Draconis: Alright, you all ready?
Kenshin: Well, seeing as it's been a month or so since I've been featured in something more than flashbacks, sure I'm ready.
Yukari: Seriously.
Miyuki: As Onee-Chan would say, I'm fucking booooreedd!
Alma: Having Kenshin-Chan turn down my seductions only goes so far.
Erubetie: Having sex with Issei out of chapters only goes so far.
Evangeline: I'm ready to get started myself.
Tamamo: ….Let's just get this over with.
Draconis: Alright.
Dragon of the Elements
Chapter 122
Fighting against the Creators.
Draconis: Begin!
(start)
Kenshin was sitting onboard Selene's ship. They would arrive on the Deadlands within an hour, so he felt it prudent to ask the spirits if they were ready.
"Honestly...no." Salamander said with an unsure tone.
"...I...have to agree, I don't know how to feel about going against our Mother." Undine said.
"...I'm...the same...I don't want to fight her, but I will support you." Gnome said.
"Why does Mommy want to fight us? Doesn't she see that Kenshin is Daddy's reincarnation?" Sylph said.
"I'm sure she does, but it's more complicated than that." Kenshin thought. "If we don't do this, Makai dies...but at the same time...if we do, do this, one of us could lose our lives." Kenshin thought letting out a sigh. "Honestly...I'm not ready for this either."
"Kenshin..." The Four Spirits materialized and hugged Kenshin.
"Everything will be OK." Gnome said.
"Yeah, didn't you promise Tamamo that it would?" Sylph said.
"We believe in you." Undine said with a smile.
"So believe in yourself a little bit more." Salamander said, before a door opened behind them as they all disappeared into Kenshin. It was Tamamo. Kenshin stood up and let out a sigh.
"Are you alright?" Tamamo asked.
"Are you?" Kenshin asked.
"...No." Tamamo said. "I'm...I'm so nervous about all this."
"It's OK." Kenshin said wrapping Tamamo in a gentle embrace, making her look up at him. "I'm nervous too, and not just because of Ragnarok's feelings."
"What do you mean?" Tamamo asked.
"Because...I want to keep my promise to you. Still...I don't know how this is gonna play out." Kenshin said with a smile.
"Kenshin..." Tamamo said looking up at him with a touched look.
"But still." Kenshin butted his forehead against hers. "Let me reaffirm that promise. Everything is going to be OK." He said with a smile.
"..." Tamamo closed her eyes and hugged him tightly. "I know it will because it's you saying it..." Tamamo smiled up at him. "You hate making promises, but at the same time, you never made a promise you couldn't keep."
"And I never will." Kenshin said before kissing Tamamo softly on the lips.
"Mmn..." Tamamo broke the kiss and laid her head on his shoulder. "How many times are you going to make me fall in love with you?" She asked.
"As many times as it takes, with everyone." Kenshin said.
One of Selene's crewmates burst out of the cabin door. "The wind picked up! We'll make land momentarily!"
"Wait really?" Kenshin said before the boat crashed against land making Kenshin and Tamamo fall to the deck. The kitsune beast queen's breasts sandwiching Kenshin's face.
"A-As much as I like this...could you get up?" Kenshin asked.
"Depends, can you?" Tamamo giggled.
"Want to find out?" Kenshin asked as he reached for Tamamo's breasts.
"Hahaha~ Not right now." Tamamo said diving off of him.
"Aggh...what the hell was that?" Yukari said.
"Was the sailor in charge of the wheel drunk?" Evangeline said.
"Jeez...that crash hurt." Miyuki said.
"Owww...what was that all about." Alma said.
"Some water leaked into my cabin, this ship is going to sink." Erubetie said.
"It doesn't matter." Kenshin said as they all exited the ship. Kenshin turned to Selene and her crew. "Ready?"
"Yes, please do." She said with a smile.
"Alright." He said butting them all on the forehead with Shiroi Tengoku's hilt, they all vanished along with Selene's boat. Kenshin turned around a fierce, but neutral gaze in his eyes. "Get ready Alipheese...I'm coming." He thought as he and his group proceeded onward.
(break)
With Alipheese.
"!" Alipheese's eyes widened a bit.
"Mother? What is it?" Saja asked.
"...He's here." Alipheese said with a smirk. "Kenshin Kuroshi has arrived at the Deadlands."
"So it's time then." Hiruko said.
"Just about." Alipheese said.
"I wonder how far his Succubus has come?" Minagi said.
"He has a slime under his employ right? It will be interesting to test her out." Kanade said.
"Well then...I hope his little sister is ready." Saja said.
"Oh don't worry, I am!"
"!" Alipheese and the 'five' Ancestors gasped as Kenshin and his group appeared. Draco appeared and smirked wryly. "Certainly didn't take you all very long to make port and make your way up here.
"Well, we felt it prudent to get things over with." Yukari said. "We have more important things to deal with."
"More important than accepting the challenge of the mother of all youkai?" Hiruko asked.
"When the things we have to deal with involve the end of existence, then hell yes." Miyuki snorted.
"She's right." Kenshin said.
"Such arrogance." Saja sighed.
"Enough." Alipheese said with her eyes closed. "Kenshin, I've heard from Draco here that you were forced to kill off your family. As the Dark Goddess I am deeply sorry for this."
"Yeah?" Kenshin smiled grimly. "Y'know what sucks more than having to do that once? Having to do it twice." At Alipheese's shocked look Kenshin continued. "Yama resurrected them all with the help of a necromancer named La Croix." Kenshin's smile gained a bit of mirth. "Though...I'm sure my dead family members would be honored to receive your feelings." Kenshin said. "Thank you Lady Alipheese." He said with a bow. "Now...shall we begin?"
Saja spoke up. "Aren't you scared? You face the Dark Goddess. She could kill you."
"You think I give a damn about death?" Kenshin asked. "As a former assassin, I can go from alive to dead inside in the time it takes you to take a breath."
"Assassin?" Alipheese asked.
Draco cleared his throat. "He replaced me in Rikudou when he was ten."
"Nonetheless. I stopped fearing death when I was eight." Kenshin said. "That and I've already died twice. Death just loses it's intimidation factor after that."
"When you were eight?" Kanon said. "Why so young?"
"Because I tried to go meet them myself." Kenshin said as he opened his shirt casting his jacket away. He gestured to four scar marks over his heart. "Four times, with a knife, by me." Kenshin said before forming a handsign. "And these are all the other scars."
"Whoa..." Kanade said.
"Nice...but also...yikes." Minagi said complimenting his body of work.
"Damn, I knew you had a lot of scars, but shit." Draco said.
"Humans did all this to you and you still forgave them?" Kanon said.
"If anyone tried to do painful things to me...I'd kill them." Hiruko said.
"You look like you've been through war." Saja said.
"Well I HAVE been through two of them." Kenshin said. "So...are we ready?"
"Yes..." Alipheese said.
Kenshin nodded toward Tamamo with a sad smile. Tamamo nodded and formed a handsign, opening her eyes wide.
Spirals appeared on Kenshin's palms, which soon disappeared. Similar spirals appeared on the soles of his feet which did the same. Crisscrossing lines on his arms and legs appeared and disappeared the closer they got to his chest. The jewels of his Balance Breaker appeared and fused into his skin. The lines disintegrated toward his abdomen where a giant spiral laid, looking almost a curling dragon in sleep, before that disappeared as well.
"Haaaaaaaaaahhh!" Kenshin roared as his elemental aura surrounded him. His two golden eyes staring back at Alipheese before glancing back at his peerage members. "You have your assignments." He said.
Everyone nodded. Kanon couldn't help commenting. "You grow plantlife around you? How fascinating~!" She said.
"Yeah, Mommy dearest did say you'd like that." Kenshin shrugged.
"Still you think you can take on ou-" Saja was cut off as Miyuki appeared under her guard.
"You probably think I'm just some helpless little girl in love with her Onii-Chan. Let me show you how wrong you are!" Miyuki said burying her fist in Saja's sternum driving her backward.
"Interesting!" Saja said.
"Haaa!" Hiruko used her tentacles to block Yukari's Kazeken. "!" She looked down seeing Yukari point Ryuuga at her.
"Hellfire Flash!" Yukari shouted, blasting Hiruko backward before pursuing her.
"Hmn..." Minagi looked over at Alma Elma. "Let's take this somewhere a little more spacious." She said with a smile.
"Fine with me." Alma huffed
Kanade looked around before nodding, pointing to her left, slightly behind her. "Let's go this way. Erubetie." She said.
Erubetie nodded and followed after her. Kanon looked at Evangeline. "Guess I drew the short straw."
"Little bit." Evangeline said as the air grew colder around her.
"Still if you think a little ice is gonna scare me off...you got another thing coming." Kanon said sending a barrage of vines at Evangeline, blasting her away.
Draco looked over at Tamamo. "Come on, let's leave these two alone."
"Right..." Tamamo said casting a worried look at Kenshin and Alipheese.
"Hey Kenshin, who knows, if you pull off the upset, maybe she'll let ya nail her." Draco said with a coy grin.
"..." Alipheese furrowed her brow at Draco. Tamamo glared at him
"I'd turn her down anyway." Kenshin said.
"Hmm?" Alipheese sent Kenshin an interested look. "That's an interesting response. I'm not insulted, but might I ask why?"
"One, I already have a Fateburn for a lover, she's having my first two children. Two, I don't want Tamamo glaring holes into the back of my head the whole way back home. Three, I don't need to give Ragnarok any personal reasons to try and kill me, and Four, I don't need Alipheese breaking Alice's sex record with me."
"Hahaha. Just a tease." Draco said.
"Just out of curiosity. Where does that record stand?" Alipheese asked.
"Seventy Two Hours and some change." Kenshin answered.
At Lucifer's Castle Sirzechs spit out the wine he was drinking. "Say what? !"
"Are you serious?" Souji said with a wide eyed stare.
"That's quite the longevity. To be able to last three whole days." Mcgregor said.
"Jeez. I think I would have died at some point." Beowulf said with a twitching smile.
The girls interested in Kenshin, besides Rias were also murmuring among themselves.
"That's quite awhile, but standard fare for Lamia mating rituals." Alipheese commented with a smile.
"Yeah, I passed out from exhaustion several times and she kept me wrapped up in her coil." Kenshin snorted. "By the end of it I was so tapped I shambled into Draco's bar and faceplanted onto it. I swear if I tried to masturbate that day, a white flag with the word 'Bang!' would probably have shot out."
"It's true, he did." Draco said with a laugh. "Reminded me of one of the days after you and Ragnarok went a round."
"Hahahaha." Alipheese laughed.
"..." Kenshin glowered.
"Right..." Alipheese said. "Draco, Tamamo, run along."
"Right." Draco and Tamamo said as they flew away.
"..." Kenshin closed his eyes. "Before we begin...I want to ask you something."
"Ask away." Alipheese said.
"Do we really have to do this?" Kenshin asked. "Forget me and my empathic connection to Ragnarok, do you know how much this is tearing Tamamo apart? Not to mention the Spirits and Yuurei...I haven't been able to talk to the guy since I got to Makai."
"I thought you said you cast your fears aside?" Alipheese commented.
"Not all of them..." Kenshin said with a grunt. "We shouldn't do this, when we could be trying to figure this shit out, how to save Makai without us having to fight!"
"I've thought long and hard about this myself Kenshin." Alipheese said. "There is no other way."
"Yes there is!" Kenshin snapped. "You're just so stuck in your ways that you can't see it!"
"Oh? You presume to know better than I? The Mother of all youkai?" Alipheese asked with a demure smile with her eyes closed.
"Did I say that? ! No! We can find a way to prevent Makai's destruction if we just work together!" Kenshin shouted. "Alipheese please, I don't want to fight you!"
"Well that's too bad..." Alipheese said opening her eyes a bit, her power flowing outward. "Because I want to fight you."
"..." Kenshin's gaze hardened as he took out Shiroi Tengoku and Angel Halo. "Angel Halo should let me fight her without killing her right Heinrich?" Kenshin thought.
"It should...but I don't know how effective it will be against her." Heinrich said.
Kenshin let out a sigh. "Fine...I can see I can't talk you down." He readied himself. "Well if fighting you is the only way to placate you. Then I've changed my mind...I want to fight you too."
"Good." Alipheese said.
"Gotta say, this is quite a stage you prepared for all of us." Kenshin said. "An entire continent for us to freely rage about on."
"Well, we can't have this getting out to public...it just seemed right." Alipheese said. "The Hero of Makai and the Dark Goddess coming to blows? What would my darling little children think? Nothing else except disturbed plant life lives here. Mutations created by the odd fusions of both light and dark. It was the only place I could think of where we could freely battle without inhibition. Otherwise, the only place we who aren't criminals could do battle, is in prison itself."
"Heh..." Kenshin smirked a bit. "Who says we're not? If it weren't for our ability to do battle. You and I would both probably be sharing a jail cell, fucking to our hearts content."
"..." Alipheese smirked demurely. "You're not wrong...but still...as you stand now, you're a newborn suckling at his mother's teat. That Demigod power of yours, it flows woefully unrestrained."
"What do you mean?" Kenshin asked.
"What I mean is that this is why you're suited to this place. A perfect place to hone that power." Alipheese said. "What I truly mean is that...it's like you don't actually control that power, more like it controls you."
"..." Kenshin stared at her.
Back at Lucifer's Castle, Sirzechs stared at the screen thoughtfully. "...Kind of like me and the Human Shaped Aura of Destruction..." He thought. "Kenshin...what answer will you arrive at?"
"Hrm..." Kenshin grunted
"You should embrace whatever you're feeling in this state." Alipheese commented.
"Really?" Kenshin drawled. "Another god by the name of Shiva told me I should control myself. You say one thing, he says another. Who am I to believe?"
"Move like the wind, with the strength of the Earth, as calm and flowing like water, with attacks holding the blazing power of fire." Alipheese said. "Ragnarok was able to do this in his base state. Why can't you?"
"What am I? Shrodinger's Cat?" Kenshin snorted. "That sounds like a paradox when compared to what Shiva said."
"Hmn..." Alipheese closed her eyes with a smile. "Such a child. Nonetheless, you will learn it eventually...either that or you will die."
"Hrmph...figured it was something like that. Oh well...like I fucking care." Kenshin said. "So what's the plan here Alipheese? Are we trying to gut each here...like we're in a blissful eternal hell?"
"Kenshin...you're talking too much." Alipheese said. "Would you please remain silent...every time you speak to me..." Alipheese raised her head revealing a single scar on her chest. "My soul...screams your former name!"
Kenshin smirked widely. "Hah! Likewise! ! Your soul ain't the only one screaming Alipheese!" He said as he rushed after her. "Flash Kill!" He said stabbing Angel Halo into her shoulder.
"..." Alipheese said nothing.
"Haaaaaa!" Kenshin roared as he drove Alipheese backward.
"Hrrggh!" Alipheese grunted, before her tail wrapped around Kenshin's neck and threw him to the side.
"Tch!" Kenshin growled as he stabbed Shiroi Tengoku into the ground to stop his momentum. "!" His eyes widened as Alipheese was immediately on him. He cast his swords away and interlocked his fingers with hers. "Haaaaaa!"
"Aaaaaaaarrrrhhhh!" Alipheese shouted as their aura's collided, cratering the ground beneath them.
(boom!)
"!" Tamamo looked over at the explosion that came from where Kenshin and Alipheese were. "Aah? !" She bent backwards as Draco fired a volley of bolts at her before jumping backward.
"I know you're worried about them both, but please focus on the task at hand." Draco said.
"Nine Moons!" Tamamo said sending her tails after Draco.
"Updraft!" Draco shouted as a burst of wind shot him into the air.
"Tch!" Tamamo lunged toward him.
"Heh!" Draco disappeared as Tamamo stabbed her hand through his afterimage.
Tamamo glanced backward, seeing Draco appear behind her. "That annoying time magic of yours. You know, you could be helping to train Rias' Bishop Gasper."
"Well, I feel that time magic users should develop their own style." Draco said. Tamamo glowered at him. "Hey, it's what Taimu told me when we were together." He shrugged.
"Fair enough." Tamamo huffed.
"Swift Dual Shot!" Draco shouted firing pairs of bolts at her in quick succession.
"Tch!" Tamamo batted the all away with her tails...only to have one peg her in the shoulder from behind. "Agh? !" She glanced back seeing Draco smiling at her. "Grh..." She ripped the bolt out and threw it to the side, using her youki to heal the wound. She lunged after him. "Tamamo Punch!" She said.
Draco jumped out of the way as Tamamo's fist cratered the ground. He landed on the ground and rushed after her instead. "Rising Rush!" He shouted elbowing Tamamo in the sternum before uppercutting her.
Tamamo backflipped and landed on her feet, swinging her fan at him, unleashing a massive burst of wind. He stabbed one of the sharpened points of his bow into the ground and used it to root himself to the ground as wounds opened up on his arms. "Tch." He grunted.
"Why don't you use that elemental magic Ragnarok gave you?" Tamamo asked.
"I only use that for emergencies...not for a duel with an old friend." Draco said. "The capacity at which I can use it is extremely limited."
"Only because you haven't trained it." Tamamo commented.
"Hmph." Draco said before rushing her. "Rising Rush!" He said performing the same combo from before, but then turned to her aiming his bow at her with several bolts loaded. "Parting Shot!"
"Earth Guard!" Tamamo shouted, swatting them all away with her tails.
"Phantasm Clone!" Draco shouted as a pale white clone of himself appeared, grabbed his arm and threw upward as Draco went into a spin, firing bolts in a blistering pace. "Arrow Tornado!"
"Tch!" Tamamo was forced to keep dodging out of the way as endless barrage of bolts rained down on wherever she went. She saw him land and held her hand out in front of her. "Nine Tails Funeral Pyre!"
Draco's eyes widened as he crossed his arms out in front of him. "Water Shield! !" He shouted. He shouted as a shell of water formed around him as the blaze engulfed him eliminating his clone.
"!" Tamamo watched as Draco exploded out of the blaze, spinning his bow.
"Lightning Edge! !"Draco shouted crashing into her. "Rolling Moon Strike!" He said spinning his bladed bow, before stopping at her neck.
"Che!" Tamamo swatted his bow out of the way and pinned him onto the ground.
"I give." Draco said holding his hands up.
"..." Tamamo cautiously let him up and Draco cast his bow away. "You gave up so easily?"
"I didn't want to fight you from the jump." Draco said. "Still. I had fun." He grinned.
"...I wish I could say the same." Tamamo said. "You haven't lost a step at all." She commented.
"...That said..." Draco said. "Here." He said holding out a scroll.
Tamamo took it and rolled it open "...!" Her eyes widened as she read the contents before taking off toward Kenshin and Alipheese's fight.
"I'm sorry Tamamo..." Draco said before extending his hand toward her, widening his eyes. "Time's Cage!"
"? !" Tamamo was frozen in time. "Wait...why can't I move? !"
"I'm sorry Tamamo, but Alipheese asked me not to let you interfere." Draco said.
"G-Ghhh!" Tamamo slowly fought against Draco's time magic and scowled. "D-Damn you Draco! Either Mother's going to kill Kenshin, or Kenshin is going to kill Mother! I have to stop them!"
"I know! But this is a decision Alipheese made for herself!" Draco said.
"You're asking me to watch my mother or the love of my life die? !" Tamamo growled.
"A-All I'm asking is that you just watch their battle. If you see a point you need to step in, do it!" Draco said.
"..." Tamamo calmed down and Draco released his time magic. They both walked up to a nearby ledge where they could see Alipheese and Kenshin's fight. Draco brought out a jar of sake and two dishes. He filled them both and handed one to Tamamo. "It will just make you feel good, it won't get you drunk unless you drink a lot of it."
"Alright." Tamamo said taking the dish.
"...I trust them to make the right decision." Draco said sipping from his dish.
"..." Tamamo glanced at him for a moment before sighing sadly. "I trust Kenshin, but..." She trailed off.
(break)
Back with Alipheese and Kenshin.
Kenshin's swords dug into the ground as Alipheese swatted him backward with her tail. He appeared above her with Angel Halo held skyward. "Heavenly Demon Revival! !" He said slashing down at her.
"..." Alipheese casually batted the sword to her side as she slashed her claws at Kenshin's chest.
"!" Kenshin jumped back, nursing a bleeding wound as he slashed Shiroi Tengoku, intending to launch a Katensho at Alipheese when her tail wrapped around his wrist, stopping his arm. "!" He pivoted using his other hand and kicked Alipheese in the ribs sending her flying.
"Hrmph!" Alipheese wrapped her tail around a spire of earth and spun around, a spear of darkness appearing in her hand as she shot herself back toward Kenshin.
"Shit!" Kenshin said taking a defensive formation with Angel Halo and Shiroi Tengoku as her spear collided against them. "!" His eyes widened as Alipheese started to push him back, his heels digging into the earth.
"Kenshin, you were smart to have Tamamo unbind your seal before we began. I commend you for your foresight." Alipheese said. "However...that also means this is the extent of what you can do."
"!" Blood shot out of Kenshin's shoulder as Alipheese slashed a second spear upward before stabbing it into his back. "Katensho!" He said slashing Angel Halo at her, blasting him backward.
Alipheese emerged unharmed with a disinterested look. "Pathetic."
Back at Lucifer's Castle everyone stared at the screen in shock. Issei voiced what everyone was likely thinking. "Kenshin's in his strongest form...and she's just shrugging it off like it's nothing!"
"...So this is the power of the Dark Goddess..." Granberia said in awe.
Blood rolled down Kenshin's chest and shoulder. "Well...let no one say you didn't earn your place as the Dark Goddess. I'm having a hard time even in this state." Kenshin said.
"You stand back and take a defensive beating to gauge your opponent's skills and strength." Alipheese commented before drawling. "...I cannot see how someone like you would possibly enjoy fighting in such a manner."
"Well it helps that most of my pain receptors are seriously dulled." Kenshin replied. "Besides, it's how my father taught me to fight. Still...I expected more from you."
"What do you mean?" Alipheese asked.
"Using such roundabout tactics to damage me. Your battles with Ilias shook Makai to it's core? I just don't see it." Kenshin said pulling the spear out and throwing it to the side. "This is nothing like the person that we respected!"
"Kuroshi Tsuki Kenshin, one shouldn't use the word respect when addressing their enemy! Especially during a fight to the death!" Alipheese shouted.
"Alright then bitch let's fucking go!" Kenshin shouted. "I'm gonna disrespect all over your ass." He lunged for her, slashing his sword wildly. "Ninefold Rakshasa!"
(Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!)
Alipheese offset all of Kenshin's sword slashes with her dark spear. "Che!" Kenshin pointed Shiroi Tengoku at her. "Katentou!"
"Grh!" Alipheese was driven back, cuts on her arms as she guarded against his attack. Her form pulsed for a moment. "Devouring Darkness!"
"!" Kenshin's eyes widened as darkness began to surround his Knives of Heavenly Fire and they disappeared. He rushed toward her, jumping, his thighs landing on her shoulder. "Shinmeiryuu Ukigumo! Sakura Sanka!" He said pivoting himself backward, throwing Alipheese over him with his legs.
He got up and dodged to the left as Alipheese's dark spear shot by him, but a force hit him in the small of his back, sending him bouncing off the ground before crashing into a rock formation. "Ghh...!" His eyes widened as Alipheese rushed him, stabbing a spear into his stomach. "...Sorry ta say, but ya bit on the fa-? !" He saw her aim her other hand out toward her left.
"Alpha Blaze." She said as a great blast of fire shot out of her hand.
When the smoke cleared from that attack, Kenshin was revealed to be standing where it struck, his eyes glowing. The clone she stabbed dispelled. "...Wow, I think you're the only one who's ever noticed the clone bomb before I could set it off." He said.
"Hrmph!" Alipheese stabbed her tail into the ground.
"? !" Kenshin turned only to get smacked into the rock formation. "Damn!" He said slashing Shiroi Tengoku and Angel Halo at her one after the other, only to have them both swatted out of his hands, stabbing into the ground to his left, right next to each other. "!" His eyes widened as she pointed her claws at his throat making him freeze.
"Nothing has changed about me." Alipheese said. "It's merely that Ragnarok, when we first met...never gave me the chance to use those roundabout tactics."
"..." Kenshin stared back at her. "So...you're saying...that Ragnarok got weaker...and by extension me?"
"..." Alipheese didn't respond.
Kenshin's eyes narrowed, a strange feeling of nostalgia washing over him. "Alipheese...Ragnarok...he...worshiped you. That one incident where he thought he lost you aside...You were always the one on his mind..." Kenshin said. "Every time I sleep nowadays..I see more and more of his memories. Ilias' humans feared him because of the elemental power he couldn't quite control. Hell...Trees, Rocks, Rivers, Flames...people? It was no different to him than swinging his sword in practice by himself. It was all the same to him. It bored him so much, and no one other than Draco would spar with him." He closed his eyes. "I've seen your fight with him...and you were the first one to make him feel fear. The first time a battle excited him. He decided then...that he wanted to follow you, fight as you did...and eventually...love sprung from that yearning. To walk and fight alongside the woman who had given him excitement for the first time. To one day surpass you..."
"..." Alipheese stared at him impassively as a tear rolled down Kenshin's left cheek.
"But...I guess we die another miserable death." Kenshin said. "Still unable to make that dream a reality."
"..." Alipheese said nothing as she slashed Kenshin across the throat with her claws.
"Kulh? !" Blood filled Kenshin's mouth some of it spilling out onto Alipheese's face. .
Everyone in Lucifer's Castle was shocked. Rias turned to Sirzechs. "Onii-Sama you need to send us over there now!" Rias shouted.
"Right!" Sirzechs said trying to activate his spell. "W-What? ! Something's blocking it!"
"Tch! It's probably the influx of holy and demonic energies the Deadlands are imbued with." Azazel said.
"..." Kenshin fell forward, his eyes dulling. "Damn it..." He thought.
"..." Alipheese moved out of the way to allow Kenshin to fall onto the ground...but he never did. "!" She looked over seeing Kenshin standing where his swords were, grabbing them both, the same dull look in his eyes, but the thing that struck Alipheese the most, was the fact that water and earth spiraled around his left and right arms, while wind and fire spiraled around his left and right legs.
"!" Shiroi Tengoku disappeared before Kenshin did as well, appearing in front of her with his fist covered in the elements, slamming it into her sternum.
"Kulah!" Alipheese gasped out, bellowing out stomach acid and blood as she was blasted backward. Kenshin appeared above her after her momentum stopped and extended his hand, sending a massive wave of youki at her. "Krrhh!" Alipheese batted it away, her hand shaking before Kenshin appeared above her, slashing his sword at her with Heavenly Demon Revival. She guarded against this with her hands clapping against the blade.
Suddenly, Kenshin's eyes regained focus and the elements spiraling around his limbs disappeared.
"Is everything alright Kuroshi Tsuki Kenshin? You seemed to have passed out for a bit there." Alipheese asked.
"Passed out? Oh who fucking cares? The only thing that matters right now is that I'm still fighting her...and I will win!" Kenshin thought as he slashed her away. . "Still though...I felt her slit my throat." He thought. "Fuck it. Now's not the time. I need to keep fighting her, so I can win!"
Alipheese stared at Kenshin as she landed a distance away. "Kenshin Tsuki Kuroshi...I won't let you die here." She thought. "You, Ragnarok, Heinrich Hein, Shin Tatsu, Ryuushin Kuroshi...all of you return stronger once you've crossed over the border of death. What just happened now proves it. That is the oversight Ragnarok's soul imposed on you all." She thought. "It's also the sin I created for myself."
Back at Lucifer's Castle Saji spoke up. "Uhm...did anyone notice something off about Kenshin just now?"
"Well...plants weren't growing around him anymore...and the elements were each surrounding his limbs. Easily transferable to any one of them." Sona said.
"That and that punch...it looks stronger than his regular Elemental Spica, even the one he used against Ialda Baoth." Rias said. "It seemed...sharper, more focused."
"But she said he passed out, what did she mean by that." Issei said.
"That and she IS the Dark Goddess right? Wouldn't she be negating Kenshin's regeneration? So wouldn't slitting his throat be fatal?" Negi asked.
At the same time, Tamamo and Draco watched the battle between Kenshin and Alipheese.
"Hot Damn, I was right." Draco said.
"What do you mean?" Tamamo asked.
"Kenshin's power in this 'Demigod State' is very raw." Draco said. "Yet when the moment came that Alipheese slit his throat...it truly activated if not for a small burst.."
"Truly activated?" Tamamo asked.
"That's a rough description, but accurate." Draco said. "Ragnarok was the same after training with you, the other five ancestors and Alipheese some more, but Kenshin's problem is that he's forced to channel Ophis and Great Red's power along with his own. At this point, if he's overwhelmed with emotion, his mind can't focus on helping his body control the power. That's why it just flows outward, making plantlife grow around him. It was stifling his power internally so it could flow externally. This brought about his Elemental Possession techniques which he came up with before, but didn't know how to appropriately use until his fight against Ialda Baoth."
"Wait, so this entire fight is about...!" Tamamo said with wide eyes.
"It was all from my creation." Draco said. "That letter I gave you was only if the worst came to happen, and one of them died." Draco smiled at Tamamo. "I'm happy for you Tamamo, that you finally found someone who won't leave you, but trust your mother and your lover to both make it out of this alive."
Tamamo laid her hand over her heart. "Thank you Draco...I...I do, but..." Tamamo said.
"If either one of their lives are in danger I'm jumping in." She said.
"I don't blame you. I won't stop you." Draco said. "Though I need to add something..."
"What?" Tamamo asked.
"Both Kenshin and Alipheese need to treat this like a fight to the death." Draco said. "Ever since Ragnarok first fought Alipheese...I always felt like he was holding back on anyone not named Yama, Ddraig or Albion. Ophis and Great Red aside because they bodied him and I know nothing about his fight with God...I always wondered what caused it." Draco said. "All I'm saying is don't be surprised if you see deathblows."
"I see..." Tamamo said.
(break)
With Alma and Minagi.
"Haaaa!" Alma and Minagi both clashed against each other, the latter's forearm clashing against the former's back hand, they both jumped back and Minagi smirked. "Gotta say, you're pretty good."
Alma smirked back. "You are too."
"Obviously! We Succubi had to have a way to defend ourselves if our advances were refused." Minagi said. "It wasn't a problem for me, but it was for my children, so I taught them how to fight...how it got lost on your mother I'll never know!"
"Well at least let me thank you for not putting me under." Alma said.
"Mom wanted Kenshin alone. Though for what I'm not sure." Minagi said. "Still. Even we Succubi crave excitement apart from sexual. We're just an excitable species."
"Well it is in our nature." Alma said with a smirk. "I wanna prove my self as the strongest...sexiest succubus."
"High bar you set for yourself." Minagi commented.
"Well, what can I say? I like to aim high! Diamond Plated Fist!" Alma said punching at Minagi's chest.
"Grrrhhh!" Minagi growled as she grabbed Alma's wrist, but was driven back as a result.
"Something the matter grandma?" Alma teased.
"Oh you just had to go there didn't you? !" Minagi said leaping into the air, kicking at her head.
Alma backflipped, avoiding the kick. "Just taking a page from Kenshin-Chan's book and talking a little trash, but I mean...you ARE my ancestor."
"Oh, so that's what you meant." Minagi said cracking her neck. "Well let's keep going."
Their fists collided against each other. "Using my Succubus Arts, pleasure attacks is useless against her." Alma thought. "I have to keep being violent!"
"So you realize that Succubi Arts are useless against me..." Minagi appeared behind Alma. "But are they useless against you?" Minagi said copping a feel on Alma's breast.
"N-Naaaahh? !" Alma turned and swatted Minagi away.
"I see..." Minagi smirked. "They're not."
"Oh please! You just caught me by surprise!" Alma said appearing behind Minagi, copping a feel on her ass.
"Nnnhhhh!" Minagi bit her bottom lip as she moaned.
"Heheh," Alma laughed.
"Little brat." Minagi smirked.
"Come on, we're both Succubi here, even if you could use your aura as the Great Whore of Babylon. As the Queen Succubus I am immune!" Alma said.
"I see...Pleasure attacks won't work on either of us. The only time it worked when we met is because my aura wrapped around you before you could expect it." Minagi said driving her elbow toward Alma's head.
"Aagh!" Alma cried out, but grabbed Minagi's arm before she could pull away. She smiled. "Sorry, but I can't really enjoy fighting without people watching."
Minagi tried to wretch her arm from Alma's grasp but couldn't. She smirked. "You're like me...I could never derive pleasure from a fight unless I had an audience!"
"Heh!" Alma let Minagi's wrist go and jumped back as the Ancestress pursued her.
"You know, after Mother is finished with that Kenshin guy, I'm gonna fuck him!" Minagi said. "A nice reward for all the times Ragnarok turned me down!"
"Tch!" Alma growled. "Diamond Plated Fist!"
"Kulh? !" Minagi gasped out as she was unable to avoid the strike as it caved in her chest, sending her backward. "W-What...the hell?" Minagi said.
"I'm tougher than you think...and if you think you're fucking Kenshin-Chan without my permission, think again." Alma said.
Minagi smirked. "I see...you've got a thing for him." She said. "I rescind my earlier threat, but in return, give me a good fight will you? I haven't had one since Ragnarok."
"As long as you keep my lust for violence a secret. Succubi would be ashamed if they knew their queen loved fighting and violence." Alma said.
"Oh please!" Minagi shouted. "After this I'll go to where they are and reeducate them myself!"
"Well, if I have you backing me..." Alma said putting her left leg forward ever so slightly while her right leg while it was behind her, holding her arms and hands forward.
Minagi smiled appreciatively at this and assumed a similar pose before she flew toward Alma.
"Hrmn!" Alma grabbed one of Minagi's arms and used it to throw the Ancestress to the ground.
"Hahaha." Minagi laughed happily. "Good One!" She said before yanking Alma down, wrapping her legs around Alma's head while pulling Alma toward her. "Hell's Gate."
"G-Ghhh!" Alma both growled and choked out, before she raised up, taking Minagi with her, slamming her to the dirt.
"Gaah!" Minagi relinquished the hold
"Let me try a hold of my own!" Alma said grabbing Minagi's legs, putting one of her own in between. , crossing the Succubus Ancestress' legs before flipping her on her belly holding Minagi's ankles together with one hand before pulling back.
"Aaaagghhh!" Minagi cried out in pain, feeling the muscles in her hips, thighs and abdomen stretched beyond their limits. "What kind of hold is this? !"
"It's call the Sharpshooter" Alma said with a smirk. "And I can even put my own spin on it!"
"!" Minagi's eyes widened as Alma's tail wrapped around her ankles as Alma's hands planted themselves on her biceps as Alma bent backwards, purple hair blocking Minagi's vision. "A-Aaaagghhh! !" Minagi screamed out in pain.
"You did ask me to give you a good fight." Alma said turning her head to Minagi, smirking.
"Rrgh!" Minagi forced one of her hands backward and blasted Alma with her mana, knocking her off.
"..." Alma watched Minagi get back up.
"Nice one, I wasn't expecting that." Minagi said. "After we finish this though...there's something I need to talk with you about."
"Huh?" Alma said with a curious look.
"It has something to do with Kenshin-Chan." Minagi smirked.
Alma glared. "If you're planning on moving on him, I'm going to fuck you right the hell up"
Minagi waved her hands. "Relax Alma. I won't move on him unless he wants me to. It's about your servitude toward him."
Alma quirked an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?"
"Haaa...well I guess we can do this now." Minagi said as she relaxed her stance. "I've had enough fun. I can't really enjoy this with all the drama surrounding Kenshin and Mom."
Alma did the same in turn. "Same here, but what do you mean?" She repeated.
Alma Elma vs Minagi- Mutual Forfeit
"Well...when I first started creating Succubi and Incubi. Mother forced me to apply a curse on them and all their children." Minagi explained.
"A curse?" Alma asked.
"As you know we are a very lascivious people. Mother didn't want that upsetting Ilias before the war. The curse was...if one of my daughters, which you are, would find a being they could call Master or even a lover. That a seal would appear that made her desperate for pleasure." Minagi explained. "You already have a master/servant relationship with Kenshin-Chan, right?"
"Yes? Though it was to revive me from death." Alma answered.
"I'm afraid it doesn't matter. You refuse an order of his...the curse will activate, making you desperate for his touch, and his touch alone." Minagi said. "It's called the Master/Servant pact. I can't count how many times Mom had to discipline me." She said with a relaxed sigh.
"So...i-if I get what you're saying...I'm basically Kenshin-Chan's bitch?" Alma asked.
"No, not really." Minagi said. "The curse only activates when he gives you an order and you refuse...like say he orders you to stop teasing him and his various lovers if he has any, which I know he does...and you refuse, the curse will activate, other than that your will is always your own. Also, the curse won't activate as well, if you refuse an order because you're worried about him."
"Oh...good." Alma smiled.
"I at least tried to be fair about the damn thing." Minagi shrugged. "Anyway, what I said to you when we met, about you being a youngling for the position of Succubus Queen. That was just me teasing you. I think you're a fine Succubus Queen." Minagi said with a smile.
"..." Alma smiled back. "Thanks Minagi. My mother always told me that I enjoyed martial arts too much, that I'd make a horrible Queen...so hearing that from you really is comforting."
"Hey, we gotta have a way to defend ourselves right?" Minagi said. "That and you rule hands off, which is good. Succubi don't need to be ruled strictly. We all need to be free spirits."
Alma closed her eyes with a smile. "That's what I was going for, Bureijin, the Incubus King is more hands on, but it's more him just checking in on them, making sure they're well supplied and all that in Murasaki Village."
"Hmn...it sounds like you were the free spirit, while he was the doting father." Minagi said.
"Kinda. Bureijin was always concerned about our people, I was too, but I trusted them to make it out OK." Alma said. "He was especially worried during the Youkai Revolution, when our village had been barricaded."
"I see...in the future, might I go visit this place with you two?" Minagi asked.
"Of course!" Alma said clapping her hands together with a smile, her eyes closed. "They should all get the chance to meet their great ancestor."
"Hmhm~!" Minagi laughed a bit. "Say, Alma."
"Yes?" Alma asked.
"Maybe the two of us could share him one night? I was never able to get Ragnarok to do it with me. I wouldn't be stealing him, just borrowing him, you know?" Minagi asked. "Ragnarok always turning me down was really a blow to my pride."
"Hrmn..." Alma frowned for a bit before smiling. "Well he was able to last three days with Alice, the current Demon Queen, but really it's up to him."
"Ahh, I see." Minagi said with a smile.
"Plus...I can't wait to feel what he can do with the elements in bed." Alma said with a delighted sigh.
"Hm?" Minagi said. "I've heard of them, but is that actually true?"
"Oh it's absolutely true!" Alma said. "Let me explain."
The Succubus Queen and Succubus Ancestress would go on to talk for a long while.
(break)
Evangeline vs. Kanon.
Evangeline jumped to the side as Kanon's vines shot by her before retracting. Kanon smirked at this. "Well, I do like playing with my food." She said.
"Please." Evangeline said. "If you think I'm going to go down easy, think again." She extended her hand toward Kanon. "One Thousand Arrows of Ice!"
"!" Kanon used her various vines and flowers to swat the magic arrows away. "Like I said, it'll take more than a little cold to force me back." Kanon said with a smirk.
"Heh." Evangeline smirked. "Good. I hate fighting weaklings."
"Then you'll find I'm powerful!" Kanon said.
"!" Evangeline's eyes widened as a giant Venus Fly Trap enclosed around her. "G-Grrrhhh!" She growled as she struggled against it.
"Hahahahaha!" Kanon laughed. "Just so you know, out of all my sisters. I was regarded as the most sadistic!"
"..." Evangeline smirked.
"Eh?" Kanon said.
The air grew colder around Evangeline as her aura grew dark. "Magia Erebea: Equip Armament: Kosmike Katastrope: Armament Queen of Ice!"
The Venus Fly Trap around Evangeline quickly froze and she flexed her arms outward, breaking it to pieces. "Hrmn!" She flew right at Kanon and punched forward, freezing and tearing her left arm off.
"Grh!" Kanon cocked her fist back and punched Evangeline backward.
"!" Evangeline watched as Kanon's arm grew back, the green skin of her severed arm pulsating and growing a new limb like a plant.
"My regenerative abilities are seconded only by Kanade if you don't count our mother." Kanon said.
"Hm...I knew all of you had impressive healing abilities. I just didn't know the order." Evangeline said with a smirk. "This might be like fighting Kenshin in that regard?"
"Hm? He too has amazing vitality?" Kanon asked.
"Indeed." Evangeline replied.
"I see!" Kanon said before stabbing her vines and pistils into the ground.
"? !" Evangeline's eyes widened as the branches and leaves of trees all the plantlife around them, lunged toward her. "Nivus Casus!" An explosion of snow and ice erupted from Evangeline, taking out most of Kanon's attacks. "!" Thorny vines cut past, slicing into her sides, legs and one of her cheeks.
Kanon burst through. "I thought I told you, it would take more than a little cold to beat me!" She said thrusting her hand at Evangeline's chest.
(squelch!)
"Kulh..." Evangeline coughed up blood as Kanon's hand tore through her right lung.
"Hahahaha..." Kanon laughed with a smirk. "With this your time is limited, even a being like you can't survive if you can't breathe...now...I'll leave you here and go assist Mother."
(clench!)
"? !" Kanon's eyes widened as Evangeline locked her arm in a death grip.
"You're...really not familiar with Shinso Vampire biology are you?" Evangeline said looking up with a smile. "You can't kill me unless you destroy my body entirely. Tamamo warned me that you were a sadist."
"Gulh!" Green blood shot out of Kanon's mouth as a blade of magic thrust into her stomach.
"Well I got news for you Ancestress. You're not the only one with a sadistic streak in them." Evangeline said with a smirk.
"Grh!" Kanon and Evangeline jumped back away from each other. The former landing on the large flower she was seated on previously. She watched as Evangeline's wound twisted shut as her body regenerated. Her own stab wound also sealing shut. She smirked demurely. "Interesting..." She said wiping her chin.
"She also mentioned an ultimate form?" Evangeline said making Kanon cringe. "What?"
"I...don't actually like using that form." Kanon said. "I only used it in the war."
"Hm? Why?" Evangeline asked.
"Well, because it's grotesque as hell." Kanon said. "I can make due with my present form." She said before extending her hand as a red whip shot into her hand.
"Well, if you insist on not using it. I won't make you." Evangeline shrugged. "Everyone has the own way of doing battle."
"Thank you." Kanon said before looking up at the sky. "Honestly, when I was born and as I aged. I wasn't that much of a sadist. I just wanted people to experience the beauty of nature. Both Humans and my fellow Youkai."
"Hm?" Evangeline paused. "What do you mean?"
"It was really the war that turned me into this. The Divine War." Kanon said. "I...I hated what the war, the constant battles between light and dark were turning my children into. Misshapen, pained beings, begging for death...it was then...that I decided that I would give my enemies the ultimate pain, but still...we had to feed off of them as well." Kanon said with a scowl. "I hated what they were doing to my children...even as they tasted pleasure as they melted away."
"Whoa! Wait, you mean you ate them? !" Evangeline shouted.
"Oh please, don't try to matronize me you blood sucker!" Kanon shouted as her vines that had lamp buds hanging from them shot toward her.
"G-Grrh? !" Evangeline crossed her arms as strange yellow liquid splashed all over her arms and legs. "A-Aagh? !" She felt intense burning from them.
"How do you like it?" Kanon asked with a smirk. "That's a special type of acid I secrete. Now for the finishing touches!" Kanon said swinging her whip in quick succession at Evangeline before pulling back finally and watching blood shoot out of Evangeline's body in the shape of a rose. "Bloody Rose!"
"G-Ghh..." Evangeline looked down at her arms and legs, seeing exposed muscle tissue, but the thing that struck her as she panted...cheeks flushed...was that she felt no pain. "..."
"Feels good doesn't it?" Kanon said with a smile. "That acid doesn't cause pain, that burning you felt was just the initial application."
"W-What the hell are you talking about?" Evangeline said.
"That acid spread an aphrodisiac into your system." Kanon said. "All of my attacks...will now incite pleasure in you, but don't worry. I won't devour you. As a Shinso Vampire, you're basically a living corpse and those taste disgusting."
Evangeline smirked at her as her wounds regenerated. "Well I understand you there. Dead man's blood actually freezes up my kind. We can only feed off living beings."
"Alright, then let's go!" Kanon said rushing toward her, swinging her whip at Evangeline.
"Frigerans Exarmatio!" Evangeline intoned freezing Kanon's whip as well as any other plants that rushed toward her. Evangeline then rushed Kanon, chanting a spell. "Nivis Tempestas Obscurans!"
"Aaaaaggghhh!" Kanon cried out, being blow away by a focused storm of ice and dark magic, too fused together for her to try and suck the dark magic out of to heal.
"Heh!" Evangeline smirked.
"Grrhh..." Kanon growled.
(slam!)
"!" Both Kanon and Evangeline looked over to see a dragon's body land near them, covered in darkness.
"You? !" Evangeline said. "Kanon! Our fight is over! I'm going to need your help here!"
"Right!" Kanon said.
Evangeline vs. Kanon: Interrupted.
(break)
Back with Kenshin and Alipheese.
Kenshin was sent flying backward by a strike from Alipheese. His eyes were dull for a moment before regaining focus. He noticed the elements disappearing from his limbs. "How many times have I blacked out? I lost count after ten" He thought as he stabbed Angel Halo into the ground to stop himself,. "That...and why do the elements disappear from my limbs when I come to?" He thought before his eyes widened. "Oh fuck it! She's coming!" Kenshin thought, before stabbing Angel Halo at her, but her tail knocked it away. "!"
"Like I said...this is a fight to the death. Little Youkai." Alipheese said.
"Shit! Without Angel Halo it's immensely harder to keep my promise to Tamamo." Kenshin thought.
"Hoho? You thought you could seal me with Lucifina's blade? How naïve. " Alipheese mocked. "Her mother is my opposite, do you really think a lesser being like yourself could seal me?"
"Grrrhh! " Kenshin tried to get to where Angel Halo landed, but to no avail as Alipheese stopped him at every turn.
"Again and a fucking gain I've been spacing out in this fight! Why? !" Kenshin thought. "Then I come too, the elements disappear from my fucking limbs, but I'm still fighting Alipheese!" He thought.. "It feels...nostalgic in a way. I said I saw her fight with Ragnarok earlier, but really I only saw bits and pieces, but seriously...Fights always gave me a rush...Issei, Vali, Sairaorg, Forbesii...they all excited me, but...they never made me black out!" He thought. "I'm not Ragnarok who blacked out in his first duel with Alipheese!"
"Kenshin...you may think that Ragnarok blacked out in his fight against me, but that is not true. It's a handicap that has transferred from soul to soul." Alipheese thought. "That is why I provoked you to come here." She thought, offsetting all of Kenshin's slashes. "Let me share a memory with you as we fight." She thought as she grabbed Kenshin's head and closed her eyes for a moment before going right into battle.
"? !" Kenshin's eyes widened as the vision of Alipheese melted into a forested path. It was raining. He looked around. "Hey, Alipheese! Tamamo, Draco, Yukari? ! Is anyone there? !"
"Be quiet and watch." He heard Alipheese say.
Kenshin looked up before slowly nodding nervously. He turned and noticed a pair of lamia figures coming toward him, the path itself littered with bodies. He recognized them as Alipheese and Saja. "It's hopeless Mother, we've all turned this place upside down, but still we couldn't find anyone strong enough to placate you."
"That and Ilias is withholding her forces for now. Letting the humans who attack us fend for themselves." Alipheese said with a sigh. "Nonetheless, you figured out my true intention?" Alipheese asked.
"Yes, we're merely maintaining peace in Makai. We haven't even launched an assault on Ilias' Divine Realms in quite some time. Our own soldiers were getting restless." Saja said.
"Such excitable children." Alipheese said.
Kenshin watched all this with a surprised look. "Is it just me...or does she sound...bored...no...apathetic." He thought. "...Kind of like me on some of my Rikudou jobs."
"In any case, I'm surprised you came out here for something so trivial." Saja said.
"Well, even I need to stretch my arms and tail out every once and awhile." Alipheese replied.
"True." Saja nodded. "Still, what do we do with these bodies?"
"...Give them to Kanon and Kanade. It's been awhile since they ate." Alipheese said. "They probably won't like it, but fodder like these are always disappointing."
The two happened to pass a peculiarly large pile of corpses. "Alright. They may not like it, but there's plenty here for them." Saja said.
"..." Alipheese glanced over at the pile. "Excuse me...but how long has this mound of corpses been here Saja?"
"Huh?" Saja blinked curiously. "Wait, you weren't the one who killed them Mother?" She asked.
"?" Alipheese glanced upward, seeing a lone figure standing atop the pile, wielding a sword. It was a human male, wearing tattered black robes, dark eyes staring back at her, "He...can't be any older than sixteen." She thought.
"What's with that little one?" Saja said. "Mother all-"
"Stand back Saja...this one is mine." Alipheese said slithering forward as the youth leaped off the body pile and lunged toward her.
As Kenshin watched this, he heard Alipheese's voice say. "As the Divine Wars raged on. I grew apathetic. For my power, for my duels with Ilias." Alipheese appeared next to him, watching the battle before them.
"W-Wait, if we're both here, what's going on outside." Kenshin asked.
"More of the same." Alipheese answered.
"But then-!" Kenshin was cut off.
"All your questions shall be answered soon. Just be quiet and watch." Alipheese said before she disappeared.
"Hey!" Kenshin said.
(clang!)
"!" Kenshin looked over to see the young man's sword clash against Alipheese's spear.
Alipheese turned her head. "Get everyone out of here Saja! This one is powerful!"
"Right! Everyone, fall back, leave this one to Mother!" Saja said, retreating.
"Hrm." Alipheese grunted with a smirk. "What is your name, you strong strapping young lad?"
"Ragnarok." The young man replied with a smirk. "You're pretty strong yourself Baa-San."
"Oh, calling me old? !" Alipheese balked as she swatted Ragnarok back.
Ragnarok smirked holding his sword out to the left. "The elements tell me you've been around for awhile. That's all I was saying."
Alipheese stared for a moment. "I had received reports from Tamamo that there was a human male who was feared by other humans, because of supernatural powers he couldn't control. Only one male named Draco accepting him." She thought.
"Water Thrust!" Ragnarok shouted, stabbing his blade forward, sending an intense burst of hot water at Alipheese, watching it tear through her abdomen.
"Kulh..." Blood filled Alipheese's mouth as her wound regenerated. She smirked with narrowed eyes. "Interesting."
"Heh!" Ragnarok smirked back holding his sword at the ready.
Kenshin watched the battle go on with wide eyes. "I had become a nomad." Kenshin looked around, hearing Alipheese speak. "The Divine Wars had bored me so I went searching. I wanted to find someone worthy...who was stronger than I. That rule that whomever marries the Demon Queen must be stronger than her. It may have become relevant with my seventh successor(Black Alice), but it was started by me."
"?" Kenshin looked over seeing Ragnarok and Alipheese clashing again. "We both wanted an equal...and that lust drew us like moths to a flame.
"Haaaa!" Ragnarok yelled, stabbing his sword into Alipheese's chest.
"? !" Alipheese stared at him in shock for a moment.
"It was pure bliss...no...utter euphoria..." Alipheese said to Kenshin. "I never thought that I, of all youkai would find such bliss, crossing blades with a mere young man...and that same young man, would of all things, handcuff himself in that very battle."
"W-What? !" Kenshin thought before his vision changed from the battle between Ragnarok and Alipheese to his own battle with Alipheese.
He stabbed Shiroi Tengoku into the ground to stop his momentum. "Grh! Screw it! I know how to not kill somebody." He thought creating a flame sword in his hand. He slashed it upward, slashing Alipheese across her right bicep as blood sprayed out of the wound. "Finally! I fucking got her!"
"Yes." Salamander said. "Before you merely reacting to her movements."
Undine spoke as well. "Now you're moving on reflex. It's like our power is flowing through you more easily in this state, and I don't just mean ours."
"Ophis' mana which was converted into your own and the flesh of Great Red are flowing more easier too." Gnome said.
"Yeah!" Sylph said. "In short, it feels like you're getting stronger."
"It's just, your mind is in disarray" Undine said. "You're wrestling with Father's feelings, Mother's feelings and your promise to Tamamo. It's weighing you down."
"Hrm..." Kenshin grunted mentally. "In any case...every time I black out. I feel like I come back stronger than before." He thought. "The elements disappear from my limbs too. Are you four trying to send me a message?"
"No." Salamander said, Sylph, Gnome and Undine nodded in agreement. "This isn't us Kenshin. We can feel it too. It's like something is trying burst out of us...no...like something is trying to merge our collective powers together." ."
"Yuurei?" Kenshin said.
"..."
"Right, stupid to ask right now." Kenshin thought. "Still...what did she mean by handcuff himself...and what's that got to do with me?" He wondered before one of his naginatas appeared in his hand. "Water Thrust!"
"Kuh? !" Alipheese gasped out, but no wound was revealed.
"Wait what? !" Kenshin thought. "I gave that stab everything I had, and it didn't even wound her? !"
(smack!)
Alipheese's tail hit Kenshin, sending him to the ground. "Kenshin Kuroshi...you have yet to notice." She thought to herself. "Subconsciously...you've been holding back your whole life...in your battles. Suppressing yourself. This is not to say you suppressed yourself against foes you found worthy. Like Issei Hyoudou, Vali Lucifer, Sairaorg Bael among others. Yes I've looked into your memories during this fight. I know whom you've fought...but the thing is...you find pleasure in fighting to your utmost limits. Limits...that are continually growing" Alipheese thought. "If this were not the case...why did you lose by a hair's breadth to Hottan Ialda? Then again...why did you win against Ialda Baoth by a hair's breadth? Needing your loved ones to help you? Negi Springfield aside."
Alipheese shook her head and sent Kenshin flying back. "A lay person..." She whispered to herself. "Would say that they were strong, but that in it's nature is a lie." Alipheese said as Kenshin flew toward her. Shiroi Tengoku poised to stab her. She dodged and smacked Kenshin away.
"G-Grrh!" Kenshin growled, glancing at Angel Halo before leaping for it.
"Didn't I tell you earlier that this was a fight to the death?" Alipheese asked preventing him from grabbing it's hilt by pulling him by the leg with her tail. "Lucifina's blade will not help you." She said leveling him with a punch to the chest.
"Kulah!" Kenshin gasped out, blood shooting from his mouth as he tumbled across the ground. "Haa...haa...you said in that memory you showed me, that Ragnarok started handicapping himself after your fight. A fight that you won..."
"..." Alipheese said nothing.
"What the fuck does that have to do with me?" Kenshin growled. "I'm getting really fucking tired of people always drawing comparisons between us! I! AM! NOT! RAGNAROK!"
"And I'm not saying that you are." Alipheese said. "However...you can't deny that you two do share a lot of personality traits."
"Whatever." Kenshin said. "So you're saying that he held back in his fight, even in the Underworld? Against Ddraig and Albion? The Heavenly Dragons?" Kenshin asked.
"Looking back on his memories, I can say for certain that those two pushed him to his limits. He did not."
Back at Lucifer's Castle. Ddraig spoke up through Issei's left hand. "Well, that's good to know at least...still what does she mean?"
"This is confusing us as well. It almost sounds like she's accosting Kenshin for doing the same as she claims Ragnarok of doing." Grayfia said.
"Nonetheless...you say I won that fight? I see things differently." Alipheese said.
"?" Kenshin quirked an eyebrow at this. "Well, ya left his ass on the ground, covered in blood. If that's not you winning, I don't know what is."
"You only see it from his perspective." Alipheese said. "In that battle, the both of us reached a level of euphoria that neither of us had ever experienced. If I had defeated him...why feel the need to handicap himself?"
"..." Kenshin's eyes narrowed curiously.
"Even my battles with Ilias paled in comparison to what I felt when I crossed blades with Ragnarok." Alipheese explained. "However. Whereas I fought to protect my cute little children. The rush of battle fueling me...He fought...deriving pleasure from fighting to the absolute limit of his abilities."
"What does that have to do with me?" Kenshin asked.
"Because it's my sin." Alipheese said. "He was overjoyed...he had finally found someone who could challenge him. Give him that rush he craved. He thought I was the first stout opponent...and this ingrained itself in his very soul. A soul you have inherited, but the truth is Kenshin...that even I was no match for him."
"? !" Kenshin's eyes widened at this.
"I could see it in his eyes as the battle progressed. The first person he could call an equal...he didn't want to ever lose that...so he began hold himself back, desperate to keep that rush going. He subconsciously shackled himself due to my own frailty." Alipheese explained.
"Again...what does that have to do with me? !" Kenshin shouted. "You're accusing me of holding back? ! I'm not! It's taking everything I've got to not die! Why the hell would I hold back against you of all people? !"
(slash!)
"Agh? !" Kenshin growled as Alipheese appeared in front of him and slashed her claws up Kenshin's chest, blood shooting out.
"You don't see it yet...but you will." Alipheese said.
"You said...I inherited Ragnarok's soul." Kenshin said. "I'm...not the only one. What about Heinrich Hein, Shin Tatsu and my father? If you've been rifling through my memories, surely you know of them."
"They all had those they could call an equal." Alipheese answered. "Heinrich had my seventh descendant. The one known as Black Alice. Shin Tatsu had my fourteenth descendant and Filius Zect. Your father had Nagi Springfield, whom you've already defeated...but you? You have no one. No peer that stands on equal ground with you, to push you to your ever growing limits. So I am going to push you there, Kenshin Kuroshi, subconsciously you don't want the true power of your Demigod State, because deep in your mind, you feel it will rob you of the ability to enjoy your battles."
"I think you're fuckin' full of it, but that's just me." Kenshin snorted.
"Well come then...let's see which of us is truly...as you say...full of it." Alipheese said.
Back at Lucifer's Castle. "Kenshin's been holding back?" Mcgregor said.
"No...I don't think so. Back in Mundus Magicus, when he fought Saji and I...I'm positive he gave it his all." Issei said.
"But he wasn't in the Demigod State." Rias reminded.
"But she also said that he had no one that could stand on equal ground with him...that he's fought. Does that mean that she thinks even Sirzechs-Chan couldn't excite him in battle?" Serafall wondered.
"No, I was holding back A LOT in that battle as Satan Red." Sirzechs said. "I think Kenshin noticed it too, because as it progressed. He seemed to get annoyed."
"You think I'm holding back, well allow me to show you that you're wrong bitch." Kenshin said, alerting them.
"Bitch?" Alipheese asked.
"Yes! Bitch! Don't you see what our fight is doing to Tamamo? !" Kenshin shouted. "It's breaking her fucking heart! Nevermind what it's doing to me and Ragnarok! This doesn't feel like a fight you want to win! So how do Kanon, Kanade, Hiruko, Saja, and Minagi feel about this? !"
"..." Alipheese went silent before sighing. "You care about her that much hm?"
"As someone who loves Tamamo, you're damn right." Kenshin said.
"...Well as her mother, I thank you for being her lover." Alipheese said nonchalantly.
"Krh..."Kenshin growled. "Alipheese...Take. This. Shit. Seriously."
"And just what do you mean by that?" Alipheese asked.
"You claim I'm holding back? OK. So how am I to stop holding back when my opponent is actively healing me?" Kenshin asked.
"?" Alipheese blinked curiously. "What tipped you off?"
"I got my ass kicked to near death by humans for four years. I trained with a vampire woman who made it a point to deal me a deathblow every time she saw me and then flood me with dark mana afterward. You think I don't know how it feels when dark mana flows into my body? That shit's been confusing me since we started this fight. Like...'why am I not getting absolutely wrecked right now.'"Kenshin scowled. "I fucking hate it when my opponent holds back...I don't care who they are!"
"Very well..." Alipheese said as her dark aura began to absorb it's way into her. "You want me at my strongest...then here it is..." Alipheese said staring at him with an indifferent gaze before closing her eyes. "Ragnarok still held back even after I assumed this form..." Her skin became darker. "Release...Vessel of Darkness."
"!" Kenshin let out a gasp at the sheer amount of power rolling off of her.
"!" Tamamo moved to leap into the fray when Draco slapped a hand on her shoulder. "Draco...what are you..."
"This is all apart of Alipheese's plan." Draco said with an indifferent gaze.
"OK...so I feel like I've stepped in the biggest pile of shit. Time to clean my shoes off." Kenshin thought leaping into the sky.
"?" Alipheese look up, seeing him throw out charms.
"Haaa!" Kenshin started flying through handsigns. "Bakahatsu Aikyou! Hyoumenka Suimon! Eimei Issen! Daichi Guntou! Kaze Tenohira! Raimei Juumon!"
"?" Alipheese glanced upward.
"Assault of the Elemental Dragons!" Kenshin roared as eastern dragons made of fire, water, light, earth, wind and lightning roared toward.
"Grh!" Kenshin growled. "There's no way that did her in!" He flew down toward her. "Heavenly Demon Revival!"
"!"
Kenshin's eyes widened as he felt Shiroi Tengoku's blade being grabbed. The smoke cleared to reveal Alipheese being completely unharmed, holding his blade.
"You thought that would be enough...how soft." Alipheese said with a smile. "Haa! !" She shouted thrusting her hand through his chest.
"Ulgh? !" Blood filled Kenshin's mouth as he hung from Alipheese's arm.
Tamamo watched this, horrified, knowing that in her Vessel of Darkness Alipheese absorbed any and all dark mana around her. She couldn't help the scream that erupted from her lungs. "KENSHIN! ! !" She broke away from Draco and knocked Alipheese away from Kenshin.
"You defend him over your own mother?" Alipheese asked.
"I don't care right now." Tamamo growled. "He's the first lover I've had that I know won't die on me, and I'll be damned if my own mother takes him away from me!"
(clench)
"? !" Tamamo looked over, seeing Kenshin grip her wrist as he got back up. "Kenshin?"
"Tamamo, please don't. She's your mother...thanks for healing me, but I won't allow you to fight your own mother." Kenshin said.
"Kenshin...?" Tamamo said before Kenshin turned to her with a smile.
"Like I said before...a Kuroshi is nothing if not a man or woman of their word." Kenshin said before grabbing her cheeks and kissing her. "Now go back to enjoying sake with Draco. I've got this."
"OK..." Tamamo said wrapping Kenshin in a tight embrace for a moment before pulling away and going back to Draco.
"A promise?" Alipheese asked. "What sort of promise did you make that made one of my first daughters betray me?"
"Betray? You're fuckin' full of it again! Tamamo was protecting us both!" Kenshin said. "As for the promise...I promised her that we'd both make it out of this fight!"
"Hahaha! Such confidence! You think you can beat me without killing me? !" Alipheese said.
"Let's fuckin' find out! !" Kenshin shouted, rushing Alipheese.
"Indeed!" Alipheese said. "Now I'll make you stop holding back!"
(chapter end)
Kanade, Saja and Hiruko: What about our fights?
Draconis: I will be covering them in the next chapter.
Kanon: What about that figure that interrupted my fight with Evangeline?
Draconis: Also getting covered in a future chapter. Anyway,
Draconis678 out