Author Notes:
Some good news! As of writing this chapter, this story has cross the 5,000 total views level. In addition, for the first time, yesterday the story surpassed 300 for the first time, and the views from the USA surpassed 2,000. Thank you for all of your support, and it is knowing that people are reading my work that keeps my motivation to provide frequent updates up.
In addition, Arc3 is coming to a close [Most likely next chapter]. However, there will be an 'Arc 3.5' between Arc3 and Arc4, which focuses specifically on one of the supporting cast, and lays plot for the upcoming arcs, as well as showing how Rumia's actions are changing Gensokyo already, slowly. This mini-arc will be about 3 chapters long, depending on how much I want to flesh out a fight scene.
Now for the bad news. Updates are likely to slow down around the 8th~10th September onwards, as I return to University. This means I will have less free time than I do now to write up this story.
Now, I'm sure I've blabbered enough, so back to what you're actually here to read!
Rumia dodged to the side, as a barrage of three lasers, shot from the Evil Eyes, grazed right past her. Shesaw everyone else was under attack as well, but keeping the drones away from Nitori, Cirno and Letty. Reimu in particular seemed to be under the heaviest attack, and Rumia made it a point to try and peel some of the attackers off Reimu whenever she had a clear shot, even taking one down with a particularly well-placed laser, which caused it's own blast to backfire.
That was when Rumia noticed the main robot's eye glowing red, a hum eminateing from the robot, and the reactor glowing.
"Look me in the eyes when you're about to die, youkai scum!" Rika said, aiming at Alice. Alice wasn't able to move away, she was pinned down by multiple smaller eye-bots.
Rumia acted by instinct, and flew towards Alice, pulling out the Mini-Hakkero.
'That little one's blast backfired when I hit it with a laser, so maybe...'
"What are you doing?!" Alice cried, as Rumia flew between her and Rika's robot.
"Gather up, I'll vaporize you all in one blast!" Rika bragged, as Rumia pointed the Mini-Hakkero at the very center of the robot's eye.
She couldn't create a Moonlight Spark like against Hatate, she had just used that spellcard, so she pumped the Hakkero with every bot of Dark Energy she could muster instead, the Hakkero releaseing black bolts of lightling, almost as if it struggled to contain the energy it was magnifying.
Rumia had no idea what would happen, she just released the energy when the Hakkero was shaking so much it felt like it could take no more. A massive sphere flew out of the Hakkero, expanding in size, crackleing with dark bolts, and it flew directly into the robot's massive, glowing eye.
Then it exploded. The robot arched straight, whereas it was bending down somewhat to aim at Alice before.
The robot moved to aim again, a toy crack in the lens of the eye, before the entire eye lit up red, brighter than before, obviously about to fire.
"I'll show you real power, pathetic youkai..." Rika said.
There was a second explosion, far larger, and this one red, as the damaged eye backfired. Bits of thick glass and wires fell to the ground, the cyclops' eye bleacking black smoke, lit up by white and blue flares, as electricity sparked from the damaged eye.
"How... dare you. How dare you do this to my masterpiece! Pathetic youkai! I'll kill all of you!" Rika roared, swinging the robot's massive fist towards Rumia.
The Golaith Doll moved to stop the fist, it's blades ready, but the fist just broke the doll into peices, not even stopping. Reimu made a barrier, which was shattered. The first was too fast, too large, and Rumia felt worn out just like last time she used the Hakkero.
Alice grabbed her, but she was not fast enough either with Rumia's weight.
Then, the two youkai were smashed into from behind, and something grabbed them, the fist moving the opposite direction. They were in a massive wave of water, and two large arms had extended from Nitori's backpack and grabbed them. The Kappa was sweating like a pig, despite the temperature. The giant wave was at lrast half was large as the robot, and slammed into it, the sheer force causing it to stumble back a few steps.
Then the wave froze, Letty at it's back, her trident touching the ice. The flash-frozen wave looked beautiful, encaseing the horible, titanic robot.
"How dare you... lowly youkai... have this much power! This is why you need to die! Humans are in danger!" Rika screeched.
"Put a can on it, crazy lady." Cirno said. "And give Dai back."
That was the moment when the clouds themselves seemed to attack. From the sky, black, grey, white, and various other colors of clouds began to rain down in the shape of fists, smashing into the robot, and through the ice, sending it crashing to the ground.
"I'll buy more time with my ultimate seal!" Reimu said, as a massive amount of talismans formed around her, truly uncountable. A glance would estimate somewhere in the hundreds of thousands, possibly a million. "Divine Arts "Omnidirectional Dragon Slaying Circle""
The talismans slammed into the robot, covering it. Each one a seal strong enough to subdue a youkai on it's own. The only part visible was the reactor, the glass cracked. The talismans started to burn off, one by one, at an accelerating rate. They were not designed to hold back something of wire and steel.
But it was enough time. Cirno and Letty had formed weapons of dark, blue ice.
"Ice Breaker: Claymore!" Letty cried, smashing her massive blade into the glass, shattering it.
"Ice Divinity: Fairy Blade!" Cirno cried, following up, using her small size to fly into the hole Letty made.
Cirno was gone for a few moments, doing whatever damage she could. When she flew out, explosions started to rupture the outer body of the robot. Whatever Cirno had done was serious.
"Rika's chuckleing was heard from within the robot, before a hatch opened, and a smaller robot came out. It was an Evil Eye-like robot, but larger than the drones sent out before.
"Well, I hate to run, but I engaged the self-destruction process. Do you know what that means? The core's gonna go into meltdown~. Nuclear explosion incoming! The fallout will be felt for miles, Youkai Mountain at least will be completely irradiated, and all those Tengu and Kappa will die!" Rika said, before the robot flew off at a speed faster than anyone could move at.
Reimu tried to form barriers around the reactor, when the reactor suddenly did not exist anymore. There was nothing but a growing sun, engulfing everything around it. Reimu's barriers literally melted one by one.
"This is the part when we need Yukari, I guess, Letty." Reimu said.
'They don't need me. They have you.' Yukari's voice echoed from within Rumia's head. 'I'm pretty sure death by a nuclear meltdown being immiment would let the seal I set be releasable.'
Indeed, Rumia felt an urge to take off the ribbon. It wasn't 'her'. It was survival instinct. Raw survival instinct of a youkai.
Everyone watched as Rumia reached for her ribbon, and it came off. Darkness engulfed her for but a moment, before she was in her adult form again, just like when she fought Shinki.
"If I can smother it with darkness, maybe I can contain it. An explosion's force that propels everything is the heat and light energy." Rumia said. She didn't know how she knew, she just guessed that her knowledge was sealed too.
Rumia surrounded the expanding sun with darkness, but no sooner than she had, and attempted to push back the expanding heat and light, it started to eat through.
"For crying out loud. You're gonna get us both killed, and then I won't be able to kill anyone else." the other Rumia said inside Rumia's head. "Just use the freakin' Hakkero thing. Pump it with both Darkness and Dark Energy. The Darkness will stop the heat and the light, while the Dark Energy can cause explosions in the other directions, containing the expanding explosion."
"I don't want to listen to you, but it's the only way." Rumia said, angrily, holding up the Hakkero, and chargeing it with both her darkness and Dark Energy at once, before it released a dark mist, crackling with blue sparks, which engulfed the expanding nuclear sun, more mist pouring out of it each second, even when the sun was covered.
Nothing happened for a few precious moments. And then, suddenly, the cloud of darkness began to collapse. The nuclear explosion being over-powered, running out of fuel. Then, the darkness simply vanished, leaving nothing, but a light breeze.
Everyone was tired, but Rumia knew it wasn't over. She dived into the shadow of the mountains, leaping through at tremendous speed that one could almost call teleportation.
Rika's machine was fast, but she wasn't faster than the speed of Darkness.
Rika's heart stopped for a moment out of sheer terror as Rumia leapt from the shadows of a mountain, in front of her escape pod.
"Oh Sh..." Rika bagn, before Rumia smashed into the pod, ripping it apart with a surge of dark energy, sending the remains crashing to the ground.
Rika scrambled out of the pod as soon as she could, hurt somewhat badly by the crash, one of her arms broken, and her ankle sprained. Rumia reached in and pulled out a cage, holding a terrified Daiyousei, before she walked after Rika.
She only had a few seconds left. She could tell. The urge to kill was rising. She had more than before, she'd lasted at least thirty seconds, and she hadn't felt Yukari in her head this time either. However, maybe the urge to kill wasn't so bad. Not this once.
Rika tripped, and Rumia grabbed her, and threw her on her back. She punched the scientist in the face, causing her to be disoritented so badly she couldn't get back up. Not that she could easily in her state.
"Go ahead. Kill me." Rika said. "You youkai will never be safe as long as I'm alive. Go on. Another human will just snap like me some day. It's a constant cycle, as long as humans and youkai exist, they will fight. It's inevitable."
Rumia looked at Rika, and clenched her fist, chargeing it with dark energy.
The fist fell.
Rika's eyes closed.
Then they re-opened, Rumia's fist right next to her head, her eyes looking right at her.
"I'm better than you. If I kill you, someone will just take your place one day. Then what if I stop the killing here? What if you're still around, so no-one can take your place? We know we can beat you, we don't know we can beat the next you." Rumia said, getting up.
"I'm a killer, I know. But I'm working hard to bury that past. Every youkai is." she said, putting her ribbon back on and turning back to normal.
"The humans are striving towards better things for youkai too. Reimu doesn't kill youkai like the past Shrine Maidens. Youkai don't eat humans anymore. The times are changeing. I'm not going to undo all the work everyone else has done, by making you a martyr."
"You're just a coward... you can't finish the job." Rika said.
Rumia turned away.
"The real courage is knowing that you're not even worth it. I swear, as long as I live, I will not sink to become someone like I was before. I will work to erase the work of the past, and help bring humans and youkai together, like many are trying to do now, like Reimu, and Marisa, and Alice, and the Kappa."
Rika slipped into unconsciousness, laughing. Rumia took a few steps, before she smiled lightly, and feel herself, exhausted.