Blood War

"The reason the Blood War happened was a result of different ideologies, the concept of blood purity, and many others. Too many our kind died in the previous conflict. There were too little of our leaders to control the rambling masses. The discovery of a new genetic mutation didn't help either."

- Katsumi Scarlet

The Blood War, also known as the Final Reikon Kyuuban War, and the Fushi Insurrection, was a devastating conflict of immense proportions instigated by the Elder Jiro Kamiko, an important figure who partially led Reikon Kyuuban forces to victory against the Quincy. The war began when he, along with several other Elders, established the Fallen Covenant and subsequently released legions of Fallen onto the unsuspecting and recovering Fushi Coven shortly after the previous war's conclusion. With the aid of his fellow Elders and hosts of followers, Jiro hoped to subvert Katsumi's hold over their species and rule in her stead as a way to initiate a much needed blood purge and cultural uplift.

During the conflict, Jiro Kamiko had nearly brought the Coven to its knees and was almost successful in his victory. But the timely sacrifices of the Harbringers and the controversial tactics dictated by the Katsumi's foremost Tactician and Arch General, Isshuku, abetted Jiro of his promising victory and sent his plans of conquest back at least a couple of years. Spurred on by the Covenant's defeat, Katsumi regathered her forces and continued to push into their former territory, at the expense of several armies. Reeling from the unforeseen counterattacks, Jiro, the Alpha, and his Lieutenants sent the majority of their forces to fortify the Covenant's outermost strongholds. After weeks of inconclusive battles, Jiro sent a specialized task force to track Katsumi and potentially take her down. Evidently failing, Katsumi moved her forces to the footsteps of Jiro's last bastion of defense, the City of Necropolis. There, Katsumi, Kain, Isshuku, and the Fushi Coven launched the final battle. Katsumi persevered over Jiro in Necropolis's Dread Tower, and the Coven routed the Fallen's forces. With Jiro's fatality, the Alpha killed, and the Covenant's Legions scattered and confused, the long and dreadful Blood War subsequently came to a complete end.

Origins
The seeds of the Blood War were sown some time prior before the conflict had come to pass. The roots were deeply entrenched in the turmoil merely referenced as the Reikon Kyuuban-Quincy War, collectively known as the Holy War. At that point in time, the Reikon Kyuuban had established a strong foothold in the World of the Living and continued to develop and reinforce the Coven with various advances in technology and magic. They were absolutely dedicated to the betterment and evolution of the Reikon Kyuuban species, having come to the conclusion that the delvement into Magic and Sorcery could achieve that. Sometime after, the Coven wished to establish themselves as the sole ruler of the. And to do so, they must focus their attention on the extermination any force capable of standing against them. To their knowledge, the only ones who stood in their way were the Ancient Quincy and their Empire, a similarly advanced race of high-spec Humans. Thus, they waged a genocidal war against their foes and two consistently clashed against each other.

Jiro Kamiko and Isshuku, Elders who both served Katsumi Scarlet as the Arch-Generals of the Fushi Coven, successfully led their campaign

Defeat of the Quincy
"Although the Fushi Coven had attained a victory over the Quincy Empire, they did win over one factor. They unknowingly converted one of the greatest minds we could ever hope to attain against us, and that would come back to bite us."

- Katsumi to Isshuku

After a series of brutal and bitterly contested conflicts on various cities such as Mercer and Brink, it was conclusively evident that the war's end was coming. As the devious battles started to reach an unholy and dangerous climax, Jiro was well-aware that the Quincy were up to something that neither the Fushi Coven or Katsumi could attest to. As a result, he secretly devised a way to gain an upperhand against their most hate enemies with the use of forbidden Dark Magics, so corrupted that neither Katsumi or the Harbringers refused to utilize it for their gain. Jiro believed that he alone was strong enough to subvert the negative influences. Working away from Isshuku's prying eyes, Jiro gathered his half of the Coven Forces and used a forbidden ritual to bind his most trusted followers to the Elder's very own will. These individuals would eventually become the foundations of Jiro's Fanatical Honor Guard - an elitist group kept secret even from Katsumi and the Elders themselves. In addition, Jiro also delved into the development of the newly discovered subspecies of Reikon Kyuubans - The Fallen, with the sole intent of perfecting the creation process. Subsequently, Jiro also started to consolidate various Quincy devices for his own purposes, possibly as a means to research its capabilities and reverse-engineer it for their own use.

After weeks of skirmishes and minor confrontations, Katsumi had Jiro and Isshuku gather their forces together outside the borders of the Empire's Capital, Atlantis, with the intent on having a final confrontation. The Queen Mother than instigated the deciding battle. For days the battle raged with such ferocity and brutality that it was believed to had involved every single inch of the city. Bodies littered the streets and were piled on each other with no end in sight. Soldiers from both sides constantly battled it out, explosions and screams happened here and there. While Isshuku managed and directed the bulk of the Coven's armies in the ensuing chaos, letting out a constant flow of troops to replace the ones lost, the other Elders served as Commanders who personally led the fight against their enemies.

During the chaotic battle, Katsumi, Jiro, and several of her personal guards, engaged with the reluctant First Quincy Council for supremacy. Having easily crushed Katsumi's guards, the Council faced the Queen Mother and Jiro with such ferocity that it surprised the two, as they had easily underestimated them due to their advanced age. However, Katsumi had foreseen their retaliation and unleashed her Kyūketsuki Sutēji, Blood Moon. The skies darkened into a red hue and started to cackle with energy while a Red Moon itself appeared dangerously close to them. Every Reikon Kyuuban within the vicinity faced an immense increase in power whilst Katsumi unlocked the rest of her abilities. With that in tow, she faced the surprised and confused First Council head on, killing one and wounding another in a few seconds. Well aware of their eventual defeat, the First Council activated their Letz Stils and fought Katsumi to the very end. She overwhelmed them with the aide of Jiro but in the Council's dying moments, they voluntarily overloaded their Final Forms, with the hopes of taking everyone to the grave. However, Katsumi was not foolish enough to stay long and commanded a full scale retreat of her forces in full haste, abandoning the remaining Quincy to their doom. In minutes, an explosion of enormous proportions occurred and reverberated throughout the entire Country, engulfing and destroying within its wake. Although a vast number of Quincy were killed during the fighting, the explosion caused one of the most devastating Purges in their recorded history; entire populations were killed off in seconds as they were engulfed by the blast. Subsequently, the geothermic foundations of the Continent weakened and collapsed under its own weight, ultimately resulting in Atlantis's sinking into sea, taking everything with it to the ocean's depths.

After ending the Holy War with a severely costly victory thanks to the tactical exploits of Isshuku and the countless sacrifices involved, Jiro took the majority of his forces into the surrounding regions and ensuing continents under the guise of tracking down the remnants of the Quincy Empire and eradicating them. Jiro unsuccessfully tried to convince his fellow Arch-General to do the same, stating that the Coven would be weak for the time being and it needed protectors during rebuilding. Even without the approval of Queen Mother Katsumi, Jiro left without a word and disappeared. Years passed without any word from the Jiro nor the Elders associated with him and the Coven had suspicions that they and the troops had been subsequently destroyed from a form of retaliation or by another foe. Decades would go by before anything reached the ears of the Coven.

Jiro's Return
After the victory over the Quincy's Capital Continent, Atlantis, the indoctrination efforts of Jiro's machinations started to be apparent throughout the ranks of the Coven's military placed under the command of the Arch-General Elder. Following the war's conclusion, almost all of those who had served under Elder Jiro severed their ties to the Katsumi and the Coven in favor of their esteemed Military Commander, having complete faith in his decisions. Among those who swore their loyalty included a few of the Coven's top military minds, tacticians, warriors, and Elders, such as Malik Hakim, Jubiar Sofian, and Giovanni Sable. As they forsook their oath of fealty and followed the former Arch-General into unknown territory, Jiro's darkening influence crept outward which ultimately spread and formed the very foundations of his Fallen Covenant.

During the Arch-General's fall from grace, Jiro and his most trusted lieutenants traveled across the lands to search for any surviving Quincy and eliminate them and their technology. Instead, they met the enigmatic Outsider, a mysterious being recently awakened from a centuries long sleep. Amused at the prospect of tampering with the world's fragile balance, the Outsider gifted Jiro with enhanced abilities and a plethora of forbidden knowledge for his own use, which seemingly fortified his already darkening intentions. After the deed was done, the Outsider left Jiro with information about a hidden Quincy device and smile, looking forward to the inescapable conflict soon to come. Spurred on by ambition and greed

The recent turn of events accelerated Jiro's plan of secession from Katsumi's leadership by an enormous margin. And in the following years, the Coven received numerous yet unsourced sightings that Jiro and several others had been spotted in Coven lands but without their army, as if they vanished from thin air. It would be later revealed, however, that they were scouting out outlying territories and other lands for future raids. They secretly visited these outposts and kidnapped various individuals, both Human and Reikon Kyuuban. Entire populations would disappear and outposts turned up as Ghost Towns. While the new unsettled the Elder Council and they called for numerous investigations, Katsumi ignored them and paid no attention; she believed it was merely Hollow attacks, possibly even a Quincy retaliation or an attempted Shinigami purge. But Katsumi couldn't be more than wrong. Using the Elder's forbidden sorcery and the Quincy's own technological devices, Jiro endowed his humans with fanatical loyalty and a fusion of abilities from both species. For his captured kinsmen, Jiro forcibly turned them into the Fallen and seemingly bounded their essences to the Elder's will with the use of magic and his Kyūketsuki Sutēji.

Fueled by dark knowledge and an inexhaustible amount of resources at his disposal,

The Battle of Necropolis
"It's Necropolis. Originally a jewel of the Fushi Coven, Jiro's madness and corruption had reduced it to a former shadow of itself."

- Isshuku

After clearing out the remainder of the Covenant's frontal Strongholds, Katsumi's forces left them in their decaying wake, bound

Aftermath
"The Blood War brought pain and suffering to everyone involved in the disastrous conflict. The forces amassed by Jiro's followers seemed nigh limitless. Entire cities were razed or wiped off the face of the world, the Humans were hunted relentlessly, and our armies were decimated. Even though Katsumi and the Elders defeated Jiro, the damage was done."

- Kain

The Blood War was considered by many to be one of the bloodiest conflicts ever faced by the Reikon Kyuuban, even surpassing the bloodshed that was wrought by the previous Quincy War decades prior.

Fushi Coven
Still recovering from the wake of the Quincy War, the very conflict that saw the fall of many of their numbers, the Fushi Coven were solely focused on the rebuilding and revitalization of their species and society. When the Blood War initially broke out, Katsumi believed it was merely an independence movement and was hesitant to commit valuable resources to investigate the occurrences. As a result, the early stages of the Blood War were barely met with opposition. It wasn't until reports of turncoat Elders appeared that the Coven decided to act. However, her hesitance came to haunt them shortly after.

The core of the Fushi Coven Military consisted of nearly the entire Reikon Kyuuban population who remained allied with Katsumi and the majority of the Elders. This included several infamous groups widely feared and respected by their entire species such as the Harbringers and the Thirteen Dracula. Established well before the unification of the Fushi Coven, they were considered the elite and strongest of their society. Additional beneficial factors included the utilization of advanced reversed-engineered Quincy technology and conscripts that proved to be the defining point of their standing army. Without these factors, the Blood War would had shortly come to an end without much of a resistance.

As the war unfolded, Jiro's servants made efforts to secretly assassinate or corrupt Katsumi's officials in an attempt to undermine her efforts in the war and have them join his own faction. In a way to counteract Jiro's efforts, Katsumi bonded them to the Queen Mother's very own will through an unknown ritual. This ensured their utmost loyalty and any attempts to turn them typically resulted in a pile of burning ash. Numerous Elders and Special Reikon Kyuubans were dispatched by Katsumi as a means to devise various methods to forestall or thwart Jiro's advancing legion of Fallen and Followers. Although considered successful to an extent, Katsumi had lost the majority of her agents, likely killed by the opposition.

Even though the war came to a close, the Fushi Coven's trials as an organization did not come to an end. Repercussions immediately became apparent shortly after its conclusion. Having lost a vast number of the Coven's leadership and over half of the population, it would had taken centuries to repopulate. Even longer to reclaim the lands they had formally lost to the Fallen Horde. Despite taking an optimistic approach to foster reclamation and recovery, skirmishes with concerned Shinigami and vengeful surviving Quincy made matters worse; they actively hunted Reikon Kyuuban, especially the Elders. These acts ultimately whittled down their numbers even more. Consequently, Katsumi started to distance herself from the Coven and after a certain period, evidently abdicated her throne to the few remaining Elders, namely the Dark Council,[[Kain Daisuke, and Stray Scarlet. Although the Fushi Coven managed to recover the organization's former strength and continued to prosper for centuries afterwards, it never achieved the greatness they had once possessed long ago. Continuing onward, the Coven slowly began to deteriorate in the last half of the 19th Century due to the ill-effectiveness of their leadership and the development of numerous factions. It wasn't until the long-awaited return of their fabled matriarch, Katsumi, that the Coven would undergo a form of "restoration" and prosper once again.

Fallen Covenant
Formed from the remnants of Jiro's and his Elder allies forces at the end of the Quincy War, the newly christened Fallen Covenant grew exponentially in size and power. Most of it was largely attributed to the utilization of forbidden technologies to grant a large number of Spiritually Aware Humans abilities similar to their own. These individuals were then forcibly conscripted and conditioned to be fanatical followers of Jiro and his people, willing to give their lives for the continuation of the "greater good" as dictated by their leader.

The core of the Fallen Military consisted of those who solely pledged their allegiance to their rebellious Elder Leaders, rather than the collective leadership of Katsumi and the remaining Elders. This included several of the most famous and talented individuals known to their kind, such as Malik Hakim, Jubiar Sofian, and Giovanni Sable. Other beneficial factors were the mass production of the Reikon Kyuuban's most hated iterations of themselves - The Fallen. These creatures of the night were considered to be the repulsive perversions of their species as they were the epitome of Reikon Kyuuban instincts and savagery. Thousands upon thousands of Humans were forcibly turned and denied the necessities of their new lifestyle. As a result, newly borne Reikon Kyuubans degenerated further into a state thought to be worse than death. Adding to that, Jiro discovered a way to further enhance the Fallen War Machine. Through an undisclosed means, he developed the Advanced Fallen, creatures with enhanced abilities and intelligence. They were a sight to behold and a force to fear on the battlefield.

Going with Jiro's version of supposed blood purity, the Fallen Covenant proceeded eradicate the Fushi Coven's population without mercy and grace. While Katsumi preferred to use tactics, hindsight, and diplomacy to her advantage. Jiro abandoned her notion and simply opted for brute force and savagery, slaughtering everyone who dared opposed him and his plans. Ironically, Jiro's advocation of blood purity was hardly enforced in his campaign for supremacy; he merely exterminated entire populations. However, it was believed that his belief only extended to the Fallen Covenant and Katsumi's Coven was considered to be the impure entity. At the same time, Jiro focused a large contingent of his forces in developing a method to effectively and permanently seal Katsumi Scarlet, whose sole presence proved to be one of the few things that kept them at bay, despite overwhelming numbers on their part. But their attempts were largely unsuccessful; they only served to momentarily stop her as well as incur the Queen's elated wrath. Eventually, Katsumi and her Elders prevailed against her former servant in a decisive yet disastrous battle.

In the wake of Jiro Kamiko's defeat, the Fallen Covenant quickly fell apart, mainly in part of their inability to comprehend the severity of the situation and over reliance on one central figure to lead them. Infighting amongst the remaining leaders and soldiers were prominent; they wished to claim ownership over what little scraps of power were left. Without Jiro's abilities to rule over them, the Fallen seemingly went berserk and underwent a rampage, attacking anyone within their sights, former allies and enemies alike. But even they killed themselves through infighting. By the time the Fushi Coven were able to mount an offensive against the remnants, they only discovered ruins and the ruined corpses of their former kinsmen. Although the last vestiges of Jiro's Covenant continued to prosper for centuries, they were finally obliterated in the last half of the 17th Century by the Quincy.

Jiro Kamiko
An extremely powerful and charismatic Reikon Kyuuban, Jiro was considered to be one of the most powerful individuals of their kind, only second to Katsumi Scarlet, and surpassing many of his brethren. A mysterious and secretive figure for the majority of his life, he spent countless years delving into the Dark Arts and understanding the true potential of Reikon Kyuuban physiology.

By the end of the war that followed a

Trivia

 * It was strange to note that even with the massive destruction and deaths of Humans and Reikon Kyuuban numbered in the supposed millions, the did not intervene at all.

Behind the Scenes

 * Although created as the second War Article on the site, after the Great Guardian Purge, the Blood War was technically the first of its kind to be completed.