Shinigami pulled off his hood reviling his face for the first time. His skin was pale white and his eyes red. His hair had lost its blue color and was dull, almost gray. Rei and Asuka were shocked.

"A Shinpishugisha?" Asuka said in amazement.

"YES, I AM A SHINPISHUGISHA. IS IT REALLY THAT ODD/ YOU'VE BEEN MEETING US A LOT LATELY."

"What? You know about Takuji?"

"OF COURSE I KNOW ABOUT THAT IDIOT. HE WAS MY BROTHER."

"Your brother?"

"YES. IT WAS A LITTLE OVER TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO WHEN WE WERE BORN. BOTH OF US WERE CONSIDERED TO BE THE BEST THAT OUR RACE HAD TO OFFER. TAKUJI WITH HIS ENDLESS KNOWLEDGE AND ME WILL ALL MY POWER."

"All your power. No. are you the demon whisperer that Takuji talked about?"

"VERY PERCEPTIVE. YES I AM. YOU AND I ARE THE SAME. IF YOU ONLY KNEW WHAT THAT POWER COULD ALLOW YOU TO DO."

"If you are as old as you say how did you both survive until now?"

"OF ALL THE THINGS YOU COULD WONDER THAT'S IT. COME ON, I KNOW THERE ARE MORE PRESSING QUESTIONS ON YOUR MIND. VERY WELL I WILL TELL YOU. IT WAS ABOUT TWENTY YEARS AFTER I WAS BORN THAT IT BEGAN."

"What did?"

"THE EXPERIMENTS. OUR KIND HAD LONG WANTED TO GAIN WHAT HUMANS HAD. THE ABILITY TO FUSE WITH THE DEMONS AND GAIN MORE POWER. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS TASK THEY TRIED ANYTHING UNTIL ONE DAY THEY FOUND A MEANS TO MAKE IT WORK. IT WAS THE MIST."

"So that means.." Asuka stammered.

"That the mist was our fault." Rei replied her stance weakening.

"YES, AND NO. YOU SEE THE MIST WAS JUST BUILT AS A CATALYST FOR THE EXPERIMENTS THEY WERE CUNDUCTING. WITH IT THEY WERE ABLE TO CREATE DEMONS OF EXTRAORDINARY POWER. IT WAS FANTASTIC. UNFORTUNATELY THEY WERE NEVER ABLE TO CREATE ONE THAT WE COULD ACTUALLY FUSE WITH. EVEN WHEN WE USED A HUMAN AS THE BASE FOR THE DEMONS CREATION IT DID NOT WORK. IT HAD TOO MUCH POWER AND THEREFORE WAS GIGANTIC. I TRUST YOU HEARD ABOUT THESE DEMONS."

"Yes, from Takuji."

"AND HE TOLD YOU ONE WENT BERSERK AND DIED DIDN'T HE?"

"Yes."

"WELL HE WAS WRONG. IT ACTED AS IT WAS TOLD, BY ME."

"What?"

"SEE, I REALIZED THAT ALL OF THOSE EXPERIMENTS WERE POINTLESS. SHINPISHUGISHA, OUR ANCESTERS, WERE FOOLS. THEY LEFT THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD OF THE GODS TO BECOME MORTAL AND HAVE ALL THE SAME GIFTS AND LOVE FROM THE GODS THAT HUMANS GOT. AND OF COURSE THEY GOT NONE OF IT. AS IF THE GODS WOULD ALLOW THEM EXTRA POWER FOR DEFECTING. WHEN THEY CREATED THE MIST THAT WAS WHEN I GOT MY IDEA."

"What was that? What are you talking about?"

"I WOULD TAKE BACK OUR PLACE AS GODS. NO, I WOULD TAKE OVER AS A GOD. I SET THE DEMON FREE AND IT DESTROYED THE CONTAINMENT FOR THE MIST. I KILLED THE CREATURE AFTER IT SERVED ITS USEFULNESS. WHEN THE MIST SPREAD OUT OF CONTROL OVER THE WORLD I KNEW I WOULD BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE MY GOAL, BUT THAT DAMN TAKUJI RUINED EVERYTHING."

"What do you mean."

"TAKUJI AND THAT DAMN POWER OF HIS WAS ABLE TO SEE MY PLAN COMING. SINCE HE KNEW HE COULD NOT DEFEAT ME HE DID ALL HE COULD TO HALT MY PLAN. TOLD VILLAGES TO BUILD WALLS AROUND THEMSELVES, BUILT WINDMILLS IN OSHU, SENT YOUR VILLAGE INTO THE MOUNTAIN. BY THE TIME I REALIZED HE HAD DONE THESE THINGS IT WAS TOO LATE. THE MIST HAD SPREAD AND I WAS UNABLE TO GO TO THOSE PLACES."

"So, all those stories were about Takuji?" questioned Rei. "Then, he is the reason there are so many of us alive today."

"YES, BUT I AM WHY THERE ARE SO FEW SHINPISHIGISHA LEFT. I LET IT BE KNOWN THAT IT WAS THEIR FAULT THE MIST WAS SPREADING, KILLING SO MANY PEOPLE. THE GENOCIDE WAS CAUSED BY ME. IN ALL OF MY MASTER PLAN THE SHINPISHUGISHA WERE THE ONLY CRUTCH."

"So it's your fault? It is because of you my mother had to hide her whole life. It's because of you our kind is hated. Because of you I have no home."

"OH SO SAD. YES IT WAS ALL ME."

"So what was the point of all this? Why cover the world in mist and kill off your entire race?"

"SIMPLE REALLY. TO TAKE BACK WHAT WAS MINE TO BEGIN WITH."

"What?"

"THE SHINPISHUGISHA USED TO BE GODS AND THEN STUPIDLY LEFT THEIR PLACE. I WANTED IT BACK. THE ONLY WAY TO DO THAT WAS WITH THE MIST. UNFORTUNATELY I NEEDED TIME. BECAUSE OF TAKUJI'S INTERFEARANCE MY PLANS HAVE BEEN DELAYED UP UNTIL NOW. THAT'S WHEN I LEARNED THE SECRET TO ETERNAL LIFE."

"Eternal life?"

"YES. BY SACRIFICING DEMONS TO MYSELF I WAS ABLE TO TAKE THEIR LIFE FORCE AND CONTINUE LIVING. THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY."

"That's great and all, but what the hell were you trying to do?" asked Asuka.

"I TOLD YOU. BECOME A GOD. IN ORDER FOR ME TO DO THAT I NEEDED POWER. THERE WERE TWO WAYS TO ACHIEVE MY GOAL. ONE WAS TO BLANKET THE WORLD IN MIST AND SACRIFICE ONE MILLION HUMANS POSSESSED BY DEMONS AT A SINGLE TIME AND TAKE ALL THEIR POWER. THEN I WOULD HAVE ENOUGH STRENGTH TO BECOME A GOD AND RULE FROM THE HEAVENS."

"Sacrifice, one million humans and demons?"

"YES, BUT UNFORTUNATELY TAKUJI RUINED THAT PLAN. PLAN TWO WAS TO CREATE WARRIORS STRONG ENOUGH SO THAT THEIR POWER WOULD BE EQUAL TO THAT LARGE NUMBER OF HUMANS AND DEMONS. THAT'S WHERE MY MINIONS CAME IN."

"So all of your men, the ones we've been fighting, were going to be sacrifices for you?"

"YES. THOSE IDIOTS FOLLOWED ME WITHOUT QUESTION BECAUSE I GAVE THEM POWER. THEY WERE ALL SO SCARED OF BEING WEAK AND DIEING BUT WHEN I OFFERED THEM A CHANCE THEY TOOK IT. SHI WAS THE ONLY EXCEPTION WE WANTED A PURPOSE. HE WAS AN EMPTY HUMAN WHEN I FOUND HIM, THAT'S WHAT MADE HIM SO LOYAL. HE THOUGHT I ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT HIM."

"Even with these strong warriors under you, you still tried to engulf the whole world in mist why?"

"THEY DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH POWER. IT WAS STILL SHORT SO I WAS LOOKING TO ADVANCE IT ALONG. EITHER MAKE MORE HENCHMEN OR BRING THE ENTIRE WORLD UNDER, WHICH EVER HAPPENED FIRST."

"You would kill that many people, or those who worship you, just for power?"

"YES."

"And to think someone as strong as Takuji was your brother."

"AS STRONG AS HIM. HA! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH. HE WAS WEAK. DO YOU KNOW WHY HE LIVED AS LONG AS HE DID?"

"No. How?"

"I KILLED HIS WIFE AND CHILD. IN HIS FIT OF DESPAIR HE VOWED TO KEEP ON LIVING UNTIL HE FOUND A WAY TO STOP ME. AND NOW HE;S DEAD. WHICH MEANS HE THINKS YOU CAN BEAT ME."

"You killed his wife and child!?" exclaimed Asuka. "How could you do something like that to your own brother!?"

"THEY WERE OBSTACLES. THEY HAD TO BE ELIMINATED."

"None of that matters anymore Shinigami." said Rei strongly. "All but one of your henchmen have been killed and many areas are free from the mist forever. You can't reach your goal either way."

"AH NOW THAT'S WHERE YOU COME IN."

"What do you mean?"

"YOU WERE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BRING THE REMAINING ARTIFACTS TO ME."

"What?"

"THE SWORD OF DIVINE STRENGTH AND THE NECKLACE OF ROYAL POWER. THE TWO THAT I THOUGHT WERE GONE FROM THIS WORLD." Shinigami took off his cloak and reviled a black kimono and hakama. He also wore a blur Haori with a large black dragon embroidered on the back. "THIS IS THE SYMBOL OF THE SHINPISHUGISHA ROYALTY, THE HAORI OF HEAVENLY WISDOM. WITH ALL THREE I WILL HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO REGAIN MY PROPER PLACE AS A GOD. ALL I HAVE TO DO IS KILL YOU. THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY GOAL SO EASY TO OBTAIN."

"There is no way your going to beat me Shinigami."

"WHY? BECAUSE YOU MASTERED YOUR SKILL AS A DEMON WHISPERER? YOU THINK YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE. I HAVE BEEN ALIVE WITH THAT POWER FOR SO MUCH LONGER, MY POWER IS DEFINITELY GREATER."

Rei was calm despite Shinigami's remark. She stood her ground, her stance back to its proper form. Her eyes pierced toward Shinigami with full intent to kill. Rei was ready to use everything she had to defeat Shinigami.

"OH SO IS THAT IT?" asked Shinigami. "YOU THINK THAT BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE OF SHINPISHUGISHA MADE DEMONS YOU CAN WIN. HOW CUTE. THERE WERE THREE REMEMBER? I KILLED ONE AND YOU CAN CONTROL ONE. WHERE IS THE THIRD? I CONTROL THAT ONE."

Asuka's mouth dropped upon hearing this news. When Rei described the power she felt upon obtaining this demon she was amazed and thought she could win easily with it. Now that their enemy also had that power, Asuka was very worried at what would happen in this fight.

"You think I am relaying on that demon to beat you?" asked Rei. "I figured as much that you would have one." Rei stood up straight releasing her attack stance. She then held out her right arm and a large amount of energy surged from her body. The ground shook and her clothes rustled. The air became heavy and the palm of her hand glowed. "This demon will just combat yours and keep it busy. That way I only have to fight you."

The large demon appeared behind Rei and roared. It's massive arms and legs crushed the floor underneath them. Its eyes glowed with a strong red light and focused itself on Shinigami who did not move at all.

"SO THAT'S YOUR PLAN IS IT. I GUESS I WILL HUMOR YOU."

Without moving Shinigami summoned his demon. It was equally as large as Rei's, but there was a difference. Rei's demon looked like an overgrown human. Some of the body characteristics were out of proportion , but it still resembled a human. Shinigami's demon however looked so far removed from a human that is what hard to believe that it ever was. It's arms and legs were greatly deformed and the were large spikes off of its shoulders and knees. It was thin to the point were ribs and its spin were visible and looked like it had been tortured. The glow from its eyes was also different. Rei's demon had a glow of strength and Shinigami's had a glow of sadness.

"NOW DIE."

At this command Shinigami's demon opened its mouth and let out a beam of energy like what it used to destroy the wall of Rei's village. Rei's did the same and when the too beams meet they canceled out completely with no explosion or force.

"WHAT?" asked Shinigami in disbelief.

"These demons were not made in tandem but in opposition. When the first one was made the next two were made sequentially. When mine was made it was designed to be able to stop the original. Yours must have been made to stop mine. I guess the intended to do terrible things with these demons. No matter, our demons can't destroy each other that easily."

The two demons reached over their masters and attacked each other. There hands connected and they fought each other furiously. as they struggled to over power the other Shinigami and Rei looked at each other.

"With no henchmen and no demon you will loose Shinigami." Rei said and took back her attack stance. "I will kill you."

"OH REALLY? YOU THINK I AM DEFENSELESS NOW?" Shinigami asked. He held out his right hand to the side with his palm facing back. In his hand a sword materialized. "THIS IS THE POWER THAT COMES WITH IMMORTALITY. NOW WE SETTLE THIS. ONLY ONE DEMON WHISPERER SHALL STAND BY TODAY'S END AND THE WORLD WILL FALL BEFORE ME."

"No it wont. Asuka!" Rei called.

"Yeah?"

"Stand back ok? I don't want you to get hurt."

"Right, got it." Asuka replied and ran to one side of the room. While she hated the fact that she wasn't able to help she knew that if she tried she would just get in the way. This was truly Rei's battle and Rei's alone.

With alarming speed Rei flashed toward Shinigami. Asuka, even with her new ability to use the flash, was almost unable to see it. She only caught feint images of Rei in one pot and then the next. Shinigami blocked her attack with easy and their eyes meet. His with an evil smile and hers with a glare of death. The both flashed this time and reappeared in another exchange.

Rei had struck at the side of Shinigami's neck and he blocked the strike. Rei flashed upward and landed on the underside of her demons arm looking at the ground. While staying there, upside down, she sheathed her sword and flashed back down at Shinigami. He flashed up toward her. When they meet Shinigami was swinging up and Rei had unsheathed her blade straight down at him. Shinigami' strike was over powered and he was pushed back toward the ground. Rei attacked again from the air by flipping forward and swinging her blade down at Shinigami. He blocked and landed on the floor, Rei still in the air, their words connected. There was enough force from the impact of their blades to cause a gust of wind and a strong enough impact on the ground that the floor cracked.

"YOU ARE QUITE STRONG." Shinigami said.

"Don't toy with me." Rei said still in the air.

Rei flashed from midair and behind Shinigami. She was facing the other way, crouched down, her sword across her body. She spun around with lightning speed in an attempt to hit him from behind, but Shinigami blocked the strike without turning around. Then, a large explosion occurred where Rei was standing. Asuka called out, "Rei!", in fear of what had just happened.

"YOU ARE VERY GOOD INDEED." Shinigami said again and looked off to his left.

There Rei was on the wall, her sword stuck in it, supporting herself there.

"YOU WERE ABLE TO AVOID MY DEMON AT THAT RANGE. I DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS POSSIBLE."

"You think I am as weak as that? Don't make me laugh."

Rei flashed in and stopped a few feet in front of Shinigami. Seeing this as an opportunity he swung his sword at Rei's head. Her snake demon instantly appeared to block the attack. At the same time Rei summoned her ice demon and tried to freeze Shinigami. He dodged to his right and was grabbed from behind by the dark demon from Sendai. Shinigami's eyes widened with alarm when he saw his demon holding him. Next Rei's fire demon came forth and charged at Shinigami. It collided, exploded and knocked back the dark demon, it vanished and there was a cloud of smoke where Shinigami was standing a moment before. When the smoke cleared Shinigami was standing there without a scratch on him.

"NOT BAD." he said with a smile. "IT SEEMS YOU MASTERED YOUR POWER AND GOT OVER THAT CURSE I PUT ON YOU. VERY GOOD, THIS BATTLE WILL LAST LONGER THAN FIVE MINUTES."

"Damn. How did he go through that without any damage at all?"

"OH, YOU CAN'T GUESS? MY POWER IS JUST THAT MUCH HIGHER THAN YOURS. THIS ROYAL HAORI AMPLIFIES BY BODIES RESISTANCE TO DAMAGE. YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO CUT ME AS LONG AS I WEAR THIS."

"Coward!" shouted Asuka. "You can't eat Rei without cheap tricks can you? Why don't you take that off and fight like a man?"

"WATCH YOUR TONGUE LITTLE GIRL OR I WILL KILL YOU FIRST."

"Don't threaten my friends." Rei said directly in front of Shinigami.

Rei slashed her sword with both hands down and to the right. Shinigami stepped back to avoid a majority of the damage. A cut appeared on his chest and his kimono was cut.

"Yeah got him!" Asuka cheered.

"It seems I can cut you." said Rei. "Looks like you can go down here. Good to know."

"WHAT? HOW? THERE IS NO WAY THAT WOMAN CAN OVER POWER ME LIKE THAT. NO MATTER. I'LL JUST KIL YOU BEFORE YOU CAN CUT ME AGAIN."

Shinigami attacked Rei with a single strike. She parried and countered the strike, but Shinigami side stepped it. He attacked again, this time with a large barrage of strikes. His sword swings were random and numerous. Rei matched his strikes with her own blocking each one. On the last of Shinigami's strikes Rei hit his sword hard enough to redirect it off to the side completely. With nothing to block his body Rei followed her swig with a kick to Shinigami's ribs. The kick did nothing and Shinigami punched Rei in the stomach. After coiling slightly Rei flashed behind Shinigami and thrust her sword at him. He spun around and blocked the attack.

The demons continued to fight over head without the same stand off as Shinigami and Rei. If one injured the other the damage would be equally returned. When one was cut its black blood would spill onto the ground soaking the floor. Rei and Shinigami always seemed to be far enough away from the blood that none of it splashed onto them. The demons struggled as hard as Rei and Shinigami to defeat the other. While these two battles raged Asuka could only watch from the sidelines, hoping that Rei would be victorious.

"Please Rei," she said her hands clutched in front of her chest, "please win. You have to. There's that promise you need to fulfill. And, something important you still haven't told someone."

Rei thrust her sword ant Shinigami with both hands. He blocked it and moved to swing back at Rei, but she quickly pulled the sword back and thrust again. This attack almost hit Shinigami, but at the last instant he flashed to avoid it. Appearing on Rei's left he continued his swing from before. Rei turned just slightly and caught the blade in her hand. She stopped the majority of the force but her hand was still cut open, the blood dripped onto the ground. While holding the blade she thrust her sword at Shinigami again and was able to cut him between a set of ribs. Rei released her grip on Shinigami's sword and he stepped back.

"YOU WOULD GO SO FAR AS TO TAKE DAMAGE IF IT MEANS KILLING ME? YOU ARE TRULY RUTHLESS AND INTENDED ON KILLING ME AREN'T YOU?"

"There is no other way to end this. You would not surrender or stop you plans. And even if you were willing to do that, I would not forgive myself for not ending your existence. Not after everything you have put this world through. So," Rei's glare grew stronger, the projection of death being enough to bring the strongest men to their knees, "I will stop you here."

Ignoring the pain in her hand the attacked Shinigami again. Shinigami responded by summoning a snake demon like the one Rei had, but instead of forming a wall he made the earth a spike and sent it at Rei's chest. When the spike passed through Rei the image of herself faded and she appeared above Shinigami.

"AN AFTER IMAGE?"

Rei swung down at Shinigami and he summoned a fire demon. It appeared in the path of Rei's blade and when she struck it, it exploded. The force sent Rei flying back and crash into a wall. Shinigami appeared in front of Rei and thrust his sword at her attempting to impale her on the wall. She moved in time to take only a cut on her side. As she jumped backwards she summoned her bat demon and it lashed out with its cutting wind. Shinigami's haori protected him from a majority of the damage with only a few small cuts in his other clothing.

"Damn!" Rei grunted.

Shinigami walked forward and glared at Rei. "SO THERE IS LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN DO. ALSO IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE OUT OF DEMONS. THET ME SHOW YOU WHAT A TRUE DEMON WHISPERER CAN DO."

Shinigami a large eagle-like demon above his head. The bird flew up into the air and then down quickly at Rei. As the bird drew closer it burst into flames and formed a large fireball. As it came closer Rei summed her own fire demon and sent it at the blast. When they collided the large fireball exploded. The force of the blast hit Rei and pushed her again into another wall.

"AVOIDING DAMAGE BY CAUSING THE EXPLOSION TO BE PREMATURE. NOT BAD LITTLE GIRL, BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH."

Rei stood up and was breathing heavily. The look in her eyes had not changed from the start of the battle. She took her stance holding her sword in just her left hand and readying for a thrust. After her body relaxed she flashed in at Shinigami faster than before. He was almost unable to dodge it. When Rei stopped because of Shinigami's dodge, a large gust of wind continued forward. Rei swung he blade parallel to the ground at Shinigami from her thrust and cut his chest. He jumped into the air to attack from above, but Rei quickly changed stances. She coiled down low, still holding the sword in her left hand only and jumped up into the sir with a flash. She thrust at Shinigami who was hanging in the air. He again tried to dodge, but was still cut across the shoulder. Rei flew past Shinigami and flipped over to land on the ceiling. The force from her strike again hit the ceiling. She rebounded off the ceiling and came down at Shinigami from above. Unable to move again Shinigami blocked the strike with the side of his sword. Shinigami and Rei fell to the ground with him holding Rei above his head, her arm and sword fully extended.

When the reached the ground Shinigami threw Rei to the side and charged in for his own attack. Rei blocked each one of Shinigami's powerful strikes. With each time the swords connected and the attack parried an area around them was damaged. Shinigami had enough force in his strikes to kill Rei even if he missed. If Rei did not redirect the force like she did it would have killed her. Even with these attacks being slower Rei was unable to counter. She was continually pushed back until Shinigami lessened the power on his strike and quickened the swing. Seeing the opportunity Rei again blocked the attack with her left arm, taking the deep gash. As she blocked she cut Shinigami across the stomach.

Shinigami stepped back and breathed heavily, his many wounds taking a toll on his body. The wounds Rei sustained were bleeding, but a considerable amount had stopped. Rei and Shinigami flashed at each other and appeared where the other had started. Both had swung their swords at the other. Shinigami's kimono was cut but no damage was sustained to his body. Rei, on the other had was cut across the body between the ribs and hip. Her knee buckled slightly from the pain.

"No Rei. Don't die." said Asuka from the sidelines.

Rei and Shinigami turned back at each other. Rei was starting to breath deeply though her mouth. Shinigami was also breathing heavily. Rei still had the battle ready eyes from the beginning and Shinigami still looked confident. After a few minutes of breathing Shinigami broke the silence.

"GIVE UP SHINPISHUGISHA, THERE ISN'T MUCH LEFT YOU CAN DO WITH A WOUND LIKE THAT."

"I could say the same about yours. Neither of us is giving up."

Rei laughed slightly, just enough for Shinigami to question it.

"WHAT IS IT THAT YOU FIND SO FUNNY?"

"The way you speak. You called me Shinpishugisha. You have been doing that this whole time, referring to your race like it was separate from you. Do you not consider yourself one?"

"OF COURSE NOT. SHINPISHUGISHA ARE IDIOTS THAT ABANDONED THEIR POWER. I WILL TAKE IT BACK. I AM NO LONGER A FALLEN GOD, I WILL BE GOD."

"Idiot."

Rei calmed her breathing to a normal level. She stood up straight and held her sword at her side. Her eyes changed from that of a person ready to kill, to a person without out worries or negative thoughts. Her eyes were relaxed and gentle. The same eyes she had when she beat her master Kenji and became a master of her style. Her breathing continued to soften until it was gone completely. Rei's breathing had stopped. In that instant Shinigami felt as though everything had gone silent. For a brief instant her heard nothing, no noise from the fighting demons, not his own breathing, nothing. Rei appeared to Shinigami's right, then his left, then his back and finally his front. Images of Rei appeared all around Shinigami.

"It was because of me that Takuji was finally allowed to rest. He found someone that he knew could stop you and avenge his family. I will not dishonor his passing by letting him be mistaken."

Rei extended her images three dimensionally around Shinigami until there was a dome of Rei images around him. Shinigami looked around him concerned as to what was happening.

"I remember this." said Asuka. "This is what Rei used to defeat Hachi. This is that same move. Wait, no its different. This time its calm. Last time there was anger and desire to kill. This time there's nothing. Only Rei."

"Shinigami. I'm sure you are aware of what this attack is. There is no way to block or escape it. You will fall to its power. On the off chance that you survive because of the power of your Haori, you will be killed in only a moment after."

Rei continued to move around Shinigami lost in the many images. After about a minute of this Rei and all her images disappeared. She appeared behind Shinigami and off to his right. She held her sword down at her side. Three large cuts appeared across Shinigami's body. The blood sprayed out across the flood. Then a large cut appeared across Rei's back from shoulder to hip. Her blood also sprayed across the floor.

Shinigami fell to the floor barley holding himself up with both of his hands. Rei dropped to her knees and plunged her sword into the flood to hold herself up. Rei was in shock with what had happened. She had been cut inside of that technique. She knew that was impossible, but still somehow Shinigami had done it. Very slowly she turned her head to look at Shinigami.

"YOU WANT TOO KNOW HOW I DID THAT." Shinigami said weakly, coughing every couple of words. "YOU WERE RIGHT. THERE IS NO WAY TO STOP THAT ATTACK. IT CANNOT BE BLOCKED OR DODGED, BUT IT CAN BE CUT THROUGH. I SAW IT, THE CHANGE FROM YOUR DEFENSIVE MOTION TO YOUR OFFENSIVE ONE. THERE I STRUCK, BUT MY ATTACK WAS TOO SLOW SO I ONLY HIT YOU ON YOUR WAY THROUGH, CUTTING YOUR BACK. YOU WILL DIE."

Rei was barley able to keep moving let alone talk to Shinigami. After several minutes both Rei and Shinigami had the strength to move again. Their wounds had somehow stopped a majority of the bleeding. They turned toward each other and stood up. Both could barley stand from all the injuries they sustained. They looked at each other and gripped their swords for attack. Both knew that this attack would be the last. There, in that exchange, the fate of the world would be decided. One would die and the other would live.

Above their heads Rei's demon grabbed the throat of Shinigami's and broke its neck. At the same time Shinigami's demon thrust its hand through Rei's demons chest destroying its heart. Both demons died at the same time and faded away. Rei saw this stalemate and interpreted that to mean the same for hr and Shinigami.

"That's ok." Rei thought. "I don't mind. As long as Shinigami does not win." she glanced over at Asuka. "Asuka, don't be sad for too long. I'll be counting on you to destroy the source of the mist. I know you can do it. Take care of yourself."

Rei and Shinigami flashed at each other. In this blinding instant Asuka realized what was about to happen and screamed. Rei and Shinigami were close enough to strike each other. They swung their blades knowing that they would kill there opponent. In the immeasurable moment between the time their blades would have struck each others bodies Rei noticed something and stopped. There, standing in front of her was Shinji.

"Shinji. What are you..?"

Rei stopped, noticing that Shinji had stopped Shinigami's attack. The sword had entered Shinji's left side going all the way to his spin. The large wound drained blood all over the floor. Shinji had stabbed Shinigami in the heart when he stepped in the way. Shinigami was dead. He let go of his sword and fell to the ground. His sword vanished and Shinji's bleeding increased.

"Shinji!" Rei gasped. "What are you doing? Why did you..?"

"Did you think I would let you die here?"

Shinji said and then fell backwards. Rei was just able to catch him and she held him in her arms as he continued to bleed. Asuka stood on the side speechless, almost unable to breath.

"Shinji why? Why did you jump in the way like that? Why didn't you let me go?"

"I would never let you die like that. And besides, its your job to free the world from the mist. I had to make sure that you were able to do that." Shinji said followed by a strong cough that increased his bleeding.

"Shinji. No, don't die!"

"Stop worrying about me alright. I know, there were a lot of things I could have done. I could have gotten you out of the way. I could have blocked Shinigami's attack, or I could have just killed him. This action makes no sense logically, but still somehow it does."

Rei started to cry and with each passing moment the tears became stronger and stronger.

"I just reacted and this is how I ended up. Oh well, I guess I don't mind dieing if it was to save you." Shinji said still smiling.

"You fool. How can you still smile t a time like this?"

"I guess I just don't know how to do anything else." Shinji replied weakly.

"Shinji you can't die I, I.."

"I know Rei. Me too." Shinji said lifting his hand up and touching her face. "I'm glad you finally told me. Thank you so much." Shinji's hand dropped and his eyes closed.

"Shinji? Shinji? Shinji!" Rei yelled in horror.

Never in all her life had she felt so terrible. It was as though everything she had worked for, everything she was fighting to protect had just been destroyed. Rei cried and continued to cry. Asuka slowly walked over beside her dead friend. She stayed silent knowing there would nothing she could do or say to help Rei. As Rei continued to cry, and the tears slid down her face, they began to drip off her chin and down onto Shinji's body. One such drop fell and hit Rei's necklace, the necklace of her mother and of her people. The necklace glowed a brilliant blue when the tear hit it and when the tear fell off the necklace and on to Shinji's body the light grew until it filled the entire room. After a few moments of shinning, the light disappeared. Rei felt something odd.

"Shinji?" Rei asked softly, her crying stopped.

Slowly Shinji started to move. His eyelids twitched and eventually opened. Rei let out a sigh of relief and began to cry again. Shinji reached his had up again and touched Rei's face.

"Hey." he said barley audible. "What happened? Why am I..?"

Shinji's question was stopped by Rei who had leaned over and kissed him. In his momentary shock of what she did his eyes widened slightly. He eventually closed his eyes an returned the kiss as best he could in his weakened state. Asuka stood there, still silent and smiled. When Shinji and Rei broke their kiss they looked at each other.

"Thanks for telling me again." said Shinji.

"Thanks for being around for me to tell you."

Very slowly Rei helped Shinji sit upright. She continued to hold onto him and support him. When she inspected the wound he received from Shinigami she found that it was completely gone. She also noticed that all her wounds were gone as well. They were left in utter amazement at the power that the necklace contained. To happy that he was alive and that they won, Rei stayed silent and held on to Shinji. Asuka bent down o her face was level with Shinji's.

"Good job. I'm glad your alive."

"Thanks. I guess there are some things we need to answer huh?"

"No, I fully understand. I was wondering when you two were going to say anything. As long as Rei is happy then so am I. please take care of her."

"Yeah."

After quite some time Shinji was finally able to stand with Rei's help. Rei, Asuka and Shinji stayed in the room where they fought Shinigami until Shinji had a full sense of motion back. After standing Shinji slowly was able to move with help. Eventually he gained enough muscle control to stand on his own. And, after many tries, he was able to walk. This whole process took several hours. Only after Shinji could walk did anyone question the situation.

'So that's what it's like to come back from the dead." said Shinji.

"Your taking this awful lightly. I thought even you might be affected by this." said Rei.

"I had my emotional reaction to dieing, and to coming back. What else do you want?"

"Guys there's something wrong here." said Asuka. "Nothing has happened since we killed Shinigami. Ichi has not shown up. No one has come down into this room. Nothing has happened. I thought by now, since it has been so long, that someone would have shown up. I'm worried."

"We should be fine." said Shinji. "After all we were able to beat Shinigami and he only has one henchman left. Since we beat the boss any of his underlings should be easier. We don't have to worry about a thing. All that's left is to destroy the source of the mist at out leisure."

"Shinji might have a point, but I agree Asuka, someone should have come by know. It's pretty obvious that the battle has been over. Ichi should have realized that his master died and done something."

"Ok then." said Shinji. "Lets go down and destroy the mist's source. Then we don't have to worry about anything anymore."

"Are you sure you want to go? You can only just now move on your own."

"I'm fine. In fact I think I'm getting the rest of my strength back really quickly."

"Alright." replied Rei and they all walked across the room and traveled down the stairs.

Down on the next floor there was a single piece of machinery in the center of the room. It was a large glass case like the ones with demon experiments in Oshu, only this was many times bigger. The diameter was three or four times the size of those other cases and the glass was broken. In the case was a large white crystal with mist coming off of it.

"Is that it?" asked Asuka. "Is that what the mist is coming from?"

"It sure looks that way." replied Shinji. "But what exactly is it?"

"It is the heart of the first demon." said a voice from behind the case.

"Who's there?" asked Rei defensively.

"Please do not be alarmed." said the voice. "I am only here to talk with you."

"Your one of Shinigami's henchmen aren't you?" said Asuka.

"Yes but I do not want to fight. It is such a pain after all."

The source of the voice walked around to the front of the case. It was a man who looked more human than any other of Shinigami's henchmen. He had straight white hair and perfectly white kimono and hakama. His sword was much longer than a normal one, its blade longer than Rei's entire sword. It was worn on his right hip and he had demon armor like a glove on his right hand.

"I am Ichi and this is the source of the mist. Like I said it is the heart of the first demon."

"The demons heart?" Shinji questioned.

"What does that matter?" said Asuka. "Move out of our way. We beat Shinigami and we can beat you too."

"I don't think that is so." Ichi said calmly. "Anyway would you like me to finish the story about this crystal?"

"Sure, why not." said Rei.

"Alright. The first demon was much like that sword of yours. It was the strongest ever. The initial creature made by god to walk this earth. It was created long before humans, Shinpishugisha, or the demons you are familiar with. It was not confined to a single size or shape, but could change at will. At one time it was larger than the one you summoned to fight Shinigami by many times. Others it was smaller than my hand. Eventually with the creation of humans and the descending of Shinpishugisha, the demon stayed in a more normal size to stay clear of these new life forms. When the Shinpishugisha started their research they sought out this demon to be used as the blueprint for their creations. Unfortunately some fool went and killed the demon when he found it."

"Then what? They tried to model new demons after what they thought it was or did they try and examine the body?" asked Shinji.

"Neither. When the man that killed it stood over the body a terrible poison leaked out and killed him. The corpse of both the man and the demon were brought back to this lab. When the doctors were able to see that the poison came from something inside the demon that was still there they worked to remove it. The heart was initially much smaller than this. They placed it in this large container and filled it with a synthetic solution that was similar to the demons blood. The heart absorbed the blood and grew to monstrous a size. After years of study it was found that the mist that evaporated off the heart could be used to increase a demons power. They also speculated that it was the large and concentrated dose that killed the man that slew the demon. Upon experimentation they found out that they were wrong."

"At that's when they knew what the mist would really do."

"Yes. They tested the mist on three subject at once. A demon, a human and a human that was wearing a demon. The human was unaffected, but the demon went mad and attacked him. The human that was wearing the demon lost all control over himself and was controlled by the demon. Upon seeing the horror that the mist could cause it was decided that it would never again be dealt with. That is when Shinigami appeared, and well, you know the rest."

"So if the mist could do all that why didn't they just destroy the heart?"

"They couldn't. it had its own power that could not be destroyed. Nothing they tried could damage it in the least. Only a demon whisperer could destroy it. And the one they had wanted to use it."

"What about you and the rest of Shinigami's henchmen? How are you different?"

"For most of us we were given the option. Surrender to the mist and its demons and gain power. There were probably hundreds more also given that choice that failed to control any demons. Only very strong souls could actually maintain their control and command the mist controlled demons. I was slightly different."

"Oh? And how was that?"

"Many years before the mist I was like you, a young martial artist training everyday to get stronger and better at my art. Over the years I became very powerful to the point when I was called the strongest in the world. I could do things that other humans could not, but it was still not enough. I wanted more. I knew there was more that could be achieved. Despite the fact that I had no equal I still felt like there was power down inside me that I had not tapped yet. I spent years trying to obtain it. Eventually I aged and my growth stopped. I feared that I would die without reaching my goal. Then the mist came. One day a demon came at me and when I attacked it, it spoke. It told me that it could give me what I desired and rid me of what I feared most. It could give me power and take away death. I accepted this and got his small fragment of demon armor, and with it eternal life. I never ending chance to grow stronger and improve my swordsmanship."

"So why did you join Shinigami if that was all you wanted?"

"By the time I had obtained this power the world was not covered in mist. Once when I walked outside it I felt my power fly out of me. I knew then that I only had strength inside the mist. Shinigami wanted to expand the mist all over the world. His original goal agreed with mine. Despite my agreement to work for this goal he took away my name and gave me the title Ichi. He attempted to control me and have me do his bidding, that plan quickly ended."

"What are you talking about?"

"Shinigami once tried to force me to do his work and I declined. When he raised a hand against me I easily struck him down. You see, I am stronger than Shinigami."

Rei, Asuka and Shinji could not believe what they had heard. Someone stronger than Shinigami, how could they beat someone like that? Shinji had died stopping Shinigami and Rei almost did. They thought that this had to be a lie or there was little chance for their victory.

"I only worked with Shinigami because his initial goal agreed with mine. I was not his henchmen nor his accomplice."

"So you would have let Shinigami sacrifice a million humans and demons, or several of his henchmen to become a god?"

"No, of course not. If Shinigami had tried to go though with that plan I would have killed him. The taking of that many lives would not have been tolerated. I hope that you understand that I am not evil, I am just a man that was unable to fulfill his dream in one life and gained more time to complete it. So I ask you this, please do not destroy the mist."

"What are you nuts!?" exclaimed Asuka.

"Yes that's quite the request." said Shinji.

"What makes you think we will do that?" asked Rei.

"Your sense. You know you cannot beat me if you tried so I am offering a solution that works for the both of us. I will allow you to free every tow from the mist and will personally escort you over the world to let you do that. This way, humans will live again. You have proven that it is possible to travel through the mist and live. All the world would need are trained warriors with each group of travelers and everything would be fine. I will stay out in the mist, never bothering humans. I only want to train my sword until I feel that it is as strong as possible by this plane of existence. Humans can live again and I can truly master the sword. Please."

"No!" Rei said strongly. "Will will not allow you to do that. Not only is this unfair but it is a perversion of life. Humans should not have to travel with soldiers everywhere the go and no being should live forever. If I turned around now and allowed both of those things to happen then not only would I be failing my mission, but I would be disrespecting all those who died in the mist up till now. Ichi, you may not be evil like Shinigami, but you are by no means good."

"I see. You all feel this way do you?"

"Yes." said Asuka. "Rei is right and I will follow he lead anywhere."

"It's science immortality does not exist. Everything has a limit and everything comes to and end. I can allow you to go breaking the worlds laws like that. So yeah, I feel the same."

"I see. That is too bad." Ichi drew his long sword from its sheath and held it out toward Rei and the others. "Then I will simply kill you and keep my life on this earth."

ATHORS NOTE: So how's that for a twist, Ichi being stronger than Shinigami was actually something I had planed from the start. It explains all his actions up until now. Yes I know that this was not the true final battle since they have to fight Ichi now, but I felt that spreading the ending into two chapters worked better than one really long one. The next chapter will have the final fight with Ichi and the stories ending. Next time Ichi the strongest warrior, and the sword that cut the heavens. The touching conclusion to the Legend of Evangelion.