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An Unbidden Guest
Some time had passed by since the chaos that'd taken place in the world of the living, a city had suffered great casualties; and thousands of human lives had been lost. It weighed heavily upon Kazuya's conscience as he stood alongside his fellow Captains and listened to the words of Captain-Commander Shunsui. The Lieutenants and Shinigami officers that had been sent to the real world had given detailed accounts of what had transpired, and the Captains had assembled to discuss their next course of action.
One thing was for certain, whatever they decided, they had to decide it quickly. The dangers of having the Coven run rampant in the living world were far too grave to ignore; as a former member of the Kidou Corps, wherein he'd served as the Assistant of the Yorutai; and thus he knew better than most what rogue masters of the noble art could do to the human world. Although he feared that the Coven could not only realize his worst fears, but exceed them.
It was in that moment that their enemy struck, almost as if on cue. With a roar all of the doors and windows to the Council Hall were blown open, as an immense gale filled the chamber, threatening to hurl weaker subordinates through the air and into the opposite wall. Kazuya shielded himself with a barrier of energy on reflex, but he didn't know how his colleagues fared. And he didn't get a chance to check either for abruptly the room turned pitch black, a supernatural pall of darkness that clouded everyone and everything from view; suffocating their spiritual and physical senses alike as whomever did this made his entrance..
It began with a single spark of purplish flames, then another, and another; like a circle of vivid cinders they danced in midair before their form expanded into a searing pillar of those selfsame dark flames. The flames spread across the floor, but emitted neither heat nor did they damage the building, or anything they got into contact with for that matter. With a roaring sound the flames scattered across the entire room, engulfing it in a purple inferno, and where the pillar of flame had once stood, now stood a man. His robes were extravagant, there was no way around that fact, everything he wore was impeccable and made to impress, and midnight blue silk caressed the floor as he approached Shunsui slowly, arms gently folded behind his back. The most striking feature of his ensemble however was the unnerving mask he wore, alongside what was possibly the most ridicolous headdress that Kazuya had ever witnessed; and as a member of a Noble Family, he'd seen his share of poor fashion.
The masked man's movement was one lacking in caution, for in walking towards Shunsui he exposed his back to every single captain present. Once he and the Captain-Commander were but a few feet apart, he spoke directly to the latter.
"What a striking assembly, Kyōraku Shunsui, it fills our heart with joy to see that we made a lasting impression on you. How is your former Lieutenant, Nanao Ise?" With a casual hand gesture, the stranger conjured forth an effigy of Nanao's appearance before Arata had turned her into a thrall. It faded away as quickly as it came, just enough to provide a painful glimpse into the past.
At that moment the masked stranger turned his back on Shunsui and spoke to the entire room. "I hope this evening finds you well, mighty Captains of the Gotei 13. As you may have guessed, I am the current leader of the Coven and although my motivations might seem nonsensical to you, I assure you that everything will make sense in time."
He paused briefly before he continued to speak. "It is our desire to promote the wonders of magic as the greatest virtue of all, and in these arts all of you have potential. Thus we wish to keep casualties to a minimum, as your lives are more valuable than you might realize. Now then, Kyōraku-dono, here is what we want from you." The 'leader' the Coven made a single gesture as the purple flames which even now danced around the room assumed the form of a robed man, wearing a hood.
"We want you to meet one of our Sorcerers in single combat; should you win, we will return to the world of the living and restrain ourselves from using our powers at the expense of those simple mortals. Should you lose, you won't merely die, but your soul will be ensnared by us and used against any who'd dare challenge us in the future. Those of you who've had the pleasure to see Arata-san's work might realize what exactly that entails. To prove that we bear no hidden intent, we are willing to let you choose the location of the battle. Should you accept, the battle will take place tomorrow."
Kyōraku prided himself as a man of carefree demeanor; it took a lot to put him on edge, and not even a strange visitor barging their way in all of a sudden could cause him to distress. Nevertheless, the emergence of this individual left the Captain-Commander speechless for a good while, even after the masked man finished speaking. Though, he knew he had to respond, or make some kind of gesture as soon as possible. Otherwise, the other Captains were liable to act of their own accord, and regardless of how outnumbered this intruder was, having all the Captains act now without any sort of order would result in nothing but a chaotic atmosphere. Here, before them, stood the leader of this enemy group that had made their antagonistic intentions clear from the start. Allowing him to leave would be the biggest rookie mistake of a military general, but were they in a position now to make this play out in a favorable manner? Kyōraku decided to act as he always did, playing the field no different than how he had been doing things from the start.
"My, my... You people are very reckless individuals, it seems. First, your subordinates make a mess of the human world, and now the enemy general allows himself to be surrounded by the thirteen Captains of the Gotei 13." he responded, placing his fingers along the edge of his sakkat, lowering it subtlety as his eyes were semi-shrouded by the shadow it cast on his face, giving off an ominous expression. "Surely you realize the ramifications of that. No matter how strong, no single person could stand up to all thirteen Captains on their own without a death wish. And you believe yourself to be in any position right now to be setting the terms of our interaction? That's the height of arrogance, Coven Leader-san." Kyōraku continued, before lifting the sakkat once more and letting off a boisterous chuckle, releasing the tension that his facial expression exuded.
Turning his attention toward the other Captains, who had hopefully remained calm and collected the entire time, he began to address them. "Fellow Captains, what say you to the proposal set forth by our kind enemy-intruder friend? I do not believe this to be something that I should decide on my own, since it impacts all of us." the Captain-Commander voiced. Of course, it wasn't that he was an indecisive sort of leader; putting this question up to the room was perhaps nothing more than to stall for time.
Ever since that fateful day when the Wandenreich made its first move against the modern Gotei 13, Third Division Captain Teruo Akui had been vigilant. Always prepared for the worst, always ready to act immediately upon a new threat. Paranoid, some would say. As such, rather unsurprisingly, he was not physically affected by the commotion stirred by the sinister newcomer. He limited himself to grabbing the hand of his younger brother, Lieutenant Yuji Akui, as he was about to be blown away. Now, the younger sibling stood behind him, gaping at the Covenite master in silent awe.
Meanwhile, Teruo froze in a combat ready stance, his Zanpakutō drawn and held in a reverse grip, his torso slanted forward and his legs bent in the knees in preparation for a deadly pounce. However, he did not move an inch from his position. For all his formal and duty-driven attitude he was a volatile man of ever-changing mood. Balancing and transitioning between two quite different personalities in an erratic manner. Once again, rather unsurprisingly, the presence of the peculiar wizard caused an internal conflict to arise within his psyche. On the one hand, he was ready to pounce upon him and cleave him in half without a warning. His whole body tensed, his intent to kill was radiating off through his spiritual pressure. On the other hand, his instinct told him to stay put. No matter how he envisioned his reckless attack, he always witnessed himself unsuccessful, only to vanish in another brief spectacle of magical prowess.
Fortunately, Shunsui Kyōraku finally addressed the intruder. Teruo was combative, zealous, strong, but severely inexperienced for a Captain. At times like that it was better for the veterans to decide the course of action in his stead. He was willing to listen to their orders. At least with his current disposition, that is.
"A shockingly generous offer", he remarked once he calmed down a little bit, in response to the Captain-Commander's words. "Perhaps we should extend one toward the Coven instead. Let's say, a peace treaty in exchange for the life of their precious master. Or, his mangled corpse."
Teruo’s words reached the ears of the Seventh Division’s Captain, but he did not register them. Normally an impulsive individual with a penchant for violence, one might have expected him to be among the first to make a show of force against the intruder. However, Hein Ueda was unnaturally silent. While his posture had not changed, sweat glistened on the side of his temples, and the color in his face had drained.
Hein had perhaps seen a side of the masked man that none of the other captains had seen, and he had instantly regretted it.
As he entered a higher state of awareness, Hein became permeable to the surrounding force of the gale, allowing the energy to simply flow around him and even through him. The currents of the universe were laid bare to Hein via shingan—the heart’s eye—allowing him to sense the resonance of energy itself on a sub-spiritual level. The leader of the Coven only stood a few paces away, yet to Hein it seemed as though an unsurpassable chasm stretched between the man and the other captains. For energy itself seemed to subjugate itself to the man’s will. He might have walked in a shroud of purple flame, but on the invisible level the surrounding Reishi warped and flattened like the train of a great cape that pooled and quivered at his feet. His Reiatsu transcended dimensional space itself, unaffected with physical laws of governance and yet largely intangible. And Hein realized that what he was gazing at was a tremendous force of dominating nature whose power greatly exceeded his own.
Their goose is terrible cooked. He thought, conveniently distancing himself from the other members of the Gotei 13 in light of the quickly approaching storm.
On the other side of the room, almost directly across from the Captain of the Seventh, Byakuya Kuchiki silently pondered the man’s words. He looked none the worse for wear considering the intruder’s gale, as not even one hair had been displaced despite the strength of the wind. Byakuya’s face had remained an emotionless mask as the leader of the Coven had spoken, but when Shunsui asked for their suggestions he had possibly betrayed a hint of disdain, as his brow had slightly furrowed over his right eye.
“Indeed, it would be wise to avoid unnecessary bloodshed,” he began slowly, “Although accepting that man’s offer may not be the means to do so. I would suggest careful deliberation on your part, Kyōraku-sama, but I still hold to the tenet that anyone who disturbs Soul Society be cut down.”
The lieutenant of the Sixth Division, in contrast, was clearly tense. While he too remained motionless, Takashi Sakuma’s gaze darted from the head captain to the masked man, waiting for the signal to act. His jaw clenched, and his knuckles turned white as he grasped the hilt of his Zanpakutō, although he did not yet draw it. Even though the man had not yet displayed his power, Takashi knew that the ability to teleport into the captain’s council room without being inhibited by the wards that had been set up ever since Yhwach’s invasion nine years ago signified a being of immense power. Should Shunsui issue the order to attack, he knew he would likely be cut down in a storm of Kidō before he could even reach the intruder, as the unexpected torment had already forced him to take a step back.
Byakuya’s response had puzzled him, and he began to question why his captain did not react. After all, he was one of the few survivors of the Quincy War. While Takashi had not been present for those events, he could see them recurring all over again—this time in the form of the masked man who now threatened the Gotei 13. He could only pray that the captains made the right decision, and that disaster was averted.
"Tch," Yamakage, the captain of the Fifth Division responded at the sudden appearance of the masked man. All he could do was fathom about the reports he received from his Third Seated officer - Yoshitsune Kageyoshi - following the incident in the World of the Living.
Everyone in the room remained clam and gave their opinions how they saw fit, even Byakuya. Ishihara didn't like this one bit. From the moment the man entered the room up until Shunsui finally spoke, Ishihara had been fully riled up. The grand display of exposing former First Division lieutenant Nanao made the situation no better. It was formal and deliberate disrespect, something Ishihara just simply wouldn't tolerate.
"Shunsui-san," he stated before shortly drawing his Zanpakutō. "You said it yourself," His blade became shrouded in a violent rumble of thunder. "No single person could stand up to all thirteen Captains on their own without a death wish. Why should we allow you to face him alone, when we could all take him down together, right here, right now." Following his final word a bolt of lightning would strike near the masked man, just barely missing him. A whole in the ceiling of the facility would reveal the moody sky, and also where the bolt of lightning made it's way from.
For all of Chitose's missteps and seemingly impulsive actions, he wasn't suicidal. He was so far out of his league here. He was going to let the captains and their intruder work this whole thing out, and stay the hell out of their way. So he just took the extremely sensible response to when there was an unidentified intruder showing up literally like 5 minutes after you made your report about how one of his lackeys blew up an entire city district. He started to back up slowly, ready to bolt at the first hint of trouble.
“What the—…?”
The Captain of the Fourth Division, Hisaka Tsukada, had barely any time to put her thoughts into words as she vaguely sensed an ill omen—a split second before the assembly was thrown into chaos by what felt like a raging storm of divine proportions. The shaman had just enough time to steel her Reiatsu and ward her own body from harm with that alone. She squinted her rather sensitive eyes before the subsequent spectacle of otherworldly flames until the shape of a man could finally be seen.
Whilst the abrupt appearance of the Coven's leader had left her visibly perturbed, Hisaka quietly observed him with no intention of intervening. As the man offered an unknown subordinate to challenge the Captain Commander to a formal duel, she carefully assessed the situation. Surely the man was confident, or at the very least had a plan, to have shown himself before every Captain of the Gotei 13. Fighting him under such conditions could possibly have resulted in more harm than good, be it with a coordinated attack or simply a few Captains acting rashly.
“One gentleman’s duel away from a victory without further bloodshed, then. Please accept this proposal, Captain-Commander.” As she spoke, she solemnly closed her eyes, reflecting on her own words. Were they all already at the mercy of their adversaries?
As the Captains discussed the matter amongst themselves, the flames shifted and danced around the mysterious figure. Spectral shapes and silhouettes assumed shape from those very flames, brief images of the members of the Coven - yes, even reimaginings of how things might've turned out differently. Scenes of the Fullbringers being murdered one after the other filled the fires, usually depicted in the most creative ways possible after the Coven's sick imagination.
Ishihara's words fell upon deaf ears, the masked man would not let himself be provoked by such nonsense. Although the man he was shaped from might have; but Shijin was a superiour creature in every regard and carried himself as if untouchable. As though being in a room full of the Gotei 13's finest warriors was somehow a neglibible threat.
"It would behoove you to answer soon, Kyoraku-dono. You alone have the power to prevent a senseless slaughter of Shinigami. It would stain your badge of office were you to send your men and women to die needlessly out of personal pride."
The flames expanded into towering walls of purple flames that crept up the walls to touch the celing; presenting a likely future to the Captain's present. It showed a full scale invasion of the Seireitei, and of what might happen should Shunsui not agree to the Sorcerers terms. A long-haired woman obliterating scores of Shinigami with every casual gesture she made, an older man summoning forth a gushing horde of monsters to overwhelm their forces, while a smaller male reanimated the fallen spirits to fight on the Coven's behalf. The central message was clear, in the eyes of the Coven, they were completely helpless.
Kazuya observed the flames intently, mesmerized by the show of magic the sorcerer had put forth. Although that would hardly prevent him from fighting to protect Soul Society, however a terrible premonition gnawed on his spirit as he watched the events unfold in front of him. He was certain that the Coven would not do such a thing unless they felt victory was assured.
Therefore, Shunsui would need to surpass those expectations and crush their champion into the dust, if that happened, they might be forced to act with more caution. Kazuya was sceptical of the Captain-Commanders ability to do so, he hadn't been chosen for his power alone, he'd also been shown for his wisdom and love of peace.
"Understand this, Captain-Commander Kyoraku-dono. If you meet their champion, you're likely to meet your end if you make even the slightest mistake. Think long and dearly on whether you think yourself expendable enough to risk us meeting this foe without proper leadership."
He was receptive to all the responses given by his Captains, facing the Coven leader with a resolved look before yielding with a long-winded breath. Taking the cusp of his sakkat into hand, he removed the cap from his head and placed it down to the seat beside him. He stood tall, as both a warrior that safeguarded death and a leader among guardians of death, representing — for one single moment — the entirety of Soul Society and the weight of its future.
"Very well. I will accept your proposal, Coven leader-san. We'll hold this match away from the Soul Society, on the outskirts of the Rukongai. The choice exactly where, I will leave to our 9th Division Captain. I want it made clear that we will have Captains and other officers present during the match as spectators. If you plan to have members of your group attending, they will be subject to investigation by our Onmitsukidō. To ensure fair game, of course." he amended. He knew, among the Captains, Kazuya would probably understand their mannerisms best, and thus be able to choose a fair area for them to engage in confrontation. Furthermore, Kyōraku acknowledged the chance that he might meet his end there, and as a precaution, he would ensure that his Captains were there to wipe out the Coven if the need would arise then and there, under the pretense of handling security.
Duel of the Fates
Later the same day, the arena was chosen and prepared. The area at the summit of the Sōkyoku Hill was deemed the most appropriate; a place near the landmark that proved pivotal in the history of the Soul Society, including fairly recent events. A place in the middle of the Seireitei, surrounded by the military might of Gotei 13 from all sides. The ledge of the hill, suspended above the arena like an executioner's blade, ready to decapitate the mage chosen by the foolish, bold Coven to challenge the Captain-Commander himself.
And appropriately enough, the arena was procured with the use of spiritual magic. Thick rock spires of varying height rose from flattened land in the shape of a circle, artificial terrain to render the battlefield more interesting - and, not quite coincidentally, more beneficial to a warrior focused on physical combat rather than the inherently ranged Kidō. Towering spires, yet not nearly as high as the hill, they cast long shadows upon the ground. And the ground itself was cut off from the rest of the city with a dome of spiritual energy. Durable barrier, a necessary precaution given the power of the combatants involved.
As the duel was about to commence, Captains of the Gotei 13 took their seats on a modest, curved stand. While officially onlookers, they were all armed. Most, if not all of them, were infuriated or otherwise upset by the situation. Ready to watch their leader avert another calamity. Ready to act at the slightest indication of foul play from the enemy's side.
Finally, the sun rose toward the zenith. It was time.
In that moment, thunderclouds began appearing in the sky over the future battlefield, unusual for the fact that the clouds were blood-red and gathered in a single place before they struck the earth below with purple lightning bolts that spread the Leader of the Coven's personal purple flames all around the perimeter in a glorious pyre. Out of which thirteen individuals emerged, all of whom were clad in hooded robes that obscured their features; all that is, except for three members who'd been present in Ikeda, they stood in plain view as though reminding all of Soul Society of their failures.
The mysterious leader of the Coven was among them, and he raised his hands to the sides and spoke, his words being magically cast into the minds of every member of Gotei 13 at once; through a silent and highly empowered version of Tenteikūra, one which likewise lacked the ritualistic aspects. "Listen, Shinigami; the time has come for you to see with your very own eyes the superiourity of the Coven, as we pit a lone Sorcerer against your Captain-Commander. Know your weakness, but take heart in the knowledge that your weakness can be purged through study of the Noble art. Kageyama-dono, take the stage."
One of the masked members of the Coven stepped forward, he discarded the hooded robe to reveal his true features. Black hair styled to resemble tongues of flame, a large black eyepatch covering his right eye; and clad in ragged robes that left a large part of his chest exposed. Members of the Kido Corps present would immediately recognize his countenance as that of Nobu Kageyama the bane of former Kido Commander Sakura Ywagashi.
Captain Teruo Akui observed the intruders very closely, with much more than mere eyesight. Inevitably he winced, sensing all the murky evil, ominous intentions and nigh-bottomless power that seemed to radiate off the wizards. To his eyes they were not people clad in robes but shadowy wraiths from a nightmare come true. A nightmare that was either about to fade away from memory, or take over the reality in eternal anguish.
Drops of perspiration formed on his temples, and his face was locked in a frown. He was anxious, there was no denying that. However, he would not falter. His whole division was properly notified of the event. Fully armed and determined, they were prepared. Should the situation take a turn for the worse, they would charge at the intruders in full force. The Captain was ready himself, too. His hand kept idling in the area of the sheathed Zanpakutō's hilt. He paid no heed to the arrogant nonsense uttered by the enemy leader. Instead, he envisioned possible routes of attack, one ambush after another, his blade slicing through the wraith-mages to prevent another horror from befalling the Soul Society.
The Captain-Commander's opponent was strong. Very strong but Akui, perhaps in his lack of experience, did not find him particularly intimidating. According to his own estimate, as young as he was, he himself should stand a chance against the sorcerer should he fight seriously from the start. There was no way the respectable veteran such as Kyōraku Shunsui would lose to a member of the enemy organisation. No way in Hell. Nevertheless, that wizard had been chosen for a particular reason...
Teruo's hand slid upon the hilt, his fingers closing around it.
"My, oh, my..." Kyōraku took a breath as he observed the spectacle of the match that this competition had turned into; nothing short of a gladiator bout from the days of old. Taking a look around, he noticed his own warriors as well as those who came with the Coven leader to observe this match. Truth be told, this wasn't Kyōraku's style, to engage in some grand-standing fight, adored by fans and cheers alike. Furthermore, it worried him to fight in the presence of so many, for his abilities were too dangerous to be used in close vicinity to multiple individuals. But this wasn't a time to worry about that. His Captains were all strong and proud Shinigami. He trusted them to be sure no calamity would befall their people, and with that in mind, he was prepared to face his opponent with his full strength — no holds barred.
Staring down Kageyama with a light smile, as he often did, he greeted his adversary with a polite bow of the head as he removed his sakkat. "Kageyama-san, correct? That's the name I heard him call you, anyways." Pulling his arms into his haori, he shed the Captain's jacket along with the flowery robe that adorned his shoulders. However, he'd catch them before they fell to the ground, folding them up together sufficiently enough that he could toss them up high into the air near the stands. In the distance, his lieutenant frantically moved to catch them as he paid them a bright grin. But that was short-lived, for his true attention needed to be focused onto his opponent. Acknowledging the sorcerer with a nod, he wasted no time drawing forth both of his katana; no, perhaps it was more accurate to call them a wakizashi and katana pair. One was noticeably smaller than the other.
"I offer you the first move."
Nobu Kageyama observed his soon to be combatant as he made the gesture of removing garments that might otherwise get in the way. The former Kidou Corps Lieutenant made preparations of his own, as he shaped surrounding dust, rock and soil into a long quarterstaff with intricate brown symbols along its shaft. Nobu had never been one to utilize wards of any sort, he view the art of Shubido as the Art of Leniency. True perfection of the noble art might only ever be reached through taking risks.
The Sorcerers eyes were inscrutable, one might be forgiven for thinking him bored, nonetheless, that all changed when he made the first move. His lips drew back into a grin as he wove his special brand of spirit magic with his experiences as a spiritual wanderer to guide his power. Then he twirled the quarterstaff not once, not twice but three times in immediate succession, and at the culmination of each full revolution a shudder went through the earth, At the final gesture, Nobu tapped the staff gently against the earth.
"Make peace with the old coot for you're not long for this world. I'll make sure to show your dying expression to all of Soul Society when the time comes, but for now, lets awaken our inner beasts." That gesture, however innocous it had seemed in the moment, turned out to be a terrifying one. The first indication was another shudder in the earth, before the landscape which had been chosen for benefitting Shunsui was completely changed.
Within his mind he clearly rembered the curious geography of the Forest of Menos; mighty stone pillars that made a dark "forest" wherein hollows might cover and hide from more powerful species. Through his Way of the World -- that inner vision was made reality. In quick succession the earth rumbled as enormous spires of bedrock and granite sprung from the earth, the movement so flawless and natural that it seemed almost as though they bloomed forth from the soil, and all of their own accord each rock formation, each stalagmite and each spire of rock had unique features, some even had branches and mimicked trees in the truest sense of the word. The spectacle continued until the entire battlefield most resembled a gargantuan forest much akin to the one in Hueco Mundo.
However, it was still a battle, and Shunsui soon found that the ground around him appeared to be especially "fertile", enormous spikes of rock shot up from below, the very ground coiled and turned underneath his feet, making it extremely difficult to move properly -- and in this manner he would be forced to endure five consecutive waves of different variations of these rocky spires, empowered by Nobu's magic, these spires were extremely resilent and manifested at a true extreme pace, to the point that it was as though they virtually shifted into being at his location, the briefest lapse, or the tiniest mistake threatening to cleave him in two.
But although this was a preliminary attack by all accounts, Nobu decided to complicate matters further as he shouted out loud. "Daichi Tenyō!". It was a spell once invented by his former master, Sakura Ywagashi, the woman who use him and threw him aside when time came to pay her debt, a crime he'd murdered for. While the spell was usually used to turn fallen debris and heavy objects into powerful weapons, he employed it Shunsui from afar, in a manner where he implored the ground to "clutch" Shunsui -- with the effect that, in the event that his spell was successful, Shunsui would find his ability to move through the air jump severely hindered; as though gravity simply refused to let him go whenever he tried to defy it somehow.
Portraying a sense of emergency, Kyōraku seemed almost shocked at the action. At least, that was how his facial expression would suggest, but to those who knew him best, this was nothing but a show. That typical smile of his, with eyes brazen with a lull of both confidence and lax, shone brightly as he leaped to escape from the uprising rocks beneath him. But even that much wasn't enough to fully evade these magic-driven pillars. With every movement the Captain-Commander made, he'd flick his wrists toward the rocks, slicing them clean through with each skillful swing of his blade. At times, he would leave them to fall to pieces on their own, while other times he slashed through them, he followed through by kicking them away from him, using them to keep other debris away from him as well.
To the novice observer, what Kyōraku was doing might've looked like a wild rush to get those rocks far away from him as they rose higher and made freedom of movement all the harder. But it was all to set the stage. At some point during his blade dance, chopping down those pillars of stone like trees, he spoke out the words softly — "Katen Kyōkotsu." — and his two blades changed forms in the most subtle manner. They both phased from their different lengths into similar sized scimitars, and once the Zanpakutō released, Kyōraku swung them back in conjunction, swinging them parallel to one another toward Nobu in an arc-like motion.
"Bushōgoma!"
Two crescents of wind escaped from the blades and merged together into a fierce whirlwind that went flying toward Nobu, but its true intention was to cause all those uplifted and shattered fragments of rock and debris that Kyōraku slashed apart during his montage to end up being drawn in by the influx of wind, transforming that tornado into a dangerous amalgamation of high-speed stone fragments being flung all about the vicinity of where his Coven opponent stood.
Despite the shift of scenery, Ishihara remained standing firm as did the rest of the captains around. "There's no way the Captain-Commander would lose right now. Not in front of his Captains, nor the entire Soul Society." The ebony man spoke out to the rest of the captains, "Right, Captain Kyōraku." He swiftly thought to himself, placing every bit of faith he had within himself into Shunsui.
Twelfth Division Lieutenant Garland Dragan, on the other hand, was far more ambivalent of the situation. “How can all of you agree to just stand here and do nothing!?” she asked defiantly. “What then if your commander doesn't survive this battle!? Does pride really matter that much to you!?”
Having trained under accomplished sorcerers in her past, as well as having been informed of the dangers she would face before joining the Gotei 13, Garland knew well of the threat this 'Coven' posed to both physical and spiritual realms alike; but beyond all else, her intuition foretold a harrowing end to the duel before her eyes. She cringed at the thought that all would fall into ruin before she barely had any time to adapt to this new reality she had been so suddenly thrust into.
“If we're forced to play by our enemy's rules… then we've already conceded defeat,” she mumbled to herself, trembling as she struggled to keep herself from the battlefield.