After tossing and turning for several hours, sleep finally claimed Ryu.

Standing in front of the same shimmering moonlit pond. He was unsurprised to find himself having the same dream of the previous nights.

This time, however, it felt different. The dream felt more evocative, he could see everything in more detail. Mist rose like steam off the pond, he could see a waterfall illuminated by a giant full moon in the sky above, Ryu looked up and could see a cloudless sky, stars sparked forming constellations. Large overhanging trees stood next to the pond.

He took a step into the pond, it wasn't deep. He swam over to the waterfall, as he approached, it parted. He could see a large cave illuminated by the moonlight shining through a crack in the cave ceiling, a girl with long black hair falling down her back stood facing away from him on a small island in the middle of the cave.

Swimming through the waterfall he stood up in the shallow waters of the cave. As he approached, the girl turned around, it was Momiji.

"What's going on?" Ryu asked her.

"It's too late, Ryu," She said, smiling. "You're too late, Ryu."

"Too late for what?" He questioned

"Always too late,"

"Too late for what?" He questioned again, his blood running cold.

Suddenly, the light from the moon disappeared plunging them into darkness. It was only a second, but it felt like much longer, Ryu didn't dare to breathe.

Momiji let out an ear-splitting scream that echoed through the cave. The little island she had been standing on suddenly burst into flames. The cave was illuminated by a purple ring of fire encircling the island. Momiji was laying in the middle, screaming and writhing in pain. Blood trickled out of her mouth as she called out to him.

Ryu dashed forward, he tried to run through the wall of flames but before he could reach her, the entire island went up in flames. He shielded his eyes as it blazed in front of him.

Looking up, he could see the silhouette of someone standing over what must be an alter. The figure held a knife raised over someone laying on the alter. Ryu's heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, he gritting his teeth and ran straight into the flames.

White-hot pain coursed through his body and he stumbled a few steps, his vision going blurry, but he kept running. His eyes watered from the effort of keeping them open, but he kept them locked on the alter.

He kept running, but he wasn't getting any closer. The figure stood with the knife raised over the alter. He could hear a faint chanting coming from the figure, but he couldn't decern what they were saying.

The figure laying on the alter started writhing and screaming again... It was Momiji's scream.

Ryu yelled and ran as fast as he could through the fire, ignoring the almost unimaginable pain. The figure brought the knife plunging down. The screaming stopped. Everything went black.

Ryu woke up, his heart racing and his head spinning. He sat up, his body was covered in a cold sweat. He got up and walked into the bathroom adjacent to his room. He splashed water on his face. His mind was reeling, the sound of Momiji's scream was still echoing in his head.

Those dreams, he didn't know what they meant or why he was having them; or why this particular dream was so vivid. The heat from the fire, the unimaginable pain, he could remember exactly what it felt like. They weren't ordinary dreams, that was obvious.

He decided to go for a walk, he needed to clear his mind. He wanted to find Momiji, make certain she was safe, but he restrained himself. He's probably the last person she wants to see right now.

He grabbed a robe that had been left out for him and threw it on, He walked out into the hallway, checking to see if Momiji was in her the room; she wasn't, he headed to the temple entrance. As he entered the main hall, he heard a faint melodic humming coming from the courtyard.

He paused for a moment, listening to the humming. Then he followed the noise.

As he stepped out into the courtyard, he saw someone was sitting by the pond. When he got closer, he realized it was a young girl, the same young girl that had been at the village holding the cursed blade that wounded him.

Instead of wearing a simple black cloak, this time she was wearing luxurious robes made from shimmering black silk. Jewels and bangles adorned her arms and there were streaks of purple running through her long black hair.

He stopped behind her, she was watching the fish in the pond, sitting on a stone bench that hadn't been there earlier.

"This is a lovely garden," She said, her back facing him.

Ryu said nothing but kept his eyes locked on the girl.

"It's so quaint," She continued. "This is the first place I've felt at ease in a long while."

Ryu still said nothing.

"I think I'll have to make one like this," She mused. "With a temple and beautiful statues."

"What do you want, Nyx?" Ryu interrupted.

The girl stopped talking, she stood up and turned around. Ryu could see a black gold chain hanging from her neck, an amethyst dangling from the end. She smiled, a cold merciless smile, her striking gray eyes devoid of any emotion.

"So you've figured out who I am," She said. "I'm honored. Truthfully it's nice to be recognized after all this time."

Her robes were shimmering Ryu noticed, upon closer inspection, he could distinguish faces in the fabric. Human faces, pained, anguished faces.

Nyx giggled lightly and turned back to the pond. "Yes, they are real faces," She said. "Your clansmen, citizens, all trapped in an endless void, feeding me their energy."

"Your father is in here too," She continued lazily. "He was surprisingly weak. Thanks to him I found the exact location of your precious village."

Ryu's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"Such rudeness," She said, clicking her tongue. "I thought you knew who I was."

"You want to destroy this world."

Nyx walked along the pond over to the sakura tree. "I wonder," She mused aloud, stepping under the tree. "When Gurdu originally created this world, I hated it. I wanted to go back to the blissful endless darkness, I wanted to see this world burn."

Reaching up, she grabbed a flower off the tree. "But now, I think there's beauty in this world of Gurdu's creation. A peacefulness to even rival the endless void." She said, turning the flower over fondly.

"But imagine my surprise when I found out someone else was attempting to destroy it in my sted."

The flower sitting on Nyx's open palm started wilting, the color fading and the leaves shriveling up. Nyx looked Ryu in the eyes. "Your kind," She said softly. "Destroying the beauty this world has to offer." A purple fire danced in her eyes.

"Waste strewn about what little wildlife is left, dumped in the oceans, nature destroyed by your ugly lifeless cities." Her hand lit with purple fire, incinerating what was left of the little flower.

"Your kind is a plague, a parasite. To think, Gurdu's own creations would destroy the world he cared so much about." She laughed without humor. "It's almost funny."

"What do you want," Ryu said for the third time.

"Have I not already told you?" She said mockingly. "I want this world to burn." In the palm of her hand, the ashes of the flower started shifting; reforming. A new flower formed, a striking purple color.

Nyx let the flower fall to the ground. "I think this time however I will remake it, it would make such a beautiful garden once you parasites have been wiped out."

She smiled, this time with real joy. A look of pure bliss spread across her face. "Oh, it will be wonderful," She spun in a circle laughing.

"Once you're all..."

"You aren't completely conscious yet, are you?" Ryu interrupted.

She stopped, her joyful expression wiped from her face and was replaced by one of annoyance. "For now, but don't worry. It's nothing your little shrine maiden can't change."

Ryu's blood ran cold. "So you are after her, or the Eye of the Dragon rather."

"You are sharp for a parasite," Nyx said, laughing.

"Those dreams..."

Nyx smiled. "Darkness is often equated with dreams, naturally I can invade yours."

"What do you want with her?" Ryu said, his head was starting to ache, he felt sick.

"I think you should be worried more about yourself," She said. "I'm honestly amazed you're able to stand after taking that cursed blade. Your lineage is truly impressive."

"I won't let you hurt her."

Nyx started to laugh. What started as a chuckle turned into a maniacal shout.

"You're all going to burn," She screamed at him.

The ground around them began to shake, the stone bench she had been sitting on crumbled into pieces, purple flames blazed up around them.

Ryu dashed forward. Before he could touch Nyx, she erupted in a pillar of purple flames. Her maniacal laughter still echoing through the courtyard. Where she had been standing before, a purple flower grew as the grass around it died.

Ryu scanned the area around him. He didn't see any Fiends, but if Nyx was here they couldn't be far behind. He ran out of the courtyard and through the main hall. He burst through the temple doors and out of the gates of the outer courtyard. The sight that met him was the Mugen Tenshin clan in flames.

Thick black smoke clouded the foggy air, obscuring the blazing residential section. The few houses he could see through the smog had been completely destroyed. The once beautifully carved steps leading to the temple were now in ruins, stone blocks ripped out and crushed.

This wasn't right, this amount of destruction couldn't have happened in the time he spent talking to Nyx. And there was no way anyone could have slept through all of this...

He didn't have time to dwell on it, however. He had to find Momiji, that was the most important thing right now.

Ryu leaped down the steps and ran head-long into the black smoke. He had to think, where would she have gone? This wasn't the Hayabusa village, there weren't any spots she would normally go. Knowing her, she would join the fight as soon as the clan was attacked.

He ran through the rows of houses. Bloody corpses littered the ground. Men, women, children. Detached limbs strewn about, guts painting the road red. A lump was forming in this throat, the more he saw the heavier his heart got. He had brought this upon these people, it was all his fault, he was the one who decided to come here.

The open-air market was burning just like the housing had been. Shops were ransacked, vendor stalls were overturned, merchandise strewn across the road. Similar scenes of gore everywhere.

Ryu hadn't encountered anyone alive, he couldn't hear anything over the blazing fire. It was just like the Hayabusa village. He was starting to panic, what if Momiji had already been trapped in that fabric? He still didn't fully know what he was dealing with.

As Ryu approached the city square, he saw the main gate was destroyed. It looked like it had been forced in from the outside; the wooden doors splintered and laying in the market circle, the two guard towers were covered in blood and lying in ruin.

He stopped in the center of the circle. If whatever had done this had entered here... where could they have gone?

As he contemplated his next course of action. He heard laughing... It started as a chuckle, then turned maniacal. It was Nyx's laugh, echoing all around him.

Suddenly Fiends were all around him. Pouring out from the burning buildings, jumping down the rooftops, coming in from the destroyed main gate. He counted, five, twelve, thirty, fifty fiends. They kept coming. All armed with katana and razor-sharp claws. He was surrounded by a small army. The sheer aura of them made him sick to his stomach. He couldn't believe he didn't sense them before, he should have been able to sense them from miles away.

He went for his sword... but it wasn't there. He hadn't picked it up when he ran out of the temple.

The fiends charged at him, he folded his hand in front of him and closed his eyes. As he began to chant three orbs of fire formed around him. The orbs of fire burst into firey phoenixes, encircling Ryu.

As the Fiends attacked, the phoenixes would pass through them, incinerating them on the spot. But for every demon incinerated, three more would take its place. He was pathetically outnumbered.

He picked up one of the demon's katana off the ground. He jumped in the thick of the horde, slashing and spinning. He was a blur of firey motion, Fiends fell all around him.

Adrenaline rushed through him, he started counting. Four cut down, nine, seventeen, twenty-five. The phoenixes still circling him. He started losing count but the mass of demons wasn't getting any smaller. Ryu however was getting slower, the ninpo ability draining him of all his energy.

With a horrible shriek, he saw out of the corner of his eye, one of the greater fiends they had fought in Tokyo charging towards him. Knocking smaller fiends out of the way. It lounged at him on its strange crab legs. The human top with its arms outstretched, teeth bared, claws extended. He jumped back in the air to avoid the creature's attack. He wasn't fast enough.

The demon grabbed his leg as he flew backwards. The phoenixes attacked the fiend, it let out a horrible wail and hurled Ryu across the square.

He landed with a thud against the city wall, the phoenixes letting out a shriek before disappearing, his energy was spent.

His head was spinning, his vision blurred. He needed to get up, he couldn't let Momiji die. He struggled to his feet, then stumbled back down on one knee.

He looked up, the fiend was standing over him. It's humanoid face spread in a grin. It raised one of its razor-sharp legs.

Every muscle in Ryu's body screamed. He desperately wanted to roll to the side, save himself. But he couldn't. His body was numb.

"I'm sorry," He whispered under his breath.

Blood gushed out of the stump where the fiend's front leg had been. Inches away from impaling Ryu. The demon let out an ear-splitting howl and stumbled around, trying to balance on three legs. Blood gushed again from the bloody stump where it's other front leg had been. The demon toppled over, snarling and clawing at the ground.

It made guttural noises as it dragged its mangled body towards Ryu. Casually stepping over the demon's body, Hayate drove his sword into the creature's skull, silencing it.

The fiend army howled, they charged the two. Ryu saw someone drop from above, slamming into the center of the mass of demons. Red energy enveloped the horde, incinerating them all.

Rachel stepped out of the giant crater she had just made. A few demons still remained, but they were no match for the fiend hunter. With a lazy swing of her war hammer, the remaining demons were crushed.

Hayate offered Ryu a hand. "Are you alright?"

Ryu stood up, his head was still spinning. "Where's Momiji?" He asked.

"I don't know, but one of my men is looking after her, don't worry," Hayate said. "Kasumi is evacuating the surviving villagers, Helena and doatec will offer refuge for us."

Ryu looked down. "I'm sorry.. this is..."

"Not your fault," Hayate interjected. "Nyx would have come for us eventually."

"I spoke to her, at the temple. " Ryu said.

"That was rather obvious" Rachel snorted, walking over.

"What she means-" Hayate said. "Is that a few minutes before the fiends broke through the main gates, the temple, it was surrounded by swirling black fog. No one could get in and you were the only one inside. What did she say?"

"She wants to destroy the planet and remake it herself."

Hayate raised his eyebrows. "Does she have the power to do that?"

"She's not at fully conscious yet, she's amassing power by trapping people and feeding off their energy. She has them trapped in the fabric of her robes somehow."

"How did she manage that?" Rachel asked, sounding impressed.

"I'm not sure, there's nothing in her legends that say anything about that," Ryu said. "She mentioned needing the eye of the dragon, I need to find Momiji and make sure she's safe."

"I didn't see her during the fight," Rachel said. "She might have gone to the training grounds, I don't think it was destroyed."

Relief filled Ryu, the training ground is somewhere she would go when she was angry. "Thank you, I will check..."

"Don't bother," Ayane said, hopping down from one of the burning buildings, joining the small group. "She's gone," She said.

"How do you know?" Ryu said sharply.

"Hiroshi is dead, that's who master Hayate had watching her."

Ryu felt sick, the brief moment of relief draining away. His worst fear was becoming a reality. He swore under his breath.

Hayate hung his head and put one hand on Ayane's shoulder. "Are you sure he's dead?"

"His body is by the lake near the canyon, the guards at the canyon bridge are also dead."

"The Hayabusa village..." Ryu said. "That's where Nyx is,"

Hayate looked up. "How do you know?"

"That's where this started, I don't think she ever left. I have to go right now..."

"Right now you need to take some health elixir," Rachel interrupted. "You look like you're going to collapse any minute and you don't even have your sword."

Ryu was about to argue.

"It is my duty to make sure the survivors get to safety," Hayate said, Interrupting them. "Kasumi and I will escort the survivors to safety, I will send someone to get you some elixir and your armor and sword. Then you, Rachel, and Ayane can get to the Hayabusa village as fast as you can, we will join you as soon as we are able. Is this acceptable."

Ayane nodded and Rachel grunted in agreement. Ryu looked up, daylight was breaking over the trees. Logically Nyx wouldn't do anything until nightfall when she was most powerful.

He sighed and nodded in agreement.