The Okami Hero: Amaterasu

Arc 5: Eight Serpents

Chapter 14: Yamata No Orochi Part 2

[Wednesday 20th April 2281]

[Streets above the Shie Hassaikai Compound, Corusantu]

Izumi and All-Might barely had time to dodge as all eight of Orochi's heads suddenly short towards them with teeth bared. Despite their size, they struck with all the speed and fluidity one would expect of a serpent. All-Might leapt high into the air with his incredible leg strength, while Izumi was forced to be more acrobatic, jumping over one head, then landing on another and using it as a launch pad to dodge two more, making them crash into each other as they lunged. All-Might, seeing Izumi was now the main target, focused his eyes on Orochi's Fire Head, then turned and punched the air with a loud cry of "New Hampshire Smash!". The force of the punch propelled him backward, allowing him to spin around so he was now facing Orochi, right before slamming his knee into the Demon's Head with full force.

The force of All-Might's attack caused Orochi's Fire Head to smash into the ground, cracking the surface and leaving a snake-shaped indent in the floor.

Orochi's other heads, which had been largely tangled up as they twisted around each other in an attempt to catch the slippery Izumi, managed to untangle themselves with infuriating ease before turning to look at where their fellow head had been smashed into the ground. With all their attention on All-Might and the Fire Head, they briefly forgot about Izumi, and the girl took advantage of their distraction.

"Power Slash!" she cried, sending her most deadly technique right at the neck of Orochi's Darkness Head. The invisible blade landed just beneath the plates of armour that protected the stretch of neck directly beneath the head… and it did nothing.

Izumi gasped in shock as she saw her most dangerous move hit the Demon and fail to even scuff his scales. The only sign that the attack had even hit was the slightest ripple that spread through the golden aura coating Orochi's body.

At that same moment, All-Might (who was about to launch a punch at one of the distracted heads) suddenly found himself blind-sided as Orochi's Fire Head rose up again and smashed into his injured side. The Number One Hero was sent flying into the barrier, receiving some severe burns as he bounced off the burning surface. He managed to correct himself as he fell, so he landed on his feet, but he was horrified to find that Orochi's Fire Head was completely unharmed… there wasn't a scratch on him, not even a dent in his helmet from All-Might's incredible knee drop. All-Might growled; learning his earlier attack had been useless and then being hit in his weak spot was bad, but what was almost as annoying was the way all eight of Orochi's Heads regarded him with their crimson eyes… then turned away to instead look to Izumi, dismissing the Number One Hero entirely.

Izumi snapped out of her own shock after looking at All-Might and seeing his burns. "Eri, Ishiko; close your eyes!" she called, before putting her hands together. Once her two passengers had their eyes closed, Izumi used Sunrise to create a tightly packed ball of sunlight in her hands, then shoved it forward as if trying to launch the ball at Orochi. Instead of flying forward, the ball suddenly exploded, dealing no damage to anything but creating an incredibly bright flash that momentarily blinded Orochi. Seeing the eight heads hissing and screeching as they writhed due to the pain in their eyes, Izumi grinned and used the opportunity to dart over to All-Might and begin healing him with Rejuvenation.

All-Might sighed with relief as Izumi's soothing hands rubbed her healing ink into his burns, wiping them away along with the bruise he'd received from Orochi's sudden strike. "Thank you, Amaterasu. That flash attack was clever!" he said, smiling at the girl.

Izumi blushed at the praise; "Thanks All-Might. It's my Imitation Art: Stun Grenade. It's a copy of my friend Kacchan's technique. It's a little embarrassing, but I can't help but try to imitate the moves of Heroes I find amazing! I've tried making Imitation Arts of some of your Super Moves too, but I don't have the strength to pull them off."

All-Might's smile wavered; "I doubt it would do much good here… I hit Orochi's Fire Head with all my weight and a huge boost, but it didn't even phase him! Does he have some kind of blunt force nullification?" he said, asking that last part to himself.

Izumi frowned; "It's not just blunt." she said, looking over to where Orochi was still writhing, each head trying to rub the sight back into its eyes by rubbing them against another head's neck. "I hit the Darkness Head with Power Slash, a move than should be able to cut clean through anything weaker than metal… it didn't even scratch him! Even the world's toughest metals should at least get scuffed a little bit, but Orochi didn't even seem to notice."

"His body isn't as hard as metal, though his helmets and neck armour might be. Is he somehow nullifying out attacks?" All-Might wondered aloud.

"Crap, I can't believe I forgot!" Ishiko suddenly cried, eyes widening.

Izumi and All-Might looked to the Poncle with confusion; "What is it Ishiko? Tell us fast, before Orochi can see again!"

Ishiko grimaced; "It's the bell, Izumi! The one on the back of his core body! The Temple Bell! It's not just a fancy decoration; it's Orochi's Dark Instrument! After being rung eight times, it produces a golden aura that renders the owner invincible to all forms of attack! As long as the aura is there, Orochi cannot be beaten by anyone! It also increases Orochi's speed by simply being in his possession!"

All-Might's eyes widened; "So that's how he was able to keep up with me at top speed!"

"And how he was able to no-sell our attacks!" Izumi finished her Idol's sentence, turning to Orochi's body. The Demon's heads and the mass of writhing flesh at his core were all covered in the golden aura, showing any attack to his body was futile, but the earthen armour on the core body, as well as the Demonic Temple Bell, weren't covered by the aura!

"So we destroy the bell and not only will Orochi lose his invincibility, but he'll also slow down?" Izumi asked.

Ishiko nodded; "If I remember the stories correctly, then that's how you beat him in the last two battles."

"Alright! All-Might, we need to aim for the bell! We break that and this battle is as good as ours!" Izumi said, grinning confidently at the Number One Hero.

All-Might returned the grin and rolled his shoulders. Izumi's healing had removed the burns he'd gotten from hitting the barrier, and she'd also unknowingly added about twenty more minutes to All-Might's time limit. "Alright, let's go for it! I hate to ask this of you, but if you keep the heads busy for a bit, I can smash that bell in one punch!"

"I WON'T LET YOU!" Orochi suddenly roared, finally able to see again. His heads didn't lunge forward this time, but instead pulled up and hissed menacingly while ensuring that no matter what angle Izumi and All-Might tried to attack from, they'd have to deal with one or more of Orochi's heads. Not that it would stop them!

"Change of plans! Split up and divide their attention!" All-Might yelled.

Izumi darted in one direction while All-Might charged in the opposite one, so each ended up on opposite sides of the arena with Orochi between them. Each was faced with four heads; Izumi had to deal with the fire, earth, poison, and darkness heads, while All-Might was left with lightning, wind, light, and water… not an ideal situation for either, but Orochi's heads were never going to be arranged for their convenience. From there, the battle to destroy Orochi's bell began.

On Izumi's side, the Fire Head shot sprays of fire down on her while the Poison Head breathed out a noxious purple gas that stung Izumi's skin as it brushed her arm while she dodged. Izumi grimaced and dodged the gas as best she could, while using Inferno to take control of the Fire Head's flames and redirect them back at Orochi. Izumi's primary strategy was usually turning her opponent's power against themselves, as she had done with most of the Brush Demons, but Orochi's golden aura rendered him immune even to his own powers, so the redirected flames just spluttered out harmlessly as they made contact.

Izumi growled in annoyance, but before she could use Inferno to grasp any more flames, she was forced to quickly run and duck beneath a spray of poison gas shot at her from the Poison Head, which was combining the breath attack with a sweep of its massive neck. Izumi had to essentially limbo under the gas cloud, as ducking normally would have exposed Eri and Ishiko to the gas, but since she also didn't want to scrape her young child against the ground, she couldn't completely lower herself far enough, forcing her face to brush against the cloud. Izumi took a deep breath before making contact with the cloud, but the sudden stinging of the poison on her face almost made her cry out, which would have resulted in her inhaling some of the gas… Izumi didn't know what it would do to her insides and she was in no rush to find out!

Once she cleared the gas cloud, Izumi stumbled to her feet and gasped, then hissed at the chemical burns the gas had inflicted.

"Izumi! Are you okay?" Ishiko asked.

"I'm fine, but I could really do with some way of stopping that gas!" Izumi complained, applying some light Rejuvenation to heal her injuries. She used just enough to make the pain bearable, not wanting to overdo it at the first stage of the fight. "How'd I deal with this before!?"

"Your past lives had the power of Galestorm to create winds and blow these gases away. You're missing three powers that your previous incarnations had… heck, in your first battle with Orochi, you had ALL of them!" Ishiko said.

Izumi frowned and quickly dodged another spray of Poison Gas, which turned into a foul-smelling purple fluid once it hit the ground. Izumi didn't need to touch it to know it would hurt if she stepped in it. If too much of the floor got covered in the stuff, then it would severely limit Izumi's mobility. Dismissing the poison for a moment, Izumi looked to the Earth Head, which was beginning to create stone spikes. They shot at Izumi with incredible speed, each long and sharp enough to easily impale Izumi and her young passenger. Izumi dodged the first one, then blocked the second with her Divine Retribution, before creating a small Cherry Bomb and tossing it at the Earth Head, creating a small explosion that was just enough to break apart the next few spikes it was preparing. Izumi prepared another Cherry Bomb in preparation for the next volley, but the Fire Head shot a stream of fire, forcing Izumi to use Inferno with her free hand to intercept it. With one hand filled with a bomb and the other wrangling Orochi's flames, the Poison Head took the opportunity to spray more poison on her just as the Earth Head finished preparing another Stone Spike.

Faced with flames, a stone spike, and a gas attack, Izumi had no choice but to frantically redirect the flames around her with both hands in an attempt to stop the gas, dropping her Cherry Bomb in the process. She also had to move her Mirror to intercept the stone spike without using her hands to gesture, something that required more concentration than Izumi wanted to use in the middle of a fight.

From there, three things happened in quick succession. Firstly, Izumi's mirror successfully blocked the stone spike… however this caused the second thing to happen. The rubble from the stone spike hit the floor, nudging Izumi's discarded Cherry Bomb into the wall of flames she was manipulating around herself, which caused the bomb to explode with more force than it would have been capable of normally. The explosion didn't damage Izumi, as it was a caused by her powers, but it did blast her back a bit, which combined with the third rapid event. As it turns out, Orochi's poison gas was incredibly flammable… and explosive. The stream of gas rapidly ignited and exploded, releasing such a huge blast that both Izumi and Orochi were hit.

The four heads facing Izumi were blasted back, slamming into each other and left dazed, but ultimately unharmed. Izumi was also blasted backward and mostly unharmed by the explosion (the fire was under her control, though the actual shock wave did rattle her bones), but unlike Orochi, she didn't have a massive body to keep her anchored, so she was blasted into the barrier. To make this worse, Eri and Ishiko were still on her back, so the moment Izumi realised she wasn't stopping, she rapidly shifted into Wolf Form and wrapped her lupine body around Eri as tightly as possible, protecting Eri from the fire and force of the explosion while also ensuring she wasn't hurt when slamming into the barrier.

Izumi's fur burned and her skin sizzled as she struck the barrier, ripping a wolfish yelp from her. She bounced off it and hit the ground hard, still cushioning Eri. Once she was on the ground, she shifted back to her Demi-God Form and cried out as she felt her burnt skin contort due to the transformation.

"Mama!" Eri cried, seeing Izumi so badly hurt.

Izumi, despite her horrible pain, flashed a brilliant smile to the child and began healing herself; "It's okay Eri! Your Mama's strong! She won't go down that easy!"

"How nice! I'll take my time torturing you right in front of Little Eri's eyes!" Orochi said, using his Fire Head to speak as always.

Izumi narrowed her eyes on the serpent, but still reached back to pat Eri's head comfortingly. While she did this, her analytical mind was whirring. Thanks to Orochi breathing his poison gas into her flames, Izumi now knew how to deal with the foul purple fumes… causing such a massive explosion was risky, but now that she knew what to expect, she could brace herself properly. With Inferno to nullify Orochi's flames and redirect the flames into his poison, as well as her bombs and mirror to destroy and block his earth attacks, Izumi could now deal with three of the four heads facing her… but the Darkness Head had yet to move. Other than snapping at her along with the others previously, it hadn't done anything but watch her, leaving the Divine Girl with no idea what it could do…

"I've taken a ton of damage already and used more stamina than I'd like with Rejuvenation and Inferno, but I'm still no closer to that damn bell! I hope All-Might's doing better than I am!" she thought.

He wasn't.

All-Might found that fighting the four heads he was faced with was much more difficult that he'd originally thought. The Lightning Head could release bolts of lightning at incredible speeds, forcing All-Might to use 100% of his power just so he was fast enough to dodge them. Then there was the Light Head, that could not only shoot powerful laser beams from its mouth, but could also shoot beams from its eyes, which somehow managed to be even faster than the lightning! No one without super speed or super reaction times would stand a chance at dodging those blasts! Thankfully, All-Might possessed both of those talents; his quirk being an all around physical enhancer, but even One for All couldn't completely protect him now… the occasional beam of light would inflict a burn on him, or a failed dodge would result in him being briefly shocked with lightning. Compared to the Light and Lightning Heads, the Wind and Water Heads were mere nuisances. The Water Head produced powerful jets of water to try and push All-Might into the barrier, since the pressure of the water wasn't enough to hurt him by itself, and the Wind Head produced strong gales to do the same.

Put simply; Orochi was being a pain in his ass! Wind and Water were battering and disorienting him enough that he would occasionally fumble a dodge and be clipped by Light or Lightning, and when All-Might turned his speed up to 100% in an attempt to get passed the heads and attack Orochi's Bell, they managed to keep up with him and keep him away. Plus, with Izumi, Eri, and Ishiko trapped in the bubble with him, All-Might couldn't risk using his 100% punches, as the wind pressure he'd kick up with them would hurt the girls… if it was just Izumi, he would have risked it, seeing as she was fairly strong, but with Eri and Ishiko too, he didn't want to risk splitting Izumi's attention even further! The battle was tough enough without making her dodge his blows as well!

Instead, All-Might stuck to using about 50% and punched the snakes at every opportunity, unable to hurt them but at least able to knock them around enough that they'd get dizzy for a moment. When he saw this for the first time, the Number One's smile returned and he darted forward.

All-Might had just stunned the Water Head with a Detroit Smash to the side of its head, so while the snake was dazed, he jumped and kicked off of it, propelling himself towards the Lightning Head. Thanks to the lightning bolt shaped crest on the head's helmet, one of its eyes was covered, allowing All-Might to spring right into it's blind spot and deliver a devastating punch to the side of its snout with a cry of "Texas Smash!"

The powerful punch not only sent Orochi's Lightning Head reeling backward, but it also produced a large enough burst of wind pressure to momentarily stun the Wind Head as well, which had darted in to help its thundering comrade only to be smacked in the face by the wind kicked up by the Texas Smash. With three of his four heads now stunned, All-Might immediately performed a New Hampshire Smash to send him flying backward, right towards the Light Head. Clenching his buttocks, All-Might almost folded himself in half as he flew, doing a flying toe touch so that his body struck the Light Head like a meaty arrow, literally knocking the Light Head through a loop with his ass. The entire combination, from the initial punch to the Water Head to his improvised blow against the Light Head, had lasted only one second thanks to All-Might's incredible speed.

With his four heads stunned and the other four preoccupied with Izumi, All-Might jumped and aimed a flying fist at Orochi's bell.

Unfortunately, that was the same moment that Izumi discovered that Orochi's poison gas was also explosive. The same blast that knocked her into the barrier also managed to blow All-Might away just inches from his fist making contact with Orochi's Bell.

"SHIT!" he yelled as he was blasted away, just barely managing to avoid hitting the barrier himself by grabbing onto a part of the Light Head's helmet crest. The Number One quickly righted himself and stood on Orochi's Light Head, using it as a foothold to peer over the rest of Orochi's gargantuan form so he could see how the girls faired after the explosion.

He saw Izumi badly burned by her contact with the barrier, which made his heart twist painfully, but he was proud to see that the girl had successfully protected Eri and Ishiko. Thankfully, Izumi began to heal herself and glared defiantly at Orochi, who was proclaiming he'd torture her to death in front of Eri. All-Might saw red, but the head he was standing on just cackled.

"Can you really afford to be distracted, Number One?" it said mockingly, before suddenly jerking itself around to try and knock All-Might off.

The Number One Hero growled and punched the snake right before jumping away, but even as the force of his Detroit Smash impacted with the top of its head, the Light Head continued to laugh. All-Might's frown grew larger; he doubted his previous strategy would work again now… his powerful fists could render the heads dizzy for a few moments, but he suspected Orochi was onto his plan now, and if he only stunned the four heads he was facing, one of the heads facing Izumi would just turn around and strike him instead. All-Might had a growing respect for Amaterasu's abilities, but he didn't think she could do anything to stun them while the aura was in place.

Heck, All-Might couldn't actually harm them, just make them dizzy!

Thinking quickly, All-Might ran towards the girls and lifted Izumi onto his shoulders, just in time to help her dodge a rock spike.

"Apologises for the interference, Amaterasu!" All-Might shouted as he ran laps around the edge of the arena, taking care to dodge Orochi's elemental attacks and physical swings. "I fear we won't be able to get to the bell without a coordinated effort!"

Izumi, quietly thrilled at being carried around on All-Might's shoulders, nodded in agreement. "Orochi's aura is impenetrable and his defence of the bell is almost perfect. Just distracting the heads isn't enough, especially when there are eight of them and only two of us!"

Eri piped up bravely; "I-I can't do anything amazing like you, but I could run around and try to distract him? Would that help?" she asked fearfully, terrified of facing Orochi but wanting to do something to help.

Izumi smiled at her; "You're exceedingly brave to offer, Little One, but Orochi's too dangerous. At this point, he'd gobble you up just to spite me. Unless we have some way of keeping all eight heads distracted and occupied for a few seconds, we need to try something else."

Izumi dearly wished she had Jin's help right about now… with his clones, he'd keep Orochi distracted indefinitely!

"Stunning the heads might work. We can't hurt them, but I've found a strong enough strike can make them dizzy for a few moments." All-Might said, briefly explaining what he'd just attempted. Izumi felt shame creep across her face as she realised that her screw up had cost him his opening, but All-Might assured her that it wasn't her fault… how was she supposed to know that the poison gas was explosive?

All-Might continued to run and jump with incredible speed, evading Orochi's attacks and ensuring his passengers were safe while they tried to come up with a plan. "Amaterasu, didn't you say earlier that you'd fought and beaten Orochi twice before? How did you manage it?"

"I don't remember! That was a different life!" Izumi exclaimed, mildly startled by how close a lightning bolt had come to hitting them as All-Might carried her around. "It's a long story, but I basically fought and killed Orochi in two previous lives. I'll explain when we get out of this alive! But the point is, I have no memories of those fights!"

All-Might's eyes widened… the puzzle of just what Young Midoriya is was starting to get even more complicated, but he couldn't worry about that now. He'd ask her all about it later, when they were victorious!

Thankfully, while Izumi didn't remember the previous battles, she DID remember the stories of those battles left behind by her previous Celestial Envoys; Ishaku and Issun, though she'd momentarily forgotten that fact in the chaos of the battle. Ishiko didn't have the same problem.

"The methods Amaterasu used in her past lives won't work here! Not only is she missing three powers that she had in those fights, but she's also missing the 8 Purification Sake!" the Poncle yelled.

"The what!?" All-Might exclaimed, so startled by the idea that he almost tripped. He did stumble however, and that was enough for the Lightning Head to hit them with a lightning bolt. Izumi quickly put up her Mirror and managed to absorb and reflect the electrical blast with a Reflector Style: True Reflection but as with all their previous attacks, the blast just dissipated harmlessly against the side of one of Orochi's heads, which had moved to get between the blast and the bell that had been Izumi's target.

"Eyes on the road, All-Might!" Ishiko scolded angrily while Poor Eri took some calming breaths, having seen her short life flash before her eyes before Izumi stopped the lightning bolt.

"Apologies, young ladies! I was merely surprised; do you mean to say that Amaterasu used sake to defeat this monster in the past?" the Number One asked.

"Yeah! Both battles were basically the same, though both Orochi and Ammy were stronger in the first fight, losing a lot of their power afterwards. According to the stories, Ammy tricked Orochi into drinking specially blessed sake called 8 Purification Sake, which left Orochi drunk and stunned, allowing Ammy to destroy the bell! Once the bell was gone, the golden aura faded and she was able to damage the heads. However, the power of Amaterasu alone isn't enough! Orochi can only be slain by the power of both a Mortal AND a God! In both battles, Ammy had to imbue a Human Champion with some of her power in order to finally kill him! Otherwise, Orochi's own healing factor will just restore him. The problem is that not only do we not have that sake, Izumi can't use Waterspout, the technique that allowed her to force Orochi to drink it, nor can she use Crescent, the technique that allowed her to imbue a human with her power." Ishiko explained.

Izumi blushed a bit; it was rare, but Ishiko and Sakuya would sometimes refer to her by the nickname she used in past lives; Ammy, and whenever they used it, Izumi would feel a flush of affection, not unlike how she felt when seeing Eri's smile.

All-Might, however, was more concerned by what Ishiko had said. "Wait, so does that mean that even if we destroy the bell, we might not be able to defeat this monster?"

"I might be able to… Orochi can only be truly defeated by Human and Godly Power combined, and technically, because of how I was reincarnated as a Human, I should count as having both types of power. If we can get that bell destroyed, I'm sure we can manage!" Izumi said, sounding more confident that she really felt. In truth, she was fairly certain she'd bitten off more than she could chew with this fight, but she didn't exactly have a choice…

"What should I do to destroy that bell though? It's made of metal, and likely an otherworldly metal like my mirror, so there's almost no way I'll be able to destroy it in one shot… All-Might at 100% might be able to, but we still need an opening!" Izumi thought desperately.

Izumi closed her eyes and began to block out the sounds and feelings of All-Might carrying her as he dodged Orochi's attacks, instead focusing everything on how to destroy Orochi's Dark Instrument. The only way to stop Orochi from protecting the bell was to somehow disable all eight heads at the same time. After a 100% blow from All-Might, Orochi's heads seemed to take three seconds to fully recover from the dizziness caused by suddenly being smacked with such force…

"All-Might, if you move as fast as you can, do you think you could land a punch on all eight heads AND the Bell within three seconds?" Izumi asked.

All-Might nodded; "It took me a second to punch four of them, so I should be able to manage it! However Orochi is on to us and knows that plan; that bell is making him fast enough to dodge my blows if he is expecting them, so if I'm to land them, all eight heads need to be distracted!"

Izumi frowned and added that hiccup to her plan. All-Might could do it, but the heads had to be distracted or otherwise immobilised… but how?

Before Izumi could come up with an answer to that problem, Orochi grew bored of All-Might running circles around him, dodging his barrage of elemental attacks.

"Let us see how well you run when the earth itself turns against you!" the Demon bellowed, before the Earth Head opened its jaw wide and stabbed its fangs into the ground. All-Might and Izumi frowned, expecting spikes of rock to suddenly jump out at them from anywhere. Instead of this however, the ground beneath their feet began to shake wildly; an earthquake that was easily a solid nine on the Richter Scale being unleashed within the floating island. The power of the quake was more than even All-Might could handle, and he quickly found himself losing his balance and stumbling. The ground within the barrier began to crumble and break apart from the vibrations, and through it all, Izumi couldn't help but be thankful that Orochi had brought them into the sky…

An Earthquake on this scale down on the surface would have caused catastrophic damage to the city of Corusantu, but within the bubble in the sky, it was merely a horrible inconvenience for Izumi and All-Might.

All-Might did his best to stay upright, but between the shaking and the elemental attacks still being launched by Orochi's other heads (whom weren't that bothered by the shaking), he couldn't both maintain his balance and protect the girls, leading to him finally being hit solidly by one of the elemental blasts. Thankfully, it was only a blast from the Wind Head, so it dealt no direct damage, but the miniature tornado was enough to send the Number One Hero careening into the barrier, while Izumi was blown into the sky by the up-draft. All-Might, who still had the Old Boss of the Shie Hassaikai on his back, managed to use a New Hampshire Smash to barely stop himself from impacting the barrier and being burned, though he didn't completely escape injury as the smash blasted him back into Orochi, whose Water Head immediately headbutted him, the sharp point of its helmet crest grazing All-Might's wound and making him vomit some blood before bouncing to the ground, thankfully managing to land face down so he didn't crush his unconscious passenger. Groaning, All-Might got to his feet and began recklessly throwing out Smashes, using the shock waves to keep Orochi's heads busy and off of the girls. He'd have liked to be more accurate and less reckless, but he couldn't aim his fists accurately thanks to the shaking earth.

While All-Might was dealing with that, Izumi was doing her best not to vomit as she was spun around by the up-draft caused by the tornado that had struck All-Might. Since Eri and Ishiko were in the same boat, Izumi was desperate to get out of the wind, as while she loved Eri dearly, Izumi didn't like the idea of being coated in the contents of her stomach. Thinking fast, Izumi secreted ink from the bottom of her left foot in the form of the Mark of Bakugami.

"Urp… B-Bakugami Art: Rising Firework!" she cried, releasing a large Cherry Bomb from the mark and detonating it immediately, using the explosive force to send her flying out of the tornado. From there, she was able to quickly cast Bloom on an area of ground beneath her, then use the resulting plant life as a source for Vine, allowing Izumi to grapple herself back to the ground before the force of her last technique could make her hit the barrier.

Once she was on the ground, Izumi tried to stay on her feet, but the ground was still quaking which left her unable to stand properly. Since she couldn't remain balanced on two legs, Izumi turned into her Wolf Form and lowered her centre of gravity, as well as digging her claws into the ground to give herself some stability.

"I d-d-don't f-f-feel s-so g-g-good..." Eri groaned quietly, dizzy from the spinning earlier and now the vibrations.

"I-I-Izumi! A-A-All M-Might is h-h-hurt!" Ishiko cried, having noticed All-Might take the last hit while Izumi was grappling to the ground.

Izumi grit her teeth, having a hard time thinking with the shaking rattling her brain. She had to deal with that damned Earth Head! Luckily, she already had an idea of how to do that, and as All-Might was now on his feet and taking the focus off Izumi with wild and random Smashes, the girl had the time to implement her plan.

"Ishiko! Have Eri brace herself and cover her ears! This next part will be loud!" Wolf Izumi growled, before using her strong claws to dig a small chunk of earth out of the ground. Ishiko relayed Izumi's message to Eri (who naturally couldn't understand animals like the Poncles could), and Wolf Izumi packed the rock she'd dug up into her mouth. It was about the size of an avocado, and had been roughly carved into a spike by Izumi's claws and fangs.

With her makeshift weapon in place, Wolf Izumi ran shakily over to where the Earth Head was still embedded into the ground and ran quickly into the massive creature's gaping maw, held open by the very fangs it was using to cause the earthquake. Izumi looked up, staring deep into Orochi's gullet, then fired her attack.

"Bakugami Art: Ricochet Firework!"

A Mark of Bakugami, which had been secreted from Izumi's tongue, created a Cherry Bomb that was just barely small enough to fit in Izumi's throat (though it cut off her airway and made her feel like she was choking). The bomb exploded, sending Izumi's improvised projectile right down Orochi's throat. With her throat aching and her jaw almost broken from the shock wave of the explosion (which would have been much worse if Izumi didn't have almost complete immunity to her own techniques), and with Orochi's Earth Head about to choke from the rock hitting the back of its throat, Izumi quickly darted out of the Serpent's mouth and activated the second part of her technique; the part that gave it its name.

Bakugami Art: Ricochet Firework was a technique that fired a projectile with the power of a Cherry Bomb, but the secret to the technique was the numerous Marks of Bakugami that were painted all over the projectile, each of which could produce a small Cherry Bomb at Izumi's will. Then, when Izumi wished it, she could choose to activate specific marks in order to send the projectile ricocheting in another direction, so even after it had already hit the target, it could be propelled to hit another one at a different angle!

The marks on the rock she used were small and not all of them were functional, since Izumi had needed to stamp the marks onto the rock with the mark on her tongue, but there were enough working ones to serve its purpose. Izumi's rock hit the back of the Earth Head's throat, making him choke, then immediately ricocheted into the side of his throat, which caused double the discomfort thanks to the impact AND the mini-explosion that caused the ricochet. The inside of the Earth Head's mouth and throat was soon turned into a pinball machine, making the Earth Head choke and splutter, until if couldn't take any more and uprooted itself from the ground to it could try and spit out the offending rock before it did more damage.

The Earth Head succeeded in spitting out the rock, but Izumi's plan had worked; the earthquake had stopped, and Orochi had suffered enough discomfort to not want to use that tactic again.

Izumi returned to her Demi-God Form and cheered, while All-Might, now able to stand straight without the shaking, quickly clapped his hands together with all his might, making a shock wave that stunned Orochi's other heads for half a second, giving him the time he needed to run over to Izumi.

"Good Job, Amaterasu! You stopped the earthquake! I must say, fighting alongside someone with your level of ingenuity is quite a spectacle!" All-Might praised.

Izumi blushed, her tail wagging wildly behind her; "T-Thank you All-Might! But we're not out of the woods yet! Let me heal you." she said, applying a little more Rejuvenation to All-Might's injured side, once again closing his old wound and restoring another 30 minutes to his time limit. With All-Might fresh and ready to go again, and Izumi confident that her ancient foe wouldn't try the same tactic again (the Earth Head couldn't defend itself while causing an earthquake, so it would always be open to the same move if it tried again), the two Heroes began running and dodging Orochi's wild strikes once again, finding it slightly easier now that Orochi was enraged.

Unfortunately, Orochi's rage caused by the horribly uncomfortable and humiliating attack, left him wanting to defeat the two as cruelly as possible… and so the Darkness Head finally made its move to punish Izumi.

For the first time in the battle, Orochi's Darkness Head opened its mouth wide to unleash an attack, causing Izumi to prepare a Mark of the Sun on both her palms, planning to counter the inevitable wave of darkness with her Sunrise Technique. However, instead of the expected beam or cloud of darkness, Orochi spat out four bizarre purple orbs which bounced off the top of the barrier and landed around the edges of the arena, specifically at the exact compass points for North, East, South, and West. The bizarre orbs made Izumi pause, curious as to what they were, until the dull purple glow they gave off began to fade and their true shape could be seen.

Rather than orbs, they appeared to be giant bulbs or buds of some kind. They were made up of four-leaf shaped webs of purple plant matter with some kind of clear membrane filling the gaps of the webbing. The four "leaves" were folded up to form the giant bud, and a thick black fluid could be seen building up inside them via the clear membrane, which quickly began to turn black as the fluid filled the bud.

Izumi had no idea why Orochi's Darkness Head had created creepy, demon-like plants, but she wasn't taking any chances. She created a Cherry Bomb in one hand and lobbed it at the closest plant to her (the one on the east), and before the Bomb had even detonated, she shot a Power Slash at the next closest plant (the south one). The slash ruptured the bud, causing the black fluid to spill out and puddle around it, before the rest of the plant wilted and died. The bomb had a more vicious effect, blowing the second bud into a million pieces and splattering the black fluid in all directions, including at Izumi and All-Might. Izumi just barely had time to turn so that any fluid coming towards her would only hit her and not her passengers, but it turned out she needn't have bothered…

It was just ink. Not darkness in liquid form or anything sinister or harmful… just plain ink. Izumi and All-Might eyed the liquid carefully, but it didn't harm them whether it was on their clothes or their skin, so they came to the conclusion that the ink couldn't do anything until the technique Orochi used was completed.

Still, Izumi used her own ink (with the colour removed, so it was clear) to wash Orochi's ink off of both her and All-Might, just in case it was a trap. With that done, All-Might looked to Izumi; "I'll destroy the bud to the north, you take the one to the west." he ordered, before rushing off to deal with the devil plant.

Izumi obeyed and headed off after her own target, getting through Orochi's attacks almost lazily. She and All-Might had been dodging their attacks so much now that it had become almost second nature; Orochi was used to using the Super Speed of his Dark Instrument to overwhelm any opponents, so when faced with All-Might (who could match the speed with his quirk) and Amaterasu (whose dual wolf and Divine instincts gave her incredible reaction time), his standard attack pattern was quickly picked up on and adapted to.

Orochi was incredibly powerful, but his power had left him lazy and relatively unskilled, whilst Izumi was fairly weak by comparison, but was tenacious and possessed great skill honed by almost a decade of training. Orochi knew this…

… yet he smirked as he saw Izumi approach the west bud, which was already full to bursting with his Demonic Black Ink.

All-Might destroyed the north bud with the air pressure caused by a Texas Smash so as to avoid being splattered by the ink again, but before Izumi could unleash a Power Slash to destroy the last one to the west (having learned that Cherry Bomb was probably a bit messy thanks to the liquid within the buds), the bud suddenly pulsated and the ink within it began to drain away, being converted into some kind of gas that spurted from the top of the bud.

The Black Gas spread out across the confined area within the Demonic Barrier, and All-Might, Izumi, Eri, and Ishiko all ended up breathing some in before they could hold their breath. All-Might panicked, expecting poison or perhaps a decaying effect like the one he'd seen when Orochi used the Darkness to help clear the area that became this arena, but despite having breathed in quite a bit of the Black Gas, he wasn't harmed. The smell was foul, like rotting fruit, but otherwise there seemed to be no negative effects from it, just like the ink from which the gas had been made.

Eri and Ishiko were equally confused, as while the Little Girl covered her nose because of the nasty stench, neither could tell what the gas was meant to do, unless it was supposed to be a stink bomb-like attack? At least, that was what they thought until Izumi dropped to her knees and began gasping and moaning in pain.

Izumi's Demi-God Form spluttered out, returning her to her pure Human state, while the poor girl fell onto her hands and knees. Her entire body felt wrong… from the moment she'd breathed in the gas, Izumi had felt like there was something crawling around within her body, spreading tiny tendrils through every muscle and blood vessel and squeezing her insides just hard enough to be painful. The smell was bad, but Izumi would have happily dealt with it if she could take a few deep breaths of air, but the constricted feeling in her lungs and airway left her unable to do more than take shallow gasping breaths. Then, to the horror of All-Might, Eri, and Ishiko, black markings began to bleed out from Izumi's skin, similar to when she used her ink generation to draw the various marks of the Brush Gods… only these markings were identical to some of the symbols that floated eerily across the surface of the barrier…

Curse Markings.

"W-what is happening to me!?" Izumi choked out, struggling to say the words with her constricted respiratory system.

"Amaterasu! What is happening!? Are you alright!?" All-Might asked urgently, running to her side. Orochi had stopped his attacks, instead allowing all Eight Heads to watch with smug expressions as his adversary was left powerless.

"It feels like something is squeezing every part of me! Like tight ropes inside my skin! I can't feel my light!" Izumi exclaimed, beginning to panic. If she couldn't feel her light, then she couldn't transform or use her powers!

Orochi laughed mockingly; "You are experiencing what it is like to be within a Cursed Zone; an area overflowing with Demonic Power so thick, that not even you can function there. So long as those markings remain on your skin, you are powerless!"

Ishiko paled; Cursed Zones had been written about in Issun's stories and were described as areas so corrupted with evil, that Amaterasu couldn't purify them alone. In Izumi's second life, she had needed to clear the zones by having Sakuya grow one of her Konohana Saplings nearby, which would then be used as a conduit to focus both Amaterasu's power and the Tree Spirit's, providing the light needed to drive out the curse…

That wouldn't work when the curse was within Izumi's very skin!

Izumi growled weakly, "No...and just when I'd thought of a plan!" she whimpered, barely able to stop herself collapsing completely.

All-Might winced at her pain and curiously licked his thumb and tried to rub off the ink on Izumi's upper arm. Unfortunately, the markings were actually just beneath the skin and so couldn't simply be washed off. Izumi, appreciating the attempt at least, struggled to her feet and tried not to think of how Eri was shaking fearfully against her back. It was infuriating to feel so weak and constricted, especially when she'd thought up a plan to defeat Orochi right before that last bud gave off the gas that infected her with the markings. The same markings that floated on the barrier that stopped Izumi from getting Eri to safety now stained her skin, stopping her from even protecting herself.

"If only I could get through the barrier and get Eri to safety without being burned up! I could-"

Izumi suddenly froze. She had an idea… a really stupid and bad idea that would terrify Eri and get her scolded by Ishiko and probably All-Might too, but it was still an idea.

Izumi looked down at herself and saw where the markings were. There was a Curse Marking on each of her knees, and on her upper arms, and after a brief look down her dress, Izumi was relieved to see that there were no marks there. Still, she couldn't see her face or back, so she turned to her Idol.

"A-All-Might, I can see the marks on my arms and legs, but I can't see if I have any on my face or back. Would you please look for me?" Izumi asked bashfully, knowing she was essentially asking All-Might to look down the back of her dress.

The Number One Hero immediately agreed, and after gently shifting Eri aside so he could look down the back of Izumi's dress, he could confirm there were no marks on her back. Unfortunately, once Izumi shifted Eri back into place and looked up at All-Might, the man frowned.

"None on your back, Amaterasu, but there's one on your forehead." All-Might informed her.

Izumi scowled; that made her plan to be rid of the marks worse, but not impossible. She shakily raised a hand to brush some hair from her fully exposing her forehead, her hand making a hand sign as she did so.

"All-Might, I'm going to burn these marks out of my skin! Make sure Orochi doesn't use water to stop me!" she declared with serious eyes.

All-Might would have been shocked, were it not for the hand signal she'd given; "Bluff"

Orochi's eyes widened as both All-Might and Izumi suddenly ran at him, All-Might going full force towards the Water Head while Izumi limped and stumbled towards the Fire Head. The Serpent Demon sneered; the girl had been foolish to say her plan where he could hear it… her mind had clearly been addled by the loss of her powers. There was no way he was going to breath fire, so Orochi had his Fire Head back off and coil in on itself, hiding its snout within its coiled body. The Water Head then began firing blasts of water at Izumi, but All-Might was getting in the way and preventing the jets from touching the girl, using his steel-like muscles and air pressure smashes to either block or deflect the water jets.

"Damned Hero! Fine, I'll simply drown you completely!" Orochi roared getting annoyed and beginning to gather huge amounts of energy inside the Water Head, making its neck swell like a balloon. All-Might briefly panicked, as the last time Orochi had done that, the Water Head had been able to produce a jet with enough pressure to slice the ground, though his worries were mildly alleviated when Orochi decided to go for volume rather than pressure.

A monstrous torrent of water burst from the Serpent's mouth, slamming into the ground beneath it with all the force of Niagara Falls. It took only seconds for the entire floor within the bubble (an area the size of a baseball field) to be covered in a foot of water (which hissed and steamed when it touched the barrier). The wave of rapidly rising water forced All-Might to keep swimming as fast as he could to avoid being swept into the barrier and being burned, and as the Hero looked over to see if Izumi was avoiding the same fate, he and Orochi both froze with shocked expressions.

Izumi wasn't trying to resist the tide at all! She was actively letting it push her into the barrier, which she braced herself against using her knees, upper arms, and forehead…

...the five areas that had the Curse Markings.

Izumi screamed as her skin was seared off, but she endured until she felt the marks burn away and her power return to her. As soon as her power was back, she transformed into Demi-God Form and summoned her Mirror in front of her, which she used to protect herself from more damage via the barrier. With her consciousness weakening due to the pain of her burns, Izumi quickly cast the seldom used third technique of the Greensprout Triumvirate: Water Lily. She used the technique to draw several large circles on the surface of the water, using green ink, which then transformed into giant lily pads, providing somewhere for Izumi to stand after using her mirror as a kick off point. Once she landed on one of the lily pads, Izumi recalled her mirror and flooded her own body with Rejuvenation, taking a heavy hit to her stamina but restoring the damaged skin. From there, she used another lily pad as a plant source for Vine, using it to pluck All-Might from the water and deposit him onto a lily pad. Seeing both his enemies now standing safely above the water, Orochi's Water Head stopped releasing water, leaving the arena flooded with eight feet of water.

Panting, soaked, and suffering the beginnings of exhaustion and the echoes of her prior pain, Izumi nonetheless looked up at Orochi with a small defiant grin; "Sorry, Snake; I'm not that easy to stop."

Orochi snarled in anger and All-Might just sighed heavily, thinking "What is this girl made of!?" for what felt like the hundredth time that day alone! Still, he couldn't help but smile at the girl's determination, even if her reckless disregard for herself made even him look cautious by comparison!

"She really does look worse for wear though." he thought, taking in her posture. Izumi hadn't had a real rest since the day began and she'd faced demons, Chisaki, and Orochi in that time with only a brief bout of unconsciousness to break it up, and all while protecting Eri (who while wet from the impromptu pool, wasn't hurt at all). If Orochi hadn't filled her up with light to wake her up for his mind games earlier, she'd likely still be out cold!

"You know Amaterasu, when you signalled "Bluff" I assumed you were bluffing about the water AND burning yourself!" All-Might said, still smiling as his voice took a mildly reproachful tone.

Izumi smiled sheepishly: "I'm sorry, but the marks were under my skin. Water wasn't enough to wash them off… But it's okay now; I can win now. I have three big techniques left in me, ones that'll drain me completely, but should be able to take him out!"

"So it's all or nothing huh? We have little choice, so let's do it! Tell me what you need me to do, Young Amaterasu." All-Might grinned widely, giving a thumbs up.

"You need to DIE!" Orochi roared, all eight of his heads attacking at once with their elemental abilities.

"All-Might! Use your air pressure attacks to stop the Poison and Wind, then when I call out, attack the bell!" Izumi ordered, charging forward with her mirror poised on the back of her left arm and a fistful of Inferno ink on her right. She stood in the way of the Light Beams shot at All-Might by the Light Head, her body automatically absorbing them and providing small boosts to her Stamina, which she used to power Inferno and redirect the flames from the Fire Head into the water jet shot from the Water Head. Orochi's flames and water were of equal strength, so the flames were doused even as their heat evaporated the water. With the Light Head being useless against her, All-Might dealing with the Wind and Poison Heads, and Izumi having an easy way to nullify the Fire and Water Heads, the Wolf Girl turned her focus to the last three.

Orochi snarled wildly, some of his heads actually hissing like proper snakes now as the Demon began to lose his temper. This made his attacks more erratic, which made the next part easier for Izumi. The rock spikes shot by the Earth Head were slow enough that Izumi could dodge them as she jumped between her lily pads, and when the Lightning Head began to make electricity arc from its fangs, Izumi was ready with her mirror, absorbing the lightning and reflecting it at the Demon Buds that the Darkness Head was busily creating with a Reflector Style: True Reflection, which destroyed the buds handily.

This all worked perfectly, and Izumi was preparing for the first of her big moves, until she encountered a slight hiccup. Izumi's Divine Retribution naturally had two sides; the mirror side for absorbing and reflecting energy attacks, and the hard iron side for blocking physical attacks. The Mirror was ridiculously strong and hard to break on the iron side, but the mirror side was vulnerable to everything but energy attacks AND it could only absorb and reflect a single type of energy at a time, so if it was hit by a second type of energy while reflecting something, then the mirror would act like normal glass against that element…

So when a stray burst of fire from Orochi's Fire Head struck the Divine Retribution while Izumi was using it to reflect lightning, the heat of the flames melted the mirror. This caused the second weakness of the Divine Retribution to be made obvious; if one side breaks, the whole weapon shatters.

Izumi screamed in surprise as her mirror suddenly shattered like a cheap dinner plate. Thankfully, since the pieces were still metal (albeit a special kind of metal), the lightning was still stopped by the pieces, so Izumi had the chance to recover and quickly jump off a rock spike shot at her in order to launch herself upward. She then jumped off Orochi's Fire Head, leaping with all her might so she was almost at the top of the barrier dome; that was when she released her first big technique.

Aiming carefully with her finger, Izumi drew a massive green circle atop the water flooding the area, making it just slightly smaller than the dome itself so the resulting plants wouldn't burn up by touching the barrier. "Hanagami Art: Otohime's Garden!"

The moment the technique was cast, Izumi felt a huge wave of exhaustion flood her, but the move succeeded. Suddenly, every bit of water within the circle Izumi drew was now covered in a layer of algae, seaweed, and other kinds of water-faring plants, produced with the Water Lily Technique (which contrary to the name, produced all kinds of aquatic plant, not just lily pads).

All-Might and Orochi looked at all the aquatic foliage with confusion, both bewildered by what Izumi was planning with a bunch of sea weed and pond scum. Izumi just grinned, transforming into her full Wolf Form and slamming down on the Fire Head as she descended, making the serpent face plant through the plants and into the water.

Before Orochi could recover, Izumi used the second of her three big moves; she shot streams of green ink in all directions, this time focusing on the Bloom Technique. "Hanagami Art: Sakura Embrace!" she yelled, causing a miniature forest of trees to grow from the foliage she had made earlier. Normally, when Izumi simply made trees with Bloom, she couldn't control them, but she had learned that she could control how they grew by using her green ink to direct them, the same way she used red ink to direct flames while using Inferno. This allowed her to use the Sakura Embrace, an ability that could bind her opponents with trees; perfect for foes too strong for her Vine Technique.

Izumi's trees grew rapidly and ensnared each of Orochi's heads, holding them and completely immobilising them. The only way Orochi could escape would be with the breath of his Fire Head… which was currently face down in the water and being held like that by one of Izumi's trees.

Ishiko smiled broadly as she realised what Izumi's plan had been from the beginning. She knew she needed to restrain Orochi's heads, but her go to restraint move; Vine, wasn't strong enough, so she had instead resolved to use the trees she produced with Bloom… but while trees were tough enough to hold Orochi down if he couldn't build up the momentum needed to destroy them, they were VERY flammable, so Izumi needed to permanently deal with the Fire Head, and what better way than water? Izumi had been inspired by the sight of demonic ink building up in the glass-like form of the Demon Buds, and had tricked Orochi into flooding the arena to produce enough water to keep his Fire Head submerged and stop him from burning away her trees. Of course, the water caused a minor hiccup in that Izumi needed either solid ground or existing foliage to make trees with Bloom, and her ink wouldn't reach the ground through the eight feet of water, so she had used Otohime's Garden to cover the water in foliage, which could then be used as the starting point for her trees.

The end result; Orochi bound and helpless for a few moments, Izumi on the verge of passing out, and All-Might gaping in shock.

Izumi staggered with exhaustion, barely able to stand after such a massive use of her powers, but she wasn't done yet!

"All-Might, now!"

"Got it!" the Man yelled, leaping between the trapped heads, dealing a heavy blow to each one to stop them struggling as much, and then landing directly in front of Orochi's Dark Instrument; the Temple Bell. All-Might pulled his fist back and threw a punch with all his strength; "Enough of this bell! Toll for the last time; DETROIT SMASH!"

All-Might's fist slammed into the metal like a meteorite, 100% of his strength blasting through it. The force was so great that even though it was made from otherworldly iron, and thus was extremely tough, All-Might's fist tore through one side of the bell, shattered the clapper, and then hit the other side from within the bell, leaving a permanent imprint of his hand and tearing the bell from the archway. The archway split in half, right down the middle, and the bell flew into the side of the barrier before sinking into the slowly draining water, reduced to nothing but a chunk of useless iron.

"YES!" Izumi and All-Might cheered, watching as Orochi's golden sheen faded away to reveal his normal dark scale colour.

Orochi howled with an inferno of fury, and his struggles to escape doubled in intensity. Izumi watched him carefully; the Demon was now vulnerable to attack, but he'd break free soon. The water was slowly vanishing, being evaporated by Orochi's submerged Fire Head and the contact with the barrier, while also being drained by the roots of Izumi's own trees. The moment the water was gone, Orochi's Fire Head would burn its way out of the trees and free the rest of them, so Izumi quickly jumped onto the beast's central body to stand beside All-Might, readying herself for her last technique.

No sooner had she gotten to All-Might's side and flashed him a smile of thanks, had Orochi finally reduced the water he'd created into nothing but a few puddles, allowing him to easily burn his way out of Izumi's plants. The air became thick with vapour, ash and smoke, but All-Might waved his hands around with all his strength to blow it all away. When they could see again, the Heroes looked up to find that all eight of Orochi's heads were now facing them, essentially encircling them and glaring down with sinister red eyes.

Like Izumi, Orochi couldn't be harmed by his own techniques unless he allowed it, so he had no problem gathering as much elemental power into each of his heads as he could, ready to unleash the massive blast that had decimated the arena previously.

"All-Might, jump up high! I'm finishing this in one blow!" Izumi declared, willing to gamble everything on the one attack she had left in her. She'd never be able to stop the attack Orochi was about to use, so she had no choice but to finish the battle before it could be unleashed!

"Win, Amaterasu!" All-Might told her, then leapt up so high that the tips of his bangs were singed by the barrier above them.

With All-Might out of the way, Izumi allowed black ink to drip from the tips of each finger on her right hand, then with a mighty cry of "TACHIGAMI ART: OMEGA SLASH!" she spun in a circle, drawing five lines of Power Slash in a perfect circle around her. Each line became an invisible blade of power that sliced outward. Omega Slash was the perfect move for when Izumi was surrounded, so long as she didn't care about the people surrounding her… such as right now.

Orochi's heads stopped gathering energy as each one was struck by the five evenly spaced slashes, cutting into the now vulnerable space just about a foot beneath the armoured sections of their necks. With a horrible hiss of pain, the eight heads slid from their necks and hit the floor with a series of dull thuds and metallic clangs, each wearing an expression of shock and pain. The elemental power they had been generating and storing spluttered out. Orochi's necks slumped over, and the decapitated heads turned into black smoke and vanished, with the barrier following soon after.

Izumi collapsed to her knees, her power almost completely spent. She had just about enough to maintain her Demi-God Form, but that was it… not that it mattered, as after all that effort, Izumi had succeeded! Orochi was dead!

All-Might landed beside her, grinning brightly; "Excellently done, Amaterasu! I couldn't have done it better myself!" he said, a joking tone to his voice. He knew full well that he couldn't have done it at all by himself.

"Thank you, All-Might. I'm just glad it's over! I could really use a nap, but first, we need to figure out how to get down from here… we seem to still be floating in the sky." Izumi said, struggling to her feet again. She was in bad shape; sweating profusely and with deathly pale skin. Eri was watching her worriedly, not liking how sick her Mother-figure looked, while Ishiko was just staring at Orochi's body with amazement and confusion.

"I wonder why the heads turned to smoke but the rest didn't? I don't think that happened during your last fights." Ishiko mused.

Izumi shrugged, reaching back to pet Eri's hair; "I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter right now. Orochi's beaten; we can worry about the rest later." she said tiredly.

"Oh really? I beg to differ!"

Izumi and All-Might whipped around to the source of the voice, finding Orochi's Fire Head had regrown from its neck. Before Izumi could process what she was seeing, another head regenerated, and then another and another, until all eight heads were back. Then, with all the speed of a cobra, one of the heads behind them darted forward and slammed into All-Might, striking him in the right side (thankfully not his injured one) with enough force to send him flying off of the floating island.

The moment All-Might was gone, the barrier (which had still been present on the underside of the arena, which is why the island hadn't immediately fallen to earth) began to expand to cover the top of the island again, recreating the sphere. Orochi grinned cruelly; "Now that he's out of the way, I've got you all to myself, Foolish Girl!"

Izumi shook her head in desperate denial; "N-No! How did this happen!? How are you still alive!?"

"You should know by now; your power alone cannot kill me. It requires the power of both Humanity AND Divinity to slay the Great Yamata No Orochi!" the Serpent boasted.

"B-But I should have-!? My power should have worked!" Izumi cried.

"Foolish girl! You think that because your body is human that you have the power of a human? It is not the flesh that matters, you Mutt! It is the soul! The Heart that beats within that rotten carcass! Your flesh is human, but your heart and soul is purely Divine! It requires two souls, one human and one divine to slay me completely. Without it, you can hurt me but I will regenerate infinitely."

Izumi gaped up at the Demon, she had been so sure! She had gambled EVERYTHING on it working! She didn't have the technique needed to bestow some of her power on to a human, so she had been relying entirely on her half-human nature to win! But she wasn't half human because her body and soul were 50-50, but because her body was pure human and her soul was pure divine…

It had all been for nothing. Worse, now that All-Might was gone, she couldn't bestow her power onto anyone even if she had the technique! From the moment the battle had begun…

...she had already lost.

Orochi saw some of the hope in Izumi's eyes die, and laughed uproariously; "I must admit, you gave me trouble with all your little tricks and techniques! Compared to the battles we had in the past, you were much more troublesome! You are weaker than they were, yet your ingenuity more than made up for your weakness… That's why I decided to use some of it myself! I allowed you to think you had killed me so that I could get that pest All-Might out of the way, and rob you of a Human Soul you could empower. Now all you have left is the Little Pup on your back, who has no power that can harm me. You have lost!"

Orochi punctuated his sentence by slamming his Fire Head into Izumi's gut, knocking her off his central body, before having his Earth Head slam its snout into Izumi's stomach again, aiming to smash her into the ground. Izumi screamed in pain, yet she just barely managed to spin in the air after that last hit, so she landed face down on the ground rather than crushing Eri and Ishiko.

"Mama 'Zumi!" Eri cried, untying herself from Izumi's back so her (admittedly low) weight wasn't pressing down on the older girl any more.

Izumi whimpered, feeling her entire body sing with pain. She was sure she'd broken a leg and cracked most of her ribs, as well as bruised about every muscle she had. Izumi struggled, trying to pick herself up, but only managed to crumple to the floor again. Orochi loomed over her, all eight of his heads grinning cruelly at her while Eri and Ishiko cowered at her side, unable to do anything to help her.

"How sad. After all the effort you went through to destroy my Dark Instrument, you find that your power isn't enough to stop me. Now you have neither the technique to bestow your power on others, nor a person on whom to bestow it if you could! It's a shame that All-Might turned out to be disappointing, but I suppose the Number One Hero of the Humans is still only Human." Orochi mocked.

Izumi glared and bared her teeth, but it was a hollow gesture… she had lost. She didn't have the energy left to heal herself with Rejuvenation and not only was her mirror broken, but she'd also found that Orochi could infinitely heal from her attacks… Being a Divine Reborn as a Human wasn't enough, she lacked the power of a Pure Human Soul.

Now Izumi was broken on the floor, at the mercy of her enemy and with no help in sight. All-Might had been ejected from the barrier and had no way back in, and neither Eri nor Ishiko had the power to help her.

The spark of defiance in Izumi's eye began to dull further, and Orochi's grin grew wider; "You should have just killed Chisaki and joined me… you wouldn't have to suffer if you just obeyed… But then again, no dog is going to obey without a little discipline." the Serpent Demon boasted.

His Lightning Head suddenly attacked Izumi, yellow lightning arcing between its fangs and Izumi's body. Izumi screamed as the electricity coursed through her, making her muscles spasm painfully. Eri and Ishiko cried out as they watched Izumi suffer, being tortured once again by a monster whom she couldn't fight back against… Eri's eyes filled with tears; it was like Chisaki all over again!

"No!" Eri finally cried, lunging for a broken and forgotten piece of Izumi's mirror and then running between Orochi and her Mama, holding the mirror between them. Orochi's lightning was blocked by the mirror, though not reflected since it was currently devoid of Izumi's power. Still, it was enough to stop the onslaught and surprise Orochi into ceasing his attack, even if the mirror was sent flying over Eri's head by the force, the poor child not having the strength to keep her grip on it.

Everyone present looked at Little Eri with shock, none of them having expected the small, frightened girl to throw herself in the path of lightning for the sake of her mother figure. It was only thanks to Eri's quick thinking with the mirror shard, and Orochi's surprise, that she was spared from suffering a hellish electrocution of her own. It was pure luck that Izumi's mirror was divine in nature, and thus wouldn't properly conduct any kind of energy while broken… if it had been a normal iron mirror, Eri would still have been harmed just from holding it while electricity struck it.

Orochi recovered from his surprise quickly; "So, the Little Puppy has bared her teeth for the first time! How foolish… just like your beaten mother, you snap at a beast far beyond your power. Are you stupid, Little Eri, or do you simply wish to die?"

The venom in Orochi's voice made Eri flinch, but she didn't look away, or flee, or cower. She stood her ground, shaking like a leaf as she stared up at the Evil Serpent that had so badly hurt her Mama.

"I-I don't want to die…!" Eri whimpered, only audible thanks to the incredible hearing that Orochi and Izumi possessed.

"Then step aside. I can still make use of you… leave Amaterasu to die and I will spare your life. Get in the way again, and I will make you scream as you perish!" Orochi threatened.

"NO!" Eri screamed, refusing to budge; "I won't go! Mama saved me… she loved me and helped me! She taught me how to read a little, and how to make yummy food! She saved me from the Bad People, even when they hurt her! She made me feel like I wasn't bad, and loved me even with my quirk! She taught me that it was good! She protected me this whole time, making sure I'd never be hurt! Mama is a Hero! But she can't move now… so I'll save her!" Eri yelled, ruby eyes burning with determination even as tears of fear flooded down her cheeks.

Izumi had saved Eri so much already… the Little Girl wanted nothing more than to save her too! Even if she was weak, even if Eri couldn't do anything to stop Orochi…

…even if it meant dying; Eri would protect her Hero to the very end!

Izumi felt tears begin to cascade down her face as she struggled in vain to stand up. Little Eri, so scared and abused by the world, was standing up to an unstoppable monster for her sake. The little girl's heart, previously locked up tight to protect it from breaking, was finally open and shining with light. Izumi could feel that warm light within Eri's little heart, and the light within her own heart rushed to meet it.

Orochi sneered; "Then you will fail! Fail and die, Little Pup, just like your mother!" he roared, before opening his mouth wide and releasing a torrent of flame down upon them.

Despite her fear, and despite knowing that she would die, and fail to save her Mama, Eri threw her arms out wide to shield Izumi as much as possible. Izumi never broke a promise to her, so Eri would keep her promise to the bitter end! If Eri and Izumi were going to die anyway, then Eri would die being a Hero!

Time seemed to freeze as those crimson flames were on the verge of engulfing them, but Izumi could not see the fire. All she could see was Eri, her brave little girl, standing between Izumi and Death, giving everything to preserve Izumi's life by even just a few fractions of a second. In that moment, despite all her regrets, Izumi was thankful towards Chisaki for killing her earlier… at least now that her Astral Resurrection had been used up, she could die alongside brave little Eri… Izumi briefly prayed that when Eri was reincarnated too, that they would meet again in their next life.

Then, as if struck by lightning once again, Izumi jolted.

"What the hell am I thinking!?" she cursed herself, "Eri hasn't given up yet! She's standing on the brink of death to protect me, and here I am already accepting our deaths!? NO! I will not accept this! I will not allow this!"

In that moment, Izumi and Eri shared the same thoughts, the same feelings, and the same desires.

I won't give up.

I will save her.

I will be a Hero!

I refuse.

I REFUSE TO FALL!

FOR ALL THE LOVE SHE HAS GIVEN ME, I WILL WIN!

Izumi and Eri's hearts beat as one. The light within each of them shone brightly. Izumi, a being that was both Spirit and Human at the same time, felt her body begin to change, the light within her overflowing and changing her, turning flesh and bone into energy and light. Izumi lost her form and became a thing of pure light and spirit; a shining star with nothing to contain itself…

Nothing but the heart of a little girl that had been closed for so long, and finally thrown open by the love between a Mother and Daughter, bound by choice and love, not blood and obligation.

Two hearts beat as one. Two souls combined their light. Two beings came together, one of flesh and one light.

Two Heroes joined together, and became a God.

Orochi's flames bathed the girls in heat and death. Ishiko was sent flying by a sudden wave of force, narrowly avoiding hitting the barrier by managing to stab her tiny sword into the ground and holding onto it with all her might. Ishiko watched in horror as Eri and Izumi were consumed by the fire, their forms disappearing behind the wall of searing crimson. Just as Ishiko was about to break down and cry, weeping for the loss of her companion and the girl she had come to care for, she saw something within those flames.

A golden spark.

To the shock of Ishiko and Orochi, that tiny golden spark suddenly exploded, releasing so much light and energy that the hellfire of the Serpent Demon was pushed back. Ishiko felt the light touch her and was filled with an inexplicable feeling of hope and joy. Orochi felt the same light wash over his scales, and screamed in torment as it stung his flesh, as if a needle of pure light had stabbed into every single cell of his body. The light then pulled back to reveal the fates of the two girls swallowed by flame.

Izumi was nowhere to be seen; only an empty off-white dress, some discarded kitchen tools, and a bundle of bandages to show where she had once laid. There was not even ash left, and even the shards of the mirror that was a part of her had disappeared.

Eri was gone too, and unlike Izumi, she had vanished without leaving behind the clothes and bandages she wore.

Instead, where Eri had once stood…

...was someone new.

Next Chapter: Yamata No Orochi Part 3

To be Released: July 18th 2021

Phew, that was my longest chapter so far, and probably the longest I'll have for quite a while! The majority of the Orochi fight took place here, and obviously was a bit different from the games! I substituted All-Might's punching power in place of the Sake to stun Orochi, and his wind-pressure punches to emulate Galestorm since Izumi doesn't have that yet. She doesn't have Waterspout either, but she didn't need it without the sake so that's all good!

Writing a battle against a near-invincible enemy is hard, but it was interesting to have a fight with All-Might that doesn't end in a steamroll for him. And of course, we got to see all of Orochi's attacks and powers, a few new tricks and techniques from Izumi, and the destruction of Orochi's Dark Instrument. We also got to learn that despite being both Human and Divine, Izumi only has the one soul and so can't actually win on her own.

That all being said, I should address the twist at the end. I know what it looks and sounds like, but I assure you; it isn't just an Asspull. I've been setting this up since the beginning, and the power used was used in EVERY Arc so far. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out if you think about it ;)

The conclusion to the battle, and the arc in general, will be the next chapter! Only one more to go!

I hope you enjoyed! Please Comment and Review; it really encourages me!