Dodomeki traded blows with Acquilla as Luna stood by the sidelines. Acquilla leapt back before lunging back in, unleashing a flurry of thrusting attacks at Dodomeki. He dodged and deflected all the attacks he could however a couple of attacks manage to get sneak through his defences as cuts appear on his biceps and torso. He growled as he felt his black demonic blood flow down his flesh. All Dodomeki could do was to step back and be on the defensive however though he knew he would have to go on the offensive, his body is too exhausted for a long drawn out fight like he's more accustomed to. As Dodomeki dodged to the right he picked his leg up and roundhouse kicked Acquilla in the stomach as leaned in forward as his momentum carried him. He knelt over as he groaned in pain, Dodomeki was about to go in for another punch to the jaw however Luna's chain quickly wrapped around his gauntlet again. As he tried pulling it this time, he saw Luna reeling him back like an animal as she planted her feet firmly on the ground. He couldn't escape the ensnarement of the chain. Giving Acquilla time to stand back up and immediately go back on the offensive. He wiped the blood that was trickling down his mouth and yelled before lunging in again.
This time Dodomeki was even more at a disadvantage. He wondered why Luna wasn't going in for the kill straight away. However that thought was quickly replaced with dodging the attacks as he backstepped away from the spear. He deflected as many attacks as he could though he had to rely on his agility to dodge the attacks. He attempted to counterattack with a his legs as they were longer, hoping to catch the mystic off guard however he quickly adapted and moved away in time. Acquilla changed his attacks from thrusting to swiping attacks. Dodomeki was able to block and dodge them as he moved back but he quickly realised that he was running out of space as he realised the chain started to straighten and hover in the in the air, all the way to Luna's hilt. Suddenly, he had an idea.
He quickly rushed to Luna's position who got into a battle-ready stance expecting him to rush her to get the chain off as quick as possible. Acquilla quickly pursued Dodomeki. As Dodomeki got close enough he suddenly stopped confusing Luna. He waited until Acquilla initiated combat with him as he sprinted forward and began to attack Dodomeki again. Luna couldn't understand why, surely, he realises that she could just stab him now right? She wouldn't as she would prefer Acquilla to tire him out first before dirtying her hands as much as she could have. Only trying to make sure he would not get a killing blow on her companion. After all he's useless if he is dead. Suddenly she realised the distance from the start of the chain to the end of it had gotten short enough for the chain to barely hover over the ground, whereas before it was roughly a foot off the ground.
'Shit, so that's what he's doing!' 'Acquilla stop, fall back!' She shouted as she started to sprint away, trying to get distance and tighten the chain again. She didn't want to engage with the demon and she wouldn't get close enough before he could enact his plan. Acquilla looked at her, confused why she would run away or why she has the gall to order him about. She is not lord Jinzha. No matter what she thought.
'Yeah that's it, run away like the cowardly mystic you are.' Dodomeki goaded Acquilla who growled fiercely at him as he stared upon him with furious eyes.
'I am no coward demon! Die!' He screams out loud as he puts more energy into his attacks, trying to get through Dodomeki's defences. Dodomeki looked for an opening as he began to dodge Acquilla's attacks however there wasn't much of an opening that Dodomeki could exploit. He glanced back to see Luna sprinting away and noticing the chain steadily getting straightened and started to hover over the ground more. He was running out of time. He didn't want ot do this but he didn't see any other alternative. Acquilla thrust one of his attacks however this time Dodomeki didn't dodge, the spear penetrated his left bicep. His eye twitched though he didn't scream. Acquilla smirked arrogantly.
'Gotcha.' Dodomeki replied surprising Acquilla as he grabbed the spear with his left arm from underneath preventing Acquilla from withdrawing it, despite his best efforts as he held on tightly. Dodomeki quickly punched Acquilla with his right gauntlet, forcing him to spit blood. As the punch past his face he quickly hovered it over his head and twirled it around it. Forcing the end of the chain to be wrapped against Dodomeki's gauntlet and Acquilla's neck just in time before Luna straightened the chain and started to choke Acquilla. As she felt the chain struggle to move, she turned around to see to Dodomeki's plan completed. Acquilla used both his hands to grab the chain while Dodomeki pulled the spear out carefully before it dropped to the ground. He took a step back from Acquilla and pulled with the gauntlet ensnared in the chain. Forcing Acquilla to struggle to find air. Luna looked upon with disappointment. He should've listened to her.
'Here's the deal mystic!' Dodomeki yelled from quite away.
'You drop your weapons and leave them here and you can leave with your lives. If not, this one dies.' Dodomeki was never one for negotiations, however if they valued their lives they would drop their weapons, leaving a chance for Dodomeki to kill them both. Mystics always valued each other, he was looking to exploit that. Luna looked Dodomeki and then at Acquilla who was continually being choked and looked upon her with a pleading expression, begging her to do it. Luna smirked instead.
'Why give you the satisfaction?' Luna questioned as she quickly pulled her sword and therefore the chain towards herself with sudden and large amount of force that the chain cleaves through the skin. Decapitating Acquilla. His head showed a shocked expression as it rolled on the floor towards Dodomeki. The headless corpse stood there for a moment before it fell to the side. Saying Dodomeki was shocked was an understatement. They were always so unified, always so caring so much for their comrades to the point they would die or surrender to save them. That is what he remembered previously.
'Why so shocked? You were going to kill him anyway.' Luna stated.
'Yes, but that doesn't explain why you would kill him.'
'Tch, why would I care? He wasn't lord Jinzha, just another weapon for him to use. And if he was foolish enough to get caught then he wasn't really of much use, was he?' Luna responded, her voice cold and calculating as he stared at Dodomeki with her icy blue eyes. Dodomeki couldn't help but chuckle at her.
'I suppose not, still its unusual for you to have the killing blow.' He responded as he chopped off the part of the chain that ensnared his gauntlet with his free arm. The part of the chain formerly around the gauntlet turned duller and quickly fell to the ground. Luna wore a lopsided smirk at his words.
'I suppose so but ever since your serpent killed our beloved emperor things have been a bit…hectic as of late.'
'So its true.' Dodomeki thought to himself, Orochi finally brought down the yellow emperor.
'Not that you need to worry about our situation of course, in fact I wager it you think of it as a blessing.'
'Heh, you read my mind.' Dodomeki replied before suddenly breaking the chain with a strong chop as he pulled on it to make the chain straight. He then sprinted towards Luna. Luna pulled her chain back as far as she could before whipping it to Dodomeki Horizontally from the left side. Dodomeki dived over the chain before it was about to get him, however the side of the chain grazed his chest. He winced however he soldiered on. He cursed the fact he was slow enough to get hit it didn't deter him to keep moving. Luna struck again with the chain, this time diagonally upwards to the left side as the chain crashed to the ground. Trying to strike the chain across Dodomeki's entire torso. However, he anticipated the attack and sidestepped, narrowly dodging the chain and got close enough to Luna that she couldn't whip the chain in time before Dodomeki jumped in for the first strike. Luna blocked the oncoming punch with her blade. Immediately Dodomeki responded with a hook punch with his opposite arm as he withdrew his other arm back away. Luna ducked under the punch and went for a horizontal slash to Dodomeki's abdomen. He quickly leapt back to dodge the attack went in for an overhead punch seemingly going for her head. She jumped out of the way to dodge the attack. She pointed her bright blade at Dodomeki.
'Are you sure you should be fighting me? You're not exactly fighting at full strength you know.' She questioned. Dodomeki stood up and motioned to the floor to reveal he punched one of the chain links clean off. Making the chain that is attached to the hilt of her blade to only be a very few links.
'I wouldn't speak about fighting at full capacity if I were you.' Luna couldn't help but giggle at his words.
'You really think that'll be enough? You're gravely mistaken.' She responded as she lunged in. Her blade met Dodomeki's left gauntlet, she smirked however as her left hand started glowing. He was anticipating a blade coming back however he instead heard footsteps coming behind him. He glanced behind and blocked an oncoming attack from behind with his right gauntlet. He was surprised to see it was Luna again…an illusion? They both smirked at Dodomeki as they would target and strike in different areas. Dodomeki managed dodge out the way from both of their strikes. He glanced at both of them, they look exactly the same, though if one was an illusion, he wouldn't feel the metallic edge hit against his gauntlet…right? Is this illusion magic just that poweful that he can't figure out which ones which? Dodomeki didn't like to take the chance that its just an illusion and that it wouldn't affect him. He started to pant heavily.
'Damnit, not now. Stay together, stay on your feet. You're a demon of lady Mitsuko, you can't let yourself drop before you take out this mystic, no matter her illusions.' He thought to himself as he charged them both. They both leapt away in opposite directions leaving Dodomeki to choose one to pursue. He immediately went after one and unleashed a volley of punches at one of the Luna's. She managed to block all of the strikes though she barely had time to counterattack as the flurry of punches were too fast for her to strike in between. However, the other Luna quickly sprinted towards them and sliced Dodomeki's back. He staggered forward slightly as he temporarily stopped his onslaught. Giving the Luna in front of him a chance to strike. However instead of standing around Dodomeki twisted his body to face the other Luna. At the same time performing a back kick with his right leg as he picked it up to place behind him. Kicking Luna back, forcing her to crash to the ground. Dodomeki punched the other Luna as he turned around. Luna backstepped, narrowly missing the hook punch aiming for her jaw. Dodomeki stood still for just a moment as his body even though exhausted shivered as the cold air crashed against his open wounds, forcing his muscles to twitch for just a second as he felt his blood drip down his skin. He did not yell, he did not scream. He was going to do his duty as he is supposed to.
He suddenly lunged into the Luna that is standing and resumed his relentless onslaught of punches of jabs and hook punches. Luna could only dodge or block as she was backstepping away yet Dodomeki was persistent. Luna was curious about this demon in front of her. She examined her body to see the wounds he suffered, he should've definitely have run away by now, yet here he is. Fighting on despite all his wounds he suffered and the exhausted state of his body. Its not like the demon is immune to suffering either, Luna couldn't fathom it. As she looked right in Dodomeki's golden demonic eye, what she saw surprised her. It wasn't just complete contempt for her or the instinctual desire to kill. There was something else…determination. Luna was interested to learn more. As Dodomeki started to slow down with his flurry of punches as his body couldn't physically keep up with it. Luna struck. She deflected a punch coming from his fist to her left and tried to slice Dodomeki's neck horizontally as she lunged in. Dodomeki barely managed to put his other fist to block the attack in time. The weapons screeched at each other as they scraped past each other as Luna continue past Dodomeki and immediately try to strike again horizontally as she twisted her body to the opposite side. Dodomeki turned around and blocked the attack easily with his right arm. He immediately responded with a left jab aiming for her face. Luna sidestepped to the right and lifted her sword and carried it over Dodomeki's fist and dropped down in an overhead slice, cutting through a part of Dodomeki's left shoulder. He quickly winced as he grabbed the wound while Luna backstepped away while pointing her sword at him.
'Why do you persist in fighting me? You are covered with wounds and your body can't take much more punishment. This is not just something you're doing out of pure anger against me.' She questioned.
'Why do you care? This is a fight not a debate.' Dodomeki responded exhaustedly.
'I care because its fascinating. I've never quite faced one with such…determination before.' The other Luna appeared behind Dodomeki while keeping her distance from him.
'Most would simply die or flee to fight another day, yet you are different. I wonder if this is just something related to you or if this is some new tactic your serpent has employed. Either way I plan to find out.' The Luna in front of Dodomeki continued. Both ready to strike at will, Dodomeki couldn't help but try to get his breath as he panted quickly as his body starts to shut down. He cursed himself for being weak enough for his body to not keep up. He should've been stronger than this, he is stronger than this. Yet…here he is on his last legs. He breathed heavily, his body aches as his arms start to drop down, his legs start to quiver, threatening to buckle under his own weight.
'Well I suppose it doesn't matter. I do have to kill you and then we have to kill that serpent of yours…and then everything goes back to the way it was…boring and stagnant.' Luna sighed as she was ready to strike. Those words echoed within Dodomeki. 'Kill Mitsuko, kill Mitsuko.'
He remembered watching her grow up after his failure to rescue her parents, failed to protect those she cared about. Failed to protect her from herself. Seeing her laugh, seeing her in pain…his feelings of regret. Yet this mystic spoke about killing Mitsuko. His lady Mitsuko, the demon serpent forging a new world of her own volition. His lady Mitsuko whom he has watched over since her she was very young. His lady Mitsuko that he had disappointed. His lady Mitsuko that he was eager to prove himself and whom he swears his loyalty. They dare speak about killing her!? The Luna in front of Dodomeki charged in going for a thrust attack aimed at Dodomeki's eye seeing that he is vulnerable. Though to her surprise Dodomeki caught the blade with his left hand.
'You will not harm a single hair on her head!' Dodomeki yelled out in anger as he punched Luna with his right hand in her left jaw. Forcing her to crash to the ground immediately as she spat her golden blood. The other Luna was stunned and was momentarily fearful for her life before lunging in for an attack. She approached Dodomeki from the rear with her sword by her side. Though Dodomeki anticipated the attack. As soon as Luna was close enough Dodomeki twisted his body to his left and uppercut Luna in the jaw with his right arm.
'Wait what?' Luna thought to herself as she found herself getting knocked up in the air in the fist. She didn't know what caused him to have his second wind but despite the situation and surprise she couldn't help but become interested. Dodomeki grabbed her lag and slammed her to the ground and immediately punched her in the chest. The illusion vanished into thin air. The other Luna struggled to get on her feet as Dodomeki slowly stood up from punching her illusion.
'Wait what!?' Luna thought again Dodomeki glanced backwards at her before appearing suddenly right in front of her and immediately kneed her in the stomach and punched her head so far, he decapitates her. However as soon as the head comes clean off, the body disappeared immediately. Another illusion. The real Luna tried to slash Dodomeki from behind however he heard her sword moving and sidestepped. Dodging the attack with ease. Luna followed up with a horizontal strike aimed at his neck. He leant back his front shoulder and punched Luna, forcing her to turn a full 360 degrees as she staggered back as golden blood trickles down the left side of her mouth. He threw some more punches at Luna who managed to block the attacks with her sword. She ducked under a hook punch and tried to attack with her blade as she sliced vertically downwards towards his left side. The blade cuts through the skin as blood started to flow down this wound as well. Though that didn't stop Dodomeki as he downwards punched Luna aiming for the top of her skull with his other arm. Luna had no choice but to roll out the way to get out. Dodomeki round house kicked her. She was laid out on the ground face down as Dodomeki picked her up by the back of her head and slammed it down to the ground repeated causing blood to trickle down her nose and mouth. Dodomeki flipped her over and punched her, aiming for her face. Luna managed to block the fist with her blade. Dodomeki's strength however was proving to be too much for Luna to handle as she could only watch as her sword gradually got closer as Dodomeki's strength was starting to overcome Luna's.
Luna flexed some of her fingers from her free hand when suddenly her sword shone brightly, temporarily blinding Dodomeki. Luna struck Dodomeki with the hilt, forcing him off her. She leapt back up and immediately tried to stab Dodomeki as he was lying. He rolled to the side as Luna kept pursuing him, trying to stab him. Dodomeki rolled onto his feet eventually, Luna tried to go for a vertical slice upwards at Dodomeki who dodged the attack and took steps forward towards Luna and grabbed her neck and pinned her against the wall. She flailed her legs wildly as Dodomeki proceeded to start crushing her windpipe as he hovered his free hand behind him, aiming for a thrusting strike as it was straightened, going for the centre of the skull. As Dodomeki went in for the strike he suddenly involuntarily gasped as his attack stopped. He glanced below to see the tip of Acquilla's spear penetrated his stomach, coated in his black, demonic blood. He suddenly felt his strength suddenly wane as a new wave of pain and agony surged through his body. He had to let go of Luna who flexed her index finger towards her palm while the rest of her fingers were still extended. Dodomeki hyperventilated, the spear robbed him of his breath and could not scream, he could only just walk back while trying to regain as much oxygen as he could. He could only fall to his left side and landed on the ground. Luna brushed off the dirt and dust that had gathered on her clothes with her hand as if it was nothing and walked towards Dodomeki who could only lie there and accept his fate as she shone the sword brightly while she hovered it over his eye. She couldn't help but smirk as she crouched besides him.
'Now, I should kill you. You would be a real problem for lord Jinzha…and yet how could I? A demon with a second wind like that, how fascinating. A demon like yourself fighting for something other than themselves or pure hatred is unheard of. If you were an anomaly I would in a way kill an entire species…and I could not do that. Though my more…primitive comrades will disagree they don't really need to know the exact specifics of our skirmish. In all honestly, I should probably thank you for giving me some hope to cling to that things can be interesting. First you manage to kill our emperor, leading to the only exciting thing that happened to us in recent memory. If demons of all people can bring me excitement, then surely my own people can do the same right? Well that's my hope at least anyway. Hehe. Such a weird sensation, leaving a demon alive over my own people…though it looks like our time is up.' Luna explained as she stood up and saw Gyuki's figure getting closer.
'Well I don't know if you'll make it through your wounds. If you do I wouldn't mind seeing you fight my comrades on the battlefield to break their mould. If you don't make it…well, I'll just have to find another demon to pique my interest. Well farewell.' Luna stated as she ran away leaving Dodomeki to contemplate her words for a moment before thinking about Mitsuko.
'I am sorry, my lady. I failed you.' he thought as his eyelid began to feel heavy. He only heard a couple of words before it was muffled as the darkness enveloped him.