Darkness of Illusion

Chapter 14

Great Battle

"And that's the situation." Hotaru finished. "So to get to the point, will you lend your help in the coming battle?"

The youkai, a tall man with a lizard like tail and claws bowed. "Your wish is our command, Lady Hotaru and Lord Vincent."

"That the Lord of-" Hotaru suddenly shot Vincent fierce glare. "…never mind that point."

"That's what I thought."

"When do we set out?" The youkai asked.

"Noon today. You will be ready, won't you?" Hotaru asked.

Hotaru left the main cave where the youkai resided, stepping into the sunlight. That was the last of the scattered tribes of youkai in the Ash Mountains. They were more than willing to help, and not for the first time, Hotaru found herself wondering whether it would be enough. Both she and her brother had fought

She had spent the rest of the day after the war council preparing her spell cards, as had Vincent. The day after that had been spent traveling among the Ash Mountains, conferring with all the various youkai tribe leaders, telling them the plan and asking for their help. All had agreed, which wasn't very surprising. Ever since they had first met, only six months ago, the youkai had been eager to help and serve. Which she supposed was itself surprising.

Byakuren waited in the yard of the Myouren Temple. There really wasn't much to do at this point. She had spoken with the leader of the human village, and he had agreed to send his best youkai hunters and warriors to join the battle (the human leader himself was a famed and powerful youkai hunter… at least he had been fifty years ago.). Unfortunately, the were rather small in numbers.

Hotaru's words had rung true. Gensokyo had no standing armies, which Byakuren had considered a good thing when she had first arrived here, but now the lack of military power was a problem staring her in the face. True, every human was trained in basic self-defense, a necessity in a world where many youkai preyed on humans they caught alone. However, there was a wide difference between defending against a wild creature that fought primarily on instinct, and against a fiend which most likely had trained in combat every day since it first came into existence.

Thus an idea had come over Byakuren, and she had sent Shou and Nazrin into the forest of magic, to gather up any magicians who could help. Still she didn't expect a big turnout. The main reason that so many magicians took up residence in the Forest of Magic was so they were able to research and develop their magics without being disturbed by the rest of Gensokyo. She honestly doubted many of them had even wondered what had caused the forest fire.

Byakuren heard footsteps, and turned to see Murasa walking out of the temple, a cup of tea in her hands.

"Captain Murasa." Byakuren said.

Murasa abruptly turned and saluted. "Yes milady?"

"I'm going to leave you in charge of the things up here while I'm underground."

"I won't disappoint you, milady." Murasa said.

"Tell Shou to head to the cavern entrance when she returns. I'm going to go on ahead."

"As you wish." Murasa bowed.

Byakuren took off, flying towards Youkai Mountain and the inevitable battle to come.

Satori and her pets were the first to arrive at the cavern leading to the underground. She sat on the ground, leaning against a tree, while Orin remained in her cat form, curled up in Satori's lap.

Utsuho paced around, pointing her arm cannon at various things and making explosion sounds. She performed flips and rolls, imagining herself in an epic gunfight. She ducked for cover behind trees, and kicked dirt in her imaginary enemies' eyes, before clobbering them with the barrel of the arm cannon.

Orin looked up at Satori, and gave a confused. "Mrrow?"

"No. Let her have her fun. She has near limitless energy anyways, so it's no big deal. Besides, it's kind of amusing and I…"

"Meow!"

"Thanks. You're right, I shouldn't worry about it too hard. We're going to win." She scratched Orin behind the ears, and the youkai cat purred.

Utsuho suddenly stopped her mock battle. Satori's third eye turned towards the hell raven. "What did you find?"

"Um… I don't know exactly… Utsuho was staring up into a tree.

Orin stepped off Satori's lap and took on her human form. The two of them walked over to where Utsuho was standing.

"It looks like a camera?" Orin said. Utsuho flew up into the tree and picked up the camera, nearly dropping it as she tried to hold onto it with her cannon arm.

"Dismiss the control rod. Please, before you break it." Satori sighed.

"Oh! Right!" The eye in the center of Utsuho's chest glowed, and there was the sound of gears whirling. The arm cannon disassembled itself, the component parts disappearing into Utsuho's arm. When the process was finished, Utsuho lowered herself to the ground.

"It belongs to the tengu, I think." Orin said. "What's on it?"

"Is this the play button?" Utsuho asked. She pressed the green triangle on the side and looked in the lens. "Um, I don't see anything…"

"That's because you're looking in the wrong side." Orin said.

"Oh!" Utsuho turned the camera around and peered into the scope.

"What do you see?" Orin asked.

"Heh heh, striped…"

Viewing the video through the medium of Utsuho's mind, Satori couldn't help but laugh, herself.

"Hey, there's that demon lady, and Flandre too!"

"What? What's going on?" Orin asked.

"Hmm… Waterfall."

"What waterfall?" Orin asked. "What's happening?"

"Now they're fighting and…" Utsuho suddenly stopped and nearly dropped the camera. "Oh god…"

"What? What's happening?" Orin asked.

"Well, at least now we know why we haven't seen Aya anywhere ." Satori said. She quickly related the story to the catgirl, who paled upon hearing it.

"Well that just means we have one more reason to get rid of these monsters." Orin said.

"Hey!" They heard a shout from the skies above.

Satori looked up to see Reimu, Suika and Byakuren arriving.

"What's wrong?" Byakuren asked as she landed.

"It's just… just watch this." Satori said, holding up the camera.

Byakuren watched the video, and frowned. She looked up into the sky to see Remilia and her companions following. "Remilia's not going to be happy when she sees this…"

Tenma stood on the cliff at the edge of the tengu city, contemplating the battle that was to come. He looked down at the Tower in the distance. The enemy must have known they were planning to attack yet he saw not a single fiend anywhere on the mountain. Not for the first time, he wished that Kanako was here. Being a war goddess, an endeavor like this would be right in her area of expertise, but for some reason, all the gods in Gensokyo had disappeared, and now the Moriya Shrine was in ruins.

At the base of the waterfall was where tengu, kappa, celestials, humans and various youkai waited, prepared to attack Khin-Oin at their leaders command.

He heard the sound of someone landing behind him. Tenma turned and saw that it was one of the dragon siblings, Hotaru. He looked down at the camp, where he saw the various youkai of the Ash Mountains joining the others.

"Don't count your blessings yet, tengu." Hotaru said. "Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not there. They'll most likely portal in once we get anywhere near the place.

"You have fought them before, right?" Tenma asked.

"Yes, but nowhere near on the scale of army to army combat. So to answer what you're probably asking, I don't know any of the tactics they will bring to the battlefield."

Tenma sighed. "Then I guess we're going to just have to deal with any problems as they come." He drew his sword, and held it forwards, letting the bright sunlight reflect off the blade. "It is nearly time. Are you ready?"

"A dragon is always ready for battle." Hotaru said.

Nitori walked through the camp where everyone had gathered. Her pockets, usually filled with various tools and spare parts, were instead filled with firearms, spellcards, and even a few grenades. The missile launcher had been combined with her backpack. The other kappa were armed similarly and there was even a pair of kappa piloting a tank.

The vast majority of the kappa looked upset, and Nitori guessed that many of them would rather be at home, invasion be damned. She opened her mouth, perhaps in order to make some sort of dramatic rousing speech, the like of which was usually only seen in the manga she sometimes read. Instead, however she lost her nerve, sat down and looked up at the sky.

The sky looked so peaceful, as if unaware of the great bloodshed to come. A few puffy clouds floated lazily in the air, not obscuring the sun at all. It wasn't too hot, nor to cold, and a gentle breeze blew through the valley. Ordinarily, on a day like this, Nitori would have taken her work outside, perhaps to her backyard, or even by the river. Though more often than not, she would end up simply end up spending the day swimming. Suddenly it hit her; she knew what she had to say.

Nitori climbed upon a boulder, and looked over the assembled kappa.

"Listen up!" She shouted.

None of the kappa payed her any attention. Nitori fired a brief burst of danmaku into the air.

"Hey! Listen to me! You elected me leader so listen to what I have to say! If you don't like it, and I certainly don't, then I suggest you think twice before making me leader next time we need one!"

That got everyone's attention. Nitori faltered for a second, not really expecting any response. However once she started speaking the nervousness faded away.

"Alright. I know some of you-" There were a few shouts. "-Most of you don't want to be here. You would all rather be home, building or researching or just swimming. I kind of feel much the same thing. Who cares that there's an invasion going on? Let the other races handle it! They've handled problems like this in the past, so why help out when we can just go back to our houses and continue to work on our projects? I know that I would rather finish building my motorcycle than be here. I mean look at this day, it's perfect for getting things done!"

There were sounds of agreement among the kappa.

"But think!" Nitori said. "Up until now we have been content to keep to ourselves. We haven't bothered anyone, and they haven't bothered us. That might have worked fine in the past, but everything's changed now. The enemy isn't some bored idiot with too much power, the enemy is literally evil incarnate! They want nothing less than to bring the entirety of Gensokyo under their control, and that includes us as well! The tengu realize this! The humans realize this! Even the celestials are doing their part! Thus we must do our part! We have to get this into our thick skulls that total conquest of Gensokyo means us as well! Sure we could all go home right now and pretend none of this is happening, go back to our workbenches, or eat cucumbers or lie beside our river, which is now twisted and corrupted by the way. By tomorrow we'll probably all be dead, slaves, or worse! And then what? We'll never get to enjoy a peaceful day by the river, or invent some new device ever again. Is that what you want?"

There was silence, the kappa were hanging on to Nitori's every word.

"So think! We can continue to do what we've been doing, or we can join the others in this battle and push the enemy out of Gensokyo for good! All I'm asking is that we take one day out of our lives to come to the aid of the other creatures in Gensokyo! Help them out so they'll shut up and we can get back to work! Who's with me?"

The resounding cheer was almost deafening. It was not only the kappa who were cheering, but the humans, the celestials, the tengu, and the youkai as well.

Nitori climbed down off of the boulder and leaned against its side. The speech had taken a lot more out of her than she thought. Yet even still, she couldn't shake the excitement that filled her entire body.

The others arrived shortly after. Yukari stepped through a gap, supported by both Ran and Yuyuko, with Youmu and Chen following. Vincent was the last to arrive, and as he landed he looked around nervously.

"Thank Bahumut she's not here." Vincent said.

"Yeah, I just noticed." Byakuren said. "Where is Yuuka?"

"Who cares? Let's just go on without the flower youkai. We can do this thing fine without her!"

"She said she would help, and we could use it." Youmu objected.

"Yeah, half-ghost, let's just bring the object of everyone's nightmares along with us to fight the demons. That's definitely a good idea."

"What are you so scared of anyways?" Reimu asked. "I mean, everyone's scared of her but still, I didn't think you were one to particularly care. You seem so oblivious half the time."

Vincent sighed. "Want to hear a horror story, red-white? When my sister and I first arrived in Gensokyo, we landed in the Garden of the Sun. Despite the monster that owns the place, you have to admit it's pretty beautiful. So my sister…"

Vincent's voice suddenly changed, sounding just like his Hotaru's. "Oh look at all these flowers! They're so beautiful! Wouldn't they look just lovely when we find a home to put them in?"

Everyone shuddered.

Vincent's voice returned to normal. "So we picked the flowers, and you can pretty much guess what happened from there. Three… horrific… days…" Vincent shuddered.

"Ouch… That can't have been a good welcome into Gensokyo." Shou commented.

"So if everyone agrees with me, we'll just continue on without the flower youkai, anyways if she was going to help out she'd be here already." Vincent suggested.

There was a general consensus among the party.

"All right, if there are no further complaints, let's get this done."

They encountered no resistance as they made their way down the tunnel. The place was completely empty. Not even fairies were around, which was most likely a bad sign.

As they moved on, eventually they could hear the sound of sobbing.

"What's that?" Reimu asked.

"It's probably…" Satori stopped as they rounded a corner. There, Yamame sat, crying. She cradled someone in her hands, and everyone realized it was the body of Parsee Mizuhashi.

Yamame must have been spending all her time digging her out. The evidence was in her hands which were cut and bleeding. She was covered in dirt, and her clothes were shredded and bloodstained. She constantly talked to herself, in low and unintelligible tones.

She didn't appear to notice their approach, still talking gibberish to herself. Finally, Orin put a hand on her shoulder. Yamame didn't look up. "Thank the gods. Have you finally come to finish me off?"

"Yamame, it's us." Orin said.

Yamame looked up, though there was no recognition in her eyes. "Please end it." She said.

"What? What do you mean?"

"She's gone, and she won't be coming back. Please I want to join her! End it!"

"Yamame, I'm not going to kill you. You can relax, you're among friends! We're here to help you!" she said.

"The only way you can help me is to kill me!"

"No! Dying won't solve anything, Yamame!"

Yamame snarled and shoved Orin aside. She crawled over to Yuyuko.

"Please" She begged, her eyes now full of tears. "You know how, just end it! Please, I want to see her again!"

"No." Yuyuko said. "I won't kill needlessly. And there are some powers that must stay buried…"

Yamame cried out in rage. She stepped back. "Fine!"

She closed her eyes and spread out her arms. There was a great screeching sound, as gigantic spiders emerged from cracks in the walls.

"Then I'll just have to make you kill me!"

She pointed forwards, and the youkai spiders charged forwards.

Youmu drew her swords, and cut the legs off of the nearest spider before impaling it in the head. Reimu tossed several needles, which immediately upon piercing a spiders flesh began to glow. The spiders body faded away, leaving nothing behind.

All this merely served as a distraction, as Yamame drew a spell card. She held it up and shouted. "Disaster! 'Black Plague!'"

However, before anything could happen, Vincent emerged from behind her, and struck a fierce blow to the back of the head. Yamame jerked. She remained standing for a moment longer, before collapsing to the ground, motionless.

Orin walked over to her. "Is she dead?"

"No, I just knocked the earth spider out."

"Well what do we do with her now?" Reimu asked.

Vincent turned to Yukari. "Gap youkai, do you think you could manage another portal?"

"I can try, but to where?"

"Take her and the bridge princess' body to my lair the Ash Mountains. There, Miharu and Mara can watch over her for the time being."

"Alright." Yukari held out her hand, and a gap opened beneath Yamame and Parsee. She slowly sank into it and the portal closed afterwards.

Yukari slumped back, and was caught by Ran. She was breathing heavily and sweating from the effort.

"I don't get it." Shou asked.

"Don't get what?"

"Parsee's a youkai, shouldn't she have come back after she was killed? Did they do something to her?"

"I don't know." Vincent answered. "My sister might know, but she's currently fighting at the Tower."

Remilia turned towards the pile of rubble. "Well how are we supposed to get past this?"

"I can-" Suika never got to finish her statement.

"Leave it to me!" Utsuho said. Her arm cannon reappeared, and she pointed it at the rocks.

"Utsuho! No!" Satori shouted, but it was too late.

"Get down!" Orin warned.

Sakuya immediately slowed down time and ran straight towards Remilia, tackling her to the ground, just in time to avoid the blast. There was a deafening explosion and rocks were sent flying in all directions. When the smoke cleared, there was a hole blasted straight through, reopening the tunnel.

"See? We're through!"

"Yeah! And now they definitely know were here!" Orin said. "What were you thinking?"

"Who cares if they know were here?" Reimu said. "We attack now!"

Up above the battle was in full swing. Tengu and celestials flew through the air while the kappa and humans flew closer to the ground.

From a vast amount of dark portals appeared the fearsome armies of Hell. Hideous wasp-like devils flew through the air with winged erinyes wielding flaming swords. On the ground, grinning devils charged forwards riding on blazing nightmare horses. Following behind were tall muscular tusked devils, from whose wounds maggots sprayed, biting all nearby. Groups of these fiends were lead by the insectoid ice devils guarded by hordes of bearded devils and red skinned legion devils. Accompanying the ground troops were vicious fire-breathing hell hounds.

Hotaru flew through the air in her human form, as being in her true form would just make her a bigger target, not to mention that the vast majority of devils were unaffected by fires. She smashed an erinyes with her staff before gesturing. It was sent flying back, crashing into several others of its kind and sending them all crashing to the ground.

Hotaru flew back from the violent melee, as tengu clashed with the wasp-devils. Hotaru flicked her wrist, and a spell card came out of her sleeve. She held it up and shouted. "Calling Sign! 'Hurricane Legion!'"

The spell card glowed, and group cloudy air elementals appeared around her, before charging into the battle aiding the tengu.

With that taken care of, Hotaru flew down towards the ground battle, where the humans and kappa were battling with the armored legions.

Nitori gestured with her hand, and bolts of compressed water shot out, blasting away more devils. One of the large tusked devils charged towards her, massive spear raised. Nitori rolled to the side, and fired her gun, catching the creature in the head. Maggots burst out of its wound, which Nitori fled from. More gunfire echoed as kappa fired into the devils, mowing them down left and right.

Someone shouted "Duck!" but too late. A swarm of wasp-devils swooped down, picking up scores of humans and kappa, impaling them on their stingers and then letting them fall the vast distance to the ground.

On the ground other devils wielded crossbows. Unusually, they had no bolt or drawstring. When the trigger was pulled, a bolt of pure fire shot out.

Nitori, and several other kappa formed a wall out of water, intercepting the flames. The fire kept coming, forcing the kappa to abandon their attacks and focus on defense.

This left them vulnerable to attacks from above, which the wasp devils didn't fail to take advantage of, picking up and impaling victims, forming holes in the defense where the fire bolts fired through, shooting down more kappa.

Suddenly, a massive bolt of lightning struck the ground, killing the bowmen and scattering the others.

Nitori looked up to see Iku flying through the air, hurling lightning down into the devil ranks. Suddenly, wasp-devils swarmed around her, forcing her to abandon her artillery and defend herself.

Nitori focused on the ground, where several nightmare riders charged through. Nitori jumped aside, barely avoiding getting trampled. She aimed her gun, only for the rider to knock it out of her hand with a swing of its spear. Nitori dodged another attack, and then knocked the devil off its mount with a spray of water.

She advanced on the stunned devil, only for the nightmare to kick her in the head, knocking her to the ground. Her vision blurred as the devil picked up his weapon and advanced towards the dazed Nitori.

It and its horse were gunned down by another Kappa, who moved over to help Nitori up. Suddenly, the kappa screamed as she was engulfed in flames. Suddenly someone picked up Nitori by the collar. As her vision came back into focus, Nitori saw Mokou forming a fireball in her hand.

Nitori kicked at Mokou and managed to break free from her grip. She then hurled a blast of water at Mokou knocking her back. Mokou leaped away before Nitori could hit her again, and hurled several balls of flame at the kappa. Nitori formed a wall of water, and when they collided a cloud of steam rose up, obscuring all sight.

Nitori carefully made her way through the steam cloud. When she saw a hazy outline, she shot several bolts of compressed water at it, only to hit nothing. Suddenly she felt the heat rise behind her. Nitori only barely had time to block several fireballs. She flew out of the steam cloud, with Mokou following her.

She let lose a jet of flame, which Nitori flew around, though the edge of her skirt caught fire. She put it out with water. She then drew more water around her hand before thrusting it towards Mokou. A tentacle of water shot out, wrapping around Mokou's leg. Nitori lifted Mokou up and spun her around before slamming her to the ground. She then slammed Mokou against several rocks before dragging her along the ground.

Nitori then made a fist with her hand. The water engulfed Mokou entirely and she writhed on the ground, unable to breathe. The water suddenly began bubbling and steaming, as Mokou attempted to boil it away.

Nitori rushed towards Mokou and leaped upon her. As she did, she added more water to replace what Mokou had already drawn away. She placed her hands on Mokou's face, and forced water through her mouth and nose and into her lungs. Mokou struggled for a while before eventually laying still.

Nitori stood up, breathing heavily. She knelt down, catching her breath for a few minutes before walking away, prepared to go rejoin the rest of the battle when she heard something moving behind her.

Suddenly she felt Mokou's hand's wrap around her waist, and lift her up. "You seem to forget. I can't die! And by the way, drowning me? Bah, Kaguya stopped doing that ages ago. It takes very little time to recover from! Here, let me show you one of my favorite kills!"

Mokou's entire body began to increase in heat, hotter and hotter until it became near unbearable. Nitori's clothes began to blacken and singe, as Mokou burnt straight through them.

Frantically, Nitori drew water, soaking her own clothes in an effort to stave off the heat. Mokou laughed. "That ain't gonna work." Almost instantly the clothes dried, steam flowing out of them. It began to feel like an oven, and Nitori grew more and more tired as the water, a kappa's lifeblood, was drained out of her body.

Suddenly, Mokou cried out in pain, and dropped Nitori. She fell to the ground, gasping for air. From behind her, Nitori saw Lord Tenma pulling his sword out of Mokou's back. She fell to the ground, but the wound was already beginning to close.

"Go!" Tenma said. "Head towards the Tower!"

Nitori nodded and rejoined the kappa and humans, fighting their way towards Khin-Oin.

Meanwhile, Tenma gripped his sword, as Mokou rose from the ground. "So you're working for them? Why, when they are the ones who killed Miss Kamishirasawa?"

"Nonsense, Kanna said you would try to make me believe that bullshit. That bitch Reimu is the one who killed Keine!"

"Is that what you think? How can you be sure they're not the one's lying to you?"

"They are… are they?" Suddenly Mokou winced and screamed in pain. Lines of script appeared all over her skin. But just as suddenly as it appeared in was gone.

Mokou snarled. "No! Reimu is the one who killed Keine! Bring her to me!"

"She isn't here."

"What? Where is that fucking coward?"

"A coward she is not. She has gone to the underground."

"Fine! Then I'll just-" Mokou screamed in pain again, as the lines of script appeared once more. She turned and howled in rage before flying straight towards Tenma, her body covered in flames.

Tenma leaped over the fiery charge, and unleashed a fierce downdraft, sending Mokou crashing into the ground.

Mokou leaped back up and hurled a volley of fireballs. Tenma gestured and the winds blew, redirecting the flames harmlessly into the ground. He then slashed with his sword, letting lose a rending blade of air. Mokou flipped aside and flew straight towards Tenma. She struck with a flaming uppercut, which Tenma stepped back from. However she then struck downwards with a fiery kick, striking Tenma in the shoulder. Undaunted, Tenma dodged a series of kicks and flew away, reaching incredible speeds. He turned around, and flew back, slashing Mokou across the arm. As he put some distance between him and his opponent, he saw the wound was already beginning to close.

He flew by twice more, striking once across the leg, and then across the stomach. Again the wounds were already healing.

Tenma had to give the devils credit. Recruiting a warrior who could not die and regenerated near instantly from minor wounds gave them a distinct advantage.

He thought quickly. Perhaps the best way to ensure that she wouldn't trouble them for the rest of the battle was to chop her into so many pieces that she would take a long time to regenerate.

Unfortunately, Mokou must have realized this as well. She spread out her arms, and an aura of white hot flames engulfed her. She smiled, and then shot another jet of flame at Tenma.

In stark contrast to the organized armies of the baatezu above, the demon hordes fought wildly and randomly. When everyone first arrived, the demon hordes charged to meet them. Many shoved, tripped and clawed the others out of the way in eagerness to be the first to tear into their opponents.

In the initial charge, everyone had gotten separated, and now fought in different streets, against the enormous hordes of demons.

Remilia, Sakuya and Patchouli were surrounded by demons as the leaped across the rooftops and came pouring out of buildings.

Remilia's aura flared around her as she swung her spear, tearing through another group of demons. She leaped into the air to avoid the charge of a group of armored centaur-like demons, and directed her aura downwards, sending the demons flying through walls, where they dispersed into darkness.

She landed where near where Sakuya and Patchy were fighting off a horde of rat-like demons. As Sakuya hurled several knives into the crowd, Patchouli let lose a fireball, incinerating the survivors.

"Have you seen Flandre anywhere?" Remilia asked.

"No sign of her." Patchy responded. She formed a barrier to block the swing of a goat-headed demon's spear and then sent it flying into another crowd of fiends with a blast of air.

"Look out!" Sakuya shouted.

Remilia barely managed to dodge the swing of a massive toad-like demon, and thrust upwards with her spear. The demon batted aside the spear with one hand, and grabbed Remi with the other.

It was then that Remilia got a whiff of the demon. She gagged. The creature stank like nothing Remilia had ever smelled before, so bad, that Remilia very nearly vomited.

Sakuya hurled several knives into the creatures flesh. The demon turned and hurled Remilia at her. The two of them went crashing to the ground.

Patchouli opened her spellbook and shouted. "Fire Sign! 'Agni Shine!'"

A jet of flame shot from the palm of her hand, engulfing the demon. Unfortunately, it smelled even worse when burning, and the stench forced everyone to fly away.

They stopped suddenly, as a massive hooved foot came crashing down in front of them. They looked up to see Vincent in his true form battling with the gigantic minotaur-like goristro. He swiped with his claw, drawing blood and pushing the hulking demon back. He then inhaled, prepared to breathe fire. However, the goristro grabbed Vincent over his mouth and held it shut. With its other hand it pummeled Vincent into the ground, leveling several buildings in the process.

The demon was about to continue the attack, when someone tapped it on the shoulder. It turned to see a gigantic Suika. She slugged the demon square in the snout, and sent it stumbling back, crushing an entire row of buildings.

The demon roared, and got down on all fours. It charged forwards, intending to impale the oni on its massive horns.

Suika grabbed its horns and skidded back as the demon pushed forwards. Meanwhile, Vincent stood back up, and inhaled, letting lose a blast of flames over the duo. The fire didn't harm the oni, but the goristro's back was set ablaze. Suika smiled, and lifted the demon up by its horns, flipped it over her head, and slammed it into the ground, shaking the entire underground.

The demon righted itself, and struck Suika with a series of punches that would have shattered the bones of any lesser being. Suika managed to grab on to its arm. "Now, Vincent!" Suika shouted.

She transformed herself into a cloud of mist as Vincent roared and charged forwards, his claws glowing like hot metal. The both slashed and burned their way through the goristro's flesh. Vincent bit down on the creatures shoulder, his teeth glowing just as hot.

He tore away a huge chunk of the demons shoulder, and it roared it pain. The goristro's wound didn't bleed, the fire already cauterizing the wound. Vincent then charged forwards, tackling the beast to the ground. Before they touched the ground, Vincent transformed into his human form and leaped away.

At that same moment, Suika reformed out of mist and lifted up her hands. Rocks, rubble and chunks of buildings gathered in her hands which she then hurled down, trapping the goristro beneath.

Still in human form, Vincent drew a spell card. "Great Inferno! 'Fire 1666!'"

An enormous blast of flame spread out in all directions, setting buildings, demons and the pile of rubble on fire. The pile of rubble suddenly shifted and collapsed, as the goristro beneath dispersed.

Suika shrank down to normal size, and high fived Vincent, (knocking him to the ground in the process).

The fires raged, and Satori was forced to fly to a different street to avoid their heat. She encountered a crowd of demons.

Satori's third eye focused on the demons, and she sent a blast of mental force straight into their minds. Some demons fell to the ground, clutching their heads and writhing while others turned on, and devoured each other. She gestured, and the survivors moved over to her. "I'm heading towards the palace, guard me." She ordered.

The demons saluted and took up positions around her. Satori leaped on the back of one of the centaur-demons and pointed forwards. The controlled demons advanced.

Their advance was cut short by the appearance of a hideous demon. It was tall, with an ape like body and a warthog like head. Its stomach was bloated and it had tiny black feathered wings on its back that looked far too small to allow flight. A long rat like tail snaked behind it.

Satori immediately reached into the nalfeshnee's mind, attempting to subjugate it. However the demon easily brushed aside the attempt, and laughed. "I am not like those lesser, weak-minded scum."

Satori pointed forwards, and the controlled demons charged towards the nalfeshnee only to be savagely torn apart. The nalfeshnee easily batted them aside, and then held out its hand. A blast of energy fired from its palm, striking Satori square in the chest and knocking her off her mount. Satori lay dazed, and her control over the lesser demons ended. The centaur demon turned towards Satori, its spear raised.

Satori cleared her mind just in time, and held up her hand. The demon stopped and turned back towards the nalfeshnee. She reinstated her control of the surviving lesser demons and ordered them to continue their attack on the nalfeshnee.

While they attacked, Satori fired a burst of danmaku at the demon, to no effect. Unfortunately, Satori wasn't a good spellcard duelist on her own, relying on mimicking danmaku patterns of others.

Perhaps… Satori thought. She drew one of her few original spell cards and shouted. "Recollection! 'Terrible Souvenir!'"

Danmaku shots were fired and Satori managed to penetrated the barriers around the demons mind and began rooting through its memories, attempting to find something she could emulate.

While she did so, the nalfeshnee tore through the controlled demons, biting, stomping, clawing and smashing. Once it finished them off it moved towards Satori.

No! I need more time! Satori thought desperately. Suddenly, Orin leaped off of a rooftop and clawed the demon across the face. She landed, and then raked her claws across the demons belly. It attempted to smash Orin into the ground, but she was too fast. The demon missed as Orin leaped up into the air, kicking the beast in the head.

Suddenly, Satori's eyes widened. Got it! "Orin! Move!" Satori ordered.

Orin ran out of the way as Satori held out both her hands, and white light began to glow upon them. The nalfeshnee ignored Orin and resumed lumbering towards Satori. However, it was too late. Satori shouted. "Recollection! 'Holy Smite!'"

A beam of white light shot out of her hands and smashed into the nalfeshnee, sending it flying. It smashed into the side of a house, and its body faded away into shadowy wisps.

Orin landed near Satori and helped her as she fell back. Satori looked at her hands to see that they were slightly burnt and still smoking. "Wow… That was amazing!" Orin said.

"Yes, but I don't think I want to try that again anytime soon. Such holy energies are not meant to be wielded by youkai."

"I-" Orin was cut off. Suddenly, puppets began to appear all around them. Stepping from the shadows was Alice, manipulating her dolls with strings. "I'm sorry about this!" She said and ordered her creations to attack.

Within Khin-Oin, Alcain sat calmly at a table. He watched the battle from a window above, and sipped from a teacup. He turned to the pit fiend sitting across from him. "Can I offer you any refreshments, Lord Galthera?" He poured another cup of tea and set it down at the other side of the table.

Galthera wasn't paying him any attention, and instead watched the battle intently.

There was a shout from the devils "Fall back! Fall back and regroup!"

"The enemy is fighting well, better than expected."

"I'll take that as a no." Alcain said. "Ah well, more for me." He poured himself another cup of tea.

There was a bright flash, as a barrage of danmaku fired towards the tower, shooting down several flying devils. The shots that made it through the crowd, bounced off the magical protections of the tower. The kappa tank fired a shell which exploded against the tower, doing an amazing job of also not penetrating the shields. Neither Galthera or Alcain flinched at these attacks.

"They will reach the gates of the tower soon."

"Well I think it's time we let out the rest of the forces, right?" Alcain asked.

"Agreed." Galthera said. He disappeared, heading towards the battle. After he left, Alcain took out his book and began writing in it. Once he finished, he closed the book replaced it, and then reached across the table. He took Galthera's teacup and began drinking from it, an amused smile upon his lips.

The gates of the Tower opened, and new fiends took to the field. First came reinforcements of the baatezu. Following behind them were alien yugoloths, in varying forms. There were the insectoid mezzoloths and dergholoths, both led by the lobster like piscoloths.

Following behind them were the mutant echinoloth's. These creatures looked much like a combination between a starfish and a gigantic squid. It had long spiked tentacles on which it impaled its victims and tossed them into its wide mouth.

However none of these creatures compared to the horror the defenders of Gensokyo felt when they saw who else was fighting alongside them. The rabbits of Eientei.

Tenshi payed no specific attention to the rabbits. If they were on the fiends side then they were enemies all the same. While the others might hesitate to attack those who were once friends of theirs, Tenshi had no reservations and cut them down as she might any other foe.

As she fought she noticed a tall red scaled fiend giving orders. What drew her attention was that he was wearing a necklace made of severed heads. She looked closer and saw her mother and fathers heads among those so displayed.

Rage overtook her and she held out her hand. The stones shook and lifted into the air, slamming into fiends and rabbits alike, clearing a path. Tenshi charged towards the Galthera, sword raised high.

Galthera laughed and struck Tenshi with a back hand blow, knocking her to the ground.

"Another celestial?"

"You killed my parents!" Tenshi shouted.

Galthera laughed again. "I've killed thousands of celestials over the course of my existence. What makes you thing that you'll be any different?"

Tenshi snarled and swung her sword again. Galthera caught her and slammed her into the ground. He stomped down on her but Tenshi rolled to the side and stood up.

She plunged her sword into the ground and shouted. "Earth Sign! 'Sword of Unletting Soil!'"

Massive rocks burst through the surface, striking the pit fiend and sending him flying. He landed on his back and Tenshi leaped forwards, intending to plunge her sword into the devils heart. However the fiend was fast. He caught Tenshi mid-jump and slammed her against the ground. As he stood up he crushed Tenshi in his grip, causing her to scream in pain. He then slammed her face down into the dirt.

"You're parents died like insects, and you'll die all the same!" Galthera taunted.

Suddenly, a bolt of electricity struck the pit fiend. His body jerked and he let go of Tenshi.

"Eldest daughter!" Iku shouted. She flew over to Tenshi and attempted to help her up. Tenshi snarled and knocked aside her hand.

"Stay out of this Iku!"

"Why? We can take him out together!"

"No! He killed my parents! This is my fight!" She shoved Iku away and charged towards the pit fiend again. Galthera laughed, and spread out his arms. A black aura engulfed him and knocked Tenshi away.

"Vengefulness? Hardly a trait something as so-called pure as a celestial should have."

Tenshi didn't respond, and instead gripped her sword.

"Ah, but you're young, aren't you? Of course it's still fun to kill a child." Galthera held up his hand and suddenly he was holding a massive blazing sword. He rushed forwards and brought down the sword. Tenshi blocked the swing, and their swords clashed. She could feel the raging heat the sword was giving off. Tenshi struggled to remain standing as the weight of the sword, combined with the strength of the pit fiend, pushed down on her until she was forced to her knees.

Another bolt of lightning struck the pit fiend and it was forced to abandon its attacks and defend itself.

"Eldest daughter! Are you okay?"

Tenshi turned towards Iku. "I said don't interfere damnit!" She clenched her fist and struck Iku a blow to the side of the head. She went flying and struck a boulder. She fell to the ground, unconscious.

Galthera laughed. "So the stories were true! You are just a brat who only got into Heaven on the backs of her parents achievements."

"What does that have to with anything?" Tenshi demanded.

"Nothing. Just stating a fact is all." Galthera swung his sword and a wave of flame shot out. Tenshi held up her hands and a massive keystone appeared blocking the flames. She kicked it towards the devil, who smashed through it and swung his sword again.

Tenshi leaped above the attack and kicked the pit fiend in the head. The attack had little actual effect, and Tenshi barely avoided getting bitten by the devils razor sharp teeth.

She flew back, and held out her sword. Bolts of red energy fired from the tip. Again the pit fiend formed the black aura around itself, protecting it. It then held out its free hand. The darkness fired out in a blast of black energy striking Tenshi head on and engulfing her. As the darkness surrounded her, Tenshi began to feel sick and dizzy and struggled to stand.

The pit fiend walked over to Tenshi and plunged his sword into the ground. "I'll let you live. You interest me. Perhaps we'll meet again." He then brought his fist down on Tenshi, brutally pummeling her into the ground again and again until she lost consciousness.

Yet another demon was consumed by Ran's blue fires. She and Chen had taken up positions on either side of Yukari, keeping her safe. With little effort, all the fiends in the area had been eliminated. They were about to move on to the next area when something flew straight towards them.

Swiftly, Ran caught an arrow out of the air. "I recognize this…" She said. "It's Eirin's!"

The three of them leaped onto the rooftops where they saw Vincent and Suika in battle with Eirin Yagakoro. Eirin dodged a swing of Vincent's claws, and reached into her pocked where she pulled out a vial containing some sort of black liquid. She removed the stopper and hurled it at Vincent. Mid-air the vial exploded transforming into some sort of black flame.

Immediately, Vincent drew a spell card and shouted. "Dragon Legend! 'Fafnir's Blood!'"

A red aura surrounded him, and deflected the fire. He charged at Eirin, and struck with his claws. She dodged and fired an arrow, which bounced off the aura. She flew back, narrowly avoiding a body slam from Suika. She then drew another arrow, this one with a tip coated in some strange liquid. She fired it at Vincent, and it pierced through his protective aura, and impaled him in the arm. Immediately Eirin drew another vial.

"What?" Vincent said. "That shouldn't be possible!"

"It doesn't matter! Just blast her!" Suika flew out of the crater she was standing in and formed a fireball in her hand. At the same time Vincent inhaled, and let lose a blast of flame.

Eirin drank down the vial just as the flames struck her.

"Did we get her?" Suika asked.

Suddenly, Eirin flew out of the flames, unharmed. She carried in her hands two syringes. She dodged a punch from Suika, got behind her, and plunged one of the needles into her shoulder. She immediately turned towards Vincent as he let lose another blast of flames. She charged straight through the fire and leaped out right in front of Vincent. She plunged the syringe into Vincent's neck and flew away.

Both Vincent and Suika stood for a moment before dropping to the ground.

Eirin picked up her bow and then aimed it at Yukari.

"Why? Why are you fighting for them?" Yukari asked.

"I have my reasons," Eirin said, and then fired.

Fiends fell left and right to Reimu. She flew rapidly, tossing ofuda and needles into the crowds of demons. She heard a high pitched buzzing sound from behind her, and barely managed to avoid getting slashed by the razor sharp legs of some sort of fly-demon.

She quickly dispatched it with several needles, but the buzzing sound grew louder. Suddenly there were hundreds of the monsters rising up from the ground and pouring out of buildings. Reimu didn't panic, however. Fairies often attacked in such numbers, and Reimu was no stranger to dealing with fairies.

She fired out at the swarm, striking them with needles, ofuda and amulets, sending vast numbers of them crashing to the ground.

However, for each one she destroyed, it seemed two more took its place. Finally when Reimu was about to fall back to a more defensible position, there was a blinding light. She heard the words. "Love Sign! 'Master Spark!'"

The multicolored beam blasted through the swarm of demons, and when it faded the few demons left fled. Reimu's heart soared. She flew down to where the beam had originated from and saw her.

"Marissa!" Reimu shouted, joyously. "You're alive!"

However, suddenly Reimu found herself lying on her back, the bridge of her nose hurting. Marissa had punched her!

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"For looking down on me, bitch!" Marissa shouted.

It was then that Reimu noticed the transformation Marissa had gone through.

"Marissa… What have they done to you?"

"They've helped me see the truth! They've given me power."

"What? What are you talking about?" Reimu asked. She slowly stood up and picked up her gohei.

"You, you arrogant bitch, you've looked down on me ever since we've first met! You've never really trusted me have you? Just because I learned my magic from Mima, you think the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Well excuse me for thinking that! It's just that Mima has been a constant enemy of my family for generations. I think I'm entitled to a little suspicion of her apprentice!" As soon as the words left her lips, Reimu knew it was the wrong thing to say. Marissa screamed in anger and gestured with her red hand. Six spheres of perfect blackness appeared around Reimu.

"That just proves it!" Marissa shouted.

"Wait! That's not what I meant!" Reimu protested, but it was too late. The spheres slammed into Reimu and she screamed, as her body was wracked with agonizing pain. A black aura engulfed her and she fell to her knees. When she tried to stand up again, the pain worsened, and she fell back down.

"Like it?" Marissa asked. "That's just the beginning of what Kanna will teach me!" Marissa strode over to Reimu and grabbed her by the collar with her clawed red hand. She then hurled Reimu against a wall.

"I won't live in your shadow any longer! I'll learn magic that nobody in Gensokyo has ever seen before!"

While Marissa was speaking, Reimu focused, and dispelled the dark aura surrounding her. With the pain eased she hurled an ofuda at Marissa. She easily sidestepped it, and the talisman stuck to a building and blasted a hole in the wall.

"You're actually going to fight me." Marissa laughed.

"I'm sorry, Marissa. You're the best friend I've ever hand. Sure, Remilia and Yuyuko and the others are nice, but none of them, not even Sanae, are completely human. You're the only person I can truly relate to!"

"Lies!" Marissa accused. The symbols drawn on her began to glow.

"However, perhaps I haven't been a very good friend." Reimu admitted. "But that's because I have a duty to protect Gensokyo, and I can't let anyone stand in the way of that! Not even you! So in the name of our friendship I offer you this warning. Stand aside or I'll consider you an enemy!"

"You…! I'll…!" Marissa's eyes glowed.

"Marissa, I'm warning you, you don't want to do this!"

Marissa looked down at the ground, her eyes now obscured by her wide-brimmed hat. Suddenly she began laughing again. "As a matter of fact I do! I'm stronger now! I'll prove it!"

Marissa rushed forwards, far faster than Reimu thought possible, and grabbed her by the throat. She forced Reimu to the ground and pinned her there. The runes on her arms began moving. They flowed across Marissa's hand and onto Reimu. Reimu struggled, and finally managed to get a needle in her hand. She jammed it into Marissa's side, and she screamed in pain. Marissa rolled off of Reimu and pulled the needle out of her." Reimu stood up, gasping for air, and focused again, closing her eyes and holding the gohei in both hands. The runes on her body disappeared, leaving no trace behind.

"How…?" Marissa asked.

"I'm a shrine maiden, that sort of thing won't work on me!" Reimu drew a spell card. "But I'm betting this will work on you! "Prayer! 'Exorcism'"

A vast amount of amulets appeared and Reimu directed them at Marissa. Marissa leaped out of the way as the amulets exploded on impact. She took off her hat and reached into it, pulling out her broomstick. She mounted it and took to the air. Reimu followed her, still directing the amulets. Marissa lifted her hand and shouted. "Star Sign! 'Meteonic Shower!'"

A series of stars launched from Marissa's hand and collided with the amulets, both exploding and throwing up a large cloud of smoke. Marissa burst through the cloud of smoke and struck at Reimu with her claw. Reimu ducked, and struck Marissa with the gohei. The gohei's impact also left a light burn on her skin where it hit.

"Look at that!" Reimu pointed. "They're corrupting your spirit!"

"I. Don't. Fucking. Care." Marissa said. She snapped her finger, and a black circle appeared on the ground. From it arose a massive, hulking, devil wielding a club. Reimu leaped back from the swing of the devil's club, as it smashed through the rooftop.

The fiend spread its massive wings and took off after Reimu. She threw several talismans, and a barrier formed between her and the fiend. It slammed into the barrier and roared in pain as its flesh was seared. From behind it Reimu lifted her hands into the air. "Holy Relic! 'Yin-Yang Sanctifier Orb!'"

A gigantic yin-yang orb appeared in Reimu's hands. She hurled it down, breaking through the barrier and slamming into the fiend. The orb crashed to the ground where it exploded in a brilliant burst of white light, taking an entire block of buildings with it. Reimu sensed Marissa putting up a magical barrier just in time. Once the light faded, Reimu flew down to the crater, but she couldn't find Marissa, no matter where she looked.

At that moment, Marissa came crashing down upon her from above.

Youmu and Yuyuko had ended up in the garden of some house, where they were both surrounded by demons. Youmu wielded both swords, each swing bringing down another foe. Yuyuko gestured, and bolts of pink and blue energy flew around her, blasting through demons and sending them flying. Yuyuko took off into the air and began raining down energy blasts, killing vast amounts of the fiends, while Youmu charged through their ranks, slicing through any that got near her.

When the horde was reduced, the few survivors fled, leaving the garden empty.

Youmu leaned against a subterranean tree, catching her breath. But the break didn't last long. Reflexes honed from years of training allowed her to almost instantly block the swing that came towards her with Roukanken. With the shorter Hakurouken, Youmu struck at her assailant. The enemy was quick however, and fell back before getting struck. Now able to take a better look at her enemy, she identified her as Ayon, Kyreth's second in command. Ayon charged forwards, swinging both of her swords. Youmu blocked the swing, but the demons sheer strength sent her sliding back. She barely managed to keep her balance, as Ayon began attacking.

"Youmu!" In the air above Yuyuko was about to come to Youmu's aid. However, a black streak slammed into her and together they went crashing through the roof of a building.

"Yuyuko-sama!" Youmu turned towards her, when Ayon swung her sword. Youmu barely managed to dodge, though the sword cut through a few strands of hair.

"Hey hey, you have your own enemy to deal with!" Ayon taunted.

Yuyuko crashed through the roof and the second floor of the building landing on the ground floor. The two combatants rolled on the ground before her attacker kicked her away, slamming her against a wall. Before Yuyuko could react, the attacker slashed her claws, cutting into Yuyuko's stomach.

Being a ghost, Yuyuko didn't bleed. Instead, wisps of ectoplasm leaked out of her body and dissipated. Yuyuko ducked underneath another claw strike and put some distance between her sudden attacker. It was Zeri.

She charged towards her, claws outstretched. Yuyuko sidestepped, and grabbed Zeri's hand, concentrating. Nothing happened. "You're not a demon." Yuyuko said.

"No, but I'm undead, so your death thing won't work on me either!" She struck with her other claw, tearing into Yuyuko's shoulder and letting lose more ectoplasm.

She then grabbed Yuyuko and slammed her into the ground, forming a small crater in the floor. She straddled her, Yuyuko, pinning her arms to her side and raised her claw.

As Zeri struck, Yuyuko went intangible and sank through the floor, and Zeri's claws stuck into the wood. As she pulled them free, Yuyuko rose from the ground behind her and struck her with a burst of energy, sending her crashing into the wall. Zeri rose back up and held out her hand. A thick fog filled the room, blocking out all sight.

Youmu and Ayon moved about the yard, their blades clashing. Ayon struck low, and Youmu leaped up, kicking her in the head. Youmu landed and came about for another strike, when Ayon caught her by the arm and struck her in the chest, sending her flying into the side of a tree. Youmu recovered, and barely managed to roll away from a swing that would have taken her head from her shoulders. Instead, it cut through the tree and sent it crashing down to the ground.

Youmu stood up just in time to lock blades with Ayon. She held her swords in an X pattern against Ayon's two bladed strike. They pushed against each other, trying to knock the other off balance.

Ayon smiled, and her long tail lifted into the air, prepared to strike at the now defenseless Youmu. However Myon, Youmu's ghost half, charged forwards and wrapped around her tail. Youmu used the brief distraction to break free and strike Ayon in the side.

Ayon managed to break free of Myon and leaped away. She ignored her wound and pointed one of her swords at Youmu. A blast of black energy fired from the tip towards Youmu. She slashed at it with her swords, dispersing the darkness.

Ayon kept firing, and Youmu kept blocking, steadily advancing towards the demon. Ayon stepped back again and gestured. Suddenly Youmu's arms spread out involuntarily. She felt her wrists twist and she dropped both her swords. Another blast of dark energy struck her head on, sending her flying back, away from her swords. The demon gestured, and the swords went flying in opposite directions, imbedding themselves in walls. Ayon smiled and charged forwards. However, she had forgotten about Myon, who rammed Ayon square in the chest while glowing with energy. She went flying back and struck a tree, dropping her swords. Youmu rushed towards the demon and struck her in the stomach as she tried to rise. She was about to smash down on her head when the demon grabbed her by the waist and ran forwards, slamming her against the trunk of another tree. Youmu managed to break free and landed on her back. Ayon turned towards her and brought her fist down. Youmu rolled to the side as the demon's fist cracked the tiles of the path.

She kicked out Ayon's feet from beneath her, sending her crashing to the ground. However this didn't last long. As soon as Youmu stood, Ayon's tail wrapped around her leg and lifted her into the air before slamming her down on the ground and knocking the breath out of her. The tail then lifted her up again and slammed her against a tree. Youmu fell to the ground as Ayon let her go. Ayon rushed towards her and brought her foot down in a stomp. Youmu barely dodged, rolling away and managing to get on her feet. The two combatants charged towards each other once again.

Yuyuko floated through the fog, searching for her foe. She heard footsteps to her left and turned towards it, firing bolts of spirit energy. The attack hit nothing, and instead she felt pain in her back as Zeri's claws struck her, causing more ectoplasm to leak out.

Yuyuko fired again, and hit nothing again. Zeri laughed, and the voice seemed to come from all directions. "Is that the best the so-called great ghost princess can do?" She was slashed again.

Yuyuko didn't respond, and instead went intangible, just as Zeri came charging at her once again. She floated upwards, passing through the ceiling and into the second floor, away from the fog. Zeri followed her, bursting through the floor and creating another hole. She held out her hand and a blast of flame shot out towards Yuyuko. She dodged it and fired back, the blue and pink burst of energy being narrowly avoided.

Zeri fired again, this time, bolts of lightning arcing from her fingertips. Yuyuko sank through the floor and rose up behind Zeri. She grabbed on to her, holding her on tight.

Zeri flinched when Yuyuko licked her cheek. "Hmm! Vampires taste good!"

"What are you insane? You're going to eat me?"

"No… That wasn't it…" Yuyuko said.

Zeri struggled to break free from her, but the ghost's grip was surprisingly strong.

"Oh yeah! That was what I was going to do."

Yuyuko gripped tighter, and her body began to merge with Zeri's.

"What in The Abyss are you doing? No! Stop! Noooooo!"

The hand-to-hand battle hadn't gone well. Ayon had her tail wrapped around Youmu's neck and lifted her into the air, choking her.

"Hey! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a full ghost?" Ayon asked. She slammed Youmu into the ground again, still maintaining the hold on her neck. Youmu grabbed onto the tail attempting to break free, but she was having no success. Her vision began to go blurry as she was unable to breathe.

Suddenly there was an explosion, and Ayon was blasted back, crashing into a wall. Her tail unwrapped from Youmu's neck and the half-ghost gasped for air.

She saw Zeri standing next to her, hand outstretched, smoke curling from the palm.

"Zeristine! What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh… Is that her name?" Zeri asked, in a strange voice.

"Yuyuko-sama?" Youmu asked.

"Yes, yes it is! It's been a long while since I've actually possessed someone. And she tastes so good!" Yuyuko said, licking the possessed vampires hand. "I wonder if after all this is over, we can eat Remilia?"

"Somehow I doubt that…" Youmu sighed. "And is now really the time to be thinking about snacks?"

Ayon screamed in rage and charged forwards. "Her she comes, milady!" Youmu said.

"And this vampire has such amazing magic!" Yuyuko said, a wide smile on her face. She held out her hand, and Ayon was lifted into the air and then slammed into the ground repeatedly. She broke free from the spell and hurled a blast of energy which both Youmu and Yuyuko leaped away from. Yuyuko gestured, and Youmu's swords removed themselves from the walls and flew back into Youmu's hands.

"Thanks, milady."

"No problem."

The two of them charged forwards, attacking Ayon from either side. Unarmed, Ayon was defenseless, and the two of them tore through her. Wounded, Ayon leaped to a roof top and shouted. "This isn't over!"

A black circle appeared beneath her, and she sank into it and was gone.

Utsuho was falling. Something had struck her, hard, and she was sent in a dazed spiral to the ground. She finally managed to recover, just before crashing and looked around to see what struck her. There it was! Flying above her was a woman with bat wings and a pointed tail. She had long silver hair, with streaks of purple.

Utsuho aimed her arm cannon at Kanna and fired. A beam of energy flew towards Kanna who dodged it. She moved towards Utsuho, not so much flying as seemingly running on the air. Twin blades of energy appeared in her hands and struck at the hell raven. Utsuho blocked the swing with the barrel of the arm cannon and then struck Kanna with her free fist. As Kanna was knocked back, Utsuho fired another beam from the cannon, blasting her into a building. Kanna emerged from the wreckage with only minor injuries.

She gestured, and buildings began to tear themselves free from the ground. She pointed towards Utsuho and the buildings went flying towards her.

Utsuho either dodged or blasted the flying buildings out of the way, but they were merely a distraction. Kanna appeared near her and charged, running on the air horizontal to the ground. She struck Utsuho in the side. The blades didn't actually cause a wound, though Utsuho felt agonizing pain and she began to feel weakened. She managed to turn and kick Kanna with her concrete leg. She blasted her to the downwards with a shot from the arm cannon. She then spread out her arms and the eye in the center of her chest began to glow.

"Take this!"

A ball of glowing energy fired from the eye down towards Kanna, creating a bright flash of light and blasting Kanna to the ground.

She then aimed her arm cannon down and the cannon began to glow. "Explosion Sign! 'Mega Flare!'"

A massive beam of energy fired downwards, creating a blinding light and blasting out a huge crater.

Utsuho stopped to catch her breath, when suddenly from the smoke, bolts of black lightning appeared. Utsuho screamed as the lightning coursed through her body. She sank to the ground, and Kanna burst from the crater. She held out her hand and glowing symbols began to circle around Utsuho. Her body was wracked with even more pain and she struggled to even move. Kanna walked over to her and kicked her in the face, sending her flying through the side of a building. She then gestured, and several meteorites appeared and came crashing down on the house.

That didn't last long though. The pile of rubble exploded and several large rocks were sent flying towards her. With a flick of the wrist, the boulders crumbled to dust before they hit. At another minor gesture, a wind blew the dust aside.

Utsuho fired again and again, forcing Kanna to take up defense, either blocking or dodging the attacks. She suddenly disappeared, and reappeared right in front of Utsuho. She grabbed on to the arm cannon and smiled.

"Let's see how you do without the use of your powers!"

A black aura engulfed the hell raven and she screamed in pain. The arm cannon began to disassemble, pieces falling to the ground. The electrons orbiting her left leg faded away, and the concrete encasing her right foot crumbled. Finally, the Yatagarasu's eye in the center of her chest dimmed and began to crack.

Kanna hurled the stunned Utsuho to the ground, and landed next to her. What was surprising was that Utsuho was laughing.

"What's so funny?" Kanna demanded.

"Jeez, and they say I'm the idiot!" She suddenly stood up and punched Kanna. When she struck a massive explosion went off, sending Kanna flying. She swiftly flew over to her and slammed her into the ground, creating another explosion.

She looked up to see Utsuho flying towards her. Despite being cracked. The Yatagarasu's eyes shone out of control.

"Those things act as power LIMITERS!" Utsuho shouted.

She raised both hands into the air and a massive sphere of energy appeared. She hurled it downwards at Kanna blasting out a massive crater. When the smoke cleared, she saw a black mist rising from the hole and she thought she had won.

However, instead of fading away, the black mist rapidly flowed towards the hell raven and surrounded her in a whirlwind of darkness.

The darkness became physical, and wisps of it began to cut like blades. Frantically Utsuho began to fire energy blasts into the whirlwind, but they were all absorbed. Kanna's face appeared in the whirlwind, laughing.

"Did you really think something like that would kill me?" A black beam shot from her mouth, blasting Utsuho into the side of the whirlwind where the darkness cut deeper into her.

Despite this, Utsuho managed to smile. "No, not really. But I'm betting this will. She spread out her arms and her entire body began to glow. She shouted. "ABYSS NOVA!"

A massive sphere of energy engulfed both Utsuho and Kanna, utterly vaporizing any nearby buildings. The sphere exploded, causing the entire underground to shake. Even the cities former residents who had taken refuge in the distant tunnels felt it.

When the light faded, Utsuho saw Kanna lying on the ground. Parts of her body were dispersing into darkness. Despite this, she managed to stand up.

"I may have lost for now," Kanna snarled. "But this isn't over. All you have attempted will be for naught."

She gestured with her one remaining hand and a black circle appeared beneath her.

Across the city, those who had come with Kanna were taken with her.

Alice looked at the black circle beneath her. "Thank the gods." She said as she sank into it.

Marissa looked at her circle. "What? NOOOO! DAMNIT! Reimu this is not over!"

Eirin looked at her own circle. She lowered her bow and closed her eyes. "So be it."

The hordes of the Tanar'ri were scattered and powerless. The battle for Former Hell was over.

Reimu tossed a handful of ofuda into the air. They flew about and placed themselves at regular intervals around the Well. She then knelt down in prayer, her gohei held in both hands.

The others gathered around the Well, watching.

Vincent smiled and walked up to Satori. "I almost forgot to do this! Hey! Mind-reader!"

"What-" Satori turned towards him. The moment her third eye focused on him she blushed a deep pink, almost the same color as her hair. Vincent burst out laughing.

Orin placed her hands on Satori's shoulder and turned her away. "Guys, will you stop doing that?"

Everyone else began to laugh, save for Reimu, who was intently focused on sealing the Well.

"Hey, we all need something lighthearted after what we've been through." Yukari commented.

"Speaking of lighthearted, where are Yuyuko and Youmu?" Ran asked.

"Right here!" Said a voice.

Everyone turned towards the tunnel to see Zeristine walking towards them in the company of Youmu."

The others drew spellcards and prepared for another fight.

"Relax" Youmu said. "It's just Yuyuko."

Zeristine suddenly collapsed to the ground while a white mist flowed out of her. The mist reformed into Yuyuko, still smiling.

Meanwhile on the ground, Zeristine moaned. "I feel violated…"

"That was kind of fun, wasn't it Youmu?" Yuyuko asked.

"I guess so…" Youmu responded.

Immediately, Remilia flew over to the dazed Zeri and lifted her up by her collar.

"Where is my sister?"

"Hmm…?" Zeri said in a daze. "No sugar for me, thanks."

Remilia shook her and then finally slapped her across the face twice. "Where is Flandre Scarlet?" she demanded.

"Oh… the little vampire." Zeri muttered still dazed. "She went back to the Abyss with Kyreth or something."

"What?"

"Didn't you hear me you irritating Xaositect?" Zeri said. "They went back to the abyss, now where's the chicken you promised me?"

Remilia screamed in rage and threw Zeri aside. She went flying and landed in a heap, still muttering to herself about food.

She turned back towards the well. "That thing leads to the Abyss, right? We have to go after her."

"Whoa there vampire, hold on." Vincent said. "Sure it leads to the Abyss and probably any of the other lower planes, but there's no telling where it will let out. You might land in Phlegethos' fires or get caught in the windstorms of Pandemonium."

"Pandemonium? Like Shinki's palace?" Byakuren asked.

"Who's Shinki?" Vincent asked.

"Well then, how do you suppose we rescue Flandre then?" Remilia asked.

Ran was about to say that it probably would be better for Gensokyo's safety if Flandre stayed in the Abyss, but stopped when she saw Remilia's worried expression.

"Well it's not going to be by going through this thing." Ran said "There are other ways to get to the Abyss or wherever they're from. I mean the enemy was already here before they created this Well, so all we have to do is take that other vampire prisoner. After were done here we can interro-"

Ran suddenly stopped. "Do you feel a breeze?"

"Yes why-"

Suddenly two rending blades of air came flying out of the tunnel. Before anyone could react, the blades struck Reimu and her back exploded in blood. She collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

Out from the tunnel flew Aya and Momoji, fan and sword drawn. Behind them, Yuugi charged straight towards Suika. She rolled to the side and then leaped away from another earth-shaking punch.

She landed and then concentrated, but nothing happened. "What the hell? I can't grow?"

"I can't transform either!" Vincent said. "Damn that doctor lady, whatever she injected us with is messing with my abilities. But let's try this!"

Vincent drew another spell card. "Dragon Legend! 'Sow the Teeth!'"

From the ground in front of him, animated suits of armor appeared. At his command, the armors charged towards Momoji.

However, before they could reach her, roots burst from the ground and wrapped around each of the warriors, crushing them into scrap metal.

"Summoning up more help when you already outnumber us is hardly fair."

Everyone immediately recognized the voice.

"Yuuka! What do you think you're doing?" Yukari demanded.

"Fulfilling a promise." Yuuka Kazami walked out of the tunnel, smiling like she was doing nothing more than taking a walk through her garden. She carried her parasol in one hand, and in the other held a single flower.

"What? You traitor!" Byakuren accused.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I am no traitor, I was never on your side to begin with." Yuuka laughed. "Kyreth came to me first, offering me these wonderful toys."

It was noticed that Aya, Momoji and Yuugi weren't wearing their normal clothes but were instead wearing garments made of leaves, vines and wood. Yuuka walked over to Aya and pet her head before planting a kiss on her cheek. "And imagine all the ways in which I can play with them. Don't you want to play, Aya-dear?"

"Of course, Mistress Yuuka." Aya said with a smile, although her eyes remained expressionless.

Everyone could no doubt imagine what Yuuka meant by "playing".

Remilia and Shou immediately leaped towards Yuuka. However with a simple gesture, the roots wrapped around them. Before anyone else could attack they were all bound as well. The roots dangled everyone over the well.

"It is a pity though." Yuuka said. "I'd love to toy with you guys, but I'm due to destroy the resistance above. Ta ta now!"

She gestured and the roots hurled everyone in to the darkness below…

End Part One

Wow... Fourteen chapters. I really didn't think this I was going to keep interest in this story for this long. There's so much to say right now.

First of all Tenshi. It might seem like she's acting ooc but remember that the Galthera killed her parents (or had them killed, or something).

And I'm finally done with the big battle scene. Let me tell you, this chapter was not easy to write. Thanks for being patient with me. I'm just glad that there won't be such large scale conflict happening in the next part anytime soon. (Or maybe, depends on whether it comes into my head or not.)

Another note is Vincent and Hotaru's spell cards. Hotaru's are mostly based around the things she summons while Vincents are mostly based around myths about dragons. Fafnir's Blood is a reference to Norse mythology when the hero Siegfried (at least I think it was Siegfried) killed the dragon Fafnir and bathed in his blood to become invincible. Sow the Teeth is a reference to Greek mythology where Cadmus kills a dragon and plants his teeth in the ground at Athena's direction. Warriors sprang up which he used to found the city of Thebes. (I think some one else in Greek mythology did that as well? Does anyone know?)

Also I gave Satori the power of mind-control as well in addition to just mind-reading.

One final note on spell cards and danmaku. I'm considering danmaku and spell cards to be as lethal as any other form of attack. It's only within the bounds of a spell card duel that they become nonlethal.

And I'm working right on part two as you read this. Don't go looking for it in another story, it will still be here in the same place, starting with Chapter 15!

Also, expect more of the story to start taking place in the Great Wheel and dealing with the belief and perception aspects of those worlds. There wasn't much happening in the Great Wheel as of now because I wanted the first part of the story to focus on the events in Gensokyo.

I sincerely thank you for reading this far. Please leave a review. Tell me what you liked and what you didn't like and what might need to be changed and if you have any suggestions for events that might happen in part 2! Also I don't really like the title of this chapter, any suggestions for a new title? Thanks for all your support and interest! See you soon!

~Dragonexx

P.S.: Can someone please help me with chapter 9?