Author's Notes: Holy Crap, ANOTHER CHAPTER? Maybe, JUST maybe, this time I'll actually be able to finish this monstrosity before my muse tries to run away again!

This is the part that was giving me the most grief, I dunno if it will be satisfying for those of you who've been waiting, what, 4 years? for it. Mostly, I'm happy itís WRITTEN. There will be one, maybe two more chapters after this one, then I'm closing the book on this fic! Rejoice!

Yet again, I dun own Slayers!

Chapter 19

Gourry groaned as something decidedly sharp jabbed into his ribs. He opened one bleary eye and saw a pink and white blob standing over him. He felt the sharp stab again and he tried to roll away from it, but a muffled yelp immediately jolted him awake.

"Get off me, Jellyfish!" Lina Inverse screamed. Gourry jumped to his feet immediately, leaving a squished, disheveled looking Lina flat on the ground, and a surprised Amelia frozen in place, stick still in in hand. Across the way, Raven yawned and stretched.

"So much for leaving before first light," she muttered. Next to her, Faith shrugged.

"I think we all needed the sleep anyway," she said to her friend, who only nodded and yawned again. It was true, though, that everyone was feeling much better after their night of rest. Filia was the last to be awakened, snoring softly in the corner of the clearing she had stalked off to last night. When Zelgadis gently shook her shoulder, he had to dive out of the way to avoid being smashed by mace-sama.

"A bit tense this morning, Filia-chan?" Xellos quipped. The dragon only snarled in response.

The gang wasted no time devouring the food they had slipped away last night, and shortly they were making their way back towards the cave. In what seemed to be no time at all, the group found itself once more at the mouth of Faith's home.

"Now what?" Raven asked, staring at the archway as if trying to decode it.

"We can't go inside, so how do we get him to come to us?" Amelia asked. All eyes looked to Lina. The sorceress was quiet for a moment.

"What!" she asked the demanding eyes.

"You were the one who said that we could manage to draw him out," Zelgadis told her cooly. Lina smiled nervously.

"Yea, well... we will figure something out... Look, I think better on my feet!" she said, her face beginning to match her hair. Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia buried their faces in their

hands almost as one.

Meanwhile, Faith was dragging her fingertips against the cool rock wall before her. She could feel the familiar warmth of her longtime home close by... but at the same time, a dark green shadow lingered in the background, waiting and watching. Faith made her way to the archway at the entrance to the cave and placed her hand on the edge, and she felt the energy rush over her. She gave a quiet gasp, and Raven looked at her in concern.

"I'm fine" Faith murmured, closing her eyes, starting to float away on the smooth currents of power. It felt so nice to be home...

A weight was suddenly holding her down... not taking her out of the currents, but preventing her from getting lost in them. Faith turned and knew Filia was there to ground her. A fact the half-dragon was glad for as she looked up and saw that the currents of power were being drawn into the cruel darkness that was Koutero. A green-black cloud was hovering ahead of them, sucking in the energy as a hungry black hole would.

"Let's go," Faith whispered, as her mind pushed further into the heart of the cave. As if the cave could feel the presence of it's friend, Filia noticed that the currents of energy swirling around them had begun to trickle in towards them, being drawn towards Faith. After a few moments of this, the black hole ahead of them seemed to become irritated. The cloud drew closer as the amount of energy swirling in towards Faith grew greater. Soon the women could see Koutero approaching them, and Filia hoped that the Mazoku was actually coming out to the mouth of the cave in body as well, so that Lina and crew could do their part.

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Lina Inverse felt a sick wave of dread wash over her, and for a moment she wondered what the hell she was getting herself into. She looked around at her companions and saw that they each wore nervous expressions that she'd rarely seen on them before a battle. All but Xellos, anyway. His cheery mask was firmly in place.

"Well this is much better than last time," Xellos chirped happily. This drew looks from

everyone but Filia and Faith, still standing frozen just outside the entrance to the cave.

"That surge of fear is Koutero playing his game with us. Much more manageable this way, don't you all think?"

Gourry shook his head as if to clear it. All he knew was he wanted to kill this Mazoku before he saw Lina die again, even if it was only a dream.

Lina steeled herself. The twisting in her gut didn't go away, but she ignored it, focusing instead on destroying this baka once and for all. She looked into the mouth of the cave and saw the tiny shadow of the strange little demon approaching from the darkness.

"Excuse me!" called the voice of Koutero, "But this is MINE now!" He seemed to be speaking to Faith and Filia. His tone was definitely irritated. If Faith and Filia made any response, the others could not hear it, but Koutero bristled. "No no no! MY game, my rules, my plan, my power!" With that, he threw a ball of energy towards the entrance and the group standing outside. Filia and Faith flattened themselves against the outer wall of the cave to avoid the attack. The others scattered, but it was hardly worth the effort. As the energy struck the gateway, it was slowed and dissipated until the burst that came out the other side hardly singed the hem of Lina's cape. Lina turned and grinned.

"Flare Arrow!" she cried, loosing a barrage towards Koutero. As they passed the threshold, the arrows suffered a similar fate as Koutero's attack, slowing and dissipating. However, not nearly to the same extent. When they struck the Mazoku, he blinked in surprise. Following her lead, the others, save Gourry, began to launch their own spells towards the demon. By themselves, they weren't much, but together they appeared to be making a dent. Gourry, feeling left out, dashed over to stand by Filia and Faith, to make sure no stray spells struck them. The women were still standing against the wall of the cave, their fingers outstretched to keep contact with the archway. While this made it tough for Koutero to target them with an energy blast, Lina and crew didn't always have the greatest aim.

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Faith could feel Koutero's grip on the energy loosening. He needed to concentrate more to

attack Lina and the group as they stood outside the cave. The boundary at the entrance let much less energy out than it allowed in. And since the cave's own energy wouldn't pass through the boundary, Koutero was drawing on his own power and focusing his mind less and less on the energy of the cave. She waited and watched, and in a moment she saw her chance. She closed her eyes and slipped past both friends and foe, phasing in to the heart of her home.

She could see and feel the dark shadows that hovered in all the corners of her home, like so many ghostly spiders waiting to bite her. But she was sick of being haunted by his presence, and set about squelching each shadow, or sending it back to it's master. She could feel her Mazoku side delighting in destroying it's enemy... or was it the Ryuuzoku? She couldn't tell. The lines were blurred as she frantically swept out the sick shadows that did not belong. She could feel the warmth of home wrapping itself around her, healing itself through her, and healing her through itself. After only a moment, though, she pulled herself from her happy escape.

"Let's finish this," she said, feeling the energy of the cave swirl around her, just as eager to

be rid of the dark menace that was standing just inside the threshold.

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Lina readied yet another Flare Arrow to throw at Koutero. She was getting bored of all these little spells, but she knew a Dragon Slave was far more likely to help Koutero by destroying the cave than it was to do anything else. With a smirk, she released the spell and watched it streak off towards it's target. To her shock, when it reached the threshold of the cave, it did not slow down. In fact, it seemed to become extra charged. When it found it's target, the tiny Mazoku was blasted backwards by the force of it.

Stunned slightly by what they had just witnessed, Zel and Amelia held their fire for a moment. The dust settled, and they saw Koutero, struggling to sit up on the floor of the cave, with a much taller shadow behind him.

"Good show, Faith-chan!" Xellos said. Gourry spun around, and sure enough, he saw that only Filia was standing behind him.

"But how... when...?" the swordsman stammered. The others ignored him. Filia stepped out from behind Gourry and stood next to the rest of the group.

"Come on in, everyone," Faith said with a cheery voice. "I think you'll have much more fun in here."

"Are you certain?" Amelia asked warily.

"Very certain," Faith responded. By now, Koutero had gotten back to his feet. He started towards Faith, but immediately Xellos appeared in front of him and knocked the smaller demon to the side, slamming him into the stone wall.

"It seems the rules have changed," Xellos said cheerily. That was all Lina needed. She charged into the mouth of the cave, and she felt a warm rush of energy flowing through her. The others quickly followed suit. From the moment the first spell was unleashed, it was clear this battle was going to be very different than the last one. No protective field in the world could have stood for long against the strength of even the simplest spell that the troupe of friends could

think to throw. Faith stepped up to Gourry who was standing by in frustration. His sword was drawn, but there were no goons to fend off, nothing to help protect his friends from... and this was a battle for spells, not steel. Faith smiled at the swordsman.

"It's not the Hikari no Ken," she whispered, "But I think you might appreciate this." She tied a piece of parchment around the base of the blade. Gourry raised his sword up to look at what she had done, but the parchment burst into flames, singing his face slightly.

"Hey!" he cried. Faith only giggled.

"Look again," she said conspiratorially. Gourry looked back at his blade. It was still the same blue steel he had gotten used to wielding, but it now hummed with energy. It truly felt like

his Hikari no Ken was back in his hand. "Give it a try," she said, nodding towards the decidedly one-sided battle unfolding before them.

Gourry grinned, and for the fist time in a while, felt like he could make a difference in this

fight. He charged forward to join his friends. As Zel finished a salvo, Gourry put his arm out to signal for them to hold their fire.

"Gourry, what are you DOING?" Lina asked. "We're beating him!" Gourry only silently approached the fallen, battered and bruised demon.

"Nobody messes with my Lina," he said, raising the sword. Koutero looked mildly amused to be attacked by such a weapon. As the blade came down, though, and sliced through his body, he became aware in slow motion of another pain. A tearing pain ripping through his astral self as well, slicing through his very essence. Black vapor poured from his wound as Gourry sliced the demon in half. The group fell silent as they stared at the two halves of the Mazoku laying on the floor of the cave, spilling it's viscous black life everywhere.

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End Notes: Please let me know if this battle was any good or not. Truly, THIS CHAPTER is what kept the whole damn story from being finished all along. I had NO idea how they were gonna beat Koutero! If it sucks, please say so... but I dun think itís gonna get much better than that.

I'm working on the final chapter(s) now, and hope to be done with them SOON!