Nue looked out over the side of the Palanquin ship, to see a new figure rising up to the challenge. She, in turn, accepted the challenge and jumped off the side to face her. Ichirin observed this, before shaking her head.
"Honestly," she said. "She is aware that if she loses, then the enemies will see Gensokyo for what it truly is, right?"
Nue met Kasumi about two hundred metres away from the new Palanquin ship, with her trident in hand. "Another one of Mars' ministers, I assume?"
"You guess correctly," Kasumi said, readying her blade as well. "In that case you are the one who defeated Yorimi. Glad to know I can beat you and get this over with to fight a real opponent."
Nue shook her head, before making the first move towards her, charging forward with her trident ready to attack. Kasumi quickly dodged it, with speed that impressed Nue as she turned around and attempted another strike, which was also easily dodged. She backed up, summoning a red UFO and sitting atop it, as it fired out lasers towards the Martian Minister, which were deflected by her sword. Kasumi eventually closed the gap herself, rushing forward with her blade ready to strike. Nue moved backwards, however she got caught by the tip of the blade, drawing blood for her arm as it did so.
"Not bad, I can see how Yorimi lost to you," Kasumi said. "Unfortunately, i'm on another plane entirely."
"In that case," Nue said, as she summoned a purple energy bow in her hand, with an arrow of the same purple energy in it. She shot it into the sky, causing a rain of lasers, which eventually turned into bullets to hail down on Kasumi, who was forced to go on the defensive. The hail of bullets did indeed strike her often, despite her best efforts to dodge between them, which damaged the martian in non-vital areas.
"Tsk, a ranged fighter," Kasumi sighed. "How annoying," she said, as she took her time to stay still and summon some sword familiars, as the hail of bullets continued to strike her and cause her to wince in pain. The sword familiars were fired at Nue, who was forced to give up the offensive as she jumped off her UFO before it was destroyed completely. The hail of bullets stopped, as Kasumi again closed in the gap, this time making sure her strike hit. "A worthy adversary," she said, as she sheathed her blade and Nue began falling down. "I hit you with a non-fatal attack. You won't cause much trouble, even if you do wake up."
As Nue continued falling, the entirety of Gensokyo began materialising in front of the martians eyes. "Oh? I see, so she was the one behind all that," she said, as she looked around at the now visible Gensokyo. "Such a nice place. Might visit here again sometime," she said, as she looked up at the Palanquin Ship to see another opponent flying down.
"Nue!" Kogasa shouted, as she flew down towards Kasumi, her umbrella pointing forward. Kasumi sighed at her, before charging up and attacking her as well, this time defeating her in one attack.
"A… less worthy adversary," Kasumi said, as she looked up to the ship again. "Not bad. Sure looks impressive." she said, flying up to the deck of the ship, as Murasa turned around from the wheel when she did. Murasa let go of the wheel, before approaching her. "Are you the captain of this ship?"
"That I am," Murasa said. "Welcome to the Palanquin ship version two, the one and only."
"But if it's the second version, doesn't that mean it's not the one and only?" Kasumi asked, as Murasa realised what she said, before shaking her head.
"Anyway, as the captain of this ship, I hope you don't mind if you lose here," Murasa said, as Kasumi readied her blade. "Oh, but not to me. I've still got captain duties to attend to."
Kasumi looked confused for a second, before being subject to an uppercut from behind, which sent her flying into the air. She looked down to see a large, bearded face with two floating arms near it, as well as Ichirin behind it. She didn't have much time to think as she was hammered back down by Unzan, which sent her flying through the top of the ship and falling out of the bottom.
"Watch the ship!" Murasa shouted. "I don't want to pay for too many repairs already!"
"I apologise," Ichirin said, as she jumped off the side of the ship. "I'll take this one down there now, in that case."
"Good!" Murasa shouted back. "And I swear to Bishamonten, if you send her flying back up here anywhere close to damaging the ship, then it'll be you who's paying!" she said, before taking the wheel once again.
Kasumi fell through the sky, still finding it difficult to move after the attack from behind. She managed to raise her hand to wipe away the blood on her mouth, as she looked up to see Ichirin flying down, her fist raised, with Unzan behind her, also raising his fist. Kasumi raised her sword to block the first first, before finding the force behind it knocking the sword out of her hand and hurtling towards the ground. She was then met with a flurry of fists, noticing that Unzan's movements mimic Ichirin's perfectly, before she was flung by the final attack into the Youkai Mountain, causing a large crater to appear.
Kasumi closed one eye, as her body was bruised and beaten down from the attacks, before she managed to pick herself off the mountain and find her footing on the mountain, before bringing another sword to her side. "So, the big one can only do the same movements the girl does, eh?" she whispered to herself, before kicking off the mountain and flying towards Ichirin, who raised her right fist again. 'Left,' Kasumi thought to herself, as she dodged Unzan's swing by moving to the left, before the left fist was raised, which was dodged by right movement. Eventually, Kasumi successfully closed the gap. When she went to swing, however, Ichirin crossed her hands over her chest, causing Unzan to block her from the attack, before she span around with her arms outstretched to catch Kasumi in a spiral of Unzan's fist, which sent her flying away again.
'I can't believe it!' Kasumi thought, as she panted heavily from the blows she received from Unzan. 'Am I… being bested in close quarters combat again? Who are these people?' she continued to think, before shaking the thought out of her mind as she regained composure. She raised her sword, which caused many demon-like familiars to appear behind her and fly towards Ichirin and Unzan, about twenty total in number. They were all knocked down easily, however, as Kasumi used the time to get behind Ichirin and close in again. She attacked her with the hilt of her blade, before bringing an arcing slash around, which knocked Ichirin away.
"Still up and fighting?" Kasumi asked. "That's better than… two of your allies can say, I will give you that much."
"And you," Ichirin said. "Surviving so many blows Unzan. You're definitely one of the more powerful opponents i've met."
Kasumi smiled, as she assumed another battle ready stance. "I thought the Watatsuki was the most fun i'd have here. You may be proving me otherwise, though," she said, as she closed in again. Ichirin narrowed her eyes, as she began raising her fists, as did Unzan and striking at her repeatedly again. This time, however, once Kasumi got closer, Unzan fired lasers out of its eyes, catching Kasumi off guard and launching her further away. She again summoned many different bladed, about fifty in all, and fired them towards Ichirin.
Murasa, back on the Palanquin Ship, glared over at the fight below. "She's a tough one alright," she said to herself, before looking at the hole in the ship. "Heh, can't let her have all the fun. Shou! You're in charge of the ship now! Don't get any more damage on her while i'm gone!" she shouted, as she took a running start and jumped off the edge of the ship, while at the same time, Shou ran up the stairs from below deck and assumed position as the captain. Nazrin followed her as well.
"Nazrin, on lookout," Shou said, as she grabbed the wheel. The mouse nodded, as she gazed off the edge of the ship.
Murasa grabbed the anchor on her back, throwing it down towards the fight. After the fifty or so blades were dealt with, Kasumi had used the opportunity to close the distance more safely between her, raising her blade and hoping to finish the fight then and there. However, the anchor thrown by Murasa hit Kasumi directly in her stomach, causing her to be launched back down. Murasa grabbed the anchor again, as she put it back on her back.
"Thanks for the assist," Ichirin said, as she braced herself, as did Unzan.
"Don't mention it," Murasa said. "We've already lost two crewmates. That's two too many in this battle."
"Indeed," Ichirin said, looking at the moon. "About one and a half hours left until sunrise. Others should be waking by now. We only need to hold this battle for a short while longer."
"So that was your plan?" Murasa asked, grabbing her anchor again as Kasumi recovered from the blow, and looked up at the duo. "Wait for others to wake up?"
"I believe that to be the best cause of action currently," Ichirin said. "The more allies we have to protect Gensokyo, the better. Now, we must focus to subdue the enemy in front of us!"
"I'll provide cover fire," Murasa said. "You deal with the close quarters combat."
"Not an issue," Ichirin said, as she rushed towards Kasumi, who also rushed towards Ichirin. Ichirin attempted to hit with an overhead swing, which was dodged to the side by Kasumi, before Ichirin attempted the spinning attack again. This time, however, Kasumi went above her to try to strike down at her, but she was interrupted by a water blast from Murasa, which gave enough time for Ichirin to attack, kicking upwards and punching Kasumi herself, before Unzan's hand followed suite with a powerful punch, sending Kasumi hurtling away and falling towards the ground, where she landed against a tree.
"Is that all she had?" Murasa asked. "I'm a little disappointed."
"Don't rush to conclusions," Ichirin said. "This might not be over just yet."
Down on the ground, Kasumi was sitting against a tree, where she coughed up an alarming amount of blood onto her hand, before looking down at her right leg. "Tsk… my leg's broken and that last attack probably rattled my insides up- ack!" She said, as she coughed again. "Damn it… I wish I could've just stayed behind and had a nice rest… now I suppose it's time to play my hand…"
Kasumi floated up off the ground, with her right leg dangling and unable to be used. Ichirin and Murasa looked over to her as she did. "You're a tough one alright," Ichirin said. "By now, most people in Gensokyo would've been defeated."
"Lucky for me… i'm not from Gensokyo… huh?" Kasumi said, as she raised her sword to the sky. "I was hoping to save this one for your leader… but looks like i've got to use it now or else I won't get the chance."
"Go home," Ichirin said. "Have we not proven enough that staying here is a mistake? Eventually you'll lose in the state you're in now. You have no reason to continue fighting."
"No reason…?" Kasumi asked, as her red hair blew back in the wind caused by her attack. "My reason to continue is the same as it always is… not for any master, not for loyalty to anything but my own goals. To defeat anyone who looks down on me… to prove that i'm powerful enough to compete with the gods. Just like father…" she said, as portals opened above her. "You were a worthy…. A worthy adversary. But now… for the sake of all I have… I have to bring this fight to an end," she said, as chains were launched out of the portals at blinding speed.
"Looks like she isn't giving up," Ichirin said, as she dodged the chains, however they kept following her. She tries having Unzan punch them away, however his blows were repelled by them. "Huh?" she asked, as she continued dodging around.
"As I thought," Kasumi said, smiling slightly, before coughing again. "My father used to be a demon hunter… when he died, he told me to follow in his road to be the most powerful demon hunter there was, but my goal was always to prove myself to gods… show them that a mere human can contend with them. So he passed down to me his own technique, demon binding chains that repel the powers of all those who have demonic power within them. Chains of Ogmios."
"That's… so unfair," Murasa said, as she fired out some anchors at the chains in an attempt to halt them. Some of the anchors linked between the locks in the chains and pulled them down the ground, preventing them from pursuing Ichirin any longer, however about seven chains still persisted.
"Wait… human?" Ichirin asked, looking over to Kasumi.
"Ah… oops…" Kasumi said, her eyes widening slightly. "Well, that cats out of the bag… whatever! It's time for you to-ack!" She coughed again, as the blood from her cough fell to the ground. Eventually, Ichirin could no longer escape as the chains wrapped around her. Kasumi hovered over to her, however she found herself almost being struck by an anchor thrown at her, as several more were aimed at the chains. However, now they seemed to be ineffective.
"Tsk," Murasa said, as she found a wind overflow her as knives followed in the wind.
"Wind of Piercing Knives," Kasumi said, as the some of the knives made contact with Murasa, causing her to stagger slightly as Kasumi flew over to her instead. "You're not the worst i've ever met, captain," she said, as she struck her down to the ground.
"Byakuren… Shou… I guess it's up to you two now," Murasa said, before falling down to the surface.
"A bit mean to Nazrin," Ichirin laughed slightly, as Kasumi flew straight in front of her.
"You're the second person to have outclassed me in close quarters combat in the past week," Kasumi said. "You're worthy of high praise, you're abilities should be renowned around the globe."
"Yeah, the globe doesn't really like me," Ichirin said. "I made a pact with a youkai when I was a human monk, then became a youkai myself. But your praise is heard. It's not often we have to protect the ship from someone so strong. I thought we were getting rusty."
Kasumi delivered a sign of respect, before raising her blade and striking down Ichirin too. She looked up towards the ship, before coughing up blood into her hand once again, which she shook away. "So from what they said… there's at least three others…" she said, before taking a green card with a heart on it. "I only have two of these… I wanted to use them both against that lunarian, but I guess I have no choice," she said, as she threw it into the air as it sprinkled green dust over her, causing her insides to heal and previously sustained damage to lessen, but not completely heal. Her leg was unchanged, however.
"Shou!" Nazrin shouted, as she ran over to Shou. "Ichirin and Murasa were both defeated!"
"Both of them?" Shou asked, as she sighed. She looked over to the entrance to below deck, where her pagoda and spear were lying against a wall. "Nazrin, you're in charge of the ship," she said, as she ran over to the pagoda and picked it up.
"H-huh? B-but i've never controlled a ship before," Nazrin said, as Shou looked back at her.
"Just figure something out until I get back. I won't lose, promise," Shou said, as she smiled back at Nazrin, before she too jumped off the side of the ship and flew towards Kasumi. "You've not been doing so bad thus far. But now," she said, twirling her pagoda around. "I, Shou Toramaru, Avatar of Bishamonten, shall send you back to the hell you came from."
'Avatar of Bishamonten? So these guys are Buddhists. And to be the Avatar of Bishamonten no less. She won't be a slouch,' Kasumi thought, before preparing her blade in two hands. "Very well. I accept your challenge."
Below deck on the Palanquin ship, Byakuren had overheard the fighting and talking from upstairs. She turned to Yorimi, who was sitting against a wall. The snakes around her had disappeared with Nue's defeat, however. "It seems your allies have come to rescue you," Byakuren said, as Yorimi sighed.
"Honestly… I don't know what they expect me to do," Yorimi said. "I'm far from a fighter. I might be able to take on some lower levels of your allies, sure, but in the long term I wouldn't be a help at all."
"I wouldn't hold your breath," Byakuren smiled. "Everyone can help. No matter how small or weak they may be, there's a place for everyone on the battlefield. Your allies see that value in you."
"You're still kind to me, even though i'm against you?" Yorimi asked. "I don't understand you."
"Very few people do," Byakuren said. "Because of my views of Youkai and Humans living in harmony, both youkai and humans tend to not understand, or even take a disliking to me. Those who stayed and believed in my views to the end are the ones who are my allies now. The ones that are out there fighting yours."
"Y'know," Yorimi said. "If this ends peacefully, I might stick around with you. You seem nice enough." Byakuren didn't respond, instead just choosing to smiled.
"Avatar of Bishamonten," Kasumi said, as she twisted her blade slightly, as her eyes flared up. "Long have I waited to prove myself to the gods. Perhaps defeating you here with do just that."
"So you're from earth, I assume," Shou said, holding up her pagoda. "You don't seem like a youkai either. So a human… unfortunate, isn't it," she sighed.
Kasumi quickly rushed towards Shou, her sword raised for an overhead slash. Shou raised her one-handed spear to block it, but quickly found herself being pushed pack. She then shot a laser out of her pagoda, which Kasumi let go of the offensive to attempt to dodge, however the side of her abdomen was caught by the edge of the laser. This caused a small part of her body to vaporise away instantly. 'So the lantern-looking thing is her weapon of choice, then,' Kasumi thought, as she raised her sword again. "Blazing Bullets!" she shouted, as guns materialised out of summoned flames, which proceeded to shoot out flaming bullets at Shou, which she raised the pagoda and shot out many lasers to vaporise both the bullets and the guns before they caused a threat.
"Spears of the Leviathan!" Kasumi shouted, as water like spears appeared around her, before also being fired at Shou. This time, however, when met with the lasers, they turned into normal water to flow around the lasers, before rematerializing into the spears. Shou dodged downwards, where there were no spears coming from, however she looked up to see clouds moving apart. "Zeus' Wrath!" Kasumi shouted, as many lightning strikes were summoned to rain down upon Shou, which hurt her a lot and caused electricity to course through her body.
'She's really going all out,' Shou thought, as her muscles tensed from a series of shocks. She managed to raise her Pagoda, however. "Heaven Sign, Scorched Earth Mandara," she said, as Kasumi found herself locked in a laser cage, surrounded on all sides by other laser cages. Shou positioned herself in the cage to the right of Kasumi, before shooting out a pillar of flame from pagoda, catching the Martian in it and burning her. Kasumi looked at her now burnt body, as parts of her clothing had been damaged too. Shou moved above Kasumi, shooting out another pillar of flame down towards her.
"Shields of Ice," Kasumi said, summoning many layers of shields made of ice above her, many of which melted, however some of them froze the fire in place and caused the ice to spread up to Shou. Kasumi then slashed at the ice, causing it to shatter and stagger Shou backwards, also ending the spell card.
"Radiant Treasure Gun," Shou said, as from her pagoda, many lasers were fired out in all directions, some hitting the ground and the Youkai Mountain, which caused gems to appear. The lasers then dispersed into fire balls, which surrounded Kasumi on all sides.
"A fan of fire, I see," Kasumi said, as she summoned a spirit of ice onto her blade, enchanting it with that element. She then began slashing around in all sides, freezing some of the fireballs and allowing her to find a path of escape. After this, the spell was immediately called off, as vertical lasers appeared all around Kasumi.
"Complete Clarification," Shou said, as Kasumi reached into her pockets and threw her other healing card into the air, curing her burns and making her feel a bit more energised. These lasers too separated into fireballs, which surrounded Kasumi again. However, this time they were much higher in number, meaning Kasumi couldn't slash them all away. She was hit by fireballs on her back, as well as some on her sides.
"How foolish of me…" Kasumi smiled, as she threw away her normal sword. "An avatar of a god can only be defeated by a legendary sword, I assume. I shouldn't have held this back all this time," she said, as she made a portal above her. Out from it, a large blade, wider at the bottom than a normal sword, was summoned. It was primarily blue and red in colour. "Durandal," she said, as she held the blade in two hands.
"I see, so you got your hands on that weapon too," Shou said, smiling slightly. "A battle between heavenly weapons it is, then. Aura of Justice."
Six lasers were fired down around Kasumi, as yellow arrowheads were descending in rows. Shou also fired large, yellow bullets at the martian. Kasumi smiled, as she flew upwards and slashed straight through the arrowheads, as well as slicing through the bullets that Shou fired out. The spell was immediately called off.
"Vajra of Perfect Buddhism," Shou said, as four green lasers were fired out around her, circling around as gems appeared where it made contact with Youkai mountain and the ground. Shou then shot out many red bullets to accompany them. Kasumi followed the lasers around, before raising her sword to block the red bullets being fired at her. She then charged straight forward, ready to end the battle.
"Tiger Sign, "Hungry Tiger"," Shou said, as she surrounded herself in yellow orbs, before charging at Kasumi. The yellow orbs detached from her body, making contact with Kasumi who dropped her defense as she went on the offense. The martian was shot back by the attack, sustaining a little damage as well. "Treasure Sign, "Dazzling Gold"," Shou said, as many curving lasers were summoned from her pagoda, overlapping with each other in many instances.
Kasumi threw off the cluster of yellow orbs and charged forward, dodging through the blizzard of yellow lasers, as some made contact with her and pierced through her body. This didn't phase her, however, as she got closer and closer to Shou. She raised her blade, and when she was close enough, stabbed Shou through the abdomen. "Worthy opponent," Kasumi said, pulling the Durandal out. "But it seems you are lacking in physical prowess." she added, as Shou too, was defeated and fell to the ground.
Kasumi looked down at her dangling right leg, as sweat was falling from her face. "Damn… let's hope the last opponent isn't too much…"
Kasumi flew up to the Palanquin ship, landing on it. However, she could only hop around on her one, functioning leg. Nazrin turned around as she landed. "A-ah! She beat Shou!" Nazrin said, as she abandoned the wheel and jumped through the hole in the deck that Ichirin had made.
"Hmph, I guess she isn't this 'Byakuren' i'm looking for," Kasumi said, as she looked around.
"That is correct," Byakuren said, as she walked up the stairs to appear above deck. "I happen to be Byakuren. Byakuren Hijiri. Your ally is downstairs. I'll release her if it means we can avoid unnecessary conflict."
"Tell me…" Kasumi said, turning around as she held the Durandal in two hands. "Are you more powerful than the Avatar of Bishamonten?"
"Oh my, straight to the point, are we?" Byakuren asked. "Do you not care for your ally?"
"I didn't come her for her," Kasumi said. "I figured this would be a simple errand and I could go back to my previous opponent with a true strategy in mind. But now I can't. Many adversary's here have gave me a run for my money, and I wish to know how much more powerful I truly need to get. So tell me, are you more powerful than the Avatar of Bishamonten?"
"...My power matters not," Byakuren said. "I wish to settle all things peacefully. Will you not hear my plea, human?"
"...No," Kasumi said, holding the Durandal in both her hands, as her now messy hair covered one eye. "I need to know… just how powerful was I all this time."
"Then you are in no mind to end things peacefully," Byakuren said. "You defeated all my allies, bar one. For them, I shall quell your rage."
Kasumi charged forward, the Durandal over head as she swung down at Byakuren. Byakuren raised her arm, as the sword was blocked by her arm. Byakuren deflected the sword, as she demonstrated great speed as she rushed past Kasumi before she could even react to her sword being deflected, attacking her as she did so. This caused Kasumi to stagger back into a kick from Byakuren, dealing much more damage than the rush past her did. Kasumi was thrown all the way across the ship, landing on the other end as half her body was hanging off the edge.
"I'm a magician who specializes in magic that increases my own physical attributes," Byakuren said, as she walked forward while Kasumi picked herself up. "Speed, defense, offense, all can be increased to high levels by me," she said, as Kasumi's sword split in half down the middle, as energy coursed through the middle. Byakuren assumed a defensive stance, as Kasumi thrusted the sword forward, causing a dragon made of light to appear out of the blade.
"Dragonic Strike," she said, as the dragon charged into Byakuren, pushing her to the other end of the ship as she was not lifted off her feet. Byakuren eventually managed to grab the dragon and throw it into the air. However, Kasumi had leapt into the air, and descended with an energised blade down onto Byakuren, who raised both arms to block the blade. She pushed the sword away, before being met with a flurry of strikes by Kasumi, which she moved her hands around to block, causing a few minor cuts to appear on them.
On the ground, Nazrin ran past all the allies that had been defeated as the ship sailed past Youkai mountain. First, she found Nue passed out on the ground, slightly to her north being Kogasa, also passed out. She then ran past Murasa and Ichirin to find her master, Shou, who was also passed out. Nazrin sighed looking at her, before she looked at the pagoda on the floor. She picked it up, and looked up at the Palanquin Ship.
Back on the ship, Byakuren clasped her hands together in a prayer-like fashion, as Kasumi closed in for a strike. Just before the strike connected, Byakuren opened her eyes as light beams were shot out in all directions except bellow her, blowing Kasumi back and causing her to be hurtled across the ground, and landing back at the other end of the ship. She wasted no time standing up, however, as she rushed towards Byakuren again. This time, Byakuren summoned a light weapon, similar to her own sword, and clashed with the energised Durandal. She lost the clash, however, as she was being forced back as their weapons clashed multiple times. Eventually, she used extra speed to find an opportunity to dodge beneath the Durandal swing, and respond with her own, quick sword combo.
Kasumi was sent backwards a bit, as she managed to block most of the combo. She then returned by raising her blade, as a dragon appeared from the sky. "Dragon's Descent!" she shouted, as the dragon flew at great speeds down towards Byakuren, who prepared to block it. This time, however, the power of strike caused her to lose her guard, as she was forced to take the attack directly. This caused her to sustain damage, as she was forced off the ship. The dragon disappeared before it could hit the ship.
As she was off the ship, Byakuren looked over to see Nazrin flying up with the Pagoda in hand. Her mouth opened a bit, before she smiled at the small girl flying up to assist. Byakuren too, flew back up and landed on the ship. "Not bad," She said, as she raised her hand. Behind her, a large, glowing orange fist appeared as well. "Heaven Sign, "Buddha's Fivefold Mountain"," she said, as she brought her hand down. This caused the fist to slam down as well, landing directly on Kasumi as it appeared to deal great damage. Kasumi staggered to her feet, as she raised her blade once again.
However, this time, a laser was fired at her from behind. This laser made direct contact with both of her arms, just below her elbows. This caused that part of her arms to be vaporised away, as both her hands fell to the ground, as did the Durandal. Kasumi turned around to see Nazrin, holding the Pagoda forward. "Y-you…" Kasumi said, before being cut off by a glowing sword being thrown through her.
"Heaven Sign, "Master of the Great Trichiliocosm"," Byakuren said, as she grabbed the sword and sliced through Kasumi, before turning around and using high speed to attack her multiple times in all directions, before going above her, ready to unleash a powerful kick.
"So this is how… my part ends…" Kasumi said, as she looked up at Byakuren. "Can't say I… saw this coming…"
Byakuren descended with her powerful kick, causing Kasumi to roll across the floor after coughing up a lot of blood, as well as bleeding all across the deck. When she stopped, she was defeated and passed out. The ship also began crashing down.
"Nazrin!" Byakuren said, turning to her before smiling. "Thank you. Now, get out of here. The pagoda could be used well somewhere else."
"Ah- I-I…" Nazrin said, struggling to get her words out. "Thank you, Master Byakuren!" she said, as she flew off the ship.
Kasumi's unconscious body rolled off the ship, as it fell towards the ground. Byakuren ran below deck to meet with Yorimi. "Apologies, but I had to subdue your ally."
"Heh, guess we're really starting to lose now, huh?" Yorimi asked. "I've been told over our ear chips that another one of us was defeated. Two down, two to go for you."
Byakuren smiled. "I'm letting you go," she said. "I see no reason to fight you as well. The ship is falling down now. I have no reason to hold onto you any longer."
Yorimi stood up. "Even though I could defeat some others here in Gensokyo…" she muttered. "Thanks anyway. Don't get yourself killed in this battle, either."
"Oh, I promise you I will not," Byakuren said, as Yorimi left. Byakuren also left after her, as the two flew their separate ways when they reached the deck.
Byakuren landed on the ground where Kasumi was lying. She shook her head, before checking her heartbeat. "She's alive… good," Byakuren whispered to herself, before she flew off to check on her allies. When she found Shou, however, she also met Kaguya, Mai and Satono, who were carrying all the fallen allies. "I see, you're caring for the wounded?"
Kaguya looked over to Byakuren. "The Buddhist monk from Myouren Temple…" she said. "Yes, indeed we are. How are things for you?"
"I defeated one of the Martians, but at the cost of all the fallen allies you see around you," Byakuren said, before thinking for a moment. "I'll help you. Fighting isn't my thing, so i'll tend to the wounded with you. Here, hand her over to me." She said to Kaguya, who was holding Ichirin. Byakuren also knelt down and picked up Shou.
"We head for the Bamboo Forest," Kaguya said. "I have a doctor there caring for the wounded."
Byakuren nodded, as the four of them flew back to Eientei.
The noise of the fighting had woken up Kanako, who observed the battling and went over to where Kasumi had landed. She picked her up. "Honestly, you woke up everyone on Youkai Mountain. That's bad for you guys. The tengu, Sanae and Suwako, even that Hermit are ready to join the fight now, and you're down a fighter," she said, before flying back to the Moriya Shrine with her in hand.
