the mental realm. If allowed to influence his mind, The Yuudeshi hoped that The Washi could be able to come to his own conclusion of salivation by implanting the seeds of hope within him. Going along the lines of subjective thinking, Zin's will acted like a booming voice within doing its damndest to drown out the echoes of despair to restore the male's mind. Then, when compiled with the attacks shot off, The Yuudeshi was hoping he'd be in a pretty banged up state and able to talk coherently to him at that point.

Thus, it is at that time he'd hear the voice of Yukichiyu approaching from behind. In that moment he felt jest in investing his energy into that woman to see her success in breaking from that metaphorical and physical cage. And although he was pleased to see her become victorious in that regard, the pressing threat ahead of them caused Zin to remain somber in his expression and mannerisms. "Thank yourself for having the power to overcome your own inner demon'. Much like you broke the prison of your mind, so to must the man before us deal with his inner torment. There is nothing else for us to do but to defend ourselves, engage in the physical battle and do what we can to neutralize the target. However, the internal battle within must solely be waged by himself so that he may come to a decision to find his salvation or damnation in a cold grave."

When finished addressing The Feline-Like Woman, Zin's eyes turned to the Half-Breed as he heard him thanking him for the slight patch-up work on his body. The Yuudeshi believed there was still some fight left in the male, but that he still had no idea just what he was in for. As the kid did not even seem to be aware of what he was when posed with the question of what a demon could do. To that, Zin could only answer with this reply: "However much you are willing to work towards a power is how far the extent of a demon's reach can go. They are a race of very flexible creature and you'd need to find yourself to discover those inner strengths."

After uttering those words out, he'd simply observe what would come of Sijel's brazen assault as he seemed to take off like a bat out of hell towards the shadow figure. There wasn't a probable cause to believe this attack would be effective against The Washi, so Zin was ready to assist and back the demon-boy up if he managed to fail. More importantly, though, all anyone could do at this point was wait and see what choice the figure would make. The ball was in the court of the deranged and Zin could only place his hopes that he'd have the strength and conviction needed to make the right decision to find his liberation once more.