Shinki and Sariel were both sitting at a small, round table, the two godlike entities sitting on their own respective thrones, a simple cup of tea in front of both of them respectively, with even a small plate with a slice of cake in front of their respective cups of tea. Yumeko stood by Shinki's side, despite her respect towards both Lady Shinki and her sibling, and the lack of tension between either of them, she still kept a serious expression; impassiveness was just simply here regular expression.
"So you had plans to start tourism in Gensokyo?" Sariel asked. The seraphim also kept a rather emotionless expression, a contrast to his sister's relaxed smile.
"Well... tourism is the gist of it, really." Shinki replied in embarrassment, a red hue appearing on her cheeks. "I felt like we've been in Makai for a few too many centuries. I know we've been content in here, and I know my many creations have enjoyed staying in nowhere but Makai for those centuries, but I wanted to show them new sights that they have never seen before. And well, you know that Gensokyo is technically right next door to our dimension, so it would be a nice place to start."
"But still, don't you think there could be repercussions?" Sariel asked, the angel using the fork in his hand to take off a piece of the cake slice in front of him, the white-haired man putting it in his mouth. "Your creations are a bit of a rowdy bunch. I know that Gensokyo is more well-known among the other-worlds as being one where the general way of saying hello, goodbye, and generally greeting friends is done in the form of firing countless magical bullets and lasers, but they might not like it when your demons enter and start doing as they please in there, especially as they don't know about the rules that are placed in Gensokyo."
"Oh...?" Shinki said. Sariel raised his teacup to his mouth, drinking the liquid inside. "I didn't know that Gensokyo had rules."
Sariel had promptly spat out his tea, the hot liquid shooting onto Shinki's face. The Demon Goddess didn't care about the tea that was spat on her face, merely wiping it off.
"Didn't the Gap Youkai already explain the rules of Gensokyo to you, Shinki?!" Sariel yelled, the entity losing his usually calm demeanour in the face of his sister's absent-mindedness. Sariel's eyes went wide as he realised his outburst, the angel growing calm and clearing his throat, regaining his face devoid of all emotions. "I thought that you and Yukari had a meeting a long time ago, about a few months ago. Didn't she remind you about the rules, or even tell you about them in a meeting prior? You two have been having them for over a millennium."
"Oh right..." Shinki said in a nervous voice, causing Sariel to narrow his blue eyes at her. "I forgot all about that. Sorry, guess it was just rather boring. I can never remember boring things, so I know nothing about rules in Gensokyo."
Sariel let out a loud sigh of annoyance as he put his hand over his face, incredulous that his sister can be so flippant about such matters. Yumeko herself wasn't quite happy about it either; even though she had indescribable respect towards Shinki, especially as her creator, but sometimes the goddess was just plain, outright embarrassing.
Before the conversation between siblings could continue, the two ancient entities stopped as they felt a tremendous aura of power enter Makai unexpectedly; judging from the magnitude of the power, it was either someone who possess power beyond that of gods, or it is the composite of multiple over entities, specifically of those of tremendous strength. And it was easy to guess who was behind the power, or at least where they came from; there are very few places from where on can enter Makai, and that power was coming from the very area that most of Shinki's demons were heading towards in the first.
"Is that...? Is that power coming from Gensokyo?" Shinki asked.
"Indeed it is, Sister." Sariel responded, the angel and his sister standing up and walking towards the glass door, opening it and standing on the balcony as they looked where the power came from. "It is undeniable that someone from Gensokyo is here, and I don't doubt that it has something to do with your tourism plan."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Shinki mumbled. "But who do you think it could be?"
"If it's one person... It's too weak to be The Dragon's power, so the greatest possibility in that theory is that Yukari is stronger than we thought, and it would make sense for her of all Gensokians to be here, as she works as a protector of Gensokyo. I doubt it would be the Backdoor Goddess, she would only really protect Gensokyo for the sake of gaining worship." Sariel said, the angel watching as a hoard of Makai demons, unaware of the power and most likely flying to where the portal to Gensokyo is located because of Shinki's promise. "It's more likely that it is a bunch of Gensokians that have came here because they don't like the ruckus your creations are making. And if I could guess right, a few powerhouses are among the group; even the trainee."
"You mean that Hakurei shrine maiden trainee you fought a few months ago." Shinki asked, looking at her brother. The man merely nodded silently as he continued to look at the hoard, looking like black tendrils as they flew further into the distance. Stars shined in Shinki's eyes as she looked back at the distance. "Oh wow, I can't wait to meet her~."
Shinki heard a painful sound to her side, the demon looking to her side to see her brother's forehead slammed against the railing, a dent in the steel bars.
Sariel moved his head back up, a red mark on his forehead where it slammed against the steel. The angel of death didn't bother to rub the area as the redness already began to vanish, his naturally healing abilities coming into play.
"Do you wish for me to clean up the mess, Lady Shinki?" Yumeko asked from behind the demon, the blonde maid holding two large swords in her hands. "As both your strongest creation, and your head maid, it won't be too much of an effort for me to get rid of the Gensokians."
"No need, Yumeko." Shinki responded, waving her hand casually at the maid. "I'm sure this can end peace..."
Shinki suddenly went silent, the calm expression turning into a frown as she sensed a specific power among the many different powers, one from a long time ago; the power of someone from the outside that committed an unforgivable sin; an action that Shinki will never forgive her for.
"Sariel...!" Shinki said, her body shaking as she was trying to contain the pure fury that was burning like lava in her blood.
"I know." The man responded, putting his hand on her shoulder, hoping the action would calm her. "I know."
"What is...?" Yumeko asked, the demon not needing a verbal answer as she saw it in her creator's eyes. Yumeko's face turned into a hatred-filled expression; the memories of what the eidolon did were still pristine in her memory. "Mima...!"
"If she is here... then it definitely wouldn't be a peaceful confrontation!" Shinki said, her voice filled with venom upon even the slightest words associated with that green-haired monster. A thought occurred to Shinki, the demon turning back towards her brother. "Sariel, didn't you say that you felt the Hakurei shrine maiden's power among the group?"
"Indeed I did, Sister." Sariel responded, keeping his eyes on where the power is located, even if it's far away. "Either Mima has managed to get the shrine maiden trainee to work for her, through one way or another, or she has killed her and gained the powers of Hakurei."
Shinki furrowed her brows, all of the possibilities that her brother opened killing the hope that lit up in her. "Yumeko," Shinki said, not looking at the demon as she kept her eyes on the place in the distance. "Clean up the-"
"Wo-o-o-oaaaah~!" A maid demon said as she slipped and fell onto the ground, killing the tense for at least a second. The three beings that were in the room earlier looked at the maid, watching her clumsily get off the ground with the help of her sister.
The two demons were quite alike in appearance, wearing a red maid dress like Yumeko, having medium-length hair with small, purple horns sticking out, having the exact same face, height, weight and green eyes. The only real difference between them were that one had red hair while the other had blue hair.
"W-we're sorry, L-Lady Shinki, Lord Sariel, Miss Y-Yumeko." The two demons stuttered nervously, giving a bow to the superior beings. "W-we know this isn't a g-good time, but something dire h-has happened."
"We know, Mima has came back, even after we let her leave with a warning." Yumeko responded in her usual impassive nature, keeping the swords in her hands. "You can return to your duties, she'll be handled soon."
"M-Mima is back?!" The red-haired demon sister shrieked, the same maid being the one that tripped.
"I-it's not that, Miss Yumeko." The other sister stuttered. "L-Lady Alice has disappeared."
It was with those single words that a feeling of terror shot through the three's hearts like a sharp arrow. "Yumeko, you can handle Mima later, you can even just leave it to me." Shinki said quickly to her strongest creation, her blue eyes blank with fear. "Just find my daughter and bring her to safety."
"Understood, My Lady." Yumeko responded, the blonde giving her master a quick bow before vanishing in an instant, Shinki looked back to where Sariel was, only to not find him there; merely seeing nothing more than a sphere of light that was floating away, towards where the power was coming from.
Reimu watched as the dark tendrils coming from the Makai Capital began to break apart into tiny spheres, the spheres changing shape and colour as the Makai demons came closer. They varied greatly in appearances, some looking like the demons that were fought at the Hakurei shrine, some looking like eyeballs with wings, some looking vaguely human with abnormal features, such as large wings in place of their arms, or sharp teeth, or simply just horns on their head.
Nevertheless, there was a constant between all of them, and it was that they had that aura that could be understood as that of someone from Makai.
The manifold demons looked excited as they flew forward, however they stopped with confused and surprised looks on their faces upon seeing the giant oni wielding a sword with lightning around the blade, and the many other females that were surrounding her.
"Huh? Who are they?" One of the eyeball demons said telepathically as it stopped in front of Reimu and co. with the rest of its demon kin, flapping its tiny wings like an insect.
"It's a giant woman and some humans." A fairy-like demon said as she flew towards the intruders slightly. She continued to look with her pink eyes before she noticed someone, a terrified gasp escaping from her lips before she shrieked, "IT'S MIMA!"
"Oh Great Shinki, she's back!" An ink-black spherical creature with arms and legs said in an unnatural voice, its red eyes widened in terror. "And she's brought an army!"
"Just what exactly did you do?" Kotohime asked, the red-haired princess raising an eyebrow towards the ghost. "Do you need to be arrested for some crime you caused here?"
"You can't really keep in me in a prison in Gensokyo, I'm a ghost and I know far too many spells for any cell to hold me." Mima responded, the joking tone in her voice contradicting the serious look on her face as almost every Makai demon was paralysed by fear, looking directly at her. "And you would rather not listen to what I did, I can say without hesitation that it was done in my absolute prime of evil, because what I did is on par with what Yuuka did in her Ultimate Sadist Creature days."
"Wait, what?!" Chiyuri asked, the blonde Outsider giving Yuuka a nervous glance.
A red blur suddenly passed out of the frozen group of terrified Makai demons, an image of a purple-eyed and purple-haired woman appearing in front of Mima; translucent and fading from existence. The same demon appeared above and behind Mima, her foot raised high in the air as she was ready to kick the spectre back in the head. Mima just let out a sigh, the ghost using the crescent of her wand block the demon's kick. A blue laser suddenly shot out of group of demons, however the magician's ghost used telekinesis to throw the other demon in front of her, the purple-haired demon taking the brunt of the force in the back.
Mima shot a large and power green star out of her hand, shooting the Makai demon back. "Well it's good to know that these two weaklings still think they can defeat me." Mima said as the demon that tried to attack her landed in front of the crowd of other Makai demons. Another demon flew out of the pile, a humanoid that looked greatly regretful about something.
"Oh Sara, I'm so sorry about the laser!" She cried as she lowered to the ground towards her friend, the aforementioned friend regenerating in the back and front where she was hit, right down to the clothes. "It was meant for The Monster, but she put you in its way."
"It's okay, Louise." The first demon, Sara, responded as she got off the ground, her voice sounding deep and gruff, though still feminine enough to be recognised as a female's voice. "I was sure that I would have hit The Monster in the back of the head, I didn't predict the telekinesis attack either."
Sara turned around and faced towards the heroes. She had eyes and low-cut hair that were a light shade of purple, almost looking pink with how lightly they were coloured. She was also wearing a simple red dress with a white scarf and white sleeves. Next to her was the other demon, Louise, had yellow eyes with yellow hair, wearing a white hat with a purple bow and a white dress with purple collar.
Melee Demon in Vermillion
Sara
An Eternal Spiritual Heaven
Louise
"Hey, Mima, do you know who these two are?" Marisa asked, not caring about what her mentor did to be called 'The Monster' by these demons, are why Sara was glaring at her while Louise looked terrified.
"Sadly I do, though just barely." Mima responded, looking uncomfortable as she scratched her head. "These two are 'Higher-levelled' Makai demons, which is just made up stuff for Makai residents that are stronger than the regular ones. You know that the one in the red dress is called Sara, she's a Makai demon that is more focussed on her physical prowess than her magical one. In fact, despite being stronger than the average Makai demon, she possesses terrible power and skill in magic. As for the other one named Louise? She's just stronger than a regular Makai demon. I think she has a gloomy twin named Luana - which is very ironic if you ask me - but that's about it."
"Thank you Mima, for your useful exposition on these demons in front of us. However, I'm afraid to admit that this information is useless." Yuuka said as she passed by the ghost, the youkai standing in front of the rest of the humans and non-humans that are stopping the invasion from Makai. Yuuka gave all of the scared demons a polite smile. "Hello, it is nice to meet you. I am Yuuka Kazami, and I request that you bring us to Shinki. If you cooperate with us, we can resolve this peacefully."
"Are you serious?" Sara asked, the purple-haired demon glaring at Yuuka, even as she was still giving a kind smile without the slightest sense of condescendence. "Do you expect me to believe such bullcrap?!"
"Well honestly I don't mind if this ends peacefully or in battle." Yuuka admitted, "I would like for things to end without us needlessly going to war, but the prospect does make me so excited... So it's your choice."
"We... we won't listen to anyone who sides with Mima!" Louise stuttered angrily, a glare forming on her face as pure hatred joined her fear. "We already trusted Mima... we just thought she was a regular sorceress who was powerless and lost. But she... She did the unspeakable! She's the absolute worst; The Monster! That is the only name that can properly define Mima."
"Seriously, what did you do?!" Kotohime yelled at Mima.
Mima turned her head back towards the princess pretending to be a cop. "Trust me, you will be having nightmares for years if I told you." The ghost said.
"If you think we're going to just let you pass, you got another thing comin'!" Sara said, raising a fist towards Mima and the rest of the group. "I'll keep fightin' until I can regenerate no more, until my body dies of exhaustion, I won't let you set another single foot in the Capital."
"Well then, it's a lucky thing that I don't have any feet~." Mima responded in her usual joking tone, wiggling her ghost tail. "Oh yeah, a few things happened to me since I last came here... Like dying."
"Geez, all this talking is so boring that I swear I'm going to fall asleep, and as an entity of the Dream World, I don't sleep." Gengetsu said, pointing a hand towards the group as a blue sphere glowed into existence in front of her palm. "I'll take on these small fires, it should be a good warm up."
"Now, now. Buttercup." Yuuka said in a soft tone towards Gengetsu, the youkai having already decided a nickname for the blonde demon. "We must let these residents of Makai decide if they want war or peace."
"I'll blast you to bits for what you did!" A demon yelled, obviously towards Mima.
"I won't let you, or your evil army, exist further!" Another yelled.
"I'm all for war if it means you're no longer in the way!"
"I never thought that The Monster would return. This is the end."
"What a tragedy we are living in."
"This is the end of Makai!"
"I'm going to rip the humans and youkai to shreds, and then I'm going to seal you forever in a jar and throw you into the deepest pit in existence!" Sara yelled angrily at Mima, the Makai demon clenching her fists shut tightly, surrounding them with a glow of magic that was the exact same light purple as her hair and eyes. "Don't you dare get in my way, Moss Head!"
"I may be afraid, but I won't let The Day of The Monster happen again, ever!" Louise said, all the fear in her eyes vanishing; all that was left was determination. "We won't let you hurt Makai again!"
"Oh, so they wish for war. Well then, might as well end this." Yuuka said casually with a shrug.
Sara dashed forward, the Makai demon aiming a fist towards Yuuka's face. The fist made contact, but if anything was hurt, it was Sara as it felt like her knuckles had broken upon contact with the youkai's cheek. Louise aimed multiple blue-coloured danmaku at Yuuka, shaped like diamonds and blessed with the sharpness to cut steel. Yuuka, however, endured the danmaku without so much as a scratch.
"Well, that's depressing." Yuuka said, looking truly displeased, not even taking real notice of the red dress-wearing demon in front of her. Sara looked at her mangled hand as the bones within repaired. She looked back up to see red eyes looking back at her, the demon leaping over a mile back with a single stride, landing next to Louise. "I let the both of you land the first attack and I barely felt a thing. I'm sorry for how unfair this battle is, I'll make it quick and painless for you."
Sara growled angrily and dashed towards Yuuka once again, appearing in front of the youkai within a second. This time, the superhuman demon tried to kick Yuuka in the stomach, however unlike last time, Yuuka caught the foot easily with her hand, effortlessly tossing the purple-haired demon back to her previous location. Louise made multiple diamond-shaped bullets appear above Yuuka, the danmaku shooting down towards Yuuka. The youkai didn't even smirk as she pointed the open parasol in her hand upwards, blocking the danmaku flawlessly.
"What?" Sara said incredulously, cold sweat falling down from her temple. "How did she...?"
"She really did let us land the first attack...!" Louise breathed, the blonde demon frozen in fear.
Yuuka folded her parasol, the youkai pointing it towards Sara, Louise and the group of Makai demons behind them. "I take no real pleasure in trampling someone so much weaker than me." Yuuka said, a blue sphere appearing at the tip of her parasol. A smile appeared on Yuuka's face, a glimmer of some sort of emotion in her scarlet-red eyes. "But that doesn't mean I feel guilty about it."
Before any of the demons could fly or run away, or cast a shield to protect themselves, or even teleport to a safe area, Yuuka unleashed her Master Spark on the Makai entities, completely vaporizing them and even some of the ground beneath them, the laser beam continuing to shot through the air, even after destroying the demons, the Master Spark only stopping and dying out as they grazed the gates of the Makai Capital.
"HOLY SHIT BALLS ON A PILE OF HOLLIER SHIT!" Chiyuri yelled out, receiving a large whack on the head from Yumemi.
"I'm as amazed and terrified as you, but that doesn't mean we have to swear about it." The older woman scolded, letting Chiyuri rub the throbbing lump on her head from the hit.
"Oh my, looks like I put in a little too much power into that Master Spark. Oh well." Yuuka said simply with a shrug, the ancient and powerful woman opening her parasol and holding it over her head, turning back towards the others with a kind smile. "Shall we continue? I doubt that those still in the Capital haven't noticed us yet."
"Yeah... something like that is hard to miss." Genji mumbled, the turtle-like entity floating off the ground with Reimu still on his shell. "It looks like this isn't going to be easy, we're just going to have to hit Makai with all that we got!"
Everyone flew forward, towards that capital of Makai, preparing to attack what could be thousands of immortal demons.
"Do you think this is where they went, to this Makai place?" Orange asked Matenshi as the angel-like youkai took the lead, seemingly following after the group that were long gone.
"Of course, I'm certain of it~!" Matenshi responded pridefully, a smug smile appearing of her face as she continued to fly forward. "Luckily for the both of us, I remember Mima's power. And also lucky for us, Mima's immense power still floats in the wind, even if it is starting to fade."
"Huh, that's new." Orange commented, the Taiwanese youkai gaining the attention of ponytailed youkai in front of her. "Things rarely ever go good for me, I'm always seemingly plagued by misfortune. I swear, I think some poverty god might be possessing me or something."
"That is quite odd." Matenshi responded, the youkai turning around completely and stopping, looking at her new cohort. "Quite odd indeed."
"Well one of my old friends came up with the theory, so it's not like-" Orange explained, though she was interrupted.
"No, no, not the situation that you are in, but because I am just like you." The youkai explained. Orange raised a confused eyebrow, the red-haired silently telling the youkai to explain in clearer detail. "I mean that things rarely ever go right for me either; I usually end up with things failing horribly for me as well. What a coincidence."
"Yes, indeed..." Orange commented, her perplexed expression changing to a kind smile as she held out a hand. "Friend?"
"Friend~!" Matenshi responded happily, shaking Orange's hand excitedly. Matenshi suddenly widened her eyes, the youkai turning back to where she was facing before. "Hurry, we must be quick! Mima's energy trail is fading, and if we don't hurry up, we'll lose it."
"R-right." Orange stuttered, a bead of sweat falling down the side of the woman's head. The two youkai sped up their flight, heading towards the cave where the doorway to Makai is located.
Or at least the area that was once a cave,
"Oh my Shinki, The Monster has returned and she's brought an army!" A fairy-like demon with green hair yelled as she shot a massive array of green danmaku towards Kotohime, the maniacal princess merely using a swipe of her katana to shoot a purple slash that destroyed the danmaku and cut the demon in half.
"They're just as merciless as The Monster herself!" One demon commented as it and a bunch of other demons shot danmaku at Konngara, only for the magical bullets to do little damage to the giantess. The oni didn't say anything, merely swinging at the air with electricity around the blade, releasing a powerful wave of force and electricity, destroying the demons and greatly damaging the buildings nearby.
"Sheesh, these demons just don't end." Yumemi said as she threw Infinity Bombs at the Makai demons, the aforementioned bombs exploding indefinitely helping the Outsider in keeping the demons from fully returning. "Though this sure is a fantastical experience, I must remember to come here some other day and study all that I can about this dimension and its magic. This is just like a daydream."
"Are you going to cause another Phantasmagoria of Dimensional Dream incident, except in here?" Reimu asked as she looked up at Yumemi in annoyance, a large bead of sweat falling down her temple, the shrine maiden shooting holy danmaku at the Makai demons flawlessly as Genji dodged their danmaku.
"I dunno. Maybe this Shinki will be kind and forgiving and let me research this place to my heart's delight." Yumemi responded. "I've met the Aki sisters, and they're pretty friendly to humans."
"I'm not sure how forgiving Shinki can be. We were on okay terms before I very willing did that, so don't ask me how forging she can be." Mima said casually as she pointed her crescent sceptre towards a giant legion of eyeball demons that were firing lasers at her whilst also flying towards her. The ghost let out a sigh as she flew out of the way of the lasers with ease; they may be fast enough to easily defeat your regular weakling, but to a powerful ghost like her they were easy to dodge. She merely fired a Dim Spark at the legion, destroying them, if at least for a few seconds.
"You really did something unforgivable, didn't you?" Rikako asked as she used her rocket tube to fire... well, rockets, at a bunch of demons that were basically like giant, horned lizards with colours that wouldn't be associated with a regular horned lizard.
"I don't regret sacrificing children to a god for power. I don't regret poisoning entire areas of land. I don't regret leaving entire towns in nothing but ash." Mima said simply as she waved her wand around, creating multiple magic circles behind her, the magic circles shooting out giant, star-shaped danmaku at the same legion of eyeball demons as before. "But I can assure you that what I did, the sin that earned me the title as The Monster in a world of demons, is something that I have learned to regret; what caused me to properly understand the concept."
"I see..." Rikako responded, the scientist surrounding herself with multicoloured orbs, the same she used in her battle against Kana.
"Ah, who cares~?" Kana asked in a musical tone, the poltergeist using her telekinesis to throw multiple Makaian demons into other demons of the same kind. The blonde spirit let out an almost crazy laugh as she summoned multiple fake phantoms, ranging from small to large, though all of them were flying towards Makai demons and attacking them.
"Jeez, no matter how many times we kill these demons, they just keeping on coming back." Elly grunted as she threw around her scythe like a boomerang, the shinigami catching it effortlessly each time and throwing it again, firing her danmaku during the periods where she wasn't holding her weapon.
"There are other methods to stop a demon than just simply killing them." Noroiko said casually as she created multiple black orbs of pure curse power, a hint of sadism in her voice. Noroiko mentally commanded the orbs to fly towards the Makai demons around her, making contact with the demons. The Makaians, whenever they may take the usual form of a female humanoid, or if they were one of the eyeball type demons, or another strange creature, immediate fell to the ground in pain, the humanoids curling up in pain as the non-humanoids did a similar action. A smile of glee that was definitely sadistic was on Noroiko's face now. "For instance, you could curse them to feel nothing but crippling pain, leaving them unable to fight you. Heeheehee~!"
"Yeah, well we're not sadists like you." Kurumi said to the curse-wielding youkai, staying close to her death god friend.
"Different strokes for different folks." Noroiko shrugged dismissively, basically confirming her as a sadist.
As the large group continued to fight against the Makai demons, the demons suddenly started to stop attacking and fly away, keeping their space from the Gensokians. Despite all this, they didn't fly away. In fact, they looked like they were waiting for something.
"What's with them?" Ellen asked, the witch keeping Sokrates on her shoulder, the cat keeping its bored expression, despite everything that happened.
"It's really odd." Chiyuri commented. "They're..."
"He's coming." Konngara said, the giant oni glaring towards a distant area in the incredibly large capital, the same area being where the demons were looking at. "He's noticed us. Don't worry, I'll handle him. I can fight on par with him, especially after my training."
"Wait, who is 'he'?" Marisa asked, the magician floating next to Konngara.
"Sariel." Reimu, Genji and Mima responded seriously.
A ball of light entered the area within the capital. The demons kept their stares on the ball intently, some of the Makai natives even stepping back in respect and fear. The ball of light emitted an absurdly powerful level of strength, some of the more weaker youkai - like Noroiko and Kurumi - even felt slightly overwhelmed by the power. A bright glow came from the sphere of light, showing a feminine-looking man, with six large angel wings, possessing blue eyes and white hair, wearing a blue dress and holding a purple magic staff.
"Konngara." Sariel said in a plain, matter-of-fact voice, looking at the giant oni with emotionless eyes. The seraphim then looked towards Mima, his eyes narrowing slightly, though he still kept anger out of his eyes. "Mima."
"Well, it's nice to see that someone is finally calling me by my name, instead of by The Monster, as they always keep calling me." Mima responded happily, the ghost sitting down on her crescent staff as the spectre floated on its horizontal side.
"Trust, I was very tempted." Sariel responded, his voice calm with seething anger. "You only really seem to like the infamous names you are known by as long as they have your name in them."
"Maybe..." Mima shrugged.
"Nevertheless, you all have caused a great amount of damage to Makai." Sariel responded calmly, the angel gazing his eyes around his sister's dimension. He could see that multiple buildings and structures were broken, with there either being holes in them, or they were completely reduced to rubble. Even with the Makai demons, Sariel was certain that they were all killed at least once, only revived by the power of their supernatural regenerative abilities. Sariel turned his emotionless eyes back onto the group of Gensokians, especially Konngara as his former partner was seemingly in charge of the group. "I know many of you are strong, especially you, Hakurei Maiden, but mark my words: you will not survive the wrath of Makai. My sister alone will reduced you all to atoms, even you immortal youkai."
"And I guess I will be no exception." Mima mumbled, the ghost remembering that she never saw someone as angry and hate-filled as Shinki ever since that incident.
"If Sister gets her hands on you, she'll torture you. Trust me, she is capable of not only torturing a ghost, but she can even destroy them." Sariel responded, his voice as calm and impassive as usual. "However, it is not too late. You all can run away, escape the wrath of my sister, myself and the rest of Makai. This is your last chance; I am not generous with letting others leave with their lives; as an angel of death, I usually exist to end life."
Reimu didn't even think to come to her conclusion, she already knew her answer. "No!" Reimu responded, the short purple-haired shrine maiden pointing her gohei towards the angel of death. "I won't let you hurt Gensokyo any further. I've already defeated you in the past, I can defeat you again, especially as I'm stronger than before!"
"Your victory was merely a fluke." Sariel said calmly, the seraphim raising his sceptre high in the air, tremendous power charging within the gem at the end of the wand. "I will show you the touch of death. You will gain no mercy from me."
Reimu was ready to fight Sariel, especially as she doubted that she wouldn't do it alone, seeing that in her peripherals she could see Mima, Yuuka and Marisa preparing to fire their own magic attacks at the man. Before any attack could be made, Konngara put her giant arm between Reimu and Sariel.
"Your fight is not with Reimu, Sariel. It is with me." The giant oni said, the lightning sparking around the blade of her katana crackling loudly. "I have ruined my pride as an oni letting myself become your puppet. I will show you my true strength, and I will defeat you."
"Oh really then?" Sariel responded boredly with, his dull eyes once again showing very little emotion, though this was mostly a result of keeping them all under control. The seraphim kept his sceptre raised, using its magical power to grow larger, growing and growing and growing until he was the size of Konngara. "I will end you first, and then the others will join you in the afterlife shortly thereafter."
"But Konngara, I can handle him. In fact, all of us can handle him." Reimu protested, pointing back at the rest of the Gensokians.
"I know, but time is of the essence." Konngara responded, the giant oni and the equally giant angel flying up into the air. The black-haired woman was looking back at the others, luckily Sariel wasn't taking the chance to perform a sneak attack on her. "The longer we just stand here and talk, the more danger that Gensokyo will be put in. I'll handle Sariel, you and the others can handle the rest of the Makai demons. But be careful against Yumeko and Shinki herself, if you end up getting cocky or hold back in the slightest, they will defeat you."
Konngara and Sariel then flew up high into the air. The oni was the first to attack, managing to still move in unimaginable speeds, despite her immense increase in size, swinging her lightning-covered sword at Sariel. The seraphim blocked the attack with his wand, electricity shooting out in every which way, some of the bolts even managing to hit a few buildings and Makai demons, despite how high in the air they were.
Sariel kneed Konngara in the stomach, the unexpected attack causing her to stagger. Sariel then whacked Konngara across the face with his sceptre, causing the flying oni to shoot back, though she kept her clutch on the handle of her katana tight.
Sariel made purple magic circles appear around him, the circles shooting purple lasers and danmaku. Konngara dodged and reflected the danmaku with her sword, the reflected projectiles and lasers being dodged by their original caster. Sariel pointed his sceptre at Konngara again, a bright dark purple glow coming from the tip of the wand as wind seemed to swirl right into it.
"May you meet absolution after death." Sariel said calmly, not a hint of pleasure, happiness or anger in his voice. The seraphim fired the beam at Konngara, the former Deva of the Mountain cutting it in half with a swift swing of her katana.
"Sorry, but I'm not dying now," Konngara responded as she glared at Sariel, her sword's blade becoming surrounded by lightning again. "And I'll meet absolution with your defeat."
Meanwhile, as the two giants were fighting high in the air, the Gensokians were still fighting again the seemingly never-ending swarm of immortal demons. Chiyuri flew towards Yumemi as the older human kept on firing Infinity Bombs and crosses towards the demons, the blonde haired Outsider charging up an attack of artificial magic, releasing powerful, fast-moving bullets that destroyed all the Makai demons that were trying to hit Yumemi from her behind.
"Hey, Yumemi, do you think we should call our ace in the hole?" The younger teenager asked, releasing a huge and dense onslaught of blue danmaku, the projectiles ranging from small to large.
"No, this doesn't look like a good time for it." Yumemi responded as she simply fired her regular white pellet danmaku and more crosses, the fortress of Infinity Bombs in front of her being nearly impossible for any demon to move through, though many kept on firing danmaku and lasers from the over side of Yumemi's wall of endless explosions. "Besides, I talked with her earlier, she still needs a few more minutes for the final preparations."
As the two Outsiders were talking whilst fending of the Makai demons, Reimu was throwing ofuda and shooting holy danmaku at the Makaians, the paper charms and special danmaku obviously having a stronger effect on them, due to them being demons. "Hey, Gramps," Reimu said, the shrine maiden hitting some Makai demons with her gohei as they came close to her, the demons basically being burned by the poisonous (to them at least) element. The holy entity, too focussed on dodging the demons' danmaku for him and his shrine maiden, didn't make a verbal response, merely nodding up at her. "I kinda know who this Shinki is, but who's Yumeko?"
Genji stopped upon hearing the question, making him and Reimu sitting ducks for a bunch of lasers shot towards them by a hoard of Makai demons.
Reimu held multiple ofuda tight between her fingers, casting a barrier to protect herself and Genji.
"Gramps, who is Yumeko?!" Reimu demanded, firing more danmaku at the demons, the shrine maiden deciding to cease her ofuda throwing, knowing that she will need to save her finite amount of holy talismans for this mysterious demon.
Genji continued to remain still, the lack of movement from the turtle allowing more and more Makai demons to aim danmaku and lasers at the duo, making it harder for Reimu to fend them off, even with her barrier, specifically because they kept on resurrecting completely whenever they were destroyed.
Star-shaped danmaku then shot from beyond Reimu's peripherals, the sound and closeness of the danmaku being enough of an indicator that they came from right behind her. Reimu turned around to see Mima, the danmaku shot from the ghost seemingly multiplying and continuing from behind Reimu.
"Yumeko is Shinki's stronger creation; a demon that ca manipulate space itself and summon and control swords to do as she pleases." Mima explained, the spectre casually creating multiple giant spheres with a snap of her ethereal fingers, the spheres shooting out every which way and exploding, destroying multiple Makai demons. "Honestly, it is because of her that I barely survived after the incident I caused. Though if I wasn't already weakened, I would have most likely defeated her easily."
"Damn, she's that strong?" Marisa asked, the magical protégé suddenly at Mima and Reimu's sides, the blond snickering at the surprised reaction from the latter before looking back at her mentor. "Well then, it'll just be a lotta catharsis when we inevitably kick her ass."
"Why yes, it will be, Marisa." Mima responded, the ghost smiling at her prized student. "After everything, I don't think she'll ever be a match for me ever again."
"Oh my, what is the topic of the conversation?" Yuuka asked as she poked her head into the discussion (quite literally), the youkai casually firing Master Sparks at the demons surrounding them.
"We're talking about defeating a demon, and then defeating Shinki." Marisa responded with a smirk, the magician holding her wand as she used it to summon magic circles that shot out danmaku and lasers. "You wanna join in? I'm sure there'll be somethin' remaining of them after we blast them into nothing."
"Actually, a thought has occurred to me." Yuuka said, the youkai looking around as more and more Makai demons made their appearance. "If we go with the strategy of defeating all these demons and then fighting against Shinki herself, it would have taken too long, and Gensokyo and all its beautiful flowers will be dead because of the poison in Makai's air making its way to there. So..."
"So...?" Reimu inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"I think we should split up." Yuuka said simply, a calm smile on her face. "Some of us remain here and defeat the demons while the rest move forward and battle Shinki herself. What do you think? Does it sound like a good idea."
"It has its potential." Meira said, the samurai suddenly around the quartet (or quintet, if you count Genji), Kana, Ellen, Gengetsu and Mugetsu, and the two Outsiders beside her. "However, we must be smart on who we pick to go and who we pick to stay."
"It is really more dependant on letting the strongest of us go and fight Shinki." Rikako said, the magician-turned-scientist floating on the other side of the four females. Behind the purple-haired woman were Kurumi, Elly, Noroiko, Kotohime and even Kikuri were behind her. Reimu was somewhat surprised by the bronze disk's appearance, though she guessed that Konngara merely released her before fighting Sariel. Reimu could only guess, she wasn't paying attention to every tiny detail, especially all the demons fighting her. "We're all able to fight against these demons, even though they keep on regenerating. If Shinki is indeed to powerful creator of this dimension, and these Yumeko that you talk of is as powerful as you describe her, then we should send the strongest to fight them."
"That is a good idea- wait, what about the Makai demons around us?" Reimu, realising that everyone that came in form Gensokyo (except for Konngara, of course) was in the little huddle.
"My friends are protecting us~." Yuuka responded. Reimu looked around, realising that there were a bunch of sunflowers and other flowers surrounding the magical females and the holy spirit, firing danmaku and other elements at the Makai demons, though it was clear that they could only hold against the demons for so long. "Don't underestimate the power of flowers. We are soft and gentle naturally, but if we are provoked then you will regret it."
"Ah ha..." Reimu responded.
"I want to avenge my perfect meal for what they did to it, but it's obvious that I'm one of the weaker members of this group, even though I'm stronger than a regular human, so I'll stay here and fend off the demons." Meira said, the samurai pointing the blade of her katana towards the Makai demons from behind the barricade of flowers, knowing that it would barely be more than a minute until the demons destroy the plants and start fighting against them again. "I'll just have my revenge with these demons."
"I'll stay behind as well." Noroiko said, a calm and lazy smile on her face, like she wasn't in the middle of a battlefield with a few hundred demons ready to attack her. "I may be a great user of curses, but I doubt that even my abilities are strong enough to curse a godlike demon. Besides, these Makai weaklings are just too much fun to abandon~."
"It's quite obvious that Yuuka is stronger than us, so she can go, but we can't." Gengetsu said, the angel-like demon firing a Nightmare Spark at a large gaggle of Makai demons that managed to create a hole in Yuuka's little barrier of flowers. The aforementioned youkai was observant, summoning more sunflowers and magical flowers of the like.
"I agree with Sister, especially because these weaklings are a lot more fun to fight." Mugetsu said, a large grin growing on her face. "When Big Sis and I are done, these demons will be having nightmares of us for years, one way or another~."
"Ah, such kind words. You two are truly sweet-hearted demons, aren't you?" Yuuka responded to the dream demon sisters, without even a spec of sarcasm. The youkai then cast her red eyes towards the shinigami and bat youkai by her side. "Elly, Kurumi, I'm going to play with this Lady Shinki of this realm. You two can stay here, despite everything you two seem to be enjoying your battles against the demons."
"Yes, Lady Yuuka~!" Elly and Kurumi responded enthusiastically, even giving the youkai a salute, which only really made her laugh.
"It is quite clear that out of all of us, Reimu, Marisa, Mima and Yuuka are the strongest." Yumemi said, sounding almost robotic as she was speaking it as an observation. Yumemi then outstretched a hand towards the four dramatically, the Outsider suddenly having a spotlight casted on her. "Oh great and powerful warriors, I beg you that you fight Shinki while we sacrifice ourselves to keep these other demons at bay."
"Wow, way to dramatize." Marisa commented, the mysterious spotlight that shone on Yumemi disappearing as the red-haired teenager suddenly looked like the colour was drained from her. "Oh well, Eggplant and I are an invincible duo, and with Madam Mima on our side we're even more invincible."
"And what about me, Dandelion?" Yuuka asked, the youkai leaning close to the little girl.
"Eh, you're pretty strong yourself, you even managed to be somethin' against Rei and I, so you can definitely join too, Flower Power." Marisa responded, pushing Yuuka away from her as the supernatural creature was coming uncomfortably close to her.
"Well then, it's decided." Rikako said in a matter-of-fact voice, the purple-headed adjusting her glasses slightly, giving the four females a serious look. "You better not fail us, a lot is at stake here."
"Of course we won't fail, this should be no problem for powerhouses like us." Mima said, the spellcaster ghost narrowing her eyes at the scientist. "Of course though, if you were to actually use the immense magical power of your bloodline, this would be over quickly."
"Hmph." Rikako responded, the scientist looking away from the ghost. "I do not need magic, I need only science. You can handle this easily, can't you? Well go stop Shinki while we fend off these Makai demons."
"Okay." Reimu responded, the shrine maiden honestly wanting to just stop Shinki as fast as possible; the longer her plans went on, the more poisoned Gensokyo would become. She looked down at Genji, the turtle still frozen, looking like he was trapped in some sort of traumatic memory of Yumeko. She simply tapped him on the head with her wooden wand, the turtle slowly returning to reality. "Hey, Gramps, nap time is over! C'mon, we're going to where Shinki is while everyone else handles the Capital demons."
"Huh- er, wha…?" Genji responded, blinking in confusion.
"Allow me to explain it to you." Mima responded, the ghost floating just inches away from Genji's scaly face. "We've come to a decision that Reimu, Marisa, Yuuka and I go to Pandemonium and fight Shinki while the others hold off against the demons in the Makai Capital, since handling them all and fighting Shinki personally would take too long, especially if some of the Makai demons from earlier decide to come here and fight as well. And since you are needed for Reimu to fly, you're coming with us."
"O... Okay." Genji responded, the turtle-like entity actually sweating. "I just hope that we don't get the misfortune of fighting Yumeko... or invoking Shinki's wrath...!"
The quartet of females flew away, towards where Pandemonium was located, where Shinki should be hiding. The countless flowers that Yuuka put up to stop the attacking demons of the Capital went down. The demons smirked, thinking that they could fight against the Gensokians, only for them to be hit by the attacks of the humans and non-humans.
"Aha, this is where they went," Matenshi said, the angel-like youkai looking triumphant as she pointed at a stone slab standing on the ground, still unprotected by the cave that surrounded it before Kana removed it with telekinesis. "This is definitely where they went. Mima's power is faint, but I'm certain that this power I'm sensing is hers. We just need to pass through that door, and we'll finally be in Makai."
"Yes, yes, good~!" Orange cheered, the youkai whirling her baton around and even tossing it into the air and catching it. "It's a good thing that the one day when luck doesn't hate me is when I get to meet such a cool and awesome friend like you, Matenshi~!"
"Aww, don't be so modest, Orange~." The other youkai responded happily, the purple-haired and red-haired clasping each other's hands like they were already best friends for a long time. "There is no friend that is more awesome than you, My Ultimate Baton Wielder~!"
"No, you're the modest one, My Ultimate Angel of True Justice." Orange responded, their friendship already turning so sweet it can give you cavities and make you sick.
The two youkai giggled, walking towards the seemingly unprotected gate. Suddenly five yellow disks appeared in front of the duo, a single eye opening on each disk respectively, red and bloodshot, connected by chains of electricity.
"Halt, Baton Youkai, Angel Youkai." The mysterious creature said. "We are YuugenMagan. YuugenMagan is the gatekeeper of Makai. If you wish to enter Makai, defeat YuugenMagan."
"What the...?" Orange said, the youkai shaking her head from side to side, the red-eyed woman glaring at YuugenMagan. "Looks here... whoever you are, get out of our way or else."
"Orange, I don't think that it'll just let us pass." Matenshi said, the youkai floating up into the air as she prepared her magical powers. "It said it itself, it's the gatekeeper of this Makai. We must combine our power, and show this creature that it has the misfortune of us to face such a duo."
Matenshi fired lasers and danmaku at YuugenMagan, the electric creature closing its eyes, protecting it from being hurt by the danmaku Matenshi shot its way. YuugenMagan then opened its eyes, shooting lightning bolts at Matenshi, defeating her instantly; all that remained of the non-human was nothing but ash.
"Matenshi!" Orange shrieked, the youkai glaring at YuugenMagan, using the power of her baton to take some of its electric power, the same demon electricity sparking around her tool. Matenshi resurrected, her youkai powers allowing her to heal from even that attack unleashed on her. "Alright, Matenshi, let's show them what we got!"
Even as Reimu (on top of Genji), Marisa, Mima and Yuuka flew further into Makai, away from the Capital where they fought the Makai demons, many of the demons kept on appearing, firing danmaku at them. They were a lot easier to defeat, due to being weaker and in smaller groups. Of course they had to fire danmaku back, the quartet quickly flying away before the demons could heal completely. It wasn't much of a hindrance, they could just escape the weak demons, but it sure could be an annoyance.
"Wow, this is amazingly even easier than before." Marisa said as she flew through the air on her broomstick. "I didn't even need to use one of my stronger spells. I tell ya, once we find this Shinki I'm gonna beat her on my own, I'll just be overflowing with mana and blast her away into pieces."
"Don't be overconfident." Genji scolded of Marisa as they continued to fly closer to Pandemonium. "Shinki possesses magic that is comparable to that of a Magic God. She was ancient before even your master's parents were born, and she knows more magic spells than an entire continent of magic guilds combined. You should keep complete attention on her and never lose yourself to overconfidence, especially as she possesses the Ultimate Magic; the pinnacle of all magic."
Marisa was silent, the magician looking forward, Genji's words were stuck in her head. And it really made her think.
Reimu looked back at the capital that they came from, seeing only distant buildings and flashing lights. "I hope they're okay." Reimu said as she rode on Genji, the ancient being and the other females still flying forward. "I don't have many friends, and it would sadden me greatly if they were to die."
"Oh don't worry, most of them are immortal or a ghost." Mima responded to the shrine maiden's words, waving her hand casually. "Though Meira, Yumemi, Chiyuri, Kotohime and Rikako are human and definitely mortal. And even though Ellen is a witch and basically immortal, she can still be killed..."
"Enough, enough, shut up!" Reimu yelled at Mima, the shrine maiden even wasting one of her ofuda by throwing it at the ghost, the holy paper hitting the spectre in the side of the head, only hurting her slightly.
"Okay, okay." Mima responded jokingly. "Though I must remind you, I'm dead myself, and I love to talk about the macabre."
"Ah, isn't this conversation wonderful~?" Yuuka asked, the green-haired youkai keeping her parasol open above her shoulder. "I could listen to this all-HURK!"
Yuuka was suddenly shot right through the chest with a red laser, the laser destroying the area on her chest where her heart is located, destroying the organ and killing her. Reimu, Genji, Mima and Marisa watched in surprise as Yuuka's corpse fell to the ground, disappearing as she fell a long plummet.
"Hahahahaha, right where it's the most sensitive." A female voice said from where the laser came from, the four looking forward to the caster of the laser. "One down, four to go~! This is a good day for Keiko~!"
She was a Makai demon with the body of a teenager, having long blonde hair that looked like fresh gold, her eyes as red as a blood moon. She had four wings on her back that looked like the wings of a bat, albeit big enough to carry her, though there was an overall feeling that they weren't necessary to fly anyways. She was wearing a blue dress with a short-looking skirt, ending just above her knees, a large, white scarf surrounding her neck. A smile flashed on her face, revealing her fangs.
Transcendent Bat
Keiko
"Oh great, some target practise." Marisa jested, pointing her magic wand at Keiko, the little star at the end glowing with magic. "You ready to see the love-coloured magic of The Great Marisa Kirisame?"
Another long chapter... sheesh. I guess this is like the chapter where Reimu and Marisa fought Gengetsu, where it should have ended halfway and just be two different chapters. Maybe I'm forgetting how to make a modestly long chapter, so here's this.
I originally intended for Alice to appear at the end, but that can wait for the next chapter, since she is meant to appear after the Gensokians cause a lot of destruction in Makai. So instead we get this OC, with a regular Japanese name.
I'll have to think up things for her later.
And the battle against Konngara and Sariel... that is something that I've been planning for a while, we'll see more of it in a later chapter.
I also planned for the main quartet to be cut off from the others through one way or another, since they are the only people you play as in the original game. We'll be getting some fight scenes between them and other Makai demons, and I even plan for Elis and Miyuki to return and fight against some of them. Sara and Louise will also appear again later (they may have been reduced to atoms, but they're still demons that can resurrect), though they won't be fighting against the main four, instead they will be fighting against the others.
Sara being a demon that is more physical than magical in combat is something that just came to me. I guess that, since I swapped her official position as gatekeeper of Makai with YuugenMagan, I should give her something else that is unique.
Louise is meant to be a mostly kind demon, though she will still fight if Makai is put in danger. Like most Makai demons, she is more powerful in her magic than physical skill, though she's still stronger than the regular Makai demon. As for Luana, the sister I made for Louise in this fanfic, she is meant to be the Louise that appears later on in stage 4. That is, in the original game she is Louise and in this she's a different person entirely; a 'twin'. It was just a thought that occurred to me, and is a part of the Maiden's Capriccio canon now, I guess.
All reviews, even ones of constructive criticism, are accepted and appreciated.