"I swear to some random god!" Kurumi growled as she sharply turned the corner, speeding as far away from the pursuer's onslaught as possible with Elly in tow. "If I survive this, I am cutting all ties with you and Kazami!"
Elly, gripping her weapon tightly, quickly spun her body, launching the scythe towards the glowing ball that followed relentlessly. Her sharp tool deflected some of the bullets headed their way, but the light itself was completely unaffected as her weapon sliced clean through it, and then once more as it arced back.
"Because screw being indebted to stupid, crazy dumb-asses who associate and pick fights with colossal monstrosities! Especially when you're not even all that powerful a youkai to begin w-"
Catching her scythe just in time to fly in a new direction - the girls had decided to fly right at the next crossroad - Elly interrupted with a slight grin, "Don't start trying to make fun of my strength, Kurumi! Remind me again, who got beaten up by a human?"
"Let's see you deal with time-warping!" The indignant, seething and totally-not-scared vampire screeched. "And that has nothing to do with the fact we're being chased by a... thing!"
Peeking over her shoulder, Kurumi found the magic pellets being fired at them were way, way too close for her comfort. Flapping her wings, Kurumi tried to increase her speed and keep a rather sizeable distance. Of course, if she went much faster, the vampire was liable to simply flatten her face against a wall. Then have her body horribly riddled with bullets and whatever else that light thing could do. And Kurumi was of the opinion that her features were just a little too pretty to ruin.
Elly, while not exactly fretting how she would appear after a little injury, was still concerned about not getting blasted. Mugetsu's mocking challenge still rang in her ears. Don't die.
Well, Elly certainly didn't plan to. Not before she eliminated that demon and saved her master the trouble of dirtying her hands. Besides, there was a good chance Yuuka was held up by something else. Mugetsu had mentioned someone called 'Gengen'... if those two demons were roughly equal in strength, then...
Master should have no problem! Elly's completely and totally unbiased mind concluded.
Still, whatever troubles the flower youkai was dealing with were irrelevant at the moment. She and Kurumi were still fleeing for dear life, taking random directions and hoping to hell they found an exit Mugetsu forgot to delete or something.
With another twirl, Elly swung her scythe and launched a shock-wave, managing to erase several bullets, but the ball of light was once more completely unaffected. What the hell was that thing, anyway? Some weird, unidentified creature? An advanced spell that launched even more spells?
As the servant pondered, she suddenly found herself tackled by her accomplice. With a cry of surprise, she detached herself from Kurumi, who hurriedly started shoving Elly forward, trying to usher her into flying once more down the new corridor they'd taken.
"Kurumi, what the hell?!" Elly gasped, looking past her and into the corridor they'd left. The ball of light floated past, still firing the bullets forward as it went.
"Go! I don't wanna be here if it can figure out where we are!" Kurumi cried, and Elly finally took flight down their new path. Kurumi followed alongside the scythe-wielding servant, and they both warily advanced.
"...Think we lost it?" Elly asked cautiously.
"I'm not saying yes," Kurumi replied. "Because I just know that when we turn this corner, it'll be right there."
Both girls then came to a sudden stop before said corner, suddenly paranoid. They glanced at each other, then at the floor. Then each other, the ceiling, each other once again, and finally straight ahead.
An awkward silence draped over the area as youkai and vampire tried to work up the nerve to step forward. They both felt incredibly foolish, since that ball would have just advanced if it were behind that corner. And there was no way it could be anyway, right? It wasn't like the path they'd taken just looped right back their previous location. That'd be way too unlikely. And cruel.
So there's an insanely high chance of things going terribly wrong. The duo thought.
"...If I'm really gonna die here," Kurumi sighed wearily. "Then that house Kazami wants had better be damn worth it. If it's anything less than a world-sized mansion with several monuments to me, I'm killing all plant life ever."
Elly chuckled weakly, tightening her grip on the scythe. "Have fun with that. Well, anyway... prepare to run in the off-chance there's trouble, okay?"
"Eh? Sure, okay, but what are you planning to do?" Kurumi asked. "Make a last stand? I don't think Bally was feeling any attacks from you, earlier."
Scoffing at her words, Elly merely replied, "I don't plan to die before that demon." And leaped around the corner, her weapon raised in a defensive manner.
...Nothing.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Elly relaxed and began giggling. Kurumi wasn't sure whether or not to take this as a sign of the insanity Elly was most definitely infected with, but since there was a distinct lack of maniacal blood-lust in the servant's voice, she decided not to flee and take her chance with the magical... magic-spewing light ball of magical magic. Thing.
"All clear, huh?" Kurumi stated, cautiously peering around the corner to see a rather long corridor. For some reason, it made her think their destination lay at the end, and it made the vampire want to choose a new route.
"Uh huh." Was Elly's reply, her giggling having subsided. "Really hope this is the last stretch. I'm getting quite tired of Mugetsu hiding away in here somewhere."
"You do know I'm likely to get murdered alongside you, right?" Kurumi sighed. "Please, stop trying to antagonise the person that rules this place."
Elly simply grinned as she glanced at the vampire. "What are you so scared of? We've gotten through everything she's thrown at us, remember?"
"...After how many near-death experiences and bouts of depression?" Kurumi asked, a cold edge to her voice. "Care to explain why you're so confident you'll make it out unscathed?"
Surprisingly, Elly's face began to colour itself with a faint blush, and she hastily turned her face away from the shocked, winged girl
"Oh, right, that whole 'greatest tool ever' thing." Kurumi simply sighed and threw her hands limply to the air. "All right, nice. More power to you."
Elly remained unmoving for a moment, her blush slowly receding from her face. When the servant felt somewhat less flustered by the vampire's question, Elly cleared her throat and said, "So, uh... when we find Mugetsu, what'll you do?"
Kurumi tilted her head, an eyebrow raised. "Whaddaya think? Either cowering in the corner or apologising profusely for associating myself with two crazies."
Elly stared.
"What? I do have survival instincts," Kurumi growled defensively, now blushing herself, albeit much less intensely that Elly had been. "There's nothing wrong with that!"
"Uh, yeah, I know. It's just... you seem a bit too... proud for that." Elly pointed out.
Lowering her gaze to the floor, Kurumi muttered, "Yeah, well... pride's no good to me if I'm dead, y'know? No point flaunting it in places it's not welcome."
Normally, Elly would make a cutting remark about just how welcome her pride usually was, which would then lead to them arguing over who had more pride/what they were willing to throw it away for/grappling each other until Yuuka whacked them both over the head, but given the somewhat abnormal situation, the scythe-wielding girl had decided that, just for once, she could skip that bit and move onto a point to her earlier question.
"All right then. Cower all you want," Elly said with a small smile. "I can beat Mugetsu by myself!"
Crickets chirped. Both girls dismissed this noise as 'Mugetsu' and carried on.
"I'll... ignore the part that sounds suspiciously like mocking," Kurumi said calmly, though her fists were squeezing tightly. "And proceed to state the obvious, as usual; that demon will frickin' murder you!"
"I won't let her." Elly simply stated, her smile vanished, gazing seriously at the startled vampire. Again, a silence washed over them, Kurumi having no idea how to respond and Elly having said her piece already. The cricket noises had ceased, replaced by the sound of gagging.
"So, you two got any more melodrama and mushy bull shit to say?" Mugetsu's disembodied, taunting voice queried. "Because if not, you've still got a game to finish?"
Elly's head immediately snapped upwards. "What?!"
Then something sailed past Kurumi, striking Elly's forehead. With a cry of pain, she fell to the ground, leaving a surprised vampire to quickly turn and identify their new foe.
"...Oh, son of a bitch." Kurumi groaned at the floating ball of light.
Mugetsu giggled. "Yeah, my magic's not exactly easy to shake off, is it? So, how 'bout it, Vamps? Try smashing in your new BFF's skull, and I think I can waive your crimes!"
The vampire froze, eyes wide at the proposal. Was that... a free ticket out of this stupid situation? A pass from possible death/crippling, agonising punishment that made death appealing? That was... very damn tempting, actually.
The pros and cons of this little deal quickly whizzed through her mind, and a second later, one category was definitely bigger than the other.
A dark look passed over Kurumi's expression as she turned towards Elly, who was now sitting up and rubbing her bleeding forehead. Seeing Kurumi advance, she stared questioningly, one hand to her forehead and the other holding the scythe at her side.
"...I really hate you, y'know," Kurumi sighed. "Seriously, look at what you've put me through. And still are."
The vampire held out her hand.
Elly's eyes flickered towards the offered hand, then back at Kurumi's face. "So how do you plan for me to make up for what I put you through?"
"Duh. You'll act as my servant as well as Kazami's," Kurumi stated with a dark smile. "I've always wanted someone like that. Maybe you should wear a maid outfit? And you'll be treating me as if I were the Scarlet Devil herself!"
Elly grinned. "You think I'll put up with something so shameful?"
Kurumi's smile widened. Elly moved her blood-stained hand from her forehead to Kurumi's own hand. Mugetsu tutted rather loudly as the servant was pulled to her feet.
"So you chose the most over-acted way to say 'no'. Did you catch the stupid from Blondilocks?"
"...I have to say yes to that," Kurumi stated, still smiling. "I think I chose suicide over salvation."
Elly chuckled, shaking her head. "Come on, if you betrayed me, Master would've messed you up."
"True. So I chose the lesser of two evils... I hate my associates." Kurumi nodded.
"Boo-hoo. Die now." Mugetsu stated coldly, and the ball of light began firing magic pellets once more.
At that same instant, Kurumi swung her arm as she twisted around to meet the attack. Elly's blood, smeared onto her fingers by the servant's hand, suddenly flew forward and expanded instantaneously into a solid, red wall. The magic bounced off of the shield, but Kurumi figured it wouldn't hold for longer than a few seconds, especially if that thing just kept shooting. Not like it was meant to be a permanent solution.
Immediately, the two girls had sped down the corridor that may or may not lead to Mugetsu. Given it's annoying length, they were only halfway towards the crossroads up ahead when the pursuing light managed to round the corner. At least that meant the bullets would take much longer to reach them. But just to be safe...
"Borrowing this!" Kurumi touched her fingertips to Elly's bloody forehead, ignoring her disdainful wince, and twisted around to face the ball as she retreated. With another swipe of her hand, the blood was formed into a new wall. Again, it wouldn't last long, but Kurumi was perfectly fine with throwing up as many shields as required. She required relatively little blood from others to form them, after all. A lake-full of the stuff would be far more preferable, but she could make-do with an injured youkai just fine.
The duo chose to go left after a split second decision, and kept on flying. Accompanied by the musings of their captor.
"For a weak little rat, that's a slightly inconvenient power to have..." Mugetsu pondered aloud, her voice still radiating with smug authority and power. "Still, I think I have its limit figured out already. Not that it matters, my word is absolute law in my land, after all!"
"That's gotta be a bluff!" Elly observed, glancing at the vampire flying by her side. "She can't know any limitations based on two or three uses, right?!"
Kurumi frowned. "...I'd hope not. But if she has... nah, don't say any more, not taking any chances."
Elly nodded, but Mugetsu only chuckled. "That's told me all I need to know, Vamps. But look on the bright side! You might be as brain-dead as your suicidal pal, but at least you were far more useful than her, all the way to the end! Oh, by the way, heads up."
What? Confused, both girls glanced at each other before facing forwards once more, then immediately forcing their bodies to a halt before the wall became decorated with their face imprints.
Disbelieving, Kurumi floated closer to it, raising a fist to knock it, as if making sure they had definitely come across a dead end. They certainly had.
"Seriously? Seriously?! The one dead end we find, and it's when we're cornered by some un-killable thing!" Kurumi groaned. Maybe if she smashed her forehead against it in frustration hard enough, it would crumble? It was certainly worth a try, right?
"Calm down, we just took a wrong turn!" Elly urged, pulling at Kurumi's arm. "Come on! If we hurry, we might still get to the other path before that magic ball catches up with u-"
A single pellet struck the wall next to Kurumi, and both slowly turned to face said magic ball. Elly suddenly found herself sharing the vampire's sentiments.
"Aw. Nice try, but moronic rats are moronic rats in the end!" Mugetsu soothed mockingly from wherever she hid. "Oh well, good game and all that. So how many holes should I fill your body with? Or better yet, would you like to be presented to Kazami stuffed or skinned? Maybe both?"
Kurumi balled her hands into fists. This... really fricking sucked. Even if she were to throw up a shield of blood, it wouldn't last long. And she had a sneaking suspicion Elly would run out of it long before that thing would even need to reload. The stupid thing couldn't be harmed conventionally, and probably needed monster-level powers to dispel. This was so one-sided it wasn't even funny. Well, except to Mugetsu, maybe.
Well, still better than getting killed by the hunter I guess. Kurumi tried to reassure herself. Or crucified in that stupid ceremony.
Elly simply glared at the glowing light ball fiercely, trying to come up with a plan before they were riddled with holes. This was not the ending Elly was shooting for, and like hell she would simply let herself and Kurumi die like this. Not when the youkai was planning to take Mugetsu down with her...
"What, no answer?" Mugetsu taunted. "Well, I suppose it's a hard choice. All right, let's compromise! I shoot a couple hundred holes in your bodies, then fill you with stuffing! Anyone wanna go first?"
"Okay, we get it, you're evil!" Elly snapped. "Now shut up and wait for me to kick your smug little ass like a good girl!"
No doubt shocking Mugetsu into silence once more, the scythe-wielding girl took advantage. Dragging the palm of one hand along her blade, she sliced her flesh, drawing blood and holding her injured palm to Kurumi.
"Take as much as you need to cage that thing!" The blonde ordered the surprised vampire. When Kurumi made no movements, Elly began shaking her hand urgently. "Now, please!"
The vampire blinked, stared dumbly at Elly's hand, and finally registered the instructions given to her. She reached, dabbing her fingertips into the flowing red liquid, and immediately set about her given task.
In just a second, Kurumi had shaped the blood into a perfect sphere around their persistent pursuer, trapping it. It remained suspended in the air, under the vampire's watchful gaze.
With a tug at Kurumi's sleeve, Elly began urging her to move. It was probably a good idea, there was no telling when that thing would break fr-
The sphere exploded in a flurry of bullets as Mugetsu's ball blasted free, which was not good for the girls' morale, really.
Frantically, they weaved and ducked during their escape, barely avoiding the random trajectory of the bullet storm. The enclosed space did little to make this fun or easy for either of them.
Eventually, both noticed an opening between the initial volley of shots and the next salvo headed their way. Their eyes meeting, the servant and vampire came to an unspoken agreement on their next move.
Stretching her bloody hand outwards once more, Elly allowed Kurumi to extract more blood from her injury, which was then hastily constructed into a crimson wall. It wasn't exactly any stronger than paper, but if it stopped the bullets for even a fraction of a second...
Continuing down the seemingly never-ending path, the girls desperately barred their path with wall after wall of borrowed blood. While Kurumi needed relatively little amounts of it to construct barriers, she could still only use so much before it had adverse affects on her donor. A youkai may not collapse from missing a pint or two of blood (well, unless they were hilariously weak), but considering someone of Elly's level, it wouldn't be too long before Elly started misjudging where to dodge.
"God damn it, just go away!" The frustrated vampire screeched, barring the way just as her last wall was torn away by those stupid bullets. "Why in the name of hell are we on a straight path now?!"
"Maybe we're close to the end!" Elly replied with gritted teeth. She really wasn't a big fan of throwing so much blood around like this. "Let's just keep on running, forget the bl- crap!"
A bullet had managed to pass the newest obstacle before it could be fully constructed, and it had barely grazed the blonde's head, knocking her hat into the air.
Cursing in frustration, Elly glanced over her shoulder. The most recent wall of blood was already falling. This was just getting ridiculous!
"Jeez, the hell did I do to deserve this?" Kurumi wailed, abandoning her attempts to bar its path and focusing entirely on surviving intact. "The hell did I do to deserve anything that's ever happened to me?!"
"Ah, fine then!" Elly growled, performing an aerial flip and coming to a stop as she faced the advancing ball of light. Kurumi braked and swiveled a moment later, looking incredulous.
"What the hell are you doing this time?!" The vampire yelled. "Come on, I'm not handing your hole-ridden corpse to Kazami!"
Ignoring her, Elly brandished her scythe, trying to think of something, anything she could do to dispel that thing. Attacking normally didn't work, and her own magic didn't seem to be strong enough to overpower it...
She noted then that it wasn't even shooting any more. Glaring suspiciously at the still-advancing light, she wondered what it was trying to do. Fake her out? Nah, it wasn't an intelligent being... out of ammo? Did it even have a maximum capacity to use up?
Kurumi was tugging at the back of her dress urgently. "Come on, it's getting closer!" The vampire growled, but Elly still didn't budge.
Finally, when it was a mere three feet away... it stopped, simply bobbing there harmlessly. Both girls were confused even more by this behavior. It was almost as if the thing had lost interest or something.
"...Maybe it ran out of magic to function?" Kurumi wondered aloud, peeking at it with narrowed eyes from behind her meat shield. "Does it work like that?"
Elly simply shrugged. "Let's just try backing up slowly. We can make a break for it onc-"
"The hell is that?" Kurumi suddenly asked, pointing at something on the wall to their left. Elly peered at it, stepping closer warily. It was... a sign? It simply said 'safe zone'.
The duo were silent for a moment as they stared. Safe zone? Seriously? They weren't being shot at because of some unspecified line dividing them from their aggressive pursuer?
"Is this a joke or something?" Kurumi murmured with a sigh. "She's just mocking us, right?"
"I guess?" Elly shrugged. "...Does it matter? At least we don't need to worry about that thing any more."
Kurumi's eyes darted briefly to the floating light. "...Yeah, I suppose the random notice written by the psychopath is an excellent source to trust."
Elly turned and began walking down the linear path, paying no mind to the possibility she could be very easily shot in the back. Cursing under her breathe, the frustrated vampire hurried after her, casting a wary glance over her shoulder every step of the way.
Side by side, the servant and the vampire walked, reaching their ultimate destination. The corridor opened into a vast area, more like a room. The walls were no longer featureless, but seemed to be decorated with stars in mind. Much like outside.
Mugetsu herself sat upon a towering throne, apparently made of gold and silver. With a bright red cushion. She rested her head upon the palm of her hand, elbow poised on an armrest.
"Well, how about that? You made it?" She chuckled darkly. "Weird how even the weakest of the weak can pull of admirable stunts of survival."
"That right?" Elly replied in a challenging tone. Striding ahead of the much more hesitant and sane Kurumi, she approached the enthroned demon confidently. "For someone dressed like a servant, you sure do think highly of yourself!"
Mugetsu's smirk remained. "Oho? Mocking my clothing, now? Well, I suppose you are but a child... tell me, what is your name?"
"And why should I privilege you with that knowledge?" Elly asked.
"Because I was hoping to write a little story based on your exploits," Mugetsu answered with a wide grin. "The story of a brain-dead girl with master issues and a tsundere girlfriend-"
"The hell are you implying?!" A horrified Kurumi gasped, her plan of hiding in the background now shattered.
"-Who tried to do the impossible, and kill a god." Mugetsu finished, unperturbed. Elly could only laugh.
"So now you think you're a god, Mugetsu? How path-"
Mugetsu raised her hand, and Elly fell silent in surprise. The demon had not lost her composure, instead maintaining her smirk as she straightened and continued, "I know exactly what your retort is, little girl. And allow me to point something out. You are in my realm. My domain. Which I created."
"...Your point?" Elly said.
"My point, you naive little dumb-ass, is that in my world, what I say, goes. What I want, goes. If I don't like something, I get rid of it."
Mugetsu was on her feet now, strolling towards Elly with an air of murderous intent. "And you know what I hate? Intruders who encroach upon my sacred grounds as if they own the place!"
Readying herself for the conflict, Elly simply grinned back at the demon. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. My Master intends for you to relinquish ownership of your stupid land. We can deal with intruders at our own leisure."
Mugetsu stopped, ten feet away from her target. The smile remained, but her gaze was cold and sharp. "...I am not particularly fond of thieves, either. Do you not know your place?"
"I know it very well," Was the proud and confident reply. "I am Elly, nothing more than Yuuka Kazami's weapon, to be used as she sees fit!"
Mugetsu folded her arms. "Right, that crap. Okay, guess I'll break you, see what happens."
"She'll fix me."
Oh dear god this is the dumbest back-and-forth I've ever listened to. A horrified Kurumi noted.
The blonde demon simply smirked coldly, looking incredibly relaxed as she stared down the far weaker youkai, who could feel an almost overwhelming aura of death radiating from Mugetsu. Elly's grip tightened on her weapon as she prepared to fight.
In all honesty, despite her boasts, Elly was pretty sure her death was assured here. The difference in power was simply too big. A head-on collision would end poorly, even if Kurumi decided to back her up. The most Elly could hope for was that she shake up the demon's psyche as much as possible, screwing up her composure and making it much more difficult to be taken out by some precise hit.
...She could find a way to deal with a berserker later.
Dispelling the doubts from her mind, the scythe-wielding youkai launched herself towards Mugetsu, who maintained her arm-folded posture and smirk.
Elly's first swing was aimed at Mugetsu's head, which was swiftly ducked under. At least that much was within Elly's expectation.
Using the momentum of her swing, Elly pivoted swiftly, repositioning her blade to skewer the enemy with a second swing. Again, as expected, Mugetsu avoided it by stepping backward.
Instead of pursuing, Elly opted to quickly move into a defensive stance, the shaft of her scythe held diagonally across her torso. Her caution paid off, as she was able to see Mugetsu's attack coming quite easily, and swiftly side-stepped the punch aimed at her nose, and attempt to ram the blunt end of her weapon into the demon's side.
That was when things took a turn for the worse.
"Well that only took, what, three seconds?" The monster dressed as a maid asked mockingly, one hand gripping the youkai's face. Her speed was far beyond Elly's expectations, and she was rapidly losing all hope of escaping this fight with her facial features intact.
"Still, I suppose that's not too bad for a pathetic little shit like you." Mugetsu continued, lifting up the struggling youkai. "Ah, and speaking of pathetic..."
With her free hand, the demon turned and punched at the attacking vampire, knocking Kurumi to the floor with a sickening crunch. Taken by surprise at just how insanely painful it was to have the bones in her shoulder relocated much closer to her spine, Kurumi couldn't help but scream and wail. Elly froze at the sound.
"Wow. I know you're a weakling, but I had no idea you were such a wuss!" Mugetsu cackled, staring gleefully at the sobbing vampire. "Hey, guess how you could have avoided that? By not spouting a load of shit to your superiors!"
Stepping closer to the defenceless Kurumi, Mugetsu aimed a light kick at her injury, intensifying Kurumi's cries.
"See, if you'd just dropped this dead weight and begged my forgiveness, I might actually have been lenient on you!" Mugetsu mocked. "But no, you had to act tough in front of your girlfriend! And look what it got y-"
Mugetsu flinched, then looked at her stomach. Huh. Someone apparently stuck a scythe there. That was annoying.
Mugetsu turned her gaze towards Elly, still trapped in the grip of the demon's outstretched arm. The youkai had shifted her grip on the scythe to make sure her blade struck its target.
"You talk too much," Elly's muffled voice spoke, somehow managing to be condescending despite the possibility her skull could be smashed into pieces in less than a second. "You're even more annoying than the crybaby over there.
And then the blade was forced upwards.
The demon lost all the colour in her face as her flesh was ripped from stomach to neck. Blood flowed freely from the ghastly wound as she lost her grip on the captive youkai. Staggering away from her two victims, Mugetsu placed her hands over the horrific injury with a look of confusion.
"But... I... you..." She whispered, eyes wide. Elly, rising to her feet from the kneeling position she landed in, stood protectively over the whimpering vampire as she glared at Mugetsu.
"...By the way, if you tell no one I helped you out, no one has to know that you were snivelling like a kid here," Elly muttered to Kurumi.
"S...screw you... too..." Kurumi moaned, although she struggled to keep her pained expression free of any smirks.
In all honesty, Kurumi was totally lost on why she did what she did. Elly's defeat was assured, and her own strength didn't even compare to Mugetsu, so there was no point in making things worse for herself by fighting. She was in enough trouble already.
And yet, as if by instinct, Kurumi had leaped to defend Elly to the best of her ability. Sure, it backfired so horribly that even the most ineffectual hero would consider it a senseless effort, but that didn't change the fact that the vampire was acting even more out-of-character than ever. Well, she noticed that there was a crap-load of crazy going around lately, so maybe she really had caught it...
Elly herself was trying not to dwell on what she just did. She acted not to prove herself, or for the honour of her master or anything like that. Her blade seemed to react to Kurumi's cries, as if sickened by the cause. Granted, Elly had by now developed the opinion that she wouldn't wish Mugetsu on the most loathsome beings deserving of punishment, but the fact remained that she had struck Mugetsu for Kurumi's sake.
And Mugetsu... was in the middle of an overly dramatic death scene.
"Ack! To be killed by such pests! Can I, the almighty Mugetsu, have truly met my end?!" The demon suddenly yelled to the skies, bloody hands raised to it as if reaching out for some distant object. "Alas, to have suffered such disgraceful defeat... there is surely no greater disho-"
Kurumi gaped as Elly suddenly sliced ribbons out of the 'dying' demon.
With brutal efficiency, the lock-haired servant seemed to dance as her scythe arced through the air, constantly cutting into Mugetsu as its wielder circled her, never relenting. The blade was glowing white, too – that sun-imitating spell from earlier. It was certainly doing a good job mutilating its unfortunate target.
When the charred meat that remained finally crumbled to the ground, Elly stopped, eyes cast at the floor, back to the dead demon. Kurumi simply kept staring, unsure if she should be appalled or entranced. On the one hand, that was a pretty damn fine way to end the fight, but... that was most definitely unlike the usual boisterous-but-weak gate keeper.
Elly stepped towards the downed vampire, a weak half-smile forced onto her face. She was panting slightly from exertion, apparently. "...You okay?"
"Uh, I guess." Kurumi answered simply. "Just a powdered shoulder, not a problem for us vampires, y'know."
"Right... come on, let's find Master." Elly sighed, offering a hand to the vampire. Before she could raise her one working arm to take/slap away the hand, however, a second, much bloodier hand suddenly made its presence known. Mainly by jutting out of Elly's chest.
"...What." Kurumi stated in horror.
"The..." Elly gasped, her face completely drained of colour, aside from the blood caking her face and slowly bubbling from her lips.
"-Fuck was that all about?!" The personification of death, dressed in a rather pristine maid outfit growled, her voice freezing the blood of the two unfortunate creatures in its gaze. "Seriously, who interrupts a dying speech?! You utter bitch!"
The arm was retracted, causing the very bloody Elly to flinch and sway, blinking dumbly at whatever the hell had happened. She was vaguely aware of Kurumi mouthing something, but the noise wasn't entirely clear for some reason. Weird.
Then a blinding pain shot through both of her arms.
Jolted from her stunned reverie, Elly yelled as both her arms were snapped, left jutting at sickening angles. Her scythe finally clattered to the ground, quickly picked up by the monster that had brutalised Elly a second ago.
Mugetsu's eyes were wild, anger and hate emanating from her very essence. Waves of intense, frightening pressure rolled over both Elly and Kurumi, powerless to resist.
"Never in my entire life has anyone ever been so god damn rude to me!" Mugetsu raved. "Cutting me up life a carcass, interrupting my theatrics – fuck it, I will completely devour you! You and your little girlfriend down there, and your weak-ass master! I will murder the lot of you for what you did!"
Kurumi barely registered the mad demon's words, her mind concerned with only two things: How the hell was Mugetsu completely fine with no injuries whatsoever.. and Elly.
The gate keeper was on the ground, shuddering and sobbing. It looked like she really had cracked, at last. The vampire really wanted to say "told ya so~!" and rub it in her smug little face, but kicking the broken youkai while she was down was a tad low. Oh, right,. And she was probably dead within the next two seconds. That would make things difficult, all right.
"What, neither of you have anything to say?!" Mugetsu snarled, stomping between her downed victims. "No 'I will defeat you's or 'You shall fall to the power of our friendship'?! Did you finally realise that in this realm, I am invincible?!"
The monster in the maid uniform began to giggle incomprehensibly, and was still half-ignored by her victims. Instead, Kurumi began inching closer to Elly, dragging her body towards the defeated gate keeper while Mugetsu rambled and stomped around.
We have no chance in hell, what's the point? Kurumi wondered, closing in on Elly. We're dead, out of power, no more fight left, Kazami's still AWOL, any more resistance will just make death more painful...
Despite that, however, Kurumi still reached out her one good hand towards her associate, mentally uttering apologies as her fingers brushed the hole in Elly's chest. The wound wasn't immediately fatal for youkai, but it was so close to Elly's heart...
Gritting her teeth and wishing she weren't so utterly stupid, the vampire turned her gaze towards the rambling demon, pointing her bloody fingertips towards her.
Small, almost pin-prick sized needles of blood lanced towards Mugetsu from the outstretched fingertips. Unless Kurumi struck a weak point, they were just going to be highly ineffective, but... it was the only means of defence left. Elly was broken, Kurumi was broken, Yuuka was... probably broken as well. Everyone was just... broken.
Well, except for the regenerated demon that simply stopped the bloody tendrils with nothing more than her sheer, malevolent aura. She was in perfect, unblemished condition, of course.
"Told you that would be useless," Mugetsu giggled chillingly, ceasing her random stomping and slowly turning her head towards the doomed vampire. "Everything you do is useless! Fighting, running, begging for your shitty lives – completely useless!"
The force of her words was almost enough to simply rob Kurumi of consciousness right there. In fact, it would've been infinitely preferable if that were the case. Maybe then she wouldn't feel the unholy amounts of pain she was going to feel in the next five seconds.
Mugetsu stepped closer, her malicious grin looking almost grotesque and nightmarish upon her face. All the vampire could do was glare ineffectually, not even having the heart to make a comment on... something. Like how unfair her power was.
"Well, you were persistent little bitches, but at least you're gone for good now," Mugetsu giggled. "And Gengetsu would've finished off the last one long ago! Goof ridda-"
"Hey." Yuuka greeted Mugetsu politely.
"Oh, hi," Mugetsu grunted dismissively. "Anyway, enjoy your trip to he-"
Finally realising who spoke, Mugetsu quickly rounded to face the flower youkai, wearing a bright, friendly smile. Despite all the blood, tears and wounds that adorned her clothes and skin. And especially despite the crimson eyes filled with enough hate and disgust to eclipse Mugetsu's own emotions.
"You're... how?! Why- where's Ge-" the horrified demon spluttered, unable to finish her sentence due to the fist smashing her skull to pieces and sending the rest of her body flying to the nearest wall.
Kurumi's jaw dropped when she saw what had just happened. At the last possible second, she and Elly were saved from death by... someone that the vampire had always considered to be death's drinking buddy. That was a bit... unexpected, really.
Hope those last second rescues don't catch on... Kurumi couldn't help but mentally complain. My shoulder frickin' hurts.
Yuuka turned her head towards the downed servants, and Kurumi realised just how much of a mess the flower youkai was. It wasn't just ruined clothes or superficial wounds. Yuuka Kazami was... downright exhausted.
"...L-Lady Kazami?" Kurumi inquired, wondering if she had perhaps mistaken the mad creature for her twin sister. She was struggling to comprehend that anyone could have drained Yuuka's strength to such an extent.
"Kurumi... you look injured," Yuuka noted with a forced playful smile. "That'll have to be looked at in a moment."
"...Yeah. I guess." The dazed vampire replied. "...W-wait, what about you? What the hell happened?!"
The flower youkai dropped her smile, grunted something incomprehensible, and stepped towards the downed girls. Kurumi could've sworn she saw Yuuka's eyes ice over when she looked at Elly. But that wasn't right... Yuuka didn't give that much of a crap over their well-being. Hadn't they even been told that several times in the past?
"Wasn't that a bit much, Yuyu?" Asked a voice from somewhere behind Kurumi, causing the vampire to hunch over immediately in terror. It took her several seconds to register the reaction, not even knowing why she had done that. Whoever spoke... despite the cheerful, friendly and even childish tone, Kurumi almost instinctively sensed a creature that rivalled the green-haired monstrosity currently overlooking her servant's state.
Yuuka, totally oblivious to any fear the speaker could inflict, flicked her crimson eyes towards Gengetsu, who had stood directly behind the cowering vampire.
"I don't know. Maybe I did over-react," The flower youkai responded, her voice cold enough to practically frost the floor. "After all, that vile woman did nothing more break my girl's bodies. I suppose my reaction was a bit too much."
"...You sound sarcastic!" Gengetsu giggled, kneeling to pat the shaking Kurumi's head. "Hey there! You're the vampire, right? Nice to meet you! I'm your new mother!"
Kurumi froze. "...What."
"The hell?!" Snarled Mugetsu, launching herself from the wall, face now recognisable as... well, a face again. She gaped at the winged demon in utter horror. "Gengetsu, what the hell are you talking about?!"
Gengetsu beamed at her younger sister with delight. "I got engaged!"
Both the vampire and the younger demon stared at their respective companions, then at each other, confusion completely filling their minds at the moment.
"...Engaged," Mugetsu repeated with disbelief. "Engaged to whom, Gengetsu?"
"The delightfully violent and insane Yuuka Kazami, of course!" chirped the demonic entity with that sunny smile of hers. "I think we're a good match!"
"Yes. Of course you are." Mugetsu nodded. Then aimed her boot for Yuuka's skull.
Fortunately for the flower youkai, she was still swift enough to swing her arm and block the kick with her umbrella, but the shaking of her arm showed that her strength was quickly fading. Not that she had to struggle long, however.
"Mumu!" the winged demon admonished with unusual sharpness, yet still retaining her smile.
To the mind-breaking shock of Kurumi, Mugetsu actually flinched, stepping away from Yuuka and meekly turning to face her sister. The person that constructed an impenetrable maze – well, impenetrable for beings that weren't broken to hell and back – kicked Yuuka miles away, and casually brutalised both Elly and herself, shrugging off any and all damage... was acting like a child caught sneaking snacks or something.
And then the lecturing happened.
"I have to say, I am not pleased with your conduct, little missy!" said the terrifying abomination, playfully wagging her finger under the maid-clad demon's nose. "Don't think I don't know what you were doing, abusing your power so badly against weak little babies like them!"
"B-but-"
"Seriously, they got some nice hits in, don't take that away from them!" Gengetsu continued unabated. "I mean, that's like me eating their entrails because my dreams didn't cause instant bowel movements!"
"Okay, I'm getting the fuck outta here." Kurumi announced, leaping to her feet. "Lady Kazami, it's been an absolute pleasure, but I think I had a meeting with a vampire hunter or something. See you never again."
Yuuka, who had carefully lifted the comatose Elly into her arms, sighed wearily. "Please save your complaints until after we've healed up. You can leave once I make sure you aren't liable to die."
"Oh, now you worry about that..." Kurumi muttered impulsively. Thankfully, Yuuka didn't seem to be in a disciplinary mood. Though the 'caring for others' well-being' mood was a new one, so it was still a tad scary to see.
Yuuka nodded her head forward. "Got our new residence built, by the way."
Raising an eyebrow, Kurumi turned her head. And promptly dropped her jaw so hard it hit the ground. Figuratively.
"Wha- huh- eh-why- what?!" Kurumi gasped at the looming, if somehow-modest mansion. "Why is there- who-"
"Explanations later," Yuuka sighed. "Ah. Gengetsu."
Pausing her berating of the traumatised-looking Mugetsu, the demon craned her neck.
"Give us a month, will you?"
"Okie-dokie~!" Gengetsu complied to the request. Turning back to her sister, Gengetsu muttered, "Let's see... oh yeah, there's being a sore loser, and then there's being an outright cheater-"
Kurumi gazed at the surreal scene for a few more moments before returning her attention to the mansion that had been constructed out of nothing in no time whatsoever. If this was something one of those demons made...
Seeing Yuuka just waltz right on in, the vampire sighed in weary defeat. Screw it, she decided. Today had sucked more than enough, nothing else could make it worse, after all. With one arm hanging uselessly, Kurumi followed the flower youkai.
The second Elly gets better, I'm hauling ass out of here... Gensokyo's gotta be safer than this hell. Kurumi mentally grumbled to herself.
So yeah... this was going to be the final chapter, but given how long it takes for this thing to update, I figured the non-combat stuff could be saved for later. And shouldn't take as long to actually write. Maybe. Probably.
As for the chapter itself... I expect it to be not worth the wait, as usual. You know, terrible writer and all that.
So, for those who've managed to enjoy the story so far, thanks and I hope the conclusion doesn't ruin the whole thing for you. For anyone who hasn't... well, I apologise.
Just one more chapter!