The moment stilled for Mika as she tried to make sense of the chaos. She saw Mio had already stood up and was running towards Rengoku. Mika saw Akaza reach out to Rengoku, aiming for the wound on his chest as if to finish the strike that she and Mio had tried to prevent. She heard herself yell as she scrambled towards him.

In a blink of an eye, she could not have recalled what happened. Only that she had somehow reached them both and a strong light similar to the dark flame that surrounded Hyakkimaru's sword enveloped her before devouring Rengoku and Akaza as well.

Rengoku fell forward, a calm expression on his unconscious face, while Akaza screamed at the blazing fire that seemed to burn him inside out.

She could see the hazy gaze burst with life as he grit his teeth and kneeled down on the ground as the flame slowly disappeared. The last of the flames licked at his flesh, not in destruction. As if more of a cleansing.

She could hear Mio scramble to tend to Rengoku's wounds, her voice frantically calling to him as she placed his head on her lap. Mika stepped forward, her mind clear and her heart beating calmly, and stopped before Akaza, who had remained kneeling but no longer screaming.

"Akaza." She called his name with power behind her voice, that it took her a moment to realize it was coming from her. It was almost as if another part of her was taking over and she could only watch.

He gazed up at her, his amber eyes flashing desperately at her. "What have I done? Where is Enmu?" He cried, glancing around her to see Rengoku unconscious on Mio's lap.

Mika held out her hand in response towards him.

He hesitated before he reached out, sensing an unfamiliar but not hostile power inside of her.

Artemis licked the blood that poured down her forehead, reaching the edge of her mouth as she flashed a slow smile. Her daggers were held in front of her as her eyes quickly scanned at the scenario unfolding.

"It seems your pet has powers of her own. It seems she has unraveled my hold on that slayer." She called out, waiting for Micah to take the bait and take his eyes away from her.

He held his ground and continued to watch her, the staff in his hand that he materialized for the battle singed from the deadly silver blasts she threw in between her deadly dagger attacks.

"You will not win. Tell Zeus to give up on this madness."

Artemis smirked, gripping the daggers harder as she continued to gauge for any open weaknesses in his stance. When she found none and could see he was holding out on his own, she decided to take another approach.

"You and Zeus were close once. As close as brothers." She mused, ensuring he noted her relaxing her stance. "Why not reconcile?" In her mind, she concentrated on a ball of silver energy, its aim for that pet of his.

They continued to circle each other, wary of the next move.

"Ask your father what his true intentions are." He answered instead.

Artemis narrowed her eyes but continued to imbue more strength into the power she was reserving.

"Oh right, but he is not one to share his thoughts." Micah admitted, catching the stiff response to his words. "He considers himself a God among Gods, after all."

"Such blasphemy. He should have killed you instead." She coldly answered, lowering her daggers. "I will do what my father could not."

Micah hesitated at the actions, which gave her the perfect opportunity. Dropping her daggers, she quickly freed the bow from her back and knocked an arrow, aiming for Mika.

Micah moved to cover the path and Artemis grinned as she released the arrow towards him instead, hitting him in the ribs.

He leaned over his staff, gasping at the wound as she made a motion with her hand, revealing the ball of silver power she had prepared.

"Consider this a warning. Do not get in our way."

Micah reached out but to no avail, as the silver power left the palm of her hand and shot straight towards Mika.

Mitsuri narrowly avoided an attack from one of the devolved, as she nimbly climbed the branches of a nearby tree. She would jump down and slash at the hordes of demons before she tried to jump from another tree for momentum.

She was determined not to distract Iguro from his own fight as she stood her ground, continuing to slash at the endless demons that attacked. Her heart squeezed every time another one fell and was replaced by another.

She knew they were beyond saving when they reached this level but she couldn't help but remember they used to be human once. She could see pieces of clothing that clung to their torsos, identifying themselves as farmers in another life.

She inwardly prayed for them as she cut down another couple demons. Just when she raised her sword to attack another to her left, she felt the snake that was usually around Iguro's neck slip out from her haori and attack a demon who was close enough to attack her side while she was distracted.

She gratefully patted his head, where he slithered his tongue at her cheek in response before slipping back into the folds of her clothing.

With a quick intake of breath to steady herself, she turned towards the group again and her eyes widened to find that that group seemed to have doubled in numbers again. Despite all of the trampled fallen bodies on the ground, the dark blood seeping into the earth, the devolved nearly tripped over one another, their clawed hands reaching out to her.

She resisted looking to Iguro but knew he would be aware of her predicament. He is always there for her.

Iguro gripped his sword and increased his strength as he attacked Enmu, knowing Mitsuri would not be able to hold out much longer. His narrow gaze looked for an opening, in hopes to disarm Enmu so that he could go to Mitsuri.

Enmu growled, his clawed hands bloodied from when he managed to slash at Iguro's exposed side during the struggle.

Suddenly hearing Mitsuri muffle a grunt from the impact of another attack she avoided, Iguro calmly slashed at Enmu with his sword before running towards Mitsuri. He slashed through the horde, nearly reaching her where she was leaning against a tree trunk, blood pouring from the wound on one arm.

Mitsuri slashed out at the closest of the demons, holding her ground as she saw Iguro reach for her. Gathering her strength, she made a slashing blow against the horde and jumped to the side.

"No! Iguro-kun!"

Iguro disappeared within the crowd, as Mitsuri stood back up to try and reach him. She jumped a few feet backwards, finding Enmu had followed Iguro and was now focused on her.

She kept her distance as she tried to edge her way back into the demon horde to find Iguro.