Wrath of the Archdemon: Ares

Onslaught! First Stage of the Invasion!
''"I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell." '''

-General William Tecumseh Sherman

The next few days happened as if it was only moments for some of the Soul Reapers preparing for war. Civilians were all sent to secure shelters where they'd be protected by Captain Unohana and a number of select volunteers numbering up to two hundred able bodied Soul Reapers. Captain Unohana's Lieutenant would manage the hospitals and emergency med teams as best as she can, and is ordered not to engage hostiles unless her med teams are in danger.

Regular patrols done by the Stealth Force and joint equipment utilized by the 12th Division scoured any cracks within security as well as send a few scouts to check the outlying Rukonagi Districts for possible enemy infiltrators. Their ninja-garbed bodies moved to and fro with swift speed and caution, not wanting a repeat of what happened to their comrades when discovering Ultharon.

The Gate Guardians were on full alert, honing themselves and keeping in sharp readiness for any incoming intruders who might try to make it for the gates. With revitalized strength and vigor, they are eager to prove themselves after the humiliation of failing to stop the Ryoka Invasion prior twelve years ago to this date.

The 7th Division worked in conjunction with the 11th and the 9th Divisions in order to patrol along the large circular wall of Sekkiseki, making sure no single side could be breached without their knowing. Sajin Komamura almost hesitated in working near Kenpachi Zaraki again, but Kensei Mugurama kept the two of them from fighting, and the powerful fighting force worked in a cohesive, necessary manner around the walls of the Seireitei.

Despite the walls being as resilient as they were, the fact that Ultharon was able to penetrate its defenses as if there was no barrier or wall in his way was nearly beyond belief. With this in mind, Captains Shinji Hirako, Shunsui Kyōraku and Jūshirō Ukitake operated the central internal security force with their respective Divisions and Officers, in the event the enemy got past the outer Seireitei gates and walls.

Waiting on standby would be the 10th, 3rd, and 6th Divisions underneath their respective Captains: Toshiro Hitsugaya, Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi, and Byakuya Kuchiki, along with their respective Divisions and Officers.

Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto would be directing all strategems and oversee the battle on Sōkyoku Hill, his Division in full force and battle readiness surround the rocky formation in strategic locations, but make sure not to be too close to their leader. When the Head Captain reacts, there would too much collateral to his own men to make it worth securing them nearby.

With all this being said, Seu-Feng was finally able to be released from the Hospital under Isane's orders, only if she didn't do anything reckless like she did fighting Ultharon. While she said she'd make no promises, she assured her she would approach this war with a more tactful, calculated outlook than before. She wouldn't be a burden to anyone...especially now.

"You okay?"

Next to her stood Akisame, his weapon slung over his back and his hands in his pockets as he looked over to his comrade. His face didn't show it, but his voice gave a slight hint of concern. She had just gotten out of the hospital, and still probably not capable of fighting at her full capacity.

"Its been three days, Akisame," Seu-Feng said offhandedly, fastening her forearm protectors as well as her additional shin guards, made of specially crafted material to add protection while granting light weight to allow her maximum speed abilities, "if I stand around while my men patrol out there, I'm doing both a disservice to the Stealth Force as well as to myself. Its not like I'm going to use Bankai outright...its usually not my style," she eyed Akisame briefly, before smiling at him with hidden meaning.

In return, the man gave her a slight smile, and looked back out into the distance. "I'd say so. I've never seen it up close, but based on the bright light that I saw in the Cracked Valley, I'd say that it wouldn't be the best thing to use in here."

Seu-Feng smiled wryly, patting him on the cheek as if touching a child, "Nice try, but you'd have to get me incredibly willing to disregard all my practiced forms of combat in order to use such a flashy attack like that. Especially just to show off for the likes of you," she then turned around and adjusted a breastplate over her black linen uniform, before grasping her Haori, "its the burden we Captains cannot unload. Going into duty, despite if its convienant or not, is what we swore to do as we taken these positions of distinguished, honorary titles."

"Last resort eh?" he smirked, rifling around an object in his right pocket. "I can understand that. But I can be impressed pretty easily."

Seu-Feng smirked, crossing her arms as she arched her brow, before her voice asked her from behind, "Really?"

WHIZ!

Within a blink of an eye she disappeared before his eyes as she had initiated the Flash Step maneuver that made her almost nigh invisible. It was...almost in comparison to Yoruichi if Akisame would think back to his times as a boy who looked up to a godesss.

"Okay okay, you got me."

He let out a sigh, still retaining his smile. At first he was initially taken aback by her incredible speed, and how similar to Yoruichi the woman was. "She taught you everything, didn't she?"

"Not everything," Seu-Feng said with a tinge of remorse, clenching her knuckles lightly, "the one art that the preceeding Commander-in-Chiefs of the Stealth Force always carried with pride and honor, was Shunko. Not even my Lady could harness its full potential, as it was said to rival the use of even a Bankai at its prime."

"Oh." he replied, looking down slightly as if he regreted bringing her up. "I've heard of Shunko. It's a fused variation of the user's hand to hand prowess and Kido, right?"

"Which is a incredibly difficult art," she answered readily, grasping her Zanpakuto and properly fastening it onto her waist horizontally in a habitual manner, "one must be both a master in the Kido Arts as well as Hand-to-Hand combat in order to utilize its fullest potential. By harnessing its core on the users back and shoulders, this allows all momentum to the limbs to be incredibly augmented. You need a incredibly high amount of stamina and physical resilience as well as complete fluid control over the millions of spiritrons vibrating around your body, and then harness the release of spiritual energy simultaneously with personal speed and physical strength," as she finished adjusting her Zanpakuto, she then turned around to wrap a yellow border-black headband across her forehead, before adjusting her hair into a single braid to let it flow freely down her shoulders past the small of her back, "in other words, if even my late Lady Yoruichi couldn't even perfect it, neither could I. No...I think the next generation will get it right, I'm sure of it."

"If you keep at something for long enough, you're bound to get it right someday." he added, putting his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, and giving her a cool smile along with it. "Who knows? Given enough time and patience, you may just be the first to perfect it after all."

"Yeah," She said before shrugging off his hand, walking towards the exit of the hospital room, "in another decade or so, maybe. If we survive this war, I'll maybe show you a thing or two about it...perhaps you could learn a thing or two from it."

"Might just do it, though from what you've probably guessed, i'm a pretty slow learner." he said, catching up to her as they both left the hospital to greet the shining afternoon sun.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot...."

He then pulled out a black and silver necklace, with a black wolf pendant at it's very center, having it's mouth open as if it was howling with two diamond eyes that one could see themselves in if they looked.

"Here." he said, holding it out for Seu-Feng to take it. "It's an old good luck charm that a chief of a Native American tribe gave to me when I was wandering around the Human World. It's a good luck charm for leaders of warriors of the tribe."

Seu-Feng looked at Akisame strangely, almost as if he was giving the wrong kind of gift to the wrong person. Then, she thought it would be rude to refuse a gift like this, so she extended her hand and grasped it gently, letting it string down to hang in front of her eyes, letting her look at the beautiful reflective diamons engraved within the pendant, "Its beautiful craftsmanship...though I'm pretty sure they don't make these any more," she then looked at him peculiarly, jingling it in emphasis, "are you sure you want to part with something like this?"

He smiled warmly as he put his hands back in his pockets. "I'm sure. I always intended to give it to someone special anyway. Plus if I keep it then it would probably get broken, since it would be in my pocket." he finished, rubbing the back of his head.

Seu-Feng made a blank-looking face as she said, "Figures."

She then pocketed the pendant, making sure it was fastened safely and securely, before heading out of the room, "Did you get an assignment from Head Captain yet? I don't believe I know your specific post within the Soul Society's defenses..."

"As a matter of fact..." he began, shifting his hands to his pockets and following her once more. "...he assigned me to you. I'm to follow your orders like all the other subordinates under your command."

"Great," Seu-Feng looked blank and unamused by the sentiment, "it seems my superior won't forgive me for not subduing you, so he placed the troublemaker within possession of the Stealth Force leader's hands. I guess he's counting on the fact that if you step out of line, I'll put an end to you...how much of a pain this is going to be, I can't even fathom," she grumbled with the blank, bemused expression on her facial features as she walked out of the 4th Division's barracks, vaguely noticing the additional security of some spare 1st Division members, all garbed in their traditional borderline regal attire.

"Hey I'm not that tough." he replied, walking alongside her. "You could end it in one swift movement....unless I'm in Bankai of course." he said, retaining his teasing smile.

"Don't flatter yourself," Seu-Feng said with a fox-like smile, speaking a bit evilly as she narrowed her eyes into sharp corners as she sideglanced at him, "you wouldn't even see me coming. That is...the nature of a Stealth Force Soul Reaper after all, and I am their Commander-in-Chief and Captain. So, even if a Soul Reaper releases the true form of their Bankai, I can still move as fast as if they were standing still...you've not even begun to grasp the true prowess of my abilities."

"How do you think I held out against that Vasto Lorde?" he said back, still smiling in a teasing way. "If my Bankai is activated, physical attacks do very little to no damage to me. The opponent would have to resort to using ranged attacks like Kido to do anything."

He then folded his hands on the back of his head, looking up to the sky. "But then again. You are a Stealth Force Captain after all, and Yoruichi-"

He stopped himself before he could say more, knowing how sensative of a topic Yoruichi was to both of them. "...And there was only one other person capable of finding a hole in it's physical defense."

"You don't need to coddle me," Seu-Feng said in a almost spiteful manner, though she made no inclination at any anger towards him other than his forgetfulness as she fixated her eyes upon the secured road, "I'm an adult and I know how to handle grief when appropiate. Shell shock is something even Captains can find themselves susceptible in, if you haven't already guessed."

He let out a sigh in response. "Sorry. It's just-"

"Captain."

A youthful appearing man then appeared before the two of them. He wore the standard Soul Reaper attire, save for a metal armor piece on his left shoulder and a blue strap that went diagnally towards his lower right waist. His eyes were grey, and his hair was long and blue as he knealt before Seu-Feng in the manner that all subordinates would.

"The Commander has requested an immediate update on your status." he said plainly.

Seu-Feng briefly acknowledged him with a narrowing stare before she spoke back in her professional tone, "Tell the Head Captain I'm back on my feet and ready to fight to the death, if necessary, for the betterment of the Soul Society," she then briefly closed her eyes, before reaching out with her Spiritual Pressure to her outlying men, feeling them move swiftly and silently through the outer reaches of the Rukonagi Districts and the edge of the forests beyond it, "what's the status of our security?"

"It hasn't changed, unfortunately." the man replied, still kneeling. "The Research Department still hasn't been able to discover how the enemy manages to breach our defenses, and at least six of our scouting parties have gone missing in the past two hours."

"Then they aren't far off." Akisame commented to himself, crossing his arms and having a serious expression.

"But that only means that the enemy is holding back the bulk of their forces for when they actually breach our defenses," Seu-Feng deduced, looking over to the horizon in emphasis, "the fact that they're laying low and taking out only the scouting parties means they intend to wait until the last absolute second before deploying their full strength. Even if Ultharon has raised an army as large as he claims it would be suicide for hundreds of Hollows to launch a berserk strike against both the outlying Stealth Forces and the Gate Guardians protecting the wall. They'd need a great deal more bodies or more powerful ones if they'd force the three Divisions off the wall to aid in the fight."

"One of our scouts managed to send a report before going off the hook." the Soul Reaper replied, standing up and folding his hands across his lower back. "They've spotted at least three Vasto Lorde level Hollows. One of them is the supposed Pale Rider himself, and one of the other ones appeared to be a feminine Arrancar. They appeared to be heading towards our east flank."

"Caius," Seu-Feng said with a grit of her teeth before narrowing her eyes, "the fact that the Leader of Ultharon army is heading towards one direction means they intend either a ruse to direct our fighting force to repel them needlessly while they infiltrate another position, or they intend to call upon the bulk of their forces behind them and charge with the support of three Vasto Lorde Hollows."

She then turned her attention back to the officer, speaking in a commanding tone, "I will take Akisame and meet the enemy headlong. Tell all scout parties to pull back and make patrols within the Rukonagi on all angles possible. I don't want infiltrators coming in from opposite directions if this is indeed a ruse."

"Yes ma'am."

With that, the officer used a Flash-Step, leaving the two of them to their devices.

"Ready when you are." Akisame said, looking over to her and smiling. "Captain."

"Right," Seu-Feng said, before shimmering away in a near soundless Flash Step, leading the way for her new subordinate. Hopefully, she could slow them down enough...she hoped.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"So this is the Eastern Rukonagi District?" Rana said with mild disdain as she traversed across the dirt road of the now abandoned neighbourhoods. Rows upon rows of shacks bunked against each other to make a conglomerate of metalic, ceramic, and brick constructs that barely passed as reasonably living quarters for the citizens of the Soul Society. Within the borders of the Soul Society, it already looked like a near-hellish existence for these pathetic creatures. As they've drawn nearer, she could hardly say the living space was...impressive at all.

"I'm thoroughly disappointed in them for making such a dump of a living space for its citizens," she proclaimed as she closed her eyes, her crimson-black bordered robes swayed within her slow wake and flourished around her impressive figure, her Zanpakuto slightly jingling with each step she took in the Soul Society.

"Did you honestly expect any better from the likes of Soul Reapers?"

Just next to her was her superior, Caius Louisenbairn, on top of his mighty steed while steadily and smoothly traversing the abandoned buildings. "The only thing of concern to a Shinigami is the preservation of it's military might, and the protection of that useless Royal Family."

"Its the arrogance that they think they're in the right when they treat their own kind this way...that sickens me most," Rana said with a hissing sound, looking around the slum-covered landscape. She could faintly feel subtle Spiritual Pressures flowing to and fro just beyond reach of them, apparently taking caution to what they heard happened to their scouts.

"It seems like their gate is the only thing standing in our way," Rana pointed out as they neared the structure of the gargantuan wall, its height only second to the towering walls of Las Noches, as their distance was merely fifty yards away, "and yet they're not sending anyone to attack. Do they think this is just a mere ploy to break away their defenses?"

"Remember General Rana," Caius spoke to her in a subtle and respective tone. "Our objective is not the front gate. With recent events, it is almost certain that the bulk of their defenses will be based on the inside. Our goal here, is to lure them out of the Seireitei, and out here to strengthen their forces and thus leave the inner area past the gate open for the King."

"Right, I'm just saying-"

PHEEEEEW!

"-incoming!" Rana spoke aloud as she leaped to the side as a large projectile, over the size of a grown man, flew towards the group, with enough concussive force that it caused a pillar upheaved from the earth, with a wave of dust in its wake.

Caius had felt the oncoming attack before Rina ever even spoke the words, having used his Sonido to avoid the blast, his horse doing the same. He reappeared on top of one of the shacks, still on horseback as he looked out towards the source of the attack.

"Well now. You came earlier than expected." he said to the attacker.

As Rana observed the projectile from a safe distance, she could tell it was incredibly dense mineral as through the impact it stuck out of the ground without as much of a scratch on it. It was easily her size, with a girth about a meter & a half, with it being perfectly shaved to a smooth surface with slight spotch marks from large hands grabbing it.

A large, bestial appearing man appeared with a stomp onto the ground, as his appearance was as dramatic as his attack. His face gleamed with an evil, feral grin as he showed off yellow teeth with his mane-like hair hanging down his tall back. Although slightly crouched, he stood over two stories tall, with thick roiling muscles curled around his limbs and torso, his bandoleer roman-esque outfit showed that he was a warrior and didn't have any particular affiliation anybody would recognize but the Rukonagi Easter District.

"You shall go no further, Hollow scum!" Kaiwan spoke aloud as he stood to his full height, already unholstering another of his human sized spikes from his bandoleer as he spoke, "you will be a fine addition to my collection, with your masks and skulls slung on my pikes! For I, Kaiwan, Guardian of the Eastern Blue Stream Gate, will slay you where you tread!"

To this, Caius gave a reluctant sigh, looking down slightly in dissapointment. "A Gate Guardian? How insulting for the Gotei 13 to send one as pathetic as yourself to stop beings of our calibur."

Kaiwan growled, moved at a incredible pace as he disappeared from sight, rising high above the airspace where Caius was, throwing down his spike with a incredibly ear-piercing screech as it reached him and his steed within moments, "YOU DARE MOCK ME, DECREPIT CREATURE?!"

"I wonder if he can even feel our Spiritual Pressures?" Rana asked with a bland, unimpressed look on her face as she saw the Gate Guardian engage them in combat.

TANG!!!!!!!!!

With just one arm, Caius blocked the oncoming attack, using no visible effort as he grasped the weapon with his hand. He then looked at the gate guardian with two piercing red eyes.

"Begone, abomination."

SPLURCH!!!!!!

A massive cut appeared on Kaiwan's gut, a green surge of electricity shooting out from it as Caius let go of the weapon. Just to the building across from them, another figure, the source of the new attack appeared, his back facing Kaiwan and his head tilted back to look at him with an almost disqusted face.

Rana crossed her arms, not even bothering to fight against such a low level opponent. She just decided to watch the prowess of her fellow Hollows, and see how quickly they could take him down.

"GAUGH!" Kaiwan clutched his gut as he fell to the earth with a mighty crash, dust and debris flew towards different directions. However, Kaiwan managed to slam his fist into the earth, standing back up as his left hand clutched his wound while snarling at the other Hollow that had attacked him, "beat me at my own game, will ya?! I'll show you! I'll show you scum what Kaiwan the Guardian of the Blue Stream Gate can really do!"

Grasping multiple spikes simultaneously, he moved with renewed speed towards the new target, moving at surprising speed despite his stomach wound he bore. With a wide-eyed manical gleeful expression on his face, he leaped and appeared behind the new attacker, throwing two spikes towards him with inhuman strength before rebounding to another position, throwing wave after wave of spikes at his opponent...before reappearing above him, unsheathing his butcher blade and swinging a precise, brutal strike towards its neck, shouting, "DIE HOLLOW SCUM!!!!"

WHOOSH!!!!!

SPLURCH!!!!

The new Hollow disappeared, then reappeared just behind Kaiwan. This time, an even bigger cut appeared on the giant's shoulder and went all the way down to his lower left waist in a diagnal direction.

"Such a waste of my time." he commented in a raspy, hollow like voice.

"GAUK!" Kaiwan's eyes widened with bewilderment and pain as he fell down heavily, unable to even utter a response in the wake of a devestating attack that was inflicted upon his person.

Rana sighed as she flicked some of her bangs off her face with her hand, "Well...that was boring to watch. I was hoping he'd hold back a little so it'd last a little longer."

"No point in it." Leon replied, letting one of his razor sharp fingernails come out as he examined it. "Something like him wasn't even worth our time. Besides, we came here to fight real opponents, not pushovers."

"I agree." Caius said as he and his steed landed back on the ground. "Let's keep this up. The more commotion we cause, the more forces they send out to attack us."

PHEW-PHEW-PHEW!

A number of throwing knives and projectiles came upon the group, both accurate and more lethal than the prior, despite their downgraded size. The silent shadows that blurred around them at random, but did not come out to engage outright made it clear. The Stealth Force Reapers have arrived!

"Get down!" Rana spoke out as she used her Hierro to batter the majority of the projectiles before they reached a potentially viable point, but also used a number of graceful flips and sidestepping in order to avoid them, not having to move too much despite the rain of weapons coming upon her person, "they may be just Reapers, but they're still capable of harming us. Don't hold back against them!"

Of course, Caius and Leon were prepared.

Caius easily swiped the oncoming projectiles away with his hand, sending them spiraling away from him and into several houses next to him on both sides.

Leon, on the other hand, promptly avoided the oncoming attacks with relative ease, swerving his form to and fro to avoid certain harm by the blade's tips.

"Perhaps I will end up dismounting my horse for this fight." Caius commented.

As the barrage of weapons stopped, the figures fell back, retreating with haste and with subtlety, making Rana furrow her brows with caution, "They're falling back...why would they waste their time with such a meaningless set of attacks if they didn't intend to-?"

C-CLICK-WHIRRRRRRRRR...!

Rana's eyes suddenly widened as all of the knives that they had previously batted away suddenly glowed brightly, as blue sparks flue from the hilts and now apparent explosives that had been strung them armed themselves.

"Oh He-"

SCR-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-BOOOOOOOOOM!

As all of the knives were somehow strung by spirit energy twine, a massive explosion commenced, causing a wide city block radius of devestating destruction to envelop the Vasto Lordes', with enough force to create a immense indentation within the earth, with only a few yards away from the Gate itself.

At a first glance, it would appear as if the Vasto Lordes were all incinerated in the massive column of fire.

But if only it were so.

"How amusing...."

Whooooosh.....

With a fast and strong wave of his left hand, the now dismounted Caius blew away the fire pillar while releasing a bit of his own Spiritual Power to send the flames away.

"To think that they would believe us so primitive to fall for such a pathetic tactic." he said, casually walking out of the burnt crater that they all were previously in. Leon appeared to have avoided the blast outright, having reappeared on top of another building well aways from the explosion.

"Not fast enough if you ask me."

WHIZ!

Within the smoking aftermath of the explosion, a immensely swift and unseen being moved behind Leon, launching a powerful kick while in mid-air with enough force to send him hurtling beyond into the crater's recess near Caius. Seu-Feng would then land onto the building top, before standing up slowly and dramatically looking over the collective three Vasto Lorde with narrowed, dangerous eyes, "I should've known you'd be the one leading this diversionary force...Caius Louisenbairn."

Feelings of Bitterness! Old Wounds Reopened!
Of course, Leon was slightly taken aback by the move.

With a low grunt, the kick sent Leon off of the building, but he quickly regained his balance and stood straight back up, looking over towards Seu-Feng with his own dangerous glare.

Caius himself let his head turn in her direction, his piercing red orbs of his eyes looking straight at her grey ones. "And I should have known that you would have been foolish enough to actually come out here to attack me, Captain Seu-Feng."

"Not foolishness, Caius. Necessity," she stoically stared down all three Vasto Lorde as her Haori cloak and ponytail flourished a deadly beauty within the wind as the tension grew thick in the air, "in order to survive, we beings of rationality and logic must preserve ourselves by doing things that may appear to be foolishness to those of drunken, arrogant statures like yourselves."

Rana narrowed her eyes at this Captain Seu-Feng, having heard tales of how she had managed to defeat Caius' brother in open combat, the former King of Hueco Mundo. Whether it was only half the truth, regardless, Captains were not to be underestimated, and she kept her hand on her Zanpakuto readily, but did not accept an invitation to speak to her. Her eyes shifted back and forth, as her feet emanated a pulsation through the earth and then back again, using another unique form of Pesquisa to sift through the desolate wasteland that was once a slum.

"There is another nearby," she whispered, unintellibly to no one in particular, but she knew that if the other Vasto Lordes were paying attention, they would notice the faint spiritual pressure within the atmosphere, attempting to flank them.

And sure enough, there was.

Nearly 8 shacks behind the group was Akisame, his back to the wall of the closest building as he heard them speak. He whipped out a razor sharp army knife that was so clear he could see every detail of his own face. He held the blade out of the building's vicinity just enough to where he could see the 3 Vasto Lordes and his comrade's elegant form in it's reflection, his eyes paying more attention initially to the latter.

''Man. She is so cute when she's mad...''

Snapping back to reality, he briefly tilted the blade up towards the sun just enough to where Seu-Feng and Seu-Feng alone would see the split second flash, a signal to her that he was in position.

"Not foolishness as in arrogance, Captain..." Caius spoke to the woman, unintimidated and unimpressed with her stature. "...foolishness, as in recklessness."

"You know nothing," Seu-Feng said closing her eyes briefly, as the wind picked up once again before she disappeared, reappearing in front of Caius while throwing a high-sped punch with concentrative concussive force towards his skull, "of our resolve!!!!"

Rana lifted up a hand towards the direction where the enemy was, a slight gathering of spiritual energy wrapped around her palm before...discharging in a incredible rush of dark red energy, blowing away several buildings before violently exploding at the building's apex where he stood.

VRRRRR-BOOOOOM!

For a few seconds, time seemed to slow down.

Caius bent himself backwards, his hands still behind his back in a casual stance as the woman's fist barely came within a cenimeter of his chin.

WHOOSH!!!!

He then used his Sonido to disappear from her view, before reappearing just on top of the building that she previously stood.

"As I said before...." he began as a red sphere of energy began to form just between his eyes, red and white lightning surrounding it briefly.

"....reckless."

VVVVVVRRRRRBOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!

A small, thin red line of energy shot out from the sphere in the form of a very small Cero straight at the ground where Seu-Feng stood, creating a surprisingly massive explosion in the form of a giant red pillar of fire and smoke.

Damn!

Akisame, in the mean time, used a quick Flash Step to avoid the onslaught of red destruction that nearly obliderated him, reappearing near another set of shacks just a few meters away from them. Drawing his Zanpakuto and sheathing his knife, Akisame prepared for Rana's next strike.

Careful Sophie.... he thought to himself, thinking about the one that he swore to protect. ...I know you've been through alot of fights, but Caius is a different story.

As it seemed Seu-Feng was caught within the midst of the diabolically large explosion, her pain-stricken form before being incinerated...was replaced by her Haori coat, lost to the massive pillar of energy that burned it within moments upon touch.

"Way of the Onmitsukido, Cicada..."

Seu-Feng had already reappeared, using the highly effective Flash Step technique to appear at his blind spot as he spoke his last word, slamming a palm-heel strike towards the Vasto Lorde's spine, initiating enough concussive force to sending hurtling a good distance while intending to stun him.

"So," Rana scraped her Zanpakuto along the ash-ridden earth, taking measured steps to her right as the blade made a distinctive scraping sound, "the mouse can run, can it? Well then," she then smiled, initiating a Sonido which allowed her to disappear at a incredible rate of speed, reappearing above Akisame as she employed her attack, "I'll just have to keep up, now won't I?"

BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRA-BRACK!...

With a singular stroke of her sword, she launched a number of spear-headed balas towards him, intending on using their incredible speed and penetration power to put him down, causing large explosions within the earth in its wake upon each impact.

However, Caius didn't take the hit.

SNATCH!!

Just between him and Seu-Feng emerged Leon, catching Seu-Feng's wrist with both hands. The power put into the strike was enough to make him grunt and even scoot back a little had he been careless.

But now that he had her within both hands, he proceeded to swing her to Caius's left side, intending to fling her a good distance away from both of their vicinity, and then proceed to chase her form down to continue the assault.

Akisame in the mean time, felt the oncoming projectiles tear through the sky just above him. Forced to use Flash Step again, he did so and reappeared to Rana's left side at least five meters from her, holding his sword out towards her as it began to glow with a fiery orange.

"Gaia Eikyo!"

BRACKROOM!!!!!!

A powerful burst of flaming heat was sent her way, dust and debris shooting from the building ruins and ground below and around his vicinity as the flaming ball of heat threatened to burn a hole through her gut.

"Ngh!" Seu-Feng growled as she felt herself forcefully yanked from her target, the fellow Vasto Lorde needlessly interrupting her fight with their unofficial leader. She felt herself flying, but within moments righted herself as he did when she got the drop on him, slamming her feet onto the recess of the crater, before propelling herself towards him as he charged back at her, causing an uplifting wave of dust and ashes in her wake.

As soon as they made contact, Seu-Feng initiated a number of high-speed thrusts of her arms and occasional arcs of her legs and feet, using her heightened martial artistic expertise to her advantage. While doing this she knew there was no definite way of actually inflicting the damage she wanted, it also allowed her to probe his weaknesses and strengths, allowing her to think of a strategy of attack that would be more successful than a mindless brawl.

Rana's eyes watched the flames emit from the Soul Reaper, her eyes drawn down to a knitted expression that borderlined murderous intent and anger, "That form of attack,"

SWING-SLICE!

Within mere moments of making impact, Rana used an unrivaled mastery of swordsmanship. With a single stroke of her blade, she sent enough cutting power and speed to slice the fireball in equalized halves, sending them hurtling behind her, causing a bright pyrotechnic explosion. The pillar of fire momentarily caused a overshadowing of her form with a menacing, crimson glaze to emanate from her eyes as she finished speaking,

"...won't work on me, Soul Reaper."

She then moved into a stance within the air, a semblence of a professional fencing, as she raised her sword level with her shoulder and pointed at Akisame. Putting one foot perpindicularly in front of the other, while the other pointed to her left, she then whispered, "Here I go!"

BZZT-BZZT!

Appearing in front of him within a instant, she slashed upwards a mighty arc of scarlet cutting spiritual energy, before disappearing and appearing behind him, causing two opposing arcs of energy to converge upon him at once, "Danza Mariposa!" (Eng Lit Translation, "Monarch Dance.")

As Leon and Seu-Feng exchanged equally devestating and masterfully swift blows, Akisame's expression wasn't all that surprised.

"Well at least it hit something..." he muttered to himself. His eyes then widened in surprise as the Arrancar reappeared infront of him and then initiated her attack. Two massive waves of crimson energy heading straight towards him would be highly difficult to avoid...

...but it wasn't impossible.

Whoosh!

BOOOM!!!!!!!

He quickly used a Flash-Step to just barely avoid the attacks, feeling the scalding energy from both of them just as he got out of their way, causing a massive red explosion to take place middair.

He reappeared to the left of Rina, swinging his larger sword towards her in a movement to slice her in half from the waist up.

Seu-Feng narrowed her eyes as she found that he nearly matched her each move as she did to him. With a slight predatorial smile, she knew that she found her most favored form of combat open to her here. Within the last punch Leon would send his way, Seu-Feng rolled around it before shimmering away from his position, reappearing above him as she launched a devestating kick towards his head. The force behind it, was nearly mirroring her own mentor's technique, the one that was capable of smashing through Aizen's 2nd form's Hierro, however had been faintly tinged with a crackling silver energy, almost transparent in nature as it homed in on its target.

Rana would not be deterred by a boy, who's skill was a fraction of what she's capable of...

SNATCH-CRK!

"You've obviously have been fighting normal Hollows too long, boy," Rana spoke as her hand had grabbed his shikai blade barehanded, scratching her Hierro upon impact but did nothing to deter her as she squinted with dangerous eyes, "if you think fancy footwork will save you here!"

SNAP-CRACK!

With a deft, athletic limberness Rana exerted, she sent one of her long curved legs up to his face, intending on kicking him backwards before she executed a roundhouse kick to his gut, intending on sending him reeling across the air with a fair amount of physical strength employed within each strike.

However, she had done just what Akisame wanted her to do.

As he barely felt her leg graze his chin from his quick reflexes, his blade began to glow with the same fire hue from before.

"Gaia Eikyo."

Her second kick wouldn't hit him, at least not at that point.

CRRACKBOOM!!!!!!

Discharging the fire attack from the end of his sword, of which was partially pointed at Rana's chest, a massive orange explosion ripped through the skies and even sent Akisame scooting back quite aways, his feet making a trail of steam as he struggled to regain his balance middair.

"Don't know about you..." he said, an amused grin on his face. "...but I think it's kind of hot when girls call me boy. Just saying."

ZZZZZCRACK!

Meanwhile, Leon had used a strange green spark of electric energy to avoid Seu-Feng's devastating blow. It was very fast, but it didn't feel like Sonido, but more natural. It felt as if...

...it was just him moving.

He then reappeared under Seu-Feng, his hoove like foot going straight up towards her chin with enough force to send it through her skull.

"Ngk!" Seu-Feng arched her neck to the side, earning a nick from the sharp hoof of the Vasto Lorde's appendage, before she siezed an opportunity she couldn't pass up.

SNATCH!

With a vicious grasping motion on his leg, she then propelled her leg towards his face, intending on kicking his face in to return the favor for attempting to do the same to her.

Within the smoldering cloud of smoke and flames, a simple exertion of spiritual pressure sent the flames away, showing a slightly scalded Rana with a very unamused face turning towards him, "Using your Shikai on me won't cut it, Reaper. If you want to have a hope or prayer of surviving this,"

BZZT

"...you'll have to use the same Bankai you used against Gravich. Gacela Danza!" she whispered before she launched at a series of thrusting motions with her Zanpakuto, sending cutting spears of scarlet spiritual energy towards him at amazing spees and a wide gait, intending on hitting him instaneously within the moment of her arrival.

"Crap!" Akisame said aloud as he struggled to use the flat end of his blade to block Rina's strikes.

''TING! TANG! TING!''

One by one, the Arrancar's razor sharp blade slammed into his Zanpakuto with enough force to stagger him slightly. She was right, he would have to resort to Bankai soon if he hoped to stand a chance against her.

But not at the moment. Drawing his Bankai out now would only decrease it's usefulness later.

Whoosh!

Of course, just as Seu-Feng's leg came closer to his face, he used his body weight to do a middair backflip and then sling Seu-Feng off of her grasp of him and towards the ground.

Seu-Feng used the momentum and flipped her body over and over rapidly before landing deftly without a sound on the ground, splaying out her feet and left hand on a semi-primal stance. Raising her gaze up as her ponytail flourished around, she smiled as she spoke with acknowledgement, "Not bad, Vasto Lorde! I haven't met many Hollows who could keep up with me with such skill."

Within the effortless wave of projectiles within her calculated thrusts, Rana raised her hands up in a meticulous manner, gracing her smooth lips with her fingertips. With a exhale, she made a kissing motion with her fingers leaving her mouth while blowing out...a wide-casted scarlet Cero, screaming in intensity towards his form in the wake of the dozens of energized spears.

Leon's pose was straight up, looking down at her with a solemn gaze and his russian accented voice coming down at her like a solemn echo. "Right back at you Soul Reaper. I've had yet to fight one of your capability. So far, i'm very impressed."

Akisame's face became comical upon seeing the Cero come from the woman's initially seductive appearing advance, his eyes becomeing big and solid white with thick black outlines and large cartoonish sweatdrops flailing around his head.

But it was a brief moment of surprise before he used the flat end of his blade to block the blast. Typically, it sent him careening away from the far more powerful Arrancar.

With a great burst of his spiritual power, he used every bit of his strength to fling the blast off into the distance away from the Seireitei, creating a large mushroomcloud of scarlett energy.

"That...was epic." he said lowly in response to the manner of firing the Cero.

"You're easily...," Rana whispered as she had soundlessly appeared above him, swinging her sword in a dramatic arc that was dragged along with her blade's edge as she intended on making the swing amplified upon contact, aiming for his left shoulder, "distracted!!!"

CRRK-BOOOM!

"While I am flattered at your compliment," she said as she laid a hand upon her Zanpakuto, inching it from the sheathe with a click, she narrowed her eyes upon the Vasto Lorde, "the fun and games end here!"

WHIZ-WHIZ-WHIZ-WHIZ-WHIZ!

Within a moment's time, she had replicated herself into many identical solid body copies, all of which had drawn swords and acting in unison with voice and movement.

"Let's see if you can take me on multiplied!" She said with a growl, all of them propelling themselves at him at multiple angles, moving all at the same speed she had interacted with the Vasto Lorde earlier. Swinging, punching, thrust, kick, elbow, and all manner of sorts of martial combat maneuvers were used upon him, intending on overwhelming with sheer speed and numbers.

Leon looked down at all of the clones with slight dissapointment, letting his arms fall out of their crossed positions and to his sides.

"With pleasure."

''ZZZ! ZZZ! ZZZ! ZZZ! ZZZ!''

The Vasto Lorde crackled with a green electric aura before he flew down at the onslaught of clones with speed that seemed almost unreal. As soon as he stopped between all of them, he let loose a massive barrage of claw strikes, kicks and various other means of striking the clones, his speed easily matching the Captain's.

Akisame awoke to his senses and held his sword in a horizontal position, before swerving himself to the right and thrusting the side of his blade at the Arrancar's, knocking it to Rana's right side while not taking the full blow of the attack itself.

Rana seemed unphased as he knocked away the sword, as she swung in a acrobatically graceful manner, slamming her left foot's boot into his jaw, intending on sending him reeling towards the ground as she used a fair amount of physical strength to repel her attacker, "You're not a Captain, kid. You lack the decades to centuries of experience a Vasto Lordes have over Captains, and you're even among their ranks. Just what makes you think you stand a chance against us?"

Seu-Fengs' eyes widened at the barrage of attacks, and the clones were all matched evenly, and even half of them were blown back by the surprising rush of lethal, accurate strikes made by the Vasto Lorde. However, the whole useage of the Clones were a feint, as Seu-Feng reared around the Vasto Lorde within a instant, her Zanpakuto changing in shape as it reverted into its wasp-stinger vambrace form.

With a silent strike, she aimed to the top of his neck, aiming to lay a mark from her infamous two-hit kill Shikai, Suzumebachi, to begin the bells of his funeral.

BOOM!!!

A spurt of blood and saliva shot out from Akisame's mouth as the blow sent him from the air into the ground in just a second, forcing a geyser of dirt and debris to shoot up into the sky.

Within the rubble, he quickly stood to his feet and looked back up at Rana with an amused grin. "Well, I don't really have anything over you specifically, but I've held out this long haven't I?"

WAZZZIIINK!!!!!

Out of one the strange bone like objects that was just below Leon's left shoulder, a green blade of sorts shot out from the part, stopping after expanding out nearly six feet from him. The energy blade's flat end blocked Seu-Feng's strike from reaching his neck, before he quickly used it to parry her strike away from him and then twist around and slam his right leg into her form, aiming to send her crashing to the ground as her comrade was just seconds earlier.

Caius, in the mean time, watched the four combatants battle in the skies above, his gaze somewhat interested in the prowess of the warrior who had allegedly managed to hold her own against his younger brother. Truly, she was a very competant warrior if she actually managed to defeat him, but he knew that what she was up against now was a force that even Barragarn had once feared.

"Such an interesting little war we will have on our hands today...."

"Do you like watching?" Said a voice that suddenly revealed itself, garbed in a makeshift Soul Reaper Academy teacher garb over a uniform, but his Spiritual Pressure was definitely clear. He is Love Aikawa, the Visored and former Captain of the 7th Division, and had his Zanpakuto already drawn, tightly in his fist, "or do you actually use that shiny piece of yours?"

SWING!

Love swung with a violent attrition and speed, aiming to take the Vasto's head off in a clean motion, while remaining in a position where he could easily parry and counterattack should the Vasto repel it.

Seu-Feng managed to keep her composure in the midst of the unorthodox method of deffense, swinging her lower body upwards to narrowly avoid the leg before grasping it. Using it as momentum, Seu-Feng grabbed his calf with both hands before sending a double-powered kick to his face, intending on utilizing the momentum the Vasto used to knock him off balance towards her attack.

Rana sneered at him, noticing that her attack didn't have the effect she wanted. She narrowed her eyes before flaring her Spiritual Pressure with murderous intent, intending on sending that smirk of his down into a look of despair. "You'll regret for taking me lightly, boy!"

Snatch!

SLAM!

Leon managed to catch her dual powered kick with his free right hand, his larger hand managed to hold both of them as he reared his head back and then slammed it into Seu-Feng's.

Akisame then began to bristle with an orange hue of spiritual energy, his eyes transforming from blue to orange as he looked back up at Rana's radiating form with excitement.

"I was about to say the same thing to you....except for the boy part of course."

Tingchingclacksingting!

Wordlessly releasing his Bankai, Akisame became drapped in his signature colored armor, his black cape flowing around him in a noble pose and his much larger sword swung over his shoulder. "Your move." he said to her, his voice taking on a slightly cybernetic voice as a result of having his head covered in a helmet.

TANG!!!!!

Using his left bone like gauntlet, Caius managed to block the oncoming attack with little visible effort while turning his head slightly to acknowledge the new attacker, recognizing the dual Spiritual Power within him almost instantly.

"Ah. A Vizard enters the fray?" he said casually, his form beginning to bristle with an electric red aura and the area beginning to shake around violently. "Excellent. I shall enjoy adding your mask to my collection."

BOOM!!!!!!

The Vasto Lorde then released a massive burst of spiritual energy that leveled the buildings around him within at least a fifty meter radius, aiming to fling his opponent away from him.

The War of Hollow Blood! The Vizards against the Pale Rider!
Rana's eyes widened at seeing his Bankai released, measuring his Spiritual Pressure output now that he suddenly released his full power. But...what her Pesquisa failed to tell her, was what her opponent's appearance was going to be. Needless to say, when she saw the peculiarly shaped and designed armor...it made her hysterical!

"Hehehe," Rana snickered at seeing the form of her opponent's Bankai, holding up her free hand to stifle her giggles, "I'm sorry...I know this is rude, but your Bankai looks...ridiculous! Nyahahaha! I was looking for a better display than a measly suit of armor for a Bankai! NYAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!"

Love grunted as he backpedaled in alarm at the level of Spiritual Pressure that was emitted, only needing to step back 10 meters in order to raise his own reddish Spiritual Pressure to divert the flow of hostile exhaust of his opponent's energy. His shades cracked from the sheer intensity of the pressure emitted as the poor excuse for buildings crumbled around the being, with only the far off Sekkiseki wall being left unmarred by this spiritual assault.

"That's some mighty fine Spiritual Pressure you got there, for a Hollow," Love said with a smile, despite sweatdropping slightly in the wake of the menacing pressure within its power. He raised his left hand up to his face, saying with a narrowed glare behind his shades, "however..."

SPHIZ-CRACK....VRRRRRRRRRRRRROOM!

"...you're not the only one who's capable of releasing that kind of Spiritual Pressure!" Love retorted as his body permeated a even greater reverberation of Spiritual Pressure, sending a shockwave of its own around his body, though not in the nearly wasteful destructiveness as his Vasto Lorde counterpart.

Seu-Feng felt her heartbeat as she felt herself wrung around to meet the impending target, with her head being the said target. She then exhaled, closing her eyes as she felt herself calm and focus. Focusing on one thing. The one opening the Hollow Lord left open for her in his purpose to injure her.

SPRAAAAACK-CRACK!

Within a millisecond of striking her forehead, a bright electric transparent veil of energy wrapped around her head, sending a incredible surge of energized, kinetic force as she urged her own head forward to meet his, with a violent attack to clash with his own intended strike. The display of energy also momentarily flailed her hair around like a flag within the wind, with her eyes open wide with her eyes glazed over by a silver light that reflected one thing. Killing Intent!!!

Akisame let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah I get that alot. I will admit, it is pretty goofy looking, and there are points where I sometimes wish it was something else. But, like everyone else that I've fought with it on, you judge it based on it's appearance..."

Schziink!

With an electric burst of orange power, the knight-like being was just behind Rana, his back up against hers. "...and that's a pretty fatal flaw."

SLAM!!!

Whirling around with greater speed than before, Akisame slammed the flat end of his great sword into Rana's shoulder, aiming to fling her down to the bottom of the ground and show her just what kind of power this "ridiculous" Bankai was capable of.

"URGH!!!" Leon grunted as the unexpected burst of Spiritual energy flung himself away from Seu-Feng's radiant form, a large bruise with blood spurts appearing on the point of impact.

"Guess the fun and games are really over." he said as three more energy blades shot out from his back, making a strange "X" shape of green on his back side, giving the impression of wings.

Caius, in the mean time, stood calmly as the burst of Spiritual energy shot around him, forcing his cape to fly around his back while his tall form remained in place with his hands behind him back.

"Your uniform does not match the attire used by other Soul Reapers of your calibur." he said, looking over at Love with curiosity. "Tell me, what is your position within the Gotei 13?"

"Teacher," the mask-donned former Captain spoke out in a hollowed voice, his speech almost liquid in comparison to his prior, "at the Shinō Academy. Retired from the position of Captain of the 7th Division. Anything else you want to ask about me, damned Hollow?!"

WHIZ-WOOSH!

Within a instant, a augmented form of a Captain's Flash Step made him appear faster than one would anticipate normally, appearing before him while swinging his sealed Zanpakuto with incredible strength towards his chest. This was the same strength he used to rip a Menos Grande's mask and head, directly in half...improved past that since his time as a a rogue Soul Reaper.

Seu-Feng then stretched out the aura as she stood in the air, flourishing her hair violently as well as her black cloth of her Stealth Force Commander-in-Chief uniform, crackling with incredible intensity. The rubble and air around her begin to distort and rumble with power, as she took a pose she remembered Yoruichi did when she showed off her more improved form...a form, she seemed to have adapted even further since then. "I should warn you," she said with a deadly, bland look on her face as she spoke softly to Leon, "I don't have complete control over this technique. There's no telling what might happen...from this point forward!"

...whiz...

Almost soundlessly she appeared right beside him, slamming her shin towards his chest, sending a exhaust and uproar of spiritually augmented kinetic power, intending on sending him flying away, before she followed him with the sound of a rocket in her wake, strike high-speed punches and stabbing motions from her fists and needle blade, aiming to strike him down into the ground and across the Rukonagi district at incredible speeds.

"You don't understand," Rana spoke aloud as she moved at incredibly inhuman speeds of her own, using the form of Sonido to not just transport but just move her around in a incredible spin, her body seeming to distort while moving as grabbed the flat side of his Zanpakuto, with only a faint splurt of blood raining from her palm from the power used. However, the force seemed to wash over her like a gust of wind, sending her red hair in a stream of magnificent crimson flourishes, with her eyes staring impassively upon him, "Captains don't get goaded by a simple taunt like that. You're nothing...but a rookie."

Then...with a memorable kissing motion of her smooth lips...a spark of scarlet spirit energy exited her mouth...

VRRRRR-BLAAAM!

...with a Cero discharged at point blank towards his position, screaming at a incredible rush of incendiary properties and concussive force, soaring across the sky with the power of a transport jet, only to dissipate after a kilometer's reach ended.

The trap was sprung, and she intended to show him what rookies with too much power on their hands get treated like.

TANG!!!!!

Suddenly grasping the handle of a sword that was sheathed on his lower left hip, Caius pulled out the weapon and blocked the oncoming attack, a massive gust of wing shooting out from behind him, and his feet only barely skidding in response to the motion. As he held the weapon with one hand, the elder Vasto Lorde looked down at love with his red eyes. "Interesting. A Shino Acadamy teacher comes out of no where to battle a Vasto Lorde? Very admirable of you, teacher."

He then parried the attack by swinging his vine covered blade to the upper right before bringing it back down in a series of quick and powerful slices, still with only one hand. "Now teach me the true power behind that mask!"

Leon on the other hand, crossed his arms to take the blow as he was sent flying towards the ground. However, his form stopped at only a fraction of the anticipated distance, before springing himself back up towards the Captain, a massive boom of energy following him as his speed easily reached the same capacity as her own, releasing his own barrage of attacks.

Just before the Cero dissapated, Akisame's armored hand emerged from the scarlett onslaught of energy, unfazed by the attack before it grabbed Rana by her neck with great force. Inwardly, the Soul Reaper was surprised that he survived the attack, initially having believed that his Bankai was only good for taking physical blows, but apparently it could block both energy and physical attacks.

"Let me show you what a rookie can do." he said before he brought her head down and then slammed his armored knee into the woman's face.

"Grk!" Rana was taken aback that he managed to survive the Cero she unleashed, realizing that one of its biggest and most blatant abilities was absorbing attacks. When the gaunt wrapped around her throat, she felt her forehead smash into his knee. While the Hierro kept her face from being damaged, the inertia running through her skull made her see stars.

With a growl, she released a firm blast of Spiritual Power and Pressure simultaneously, striking the lesser part of his exposed knee joint with her sword's pommel then backpedaling away, aiming her fingertips at him with her left hand. With a brief spark of spirit energy, she sent incredibly heightened talon shaped balas, having incredible penetration power and speed, almost five times faster than an ordinary bala's speed. She fired them off in a rapid burst, sending many fast projectiles to keep up the pressure on the transformed Soul Reaper.

Seu-Feng swung in a graceful, deadly swerve of movements that matched Leon's, surprised to find that the latter could keep up with her body now it was covered with Shunko's properties. Then, with a backpedaling motion, she jettisoned herself into the air before flipping vibrantly, and then throwing herself back with a power kick aiming at the charged Leon, discharging a large burst of energy that enveloped the air for a good distance, creating a reverberating shockwave that leveled some of the slums below into the earth with ease.

Love's eyes narrowed as he had to keep up with the Vasto Lorde's incredible strength and swordsmanship, backpedaling while parrying with the powerful strikes with his own two-handed strikes. He knew being in sealed form wouldn't cut it, and now he had a good bearing on the Hollow General's strength, he had to respond in kind.

Love opened his Hollow mask's maw, gathering a orb of spirit energy before firing a Cero...

VRRRRRR-BLAAM, BOOOM!

...point blank with his enemy at the center, causing a explosion that would be nearly impossible for him to avoid. But this was all a diversion, as Love used his Flash Step to backpedal away from the powerful Hollow while swinging his blade left as he whispered in his Hollowed voice, "Crush Down," then swinging right, showing a transformed, red energy hued form of his Zanpakuto, "Tengumaru!"

Akisame stood motionless, the Bala attacks slamming into his armor and having visually no effect on him as he held out his massive sword towards Rana's retreating form.

"Gaia Eikyo."

CHITOW!!!

...

...

BOOM!!!!

He then fired a much more powerful and quicker blast of fire at Rana, this form of the attack yielding a much larger explosion and more damage than the Shikai version.

Leon suddenley stopped middair, briefly using Sonido to avoid Seu-Feng's blow. His voice became slightly more attentive as he spoke not to her, but to someone else.

"Yes my king? Of course.....yes.....yes m'lord......I understand.....As you command."

WHOOSH!

The Vasto Lorde suddenley vanished from her sight, going to another part of the battlefield.

Caius saw the massive Cero come towards him, not showing any intimidation as he prepared his own, thin Cero in between his eyes.

EEEEEOOWWWW!!!!!

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Vasto Lorde then let out his smaller Cero, letting it connect with Loves before both of them created a monstrous and gigantic pillar of fire and destruction. Truly, this Visored displayed great power and skill, but would it be enough to overcome the undefeated Pale Rider?

Through the flames, Love's kanabō Zanpakuto sliced through the large pillar of fire effortlessly, its blunt round mace-like form with blade protrusions moved with the force of a speeding skyscraper heading to the earth. This was the true strength of a Visored. Combining the Hollowfied traits of his mask with his/her Zanpakuto's abilities, and maximizing its effects indefinitely.

Seu-Feng's eyes dialated before she lashed out at her opponent's retreating form.

"Hold it!" But it was too late. He had already used a long distance Sonido, and to pursue him would be unwise. She suddenly felt a violent rise of Spiritual Pressure from two different corners of the battlefield, seeing a large explosion resulting in Ceros colliding, and the other...

"Oh hell!" She swore, seeing the large yellow blast emanate beyond her sight, forcing her to make a choice. Would she aid Akisame, or aid the ally on the ground? With a grit of her teeth, she knitted her brows before dashing towards her selected source, hoping she made the right call as her body shimmered and darted towards its intended target.

Rana's eyes dialated, recognizing the name and the technique from how Gravich got surprised the last time. The fact the Bankai seemed to be a condensed form of his Bankai's power, it not only allowed him short burst of speeds but also significant protection and destructive attacks.

However, his speed was no match for her own...even as he unleashed Gaia Eikyo she could see the mere instances when the yellow tinted energy spearheaded towards her.

BZZT!

Lost to the sound of the roaring powerhouse of a technique, she used Sonido while feeling the edges of her Hierro marred by the attack, appearing a few meters to the left of where the attack struck. Her eyes glared at him for trying to upstart her like this, her Zanpakuto held tightly in her hand as she resumed her fencing stance, the blade held level with the direction where he'd be, "You're good, boy, I won't lie. Your demonstrations showed me you have a good grasp and control over your Bankai's power. However,"

BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT-BZZT!

"...does that even compare...to the centuries of lifelong battles I've fought...to get to where I am this very moment?!" She asked as she produced many afterimages around him, the distortions and buzzing sounds almost took akin to that of a swarm of insects as she moved to and fro from almost every angle, making it almost night impossible to predict her movements.

SLASH!

She'd strike from behind, and then...

SLASH!

...from below...

SLASH-SLASH-THRUST!

...from the front...

THRUST-THRUST-SLASH-SLASH!

...from above...and this relentless assault of precise, accurate strikes and unbelievable movements would make it difficult for even a seasoned Captain to keep up with her. She was pushing herself to show the gap of power between her and this boy.

If he didn't see it now...she'd have to resort to killing him outright...as much as she'd hate to spoil herself after wanting to see the look of agony on his face, he's starting to become a nuisance to her. Delaying the invasion because of this would definitely make her new superior angry...if the tactics wasn't to actually not to break in this way.

TING!

TANG!

TING!

CLING!

One by one, the strikes slammed into his armor, some not doing any visible damage to him at all, while others managed to successfully chip his armor.

"Don't get it, do you?"

He then went into deep thought. Her movements were fast, too fast for him to predict where he could accurately swing and hope to hit her. But maybe that was the key to actually hitting her. She was moving so fast to where she was hitting him at least twice every second. If he could just get a good calculation...

He then lifted up his blade and swung it to the direction that he believed she would appear next, hoping to have sent her flying towards the ground.

Caius then used his Sonido to avoid the oncoming attack from the towering mace that was at least five times his size, the impact it made with the ground creating a large geyser of dirt and debris. Caius then reappeared to Love's left side and delivered a powerful and deadly sword strike upon him, aiming to cut him in half from the waist down while he would be partially distracted with his mace in the ground.

Love's eyes widened, seeing the blade move nearly too fast for him to dodge, pulling back his long Zanpakuto's handle to absorb the sword strike with a loud clash of steel and dancing sparks, forcing him to skid back across the ground on the soles of his sandals, his white teacher's coat flourished around his Shikhakusho. He wrenched his weapon from the ground it was embedded in. With a rebuffed swing, the weapon tore into air with a unstoppable fury, intending on landing a blow on him this time around.

Clak-tick!

Rana's boots landed ontop of the edge of his unusual looking blade, with no real harm done to her as she looked like she was making a pose, "Saltamontes La Danza!"

"Those strikes weren't meant to penetrate," she said as she swung her Zanpakuto down, showing a now nigh indistinguishably vibrating blade, moving with the same intensity as a Sonido would as its static form crackled and buzzed like a hive of insects...the sound that was emanated before, "they were meant to lay time-delayed slashes across the surface of your Bankai's armor. In other words," she forward flipped as the buzzing suddenly picked up in intensity and suddenly...

BZZZZZZCRRRRRRKKKKKVRBOOOOOM!

...a magnanomiously large sonic inertia vibrated his whole armor, using the Spiritual armor as a medium for the vibrations maximum effectivness, with enough force to jar his insides and flesh underneath the armor itself.

"...I used your own Bankai's invulnerable surface as a medium to create a bodily sized sonic vibrator. The force I used shouldn't kill you," she then turned a callous, cold stare towards him, "but it should shut you up and tone down that arrogant look on your face."

"NNNNRRRRGGHHH!!!!!"

The pain tore through Akisame's internal body, making his entire form vibrate and shake around violently as if he was being electricuted with untelling how many bolts of electricity. When if finally stopped, he was struggling to keep his balance while middair, and breathing heavily as he looked back up at Rina.

"Heh....." he began chuckling and coughing at the same time as his helmet retracted, revealing his face and his orange eyes looking at the Arrancar, his grin still remaining.

"Still smiling.....bitch." he mocked, doing everything he could to tick the woman off.

Caius in the mean time leaped over the unbelievably powerful swing, before twisting around and throwing his blade at Love like a spear, intending for it to go straight through his chest and out his back.

SPRRTZZZZ-CRACK!

A large inverted blue pyramid blocked the strike of the sword, imbedding the weapon in its surface while temporarily locking Love within it.

"Bakudo #73, Tozanshō!" Spoke a suddenly apparent, rotund man, wearing the trappings of the Kidō Corps Captain coat and colorful garments that were contrary to that of the atypical black-&-white uniforms of the Gotei 13. His form had been previously been hidden by rays of light he bended with Kidō, hiding his presence and his Spiritual Pressure up until now, as he stood a good ten meters away from the fighting.

"What took ya so long?!" Love asked, having held his breath as he saw the blade move at a irregularly high speed he couldn't dodge while wielding his Shikai. The said blade clattered to the ground as the Kidō shield dissipated indefinitely.

"My apologies," the pink-haired man bowed humbly before speaking in his serious, yet polite tone, "I was studying the opponent whom you're facing. It is believed that Barragan Louisenbairn's brother was said to be the strongest of Ultharon's Generals. So I have been keeping watch from a safe distance, you understand?"

"Not really," Love said as he hefted the large weapon's handle onto his shoulder, the kanabō overshadowing his form while he put on a put-out look behind his mask, "fighting a Vasto Lorde is a lot more work than an Espada."

Caius landed on his feet, holding out his hand and telekinitically calling the blade back to his right hand as he looked at his new foe with slight curiosity. "My my, another Vizard? I've certainly come across my own share of surprises today."

He then pointed the weapon at Hachi, speaking in a surprisingly respectful manner towards the large man. "What is your name, Vizard?"

"Hachigen Ushōda, Captain of the Kidō Corps," he bowed, acknowledging the respect given by his counterpart opponent, "I'm here to stop you, and to aid in the effort of defending the Soul Society. I apologize we did not meet on better circumstances, for such a eloquent speaker as yourself would've made good conversation."

SPEW-BRACK!

Rana fired a Talon Bala with incredible speed with a blinding gesture of her hand, aiming to strike him in the face to end his galavanting and selfish heroics.

But then...

CLANG!

...Seu-Feng appeared within a instant, slicing through the Bala with her Zanpakuto's edge, before her body flourished her ponytail and lithe black trappings in front of him. "How're you handling yourself over here, Akisame?" She looked over with a smirk, saying with a once-over look, "You look beat up."

"Ah!" Caius said in acknowledgment, recognizing the name almost instantly from a Hollow survivor of the Winter War. "I recognize your name. You're the one who put an end to my younger brother's existance. I do agree, it is a shame that we are currentely at war. You have earned respect from both myself and my peers for defeating Barragarn.

He then gave the man a respectful bow. I am Caius Louisenbairn. It would be an honor to do battle with you, Hachigen Ushoda."

Akisame let out a chuckle at seeing his crush come to his aid, now being able to stand himself up fully. "She caught me a little off guard, but I'm not out just yet."

He gave the woman a teasing smile. "This clown still has a few tricks up his sleeve."

"You're mistaken, Louisenbairn-san," Hachigen said with a revered tone as he momentarily closed his eyes, "I did not fight your brother alone. I fought alongside a comrade, albeit a reluctant one, one of which I wouldn't have been able to attain victory due to that. Therefore," he raised a hand to emphasize the Hollowified Love, speaking firmly,"we shall fight you, as your opponents, Caius Louisenbairn-san."

"That's right!" Love spoke up, revealing himself to be behind Caius with a swift Flash Step while already swinging his kanabō Zanpakutō down upon the Vasto Lorde, intending on taking him by surprise from the start.

"Still have enough strength to joke?" Seu-Feng asked after turning her head to face the opponent, seeing her and feeling her Spiritual Pressure made her cautious enough to take pause, "cause I just got done fighting a Hollow-twin of myself and I don't know if I can take her by myself. Think you can keep up with me?"

CLANG!!!!!!

Caius then lifted his sword above his head and blocked the oncoming attack, showing little effort in preventing the weapon from overwhelming him. "Two on one is it? Very well then, I've dealt with larger numbers."

SCHEEEEOW!!!!!!!

A red sphere formed at the back of his head, before letting loose his signature thin beam of Cero energy up close at Love, believing that he could surprise his foe by revealing that he was capable of firing his Cero from any point of his body, an ability that not even his King possessed, at least, not that he had heard of.

Akisame's helmet brought itself back over his head, standing up and keeping his weapon ready. "Not in terms of speed, but if you can catch her off guard, I can land some choice blows on her person."

CLAP!....SPHIT-SPHIT-SPHIT!

Within a instant, Hachi clapped his obtuse hands together, forming three emerald pentagons that stood on their edges down the line of his hand, instanteously forming a complex patterned emerald cage. This caused the Cero that was about the strike Love point-blank to explode...inside the barrier and use its own raw explosive power against the Vasto Lorde.

"Oh Shi-!" Love swore, immediately retreating via Flash Step as the inside of the barrier lit up brightly before shattering, in the wake of a powerful crimson pillar of fire and energy, sending a shockwave that further leveled the recess they battled, shattering even more shacks and parts of the slum.

Love reappeared within the aftermath of the explosion, standing a few paces near Hachi who stood solemnly and stoically within the show of force the Vasto created, his flamboyant Kidō Captain coat flourished around his rotund body.

"Damn," Love said aloud, "I barely saw that Cero...and you just upped a barrier within a instant!"

"I thought you would be more prepared, having fought a Primera," he spoke blandly, before jokingly added, "but then again, the Primera did end up beating both of you, only for his original combatant to defeat him in the end."

"B-Bastard upstartted us and interrupted a man's fight!" Love said in indignantion, waving his large Zanpakuto comically, "this guy didn't even look like he was capable-"

"Never underestimate the power of Hollows," Hachi spoke reverently, awaiting the Vasto Lorde to exit the flames and the pyre that was created, "isn't that right, Louisenbairrn-san?"

"I'll give you one chance," Rana spoke as she resumed a fencing stance, her Spiritual Pressure brimmed brightly and violently as her hair flourished around her eloquently curved and proportionately delectable body and uniform, "kneel before me in forgiveness, and I might spare your lives."

Seu-Feng spat out, crouching in the air as she asked in a mocking tone, "Since when do Soul Reapers bow before the likes of you?"

"Since the day your Society will end its hypocrticial, corrupted reign!" Rana bit back, awaiting a move from either of them in order to render them inert and lifeless. Just as she wanted them.

Of course, Caius was no fool to fall for his own attack.

WHOOSH!!!!

Swinging his blade to his right side, the Pale Rider forced the pillar of fire to leave an opening, revealing himself to possess a slight burn on his right shoulder, but otherwise, he appeared unharmed as he walked towards the duo, clearly ready to bring another fight to them.

"If you think that I'm going to be a challenge, then you should wait unti..."

Then...a strange feeling came over him, as if a powerful force had come onto the field and forced him to take brief pause...

A force he could recognize almost instantly.

Just at this time Akisame prepared for a tough fight, knowing that Rana was capable of fighting both of them on even ground. His sword prepared, his armor primed, and his mind planning all sorts of strategies, he appeared ready for a fight. He was standing just next to Seu-Feng, his left arm facing her right side just close enough to be able to touch her should he need to.

But then, the same feeling that Caius had felt creeped it's way up into his spine, a feeling that made his body shiver and shake. A powerful force had just came within their vicinity, and despite the fact that he could feel it's presence, he could not tell where it was at.

"Soifon....." he began, looking around him slowly. "....you feel that?"

Hachi's eyes widened and pupils dialated at the ominous feeling washing over him, like a bad rain on a winter's day, he felt a dread begin to pour over his body and heart.

"WH-What is this?!" Love vocalized what Hachi felt, as he looked around, temporarily putting away his mask to conserve his Hollow Spiritual Pressure for the time being.

Rana felt the cold, chilling sensation wash over her. What had previously would have made the vagabond Arrancar tremble and angry, made her excited and thrilled, as feral smile crossed over her features as she kept her stance but had no intention of moving, "Looks like the fun is really about to start!"

"I know it too well," Seu-Feng said as she felt her eyes dialate and her blood turn cold in the wake of the Spiritual Pressure that was slowly and surely filling the air, "its HIM!"

"SHIT!!!"

What happened next....seemed to make time slow itself down.

Akisame had only managed to glance to the left corner of his eye to see it, a shining bright light that was spinning around like a high powered, razor sharp fan heading straight for....

...Soifon...

All Akisame could hear was his heartbeat as he reached down and grabbed Seu-Feng by the colar of her Stealth Force uniform, and then jerked her back to where she would either skid or go back a few feet. Just as he was doing so to her, the object made it's appearance known to her. It flew just in front of her face, the blade cutting off a couple strands of her hair just before it-

CHTING!!!

GLURCH!!!!!!!

-flew into Akisame's chest, hitting him like a freight train and sending his armored body flying.

His eyes widened in shock, completely taken aback by the fact that the weapon could penetrate his armored form and then fly out through his back. Just at the start of it's handle, the black blade stopped and sent both itself and Akisame flying back quite a distance, fast enough to where he could barely be seen, before falling into the Rukongai below, smashing through the top of a large building and even forcing the structure to collapse on top of him.

He had saved Seu-Feng's life....possibly at the cost of his own.

"What a shame..."

Then, a voice slowly appeared, off just a little ways from Seu-Feng and Rana, revealing itself to be none other than Ultharon himself.

"...I was hoping I would be able to hit two birds in one stone. I love it when my enemies try to play hero." he said to Seu-Feng, a sinister and disturbing grin on his face.

Arrival! The King Enters the Field!
Seu-Feng's breath caught in her throat, her own body was responding towards the incoming projectile that aimed to impale her and Akisame. But before she could even warn him...he grabbed her and threw her away, with only a moment to spare as she could feel the coldness radiated from the blade as it cut through some of her bang-line hairs. But it was not without a cost.

Seu-Feng's eyes widened, and she felt her eyes dialate and blur her vision in a haze of confusion, fear, and underlying rage. As she heard that menacing, sinister voice belonging to a cruel demon that could never be a Hollow, she quickly looked over at him...pausing, as if not knowing what to do.

Then, with a loud bite on her own teeth, she quickly employed Flash Step, disappearing and reappearing where Akisame landed. As soon as she saw the sight before her, she couldn't hold the strength up in her legs as she fell to her knees, and felt her hands around where the blade penetrated his Bankai's armor.

"No...no no don't do this to me, Akisame!" She began to scold him, speaking in a harsh rushed manner, as she began to look for a way to lift him out of the rubble and secure him to a medevac.

Akisame reached up with his left hand and forcibly removed his helmet, throwing it to his right side to reveal his face, slightly bruised with blood gushing from his mouth. His armor began to fade away into an orange dust, revealing his normal attire, now bloodied and wet with the crimson liquid that was coming out of his chest.

He tilted his head over to face Seu-Feng, his breath hazy and weak, his voice now a low creak compared to his normally charming and youthful one. "....Soi.....S....Soifon.......GURK!!" he finished with a cough of blood that shot out onto her shoulder.

"Behold Soul Society's ruin, Vizards..." Caius spoke. looking over at his king. "...Ultharon....the Mighty."

The blade reformed in the demonic king's hand, twirling around in his fingers like another high powered fan idly as he tilted his head over to look at Rana. "I'm sorry. Were you planning on killing them?" he said in his surprisingly sophisticated voice in a jocular tone.

"No," Rana said as she coldly dismissed his joke and query, turning around in a flourishing motion of her crimson-black bordered cloak and red hair, sheathing her sword with a defined click, "they were practice after all."

"Don't speak, Akisame!" She said as she curled her arms underneath him gently, picking him up as his Bankai's energy dissipated unwillingly from him, the sign his health was in the poorest of terms, "I'm getting you to Captain Unohana! S-S-She'll help you...fix you up..." She breathed out, as she began running, then employing her Flash Step to her most long-distance possible, taking him away from the fight at lightning speeds without jarring his critical form.

Hachi recognized the young man who took the blow by Spiritual Pressure alone. To see him take the full brunt of the Leader of the Hollow army...was almost unseemly. Turning his face back to the Vasto Lorde's, asking aloud almost incredulously, "That...is Ultharon?!"

Akisame's vision was blurring. He could feel his energy sinking out of him for every ounce of blood that left his chest. He could see the blue sky, still retaining it's beauty despite the bloodshed being revealed today. His eyes hazily looked over to Seu-Feng. Despite being half lidded and weak, they too were marveling at the woman's beauty.

He loved her. He had felt a strong emotion for the woman since he first met her long before this incident with Ultharon even began. She was beautiful to him, radiant, strong, and full of a fire that could shine through even the darkest of nights. He had swore to Yoruichi, his caretaker and his dear friend that he would protect Seu-Feng so long as he would live. And he had done just that.

He weakly put his right hand smoothly on her left cheek, giving her a weak smile and his voice now a gentle whisper. "Soifon....you're....you're beautiful....."

Caius then looked back at Hachi. "The Gran Vasto Lorde of this age, and the True God King of Hueco Mundo. This is Ultharon the Mighty."

Ultharon scoffed at Rana's comment, still twirling the blade in his fingers. "Practice ended when we left Hueco Mundo. I would prefer that you and Caius quit fooling around and finish the little rats as soon as you see them."

"I practice with whatever I want, whenever I want, Ultharon," she spoke, narrowing her eyes as she turned to look at him with a cool stoic gaze with no regret in her tone, "as long as I help you win your little war, any other action I partake is my buisness and mine alone."

"Then I'm sorry if I must not delay this confrontation then," Haichi said in a suddenly serious, stern tone, raising his hands up and clapped them above his head, before pointing at Caius, "for I must aid my comrades as hastily as I can!"

Thus, as soon as he spoke...

TCHINK-SLAM!

...five large gray pillars made of Binding Kido slammed down near soundlessly towards Caius, signalling Love to attack him with his tremendous strength, as he swung with his mace-like Zanpakuto towards the Vasto Lorde in a perfectly executed coordinated attack, that would start their renewed battle indefinitely.

Seu-Feng's eyes began watering, her throat clogged, and her heart began beating hard. This...was the first time a man dare speak of her personal looks. Even now, where she would've slapped the fool, this was the first time she would allow it to pass, for the tone in his voice was already causing her lips to quiver.

"Y-You stop talking like that...Akisame," Seu-Feng said while choking on her tears, landing before the 4th Division HQ, even as medics noticed them and began rushing to her position she sobbed, "its...not appropiate...to address a lowly Captain like that...when she can't...protect the ones closest to her...heart."

Akisame's mind remained somewhat in tact, his burning desire to speak to Seu-Feng being the only thing that kept him from falling out into darkness. He had so much he wanted to say to her, and he may never get the chance to speak to her again after this. "I...I promised.....I promised her.....I promised her....that I'd...protect you...." he whispered to her still, his weak and blood ridden smile still somewhat remaining as tears began to well up in his eyes as well.

Caius immediatley zigzagged with Sonido to avoid the massive pillars that threatened to crush him, his use of the technique nothing short of masterful and well placed. When he landed from the final leap, he spun around and slammed his sword against Love's mace, signaling that their real battle was about to begin.

Ultharon chuckled, finally stopping his insane twirling of his sword and looking down at the Rukongai below, still grinning with insane anticipation as he directed his next words to Rana. "Just remember who holds the leash."

He then used all six of his eyes to scan the area below him. As of right now, all was going according to plan, save the fact that Caius had found himself momentarily distracted. "We need to lure more of them outside." he said as he looked over to Rana, his insane grin and cool eyes looking at her. "I assume you know what that means?"

Seu-Feng's eyes began pouring a stream of tears down her cheeks, burning them even as her lips quivered to the point of near sobbing. As the medics immediately checked his status, they set up a stretcher and began taking him away, leaving his hand to slide off her face, momentarily causing Seu-Feng's breath to catch and her hand to reach after his but missed it. As she saw his bleeding, nearly inert form taken away to a uncertain fate within the 4th Division Barracks, Seu-Feng, for the first time since Yoruichi...had allowed herself to weep.

"D-Don't...you dare...leave me...like this," Seu-Feng said in a bitter, heart-wrenched tone, before she raised her head high and screamed out without care, "AKISAME!!!!!!!"

"Gotcha," Love said behind his Hollow mask, as his kadanbou Zanpakuto gathered intense flames along its edges, violently discharging his opponent with a incredible aura to send him hurtling into the distance with amazing power and speed, "Hifuki no Koduchi!"

CRRRRK-BOOOM!

Within the wake of the devestating attack, a column of flames emerged, with enough pressurized force that it caused a good twenty meter spread of landscape to indent itself towards the blast site, scorching the earth with amazing proficiency and deadly power.

Rana turned around with a flourishing movement of her cloak and hair, raising her hand towards the gate itself, uttering in a dispassionate, low voice, "Allow me, Lord Ultharon. I'll smash down that pathetic gate of theirs in a single stroke, and give us enough time to enter without rebuttal...for a few moments, anyways."

"We can't focus on just one part of the gate." he stated, holding his sword over his shoulder. "If we go in from just one angle, it would be a slaughter. We need to take all sides, and if I'm guessing right, Gravich should be...."

KABLOOOM!!!!!!!!!

Off near the right side of the massive wall, a huge column of orange energy shot out into the sky, a signal that Gravich had entered the field, and destroyed untelling how much of that section of the Rukongai.

"...getting into position."

SIING!!!!

The blades on his shoulders then extended in front of his chest, his body facing the wall as he directed his words to Rana. "You first. Let's see who can make the most fireworks."

Caius' eyes widened in initial surprise at the force of the attack, but it went back to the same calculated one as before.

WHOOSH!!!!

VROOOOEEEEEOWWWW!!!!!!!!

Just barely avoiding the attack, and even feeling it's searing flames from afar, Caius landed just a few meters away from Love, letting his eyes glow with a bright red before letting loose his signature, condensed Cero beam at Love's form.

"Holy Mother Hollow of the Grail!" Love swore comically as he raised his kadanbou weapon to act as a enlarged-makeshift shield, taking the condensed beam of tentatively explosive energy at full force. Using the heels of his sandals, he barreled his feet into the ground, even as he grunted to push its incredible power away form himself. With a last minute thought, Love turned his mace-like Zanpakuto to the left, sending the beam soaring out of the way...and exploding in the distance, violently.

With that momentum, Love lit up his Zanpakuto again with bright orange flames and swung a wave of bright fire towards him, sending an almost tsunami effect of fire towards him, "Eat that!"

"Hado #65, Aotsuiraku Seishin!"(青 墜落 星辰 Ao tsuiraku seishin ; Lit Translation, "Green Falling Stars,") Hachi spoke out fluidly and without effort, swinging out his hands in a arched movement of his body, sending a mass of green energy high into the sky from both of his palms. Then, within a dozen meters into the air, it split up into dozens of green emerald beams that incidentally looked like falling stars, with the force of rockets. They rained down with a field of amazing force and blast range in the wake and following movement of Caius would make indefinitely to avoid Love's flames, with precision and devestating relentlessness.

"Do you both take me for a fool?"

WHOOSH!!!

Caius used his Sonido to move, not in the direction of the Hado spell, but instead behind Love. In fact, he was just behind Love, as in, mere inches.

"Our time is up here. I have no more desire to stand here and pittle with your pathetic attempts to do me harm." he said disspasionatley, before swinging his sword down upon Love's form with amazing force, wind surging behind and above him as he planned to finish Love with one blow.

CHOMP!

With a swift bite in the corner of her lip, a trickle of blood snaked down her chin, before it was meticulously gathered onto her thumb, smiling in anticipation, "With pleasure."

SSSSFTTTT-CRRRAACKK-VRRRRRRR!

Rana began energizing her atypical gathering of scarlet spiritual energy, crackling and intensifying with size as she concentrated a great deal with Spiritual Power backing it. However, it began to change shape, and the Cero changed color from its bright colorful scarlet to a ravaging, twisted blue color, as the Cero began twisting and bending spacial fabric around it with vicious tenacity.

"Gran Rey Cero!"

She shouted with glee, firing off a enlarged Cero that would've paled Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's own fired back years ago, as the razord bladed motions flew towards the gate with a almost unpredictable pattern before...

SPPPPRRRRACK-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The explosive power at first seemed to bend all space into a distorted fabric of time/space from its unruly destructive power. Then, after seconds later, it exploded into a brilliant, dark blue flame, that ripped through the strong yet falleable Sekkiseki shield as well as the large gate that barred the way previously from the Soul Society. The first step, had begun.

''CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!''

The Hollow king began to clap with applause, grinning in amusement at the raw and all powerful Cero that al but demolished the gate. "Well done Rana! I've always yearned to see that attack for myself."

The spot in between the blades on his chest began to crackle with black electricity, before a small blue sphere began to form in the same spot, eventually growing to be the size of his head.

"My turn."

EEEOWW!!!!

With a sudden burst of wind, the sphere discharged from his chest and flew into another section of the massive wall, just before it....

boom.......EEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At first, the sphere slammed into the wall and created a small blue explosion that paled in comparison to the Gran Rey Cero used earlier, but then, with a massive wave of wind and power, a bright and shining white light emerged in it's same place, easily becoming much bigger than Rana's previous attack, the sound initially deafening and blowing away all sorts of buildings and other Rukongai structures around that area. Anyone who was relatively close to the area was without a doubt vaporized.

"I call it the Eraser Cero." Ultharon said casually, standing straight up and still grinning as he waited for the smoke to clear from his attack to see it's impact. "For obvious reasons."

Rana's eyes widened at the scene and its immense power, her browline twitched and her pupils dialated from the immense light show that was given.

"Impressive," she then held her steaming hand up for inspection, looking at her nails offhandedly as she spoke, "does this mean we can send in the army now? Their barrier should be down at this side now..."

SPREEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

Upon Caius' nigh impossible force swing towards Love's neck, a powerful rainbow-like blast of barrier energy emanated, repelling the blow with amazing force redirected back at the impressively powerful Hollow Lord. Within that brief instant, of space and time that Caius would have left an opening, a pair of six yellow rods slammed from all sides through his torso, with a few feet seperating each of the powerful binding Kidōs.

"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudō #61, Rikujōkōrō," Hachi spoke in a defined, clear voice as a follow-up incantation to strengthen the pair of identical binding Kidōs.

Love then leaped back, standing out of the way of the next follow up attack but wouldn't be his own doing as he skid away a good 10 meters away from him, "Do it now!"

"Chop Cleanly," a Hollowfied Hiyori, Soul Reaper garbed young girl muttered as she leaped with incredible agility and speed towards the bound Hollow Lord, swinging a now butcher-esque Zanpakutō, "Kubikiri Orochi!"

SLICE-BOOM!

With incredible cutting power and brute strength employed into her swing, she aimed to cut deep into the Hollow Lord's shoulder within a single strike. Within that moment, she opened her Hollow mask's jaw, revving up a spherical ball of spirit energy...

VRRRR-BLAAAAAM!

....releasing a powerful Cero point-blank, intending on wounding the powerful Hollow Lord if not just a little, causing a large explosion of crimson energy, followed by a pyre of orange flames that leveled the ground they stood on and forced it into a large recess.

Caius was somewhat surprised by the use of teamwork, realizing that he was now binded within the Kido spell and left completley open for the girl's attack.

Just before the Kido spell had been used, Ultharon grinned, holding his sword high up into the air and letting it glow with a blue light.

"Be a pleasure."

He then swung the sword the sword down, pointing it at the opening within the Soul Societies wall. Just in the sky above, hidden by the numerous clouds in the area, red lights began to flicker and twitch, numbering easily within the dozens. And then, the onslaught commenced.

VVRRBROOOM!!

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!!

BOOM!!!

The lights were revealed to be Ceros coming from Hollow soldiers in the skies, all of the red beams descending upon the inner Soul Society wall and destroying several buildings as they did so. Ultharon intended to lure as many Soul Reapers out of their fortress as he could, before he would slaughter them himself with his true power.

By then, Ultharon noticed that Caius had been trapped within the Kido spell and about to get hit on both sides. Sneering with anticipation, he spread his wings and then flew towards the group, at amazing speeds with a burst of wind shooting out behind him. His sights were set mainly on Hiyori, aiming to slam into her just after her Cero engulfed Caius.

"Did I get him?!" Hiyori asked as she leaped in the air, vaulting over Caius, but only barely got a glimpse of a dark figure soaring down towards her, with the sound of a rocket screaming towards its designated impact site, "the...fuc-?!"

SPEW-SPEW-SPEW-SPEW!

A number of white-violet bars of restraining Kido energy were hurtled towards the incoming Grand Hollow Lord, sent by Hachi with a alarmed look on his face, "Bakudo # 62, Hyapporankan!"

Love managed to briefly look at the incoming figure and then felt his blood chill to ice. This guy...was on entirely different level than the guy they were facing. He readied his weapon, leaping towards the Grand Hollow Lord to put himself in between Hiyori, swinging his weapon in a impressive flourishing motion, "One down, and one more to put down!"

Ultharon continued to grin widely, soaring back and forth to playfully avoid the oncoming bars of energy, knowing fully well that he could destroy them with little difficulty, but he felt like letting loose for a change. When he came closer to Love, the level of his strength became all the more apparant.

CLANG!!!!

The Grand Hollow Lord stopped and held his left arm up, blocking the massive mase with surprisingly little effort. Unfortunatley for Love, Ultharon was just close enough to...

SING!!!!!

...run his two pronged tail in Love's direction within a flash, aiming to run it clean through his chest. The grin on the monster was all the more disturbing and evil as it did so.

"You're wide open." came the voice of Caius from behind the smoke in the mean time.

VRRRROOOOM!!!!!

The Vasto Lorde's signature thin red Cero shot out from the cloud of dust and in Hiyori's direction, creating a massive column of red energy from the impact alone.

"GRK!" Love had only managed to backpedal a few feet but had felt the hidden pronged blades slash across his chest, spurting forth a horrifying amount of his own blood into the air, tearing through his teacher's uniform and Shikhakusho. But, surprisingly Love was spurred on by this, lighting up the mace that was on the Grand Hollow Lord's skin, growling out, "Burn...YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!"

BRRRRRACK-BOOOM!

A point-blank exhaust of flames lit up around the Gran Vasto Lorde's form, creating a deafening concussive shockwave which would at the very least push the powerful being a few steps back so Love could catch his breath and think of a strategy, in the least, to survive.

"AAAARGH!"

Hiyori howled as she had barely deflected the Cero before being enveloped in its incredibly high powered embrace...barely being shielded by the rest of it by a inverted sealing Kido, barely summoned by Hachi in the nick of time, with Hachi sweatdropping at the scene.

"Hado #72," Hachi uttered without faltering as he raised both hands to clasp the wrists together and the palms pointing in Caius' direction, "Soren Sokatsui!"

SPPPPPREEEAAAACK-BOOM!

A impressively sized energized explosion ripped through that.

The flames overcame Ultharon's form, seemingly burning him to a crisp...

SSPRROOOOSH!!!!!

...until the monster flew out of the fires, barely affected by the fires as he flew straight towards Love, intending to run his two horns on the top of his head into Love's gut area.

WHOOSH!!!

Suddenly, a tall shadow appeared just behind Hachi, towering over him by at least two feet, bearing an appearance similar to that of his master.

"You're getting on my nerves." Gravich said, as he slammed his right knee into the man's back, intending to send him flying in the appropriate direction of the attack.

SPRACK-FIIIIZ!

A transparent blue Kido barrier automatically sprung up when he was ambushed on his blindside, causing Hachi's eyes to widen as he had not detected his presence until his voice was spoken. Without turning from his spot, however, Hachi wordlessly and masterfully discharged a kinetic burst of Kido energy that would send him careening, out of his back where the barrier lit up, sending a brief shockwave in its wake.

"Things are becoming too dire for our forces to hold them back alone," Hachi spoke with a serious tone of trepidation, using Flash Step to stand upon a nearby mountain of rubble before making hand signs to create another nigh invisible barrier around himself, "I hope we can attain those reinforcements we're stalling for...and soon!"

"That didn't budge huh?!" Love shouted, before backpedaling with a swift Flash Step, raising the edge of his Kadanbo Zanpakuto, the edge of it revving up with the crimson iconic gathering of spirit energy, creating a Cero as he shouted out, "DIE, BITCH!"

VRR-VOOOM-BLAM!

Within the wake of Love's attack was a large crimson expansive force, causing an incredible explosion which rivaled his earlier Visored enhanced technique of flames, causing a miniature shockwave within the air.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAH!"

CRACK-SMASH!

An enraged Hiyori broke out of her inverted, transparent blue pyramid of binding energy, her Spiritual Pressure brimmed to an all-time high, as she leaped with a burst of wind towards what she assumed was a partially wounded Caius, uncaring of her earlier tactics as her Hollowity boiled her blood at this point and honed her powers to a raw, potent form.

"TAKE THIS!" Hiyory swung her serrated cleaver Zanpakuto with a vengeance towards Caius' shoulder-

TING-CRRRRRRK!

...only to be met by Rana's rapier Zanpakuto, with a cool almost annoyed look on her face as she was barely moved by her strength for a few feet. Inwardly, she remarked while she definitely would've surpassed many normal Arrancar or Hollows, her powers were infestimal in comparison to any of the high ranking Hollow Lords and generals here. Especially her own!

With a brief look of shock on Hiyori's face, she was briefly pushed back before Rana disappeared within a blur of motion...

SIING!

...and appeared behind her, with her Zanpakuto held forward, with a faint curtain of blood on its thin steel. Within a waving motion of her Zanpakuto, sending the droplets of blood flying to the ground, she muttered disinterested, "Standing still gets fools killed."

SPLUUUURCH!

"Gurrk...ach!" Hiyori's only response to a diagonal cut that sliced through her shoulder down to her midriff, causing her mask to shatter upon the swift force and her eyes roll up as she fell to the ground inert and twitching, with slight groaning from her pain.

Ultharon grinned as he saw the Hollow like attack come straight for him. He would have been hit dead on if he kept going at his current pace, but with a quick and powerful flap of his wings, the Grand Hollow Lord swerved to the Cero's right side, before flapping his wings with a powerful gust of wind that propelled him straight for the exposed Visored, extending his right arm as if he was going to arm bar Love into the massive Sekkesei wall just behind them.

Gravich in the mean time, skidded along the ground to stop himself from going too far from the area, sneering at Hachi's new evasive technique. "Geez I wish that fatass would hurry his ass up here! I'm sick of having to hold back and fight these freakin' wannabes!"

''VRBOOOOOM! ''

A large black explosion was created from another section of the wall that surrounded the Seireitei, indicating the said Hollow Lord was starting his attack. This was also followed by a most chilling, monstrous roar from the Hollow Lord, indicating his troops to begin their attack into the Seireitei.

BOOM!

A rather large gust of spiritual energy was exerted from Caius' area, dispelling the smoke and the kido fangs around him to reveal an only partially burnt Caius. "Cowards. Letting Visoreds and other forces do the Gotei 13's work for them." he said with disdain.

"AAAAAAAARGH!" Love yelled out as he flew right into the solid substance, feeling the force from the incredibly versatile Grand Hollow Lord. His back felt like it was hurtled into a solid brick wall with no physical build or cushioning to protect him, as well as barely even denting the highly dense spiritual substance.

"Grk...d-damn you!" Love cursed as part of his mask had been obliterated from the sheer concussive force that washed over his body like a tidal wave. He felt blood oozing out of his mouth, his shades cracked to pieces from behind his partially destroyed Hollow mask, and a haziness take over his vision.

"N-No!" Hachi exclaimed with fear and worry for his former comrades in forced Hollowity and the Gotei 13, "Love! Hiyori!"

What most of the collaboraters couldn't hear was the numerous, rapidly developing outcries of Hollows being decimated with quick succession and ease, with large volumes of explosions being seen behind the blown out sections of the walls of various colors. The Captains were taking the fight to them!

Ultharon grinned more, his right shoulder eye looking over to see Gran Leviatan beginning his assault. All of his eyes then peered at Love's bleeding form. His left hand pinning Love's chest to the wall, Ultharon reared his right fist back, speaking in a low voice.

"Abomination."

He then thrusted his fist forward with great speed and strength, ensuring that it would be the last thing that his foe ever see.

Caius then turned around and released another thin Cero at Hachi's form, aiming to take his focus off of his comrades and more towards his own barrier's strength.

SNATCH-SNATCH-SSHK!

What happened next, happened without a doubt...a Flash. More technically speaking, a series of combined Flash Steps were utilized by several noteworthy Captains.

Captain Kensei Mugurama of the 9th Division and Head of the Soul Society's Security Forces, had grasped his wrist with a steely cool look in his eyes with impressive strength. Further bolstering this stopping power was Captain Sajin Komamura of the 7th Division, with his large fur-like hand grasping his forearm with his left arm, combining his widely known mighty strength with Kensei's fully stopping the Gran Vasto Lorde's initial blow to the beaten Love Aikawa. The third however...was none other than a fiercely grinning Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of the 11th Division, holding his unsheated serrated Zanpakuto up to his neck, issuing the silent warning he'd kill him in a heartbeat.

"I suggest you carefully consider who's more worthy of killing, Lord Ultharon," Sajin spoke first, as he stared near eye level with the Hollow Lord by stature alone, "a man near death's door, or the men who are eager to kill you where you stand?"

"Ngh?!" Hachi turned too late to see the highly pressurized, powerful Cero narrow towards him. Like a twin beam of lazers, they homed in with lightning speed towards Hachi's currently ineffectively protected form. He knew in his mind he couldn't enact additonal protection in time so all he could do was watch...

"Shakkaho!"

VR-VR-BLAM, BOOOM!

With a united verbal proclamation, two bursts of condensed red sphers of crimson kido slammed within the nick of time into the condensed cero beam, causing it to dissipate rapidly and explod prematurely, with the flames rushing towards Hachi.

Within a near instaneous gesturing movement, a small figure appeared behind Hachi before grasping him forcefully off his feet, and skidding away from the area of impact, within mere moments of the flames projecting, expelling the earth and air with incredible destructive energy as the plume of fire soared into the air.

"Oh my," a smooth, nearly effeminte voice called out in observation as a steaming hand revealing the source of Kido to be seen as from himself, as he approached the Vasto Lorde with a assortment of other capable fighters, "that attack could've turned out to be very ugly for you, Captain Ushōda."

"Its a good thing we came when we did," Ikkaku Madarame, 3rd Seat of the 11th Division said as he walked next to his 11th Division 5th Seated partner with a eager smile as he held his Zanpakuto sheathed against his shoulder loosely, tapping it with thought, "otherwise we wouldn't be freakin heroes, now would we?"

"Pipe it down you two," the secondary source of the Kido attack from none other than Tetsuzaemon Iba, Lieutenant of the 7th Division, readying himself as he grasped the hilt of his Zanpakuto from within his kosode's inner fabric, "we got a job to do here, remember?"

"Yeah yeah, no need to tell me twice!" Ikkaku said with a smile as he unsheathed his Zanpakuto and promptly got into a fighter's stance, with a sheathe in one hand and a sword in the other.

Within a instant, Hachi appeared with a very small pink haired girl whom had been comically holding Hachi up by his back with one hand. This girl, also known as Yachiru Kusajishi, Lieutenant of the 11th Division, had a wide smile and twin sets of childish blushes on her cheeks, as well as a crossbone accessory on her hair. What was making it almost ridiculously was that she also was carrying her normal sized Zanpakuto by a sash that would normally be held around her waist.

"I got Hachi-Hachi!" She called out with self praise, whom the man above sweatdropped yet thankful he had been pulled out of the fire when she did so.

"Good work, Lieutenant," Shūhei Hisagi, Lieutenant of the 9th Division, said with a moot tone, as he held hands near his hips as he observed the situation from the sides of the other Lieutenants and seated officers, "set the Captain down so he can resume his duties please."

"You got it, Hisa-Hisa!" She said promptly, giggling as she perfectly sat the Captain onto his haunches with ease and relatively no difficulty, bowing to the Captain with politeness before blinking at the Hollow Lord and cocking her head curiously at him.

Ultharon's grin remained, taking joy in that the Gotei 13 had finally come out of their fortress. "My my, aren't we all just so bold?"

The area around them began to shake violently, Ultharon bristling with unimagionable Spiritual Power as his eyes transformed from yellow to blood red. "I love it when my enemies are stupid enough to walk right into a trap so foolishly laid out for them!"

SLAM!

Out of nowhere, just above Sajin, appeared Gravich, his hands both over his head as he slammed them down upon Sajin's back, aiming to send him flying to the ground below.

Ultharon, in the mean time, demonstrated his own physical strength by grabbing Kensei's wrist with his still moveable hand, and then kicked himself off of the wall with a mighty gust of wind that would be too fast for Kenpachi to land a choice kill. He then twisted around after going about thirty meters from the previous spot, demonstrating his own physical strength by flinging Kensei back towards the wall by letting go of the latter's wrist, and thus sending him in the desired direction with enough force to cause the Captain's wrist to come off of his as well.

Caius then let his burn wounds heal with his self regeneration, before peering at the group of Vice Captains with his own curious gaze. "Well now, a squad of Vice Captains come to take me down? Admirable, but unlikely. I'll give you all the opprotunity to impress me with your prowess..."

His eyes then began to glow with a piercing and menacing red glow. "...or I'll reduce your bodies to nothing but ashes."

"GRRRR!" Komamura had managed to raise his available hand to halt the majority of the impact, but was still sent down a good dozen meters, almost touching the ground without control before he righted himself onto his feet. Looking up with a focused gaze, he growled out as he began unsheathing his Zanpakuto, "Only a coward and a fool ambushes a man without announcing his presence. Roar,"

SHINK!

"...Tenken!" Within a sudden emanation of transparent vibrant light, a ethreal arm was suddenly summoned, with a rather large version of the sealed Zanpakuto in hand, pointing up at Gravich, "come then, Hollow Lord, and fight me if you're aim is that great!"

"Ngh!" Kensei had barely any time to manuever, as he backflipped with the momentum and smashed his feet against the Sekkiseki, actually causing a visual rumbling from his feet smashing with the initial force used by the Gran Vasto Lorde. He then eyed Ultharon warily, still crouched in a perpindicular position as he aimed to take him on somehow...without his fellow Captain interfering.

"Hey!" Kenpachi called out, appearing right next to the Grand Hollow Lord, swinging his serrated sword with incredible force and exertion of Spiritual Power, sending a rift of yellow spiritual energy at him with his sword stroke, "don't ignore an opponent with his blade held at your throat!"

"Ooooh," Yachiru looked with a comical set of blinking eyes, putting a finger up to her lips as she felt unafraid by the pronouncement of their doom and the glowing eyes. In fact, she suddenly gleamed and clapped her hands before pointing back at Caius, "its so flashy! I'll call you Flashy!"

Almost unanimously, everyone present sweatdropped. Another had been claimed by her plethora of nicknames for people around her.

"Well if we're done chit-chatting around," Ikkaku said after he spun his sheathe and his Zanpakuto in flashy circles, "I think its time we get this party started!"

DASH!

With a sudden rapid scene of movement, Ikkaku, along with Tetsuzaemon and Yumichika, all began releasing their Zanpakutos in midstride towards the Hollow Lord.

"Extend, Hōzukimaru!"

"Bloom for me, Fuji Kujaku!"

"Raaaah!"

And within their strides, Hachi would not let them run in without support, as he donned his mask with a fluid gesture before snapping his fingers repeatedly in a series of movements that looked like a jazz goer to cheer on a musician.

BING-BING-BING-BING-BING-SPZT!

Within moments, blue transparent box-like barriers suddenly enwrapped around the Hollow Lord's limbs, torso and even head, within a heartbeat.

"Don't forget me, Caius Louisenbairnn," Hachi spoke out in his hollowed voice through his witchdoctor-esque Hollow mask, as he moved to clasp his hands together swiftly, to command the barriers to slice his enemy's body to pieces with a single blow, "for I'm still your opponent!"

SCHTING!!!!

The Gran Hollow Lorde then easily caught Kenpachi's oncoming strike with his tail, wrapping it's two bone like prongs around, though he was slightly taken aback by the power his foe used, having to actually use some of his own Spiritual Power to keep from having the sword cut his tail in two completley.

He then gave Kenpachi his own menacing and disturbing grin, his eyes still blood red in shade. "Or what?" he asked as he then whipped his tail to where it would fling Kenpachi towards the Rukongai below them.

BOOM!!!

Gravich's eyes began to glow red as well, Spiritual energy radiating off of his form in a sign of excitement and anticipation at seeing his foes released weapon. He then snarled and charged down towards Sajin, preparing for his oncoming battle.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten you my large friend." Caius spoke, as he then released another massive burst of Spiritual energy that would serve two purposes. The first would be to dispell the barriers around him, and the other to fling his oncoming attackers away from his vicinity.

Within the wake of the incredible surge of Spiritual Energy, the three charging officers found themselves shoved backwards, breaking their charge indefinitely.

"So much...power!" Tetsuzaemon muttered as he held his left arm in front of him to shield some of the buffeting winds that caused them to stop charging.

"It would appear our foe is more powerful than even a Captain," Yumichika gasped as he shuffled his feet slightly backwards in the pressure exerted upon him.

STEP!

However, Ikkaku was still walking towards his target with his hands both clenching his weapon even as the exertion had pushed him slightly, he didn't seemed entirely phased by the tactic, "Is that all you got?!"

WHIZ!

In the moment that the Vasto Lorde would be distracted, Shūhei used Flash Step to appear above the monster general, holding his hands together as he uttered, "Bakudo #62," spreading his hands apart, a octagon shaped violet-white bar of binding energy appeared, "Hyapporankan!" With a swift executed throw, the bar spread and multiplied to 25, then 50, and finally up to a wide array of effect of 100 binding bars of Kido energy.

Within that gap of time, Hachi decided to follow up with a number of silent, yet incredibly effective projectiles coming from the nature of Shakkaho, sending them in a repetition that augmented his current prowess within Kido arts as well as the power behind them towards the predicted trapped or fleeing Vasto Lorde.

Sajin growled as he grasped his Zanpakuto with both hands, using a perfectly timed horizontal swing towards Gravich's descending form, the large ethreal blade having incredible destructive and cutting power behind the swift swing of Sajin's sword.

"Argh!" Kenpachi growled as he felt himself flown downwards into the distant Rukonagi wastes below, a loud crash emanated from the impact he was sent from the tantamountal throw the Gran Vasto Lorde used to throw the powerful Captain away.

"That's my cue," Kensei muttered to himself with a deadly cool look in his eyes, raising his left hand up to his face before pulling down swiftly.

BLING! BRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZ!

The dramatic change of his outward Spiritual Pressure was instaneous, as Kensei's red eyes behind the mask glowed brightly.

BRACK-BLAM!

Like a torpedoe, Kensei propelled himself off the wall with incredible versatility and strength, moving right into the Ultharon's path, with speed and strength that rivaled his previous foes, Yoruichi and Seu-Feng. With a mighty, swift combo of punches, he moved to propel the Gran Vasto Lorde away from the walls while also intending on battering him inwards with his sheer animosity and Hollow-gained strength.

Meanwhile...

Rana had begun moving into the city. She faintly saw traces of high ranking officers gather in a cohesive movement to stop a great deal of Hollows, while a few swift moving high spiritual pressures indicated by her Pesquisa were Captain-class, moving around and destroying Hollows by the droves. In hindsight, she was glad that Ultharon possessed such a large army. Eventually the sheer numbers of the Hollow army would wear down even veterans such as the Captains and officers of the Gotei 13.

But, within her steps of drawing into the Seireitei, her Pesquisa picked up a particular Spiritual Pressure she hadn't anticipated. With a cool gaze and sideglance at a figure drawing near behind her, she grasped her Zanpakuto's hilt as she asked aloud, "What have we here? Another Rukon rat comes out to challenge a monster? Or are you a Captain, hiding in trappings I deem a poor man's tatters?"

Caius turned his attention briefly upwards towards the oncoming projectiles of Kido, his gaze disspassionate and dissapointed as if he had already completley analyzed and deciphered the attack's functioning.

WHOOSH!!!!

He then sprung towards Ikkaku at much greater speeds than before, his foot slamming into his chest as he would both avoid the projectiles and put Ikkaku back a good ways.

Ultharon, grinning at the sight of his newly Hollowfied foe, simply held his black sword out towards Kensei, the hole just above the handle centered on the Visored as the blade began to glow with a blue light.

ZWHOOSH!!!!

A sudden, powerful gust of energy shot out that only Kensei would be able to feel. The Hollow blood within his veins would tingle and sting, a piercing whisper would shred inside of his mind.

''Know your place. Protect and serve the Sovereign. Bow before me...''

This tactic was both cruel and demonstrative of Ultharon's full grasp on the will of those with Hollow blood. He would bend Kensei to his knees, and leave him open for a fatal blow.

Gravich in the meantime swerved around the oncoming sword with Sonido, before extending his right foot down and aimed to slam Sajin into the ground.

Ah....tis a shame really...

Suddenly, a deep, gruff voice emerged from the surroundings around Rana. The spiritual pressure was....dark, sinister, void and empty, as if death itself wait within the voice's gait.

''ssssqurim! ssssquirm!''

Then, several black blobs on the ground all began to form in the center of the road, all of them appearing to be shadows on the ground. They all formed a single black blob in the spot, and a shadowy figure slowly began to rise out of it. His hair was long, down to his mid back at least, and it spiked up on the top of his head like a child's almost. He wore a black robe with three golden buckles on his left chest area, and three more around his waist. The end of the robes extended and flared out, revealing his hands, the nails of which were all extended to the point of being claws, each having three golden rings loosely hanging on their wrists. Black boots emerged on his feet, and his hands slowly folded behind his back. On his face was a white mask, a mask that held an expression of calmness, but at the same time, it gave off the same eerie feeling as before, a single white eye on it's left side.

"A Rukon rat? Well that's not very nice of you to say. I've feelings you know." the man said to Rana, his gruff and somewhat Glaswegian accented tone carrying a hint of mockery.

The Master of Shadows
"Do you think I'd care," Rana asked almost rhetorically, turning around to face the man with impressive Spiritual Pressure, her gaze dispassionate and cold, "of whom I kill, whether it be Reaper nor Hollow?" Rana's own magnificently, almight Spiritual Pressure shook the air intensely, her body briefly glowed red with the aura her Vasto Lorde Arrancar blood gave her. Despite the chilling, almost exciting presence this Soul Reaper gave off, she would not be goaded like he was from that child playing god-slayer.

WHAM!

Sajin, despite being surprised by the enemy's speed, was not a Captain without reason. With a quick reflexsive raise of his massive forearm up, he absorbed the kick by Gravich, feeling his large soles smash and quake the ground beneath him for a good distance, a testament to both of their incredible strengths. Sajin moved fluidly to change directions of his Zanpakuto, slashing towards the limb that was pressing down on Sajin's arm, before counter swinging, the ethreal blade appearing in mass and strength to swing the Vasto Lorde away from his form.

Kensei at first felt his body betray himself, stopping forth before the Gran Vasto Lorde, feeling a almost compelling command tell him bow before the wielder of the sword...that sword...that was a abomination to Zanpakuto! Kensei's body moved to a near kneeling posture, almost looking like he had given into the command of Soberana Absoluta...before a energized, knife coated blast of tremendous power flew towards the Gran Vasto Lorde's unsuspecting chest, with a loud animalistic roar emitting from Kensei's mouth, "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Grk!" Ikkaku had managed to raise his arms in front of himself, knowing that raising his malleably fragile weapon's handle to defend against this hollow's attack would only be his own undoing. Surprisingly though, he managed to only skid a good half dozen meters from the blow, a testament to his unrealistic strength the 3rd Seat has gained over the years of training and honing his physical aptitude.

It was then that Yumichika and Tetsuzaemon realized how swift and utterly powerful their foe was. Despite knowing this, they moved with purpose and speed as they moved past the Hollow and slashed their Zanpakutos in passing by in vicious arcs and strides, before they went in opposite directions, leaving another opening for an attack to transpire...

"Reap,"

WHIIIIIIIZ-HISSSS!

"Kazeshini!" Shūhei hissed out, swinging the scythe chained-connected weapons towards Caius with a vicious assault towards his escape route and flank, then retracting them back and swinging them aroudn in spinning, jingling currents around himself as he moved out of the range of counterattack of the powerful foe.

BRRRRRZZZZZBLAAAAAAAAAAAM!

"Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō!" Hachi followed up swiftly and masterfully, after discharging the incredible thunderhead from the palms of his hands. The electrical fissure screeched and buzzed towards Caius at the absolute last possible moment, in its wake was the Hollowfied augmented power, that if hit, would most certainly wound his foe.

Within the gap of time between the next actions, Caius put his fingers to his mouth and released a piercing and earshattering whistling noise, the likes of which echoed throughout the Rukongai district around them.

It was there that Shuhei's two weapons wrapped around Caius' hand, catching them and preventing them from being withdrawn just as the Vasto Lorde threw them to the ground, intending to sling Shuhei's form to the ground as well. He saw the attack of energy approaching him, before holding out his arm to take the full impact of the blast.

Ultharon was still grinning, knowing that his effects were taking a drastic toll on Kensei's form. His eyes reflected the shade of the blast heading for him, before slicing his sword towards the attack. Then, Ultharon's own large fissure of energy split the blast in half, the Sovereign Breaker technique ripping through the air as it threatened to cut Kensei clean in two.

"No." Raiken confirmed, looking at his elongated nails mockingly. "In fact, I doubt that there is very little in your wee bit mind besides killing. I mean, that is what Hollows excel in, right?"

"I thought that title belongs to your kind," Rana verbally parried back, "after all. Your arrogant race places your military in the entitlement as Reapers, as if you're the embodiment of death or something. Kind've a big joke when so many of you die by the likes of mere Hollows."

SNATCH!

"Whatcha doing up here?!" Kenpachi suddenly appeared, his bod aglow with a menacing aura of Spiritual Pressure and Energy, his hand grasping Ultharon's ankle before he throwing him downwards with surprising strength of his own before slashing a fissure of slicing spirit energy towards him, "get down here and fight me already!"

Within that tug of movement, Kensei managed to snap to his senses and evade the incredibly powerful attack, feeling the searing heat as he leaped out of its path before undonning his mask, breathing slightly with relief, "The hell was that just now?! Was he...trying to make my Inner Hollow go berserk?!"

"GAH!" Shuhei felt himself thrown to the ground far off, feeling his feet slam barely in the knick of time causing a impact site. He whiped his Zanpakuto back within a flurry of motion before the gigantic explosion of electrical energy made a huge orange-blue pillar of fire in its wake, electrocuting everything to a crisp nearby.

Hachi sighed, undonning his mask temporarily as he focused his eyes on the smoking haze while the officers gathered around him, "He's simply too strong for average tactics...this entity, this Louisenbairnn, is on an entirely different plane than the brother I fought."

"We can hardly land a single hit on him," Tetsuzaemon spoke out in turn, hefting his large Zanpakuto onto his shoulder, "I don't know even with all the skill we all possess can take him in a straight on fight."

"I can take him," Ikkaku said with a wide grin, holding his still unbroken Zanpakuto against his own shoulder as he narrowed his eyes, "just make sure to give me an opening and a wide berth. My speciality is after solo-combat against powerful opponents."

"You seem in a rather good mood for someone who could've ended up in a very ugly state," Yumichika spoke in a curious tone, "what makes you believe you stand a chance against him when not even our Kido Captain can defeat him?"

"Kido is for support, not straight-up offense," Ikkaku said practically, "if he sees an opening, he'll take it, but otherwise he can't take this guy upfront. Close quarters opponents are usually swift as well as resilient, making it almost impossible for spells to work on the likes of them. I on the other hand specialize in close quarters combat..."

"But he's got centuries more experience than you, Ikkaku," Tetsuzaemon said hesitantly, looking towards him with a almost scornful way, "don't rush to your death just because of the delusion of glory-"

"This is about survival, Tetsuzaemon! Not about victory or defeat!" Ikkaku snarled, before leaping down onto the crevice of the large pit that was created from the enhanced high level Kido explosion. Swinging his Zanpakuto around, he shouted into the veil of smoke, "you ready for a round with me, tough guy?!"

"And yet here we are at the top of the food chain, while you Hollows still linger on the bottom." Raiken shot back, folding his arms behind his back once more. "What is this invasion of yours exactly? Some pitiful attempt to take our place or something?"

Just within the pillar of smoke and fire, Caius' red eyes shot through it's large maw, his voice just as calm and collected as ever as his partially burned figure casually walked towards them. "Why of course I'm on an entire new level in comparison to my brother. I mean, in comparison to his mere six-hundred years of life, my three thousand years has given me new perspective on the actions of your kinds. And I must say...."

His left arm, originally taking the bulk of the previous attack, quickly began to heal as he peered at them. "You're just as predictable as ever. Thankfully, I have a remedy."

RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAARRRRRGHH!!!!!!!!!

A terrible, shrieking roar could be heard off in the distance, before a massive shadow appeared just above the group, threatening to smash them all with just it's simple weight and element of surprise.

Ultharon, not expecting Kenpachi's sudden intervention, was thrown a bit of a ways down to the ground. However he stopped himself middair, sprouted his wings, and then flew around the torrent of yellow energy at amazing speeds. His sadistic grin was just as wide as Kenpachi's, aiming his black sword at the man's head in an attempt to behead him along with powerful and great force behind it's swing.

"Hado #4, Byakurai," Kensei spoke aloud, having since regained his composure and allowed himself to aid his comrade against the attack.

SPREEEEEECRAAAAACK!

A sudden blast of piercing electrical energy halted the attack indefinitely, allowing Kenpachi to whirl around and grasp the wrist Ultharon used to wield the sword before aiming to cut his enemy's arm off from the wrist down, intending on taking his sword arm within the maneuver.

CLAP, SPRACH, BAM!

Within a single motion, Hachi managed to errect a large yellow box barrier above the group, taking the initial force off of them, before Hachi followed with a outwards thrust of his left palm, "Raikōhō!"

CRRRRACKBOOOM!

An incredible blast of concussive, electrical power easily pierced the Kido he used not only as a shield, but a smokescreen so the Vasto Lorde wouldn't be able to see his movements that were as instinctive as they were masterful.

"Good! Hold them off just like that!" Ikkaku cheered in a happy-go-lucky mood before he turned to the Vasto Lorde, "I'm going to give him a piece of my own mind! BAN-KAI!"

SPRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOM!

Within a brief instance, a whirlwind blasted around him and upwards, two crimson dragons of spiritual energy emanated up above before diving into the heart of the twister. Within a excess exhale of wind, a draconic armored, muscular form of Ikkaku stood with three gigantic blades, with red tassles on two of them with the other one levitating on his back with a dragon enamored onto its surface. Raising both blades up, he pointed his blades towards Caius, "My name is Ikkaku Madarame, 3rd Seat of the 11th Division. I'm your enemy, Caius Louisenbairn, till the death!"

Rana blinked, shrugging in a nonchalant manner, "I could really care less if this invasion has a purpose or not. I'm only here to wipe out a lot of your kind before I attain my objectives. Other than that, its been ages since I've cut loose against Soul Reapers, so I just thought why I wouldn't pass up the opportunity."