Dawn of the Coven

Assault on the Ninth Division
With a wave of his hand and a single spoken word, Kazuya cremated a veiled member of the Kido Corps with a wave of golden flames, before he whirled around just in time to fend off a mighty assault from his main adversary, a tall man clad in billowing red robes. He recognized this man as Eijiro Umegashi, a high-ranking member of the Yorutai Division and someone he'd once fought alongside in bringing rogue shinigami to justice, yet here they were, interlocked in a dance of death.

Kazuya stood facing his opponent in the middle of a large multi-layered barrier that had been erected around him to confine his movement, while veiled spellcasters maintained the spell from the outside, ensuring that the Captain of the Ninth Division could not escape his predicament. His former companions in the Corps knew all of his strengths and weaknesses and they'd set their sights on removing him from the equation altogether. Inbetween the two men the space convulsed, groaned and burst into multi-colored flames that struggled against one another, whirling and fanning themselves into towering infernos of yellow, red and blue, as both Kazuya and Eijiro struggled to exert their control over the noble art and use it to annihilate the other. By this point both of them had suffered heavy injuries, Kazuya's Shikai had been broken and bodies littered the ground all around them, most of them members of the Kido Corps that the Captain had struck down to defend his subordinates.

He could tell he was growing gradually more desperate, several members of his division had already fallen in battle and each death shook him to the core, it was all Kazuya could do to not scream in rage, all he could do to maintain his cool even under this terrible betrayal. Most of the fallen had been idealistic new recruits who'd just begun their Shinigami career, they'd been eviscerated by bolts of lightning, burned to death with arcane flames and crushed by conjured slabs of stone. Most of them never even had the chance to draw their Zanpakuto, he'd ordered Hisagi to watch over the new recruits rather than assist him in battle, ensuring that their numbers didn't dwindle anymore than they already had. Kazuya was expendable, but the young Shinigami in his Division were the future of Soul Society and of utmost importance. Shūhei-san, please protect them in my place.

The other officers had been given the same order, they were to defend themselves and their subordinates to the best of their ability, while their Captain shouldered the brunt of their assault and aimed to fight off as many of them as possible. In this endeavour he'd been successful, but although many enemies had been brought down, Kazuya had suffered injuries of his own in the meantime, his chest was charred from arcane flames, and his shoulder was partially frozen solid, he was also bleeding profusely from numerous deep cuts and gashes produced by Eijiro's skillful use of.

Drawing a deep breath, Kazuya issued the powers of Kido into motion, manifesting as whirling twisters of golden flames that encircled and entrapped his adversary, with elaborate hand gestures he directed the spell unto completion, as he sought to swiftly annihilate his target and join up with officers to drive the enemy off, but that was when he heard a chuckle and a voice chanting within the fiery maelstrom.

"O burning child, murderer in the womb; to thee I extend my hand, a fathers grief, your mothers scream -- the river that boils in blood, I beseech thine return, Kagutsuchi. Hadō #54. Haien!"

Before his eyes, Kazuya's flames were completely subsumed into Eijiro's spell, which erupted in the form of a massive violet conflagration that slithered across the ground towards the Captain, with a notably hint of desperation in his voice, the Kido Specialist summoned most of his power to mount a defense, then the spell struck him.

Flames with such impossible intensity that they were rumored capable of incinerating time itself washed over Kazuya's form and spread throughout the entire courtyard, incinerating all and everything they struck upon impact and setting the entire region ablaze, the immense heat causing trees and woodlands in the surorunding area to spontaneously catch fire. Eijiro had given his life in pursuit of whatever goals the Corps had, and it was an appropriate sacrifice for when the spell died away, the Captain of the Ninth Division fell onto his side, both of his arms and most of his legs incinerated, the rest of his body had been charred almost beyond recognition. He could feel no pain, for there was hardly enough left of him to do so. But he still had enough strength to speak, although he doubted anyone would hear him under these circumstances, he assumed this would be it for him, and he'd say his parting words even if there were no one around to hear them.

"I'm sorry, Keiichi.. I don't think I'll get the chance to visit that bar of yours. Kenji, please forgive your dumb teacher. Shūhei.. you are now the acting Captain of the Ninth Division, and great-grandfather.. thanks for your companionship all these years."

He'd been able to shuffle around so that he faced the barracks of the ninth division, even in his sorry state. It had fared little better from the blast than he had, and its roofs and walls were aflame with the violet fires of Haien, and so was the previously radiant courtyard of his division, which had been reduced to a burning battlefield. All bodies of Shinigami and Kido users alike were gone, for Haien had cremated all organic matter within its reach.. purged the place clean of life and waste. But Kazuya simply smiled, for he had the utmost confidence in his officers, even as he waited for his bane to find him.