To Slay a Tyrant [AfriCatastrophe, Act IV]

He had waited so long for this moment. Despite everything that had happened, his Hollowfication, the bombing on the hospital keeping him from leaving the Seireitei, he had been so very, very patient. So, upon hearing that Asher the Empty-Hearted had surfaced once again, he was quick to throw himself at the opportunity. The moment he was able, he sped across the Soul Society, through the Dangai, and onto Earth, never stopping until he finally made his way to the crater and where Asher had reportedly been sighted.

The moment he arrived, he made sure that everyone in the immediate vicinity and beyond were evacuated, whether through his own hand or by other responders. Anything that dared hinder those efforts were dealt with swiftly, efficiently, and mercilessly. The Captain moved in a thundering dance across the field, cutting through Hollows with no hesitation. Single, simple slashes tore through one after another, and any that bore resistance, a flash of azure blue rippled along his blade, and they too would fall.

As the area was cleared, with the battlefield now empty, Yuuto's stance returned to one of deceptive openness as he spoke:

"Scatter the birds, Raiu."

The phrase was whispered with deftly hidden vitriol, and the usual silent spiritual power he carried erupted. The skies had began to darken, rain began to fall, thunder quietly rumbled in the distance. His sword went from a brilliant gold to a pure white in the hilt, and the blade stained black with an erratic, pronged, fork-like design of gold standing out, all the while, four rings hovered behind him silently.

The warm, gentle, loving eyes that many knew had now been replaced by cold, calculating umber, and behind that coldness was pure, unadulterated hate.

Again.

Chaos on Earth.

Of course she's down there, fighting the good fight. Hollow came at her in hordes, but all she had for them was death. Her fists bloody, she carried herself through the battlefield, step by step. Each foot forward brought Hell onto another creature, another untamed beast that needed to be put down. To keep it simple, Elyss has had enough of this. She found herself feeling nothing for the creatures that attacked the land she called home. Killing them is only a means to an end, to bring sanity back to her world. She doesn't like her head being filled with nothing but murderous nonsense, but she'll not turn herself off until everything's done.

The rise of energy aways from her did catch her attention. She can recognize Yuuto, but with him being a Captain, she didn't find a reason to interrupt him. He has some personal grudges to handle, so she doubts he wants anyone interfering for right now. If things get too wild out here, she may have to stand by his side, but for now, the Captains of the Gotei are cleaning the battlefield like power washers. If only they used water instead of blood.

Asher had climbed to an infinitely higher pinnacle. Not simply by reaching the surface world here, but by conquering even his own limitations as a hollow. By taking away the mask that defined him, even if another, in a radically different nature, had taken its place. The power he had stolen from that miserable serpent had served well as another step upward, and now he reached the surface, pesquisa of an unfathomable level echoing through the whole of the area as he sensed out everything here.

Ah. There it was. Quarry he had sought to crush underfoot. He took a step, the buzz of sonido marking it as he suddenly appeared before his chosen foe. His blade was clutched in both hands, raised upward effortlessly. Such was the nature of a zanpakuto, in comparison to a mere weapon.

"Yuuto Hisakawa. We meet again."

The zanpakuto cut downward, at speed unbelievably faster than what he had ever achieved as a mere hollow. This existence as Arrancar pleased him. It was far greater, far stronger, than his prior form.

Yuuto remained unfazed as he both sensed and saw his target approach. Even with the notable change that had occurred, he remained unshaken. Rather, this change sparked more thoughts and strategies in his head, even as Asher lifted his sword. He didn't have the axe anymore -- now there'd be a lack of weight to his attacks compared to before, and given that the mask was gone, he figured it was safe to assume that he had discovered the Hollow's capability to evolve.

Don't give him time to release. Keep the pressure on, or try to take him quick.

As the weapon cut down, Yuuto was quick to step to the side, neatly avoiding the attack. He didn't bother responding to Asher's greeting -- this wasn't some friendly duel. Rather, the Captain immediately went back on the offense. He drew his sword to his shoulder, using the momentum of his dodge to continue his pivot into a response. Without hesitation or mercy, in the blink of an eye, he blitzed forward and past his opponent in a blinding flash of azure blue, lightning along his sword as he aimed for a single slash to the neck.

Regardless of whether it connected, was deflected or blocked, Yuuto would continue his movement to get him out of immediate danger and some needed breathing room. There was no mask to cut anymore -- both a benefit and detriment. But, with this new evolution, there were many questions to answer, ones that he would have to learn throughout this bout, and he would use every last scrap of information he could get to finally put Asher down.

Mmm...

"Get all the injured and evacuate the area around Captain Hisakawa," Elyss ordered, speaking into her Denreishinki. "Set up a perimeter, but do not interfere."

The average soldier's nothing more than a hindrance for what's currently happening. The explosive presence in the area told her enough. There's not a lot of things that would openly charge at a Captain, but with little understanding of the situation, the best course of action is to wait.

Waiting sucks, but as light streaked across the battlefield, Elyss figured she's better off watching and learning. She'll get to see the Arrancar's fighting style and abilities and hopefully think of someway to help that doesn't actually end up making things worse.

His opponent had learned. But Asher had done so as well, and he had not simply learned: He had grown far stronger, his body more capable than ever before. An evasive sonido kept him away from Yuuto's blade, but told him already that he could not idle about. Good. He hated to idle. As his opponent made space, Asher's hand moved upward, to the new mask he supposedly wore.


Effortlessly, it slid away, and revealed the truth of this new form. The Hollow Hole which marked every Arrancar rested behind that false mask, and the moment it had been pulled away, an explosion of reiatsu made it abundantly clear that, even if his form had not changed overmuch, he had already released Resurreccion. But just as quickly, a new mask manifested itself upon his face, one more monstrous, less rigid and emotionless than Asher's own.

The essence of fallen prey now carried Asher to victory, and as another sonido carried him toward Yuuto, his blade cut out at speeds far faster than before. However, the blade itself had changed just as much; now wreathed in icy mist, which left a wake of ice behind every slash as even the water in the air froze and fell to the earth below.

Every conquest was but a step toward greater heights. He would climb upward on the corpses of the fallen, until all was in his grasp.

As the two maintained their brief distance, Yuuto remained on guard. Both hands gripped his sword, the tip slightly pointed down with the pommel pointed at his waist, his feet slightly spread out, with one a half-step back. As Asher's hand went to the mask, Yuuto was quick to begin moving again, surging forward furiously as his stance suddenly shifted, his sword lifted above his head to cut down mercilessly. He had made a bad call -- he should have questioned the mask and continued an endless flurry of attacks.

But, at the sudden eruption of power, he stopped in his tracks, wincing lightly from the buffeting winds as Asher's Resurreccion was released. As the new mask manifested and Asher moved in to cut down at him, Yuuto's stance shifted immediately once more, changing back to the defensive style he had adapted before to reinforce his legs, bringing his sword up to block.

Even before they clashed, he noticed the change in aesthetics and properties in Asher's sword, now wreathed in boreal mist. His fingers were growing numb, and the air itself succumbed to the shift in temperature.

Through silent, mental command, the four rings behind him began to sluggishly move around him, before suddenly unleashing an eardrum-shattering blast of explosive concussive force, intent on not only stunning Asher -- even if only momentarily -- but also sending him flying backward.

'Can't let the cold stay around my hands for long. Even if I can ignore the pain, I need to still be able to feel them.'

The storm around them continued to build, lightning striking far more frequently, and thunder roaring in response. Even if the blasts didn't knock Asher away, Yuuto was not foolish enough to remain in one place. Kicking off the ground, he launched himself backward and into the air, lifting his sword up as a bolt of lightning crashed down onto it. Without a moment's hesitation, he swung his sword, hurling the bolt toward Asher like a spear as he fell back to the ground.

Already he was preparing for another clash: storing energy to keep him ready and able to move so as to eliminate the need for build-up, overloading his body with lightning through Raitairyu to bolster him even more, and lightning now surged violently along the edge of his blade, giving it even more cutting power.

In the blink of an eye, Yuuto blitzed forward, whether to meet Asher or simply to extend his assault, and furiously tore his sword upward, unleashing a flurry of slashes behind it. Whispers in the back of his mind urged him onward, louder than ever now that they were near its progeny, his pulse pounded in his ears, and his hands throbbed and pulsed with every swing.

Part of him was exhilarated to feel the thrill of battle again beyond skulking in the shadows, silently eliminating those ordered to him. His heart soared at being able to utilize the power and skill he had spent so long honing, refining, and mastering against a powerful opponent. Yet, with the monster that had been created as a result, and the clash of fundamental ideals, his heart had also become mired with contempt and hate.

Despite the thrill of the fight thought to have been forgotten, Asher was nothing more than another test and obstacle to overcome, something else to become part of his evolution so that he could protect his home and his loved ones without fail. He had no intent of leaving with the bitter taste of defeat once again.

Being knocked back was hardly within Asher's acceptable outcomes, but he found there was little that he could do as the impact shook him to his core. The mask he had donned cracked from the impact, and as quickly as it had been donned, it shattered, revealing the hollow hole beneath. Yet, just as quickly, another mask formed over it, different yet again from the last as his blade once again shifted in its form. Lightning crackled over its blade as he raised the weapon up, a diagonal cut bisecting the lightning bolt before it struck him fully.

The same could not be said, however, for the rest of the cuts that came toward him, which Asher could do little but attempt to deflect. Those he could not match were mitigated by hierro, and it was only by way of the intensity of his release that he was not completely bisected by the strikes. Still, he was not one to bide his time overlong. His opponent raged forward, fought with a violence that had not been there prior.

Asher had no qualms about risk in battle, and so his hand tightened around his blade's hilt as he moved himself wholesale into the path of one of the strikes, lessening the momentum it could build by placing himself into it. At the same instant, his blade shot forward, the lightning which wreathed it dispelling as the blade effortlessly cleaved through the sound barrier toward Yuuto.

Again, it was repelled. No matter. Asher would fall in time. What was granted from every move was more information. The masks weren't like a traditional Hollow Mask. From what he could garner, they seemed to be representative of powers assimilated from others. The one before had been broken, causing his sword to switch from ice to lightning.

The question now was simple: Could he return to another one from before? Were the loss in masks permanent? And, most importantly...did they loop? The down time between the masks as they switched, for most, was miniscule, barely able to be capitalized on. But, even if it were fractions of seconds, with the distance of this field...he knew that there was something he could do.

As Asher's blade shot forward like a spear, Yuuto's thunder-charged body was quick to switch stances, the sound of their swords clashing coming before his own sword hissing as it cut through the air and sound barrier even faster than the now-Arrancar he faced. Despite the sword-bind, Yuuto was quick to utilize the opportunity. Deep in his soul, he could feel the change.

Lifting his arms and holding Asher's blade above them, pressed against the tsuba, the rumble of nearby thunder masked his words as he spoke in a whisper.

"Bankai. Toriun Ikazuchui."

For the briefest of moments, silence encompassed the battlefield, before a bolt of lightning suddenly crashed down onto the field, striking Yuuto and -- by extension, Asher -- as an even greater torrent of power and pressure tore across the continent. The four rings that idled behind him doubled, now having eight in total.

The bolt that had struck the two was far powerful than anything Yuuto had unleashed beforehand, for with his Bankai active, the limited strength of his lightning had now finally reached its full potency. One of his rings quickly altered itself, turning into raw lightning, before taking the form of a sword.

Without delay, he released the weapons from their bind -- should they still be in it -- and in the blink of an eye, swung with both swords, emboldened with lightning, with intent to cut off both of his arms, as well as slashing in an X-shape to cut through the mask. In that very same instant, his body seemingly teleported backward, flashing across the battlefield before stopping next to Elyss.

"The effects of his sword change with the masks. I don't know how many of them there are, their effects, or if they loop back to the first one."

Without another word, he quickly looked to her, signaling to his Bankai that she was his designation, his "lord," under Wakaikazuchi. Four of the rings drifted over behind her, and one of the rings behind Yuuto wrapped around her body. While the lightning Asher wielded was likely incredibly temporary, a precaution was never bad to act on. He didn't have a lot of time before Asher, in all likelihood, went back on the offensive, so as he prepared himself, he spoke quickly.

"I don't have a lot of time to explain, but you can use the rings behind you. If you need a sword, think of turning one of the rings into one. You can move them with thought, but they're somewhat slow. You can fire yourself or other objects through the rings to increase their power and speed."

Spoiler:

"Who made you boss?" Elyss muttered, barely taking into account the rings Yuuto bestowed her. She didn't particularly ask for them, nor is something this technical really her style. However, as a technical fighter of sorts, she already had an understanding of their capabilities from simply watching him.

That doesn't change the fact that he's asking her to intervene in his fight by proxy. She's not particularly keen in interrupting a fight between combatants. There's a difference between fighting a mindless Hollow and a seasoned warrior. She doesn't particularly care about fairness, but working with someone has its complications, especially when you've never fought alongside them before. Maybe they'll be a good team, but any mishaps between the two of them could be fatal. This isn't an opponent to mess around with.

However, what's she supposed to do right now? The Arrancar's busy handling Yuuto's attack. It's probably not going to kill.