Hey guys,

Wow, it's just so insane to think that I am almost completely up to date on these chapters. That we only have one more chapter, which holds the last bookreader to be revealed in it, before we're all caught up. Now funny story, you know this character since he's been around quite a bit, at least enough to earn a name, which is of course a rather big deal since no random one line character really ever earns a name. Guess if you want, I'll be sure to tell you if you're right or not.

And with this excitement comes a little bad news. Marching Band starts tomorrow, which actually takes up all my day; 8 am to 4:30 pm until school starts on the 26th (two days before my sixteenth, ugh). And well, if you don't understand why this is bad, let me come out and say this. I am going to be SWAMPED, especially when everything collides. Juggling school, band, free time, being in a relationship and writing for both novels and DBR is a little tough, but I plan on continuing to write, but a little less frequent until Marching Band ends. Because I will have school and band five days of the week, a football game every Friday for ten plus weeks and the occasional band competition on Saturdays. Welcome to my new life, which I am not too excited for, but what can I say? I am going to do my best to keep writing, but I knew I had to warn you all that from now on, things won't be as frequent, but that doesn't mean I am leaving this project behind. Not when I have come to love it so much.

So, I guess I have been babbling a lot, but this little chunk at the top has basically become the Kiha newsletter, not that I mind too much. I better get to bed though, because I have a busy day tomorrow and the next few weeks. Wish me luck and enjoy the next chapter of Demon Battle Rises, a project I really couldn't have done without all of you guys that have supported me and given me the beautiful characters I have been able to develop through this journey.

xKiha

Kimiko sat up, feeling the blood from her forehead begin to trickle down her neck as she looked up to meet the eyes of Cheshire and Aislinn. Were they really here to fight with the both of them? Well, for some reason this sounded too good to be true but it was a possibility since Aislinn did begin to remember her identity in the last couple of days and she did state that she would consider fighting as part of the alliance.

"Does this mean you're part of the team now?" The girl muttered, getting to her feet and taking in a deep breath as she steadied herself.

The girl with scars simply shrugged. "I'm not sure; this fight is still very independent when it all comes down to it. I will fight with you and those others for now, but I won't promise that I will ever consider you all my friends. And this doesn't mean that we'll always be in this alliance, because in the end, we will all have to backstab one another to fight for kinghood."

Sure, that sounded cold and even spiteful, but for some reason this really didn't matter at this point. This gave the both of them support in this fight, some form of hope to fall back on if it seemed to get even worse than they thought it could get. They were ready to do this, Kimiko taking in a deep breath as Tsumi clenched his fists.

They were ready to do this, the poison duo focusing on Sei and Hiku. The blue demon seemed to be getting paler, stumbling as he struggled to steady himself on his own two feet. "They are twins." Tsumi muttered as he glanced over to Cheshire. "They seem to be solely energy spells, but I've only seen one attack spell from them both."

Cheshire only nodded, narrowing her silver eyes as she looked over the twins. They didn't seem to be very strong; maybe this just meant that Tsumi really was weaker than she had anticipated at first. Well, did it really matter? The snow leopard's claws emerged from her front paws, it was rather obvious that they were going to go out rather easily and this would just give her a reason to show her dominance in this partnership.

"Tch," Sei giggling as she looked over the anthropomorphic cat and her bookreader, red eyes lighting up with joy. "You really think that by adding another demon you will stand a better chance? My brother and I aren't some of Xenolith's favorites for nothing, mind you."

"We will see about that." Cheshire hissed, her voice suddenly rather spiteful and her eyes narrowing. Tsumi only glanced over to her for a brief moment before turning away, knowing full well that it would be for the best if he didn't say anything to her at this time.

"Jikirdo!"

"Jikuldo!"

Sei continued to giggle as she turned to her brother, seeing his struggle to create this energy and frowning to herself. Kimiko tried to make out what the girl was hissing to him but all she could

really hear was the red demon saying his name in a sharp tone. Hiku did manage to lift his hand though, but it was rather obvious that his energy wasn't as powerful as his sibling was as his breathing began to become shallower.

The beam left the hands of the twins, however it was much more of a violet color than it was an equal balance of the both colors to create a nice shade of purple.

They all noticed this, Kimiko taking Tsumi by the collar of his cloak and jumping out of the way and into the snow with the book clasped in her arms. Rather sloppy as always, but since it had worked for now neither really minded. As long as they were left alive and still in the battle, being sharp and neat doesn't mean all that much in the end.

However, Cheshire and Aislinn had managed to dodge much more, gracefully you could say. The girl with scars quickly whipping around as she opened her white spell book and placed her hand against the passage she has selected. "Yumburisu!"

With that Cheshire's paws and toes began glowing with white energy, each of the individual digits having a white orb all to itself that began to rest on it. With that she tossed one of these orbs at the purple beam the twins had sent forward at them both, Kimiko and Tsumi watching this in a bit of disbelief.

'That won't work,' The brunette biting at the skin in her lip as she watched the little orb fly into the beam. 'Your ratio isn't going to work that way, you are way out of proportion.'

Tsumi's eyes widened, the boy seeing the little orb actually managing to hold its own for a few moments before it began to tremble and the white spell suddenly exploded with power. "T That was what was meant to happen, wasn't it?" The child turning to look at Cheshire.

"Yes," The snow leopard muttered, nineteen of her digits still glowing with energy. "That is what this spell is meant to do."

Sei and Hiku had both been blown back by the explosion only because the attack had been closer to the siblings, the two laying in the snow for a few silent moments before the vengeful red demon forced herself to her feet with rage in her eyes. "How dare you!" Her voice a hating squeal as she clenched her hands. "You can't win! Come on, Hiku!"

The blue demon was now extremely pale, his eyelids drooping and his breathing even more shallow than before. Just standing now seemed to be an amazing feat for the little boy who was struggling to breathe as he coughed, blood staining his hands. He was obviously fighting an inner battle, trying to keep himself on his feet and able to fight while his body most likely wanted to give up and let the poison it had taken in eat it up.

"What's happening to the kid?" Cheshire muttered, furrowing her brow with confusion.

Probably not the greatest time to try and explain something, but they didn't really have much of a choice. Tsumi looking to Hiku in shock before sighing to himself. "Honestly, that would be my spell that's doing that." Both Aislinn and Cheshire looking at the poison demon in a bit of shock as he continued. "One of my spells leaks a poison liquid and it managed to get into his body, I'm not sure how bad the poison gets once it's inside your body, but now that I'm getting to see what it looks like I know it's only going to get worse."

"You!"

The four looked over to see Sei, her finger pointing to the young boy with rage building up. "You did this to my brother!" The rage in her voice strong as she trembled in her own powerful fury. "I am going to destroy you for this! Lavi!"

"Jidorenfuku!"

With that Sei raised both of her hands into the air, red sparkles beginning to be absorbed into the red demon's hands as she held her breath with focus. The serious look in her eyes told the poison and dream duo that this wasn't going to be a simple attack they were about to witness right then.

"Take this!"

As the four watched in shock, Sei lowered her hands and narrowed her eyebrows, a sudden beam of red energy shooting out of the child's hands at twice the speed of her first spell and with a lot more power inside of it. If Hiku had been able to do something similar, it would probably destroyed them both without any difficulty at all.

Cheshire braced herself, throwing another one of the white orbs that rested on her left upper paw and watching it go into the thick attack of the enraged red demon. Her silver eyes widening in shock as she watch the thing explode only for the beam to continue coming at her, but gaining in speed as it came.

"Zunsapen!"

Kimiko tried to focus herself as Tsumi stood before her, the only thing on their minds was trying to get this fourth spell to work for them as she tried to place all of her energy and thought into this. 'P Please work this time!'

"Kimi!"

The girl opened her hazel eyes to see Tsumi looking at her in panic, the child shoving her into the snow as the energy beam narrowly missed hitting the both of them by only a few centimeters. Sei throwing her foot down in anger as she noticed that they had managed to dodge the attack she had sent, looking back to her brother and feeling her heart beginning to pound out of concern for her sibling.

"Damn it!"

The poison demon turned to look at the brunette beside him, watching her fist hit the purple spellbook in frustration in anger. "Why won't you work with me! We need this spell! We need it!" Tsumi not sure what to say to his partner as she continued to yell at the novel that held all of their power together as a team.

"Yelling at it isn't going to do anything."

Kimiko turned to see Aislinn wiping snow off of her clothing, the girl sighing to herself as she looked to the purple bookreader. "You can't expect the book to do everything for you, because if you rely on that to do all the work the both of you won't be lasting much longer in this fight."

'You're right, I guess I just don't know how it works,' Kimiko standing as she clasped her book tight to her chest. She couldn't show weakness this far into this fight, nodding to Tsumi who smiled to her in understanding.

"Jikuldo!"

Hiku had managed to regain his footing, the child clenching his teeth as he clasped his palms shut tightly. "We...we are not...g going...to lose!" The blue demon's eyes suddenly getting wide as he opened his palms and released a powerful blue energy beam. It wasn't enough to rival his sister's third spell, but for a child that looked like he had one foot in the grave this spell's power was a little shocking to them both.

"Cheshire." Aislinn's voice calm as the anthropomorphic cat leaped into action, releasing only three of the white orbs that she had remaining, freeing one of her hands of these tiny bombs. Although she was much too fast to follow with your eyes, it was soon apparent what she had meant to do when smoke began to clear from the area.

She had used the first to destroy the blue beam that had been sent at her with ease, the second had been to hit Hiku who now lay in the snow in only bloody remnants of his clothing and the final one had narrowly missed Koichi who now sat back in a bit of surprise, his blue spellbook sitting before him engulfed in flame.

"H Hiku!"

The young blue demon opened an innocent eye, looking to see his sister and smiling to her sweetly as his entire body was beginning to fade along with his book. "Hey, sis." Voice soft and weak as he croaked out these words.

"No! No, Hiku, you can't go! You can't leave me alone!" The red demon's hands resting on his shoulder as she cried out for her sibling and for the attention she most likely wanted to receive from him. "I can't fight this on my own."

"I I wish I could stay longer and help you fight, but I can't." Hiku forced out, his body nothing more than an outline now. "You've got to finish this Sei, for Lord Xenolith. You are the only person who can do this now!"

The red demon tried to hold back her tears but couldn't stop herself from crying, watching her brother begin to fade away as she hugged him tightly, moments later finding that she was holding nothing but the air. With that she clasped her fists tightly, standing up and turning to Tsumi and Cheshire in a flaming rage. "You destroyed my brother! You separated the both of us!"

Tsumi tried to keep himself calm, but his own anger was beginning to shine through as he glared at the red demon. He just couldn't take her anymore, looking at his bookreader with eyes that exclaimed just how desperate he was to get rid of her once and for all and then get out of here as an escape from what he was now unable to stand. "Shut up!"

Sei blinked, continuing to tremble as she stared at the poison child. "Why should I! You destroyed my sibling after almost killing him with those poison spells!"

"And that is my fault?" The red demon stopping as she heard the little boy shout this. "I didn't make you fight me, I didn't force you to listen to Xenolith and become one of his little lackeys. This is all on you and Hiku, because unlike you I am not going to be one of his tools and I am never going to let you walk out of here to tell the story of what we can do."

The little girl backed up, but furrowed her eyebrows even so. "I don't see that happening, but you would know nothing about this. You don't even know what my Lord's goal is, poison, so you have no room to talk."

"Kimiko."

The brunette turned to see her demon standing there with his head lowered, suddenly looking up to her with a serious look inside his poison purple irises. She opened her book, taking in a deep breath before looking at Sei. "I don't think it's going to work...it hasn't done anything for us yet, so why would it now?"

"Just focus on this and nothing more, feel the spell and don't become consumed in emotions or even yourself."

This sudden maturity and wisdom shocked even Aislinn and Cheshire who were already to finish this fight and move on with their lives. The fact that this sudden charm of advice came out of the mouth of the child left them all looking to him for a moment in nothing more than disbelief, but Kimiko only nodded as she figured this would be worth a shot if nothing else. The only problem was how long could they rely on a complete dud before their time ran out. Probably not that much longer.

"Jidorenfuku!"

Sei released the powerful red beam from her hands, voice an angry scream. "This is for Hiku!"

'Don't think about anything else, focus on the spell. Clear your mind, clear everything.' Kimiko taking in a calm breath as her hand slid up the page to feel its crisp pages. "Here we go. The fourth spell, Zunsapen!"

To the shock of everybody, this time something was very different. Kimiko opening her eyes to see Tsumi stopped in his tracks with his mouth suddenly opening and eyes wide with pupils dilated. From there, a rather large poison serpent was created and it quickly took action.

The poison creation was more than fast, using amazing speed to crash right into the powerful beam of energy and seemed to simply slither right through it without giving a lot of effort at all. Soon there wasn't even a red beam, Sei blinking in shock at this before noticing that Zunsapen wasn't going to stop, letting out a cry of horror as she tried to evade this monster. "N No!"

Finally it got close to the red demon and her bookreader, the creature opening its mouth to reveal rather sharp toxic fangs and letting out a rather cold hiss before springing on them. The only sound to be heard was Sei's scream of terror as this happened.

The snake seemed to erupt into a toxic solution on impact, but this was obviously much more than that because while laying in the toxic stuff, Lavi found that her book was burning.

"That is completely sickening." Cheshire muttered as she looked over the scene, not going to admit that the spell had somewhat peaked her interests. Aislinn nodding before she glanced over to Kimiko for only a moment. "Alright, well we will be going now, but you're going to beat whatever you can out of the girl, right?"

"Yeah." The brunette nodding and going to say more only to see that her classmate had already begun walking away from her. The girl sighing to herself before turning to Tsumi and nodding to him as the both began walking forward.

Sei was laying in the poison remains, breathing slightly shallow as she saw the young poison demon and found herself snickering to herself. "Y You are something, you really are." The girl trying to properly laugh only to find that the toxins brought her too much hurt to actually laugh. "No wonder...no wonder we are all being sent here to try and lure you closer to the Lord."

Tsumi frowned, getting closer to Sei as he furrowed his brow, clenching his small fists. "What are you talking about? E Everybody mentions that Xenolith sends them here for something, but what is it? What does he want from me, from my friends? What in the world does he want from Otaru?!"

The red demon was beginning to fade away, smiling as she took in a rather raspy breath. "He wants to have his purple gem in his grasp. He wants the gem that he desires more than anything and...and he will do whatever it takes for his jewel to be in his grasp once more."

"What is the purple gem?" Tsumi said, continuing to shout in frustration as Kimiko bit into her lip. She was sure she already knew the answer to this one, but she didn't want to hear it confirmed to her.

"You're not exactly a smart guy, are you?" Sei giggling with a sigh as her body mostly turned into dark and ruby red sparkles like her brother before her. "It is you, Tsumi, you are the purple gem."

The child froze, his entire body tensing up as his voice became nothing but a rather weak whisper. "Me? Xenolith is looking to have me?"

"Yeah, it's you. You are the one thing that he wants in this world, the only thing he is looking for in this place. He will do anything he can to get his ugly hands on you and I don't doubt this for a moment. He is going to come after you eventually, jewel and even if that means brainwashing your bookreader and destroying your allies, he will do it. Remember this one thing, poison gem, when Lord Xenolith wants something, he always gets exactly what it is that he desires."

Kimiko shook her head, Tsumi trembling as Sei faded away after giggling in a rather satisfied tone. The brunette taking in a breath as she tried not to think about it.

'It would be for the best if you remembered that, that defying me will be futile, because I always get what it is that I desire in the end.