The fight begun

At first the wind was all that was audible, but then a roar erupted from the demon. Deep throated and menacing. It cracked through the silence like a whip but Seiri didn't flinch. She stood her ground and waited for the beast to make its first move.

It charged towards her with blinding speed. The demon was enormous compared to the red head, but it reminded her of a saying she used to tell herself; 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'. She grinned mischievously at that thought.

Fifty meters.

Forty meters.

'Here it comes', she thought.

At the last moment, she jumped up high into the air, threw multiple kunai at the demon out of sheer curiosity if they would do anything, then landed on the monster's shoulder. The kunai did nothing, as expected. The monster shook violently to try and throw Seiri off its body. She sprung off the demon's shoulder and stabbed her long sword into its back as she fell back to the ground. She left a deep and long cut that sliced down the demon's back.

Still, no cry of agony.

"What is this?" She breathed to herself, face contorted with confusion.

The demon brought its right hand down in a forceful arc, almost crushing Seiri with it. The red head barely managed to get out of the way. Then, she was about to attack when she heard the monster begin to speak. A tremulous sound of overlapping voices. Seiri recognized the words from the language she wasn't supposed to know of.

".dnaletsaw siht nopu covah kaerw ot ecnahc eht rof ,luos sih ,efil s'namuh siht edart I ,htaeD"

[HINT: read this backwards]

The voice boomed in its multitude, sending faint vibrations through the ground. Seiri knew what he had spoken, knew its meaning.

A cloaked figure of black smoke and trailing, onyx ribbons of fabric appeared before the demon, floating high above Seiri so that it was level with the monster's head. Its own face, if it had one, hidden deep within the cowl of its hood shrouded by a deeper blackness that slept within. Just looking at this horror, made Seiri feel unclean and nauseous.

The ominous creature's fingers were long and bony, appearing slate grey, clutching at a scythe that Seiri had been told stories of. Sharp enough to tear through the veil separating this world and the afterlife. Its cloak consumed the being's entire form, fading into mist and smoke at the ends. The black, darkness of it was so intense that it absorbed light, appearing infinite in its depth, making it impossible to discern any detail of the being's form. Seiri felt like that darkness could consume her, she could get lost in it. With difficulty, she pried her eyes away, feeling that if she stared too long, she would become trapped in those impossible depths. After all this was over, whether it was she who died or the demon, she never wanted to see this reaper again.

The cloaked figure then brought an arm up and stabbed its long, needle-like fingernails into the demon's chest. It ripped out the soul within, an onyx mass of corruption that glowed intensely with a dark light. To this Shinigami, a corrupted soul such as this was as valuable as diamonds to a human. Then, as if in reward, the being sliced the demon with its scythe. A bright crimson light erupted from the demon's chest and the monster grew larger, the intensity of its aura weighing more heavily with its inimical intentions. The cloaked figure chanted something Seiri didn't catch and then disappeared back to wherever it came from.

That fiery gaze turned on the red head once again. This time, for the first time, she felt uncertain and incredibly uneasy. A sharp nauseousness turned her gut and her heart pounded against her rib cage like an animal. The fear she felt spread through her like a virus and consumed her mind but she forced it back, concentrating on her need to survive. If she faltered, hesitated in any way...

She could very well die here.

A massive broadsword appeared in the demon's right hand. Once fully materialized, the tip dropped loudly to the ground, sending a brief earthquake through the area. The demon started walking towards Seiri, carrying the blade as it dragged the weapon along, sparking as metal ground against rock. It was that moment, staring down the approaching danger, that the demon's name came to Seiri:

Vagaun, Sovereign of Fear.

Chills crawled down Seiri's spine and her feet seemed glued to the floor. She couldn't move. Her will to fight shriveled and cowered in the back of her mind.

Almost. Vagaun was within reach of her with its broadsword.

Almost.

Three more massive steps, then the demon stopped. Seiri went to pull out another sword that hung from her back, just behind her cloak. She tended to do better with duel weapons. She got no further than grabbing the hilt though before Vagaun brought up a leg and swung it out in an attempt to kick her. Seiri managed to move away in time, just barely, but the force of the movement seemed to carve through the air and the aftershocks sent Seiri flying backwards. She slammed hard into the ground, tumbling with her feet going over her head before sliding to a stop. Nothing felt broken, but she could already feel bruises forming over her ribs. There was no time to focus on them, however, she needed to kill this beast. She was the only thing standing in its way before it went on a rampage.

The red head grunted as she stood up and held her heavy, inscribed blade in her hands. She always assumed that it was those words along the steel that made it feel weightless, especially since its size and the amount of metal that was used to create the weapon should have made it incredibly heavy. Her grip around the hilt was tight, she knew she wouldn't have time to pull the other blade on her back free.

Vagaun was upon her.

The beast brought its sword swinging in a sideways arc. Seiri's only way of escape was to drop low to the ground, flattening herself against the earth. The blade passed harmlessly overhead, she could see her reflection in the silver of the weapon, her breath fogged its length as it passed. Then she was in the clear.

Fighting a demon that towered over a hundred feet was taxing, and nearly impossible. She had to keep on the defensive while she figured out how to hurt the creature. So, in her tactical maneuvers, she kept moving further and further back from Vagaun, the beast following after her just as she wanted it to. She needed to pull it away from the area where she knew the rest of the ANBU were hiding. She was fighting for her life, but she would also protect theirs. She wasn't going to let anyone else die.

If anyone had to, it would be her.

The broadsword swung again, in an overhead arc this time. Seiri, in a moment of panic, held her own blade up horizontally. One hand holding the hilt, the other, palm pressed to the flat of the steel. A loud chime sounded as the weapons collided, but the red head's didn't break, nor did she feel the full weight of Vagaun's attack. The bone of her arms didn't shatter with the impact as they should of. Seiri was panting and thanking the heavens that looked out for her. It was the inscription on her steel that had saved her. Nearly a dead language or no, the power it held and provided was true. Those words had aided her, helped absorb the blow to make it feel as if Seiri was fighting a normal person with slightly above average strength. But that was something she could handle. Of course, if Vagaun's blade hit her flesh, the words were useless. They didn't protect her body.

She told herself that she didn't need to read those words yet.

For now, Seiri felt she could simply continue this gruesome, unbalanced fight. She wanted, desperately, to end this with mortal means. She begged the deity she followed to lend her the strength she needed to end this solely with combat. She slashed, cut, dodged, nothing worked. She felt her shoulders tense with fatigue but she couldn't give up.

In a hopeless attempt, Seiri used her chakra to climb the beast, running up its leg, its torso, all the way until she reached the head. She put as much chakra as she dared into one forceful kick that sent Vagaun falling backwards. The beast collapsed to the ground but was unaffected otherwise. It roared in anger as it lied there. Seiri could see the imprint of her boot on the side of its face as she stood on the middle of its chest, it bled a deep violet liquid. The creature didn't seem to care.

Bringing her sword up in a two handed grip with the blade pointing towards the ground, Seiri drove the steel into Vagaun's heart. Or, at least, where she assumed it would be. A moment passed, a painfully long moment. The most astonishing thing happened.

Nothing.

Vagaun was still alive, unaffected.

The demon swept a clawed hand over its body, backhanding Seiri and sending her flying meters away and tumbling onto the snowy ground. A piece of shattered glass from a window in the destroyed Temple dug itself painfully into her side. She screamed, in frustration more than pain, and looked down at the grooved shard. It was a large piece and the cut was bad, the wound at least seven inches wide and she had no idea how deep. Seiri attempted to grab the shard but flinched as lightning like pain shot incredibly from the wound to the rest of her body.

The red head searched frantically around her for her sword which she had pulled free of the demon's chest but had dropped when it had struck her. It was her only hope. She no longer felt any reservations towards the inscription. If she continued on like this, she would die in the next few moments.

There!

It was only meters away to her left. She tried standing but failed miserably as she collapsed back to the ground in pain. Seiri saw one of the ANBU try to run and help her but she screamed at them to stay back. They obeyed, reluctantly. Unable to stand, she crawled towards the blade. Closer. Closer. As she crawled, she shouted to her comrades to go back to Konoha. They would die if they stayed. None of them made any move to retreat. Seiri clenched her teeth before yelling at them again. She didn't want their help, she wanted them safe. And if they stayed there in their fear for one more goddamn minute, they were going to die!

Faintly, she heard one of them say they would wait for her at the edge of the village. They wouldn't abandon her. It wasn't what she asked for but it would do. At least if she failed, it would give them time to get away.

Her fingertips were inches from the pommel.

"Yes!" She shouted as she gripped the the hilt and held it tightly. Vagaun's steps shook the ground and his shadow blanketed Seiri as he towered over her, menacing, fury in those dark, harrowing eyes. He roared and she was thrown into an instinctive panic. With immense concentration, Seiri forced the instinct away and emptied her mind as she read the inscription along the steel of her weapon.

".debmuccus ytirup ot noitpurroC .noitaerc otni kcab evlossid ot mroF . doolb fo taht ssaprus ot nosmirC . thgiliwt fo taht ssaprus ot ssenkraD"

Her blade glowed brightly, an almost blinding white. It gave Seiri some reserve strength but she knew she still wouldn't be able to hold out for long. She managed to stumble to her feet, the glass in her side biting into her flesh painfully. She held her blade unsteadily at first. Her breath was shaky, but as she stood there, she calmed herself. Her mind quieted, serene in her acceptance of what she was about to do. Through the adrenaline, she managed to forget about the pain she felt and she gripped her weapon more firmly.

Vagaun roared at her, trying to instill that fear once again. Seiri didn't think about it as she jumped high into the air, with the aid of her chakra, so that she came level with the beast's face. She threw a kick that did no real damage and found herself caught in the tight grip of the demon. Her head was the only thing visible outside of the massive, clawed fist.

Then an ear piercing cry was ripped from its throat.

Seiri had stabbed her sword through its hand, causing the monster to drop her as if she had been hot iron. She fell to the ground, tucking and rolling on her good side back into a standing position. Then she lunged at Vagaun and kicked the demon its goat like legs one last time, he started to fall backwards.

Time seemed to move immeasurably slowly, everything seeming to halt in its movement. Seiri could hear the pounding of her heart in her ears, could hear the nauseating sound of the glass biting her flesh even though she couldn't feel it. She brought her bade up and held it with two hands as she once again lunged at the demon.

All was silent, but she heard the hissing of her breath as it seeped from her parted lips. With her last bit of strength, Seiri shoved the glowing, brilliantly white blade into the monster's right eye. Distorted, overlapping voices bellowed in agony as the demon roared its hatred. Then everything fell silent, truly silent, once the beasts hit the ground.

Vagaun was dead.

The impact of the fall sent Seiri flying over the monster's shoulder and tumbling onto the ground. A wave of light and a powerful explosion burst forth from where her sword still stuck out of Vagaun's eye. She had to cover her own vision to keep from going blind, though she was unable to cover her ears. They rang loudly inside her head, disorienting the red head. Then, when it all had passed, she looked back to see the body of Vagaun gone and her sword jutting out of the ground.

Seiri laid on her stomach, staring out to the side where she could see the road. No longer did she feel the need to move. She had managed to kill one of the greatest demons in recorded history, she deserved a rest. Even if death was her rest.

Slowly, a tear rode down the side of her face and over the side of my nose. It fell into the cold, hard dirt and snow beneath her. Seiri felt a sense of guilt; that she had wasted her life being a Priest. Everything she had been taught was a lie, all the knowledge she acquired was from the Council's perspective and their own opinions. Could she trust anything she had learned from the organization? Was anything true?

Then Kakashi passed through her thoughts. His silver hair and mask, and his wonderfully kind personality that had led Seiri to become quite close with him. She would miss him. And that was the one thing she would regret most, not saying goodbye to him. To thank him for all he'd done for her, to tell him what a great friend he'd been and how much she treasured him.

She would regret it all.

Then her eyelids felt heavy and slowly they shut, she had no strength to keep them open any longer. Seiri saw blackness, and then it twisted into a spiral of blinding light. It enveloped her, filling her body with warmth.

Was this how it felt to die?