Chapter 70- the most brutal fights in Kushanku and company's lives part 1

The blizzard and the wind that it rose on continued to tear through the dark air. The leafless branches of the trees which stretched and clawed at the air like Krampus's finger claws, wavered and swayed with the winds as it tore through them. However, this blizzard was not natural and it was not night time. It was still day but the sunlight had been eclipsed by the cryokinetic powers of Father Christmas impersonator Krampus, and the blizzard had also been summoned by this Horned Beast dressed in a ragged Santa Claus outfit. As the snowflake flurry continued to stream through the snowy forest with the wind, several blurs sliced through it, one of the blurs carried a stream of light, obviously a magical torch-like device, as the group continued to flee through the blizzardy darkness. Behind the group which were Kushanku, Nyarth, Satoshi, Sandstorm and Akira, Crystal, Snowwing (who carried the magical torch), Dahlia, Alexandrite, Paddy, Link, Cyril, Desdemona and Molayne, was a group of various evil cronies of Jadis and some from Krampus's entourage of demonic toys and possessed candy figures and items such as swords in hot pursuit. Amongst them were Malefor and his brother Scar, Aku no, Ganondorf, Romulus and some of the gingerbread men of Krampus who were armed with their candy cane weapons, and they and their comrades continued to furiously pursue Kushanku's group through the dark blizzard.

Ahead of their pursuers, Kushanku and company continued their desperate escape. Kushanku was flying through the forest with Cyril, Link, Desdemona, Snowwing and Crystal while Nyarth, Satoshi and Akira leaped from tree to tree agilely. Dahlia ran like a Hare through the snow while Molayne, Alexandrite, Padparadchsa "Paddy", and Sandstorm stuck to the shallower parts of the snowy terrain, quickly leaping from one shallow spot to the next. As the fourteen creatures tore through the forest, mocking voices exploded from their pursuers behind them.

"You can't escape us, you bunch of menacing YOUNGSTERS!" snarled the voice of a Manticore, obviously Malefor before he directed his acidic Scorpion's tail-stinger like tongue to Kushanku, "Especially you, NEKOMATA, for humiliating Her Majesty and Goddess of the Highlands by knocking off her crown and then slashing her across the face! You will to BE PUT to the most PAINFUL DEATH for THAT THE MOMENT WE CATCH YOU!"

Kushanku, who flew with his tail branches spinning like a helicopter's propeller, flashed a timid glance at the pursuers and continued flying on after Crystal and the other flying members of the little group while Nyarth, Satoshi and Akira continued jumping between trees. Romulus then added another comment that struck the nerve of Kushanku, Satoshi, Akira and Nyarth.

"Just like how we caught and KILLED YOUR MOTHER FERNTAIL!" snarled the Wolf, making the three sons and daughter of Ferntail and Frosty flinch violently. However, they shook off the stabbing pain from the mentioning of their deceased parents and continued their escape with their adopted Cheetah brother and the remaining youngsters of Soran's family.

Eventually, the fourteen arrived at a rocky enclosure but when they saw that they were trapped and had no further chance of escape, the fourteen regrouped and prepared to face their pursuers who halted their wild dash and flight and began to close in on them like a pack of snarling wolves closing in on their prey, their teeth bared and weapons, claws and in the case of the Manticores, their Scorpion's tail-stingers, poised for action. Kushanku, Nyarth, Satoshi, Sandstorm, Akira, Crystal, Snowwing (who held the magic torch rock in his paws to provide light for himself and his companions in the darkness), Dahlia, Alexandrite, Paddy, Link, Cyril, Desdemona and Molayne shuddered and huddled closer together as their pursuers with Ganondorf, Romulus, Malefor and Scar, Aku no and a Wendigo at the front, began to advance towards them. Then Kushanku drew his large GC sword and aimed its tip at Malefor as the Manticore bared his fangs and teeth and spread his Bat's wings. His Scorpion's tail lashed at the snowy air like a whip as he continued to threaten the Nekomata as he continued to threaten him in turn with his GC sword. Then Snowwing and Crystal nocked their bows with arrows and aimed them threateningly at the group.

"You take ONE MORE STEP you winged HAIRBALL and I'll SKEWER YA!" snarled Kushanku gutturally as Malefor continued to close in on him, his sword's tip aimed at Malefor's head. However, the former leader of the Manticore pack was unfazed by the little Nekomata's attempts to intimidate him.

"Hah, you think your cute little kitty Cat's growl is gonna deter us, Nekomata?" crooned the fanged Humanoid-faced chimera, "Or should I say, son of the Nekomata couple who kept that bunch of Maned Puddy Tat believers hidden from us until Lightningflash revealed their location?"

At this, Crystal hovered closer to Malefor and aimed her arrow nocked in her bow at his face, a volcanic look on her face.

"Aslan is NOT some 'Maned Puddy Tat', Vampire face," snarled the Parrot chick, "He's the LION above ALL LIONS!"

"Who is FAR MORE POWERFUL even than your so-called Queen," added Snowwing, his arrow-nocked bow also aimed threateningly at Malefor and his torch rock tucked away in a pouch he had worn during the journey and still shining into the darkness. Then Aku no stepped in, her hand-eyes glaring maliciously at Kushanku and company.

"That 'Aslan' doesn't exist, you bunch of minxes and menaces," snarled the lead Tenome, the eyes on her hand burning with the fires of wrath while the mouth on her eyeless head gritted its teeth, "The MOST POWERFUL BEING in all of NARNIA is JADIS, the QUEEN AND GODDESS OF ALL THE HIGHLANDS and NARNIA'S ONE TRUE RULER, and YOU LITTLE RATS," her hand-eyes then shot their volcanic glare beam at Kushanku, who flinched, "Have DISHONOURED HER in EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD, especially YOU, fork-tailed CAT!"

Kushanku just glared maliciously at the Tenome with his fur spiked out and teeth gritted and turned his sword's point to her. Then Ganondorf came in, his venomous finger claws flared.

"And BECAUSE OF THAT, YOU ARE TO BE PUT TO DEATH in the MOST PAINFUL, AGONISING WAY!" yelled the lead Lizard-Man and with that, he let loose a massive hiss-howl and with his prehensile tail thrashing wildly behind him, the scaly Humanoid crouched and launched himself at Kushanku and company like a massive cat. Kushanku and the others darted off and sent Ganondorf crashing into the snow only for him to roll to his hands and feet again, his tail swinging one side to the other behind him like a Cat's tail. The Lizard-Man then glared maliciously with his Reptilian eyes at the group as they prepared to fight the rest of Malefor's gang as they also launched into an attack charge. Then within moments, the clashing of claws, swords and teeth on metal or wood erupted into the blizzardy air above them as Kushanku's and Malefor's groups began their vicious battle. It will be the most brutal battle Kushanku and company have EVER fought in their lives, and since Kushanku's vicious battle with Belladonna back in Gandalf's base.

Padparadchsa, a stormy Cat screech exploding from her mouth, charged viciously towards Ganondorf who prepared to retaliate the moment the Nekomata and Alexandrite's sister was near him. Around the pair, the rest of Kushanku's group continued to fight Malefor and company. Then as soon as Padparadchsa "Paddy" was close enough, Ganondorf swung round and with all his might, sent his tail smashing into the Nekomata's head, hard. At this, Alexandrite, Satoshi, Molayne and Sandstorm snapped round and drew in horrified gasps of horror when they saw Paddy, Cat cries of pain emanating from her mouth, rolled towards a rock and stopped there. Then Ganondorf lunged at Paddy and began to beat and slap her over and over again with his prehensile tail, cackling with the most bloodlust-saturated laughter. Satoshi then began to struggle with one of Romulus's comrades as she came in and tried to bite him only for the Nekomata to raise his sword and send the Wolf's jaws clamp onto the blade instead. Then Satoshi forced the Wolf, her jaws still clamped onto the sword's blade, back and injured her in the process. Ganondorf continued mercilessly beating and bashing Paddy with his tail, inflicting her with bruises and a bleeding nose. When he saw his opponent cover her head protectively from his tail strikes, Ganondorf eyed her with a devilish glare.

"Wassup, you lil' two-tailed Feline Yokai?" crooned the Lizard-Man meanly, "My tail too powerful for you to stand up and fight against?"

Satoshi managed to cut down the Wolf with his sword and the moment he had done that, he rushed over to help Padparadchsa but found himself confronted by a savage Wendigo, its moonlike eyes gleaming menacingly in the dark, snowy air and its claws flared. Then with a savage howl, the skeletal Goat-like beast lunged at Satoshi and attempted to slash him with its claws only for Satoshi to raise his sword and block it. While he struggled with the Wendigo, Satoshi continued to watch Paddy as Ganondorf proceeded to land a more brutal attack on her.

"Now let's see if you can manage A BODY SLAM ATTACK FROM ME!" growled the large Lizard-Man sadistically and with that, he jumped onto the rock and launched himself into the air before plummeting, his limbs spread wide, towards the battered, struggling and weakened Nekomata below. Ganondorf slammed as hard as he could onto Paddy and inflicted her with a great deal of pain as she was brutally crushed between the snow and Ganondorf's body.

"PADPARADCHSA!" screamed Satoshi in horror as he slashed his sword at the Wendigo. Alexandrite, Sandstorm and Molayne also looked on as Ganondorf rose to his feet, distance himself from Paddy and then launch himself at the injured Nekomata.

"Now for the final ENVENOMATION!" cackled the Lizard-Man as he flared his claws on one hand and prepared to bring it down on Paddy to inflict the Lizard-Man's most powerful blow: a slash of the venomous claws followed by injection of the paralysing venom that was extremely painful and fatal to the victim if they did not receive medical attention right away. Alexandrite, Sandstorm, Satoshi and Molayne looked on in horror at the imminent attack, Paddy still lying face down in the snow, battered and bruised with a bleeding nose.

"PADPARADCHSA!" shouted the four together.

"WATCH OUT, SIS!" cried Alexandrite as she held another Wolf by the throat as it attempted to bite her. Then when it all seemed dire, Padparadchsa's eyes suddenly flashed open but they did just flare open. They also flared with an orange-red glow, a trait of a Nekomata's fury mode. The moment fury mode took hold of Paddy; the Nekomata rose to her paws and feet, shot Ganondorf a glare and leaped out of the way, sending Ganondorf crashing into the snow and his claws raking the rock face as he missed. Joy swept through Alexandrite, Sandstorm, Satoshi and Molayne as they watched Padparadchsa, now red-eyed with fur bushed, land nearby. The others including Kushanku were too occupied with the other members of Malefor's group to stop and watch the unfolding battle between Padparadchsa and Ganondorf.

Paddy then charged like a pink and orange comet towards Ganondorf who rose to his feet and shot the incoming Nekomata a malicious glare. His teeth gritted and dripped saliva and his tail thrashed at the air behind him. Then as Padparadchsa was close enough, Ganondorf proceeded to try and slash the fork-tailed Yokai Cat but Padparadchsa darted to one side like a nimble Stoat and made his clawed hand imbued with venom land into the snow instead. This made the bubble of wrath explode volcanically within Ganondorf and he released a Reptilian version of a roar and he tried to viciously attack Padparadchsa. Alexandrite, Sandstorm, Satoshi and Molayne as they continued to struggle with their opponents, watched on with smiles on their faces as Paddy deftly dodged and sidestepped each and every strike Ganondorf tried to deliver her, weather it was a claw strike, a body slam attack or a tail swipe. Then Molayne took the opportunity to taunt the enraged Lizard-Man.

"Wassup, Dragon face?" crooned the Dog cheekily, "Your opponent too fast for you?"

Ganondorf ignored the Dog's taunts and continued to viciously attack Padparadchsa by lunging towards her but Paddy dodged once again and sent him crashing headfirst into the rock face, dazing him. Then Paddy, fury mode taking control full throttle, charged towards Ganondorf again, darting from side to side super-fast and resembling a pink and orange blur in the process. Ganondorf, after shaking himself to rid the dizziness from the impact of the rock face, looked on, befuddled and UTTERLY bewildered at the Nekomata's super-fast and super-agile speed. Then Paddy zoomed past Ganondorf and proceeded to zoom around him, faster and faster, prompting the confused Lizard-Man to try and follow her. Alexandrite, Sandstorm, Satoshi and Molayne looked on with amused looks on their faces as Paddy eventually took the form of an orange and pink comet as she reached top speed and eventually, Ganondorf was thrown into another cloud of dizziness alongside nausea, his Reptile's eyes spinning with his stomach.

"It seems that my sister has extreme agility as a talent, Lizard lips," crooned Alexandrite tauntingly. Ganondorf said nothing. Then as soon as Paddy had stopped circling speedily around him, she stopped nearby, her eyes still ablaze with fury mode, prompting the lead Lizard-Man into shooting her a dizzy-but-malice-saturated glare. Then Paddy, a furious Cat's cry and her eyes blazing orange-red, surged towards Ganondorf like a speeding arrow for one final attack dash. Ganondorf, seeing the speeding Nekomata rush towards him, raised his hand, flared his claws but before he could bring the swipe down onto Padparadchsa, the Nekomata struck first, hitting him in the belly, HARD. After this, Paddy, with an EXTREMELY loud Cat screech, flared her own claws and brutally slashed them right over Ganondorf's face, carving a series of gashes through the scaly hide. After this, Paddy lunged at Ganondorf and began a ferocious and savage biting and clawing frenzy on the Lizard-Man, forcing the scaly Humanoid into clasping his head to protect himself from the vicious attacks. Nearby, Alexandrite, Sandstorm, Satoshi and Molayne continued to attack their opponents.

While Paddy continued to viciously slash and claw Ganondorf to a pulp, Snowwing and Crystal were shooting down some gingerbread men and demonic animals, some of the minions of Krampus who had followed Malefor and company as commanded by Krampus to help, with their arrows. Crystal, while hovering in the air, used her talons to nock and fire an arrow from her bow in a blink of an eye while Snowwing did the same, his bow and arrows handled by his front paws while also hovering. Suddenly, a malicious little Bat flew in and slammed right into Crystal to Snowwing's horror. Crystal then began to struggle as the Bat began to try and plunge its fangs into her neck but Crystal dropped her bow and arrow, raised her talons to the Bat on her head neck and seized it. Then she flung the Bat towards one of the large rocks where it slammed against the solid surface. The Bat then transformed into a Humanoid creature with bone-white skin similar to that of Jadis, pointy ears like an Elf or Curupira, a pair of fangs protruding from its mouth which was gritted by the Vampire from the pain of the impact against the rock, and jet black, smooth hair atop its head. Then the Vampire slid down to the snow but the moment it landed onto the white powder, it shook itself to and shot Crystal a bloodthirstily venomous look. Snowwing and Crystal, after the latter had seized her bow and arrow from the floor, then aimed their arrows at the hideous blood-sucking monster as it began to approach the pair.

"I've always wanted Skvader and Parrot blood for my next drink," crooned the Vampire in a deadly, sadistic voice and with that, it licked its lips in the grossest of way, saliva dripping from its fanged mouth and grossing out its targets. Then Crystal shook off the revulsion and glared at the Vampire.

"Well if you're so desperate for blood, fang-faced Hobgoblin," growled the Parrot, "Then why don't you become desperate for THIS!?"

And with that, Crystal seized an arrow from her quiver and nocked it in herd bow. Then as soon as the Vampire launched itself into the air and transformed back into its Bat form, Crystal fired the arrow from her bow. The arrow surged towards the Bat-form Vampire and before the Vampire could react, the arrow struck it, penetrating its chest. The Vampire, a stunned look on its face as it had been fatally struck, then dropped out of the air like a stone and landed in the snow, Crystal looking on with a triumphant look on her face. However, that triumph was immediately swept aside as Snowwing and Crystal were faced with more demonic soft toys, candy cane-armed gingerbread men and more Vampires, some transformed into Bats, and proceeded to continue their fight.

Nearby, Scar, Malefor's brother and the current leader of the Manticore pack, lunged at Alexandrite, Sandstorm, Satoshi and Molayne with a loud hiss. Three of them dived to one side as the Manticore then swung his Lion's body round and deployed his Scorpion's tail sting but Sandstorm was too slow to react. Alarmed, the Cheetah cub raised his paws at the sting as it slashed at the air towards his neck, aiming for the carotid artery area. However, because his paws were in the way, Scar's tail stinger tip instead stabbed the Cheetah's left paw like a whip. A Manticore's Scorpion-like tail much like a Lizard-Man's finger claws, was imbued with venom but this venom, rather than paralyse its victim after envenomation as a Lizard-Man's venom would after the Lizard-Man had slashed its victim, instead sent a victim on an extremely slow and agonising death after the Manticore had struck its victim, and the sting was EXTREWMELY painful indeed, as Sandstorm began to feel in his paw-wrist where Scar's tail stinger had struck. Sandstorm then backed away and grasped his wounded paw, his face severely twisted in immense agony and the urge to scream wildly threatening to volcanically erupt within him. Scar looked on sadistically as the Cheetah continued to grasp his stabbed paw and fight the urge to scream, a hissy cackle filtering through his Humanoid's mouth. However, Scar's lethal sting attack on Sandstorm hadn't gone unnoticed. Satoshi then stepped in while Akira rushed to give Sandstorm a drop of fire-flower cordial from her medical potion kit before Scar's venom could start to wreak havoc on his system. Satoshi's eyes then flashed red-orange as fury mode took over as he glared at Scar who continued to snigger. Satoshi was clearly FURIOUS. Scar had very nearly killed a beloved family member and Satoshi was not going to allow Scar to get away with it, especially if he was going to mock Sandstorm's agony.

"NOT our only remaining adopted Cheetah brother, you filthy ARACHNID with FUR and WINGS!" snarled the Nekomata gutturally and aggressively and with that, he aimed his sword threateningly at Scar who flinched violently at the insult.

"WHO do YOU THINK YOU'RE CALLIN' AN ARACHNID, you TWO-TAILED FELINE RAT!? I'm the Manticore CAPTAIN, YOU KNOW," retorted the Manticore volcanically but Satoshi, in reply, let loose a volcanic Cat screech and lunged at Scar.

While Satoshi engaged Scar in a savage battle with Satoshi swiping his sword at the Manticore only for the Manticore to dodge and deflect his sword swipes with his claws, his face saturated with sadistic mockery as he glared daggers with the fury mode-saturated Satoshi, Akira delivered a drop of the red liquid of the fire-flower cordial onto Sandstorm's wound. Sandstorm's face relaxed as the extreme agony from Scar's sting attack to the wrist ebbed away with the wound which closed shut. After this, Sandstorm and Akira backed away and watched Satoshi as he continued lashing his sword at Scar. Satoshi lunged at Scar again and tried to slash the Manticore's face with his sword only for the Manticore to dodge. Scar then spun round and attempted to land a fatal sting on Satoshi but Satoshi, in his alarm and to the horror of Sandstorm and Akira, arched his head back. The tip of Scar's Scorpion tail sting swing precariously close to the Nekomata's neck and missed the skin by millimetres. Then after Scar had finished a complete turn, Satoshi, his eyes red-orange, ablaze with fury mode, lunged at him and lashed his sword at Scar only for Scar to dodge and retaliate with a paw swipe and a vicious snarl. Satoshi dove to one side and narrowly avoided getting slashed by the lethal Manticore's deadly claws. After rolling to his feet, Satoshi deftly lunged at Scar and swiped his sword at the Manticore again, only for Scar to block his swipes, this time catching the blade between his front paws much to Satoshi's shock and Akira and Sandstorm's horror. Scar let loose an evil cackle.

"That's what you GET for messin' with the LEADER of the Manticores, you feline Yokai brat!" crooned Scar sadistically. Satoshi, at this, flashed a red-eyed gaze at a pile of small rocks but then he felt his opponent shove him backwards as Scar violently pushed his sword back against him. Satoshi stumbled and landed on his backside and shot Scar a stunned look. Scar then crouched, spread his Bat's wings and then with a flap of his wings, he launched himself into the air and toward Satoshi, his claws flared and his teeth fully exposed. Satoshi shot a glare at the rock and to the surprise of Akira and Sandstorm, an aqua blue glow flared in his eyes and projected onto one of the little rocks, enclosing it in an aqua blue aura. Then a split-second later, Satoshi snapped his gaze back to Scar, telekinetically pulling the rock from the pile and smashing it directly into Scar's face. Scar, stunned by the sudden strike of the rock to his face, crashed right at the feet of Satoshi. Then the moment Scar rose to his feet, Satoshi, his eyes still glowing red from fury mode, lunged violently at the Manticore and slashed his sword at him, driving Scar, confusion still enveloping him, backwards. Satoshi swiped his sword at Scar a further three times in quick succession, not giving his foe time to react until finally, he managed to land an injury on his opponent by catching his right wing with a rapid fourth sword swipe. Now it was Scar's turn to feel agony rip through one of his limbs and he seized his wounded wing in his paws and gritted his teeth in agony. Then seizing this distraction as an opportunity to strike, Satoshi lunged towards Scar, twirled mid-jump and then slashed his sword right over the Manticore's neck, landing the fatal blow. Sandstorm and Akira flinched as the massive bundle of fur, Bat's wings and Scorpion's tail of Scar toppled over like a mighty tree and crashed into the snow. Satoshi, his fury mode fading with his eyes returning to their usual Cat's colour, then glared smugly at his fallen foe as he clutched his wounded neck, blood pouring from the injury and turning the snow bright red and his face saturated with pure agony and stun. Satisfied that the Manticore was no longer worth the trouble, Satoshi left him to bleed to death and returned to Akira and Sandstorm.

On the opposite side of the mini battlefield, Cyril, Link and Desdemona viciously fought against more cronies with Cyril cutting down many of Krampus's evil stuffed toy minions with his sword as well as bisect each gingerbread man armed with candy cane weapons as they leaped at the Hippogriff, slicing the candy figures in mid-air. But while he, Desdemona and Link continued cutting down more minions with Link the Peryton trampling more gingerbread men underfoot with his front hooves and Bird-like hind feet, Cyril was about to lunge at an evil Nekomata as it telekinetically animated the carcass of a deceased Hag armed with a spike ball attached to a stick, the Hag's carcass moving precisely with the evil Cat's movements and its eyes glowing red-orange with its animator's eyes (this glow is not from fury mode, but from a sinister form of telekinesis specialised in animating carcasses which the Nekomata and Bakeneko who had fallen for Jadis's side had been trained by her to perform, besides shapeshifting and illusion casting), while another evil Nekomata had shapeshifted to the form of a demonic monster towering over Desdemona when suddenly, a silvery blade appeared and stopped by his neck, dangerously close to the carotid area, stopping the young Hippogriff in his tracks.

"Halt, you reckless Horse-Bird," crooned the owner of the sword threateningly, which was Aku no, the leader of the Tenome, a type of Hag-like Yokai with eyes on their hands rather than their heads. Because of this, when using objects, Tenome would always close their eyes tightly to protect them from damage, and Aku no was doing just that as she handled the hilt of the sword with her right hand. Her left hand with her other eye, however, was open and was fixated on Cyril, who had frozen at the touch of the blade to his neck, saturated with pure malice alongside her mouth on her eyeless head. Aku no then began to coerce Cyril into complying with her commands under the threat of slitting his throat.

"Now you will DO AS I TELL YOU or this blade will be slicin' through your neck like a dumb Chicken," growled Aku no maliciously at which Cyril flinched; "Now you will take your sword and drop it."

Cyril flashed a glance at Desdemona as she was knocked hard into a tree trunk by the shapeshifted Nekomata and tried to act but Aku no said, "Ah-ah. Leave that Griffin alone and concentrate on my commands, or we'll be havin' a headless Hippogriff there and then, and I am NOT bluffin."

Cyril, alarmed by this and fearing for his life, obediently raised his sword and dropped it from his talon, which was the front foot of a Hippogriff as well as a Griffin. After the sword landed in the white snow; Aku no commanded Cyril to come along with her, all the while her sword's blade hovering dangerously close to his carotid artery.

"Since you are one of the traitorous Talking Beasts who had abandoned us, you vile Horse-Bird," growled the Tenome in a dangerously low voice, her empty hand's eye fixated on the Hippogriff as she had him at knifepoint and guided him away from Desdemona and Link, the former who managed to dodge the swing of the spike ball flail from the Hag carcass animated by the evil Nekomata, "YOU will be slain first by orders of Her Majesty the Queen of Narnia."

Aku no then continued to lead Cyril away at knifepoint while everyone else continued to viciously fight the rest of the evil cronies.

However, as the lead Tenome approached the rock face with the timid Hippogriff trembling at the tip of her sword's blade touching the skin of his neck exactly where his important neck vessels ran, a fragment of a gingerbread man's candy cane weapon flew in from Link as he mowed down more of the armed, demonic candy figures with his antlers and front hoof feet, kicking up some fragments of them and their weapons in the process, and struck Aku no painfully in the side of her eyeless head. A howl from the sudden pain erupted from the hand-eyed creature as she stumbled from the impact of the piece of solid rock candy to the head and as she stumbled and yelled in pain, her sword-armed hand rushing to the impacted area, Cyril, upon realising that he had been freed from knifepoint by Aku no, whirled round and landed a powerful kick with his Horse's hoof-like hind feet to the Tenome's eyeless face to knock her down. Then when Aku no was knocked over, Cyril rushed for his dropped sword and seized it, before glaring stormily at Aku no as she immediately rose to her feet and charged at the Hippogriff, her left hand-eye burning with bloodlust and her other hand, her right hand-eye closed tightly to protect the eyeball from damage (a Tenome's eyelids were super-tough and were sufficient enough to protect the Hag Yokai's eyes from damage when they handled things with their hands), clutching the hilt of her sword and the moment the pair met, they clashed wildly.

Aku no released a Haggish scream and lunged at the Hippogriff, her sword in her right hand raised and the moment she was near Cyril, she brought the sword's blade down in an attempt to slash him but the Hippogriff dodged, flapping his feathered wings once and striking the Tenome in the eyeless head. Cyril then whirled round and tried to slash Aku no with his sword but Aku no raised her sword in her right hand and blocked it, the two metallic blades releasing a clang into the stormy dark air. As the two glared daggers, Aku no glared at Cyril with her left hand-eye before forcing the Hippogriff heftily back. After this, Aku no immediately swiped her sword at Cyril and knocked his sword out of his talons (front feet), sending it flying towards the rock face, the Tenome having struck the Hippogriff's sword with such force. Cyril shot an alarmed gaze at his sword as it clattered onto a hard rock partially submerged in the snow and turned that gaze to Aku no as she lunged towards him, a Haggish grunt erupting from her mouth and her sword raised in an attack pose. Cyril galloped off with Aku no in hot pursuit towards the large rocks and leaped onto one of the rock faces, his wings flapping as he did. Aku no brought the sword down with a grunt and narrowly missed Cyuril's Horse's hind legs, the blade slicing off some of the hairs from the Hippogriff's Horse-like tail and slamming into the rock with a horrible sound, the blade sticking in there. As Aku no yanked the blade free of the rock, Cyril flap-galloped onto the next few rock faces and then leaped off a tree trunk, surging towards Aku no and seizing his sword the moment he landed in the snow. Aku no glared daggers with the Hippogriff with her left hand-eye and lunged towards him again, her sword in her right hand and attempted to slash the Eagle-Horse hybrid Talking Beast with more slashes of her sword. However, Cyril dodged the first two by ducking before raising his sword and blocking Aku no's sword with his, the two metal blades meeting with another metallic clanging. More metallic clangs erupted into the air as the Tenome and Hippogriff continued clashing their swords in an attempt to slice each other with their weapons. Around them, the others in Kushanku's group continued to savagely fight Aku no's comrades, Desdemona finally managing to cut down the Nekomata animating the Hag's corpse with a powerful claw swipe. The moment its animator was slain, the Hag corpse, released from the Nekomata's telekinetic control, lost the red-orange glow in its eyes and flopped down limply into the snow, the flail falling out of its grasp. Desdemona then seized the flail and turned her attention to the shapeshifted Nekomata in the form of a giant beast while Link continued to slaughter more of Krampus's toy minions with his antlers and hoof-like front feet, ripping apart some of them in the process and sending fluffs of their stuffing flying off with the wind and snow.

Cyril and Aku no continued wildly clashing swords until the moment the pair struggled against each other, Cyril managing to force Aku no's sword down to the ground and landing a vicious talon slash to the Tenome's eyeless head, knocking her back. However, Aku no, undeterred by the strike and despite the set of bleeding claw marks marking her eyeless face, lunged at Cyril and clashed swords wildly with him again. The pair continued to clash swords over and over again in rapid succession until Aku no twirled round much to Cyril's confusion and reached with her sword at the Hippogriff's face. The tip of the sword swooped dangerously close to Cyril's eyes, missing by inches. Then after this sword swipe, Aku no's other hand, the one she was using to watch her opponent, darted out and poked the Hippogriff in the face with a clawed finger, making the Hippogriff release an Eagle's cry and jerk his head back. Cyril and Aku no continued clashing swords until Aku no lunged forward and lashed her sword at the Hippogriff, catching him in the shoulder where his wing joined the body, opening a wound on that area. Cyril let loose a louder Eagle's cry of pain and flashed a gaze at the wound before resuming his attention to his foe who tittered at him, her mouth widened into a sadistic grimace and her left hand-eye gazing at the injury on her opponent's shoulder. Despite the agony erupting from his injury, Cyril boldly eyed his opponent and prepared his sword, rearing up on his Horse's hind feet as he did so. He then lunged at the Tenome and engaged her in another bout of vicious swordfighting. More sounds of metal blade striking metal blade erupted as the Tenome and Hippogriff tried to slash each other with their weapons. This continued until Aku no dropped down and did a powerful low sweep at the Hippogriff's Horse's feet. Cyril lost balance the moment Aku no's foot struck his Horse's hind feet and was forced back onto all fours and sent into a stumble. However, he recovered by rolling sideways on the snow, his wings tucked in so that they did not overstretch during the manoeuvre, and rising to his feet again. Aku no glared maliciously and sadistically at the Hippogriff as he puffed and panted from the demands of the fight.

"Hah, I bet you didn't know that Tenome could make EXCELLENT and FORMIDIBLE swordfighters, Eagle-face," crooned the Haggish Yokai mockingly as she advanced towards Cyril, his Eagle's face saturated with wrath and his Eagle's talons clutching his sword, poised to strike, "And even though our eyes are on our hands instead of our heads, WE STILL HORBOUR EXCELLENT COORDINATION IN OUR MOVEMENTS!"

And with that, she lunged at the Hippogriff and tried to bring down her sword held in her right hand to his neck but Cyril raised his sword and blocked it, the sound of metal striking metal erupting into the air. Aku no's hand-eye then approached the Hippogriff's face tauntingly.

"And it seems you are USELESS IN THAT AREA!" she continued, before forcing Cyril powerfully back. Cyril stumbled and landed on his side, the force of the fall knocking his sword out of his talons. Aku no then approached him and prepared her sword to deliver the deathblow. During this, Cyril flashed a glance at the rock face, an idea entering his head.

"And furthermore, Hippogriff," she continued, "I can anticipate and predict EACH and EVERY MOVE you MAKE, so there's NO point in tryin' to outsmart ME!"

Cyril, at this, glared maliciously at his opponent as she raised her sword in her right hand and rolled out of the way, sending the sword's blade crashing into the snow moments where his head had been. Then Cyril spread his wings despite the injury on his shoulder where Aku no had struck him earlier and lofted into flight. Then he seized Aku no by the neck in his talons before the Tenome could realise what he was planning to do. After this, the furious Hippogriff flew towards the rock face with Aku no in his talons.

"Oh yeah, try anticipating and predictin' THIS…" snarled the Hippogriff and with that, he powerfully slammed Aku no as hard as he could against the rock's surface. The impact was so hard that it was enough to inflict a lethal head injury on the Tenome. Cyril continued to glare at his foe as he held her by the throat with his talons mercilessly.

"…Rotting snail-eyed POTATO HEAD!" spat the Hippogriff, saliva flying into the Tenome's eyeless face and her hand-eyes laced with stun. Then Cyril removed the Tenome from the rock face and slammed her head as hard as he could onto the rock's surface several more times to ensure a guaranteed deathblow. After this, he released Aku no and she was sent crashing onto the rock at the foot of the larger erected rock, dead. Cyril glared at his fallen foe and flew away to help his allies deal with the other opponents.