The War of Four: The Precipice of War

Anticipated Betrayal, The Real Fight Begins Now!
"This isn't looking good," Kyōaku thought to himself as he observed the battlefield. From what he could tell, the Fullbringer squads were being captured or subdued swiftly by the organized Alliance squads. Not only that, but he intercepted the communique from Dragon Brina McTavish, reigning in all of the remaining members of the 43rd Sherman Regiment to withdraw, effectively crippling any chance to establish a good foothold within the Rukonagi Districts surrounding the Seireitei areas.

Not only that, but the staff within the headquarters was only a mere 5% of the remaining forces left at their disposal. With the destruction of their aerial fleet, carrying a good portion of their Airborne Units and Aircraft with them, there would be no chance to call in reinforcements to keep HQ secure.

He also found disturbing readings that Furuidensh ō and Hana had won against his associates. He could sense their Spiritual Pressure faintly, allowing to breathe a sigh of relief. All containment procedures had gone awry with Furuidensh ō's release, not even being able to retrieve K ōsei's very much alive person as he went into hiding within the substructure of the Seireitei.

Even more recently, he saw that Shūkurō's signal had gone offline and his Spiritual Pressure vanished. All video and audio feeds were cut, and his presence seemed to completely disappear. Ky ōaku growled lowly, finding it frustrating that one of his most valued colleagues had gone missing at such a crucial point, as well when he was on the verge of gaining victory over ex-Captain Kuchiki.

"I can't believe its come to this," Ky ōaku spoke as he began to type in specific commands into the interactive console on his armplate, as he spoke aloud to the ever-impassive visage of his unhelpful ally, "S  ōsuke-kun, I suggest if you want to keep purchase of this territory to bring in what forces you have at your disposal. What personnel we have left I'm going to transport to one of our secure outposts in Aether, and regroup with our forces there. It will take time, but we can resupply and repair any damage you and your forces make once I have everything ready in a few days time-" 

"I think you misunderstand the position you placed yourself in, Ky ōaku H ōritsu," S ōsuke interrupted, his voice boding with something akin to a disappointed tone, as his discolored eyes met the visor of Ky ōaku's helm, "you've just weakened the enemy for myself and Yhwach-san to utterly crush here and today. While you and your precious Horsemen associates have now been struck to your knees, I'm going to assume the throne I've deserved since the first day of the invasion."

Ky ōaku's body stiffened, and his finger stopped hitting commands. He knew this would be a issue, and had accounted for a number of ways to deal with him. But now of all times? Considering he didn't have Tsukishima at his beck and call to assist him, he couldn't defer to the frontal assault he desired.

"You know, I think you'll understand if I tell you that I expected this from you. I just honestly wish that it wasn't true," Ky ōaku spoke with a sigh, rising from his seat, walking slowly towards Aizen's direction as he thumbed his Zanpakut ō out of its sheathe, "after all the humiliation you suffered at the hands of Ichigo Kurosaki, you couldn't just roll over and die, could you? How about you do us all a favor and do so now."

"Ky ōaku H ōritsu," S ōsuke spoke directly to him, his eyes casting down at him analytically as he sat upon his smoothly carved throne, "you're a man of great intellect, combat prowess, and resilience. Its no wonder you were chosen as the Third Horseman of the Inner Circle. But honestly, if you wanted to have a chance of possibly incapacitating me, you would've needed at least two of your comrades. Alone...you are nothing but dust in the wind to me."

"All I hear is talking," Ky ōaku snarled behind his helm menacingly, as he withdrew his Zanpakut ō out of his enamored scabbard, raising it to bear upon the White King himself, "why don't you show me what you're made of!"

S ōsuke merely tapped his right forefinger against the armrest of his throne, as his silver eye glowed brightly in emphasis of his remotely triggered action, "R ōten!"

All Ky ōaku saw was white. Instinctively, his Kid ō armor reinforced his physical defenses, as a searing column of white flames erupted beneath him, searing up into the heavens, and splitting the thunderous column of storm clouds. Within the star-lit sky, a cacophony of white electrical bolts flew from one edge of the hole within the storm covered sky to another, to signify the devestating power behind the blast.

Swinging his blade to part the flames, Ky ōaku couldn't help but scoff aloud at the attempt. His Kid ō Armor had been imbued with properties similar to his Zanpakut ō. Having dissipated the destructive energies within the space around his body, Ky ōaku had silently released Zanpakut ō to further instill his integrity against the unnaturally potent blast.

To this, S ōsuke's eyes widened a fraction with intrigue and surprise.

"Oh? You're still standing after an attack like that?" S ōsuke asked with curiosity, his eyes glistening with promise of a challenge.

"Your fancy tricks won't help you, S ōsuke-kun," Ky ōaku chided his enemy with a mock bow, rearing his blade back in preparation, "though, I'm fairly certain that you'll find my type of tricks to be much more substantial."

SHFT-SPLURCH!

"G-Gaugh!" S ōsuke's mouth suddenly ejected a forceful load of blood from his mouth. Looking down with surprise, he barely had time to react to Ky ōaku's thrust, and looked down to see his chest impaled by Ky ōaku's blade. What's worse, was the sight of a split H ōgyoku bend under the power of his enemy's weapon, causing his eyes to widen with shock and very apparent fear "w-what have you done...to...me?!"

"Amaterasu is a Zanpakut ō with unprecedented power over Life and Death. Its an embodiment of sowing life to its wielder and reaping it from those it may claim as prey," Ky ōaku explained as he dug his blade further through the marble throne S ōsuke sat upon, relishing the violent twitches as blood began to flow from the ivory seat and descending the dramatic steps, "I don't care if you think you're a god, superior to the Children of Izanami, or if the H  ōgyoku has made you nigh immortal. My Zanpakut  ō's control over the fate of anything its edge comes into contact is absolute. No one is exempt. Not even you!"

As more blood gargled up from S ōsuke's throat, a guttural chuckle elapsed from his sickly, blood-soaked lips as he looked haughtily back at Ky ōaku, "Thank you for that information, Ky ōaku-chan. I'll make sure...to use it wisely...against you..."

"What are you-?" Ky ōaku began to ask, but wouldn't get the chance to finish.

''' SPLURCH! '''

"-nnnngh?!" Ky ōaku lurched forward onto his blade, as he felt something push through his back and out his chest, effectively tearing through the armor as if it was nothing but cloth. Looking down, he saw an immaculate hand, identical to S ōsuke's, covered in his blood up to his black silk sleeve.

As he looked at the victim that fell prey to his blade, he realized with horror it was indeed S ōsuke who impaled him from behind. The blood, the body, the scent and visual body that sat before him shattered into glass fragments, before dissipating into the air as blue slivers of spirit energy.

"Its a good thing I left myself to double for my presence. Had you hit me with my guard down, you might've done serious damage to me," S ōsuke spoke behind him, as his feet hovered in the middle of the space behind the twitching body solidly embedding his arm within, "that is, if you actually could touch me with such an arrogantly presumptious weapon such as that."

"Myself?" Ky ōaku thought, as his mind began to work in overdrive, as he slowly withdrew his blade from the cracked throne, "does he mean that...he didn't cast an illusion on me...but rather...left an impressionary creation of his that he could manipulate from any span of distance, even preform his own techniques at will? Then...I know he hasn't made me succumb to an illusion...which means..."

GRRRRRRP!

"?!" S ōsuke's eyes widened as he felt his wrist firmly grasped by Ky ōaku's left gloved hand, with sudden renewed strength he didn't account for.

"Thanks for giving yourself away, S ōsuke-kun. That was very..."

''' SLICE! '''

"...thoughtful of you!" Ky ōaku snarled out, as his blade swung around and dismembered both his own grappling left arm, but S ōsuke's right arm as well.

"What?!" S ōsuke quickly backpedaled away, ignoring the fact his own right forearm had been sliced cleanly off, but the fact Ky ōaku cut his own to allow the clean cut to succeed in taking his limb off.

"I'm pretty certain that your body is unnaturally condensed with Spiritual particles, making physical injuries almost impossible to occur unless a high yield of force is utilized," Ky ōaku spoke calmly, as he turned to address S ōsuke, despite the copious amounts of blood continued to leak from his left stump and his midriff's newly attained hole, "so I  hypothesized that the only thing that could negate that type of physical integrity were a spacial-type Kid ō, a refined blade composed of Sekkiseki minerals, or by making contact with my Zanpakut  ō's edge. Thanks to you, the third hypothetical option is now a factual one I can use at my own leisure."

"You seem...awfully confident for a man who has been impaled, and sacrificed his own arm," S ōsuke spoke with an impassively stoic stare, "even if you were physically at the peak your Shinigami abilities, even you cannot possibly fight against me without some form of fallback plan in mind."

"Awfully perceptive of you, S ōsuke-kun! In fact, I do have a reliable source of replenishing my lost blood and body's tissue," Ky ōaku spoke nonchalantly, turning his blade around to point at his chest.

Surely enough, his chest seemed to be instinctively sealing itself up from the inside, as strands of blood red tissue sewn itself from within, before his skin overlapped on the outside and perfectly healed it within a matter of seconds. Even his arm generated new bone, ligaments, muscle, and skin to flawlessly duplicate what had been lost, shown with an instinctive gripping movement as he showed it to S ōsuke's eyes.

"My body is filled to the brim with nanites that activate when my body is in danger. I can subconsciously order them to repair any damage sustained and replace any tissue, blood, bone, organs, and limbs that have been lost. You could call this...Perfect Regeneration...due to it not even touching my bountiful supply of Spiritual Power within my body," Ky ōaku smiled smugly behind his helm, waving his blade out before S ōsuke, "though, I'm sure this is a much more crude form of healing power in comparison to yours, S ōsuke-kun."

"You see right through me, eh?" S ōsuke mockingly observed, as he stood up fully. Without even batting an eye, white fluid and strands of unnatural tissue stretched from within the severed portion of his right arm, reassembling his arm within seconds. He even repaired the sleeve with a small dispersal of unfelt Spirit Energy manipulation, "anymore abilities do you have to show, or am I wasting my time prattling on with you?"

"Patience, S ōsuke-kun," Ky ō aku spoke aloud, as he mentally calculated the next best approach. He knew that a prolonged battle would acquire unwanted attention from any number of allies at his enemy's disposal, not to mention display the weakened state the Inner Circle had been desperate to hide thus far.

He knew a singular strike would be needed. Even if his opponent could die, then at least one that would leave him in a state close to death. He needed to move fast if he was to gather his allies to withdraw and gain more forces to properly take back their headquarters. If he kept this up much longer, he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything.

"As much as I'd like to test my abilities and see if we can truly compete against each other as truly intelligent warriors," Ky ōaku explained, raising his blade to be horizontally aligned to his upper chest, its edge pointing to his left as he glared behind his helm, "but I'm afraid only one attack shall truly declare whom will have dominion over the Spiritual and Material Realms."

Pocketing his hands inside his coat, S ōsuke smiled with an anticipating expression, allowing himself the opportunity to witness this man's strategy unfold.

"Ban...kai!" Ky ōaku shouted aloud, his blade transforming and the scabbard dissipating altogether.

Then, his Spiritual Power erupted.

' VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!!! '

As if a literal Sun had been birthed into the space, S ōsuke's eyes widened with shock and his smile dropped to show a sign of shock-ridden agape. Black tongues flowed across the ground, a column of golden light enraptured over a sphere of silver-orange-red energy that swirled around Ky ōaku and transformed his very being.

Exiting the maelstrom of destruction was a completely different looking entity than S ōsuke would've expected. Gone was the violet and black, dramatic attire, including the black helm he had fastened over his head, now shoing his face, having transformed to reveal all of his magnificence and glory before his enemy.

Ky ōaku's once brown trimmed hair had changed into black, silky smooth mane that caressed his shoulders. A golden necklace rested over his collarbone, with tomoes of various colors resting over the front of his red & white kimono. A pair of rectangular shaped golden earrings dangled from his ears, grouped in three per side, making his beguilingly crimson eyes all the more fiery and intimidatingly attractive. Both of his sleeves were grandiose in gait and had a white background with red symbolic circles on each flanking direction, each of them holding red linen wrappings looped casually over each other to hook behind his lower back. A red sash wrapped around his waist, holding fast the white hakama skirt flowing around his legs, with nothing but bare feet below its enraptured surface.

Most impressively, a fastened array of golden embroidery of deified design flourished from the base of his spine upwards. As if in the shape of a pair of solid golden wings in the shape of rising flames, a pair of tomoe tongues hovered with a vibrant glow just a good meter above his shoulders. Lastly, the back of his head erected into a form of a crown, forming a triangular shape that speared out in three directions, while magnificently flourishing within his black locks.

A smooth and eloquent voice broke out, bordering on the side of effeminity as he directed his attention to S ōsuke's quivering gaze, " Taiyōshin. What you see before you is the ultimate power I withold as the 3rd Horseman, the strongest force that my Zanpakut ō can muster forth ."

"Such...a magnificent Bankai to witness," S ōsuke spoke with more composure than he had shown, his smile returning as he fully analyzed the power standing before him. After just a few seconds of deliberation, S ōsuke placed his hand on his sword, unsheathing it deliberately slow as he verbally regarded him with respect, "this may come to a shock to you, but you have truly impressed me, Ky ōaku-chan. Seeing this power...excites me to no end. I wish to play a little and see what kind of power you possess, and whether or not it can truly end me!"

"I can linger here no longer, S ōsuke-kun," Ky ōaku spoke pointedly, his hand flicking to the side in emphasis. Within a flash of glistening gold light, a blade materialized within his right hand.

Its design being regal, having a brown leather grip with golden weaving within and without. A circular pommel, two curled rings of gold veering into a silver diamond, flowing upwards into a pointed section where the blade began on the sword itself. Flowing upwards, a handful of golden rings hang loosely from the left side of the double-bladed weapon, before ending in a double-edged point.

Bearing his Zanpakut ō upon his enemy, Ky ōaku then spoke with determination as his body lit up with a golden, divine aura that seemed to outshine any Bankai form displayed before S ōsuke's eyes, "Your machinations and this war, end now!"

"W-What is that?!" Furuidensh ō shouted as he suddenly felt an enormous Spiritual Power rise to the surface. It was what followed the enormous pyre of white light that burst from the main headquarters of the Four Horsemen, where he thought Aizen, Yhwach, and the last known Horseman, Ky ōaku H ōritsu were located, "t-that light...it looks like its Ky ōaku's!"

"Ky ō-sama!" Seihai shouted with alarm, recognizing the power and the Bankai, having only shown it to her at one point, "i-i-it can't be! He was going to use Bankai's power to undo all of the death our forces sustained and the devestation wrought by the A-Alliance. Why is he using it now?! Is he going to wipe the enemy out?!"