Hey guys!

Wow, this chapter actually took me a long time to get done, which wouldn't have been the case if I hadn't have been so lazy. But I guess since that it me stir in the creative juices of my mind for a week or so.

Good news is I am basically recovered from my surgery and the only thing that hasn't gone back to normal in my sense of taste, but according to the Doctor that should be back to normal in another month or two~ I can't say I'm not grateful for the ability to function as a normal human being again.

But with this chapter, I end my FIRST MAJOR ARC! Even I can't believe this is happening to me and you today, but you know what? I can't wait to write some mini-arcs before moving my butt along to the second arc! I just can't believe it and I really hope that you all liked this arc as much as I've come to like it in an accomplishment state of mind. I mean, I really did this. Sure it took a long time to get it just right, but I've really done it!

I hope you liked this arc as much as I did, feel free to review with your always appreciated opinions. (And Destiny, I really hope this chapter can help you with your wish to get into the action, I tried my best ^-^)

xKiha

Kimiko and Tsumi had one goal in this crisis: destroy Xenolith.

Neither had a clear plan, but this didn't really matter to either anymore. They knew what they had to do, the teenager gripping her book as all of her senses tuned in again. Everybody but Yuu was covered in acidic burns, but it didn't seem to be affecting Xenolith as much as it was with the poison duo.

"Dear blossom, such a sudden burst of confidence isn't much like you, now is it?" His mouth contorting into a sharp smile of pure pleasure. Even when facing somebody who could be his undoing, he still found himself smiling maliciously.

"We're not going to hide behind anybody, Xenolith." Kimiko growled as she clenched her book tighter and tighter. "We know that we're strong enough to do this because we have so many others counting on and believing in us. Their faith gives us enough strength to know we can do this." Their book beginning to glow with power as Tsumi nodded. "We won't be giving up."

"Yuu, if you would please."

"Of course." The man in the dirty white suit smiling himself as he held out their book. "Hirokino!"

Xenolith held out his palm, an aura of dark energy surrounding him with eyes tightened in focus. It was clear he was aiming for the poison duo, mostly Tsumi. His smile turning more into a smirk as he swiftly moved his body slightly to the left, a foot stepping behind his body for support.

A sudden beam of black energy was shot at the two, Kimiko knowing she had no time to read through a spell. "Get out of the way!" Her voice a scared shriek as she tried her best to leap out of the way, back to the spell and book clenched to chest.

However, they weren't so lucky.

"Yuu."

"Seiyoki!"

Xenolith raised a grubby hand, a single slash cleanly splitting the beam in two as it headed for both of the poison duo. The energy hit Kimiko in the back and Tsumi in the stomach, both hitting the ground of the arena moments after.

Kimiko coughed into her hand, feeling something warm leave her mouth.

Blood.

The brunette forced herself to her shaking legs, breathing rather heavily. She wasn't used to coughing up blood, but from the looks of it, Tsumi was on the verge of throwing it up. Her now bloody hands gripping the purple book, the red liquid smearing across the demon symbols.

"Somebody has grown suddenly resilient." Xenolith noted with a sly snicker.

Kimiko nodded, wiping any blood from her chin. "Rachido!"

Tsumi turned his head, the same red liquid running down his chin while the poison gas of Rachido began to fill the arena once more.

"This petty trick again?" Xenolith muttered as he watched the gas begin to fill the room.

What he wasn't doing was watching the poison duo, Kimiko forcing herself into the forming cloud of acidic gas and grabbing Tsumi's hand. She knew what she was doing, or at least hoped she could pull off what she had in mind.

Her partner followed loyally, but couldn't help but find himself mortified by the sounds of Kimiko made when trying to breathe, this shrill gasping noise of pure desperation. But as they came closer to the two figures they knew as Xenolith and Yuu, he found her becoming silent, surrounded by the acidic gas which had proven itself to be extremely destructive.

"N-Now, focus." Kimiko whispered, voice strained. "We're going to use Rokuryo."

Tsumi nodded as he drew his attention onto the figure he knew was their enemy. He could feel his face burning, unable to imagine what Kimiko was feeling right now as she flipped through her book, body seeming to be shaking. "ROKURYO!" Her voice sounding like one that would belong to a long time smoker in their fifties.

Xenolith suddenly turned around, finding himself and Yuu unable to trace where exactly that spell would be coming from. Everywhere he would only see the poisonous smoke, gritting his teeth. "Yuu."

"Seiyoki!"

He had locked onto one figure, holding out his hand as he watched whoever that was try to dart out of sight, but struggle to do so. "Got you."

His air slash was sent at the figure, that smirk appearing once more as he watched who he learned to be Kimiko let out a cry of pain before falling to her knees. However, when he found himself about to celebrate such an achievement, a sudden shuriken shot itself into his shoulder.

From behind him stood a panting Tsumi, the poison gas beginning to clear as it revealed his own pale face bubbling with acidic burns. He looked utterly exhausted, but seemed to be smiling all the same. "That poison isn't going to go away like Rachido does."

Xenolith gritted his teeth. "You little cunt…"

Tsumi then looked over to Kimiko, covering his mouth in pure awe.

His bookreader now had deep slashes in her back thanks to the air slashes sent by Xenolith, her body covered in bright pink and pus dripping burns. Most of her clothes destroyed by the acid with her hair, once rather long, now seeming to have been melted into a shorter length. She forced herself to stand up, panting tiredly and trying to keep herself on her feet, blood forming in a pool under her with her book still protectively clutched in her shaking hands, completely safe and clean.

"K-Kimiko?" Tsumi whispered, his own knees shaking just at the sight of what he could only describe as a half dead Kimiko.

"I-I'm fine…" But by the sound of her voice, her vocal cords had been a bit burned by the poison. "We need to focus on him."

Xenolith ripped the shuriken out of his shoulder, glaring at the poison that covered the tips with hate in soulless grey eyes. "I must admit, this surprised me. Not because I am incapable of handling a little bit of poison, but because nobody had managed to strike me with a proper spell in a long time." The Rokuryo shuriken was tossed aside while the taller and older demon snickered. "Funny how the ones you never expect can suddenly surprise you like this."

"You should have seen us from a mile away…we were always trying to find the way to take you down." Tsumi panted.

"I never figured you would go as far as this, sacrificing your own body and health to try and strike me with a spell." He snickered, turning to meet the eyes of the struggling Kimiko. "But, if that can't be helped, I can easily replace your bookreader."

"You bastard…" Tsumi panted. "You bastard!"

"Karoataka!"

The syringe appeared on the floor, Tsumi grabbing it at once and jamming the needle into his shoulder with a grunt of pain. With what his body was going through, stabbing a needle into your flesh and muscle suddenly didn't seem to hurt as much.

At once he could feel his energy beginning to rev up, clenching hands into fists and feeling the strain of sudden muscles. "I'm not going to let you keep saying things like that!"

They collided.

Tsumi aimed a punch for Xenolith's face, causing the Puppet Master to smirk as he easily dodged it, aiming his own kick only for the poison demon to dodge, having a speed to pry envy from even the always swift Kesai.

"Why even try so hard, gem, you know you cannot handle this much." Xenolith growled as the two continued to try and knock the other to the ground, so much hate suddenly in the eyes of the younger poison demon.

For a moment they locked eyes, neither sure what to say but practically oozing hatred from their burned and bloody bodies. Tsumi's voice serious and hate filled. "Guess we won't know for sure until somebody's book is burning."

"Such optimism for somebody who has a bookreader nearly dead."

"She's fine." He growled as he sent his fist into the bony cheek of Xenolith without a single thought more. The sheer power and force of this punch managing to send back the Puppet Master, his body smashing into the ground of the ring thanks to him losing his balance.

"We're okay." Tsumi said through deep pants as he got ready to rush the Puppet Master once more, arms still bulging thanks to the energy. He didn't know when it would fade, but it was clear that right now, that didn't matter.

The younger poison demon then released a shout of anger, rushing forward with fist clenched tight. "We're going to make it out of here!" Voice a shockingly powerful scream for a demon who was not exactly in the best of shapes.

"Shifuku!"

A surprisingly white aura began to glow around the hands of the mind controlling demon, a smile showing his teeth appearing. "Got you." His own face seeming rather pale, the poison of Rokuryo finally beginning to take proper effect.

"W-What do you mean?" Tsumi growled, refusing to let himself hesitate or get distracted by his enemy. Clenching his hands tightly and continuing to rush at him,

He never got that far.

Suddenly a wall seemed to block him from Xenolith, the Puppet Master continuing to laugh as the poison demon turned around to try and figure out just what the hell was happening. What he found both scared and angered him.

A small dome had formed around his body, leaving him completely trapped. He immediately tried to destroy it, throwing a powerful punch with a shout of anger only to find it did nothing. He tried again, and again, but nothing seemed to be giving him the results he so desperately needed to happen. He could see Kimiko watching in pure awe, her shaking voice coming from her burned vocal cords. "W-What is happening to him?"

"Oh, you see, I decided to put on a show." Xenolith laughed as a sudden piercing sound started to ring from inside the dome. The shaking poison demon trying to cover his ears only to find this proved ineffective. "You see, blossom, this spell feeds on the emotions of whatever is unlucky enough to become trapped inside. And the emotion it prefers to power up on is anger. And when fueled just enough, it will explode on the inside."

Kimiko took a step back, which took a lot of effort for something barely able to remain upright. "N-No…"

"You'd best look away now."

She couldn't, no matter how much she wanted to, she just couldn't bring herself to look away from what she knew she didn't want to see. In fact, if she'd even be able to handle it was something she was going to unwillingly find out one way or another.

The shrill noise continued to get louder and louder before suddenly, the dome began to shake. The stunned Tsumi unable to do anything about it as a small light appeared inside the dome with it. He suddenly felt so scared, trembling with eyes as wide as silver dollars. What was going to happen?

Unfortunately, his answer came in the form of a demonstration.

The small light began to suddenly grow, leaving the poison demon to shout in surprise and fear before it erupted into an explosion of extreme power. So much so that even the ones left behind when the platform rose could hear in great detail the screams of Tsumi's agony. Kimiko holding her book tightly to her body with tears beginning to form.

Was this the end?

From behind her, Xenolith was beginning to laugh, the stunned bookreader not turning around to see just how pale his face was really getting. It was more than a little obvious that the poison was doing its work, coursing through his veins and beginning to taint and destroy everything it came into contact with it. In a way, while he might have killed Tsumi, the poison from Rokuryo wasn't going to let him make it out of his own castle alive.

The dome shattered, a small amount of reactionary smoke beginning to form around the collapsed body of Tsumi.

His body was charred, the little demon boy lying on the ground completely still. He was bleeding everywhere, clothing destroyed and hair sticking up in strange odds and ends thanks to being soaked with blood.

"Tsumi?" Kimiko whispered, shaking in her own shoes.

"I'm…I'm not going to lose." The child groaned, breathing in heavy gasps as he forced himself to get to his knees. "I won't lose to the likes of Xenolith."

"Now now, gem, you can barely stand. Is this truly the best idea for one in your condition?" Xenolith asked, a dark taunt through psychotic and deathly pale lips.

"There isn't another option, Xenolith." The child said in return, getting to his feet and coughing up blood, his bookreader unable to believe how much blood now stained the floor just by her demon standing on his feet. "I…I am going to kill you…e-even if it decides to take us both in the process."

Xenolith smirked. "Now now, don't try and turn this into a story of unrequited lovers. My dear jewel, we are nothing of the sort yet."

The word yet sent shivers down the spine of the child, looking up at the obviously older teen with horror as he tried to focus himself away from the severe pain he felt with every movement. "You can't own me."

"So you say." The Puppet Master replied, holding out a single hand.

"Seiyoki!"

The air slashes again? Tsumi looking around worriedly, knowing he didn't have the leg strength to handle something like dodging at this point. Xenolith seeming to take great pleasure in this fact as he sent his hand through the air in a directorial motion, sharp teeth glistening with what Tsumi figured was a mixture of saliva and blood.

"Tsumi!"

With a spell headed right for him, Kimiko Isahowa made a break for the child and basically grabbed onto him in a sudden jump. She pulled him to her chest along with the book, a stunned and in pain Tsumi looking up at her in awe.

"It's okay…Sumi…"

But right after whispering that, it was clear that it wasn't. The Seiyoki air slashes were still out to get them, leaving two powerful strikes of energy to slash right into the back of the poison bookreader. Right into the previously made slashes.

The screams of both members had now rung out at least once, the pure agony of having her back muscle shredded and get so close to disrupting her spinal cord was unimaginable. Her limp body smashing into the ground as she cried out once more.

"K-Kimiko?" Tsumi trying to wiggle out of his bookreader's arms and succeeding, finding blood pooling from her mouth, eyes practically empty. No, this couldn't be happening.

"K-Kimi?" He repeated this, growing more desperate as his eyes assessed her. He could barely move himself, coughing up blood of his own while hands searched for their book. It was safe, only a bit of his partner's blood staining the cover.

"Is it okay?" Kimiko suddenly whispered, voice barely existing anymore. "T-The book…?"

"Yeah, it's okay." He whispered. "But Kimiko…you're not okay."

The girl nodded. "I-I know…" Forcing herself to sit up with a scream of pure agony, blood everywhere thanks to deep cuts in her back. "But, we have to keep going…can't give up n-now…"

"Kimiko…."

"No, Tsumi, we've gotta…" She whispered, taking the book and opening the pages. "We've gotta do this now."

He didn't know if this would even work, but something he did know was that if this became the final will of his bookreader, then he wanted to follow it. Turning on hurting legs so he could face their enemy, glaring him down with weakened eyes. 'H-He's so pale…He almost looks like he might not be able to stand anymore.'

"And so, my dear gem, it comes down to this, doesn't it?" The Puppet Master asked with a final sneer on his face, blood dripping through the small, nearly invisible lines between his teeth.

"It does." The much younger child struggling to keep himself on his feet. "But if I'm going to hell now, I'm going to drag you with me."

"Oh how cute." Xenolith tiredly laughed, folding his arms. "Now, Yuu, if you be a dear."

"Hirokino!"

The dark energy began to generate along Xenolith's hand, powerful but not even close to as powerful as the first time he had used it in battle.

"This is when you submit, gem, because once you are truly too weak to continue, I am going to properly make you mine."

"I won't let that happen." Kimiko growled, unable to turn her body to look at Xenolith with her voice a hoarse and dying tone. "We're going to win."

"Then just try to do so."

"The fourth spell!" Tsumi looking to his partner in shock. Was she really confident enough to try such a risky move on their enemy?

In reality, she was scared and delusional enough to believe in it.

"ZUNSAPEN!"

Tsumi's eyes widened, for a moment his irises taking on the appearance of a snake before the Zunsapen serpent shot from his mouth. Their book was glowing at an amazing volume, Kimiko feeding this spell every ounce of energy she had with a powerful scream.

Xenolith released his energy beam, Zunsapen actually seaming to almost roar as it continued to slither closer and closer, mouth widened and fangs bared.

"This does end it!" Kimiko screamed suddenly, blood pooling in her mouth.

The serpent collided with the spell, the two seeming to have it out for a moment before the poison snake triumphed. It was amazing to see it do this, Xenolith's eyes widened as he found there was nowhere to dart to, the true power of everything Kimiko and Tsumi were willing to put into this truly shining through as Zunsapen made it's move.

Tsumi finally came into his senses when he found Xenolith laying in the remains of their fourth spell, his book burning in powerful green flames. The Puppet Master unconscious and fading rather fast thanks to the condition his body was in, Yuu sitting in the wreckage in pure silence, his own body consumed with burns the acid brought him.

And from behind him, Tsumi could hear the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"K-KIMIKO!"

The Poison demon whipped around, rushing to the side of his partner who by now had wound up throwing up pure blood. Her weak eyes looking up to Tsumi with a shaking gasp of air. "D-Did we do it?"

Tears filled Tsumi's eyes as he felt the rising panel beginning to slowly descend back into its proper place where they could meet the others.

"Y-Yeah, Kimiko. We really did it."