Spare the Rod[Bounty:JJ]

Sometimes you were given a mission that just made you scratch your head in bewilderment. Styn was what many would consider a powerful demon now and yet here he was hanging out in Karakura forest once again, playing the waiting game. And what was it the mighty Demon Knight waited for? Why the great and powerful Styn lurked in the shadows for his chance at brutally assaulting a small Iramasha child. Was it to send a message to the boys parents? Did Shadow Fall just not like children? No matter the answer he just wanted this over with.

Styn stood not quite six feet tall, taller then average perhaps, but not in a way that stood out. His medium build accentuated his averageness, he wasn't quite slim, but fell short of heavily muscled. Dark green hair only an inch or so in length, could possibly be a dye job. Pale violet eyes, while a questionable fashion choice, were not outside cosmetic modification. Both ears came to slight point at the apex of their arc, something easily overlooked. His teeth might be a bit sharper then normal for a human, but they retained the same basic shape and placement. The demon's nails also came to a point and were thicker then common, but were by no means long talons or claws. All and all - discounting Za Koa which was naturally suppressed in this base form - Styn would go unremarked in most locations.

The Knight of the First Circle sported a dark green business suit, almost black outside of direct light. The pale violet tie was clearly meant to bring out his eyes, which were somewhat concealed behind a pair of gunmetal gray glasses with translucent bottom rims. Black dress shoes capped out the attire, with especial detail paid so that the combat boot soles didn't look out of place. Still the effect lacked a certain something. First of all, his white button down shirt was untucked, which his unbuttoned dark green jacket didn't quite conceal. His tie was loosened at least an inch, and cocked slightly to the left. His pants looked a bit rumpled and his shoes were scuffed. In addition his eyes had heavy dark bags under them and his stare was half lidded, giving him the appearance of someone tired or sick.

Leaning back with his back against a tree Styn contemplated the foolishness of letting three year old children play with knives. Supposedly the boy trained against hollows in these woods from time to time. The supernatural world was truly a wondrous place. To be able to even eat without choking was a success for most human children. This young genius was apparently able to fight a weak hollow to a victory. No doubt the child must have some kind of protective force, and it would be up to Styn to deal with that when it came up.

The Demon Knight could hardly imagine the boy's parents would allow him to run wild, no matter his potential. For whatever reason, Shadow Fall intel said the child would be in this area of the forest today. Grimacing in distaste Styn closed his eyes and expanded his limited spiritual senses to their utter limits. The boy would be weak, so he'd have difficulty picking him up. Then again he'd be inexperienced so it wasn't like he could hide his Reiatsu. Styn was not similarly burdened.

A whisper of Demon Magic cloaked Styn in Mirror Veil. By bending all light that came near him the Demon Knight was rendered effectively invisible. Combined with his Cloak of Shadows, he was sure to avoid detection by all but the most powerful of observers. Although Styn himself would be denied that same light in which to see by, he found the sudden abating of heat a welcome relief. Sure the air might still be warm, but at least direct sunlight was no longer beating down on him.

While he was more then capable of adjusting his body temperature in such a way as to be actually cooler, it was still a minor annoyance to be in the summer forest. Styn found himself tapping his right hand against his left bicep with impatience. If this must be done let it be done quickly. This this mission had to be completed then let it finished without undue aggression. Maybe they had picked the right demon for this after all, Styn had no intention of murdering a small child this day. That might just be a level of restraint few of his demonic brethren would share.

The small child paused, his nose slowly lifting into the air. His eyelids closed slowly; he'd sensed something… unpleasant on the coming wind. It was disturbing to the young boy, certainly… but it was because he felt that he knew the scent. It was the scent of a demon. And he could tell he was trying to hide; the scent was shifting about his nose as if trying to avoid it, but he drew it to himself, his hands reaching out into the air as he felt it flow towards him.

He had just finished with his former business, his head turning around as he laid his hands down on the ground. "...Don't like. Demon… demon bad. Demon not Uncle Kabby… Demon Grandpa. Grandpa scary!!" The child yapped, before suddenly something changed. Its body began to shimmer, almost, and before the demon knew what was going on, the young child was behind him , smelling at his feet.

"Why hide…? Why hide…? Not Grandpa… weaker than grandpa… Much weaker…" The young child stated, before he sat down on his butt, looking up at the man, before suddenly he opened his mouth wide, revealing rows of teeth. "Energy… Strong…?" The male asked the other demon, before suddenly his mouth opened… and the larger demon knight would begin to lose the feeling in his toes.

Now, either he would kick the child, or he would roll back on his own, because he suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Taste…? Good… but feel… Baaad…. GRAAAAH!!" He let out as a blast of pure energy left his mouth, a strange black tinge coursing around its red covering as it completely overwhelmed the tree next to the target, vaporizing it and most likely causing some problems for the demon knight if he didn't get out of the way. The male slowly stumbled upwards, his wide eyes looking at the other male as a strange sense of energy emanated from his body.

"...You… are… bad…"

Styn blinked in surprise, of course the act of blinking was a bit wasted when you couldn't actually see the world. Nonetheless the Demon Knight couldn't quite help the physical response to such a strange scenario. The child actually seemed to have smelled him out, an interesting option to combat the purely ocular obscurement of the Mirror Veil. However, it was one that Styn was more then aware existed. He also didn't bother bending sound or tactile sensory options.

No it wasn't getting found out by the scampy little mouth breather that had him experiencing such honest shock. It wasn't the child's movement which was nothing more then a standard technique. What was truly unbelievable was the boy's utter and complete disregard for his own safety. With a shake of his head the Demon Knight spoke from beyond the Mirror Veil in reply to the child's mumbling. "Yep demon bad alright," Styn replied.

He wasn't particularly concerned with the child's estimate of his abilities. Whoever this kid's grandfather was Styn very much doubted he was much weaker then him. The Dying Game had seen to that. The boy hardly had the detection capabilities to pierce the Cloak of Shadows after all. Now it was possible that the child was judging off of some murderous intent or freaky alternative assessment of his abilities, but as far as Za Koa went, there was not a single scrap escaping from Styn.

This was a stealth assault after all, the Demon Knight hardly needed a mass of angry Iramasha warriors descending on him in the forest. At the moment none of the previously theoretical body guards were present. In fact not only was the child bravely approaching, but he seemed to be doing something. The was a tugging sensation on Styn's passive Akuma Kyodo. The Demon Knight wasn't sure how the other demons did it, but he was constantly throwing every scrap of his power through his invisible sigils at all times. This circular circuit of Za Koa served to enforce his already powerful armor to obscene levels. It also gave an interesting level of sensitivity when someone was trying to do something to him.

This was one of the reasons that even without the Cloak of Shadows he had a very underwhelming amount of spiritual pressure. That wasn't to say that when in his true form someone wasn't able to tell how strong he was, it was more that his strength was so completely controlled and self contained that not as scrap of power leaked out. Trying to pierce Styn's master level demonic protections would be the metaphysical equivalent of a regular human baby trying to bite a brick. Suffice to say the Demon Knight himself was completely unfazed by whatever it was Inuyasha had attempted. Whatever metaphysical touch the boy was attempting would slide away like grabbing an oil slicked rope.

The weak trickle of power he had used to forge the Mirror Mirror veil wasn't nearly so hearty. The Demon Knight found himself suddenly knee to face with the small figure. Cocking his head downward Styn squinted his eyes a bit at the display of razor fangs that was on display. Yeah that's not creepy or anything, he thought as he sensed a sudden gathering of force. For whatever reason the boy was actually going to try to hit him with something too.

Now that he was fully exposed to the light, Styn cast a shadow on the tree that he was leaning against. Using his master level Shadow Movement the Demon Knight phased through that darkness and briefly into the shadow realm. Unlike traditional movement techniques there were much more limited options in detecting where Styn was going to appear. Although being restricted in how much power he could bring to bear without breaking his Cloak of Shadows, Styn would nonetheless be moving at speeds far exceeding what Inuyasha should be capable of obtaining. In addition to striking from concealment, the maneuver allowed for Styn to dodge the energy burst.

The Demon Knight moved as fast as he could with his current limitations. He appeared beneath Inuyasha, rushing out of the boy's own shadow, hand grasping to close around the child's calf. From his rising position Styn was more then capable of making another grab attempt with his left hand. If the boy used a movement technique to escape then the Demon Knight would slip back into the fading earth and make as many more attempts to latch onto the boy as he had to.

Eventually Inuyasha would exhaust his limited supply of energy, if it was even possible for the boy to dodge in the first place. Given the alacrity that Styn was able to execute his attack with, such an option should be very unlikely. Once contact was made the Demon would use his curse effect to pulse raw corruption into Inuyasha. This was not to be mistaken with the granting of some sort of energy boon. This element of corruption would attack any foreign body with extreme prejudiced, both physical and spiritual.

With a master level of Za Koa skill, Styn was unworried that the child would be able to some how consume this attack. Even a powerful quincy would find this particular radiation quality death force a hard pill to swallow. The Demon Knight's curse effect was more then capable of striking and breaking apart any metaphysical contact that would proceed the break down of its own spiritual structure. In a match up of equal skill and power this would result in a nullification of the curse, against such a vast gulf of ability it would be like trying to stop a large rolling bolder with a single regular feather.

On a foe of equal strength this curse would still be enough to stun and slow. On someone of Inuyasha's level? This application of Styn's demon racial would be more then sufficient to send the boy into unconsciousness. If the Demon Knight was successful in making contact and applied his curse of immobility he would have words to say which the small child might remember on waking. "Tell your guardians that Styn of Shadow Fall sends his regards."

It was true that Styn had deflected any metaphysical attack placed on his person. However, what the male didn't realize was that it wasn't his spiritual presence that was being attack. The young Iramasha had literally directly ingested a portion of the demon's DE field, enhanced by the fact that the male was a demon. It was this fact that would likely absolutely startle the man before the child, as his toes definitely.. Tingled.

He watched as the strange man bled into the shadows, his head tilting slightly. "...So… Slow…" He wondered aloud as he tilted his head, looking straight downwards as he jumped straight upwards. "… Hehe… I win!" The child spoke as his body flung around, dodging the attack he had seen performed several times when he was playing with demonic-affiliated children. This man just happened to be faster than most of them. The boy's mouth opened as he gripped the male's left arm, piercing straight through the DE Field of the male and probably even harming his arm through his Akuma Kyodo as the very material of the Demon felt like it was being worn away.

It was such that the raw corruption flowed into Inuyasha's body… and flowed right back out of it onto the male's body. The simple fact was… Degeneration was being used by the boy, and he didn't even realize it. The energy that had been attempting to course through his body had been broken down by him simply willing himself to fight the bad demon, his DE Field reacting automatically as it generated the force within his own body.

"Still… tastes bad…" The Iramasha muttered as he fell slightly limp, his body unable to contain such power as he slumped onto the floor, his body tingling. "YOU… NOT…….. GOOD…! BAD…. Bad… BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!"

The strange roar left the male's mouth as without warning, horns sprouted from the top of his head. From his back, large tail appeared, spiritually black in color as it extended from his DE force, his body suddenly rising onto its haunches as he opened his lips, exposing his bared fangs. In front of his face, a large model of his own face appeared, on by either arm appeared a large projection of the limbs… except with large, piercing looking claws.

"AROOOOOO!!" The child of Koichi Iramasha let out as his instincts took over, his body vanishing as he reappeared at the male's right side, his right foot flashing out from the side. Within an instant, he was gone again, but this time he was using raw speed. Appearing to the left side of the male, the projections from his body suddenly glowed a flashing, blaring white, dispelling all the shadows within the area and rendering them into nothing as the Iramasha of Pride bared his fangs, the projection biting down onto Styn's torso as the malicious Degeneration attempted to break down his body.

Meanwhile, the male was clawing rapidly with both hands at his opponent, with such force that the ground below them became covered in claw marks. Finally, his body was pushed off of the other male, as he flew back onto the ground, rolling about as he groaned, the strange constructions vanishing, before his body slowly stood back up again.

"Uncle Kabby… Is WAY STRONGER… than… You…" The male panted weakly as he stood on his two feet, his upper torso leaning forwards as he extended his hands, realizing a strance like a predator about to take its prey, the stance he had been taught to use as it fitted him the best…

The stance of a Hunter.

The potential to actively exhibit and manipulate a DE field is not a talent that Styn possessed. Of course there was a racial connection to death's energy, and the simple fact that in his life the Demon Knight has in fact killed several life forms to bolster the strength of a DE field. However, this energy aura was yet another thing that was contained by the Za Koa surging through his Akuma Kyodo. Any DE field, however small or large that the Demon Knight has was trapped under a cocoon of Za Koa as part of both Cloak of Shadows and Styn's unconscious enhancement of his demonic sigils.

As such it was just flat out removed from the attack range of Inuyasha's clumsy and weak attempts to latch on. There would be no surprise, as there would be not contact with any portion of Styn's energy. The fact that the demon was not even aware of thwarting this attempt did not stop it from being a reality. Willpower and the desire to fight alone are not the main determining factors in battle, although clearly the young Iramasha had both in spades.

Styn allowed the child to make contact. That was really the only way he could describe it to himself. The boy seemed strangely disconnected from reality, but the difference in speed was tremendous, even with the limiter of Cloak of Shadows stopping the Demon Knight from enhancing his physical abilities with the full amount of his power. He had to give the boy one thing though, Inuyasha certainly had good instincts. The Iramasha's initial dodge was borderline prescient.

From the Demon Knights perspective it was as if the boy was already jumping away after releasing the initial attack. That was the only way he would have been able to avoid not only the first, but the second arm that exploded out of the child's own shadow. However, it was game over as soon as Inuyasha made contact. At that point Styn was able to completely and totally grasp the true difference in their abilities and compensate for them accordingly.

Once more he felt the needle sharp kitten teeth of some sort of metaphysical bite bounce off his passive Akuma Kyodo. This time however he felt an odd stirring of something below the surface of his immensely durable demon armor. The sensation was certainly odd to say the least. It was almost as if there was a living thing that Styn had somehow accidentally trapped with his transcendent defense that was trying to reach out to the child. A thought for a different time perhaps, Styn thought getting his mind back into the encounter.

A stern focus of will sped up the rotating circuit of channeled power. He'd start to consume a small amount of Za Koa as his armor was consciously triggered into a more active state, but any further attempts at snacking on this mysterious power would be automatically defended against. The broken stream of memories he had acquired from his time in the Dying Game whispered in excitement at the stir of this DE force. Many of the lives that were now integrating with Styn's own seemed to recognize this energy.

The entire process took a microsecond, a simple command to defend and Styn's well tuned body responded like the well oiled machine it was. Before Inuyasha could remove his hand however Styn sent out that pulse of his curse effect that he had been aiming to inflict in his first attack. As before it was an attempt to flood the boy's body with an overwhelmingly corrupt surge of Za Koa that would render the child unconscious. As before it would react to actively overwhelm and consume any attempt to repel, drain, or shield against its onslaught.

With Styn's mastery of the Za Koa within him, it would take only that second microsecond to overwhelm Inuyasha's weak spiritual structure. The physical body of the boy would be the next to be inflicted if the attack were to be successful. The result would be a shock of trauma as every cell in the Iramasha's body was attacked at once. The speed was incredible, but the power was only enough to stun not kill. Of course Styn would turn up the juice if any sort of defense was attempted. He'd even move to recapture the boy should he attempt to break away, relying on the tremendous difference in speed to secure contact with Inuyasha's body.

If by some miracle this did not end the encounter he'd be shocked to be sure. Not by the transformation that the child was undergoing, but by the complete and total impossibility of what he was being exposed to. Either way the Demon Knight would have emerged completely from the shadows at this point. If Inuyasha was somehow still able to stand Styn would frantically look left and right completely ignoring the vastly weaker child.

"Damn, someone has trapped my mind in some sort of fake reality," Styn would say as real panic began to sink in. The Demon Knight was in no way prepared to deal with some sort of mental assault that could actually pierce his Za Koa. At this point he would really only have once choice. Even as Inuyasha moved to strike he'd cast aside the Cloak of Shadows and transform into his true form.

This transformation consolidated his power instead of expanding it. The concentration and density of his physical structure was roughly the same, with a few distinct differences. From finger tip to elbow his arms were now encased in a thick bone white mass. It was as if his hands were now the claws of a beast at least three times his size. They were still five fingered, and smooth across the top, however the underside of every digit was now razor sharp. At the elbow, extending out like short swords, were two double edged bone white blades, one for each arm. The tips of those edges would just barely pass his shoulder blades if his arm was fully extended.

Gauntlets were only part of the new look. His legs from knee to toe were also encased in thickened, claw tipped grieves. In addition, across the knees were studded spikes, needle sharp, but blade thick. The thin strands of his hair warped and locked into rows of hooked barbs, although the hair at least maintained its green coloring. As his glasses dissolved into his face, the final transition would be the opening of this third eye. This opening was accompanied by ninety-nine other eyes similarly opening all over his body, although these were mostly hidden by his clothes. The change in his energy would be equivalent to a Shinigami's Shikai.

The entire process was less then a second in enact and Styn was already moving into the second stage of his defense. An instant of will triggered the special sigils on his feet and legs to flood his core with power. The Za Koa he held was pushed into overdrive as each symbol on the demon's body began to glow into the visible spectrum. Even the bone white gauntlets and leggins that appeared in his true form had a spattering of infernal red tattoos. The glow was hardly steady. Instead, it was the wild fluctuation of Shadow Burst, symbols pulsing rapidly. Styn was immediately three times stronger and would remain as such until the end of the boost.

Inuyasha would seem to be moving in slow motion, not that Styn would be paying attention. The boy would certainly have a hard time suddenly changing such a heavy commitment of momentum, but Styn had bigger fish to fry. At this point the Demon Knight would be utterly convinced that there was some sort of powerful illusionist close enough to threaten his life. Using every scrap of the boosted power from Shadow Burst as well as his full potential and skill in both Demon Magic and Za Koa Skill, Styn would perform Black Inferno Shaping to release a massive explosion of Black Inferno Blast from every part of his body.

As an explosive force of gargantuan levels it would leave the Demon Knight's body at speeds that matched - if not quite exceeded - master level Shadow Movement. To Inuyasha it might look like a gigantic wall of black fire thousands of feet high was suddenly in front of him and moving toward him at impossible speeds. Styn just hoped it was enough to break whatever strange technique that had been inflicted on him. While normally a professional who put the mission first, he'd be convinced at this point that everything thus far had been some kind of ruse.

The explosive detonation would expand outward to miles in all directions, utterly incinerating anything that happened to be caught in the blast. The Demon Knight wouldn't be happy about such an awesome display of might so close to Karakura, but he couldn't think of any other way to counter what was clearly a bending of the laws of reality. He'd only hope that his brute force could at least force the mental lock down to be dispelled. The forgotten Iramasha child would just be a casualty of his own unlikely survival.

Of course this was all theoretical. If matters followed their natural course then Inuyasha would be completely immobilized by the surge of Za Koa sent into him by the full power reserves of a tier 2. Styn would still be able to speak the final words that he had meant to utter upon delivering this coup de grace. "Tell your guardians that Styn of Shadow Fall sends his regards."

"...Eat everything… consume everything… in your path… use it… to become stronger…"

A strange voice left the youth as his eyes narrowed, hiding themselves completely behind his eyelids, no longer even using his eyes as the teaching o Ketsu flowed through him, his mouth opening wide as the black shadow blast was released. "Take it all. Make it yours. Become stronger. And stronger… and never, ever lose that power." The statements continued to flow from him as the male's mouth opened wide, nearly screaming as he had been paralyzed by the second round of shadow burst… and the massive amount of Black Inferno blast coursed down his throat, being drawn in almost by the force surrounding the youth's body.

The burst of raw Za Koa didn't get more than fifteen meters away from the male's own body as his entire body glowed, the body strangely cahnging as black pieces o armor began to cloak each and every part of it. "...Certainly you didn't think that would be enough to defeat this boy, did you? Are you so blind to the potential of the one facing you? He is a Beast type… and will consume anything in his path to solve his goals. Kuhaa, haa, haa…" The laugh left the lips of the young male, as if the voice had left from somewhere else, the youth's own transformation finishing as he was left standing before the shadowy male.

"… Uncle Kabby… always said… Swords… were honorable… Tools." The male muttered, as he reached out a single hand, and from that hand emitted a glowing black energy, before the force of Styn's Za Koa flowed all the way through it, the male holding it straight up into the air as he looked at the demon. "...But… he also said… I can't give up… until my body does…!" The male stated, the sheer amount of willpower shining in his eyes as he brought the blade down onto the shadowy male…

And indeed, that was what was different about the attack. The shadows around Styn were no longer providing him with any movement at all… as if they were being manipulated by an outside force. If the specifics were gone into, it was quite simple. The massive amount of energy that the young male had forced into himself was temporarily causing a wall from the curse effect. Additionally, the natural talent he had within him had been activated from the contact with the energy, as the Model was unlocked. This Model permitted for the manipulation of shadows… and just as it was preventing the curse effect, so too was it preventing anything which attempted to move through the shadow s around the fighters.

Finally, the remaining amount of the Za Koa had been forced into the sword, which had grown intense, exploding upwards and outwards as it became a pure inferno, before the young male brought it downwards. The massive amount of power he released was enough to scorch the trees and ground around his body, completely incinerating them and leaving them with nothingness from the sheer force of the concentration of the attack. Indeed, if Styn were to allow himself to be hit by this attack, he could very well lose an arm, even in his Shikai-esque state… due to the raw concentration of the power that the male had consumed.

After the attack had been fired, a wasteland seemed to lay before the young Iramasha. Finally, the blade dropped from his hands, the black armor disengaging as he fell face forwards, the curse effect having drained all the last of his resources as he hit face onto the ground, the light in his eyes slowly dimming as his consciousness left his body, the light fading at last as he entered into unconsciousness.

A frightening child, indeed.


[Inuyasha has left the thread (and the building…)]