Bladed Deities [Private] [Stefan/Henrex]

While he wouldn't have used that exact phrasing, Henrex could definitely agree that the tournament in Greece was...underwhelming -- primarily because it had ended prematurely. Watching the man as he sat down and made the note that he wasn't the only person to seek him out -- wondering of his plans and where he stood in the world -- as he was heavily considered to be the world's strongest swordsman, and had quite the reputation for him.

Thus, as his wings drew back towards himself, Henrex too went through the motions of sitting down, crossing his legs. While he still remained relaxed and unassuming, the male's gaze turned more resolute as his hands rested on his knees.

"I don't have a doubt that you heard about the terrorist attack on Vastime, from the Monsuta. One of the previous leaders has returned, apparently -- Tora Lionus."

Henrex paused and took a brief glimpse at the ground before his head rose to face Stefan again.

"I remember you talking about changing the Monsuta to go away from those ideals. I suppose my question is...will you return to it?"

Another pause between his words, before he finished.

"If not, where do you think you would go? Who would you side with?"

The mention of Tora Lionus's name meant nothing to Stefan. Not only was he not active in the world, but this man who claimed to be his successor wasn't an individual Stefan ever wanted to interact with. The overabundance of violence bored him and it seemed less villainous and more ridiculous at a point. If he never saw or spoke with that man again, Stefan would be entirely fine with it. Especially considering he allowed the Monsuta to be taken over by an ineffectual like Azuma who was most certainly reaching above his pay grade by trying to call himself leader. To Stefan only himself and Hakai could be considered true rulers of the Monsuta, with all others being at least a step down from them. Their weaknesses, both in power and personality, weakened the organization as a whole leading to the current situation it found itself in, one of basic nonexistence.

Without bothering to hide the disdain he felt towards his so-called "successors", Stefan answered Henrex's inquiries. "Every bit of information I've gathered points to Tora remaining absent in the world's affairs. Azuma's existence is about as threatening as an absent Tora, which is to say not at all. Expecting either to stop being limp-dicked is asking too much. As for your other question, the Free Union is what the Monsuta should have been anyway. If the idiots over there working with Azuma ever bother me I'll just wipe them off the Earth and bring their territories back under my control. That simple" It was clear Stefan thought little of the Monsuta as a whole, to the point where he believed quite confidently taking the entire organization down by himself would be a simple and easy operation achievable in an instant.

Continuing on, Stefan answered Henrex's final questions with no emotion in his voice at all this time. "The Free Union is where I am right now. At the moment I side with no others in this shithole world. Shadow Fall, Vanguard, K-World, those white haired fucks in Japan...they could all burn for all I care. Nobody's given me a reason to think otherwise. Only area outside my land I'll help without any convincing is Minatumi, and that's because a person I met there has some mettle."

Henrex figured that there would be some level of reaction from the Monsuta King at the mention of one of his predecessors -- resementment, uncaring, something -- but, overall, all that he could deduce was that Stefan simply...didn't seem surprising, or even seemed like he cared. Further emphasized by Stefan's response, Henrex felt...honestly, a bit embarrassed. Embarrassed with himself as a result of the various bits of information that he had collected over the course of months being wrong.

But, nevertheless, he simply took a deep breath in order to relax as he spoke.

"...I see."

While it was short and simple, it was due to the fact that he just didn't have much of anything to add -- or that any of his own input was needed. It was a bit naive for him to do so, but he did believe that Tora Lionus was inactive in the world. There wasn't much evidence that pointed to the antithesis of it all -- the information he had picked up could have simply been speculation as to who orchestrated the entire affair.

Thus, with a soft sigh, Henrex turned his attention back to Stefan as he continued, remaining silent this time as he stated his place in the world -- with the Free Union, a place and group that he created in order to give those who had no place in the world a home, free from the subjugation of the other organizations, as well as a place to satisfy the lust for battle and combat.

Henrex's response was simple once more, albeit a bit repetitive.

"I see."

Henrex's gaze turned to the ground as the two were met with silence once more. A hand moved to his sword as the male turned his gaze to the weapon, before back to Stefan.

"You can probably tell, but...I've changed a lot since that tournament in Greece. I think you'd want to see just how much I've grown. Would you like to test that?"

"Yanno, assumptions aren't good. Maybe I don't give a shit about you or your growth. Maybe your entire existence is irrelevant to me. Have you considered that? We've crossed blades once, and it was lopsided and forgettable. Do you really think I, the greatest swordsman to ever grace this world, cares about anything you do?" Upon finishing his incredibly insulting statements, Stefan gripped his Zanpakuto by it's hilt and rose to his feet, patting away the dust from the barren ground as he did so. His gaze avoided Henrex entirely, almost as if to say the Gotei Captain wasn't even worth looking at. Everything about this response to the man screamed contempt for him. Yet, if he was astute it would seem almost like a facade meant to trick him.

Without warning Stefan simultaneously unsheathed his Zanpakuto and aimed it's point at Henrex and laid his bright green gaze on the Shinigami as well. "Nah, I'm not cool enough for that kinda shit. Looking down on others is too high class for me. I'll tell ya what though, show me everything you've got Henrex Astillon, Captain of the Gotei's 5th Division and Commander of the Onmitsukido. Come at me with every bit of power you can possibly muster. Hit your limit and then keep on pushin' and pushin' until you surpass it and everyone who's ever looked down on you. And then keep going. Or, die." To emphasize this final threat, or rather promise, Stefan shifted his body and stance so his left foot moved forward and his right arm cocked back with sword in hand. Without a millisecond of disruption or the tiniest opening, Stefan thrust his Zanpakuto forward with all the strength one could expect from someone like him. This action resulted in a massive blast of air pressure launched directly at Henrex's location, one which would explode outward and create a cylinder of wind which would travel for miles and tear through practically anything it comes in contact with.

Upon finishing the attack known as Kamikyan Boseki, or Spinning God Cannon, Stefan again changed his stance so his blade was held vertically in front of his body with his feet shoulder width apart and offhand to the side ready to defend from his capable challenger's attacks. And then he waited, hopefully for someone new. Something he hadn't seen yet.

Henrex may have been...slightly oblivious at times, but he wasn't stupid. Even while Stefan spoke, Henrex had taken careful note of the little things -- subtle movements of his body, the notable changes in his tone and dialogue. Thus, Henrex appeared to be rather...unaffected by the notes of harsh words. As Stefan rose to his feet, Henrex did as well, mimicking the swordsman's hand movements as a way to keep himself prepared and on guard.

With little time to process and plan for what Stefan had just said before his attack, Henrex immediately went into action as he saw the blade move. Lurching forward, his body instantly disappeared in a brief, black mist. Reaching out with his influence over the energy that occupied the robe around his shoulders, Henrex quickly performed a leap towards Stefan's shadow, stepping out from it and reappearing into view.

Furthermore, as he stepped back into view, the man's influence over the storms reached out, harnessing the wind that had been blasted where he had been standing less than a second ago and halting its movements, concentrating all of it in that specific area. Meanwhile, during all this, Henrex's mind was at work -- thinking and processing what Stefan had told him. Go at him with every last drop of power that he possessed.

The man turned to look at his hand, before returning his gaze to Stefan. While he said nothing in return, Henrex let out a quiet, shaky sigh as the sound of metal against wood rippled through the Wastelands as Henrex drew his sword.

If Stefan wanted every bit of power that he possessed, he would oblige.

Thus, as the man held his sword up to the sky, his eyes concealed by the shadows on his face, he uttered only three words:

"Strike, Shiro Rakurai."

The skies rumbled as these words were spoken, and dark clouds began to gather above the two warriors. A flash of white lightning raced across the skies, before crashing down onto Henrex's sword. A blinding white light began to shine as the rain started to pour down and thunder grumbled. Gradually, the light would fade -- revealing Henrex's form.

All of the blacks of his base state drowned in a brilliant white. Sparks of electricity jolted across his body, and powerful gusts of wind blew in from every possible direction. A blade-less sword rested in his hand, only to suddenly flare as lightning flooded into the weapon and formed into its blade. While his power had been held back before -- this release state knew only one thing: destruction. All of Henrex's power now was released -- taking influence on the world around them in the form of powerful winds that had enough power to destroy a continent, if he were so inclined.

Taking another look at his hands, Henrex turned his gaze once again back to Stefan.

"To be entirely honest...I'm still getting used to this. I only used this one time before, and...I'm a little scared of what I can do with this."

As soon as he finished speaking, the man's foot slid backward as he moved into his own stance, bringing his Zanpakuto to his shoulder before suddenly thrusting his sword forward with all his strength as a powerful blast of lightning hurtled from the weapon, aimed directly toward Stefan's heart, likely searing the ground around them, buffeting air currents, and cracking the earth beneath them for several meters.

After this, Henrex drew his sword back, keeping himself ready for retaliation. All the while, his hands tensed and constantly readjusted their grip on the handle as he let out a quiet breath. He could feel the influence of his demonic half, tugging and nagging at him -- to destroy, and devour. Thunder growled across the sky as these thoughts burned and raced through his mind. But, he pushed through and kept his focus. Right now, he had to keep his attention on the task at hand.

Having restrained himself, it was no surprise one on Henrex's level could dodge his previous attack. While Kamikyan Boseki possessed incredible destructive force, it lacked the sure-hit aspect some of his other attacks didn't need to worry about. Though when used with maximum strength its speed and wide range made it far more difficult to merely dodge out of the way of. Having followed the Captain's presence using his honed Reiatsu detection skill, Stefan didn't even turn around upon the Shinigami's re-emergence behind him. If he attacked, it was simply a matter of using his own abilities to deal with it, which shouldn't require turning around. Unless Henrex used Bankai. Immediately.

Which he did. The man's sudden release was what Stefan had been goading him into revealing, and while it likely wasn't Henrex's absolute maximum power (yet, at least), it was most certainly noting as significant. The change in weather and release of incredibly dense Reiatsu clearly identified it as his Bankai despite it's surprisingly Shikai-like release command. This resembled his own in that way. The rain was a bit obnoxious, wetting both Stefan's hair and clothes quite quickly, but the continued influence of the Bankai on the regional weather hinted at its wide-ranging capabilities. Along with this, Stefan could deduce from its use of wind, rain, and lightning that it possessed control over inclement weather instead of individual elements, which likely meant the skill with each aspect of storms would be inferior compared to an equivalent fighter who specialized solely in said element, but that together all three could pose potentially a greater threat. Control over multiple elements would allow for more versatility, which is threatening in and of itself.

The Captain's statement about fearing his own power was also worth noting as it showed a healthy amount of respect for his Zanpakuto's capabilities, a sentiment shared with Stefan about his own weapon. Mugenku's abilities regularly threatened his own life, which naturally would cause instinctual fear. However the moment it changes from a respectful sense of fear to being so frightened the wielder is unwilling to push it and himself, issues begin to arise. Noticeably, a person in this scenario would never know what they were truly capable of and as such stagnate or even weaken over time. Hopefully this would not apply to his current challenger.

The instant Henrex went on the offensive, perhaps in order to test the waters or get a handle on his own power, a massive burst of Hollow Reiatsu enveloped Stefan which countered the severe winds Henrex's Bankai was continuously creating. In the same moment his Zanpakuto struck over his shoulder, as he was still facing away from the Shinigami, and struck the lightning. Following this, the Vizard spun around and swung his sword to the right in a parry. During all of this a tremendous amount of energy had formed in his Zanpakuto as Void coated the weapon's tip. The latter focused and pulled in Henrex's electricity like a lightning rod while the former burst out from the weapon and blasted away his opponent's attack, sending it careening away before the mixture exploded violently a hundred meters away. Unlike the basically-undetectable Void hidden on his Zanpakuto's blade tip, the swirling energy which had encompassed the sword reeked of Hollow.

The visage Henrex would now be greeted with was a spiked black, white, and green Hollow mask covering his face with the eyes peeking out now being a vibrantly glowing black and green. As Stefan spoke there was a sinister second voice accompanying it, much more monstrous than the usual sound he produced. "A Bankai worthy of a Gotei Captain. But is that really it? Is "Gotei Captain" enough for you? All it took to parry your lightning was a simple Cero: Sosogikominasu. Come on....show me something more!"

To emphasize his statements, as he finished speaking an even larger burst of Reiatsu exploded outward from his body as both Stefan's Shinigami and Hollow powers mixed and fused to create something greater than the sum of its parts. The winds from before now howled even louder as the sky above seemed to split from the sheer volume of power leaking from the Vizard who'd long since reached the top of the world. Stefan moved so the tip of his blade was pressed against the back of his left arm before violently swiping his Zanpakuto, creating a tear in his skin and releasing a small amount of blood which swirled around and combined with the Hollow energy growing now rapidly expanding. All of this culminated at a small point a few inches off the tip of his Zanpakuto which was now radiating with so much power the space and time around it began distorting and ripping. Half a second later this energy was released as a terrifying explosion of black and green which expanded exponentially and tore apart everything in front of it. This Gran Rey-comparable Cero was formidable to say the least, its inherent maliciousness and malevolence coating the entire region in a sinister silence, shutting out the torrent of weather almost completely around it.

The sudden violence and aggression and Hollow traits and energy Stefan was now outputting made him more resemble a monstrous Arrancar than anything Shinigami-related. Knowing there was more darkness and power within Henrex's soul, Stefan figured unleashing something similar may draw out such potential. At the very least it would be fun to see how the Captain responds to such a change in pace.