A Test of Strength (Assault on the New Generation)

It seemed as if things would finally rise above the level of slight annoyance to actual battle with two sides combating each other. Stefan Soan had placed himself into a position to be assaulted on all sides by multiple foes simultaneously. Almost anyone else would quickly succumb to an assault of this magnitude, but when it came to fighting few stood on par with the beast of the Monsuta. His entire existence had revolved around battling the greatest of the great, a blood lust that had alienated almost every single person he'd come into contact with over the years. Even Stefan himself had previously had trouble keeping this lifestyle up consistently, but on this day none of that mattered. All that mattered was the thrill of risking death every single second. There were only two options for him now: Defeat all those who now stood before him, or die trying. There would be no fleeing, no imprisonment for Stefan. There was only destruction, either his or theirs. Time to find out who'd be sleeping in a casket tonight.

The first person to try going on the offensive again was the small girl who'd previously attempted simple trickery to bring the Monsuta Imperator down. This time she apparently went for a more direct attack as she attempted striking his neck with one his legs. Instead of reacting in the same way as he'd previously done, the Vizard instead opted to pursue a more dramatic response. With a slow breath in and out, time suddenly seemed to slow down as everything began moving, to Stefan, in slow motion. This was due to him being able to focus on every single movement and action going on around him, using his sharpened senses to first get a clear picture of all the events and people near him and then to pick up every single change no matter how small. If his body wasn't what it was, it likely wouldn't be able to keep up with his brain in situations like this...however he had trained himself to become the epitome of physical dominance. It was time to act.

With time slowed down to the point where every single millisecond was picked up by Stefan, the Shinigami girl's kick seemed like someone had pressed "Pause" with the remote. When her leg was near his neck, Stefan suddenly ducked to the ground with his open palmed left hand keeping him up and balanced. Moving so quick Kakine would be the only person likely even able to keep up with his actions, the Vizard's leg shot up like a bullet where his foot impacted the ground-facing side of Lycoris's knee. If it made impact, the bone in her knee would likely shatter into hundreds of tiny pieces while the rest of her leg would be prone to massive internal damage as well. However to prevent the girl from being launched away or trying to leave, Stefan used his much greater reach to grip her right wrist with his own right hand to pull her down and then up as he rose back to a standing position. During this movement he'd positioned her arm behind her back and twisted her front away from him so he now held her in a hammerlock. With a great amount of force he flung her forwards, aiming directly for the door of a nearby building.

This wasn't the last time Stefan would have to deal with an aggravating girl in this battle, however. The Shinigami he'd previously swatted aside was now trying out her own attack on him. She sprung up using a movement-enhancing technique until she was directly above him, where her tail then tried swirling around his neck. Again with the fucking neck.... Despite the thorny fur that covered the entirety of Yuki's tail, Stefan was able to grip it without any risk to his hand simply due to the dramatic difference between their Spiritual Pressures. Stefan's was on such a level his skin was like steel compared to the feather duster that was the girl's tail. After having his fingers wrapped firmly around said tail, the Soan pulled down with enough force to bring the entire woman down with it. As this happened his left hand launched upwards to meet her throat as she was ripped from her previous location. Holding her now by the neck, Stefan prevented any air whatsoever from reaching her lungs with his grip capable of shattering stone with no difficulty.

It was about this point in the battle when Stefan noticed the attack he'd picked up coming from the Gotei Captain could end up killing the person he was holding. Friendly fire is bullshit... Even with time slowed down to his senses the blast of pseudo-science Zen had launched at him still appeared to move quite swiftly, forcing him to react spontaneously. During the fraction of a second he had to get his thoughts in order, something suddenly ran through his mind. By the time I get rid of the girl, that energy is gonna be on me. If I do that I won't have time to form switch Mugenku into a shield. Unlucky.

With a single motion Stefan sent Yuki flying to the left into whatever rubble had survived the battle so far, creating a gap big enough between the two fighters so she wouldn't be hit by Zen's attack. However that left almost no time for himself to dodge or block it so instead he decided to just place his arms in front of his face and accept the pain. When the heat blast hit, the clothing covering his arms were vaporized on impact and his arms themselves were singed pretty severely. Immediately after this occurred, the pressure wave made contact with his body as well. Despite the force of the pressure coming from his own physical strength, thus putting it on a level far above what had so far been sent his way in this battle, Stefan refused to be pushed back even a millimeter. To be forced back was pathetic so he absorbed the complete force of the pressure wave into his body, not giving himself any room to soften the blow. This meant he suddenly felt pain through every single bone in his body, especially in his forearms which took the majority of the impact. Ow..."

When the dust settled from the explosive attack Zen had unleashed upon Stefan, he stood looking a bit worse for wear. His clothing, skin, and hair all seemed singed and damaged and there was blood dripping from his forearms where they'd been torn up. However, something was wrong. A smile was plastered across the invader's face as he not only remained still, not trembling or reacting to the pain he was in whatsoever. His bright green eyes turned to focus on Kakine as he spoke. Apparently he was questioning the Vizard's purpose and point of being here in the first place, and why he was bothering to let the weaker Gotei members try to get any hits in. The acting Captain Commander wondered why Stefan didn't just fight him mano a mano. Considering Kakine was now guilty of the same exact thing Carter had been, stopping an ally, in this case Henrex, from trying to fight that thought certainly crossed his mind. However Stefan didn't actually get annoyed until the mention of the man's name.

"Yuudeshi? Am I supposed to care about that name? Killing you wouldn't be an achievement, it'd be the same as putting anyone else down. You aren't worth more than the kid you talked down to and your name is worth jack shit to me. Yuudeshi? Like I have any fucks to give about you or your family. But congrats, you just made it to the top of my shit list for thinking your name is special. First I gotta get rid of the dick that tried killing his ally though so stay away and your intestines will remain in your gut for at least a few more minutes."

With everything he felt needed to be said out of the way, Stefan turned his gaze and attention to Zen who was still quite a ways away from him. Gripping his Zanpakutō's hilt with his right hand, Stefan drew it from it's sheath and spun it once clockwise until it rested with the blade held horizontally in front of him, the top facing to the left. After placing his left hand at the katana's tsuba, he tore it across the back of the blade which sparked a truly massive explosion of energy that enveloped the entire area. Mugenku was now covered in chaotic bolts of what appeared to electric energy that shot out in every direction. Not actually being electricity, this was a technique Stefan Soan had created and mastered over the last hundred years known as Roaku. Boiled down to it's core, it was essentially the Zanjutsu version of the Flash Goddess's Shunko. Possessing enough power to utterly destroy even Captain class Bankai, this technique was far far stronger than the Raitongiri Stefan had used to destroyed Zen's barrier earlier in the battle. If any of the weaker Shinigami attempted to approach him at this point they'd likely be torn to shreds in the process. It was clear Stefan wanted to deal with Zen now without any interruptions.

Utilizing Sui-Muko, which involved using Void Energy in his limbs to act as a dramatic boost to all of his movements to the point where he could keep up with flash step users without using any step techniques himself, Stefan launched himself from where he stood in the direction of Zen. As he did he actually was using a step technique, one of his own creation: Oto no Ugoki. By adding in multiple steps to increase his movement speed and momentum, this skill combined with Sui-Muko allowed Stefan to easily outpace even speed-oriented fighters of his own power level. Every foot Zen was capable of moving even at his maximum speed, Stefan was able to cross ten. If the Shinigami Captain tried running away or dodging, the Vizard's explosive speed would reduce the likelihood of that working to essentially null.

It wasn't until Stefan even reached Zen that the ground behind him would be blasted apart from him moving across it while his Roaku was active, decimating the terrain even further than what had already been done to it. The danger from just standing near Roaku would be enough to warrant defenses from the Captain or he'd likely suffer proximity damage including severe burns. However, any barriers erected would likely be smashed to pieces as Stefan swung his empowered Zanpakutō downwards diagonally from Zen's left shoulder to right hip. If this made contact the man would not only be massively lacerated but his very skin would be torn asunder from the sparking energy swirling around Stefan's Zanpakutō. There wasn't a Kido around that could survive this strike, let alone defend Zen from it. Even if the Shinigami did somehow manage to protect himself or dodge away Stefan would unleash an immensely powerful explosion of thunderous energy from his Roaku aimed directly at the Captain just as strong as the previous strike was. Both of these attacks were capable of taking Zen out of the fight if they hit directly, making it even clearer Stefan had become aggravated with his actions. Due to the destructive and chaotic nature of Roaku, as well as absolute control over it being required to use it in any way, Stefan was not worried about his own power being turned on himself again.

The aftermath of Stefan's attempts at one shotting Zen and completely removing him from the battle meant the terrain had become incredibly different than it was just a moment ago. There were no longer any buildings, houses, or even rubble near Stefan anymore. He stood in a circle of just dirt over two city blocks wide as even the age-old concrete coating the ground had been vaporized. Cracking his neck, Stefan Soan was ready for anything about to come his way. He had no plans to fall today.