Oh MAN, there is a lot of words this chapter. I actually feel quite proud of it. Fun fact, it was exactly 4200 words before this A/N. The more you know!

Ziden115: You love him. I love him. We all love him, right up until he yells at us to shut our whore mouths and drop kicks us through twenty floors. I'll be honest, I haven't the slightest who the Marvel Horsemen are. I am way too sheltered 3:

Actually, Conquest and Pestilence tend to be fairly confused. For the most part, it's commonly portrayed as Pestilence because it's inferred that that is his power, but the original excerpt implies his name is Conquest. Only Death is the Horseman who actually was "named" in Revelations. True story.

Tez7: Lyon/Geppetto are supposed to be based off of common phobias. Needles, dolls, they may or may not receive clown masks at some point, or spider body parts, I dunno... yeah, they're pretty creepy. If it makes you feel any better, imagine their puppets like fumo plushies. I think I just ruined their image forever. Crap.

Anyways, enjoy some Seventh Heaven MAXION and their "Kazamuki" track! Ah, Seventh Heaven... such an incredible circle... :D

– TOUHOU –

"You've come far, child."

Julian closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "I have."

"Your journey has taken you across the world. America, Russia, England, Japan… but you still haven't seen all that you must."

He raised his head, gazing into the inky darkness around him. It shifted, flowing like a dark sheet in the wind, rippling with every intonation and declaration.

"Your growth is not over, no matter how much you may wish it."

"I understand." Carved into his back, the Wildcard's Mark steamed, searing like an iron pressed against his back.

"See more, Julian Meliss. Know euphoria. Know sorrow. Know agony."

The darkness receded, opening into a vast, desolated cathedral. The roof had long caved in, the walls given way. Shattered stained glass was scattered across the floor. Splattered wildly across the floor and walls were bloodstains, time having darkened them to mere stains. High above them, a bell began to toll.

"Do so, and be absolved of your sin, child."

The agent dipped his head ever so slightly. "For you – not for this. I will not fight for this cause."

"No force can bring back the dead, child."

Julian scowled. "I understood twenty years ago."

"Twenty years ago, you made a pact with a monster. Now, I offer you redemption. Go, and understand what the world truly holds for you..."

– TOUHOU –

Julian blinked slowly, wincing at the harsh light above him. Getting up, he noticed he was on some sort of low-lying mattress as he rubbed his head. An open window was nearby him, a soft wind blowing through. Tucked into the corner was a small round table, a thick red book lying face-down on top of it. Next to the door was some sort of cabinet. What was this place?

His head was fuzzy. Grunting softly, he tried to recall what had happened. Something about a plane fight – oh, right. That's what happened to him. Well, it'd at least explain all of the bandages he was wrapped up in. Really, any more and he probably could have qualified for a mummy.

At the very least, he thought as he pulled himself into a sitting position, I'm not dead. He gingerly stood up and took a few steps forward. So far, so good. So he could still walk. Sitting down at the small table, he grabbed the book out of curiosity, pulling a bookmark from it and reading a section at random.

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see…

Flipping it shut, he opened the cover page to see who this copy of the Bible belonged to.

Yumemi Okazaki.

Huh?

A hand reached around his shoulder and plucked the book out of his hands. Yumemi frowned as she bopped him over the head lightly with it. "It's great that you've recovered, Julian, but please don't touch my things without my permission."

"Sorry."

"It's no problem," said the professor.

Just then, there was a knocking on the door. A female voice came from the other side, but Julian couldn't quite understand it. "What's she saying?"

"Hm? Right, you can't speak Japanese…" Yumemi opened the door, revealing a black-winged girl on the other side. "I'll be back in a moment."

"Hold on, I–"

The door was shut.

Julian lowered his outstretched hand. "… Dammit." Pulling away, he tried interesting himself with the window. Outside, he could see other people similar to that black-winged girl, though some had… dog ears and tails? What kind of crack was he on?

Sadly, even that sight quickly became boring. Really, it was just a bunch of commuters going about their daily life, just with a couple extra attachments. Pulling his head back, Julian leaned back in his chair and blew out a long breath. How long was Yumemi going to take?

He poked his head through the window again. "Excuse me," he said to one of the passing dog girls below.

She turned, a large scimitar and shield on her back (how did she even carry that!?). "Hai?"

Julian faltered. He already forgot he couldn't even talk to these people. "Sorry, um, never mind. Forget it."

The guard below his window tilted her head. "Aa, anata wa eigodesu ka?"

The agent shook his head helplessly. "I'm sorry; I don't understand what you're saying."

"Eigo o hanasemasu ka?" She facepalmed. "Eigo? En-glish."

"Oh!" Julian started as he finally heard a familiar term. "Yeah! Yeah. I speak English. Do you have anyone here who can speak it, too?"

She nodded. "Matta kudasai – shitsurei shimasu…"

"Hey!" Julian could only watch as she turned and ran down the street. "Wait! I don't – damn." Throwing himself back, he growled. "Great job, Julian. Re~al smooth…"

Calming himself slightly, he took a look around, his eyes falling on the drawer by the door once again. Getting up slowly, he pressed an ear against the door. No voices or footsteps. Julian wavered for one brief moment before throwing himself to the ground, trying each cabinet in turn. Come on, come on, one of them has to be unlocked…!

Click.

There's one!

Pulling a sheaf of papers from inside the cabinet, he began rifling through them at random. There was one labelled "MEDICAL RECORDS: J. MELISS". Pulling that one out, he placed the rest of them back into the cabinet and slid it shut. Sitting back down, Julian flipped through the pages, looking for some answers as his eyes skipped back and forth, looking for the few sections written in English.

… Meliss retained for two weeks, has not awoken. Possibility of a coma remains valid… Eientei unavailable to public, Meliss is to be treated until recovery and… shows signs of high brain activity. Despite breakage of both arms and left leg, lung punctured by rib, rib cage broken, right shoulder dislocated, concussions, internal bleeding, and dysfunctional cardiovascular system (heart), is confirmed to be steadily recovering at a pace far surpassing standard humans… further testing reveals… human heritage. No evidence of youkai blood is apparent from the sample taken…

And, written in the margins in a neat yet crammed handwriting – Incredible.

Scar shows no sign of recovery – all healing magic and technology has failed… may prove to be beneficial… possibly recover naturally, given time… Kawashiro Tech has refused to supply due to war restriction, though Meliss remains stable… Emergency cardiovascular surgery performed by Professor Yumemi Okazaki after condition turned critical. Unknown device implanted in lieu of failing heart following its expiration during surgery… all attempts to analyse device are failures… proposed by Nitori to be a "pacemaker" of some sort… anesthetic successful, but brain remained highly active. Meliss presumed to remain unconscious, surgery initiated… Extreme fibrillation, followed by complete cardiac arrest prompted Okazaki's transplant despite lack of replacement…

"She's a surgeon, too?" Julian muttered to himself as he continued searching the papers. "You learn more every day…"

Heart… disappeared through means unknown… secure position and kept safe for future analysis… all attempts failed. Meliss' heart reacted… exponential growth, prompting temporary evacuation… Shameimaru's records lost in fire, all salvageable fragments rendered ineligible…

Unconsciously, Julian pressed a hand against his chest. Just underneath the thin layer of gauze, he could feel his heartbeat. No, not heartbeat. But then what was it? Strange – he didn't feel very different. In pain, yes. Stiff, yes. But he shouldn't even be awake right now. What happened?

He felt at the lightning fractal running across his back. It seemed to be the only thing that had changed. It was calm. Why was it calm?

"What… did I just tell you?" Yumemi's hand clapped down on his shoulder.

He shuddered as he felt her breath on the back of his neck. "Um… I plead the Fifth?"

"It doesn't apply here." Rolling her eyes, Yumemi helped him up and put away the medical records, making sure to lock it up. "… almost childlike…"

"Hey, I heard that!"

She smirked. "Well, at any rate, it seems you're about healthy enough." Bringing him out into the hall, the professor rapped a few knuckles on his head.

"Ow!"

"Alright, you seem stable."

"What was that for?" Julian protested as he followed her. "You can't call that a medical examination?"

"If we did an actual physical, I would have to do many things neither of us would be comfortable with."

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh. Oh."

"So you can see why I didn't."

"You stuffed your hands into my rib cage and rearranged my organs." Julian paused. "Now that I think about it, where'd you even learn that?"

"My university," she muttered. Yumemi didn't seem interested in pursuing this topic. "That–"

The both of them froze as a bright light flashed in front of them. Blinking spots out of their eyes, the two of them stumbled as Aya flew past them. "Arigatou, baka~!"

"Aya-san!" Yumemi began to chase the crow tengu, but tripped as Aya turned, a high-power blast of wind knocking her flat onto her butt. "Kisamaaa!"

– TOUHOU –

[We're going there, shut up: Attack on Titan – Guren no Yumiya]

Byakuren deftly leapt to the next rooftop, throwing out an arm. Golden light lanced out, blasting away the spirits chasing her. As another hailstorm of spirit danmaku rained down, she leapt out of the way. Standing back up, she realized she'd let herself into a trap, the spirits surrounding her now pressing in. No chance to escape –

BOOM!

The monk coughed as smoke erupted around her, clouding her view. Just through the thick cloud, she could see her brother's form lowering his hand, swinging it out behind him to backhand a spirit trying to sneak up on him. "Thank you, nii-san!"

"Don't mention it!" Myouren hit the deck as the colossal scythe roared over his head, the wind whistling as it passed over him. Even as he watched, Goukei's colossus roared, its fresh wounds bubbling and steaming. Spirits poured from it like water, but they quickly congealed into smaller, faster versions of their original to continue the attack. Raising his arm to block its swing, he rushed towards one of the smaller spirit summons, this one only as tall as a regular human. Slamming a boot against its head, he brought his foot down, the spirits popping out from under his sole and burbling angrily from the sidelines as he rushed off. Myouren leapt into the air, pressing a foot against another shrunken summon's head to kick himself into the air, landing on the original's robes as it moved through the city.

Goukei's colossus bellowed as the Muramasa plunged into its flesh time and again. Konngara watched grimly as the spirits fountained out, rapidly pooling into smaller versions of the ex-shinigami and attacking her. Retrieving the odachi, the Astral Knight easily lunged, hacking through their spectral forms with ease. The problem wasn't power, or speed, it was exhaustion. Not even she could keep this up forever.

"Keep pressing!" Konngara yelled to the others. "They'll never stop coming. Focus on the original summon!" The samurai held up a hand as Utsuho touched down on the colossus' shoulder next to her – was that shikaisen being given a piggyback ride? "No, you two keep doing what you're doing. We still need someone keep the small ones down. But the rest of you, come on!"

Okuu nodded. On her back, Futo pulled herself a little higher as well. With a powerful flap of the wings, they took to the air, flying high above the colossus' head as they rained flaming destruction on it. Goukei's colossus staggered, the assault steadily battering it down. With every fireball that made contact, every laser carving into its body, another burst of spirits would erupt. It raised its scythe, the spectral blade swooping through the air after them.

"Eek!" Utsuho flipped upside down, the blade of the scythe just barely passing over her. A sudden tug on her back nearly threw them both back to the ground. "Prithee, a warning before thy next barrel roll?"

"Um, alright!"

Beneath them, the colossus growled lowly. In the depths of its hood, both eyes flared, one gold, one green. At its feet and scattered throughout the Capital of Former Hell, the shrunken versions of Goukei simultaneously froze. As one, they turned to the air and snarled. Their ethereal figures shimmered – and melted away, hundreds of spirits falling to the ground like water and rushing towards their original's feet. It raised its scythe, tossing it into the air as it too melted away, another wave of souls rushing outwards like water through a crumbling dam.

Reimu whipped around as Utsuho yelled in surprise – and was sent spinning head over heels through the air as a jet of spirits was launched directly at her. Spluttering in surprise as they battered her barrier, she yelled, "What is this, a water gun for undead titans!?"

Myouren reeled as the fabric shifted in his grip. Like everything else this man had summoned, it was made of spirits, and they definitely weren't happy about having him rubbing his hands all over them. Every time he moved, black steaming scorch marks in the robe showed exactly where his hands had been as he slowly scaled the colossus. He noticed a strange tugging on the cloth, one that he wasn't doing. He looked down. "… Byakuren?"

She nodded. "Just keep climbing!" Turning around, she kept herself hanging with a single hand, the other carrying her vajra as she dispelled another swarm of spirits. "There's just too many of them. Surely, it's not infinite, right?"

"Of course not." Myouren kept his focus on climbing this sheer cliff face that happened to be moving. "That'd be impossible. It's likely that this summon is comprised of thousands and controls them in a hive-mind fashion. Whenever we injure the original form, it… breaks up… into smaller…"

"Nii-san, are you alright?"

Myouren watched as the samurai weaved through the two scythes on either side of her, both small shinigami cutting into each other with their blades. He skidded down the surface, pulling himself to a stop right next to her. "Nee-san. I have a plan."

Konngara watched as the two monks dropped back to the ground, seemingly abandoning their previous task. "What are those two doing…?" she muttered idly. A frustrated growl reminded her that she still had a fight to fight. "Oh, right. Sorry." With a single fluid movement, the samurai withdrew her Muramasa to throw the small Goukei off-balance before whipping around in the other direction, the sword effortlessly cutting through ethereal flesh. Yet another shrunken summon paled and melted away, the spirits it was made up of floating away in a daze.

For the briefest instant, a huge shadow loomed over her just as Goukei's colossus slammed its fist shut around her, holding her up to its hooded face. Beneath the shadows, a gold and green light sparked, magic gathering as it prepared to tear her apart at point-blank range. The samurai gritted her teeth. This was going to hurt…!

BOOM!

Reimu held onto Konngara carefully by the back of her collar, Okuu and Futo zipping by overhead. "Caught her!" Below them, the colossus howled, its wrist torn nearly down to nothing, thin spectral sinews keeping the hand attached. As the miko deposited her load on a nearby rooftop, they watched as the last few strands snapped, the massive appendage falling to the ground with an earth-shaking crash. "You alright?"

"Yes. Thank you… Reimu-san." Her head snapped up as Goukei's colossus growled. At its feet, the severed hand bubbled beneath the "skin", a growing pool of ghosts forming beneath it. Slowly, a slightly smaller oni appeared from its depths. As it looked up to its larger brethren, it extended a hand. The two ex-shinigami clasped hands, a river of energy flowing between them as one shrunk – and the other grew. Konngara cursed. "They're regenerating! Stop them!"

The two of them were now of equal size, both slightly shorter than the tallest buildings. As one, they dug their fingers into the foundations of one such building, tearing it free with an echoing roar. Heaving it over their shoulders, they leaned back and tossed the entire building, one end flipping over the other as it howled down the street.

Miko and samurai turned to eac other, a silent plan exchanged between them. With a single nod, they executed their counterattack, the Astral Knight raising her odachi high above her head. "If this fails, I'll kill you in the afterlife again!"

"Tell me when that time comes around!" Reimu yelled back. Jamming her gohei into the ground to free up both hands, she began her chant, runes appearing around her as her spell was prepared.

Konngara narrowed her eyes as the building loomed closer and closer. It was almost there, barely any distance from them, a split second from crushing them…!

In her hands, the Muramasa erupted like a high-pressure geyser, blazing red light forming into a far larger, far deadlier ethereal sword. With an incredible swing, she brought it crashing into the entire building – and stopped it, her momentum and magic channelled into her target and stopping it dead in its tracks. The brief shell of red magic was dispelled just as quickly as it had formed, crashing impotently against the building like waves against a cliff face, but that was all she needed to do. Rushing forward beside her, the miko lashed her arm out, the runes beneath her sparking to life as she did.

"Divine Spirit – Fantasy Seal!"

A flurry of multicoloured orbs formed around them, forming an impenetrable barrier for a brief moment. Then, it split, countless barrages breaking away and smashing against the concrete time and again. With each hit, another crack as torn open in the solid wall until it gave way, the building crumbling away underneath Reimu's fabled spell card. As it crumbled, they could see the flabbergasted titans on the other side, completely baffled by the unorthodox tactic.

At the same time, they split up and dashed to the side, their forms breaking apart into their base components as they moved. Twin floods rushed through the streets, rapidly circling around to the other side before reforming, both summons collecting themselves and leaping to the attack.

"Focus them down one at a time," said Konngara. "We can deal with the other one later!"

"Okuu-san!" Reimu called out to the hell raven and pointed at one of the two approaching titans. Futo and Utsuho glanced over once and nodded, all four of them preparing their attacks. "Take it apart!"

As they dashed, Goukei's two summons dug their heels in, dust clouds kicked high into the air as they skidded to a halt. The dust clouds expanded quickly, masking them from sight as their forms broke apart once again, melting away and crashing to the ground. Pooling into one form once more, the newly reformed mass shot through the dust, a single spectral spear lancing clean through to the other side.

Reimu's eyes widened. "SCATTER!"

It blasted by them, smashing into another building before falling to the ground. Hundreds of spirits coalesced, rapidly building themselves back into the form of their original summon. Konngara wasted no time, jumping off the side of a building to scale the regenerating colossus, her odachi carving a swath across its body as she went. Her companions followed suit, all leaping back to the attack.

Despite the barrage, Goukei's colossus gathered itself once more, one titanic hand swatting them away like flies. Reimu gasped as her breath was knocked out of her. "Holy f – what is this thing made of!?" A low laughter started up next to her. "Um… Meira-san, is that you?"

"Haa…" The Astral Knight rose to her feet, grabbing the Muramasa from the ground. "It's been a while since I got a fight this good. I have to say, it's pretty refreshing." Feet slamming against the earth, the samurai returned to the offensive, ready to take down this colossus. "Come on, then!"

It howled, one hand drawn back as it met her match eagerly. Around the prepared fist, a blazing light began to form, ethereal will-o-wisps condensing as it prepared to swing. Green and gold eyes ignited as it took one, two thunderous steps forward, ready to smash this puny samurai from existence.

Just then, two jets of gold light exploded from around its shoulder, rapidly moving along the limb and shrinking before completely severing the appendage.

"What the–!?" Konngara stomped a foot and twisted, jumping to the side as the severed arm fell to the ground. Waving away the dust, she watched as two beams of light twisted along the colossus' body, moving to the other arm and repeating the same process, rapidly hacking away the limb.

"Whew…" Beside her, the dust was blown away as Byakuren skidded to a halt out of her speed dash, Myouren following suit opposite her. "Preparation took a while. We'll take it from here."

"Everything's good to go." The enigmatic monk flicked his hand, golden light crackling around it. "Ready, nee-san?"

"Ready, nii-san." Byakuren flipped her scroll into the air, the enchanted light spilling out from behind her as she drew two vajras, an energised blade springing forth from both.

Goukei's colossus snarled, its severed limbs melting away to reform into several smaller versions of their original. The flash mob bore down on them – and was scattered as they were shredded like paper, the monks' countless enhancement spells allowing them to effortlessly blast through the mob. Weaving through the crowd at incredible speed, Byakuren leapt up, easily running on their heads before jumping towards their host colossus and digging both swords into its spectral skin, flipping herself over and onto the hilt. Using it like a stepping stone, she quickly repeated the process, stabbing in energised blades as she made her way to the top of the colossus.

Hot on her heels, Myouren grabbed one of the spectres, throwing it into the air and jumping after it. Pushing off of the small summon like a springboard, he thudded heavily against Goukei's colossus, rapidly climbing to the top. Helpless to defend itself, the titan roared in agony as they cut into it time and again, crashing to its knees and allowing the countless smaller forms to flood in like a swarm.

Byakuren and Myouren both ground to a halt at the shoulders of Goukei's colossus. Throwing her spare vajra to her brother, they turned to the disabled colossus, swords at the ready. "Time to finish this."

Kicking off, they effortlessly left their pursuers in the dust, the colossus' spectres easily outpaced by their quarry. Sprinting along the back of the colossus, both monks drew their blades back and brought it crashing down on its neck. For one brief moment, the golden light grated harmlessly against the thickened mass of spirits – before cutting clean through as it gave way, hacking open the colossus' throat. Leaping down either side of the colossus' head, Byakuren and Myouren kept their blades held steady along its neck as they hit the ground, spirits flowing from the gaping wound. The abused vajras finally cutting out as their power faded, Byakuren dusted off her hands as she surveyed the carnage.

"Well, I think that's enough work for the day."

– TOUHOU –

He reached out for the light, a hand outstretched towards something he could never reach. Even as he watched, it collapsed before his eyes, the darkness consuming it without remorse nor cruelty. Simply nothing. Absolutely nothing.

His feet tread on air, running for the salvation that might never come. With every step that brought him closer, it seemed to drift a little further away. No matter how long he ran, he might never even reach it. It always danced just outside of his grasp, taunting him, teasing him.

There was no sound. None whatsoever. His gasps for breath made no sound. His feet, hitting the ground time and again, made no sound. It was complete and utter silence. It was nothing. All he knew was that light, a uniform white waiting for him at the end of the road. His muscles ached, but he had no muscles. He reached out with his arm, but he had no arm. He gasped for breath, but he had no lungs. It was a world of the impossible, made possible. A paradox given tangible form.

It no longer pulled away from him. He fell through, crashing over the border as the unseen land gave way below him. With no more support, he fell. Fell, from nothing, into nothing. Fell, through something, out of something.

He fell, and fell for eternity.