[Japan] Karakura Town

[Bloodedge]

"Killed by handicap? How foolish," the Hollow went on to say. If this Shinigami thought herself somehow able to defeat him just by having him as a stationary target, she would die in humiliation. This Hollow now truly intended to remain still for the duration of this battle, and he knew there was little this redhead could do against him that would make any significant difference. "So be it. You will tire yourself out before you die by my hand," he said as another attack came his way. This slash was also permitted to strike him, though it became even more shallow than the other two strikes. He would continue to let this happen in whatever way Benihime intended, as it was his intention to have her exert all of her energy, before delivering the finishing blow himself.

[Apollymi]

This Hollow seemed to think the girl was foolish but she wasn't. If he was going to stand still and take attacks, she'd have time to figure out a bit more about him and those like him while she figured out a proper strategy. It seemed it was his plan to simply let the girl tire herself out before he aimed to take her life properly, which was about what she expected from a being so much stronger than her, but still not entirely frightening to the young woman. 'Hm, every cut gets shallower, logic says higher Reiatsu wins out, he's pushing against my cuts making it harder to cut him. If I keep cutting with exactly this much force, I'll eventually be taking recoil... Interesting.' she thought. Her Zanpakuto even chipped at its most recent cut, this made her brow rise as it was something she'd yet to experience with her sword in this form. "Ouch! At least take a bit more care when you're swinging me around like that..." mentioned the Zanpakuto Spirit giving Benihime pause to look over the woman and note that the chip had caused the openings of some of the stitches on the woman, particularly those around her knee. "You know that didn't actually hurt," the girl mentioned as she carried on another three slashes aiming to make contact with the Hollow's left arm, right leg and lower torso in that order, pouring more Reiatsu into it, so that she could see if it was possible to push further past the defenses of this particular Hollow. If these hits connected each of them would cause another crack in her sword and thus create more pulling stitches in the Zanpakuto Spirit. 'Clever girl, when did you figure that out?' she wondered as she nurtured the creatures in the shadows to life as they leaked out of the burst stitches.

[Bloodedge]

The Hollow somehow seemed bored of the goings-on while Benihime continued to attack it, and indeed, every slash became relatively less impactful. This was nothing more than a waiting game for the Hollow, but it was not simply the case for him. Raizen, who'd departed from the inner world of Benihime, was waiting at his original standing place atop a building at this point. He had returned to watching by the previous method, and now took special interest in the combat behavior of the red-haired 5th Seat. "Not bad. How far can you take it with this new ability, I wonder..."

[Apollymi]

It might appear to most like Benihime was tiring herself out, but she wasn't. In fact, she'd done exercises like this most of her life, and had no problem moving about with this kind of speed and accuracy for extended periods of time. Even so, each slash she made seemed to harm her weapon more and more, while injuring the Hollow less and less, until of course the final stroke which caused her hollow blade to shatter. The girl's eyes widened as this happened because she rather instantly felt a pulse akin to an increase in pressure from the sword alone, but also from the manifestation of the sword spirit. 'Sugei!~' she thought finding this new power to be more than anything the sword had ever given her before. But it wasn't just power, it was the creatures the tingling pulse of things she normally felt wandering the forest of her inner world. The lightly peeling rips blasted apart as there was an outpouring of power the entire area around the young woman and this Hollow seemed to darken instantly and a bit of a smirk spread across her face.

Since the Hollow still wasn't moving the small girl immediately took advantage. A burst of speed would take her to the creatures' fore where she aimed a downward slash upon it from left to right starting at its shoulder and going down to its hip as if she intended to cut it in half this way. Somehow this strike would seem to be extraordinarily powerful by comparison to any of the previous strikes, enough that it would be felt even by a Hollow of this massive strength and cause major damage if it connected, the creatures of the girl's Zanpakuto aiming to feast upon this still living subject from the old wounds and the shadow beneath his body, and even from the air around him, it was like the entire world had suddenly become hostile to his existence. 'Wow, that's... not at all the way I would have told you to use that...' she thought. "Hakyuukouka," mentioned the Zanpakuto spirit naming the effect which was taking place around the girl right at the moment, as she appeared at her back ready and waiting to help her fully utilize this new ability should it be necessary. "One of the better names you've given one of these things lately. Though I feel like I should question you a bit about why you require such punishment to fork it over..."

[Bloodedge]

Even though the Hollow remained still, he also remained alert to the happenings around him. This Shinigami's Zanpakutou eventually shattered against his armored form, but from this came more power than she previously possessed. This was a strange happening, but the Hollow still could not be called bothered by it. During Benihime's next approach, the Hollow began the charge of another Cero on its left arm-blade, then met Benihime's attack with the blade to parry it with an outpouring of Reiatsu in massive quantities. The Cero would be unleashed following this defensive maneuver, aiming once again to incinerate the redhead on the spot. "You overestimate yourself; a trait so many of you Shinigami have when facing us. Give up now, woman. Even if you could defeat me, there are so many more with greater power than myself." When the Hollow spoke these words, Raizen grinned from where he stood. "There's the answer. I think it may be time for you to help... Atsuko." At Raizen's command, the silver-haired spirit of his Zanpakutou materialized once more, taking on the appearance of a Shinigami in full Shihakusho. "Mendokusai. And here you are dragging me into this," she complained. A single Shunpo step carried her into the fray, where her drawn sword joined Benihime's in the clash against the Hollow's blade, aiding in a strong defensive effort against the Cero. "Konbanwa. Need a hand?" she asked from Benihime's side. She made this effort by channeling great quantities of her own Reiatsu through the blade she wielded, and wondered what Benihime's own contribution would be.

[Apollymi]

'Alright well there's the obvious difference, but... I could still try one of those, maybe not both though...' the girl thought. The outpouring of power was one thing, but, she couldn't really expect to overpower this creature. It seemed he also knew that and as he defended from her attack she was left to meet it with her own blade. "Yeah, yeah, I'm not overestimating, I know you're stronger than me. I knew that at the start, but running wouldn't have helped. Thanks though, I now know you aren't the worst thing to worry about," she said to the Hollow, having finally managed to get one of her original questions answered. Her Zanpakuto seemed to be upset and also aimed to hold off the blade, and the encroaching Cero with an influx of power released from its broken bindings. "Benihime, we're running a bit low on time..." she managed as she helped defend the small girl from the incoming blast. "Yeah yeah, I know... just..." she paused as another joined her and it wasn't anyone she'd ever had any proper contact with. 'Konbanwa?' it was the middle of the afternoon, but given the state of Benihime's inner world and the kind of encroaching darkness created by the influx of creatures from her Zanpakuto, she could hardly argue. Beyond this she knew this person on sight if not actually knowing her at all, so it wasn't something she could well say no to in present times. "I'm not dumb enough to turn down a bit of help, I've got time now, arigatou gozaimasu~" time for what, would be seen within a matter of seconds as it seemed this would be all the opening she needed to finish something she'd been working on in her head. "Kuyo Shibari," she said but this spell had another weaved in it was aimed to create several black hole like restraints on the Hollow in question aiming to push through and further disperse the original Cero in a manner similar to how she'd dealt with the attack from Raizen in their previous match up. And immediately after another kidou spell was named which would change the form of these little black holes. "Soren Sokatsui~" one of the many smaller skills the girl had picked up in the past week or two was the ability to weave this particular pair of spells together, if the black holes settled they'd then turn blue and immediately aim to engulf the Hollow pulling its body into the holes and incinerating him as he'd tried to do her, at least thrice this day. The power of these two spells mixed together was rather massive, but it also took its toll on the girl, and it was rather obvious why she'd not opened with this. "Note to self, prep spells, prep spells until it doesn't almost kill me to cast them..." she said blinking dizziness out of her vision. Only time would tell if she'd actually managed to accomplish anything, but, at this point she'd known she'd given it everything she had, and more since there were two helping her out.

[Bloodedge]

While "Atsuko" kept her sword pressing against the Cero, Benihime utilized a pair of spells to bind the Hollow, and fend off the Cero. The silver-haired woman watched the Hollow being affected by the gravity of the Bakudou with relative interest, particularly when the black holes became blue flame-like swirls of Reiryoku consuming the Hollow's form. She sheathed her sword then, knowing this battle would be coming to an end in a matter of moments... albeit not by this spell.

"Weaklings. All Shinigami... are nothing but weaklings!" As the Hollow spoke, he released Reiatsu powerful enough to make the ground tremble while dispersing the bulk of these spells. The blades on his arms then extended, as a massive sphere of a Cero began charging between the tips of the blades. At this point, Raizen ever so casually walked into the group of Shinigami and Zanpakutou spirits. "You look tired," he said to Benihime. "Gomen. I would have been here from the beginning, but I needed to know what sort of threat to expect from these Hollows, and to see your rate of development with that Zanpakutou of yours."

[Apollymi]

The combination of spells had done exactly as the girl intended, but the effect wouldn't last as long as she could have hoped. 'Really? Life loves fucking with me I swear!' she thought as her knees buckled under the spiritual pressure presented by this Hollow once more. "I don't now what you just thought, but given the look on your face, I have feeling you shouldn't think it," said the girl's Zanpakuto Spirit, who apparently couldn't hear her thoughts but could tell by the look on her face she was thinking something she shouldn't. Yakouboku was now holding her up as well. But before she could even begin to berate this Hollow it began charging a Cero with its blade arms. "One trick pony..." the girl said. If she was going to die she didn't want a death so very plain. But it seemed that wouldn't be happening today either. Instead, the approach of someone very familiar happened as the girl kept the force of will to stand she was addressed.

"I'm fucking exhausted..." she mentioned, which was rather true, given all she'd done in the last few minutes. Beyond this though, this man seemed to at least be perfectly capable of doing what ever he wanted himself. "Kumori-fu.... Kumori-taichou, admitting to spying on me. A bit strange but pretty far down on my list of concerns right now. Arigatou Gozaimasu~" the girl said but it was obvious the man hadn't done anything yet, or maybe she just had a feeling he would and thanked him in advance of his actions.

[Bloodedge]

"I have no shame. For what it's worth, the show you put on was entertaining. For your efforts, I'll see if I can match it with something of my own," Raizen said to the red-haired woman. "Maybe this one won't be about sending an unwilling participant in to help," Mugen/Atsuko interjected. Raizen paid no heed to these words, as his attention had been focused on the Hollow ahead. "Hollow. Your little group of brothers... Are they perhaps connected to the Hollow above the forest of Menos?" he asked. This brought no immediate response from the Hollow, but that was all Raizen needed to have his answer. He awaited the completion of this Cero "bomb" that had been prepared before his own Reiatsu began to flare. "You. You're another one of that group we've been hunting. Wonderful! I'll end most of you with this!" the Hollow claimed. With that, he was prepared to unleash his final attack to end the lives of these four combatants. "Kurohitsugi... Hadou no Kyuujuukyuu: Goryuutenmetsu!" With this combination of spells invoked, the ground itself ruptured to give way to energy which rose in the form of pillars. The addition of the spell Kurohitsugi to this caused this energy to be black at its emergence, while also adding a power of gravity great enough to affect time and space in the area. The pillars quickly took on the shape of five dragons, all of which converged on the Cero sphere this Hollow possessed. An interesting effect had been created by this specific combination; the spell's gravity allowed the dragons to literally absorb the Cero's energy into themselves, making them even more powerful as they continued toward decimating the Hollow with no issue whatsoever. "Ah, it worked. I do love the gravity spells; good choice with the Kuyo Shibari. That one may be my favorite Bakudou. As to not be a copycat, though, I figured I'd improvise by using a Hadou instead."

[Apollymi]

Raizen's first statement, drew a smirk from the young woman, but since he claimed he wanted to put on a show, she decided to watch. She took a seat surprisingly enough in the lap of her Zanpakuto so she could watch without being hindered. "Well, as long as someone was entertained, I can't really object to seeing something new..." the young woman said as she prepared for something she thought would likely be amazing given this young man's various skills. Atsuko seemed to be perturbed about having been sent out in the first place, and since she'd actually helped to save her, Benihime could at least understand a bit of her discomfort. "Sumimasen, I didn't mean to cause you any hardship. Want a chair?" she asked, without waiting for an answer she produced a capsule which would create something of a high backed throne lined with red velvet, she'd been using in her laboratory when she got tired of her spinning chair. Still there was something strange about this woman, and Benihime was vividly close to figuring it out, but she'd soon lose this thought as she moved on to something else.

She went on to watch as this Hollow in particular seemed to be quite cross and mentioned that Raizen was on the list of individuals being hunted by this group of Hollows. "Sou ka, I figured it wasn't just me. Still pretty stupid though..." she said seemingly amused. Things about these Hollows and watching Raizen work were now at the top of her list, she'd pushed to the back of her mind several other things. A few seconds thereafter, she got to see something she'd never properly witnessed. "Sugei!~" she said as a combination of spells she couldn't even imagine putting together happened before her eyes. "Ugh, I'm so jealous. That works out so well. Ano, I wonder if I should..." she began thinking of ways to combine other spells after praising Raizen and then by his statements something became obvious. "Oh? On the spot with that one too, huh? Sugoi, Kumori-taichou... really interesting to see. I'm really impressed. I think I like Kuyo Shibari, but I can't really choose a favorite among the kidou yet, I haven't seen them all... though it's pretty high in my current list..." she said of her own usage of Kidou happy to no longer have to deal with the problems before her she seemed to let her mind wander across several subjects there were lots of puzzle pieces on the board right now and they needed to be organized into their proper places. "Seriously, I can't hear your thoughts right now. But you look like you're up to something," said her Zanpakuto which seemed to be annoyed by the sudden radio silence caused by their present separation.