Flandre lunged at Yumemi with incredible speed. Not as fast as Hatate could move; but not much slower.
"You think I'll let you touch Yumemi?!" Chiyuri shouted, before letting loose a blast of blue lasers from her device; which pierced the vampire, but did nothing to slow her down.
Yumemi reacted as swiftly as she could; it seemed as if she expected Flandre to have stopped with Chiyuri's attack. Her devices ignited, and she moved the cores; so that Flandre's outreached hand would not touch them.
However; it did, the briefest of touches; along with Flandre uttering 'Kyuu~'; just before the energy being emitted cut Flandre's arm off at the elbow.
"She's really flaunting her nigh invulnerability..." Hatate commented.
"Flandre doesn't know any fighting style. Before she had her madness making her impossible to predict, but now; well; she fights like an eight year old." Remilia commented.
Flandre looked a little shocked for a moment; looking at her arm, before the severed part turned into bats, and re-formed, and the holes in her body healed over.
"Strange... why didn't you slice me up after you sliced me the first time?" she asked; before she smirked. "That was your only chance~"
Yumemi opened her mouth to speak, before the device Flandre touched began to spark wildly with red energy.
"W-w-what? Where is this energy coming from?!" Yumemi said, looking in shock at the device in her left hand.
"I put a little bit of my power inside it; and my power bounces around the object, getting stronger and stronger. Until... ka-boom! Doesn't usually take this long; but it sounds like you were draining the energy building up." Flandre explained.
"Ugh!" Yumemi grunted, before she threw her device into the air, spinning like a boomerang, which exploded in the air, into a mist of white energy.
"Now for the other one; then we win; right Remi~" Flandre said.
"Yes Flandre. I would like this to be over so I can have a nice cup of Scarlet Tea soon." Remilia said. Rumia couldn't help but think she meant blood.
"So; this is the power of the little sister." Hatate said.
"Mystia said when she attacked Mokou; Mokou continued dying for days afterwards; and Mokou is immortal..." Rumia said.
"Remind me to stay away from her then. And tease Mokou about that." Kaguya said.
Flandre lunged again towards Yumemi's remaining device; but Yumemi was able to move it out of the way, and sliced Flandre's other arm this time; which almost instantly recovered. This repeated a few times; before Flandre was visibly annoyed.
"Taboo; Four of a Kind!" Flandre declared; before a Flandre appeared to the left; right and behind Yumemi; for a total of four.
"This reminds me of your attack; Hatate. I didn't know Flandre could make illusions..." Rumia commented.
"They're not illusions. They have far too much energy... they're... her." Rika commented.
"You're both wrong. It's a form of Red Magic; blood magic. Those are constructs made of a small amount of Flandre's power and body; and thus are weaker clones of her. Remilia explained. "And each of them carries the same destructive potential as the original."
"Kyuu~" the Flandres said, all lashing out at once. It was clear that at least one made contact with Yumemi's device; before the clones vanished; and Flandre backed off; back to Remilia; looking happy.
"I did it sis~" she said happily. "I got both of her toys!"
"You wouldn't have needed to use Four of a Kind if you learnt how to fight properly; young mistress. I shall see to it that China gives you some fighting lessons." Sakuya said.
"Aw; but that's boring Sakuyaaaa!" Flandre said.
Everyone was paying attention to the Scarlets; except Mai; who quietly spoke.
"It's not over."
"What did you say Mai?" Yuki said; turning around; before her face fell.
Rumia turned; and shouted.
"Yumemi! Don't!"
Yumemi was crackling with the red energy that her weapon was previously. The device was also sparking wildly. Yumemi looked in agony.
"I... will... not... fall." she said. "There... isn't... any other way..."
"Yumemi!" Chiyuri shouted, before Yumemi screamed.
"There isn't... any other... way. I cannot... let... them... WIN!" she shouted, before the energy vanished.
"I-i-i-mpossible!" Remilia said.
"It didn't break..." Flandre said quietly.
"After knowing what the energy was, I was able to reduce it to a manageable level by taking some of it into my own body..." Yumemi gasped. "Even then it took a while..."
Yumemi coughed. There was blood on the back of her hand afterwards.
"And took a toll on my body. I hope this makes it clear. To stop me; you will have to kill me. I cannot allow you to win. It means certain doom for my world. There is no other way."
Rumia clenched her fist.
"Mai; what should we do?" Yuki asked. "If that vampire's power didn't even work..."
"That's not what's worrying you Yuki." Mai said calmly. "I know what's worrying you. It's the same as me."
"Can we really... kill her?" Hatate asked.
"I'm not opposed to killing her; but dooming an entire world is beyond even me." Remilia said.
"I don't care. Even if you youkai are all yellow-bellies I'll stop her myself!" Rika said, as two small drones appeared around her, releasing a glowing light, from which, a weapon that Rumia did not recognize formed.
"I may not be able to use danmaku; but I can still use bullets!" Rika said; before her weapon fired a lot of projectiles; in a very noisy fashion. Yumemi spun her device around, and the energy being expelled just blocked all of Rika's projectiles; vaporizing them.
"It's not over!" Rika said, before her weapon changed into a thin; wrist-mounted device; which fired a thin laser at Yumemi; which was just absorbed.
"It's hopeless. You cannot hope to defeat me. Not when this is my only recourse." Yumemi said.
"... Stop... saying." Rumia said quietly, clenching her teeth as well as her fists so hard it hurt.
"Fine then! I'll stop you like this!" Rika said, as her weapon vanished, and she pulled out her spanner, and flew towards Yumemi.
"I would prefer not to take your life; however despicable you are; Rika." Yumemi said quietly, before she swung her cross-device; sending out a blast of force; which blew Rika back.
"However; if you continue to stand in my way; and try to stop me; I will be left with no other path." Yumemi said coldly.
"Can you go through with it? Killing someone?" Rika taunted.
"If it is the path I must walk to save my people, and ensure this plan succeeds; then I will bear the sin. This plan must succeed; or else there is no outcome but the death of my people." Yumemi said.
Suddenly, everything in the night sky turned dark for the breifest moment. There was no light. Then the stars and moon returned; only to vanish half a second later; for another half second.
"Rumia?" Remilia asked; looking at the Darkness youkai; like everyone. Mai was backing away; rather swiftly.
Waves of absolute darkness rolled off Rumia; and for the first time since she had last willingly removed her ribbon; the Dark Energy Wings had formed.
"I'm sick and tired of you acting as if there is no other way; Yumemi!" Rumia shouted. "There is always another way! If there wasn't; I'd be dead many times over! There is always a solution! Acting like there isn't... makes my blood boil! I didn't give up against Shinki! I didn't give up against Rika! I didn't give up against the Watasukis! However bleak it looked! The way you're speaking; it's as if you've given up on that shell that you call your moral code!"
"The ideal is not always possible." Yumemi said.
"That doesn't mean you have to give up on it!" Rumia shouted. She was clearly furious. "And you're willing to even give up on your determination to avoid fighting; and hurting others! It makes me sick!"
"Then stop me yourself." Yumemi said. "If you never give up; stop me yourself. Prove your own words; or are you a hypocrite?"
Rumia snapped. She formed a massive amount of Dark energy in her right hand, before thrusting it forward.
"Dark Spark!" she roared, unleashing a massive beam of dark energy; in the same vein as the Master Spark. The force of the attack enough to blow everyone behind her back, and break her arm with the recoil; although it almost instantly healed.
The spark slammed into Yumemi's device; and she began to move backwards in the sky; although the attack was absorbed like the previous magical ones.
"To have the force to throw me backwards even with the attack being absorbed..." Yumemi said.
"Rika; get to the large device on the ground. Shut it down. I'll cover you." Rumia said.
"Why should I do what you tell me?!" Rika asked angrily.
"Because otherwise; right now; I might just kill you if you don't and just throw caution to the win and blow it up myself; damn the consequences!" Rumia shouted angrily.
Rika blinked, and flew down.
"Rumia seems mean suddenly..." Flandre commented.
"I don't think I've ever seen Rumia angry... to think she was this powerful." Remilia said.
"This is bad though. She could lose it." Yuki said. "The madder she gets the more likely her true self will come out."
"And then we're all dead!" Mai said.
"I beg to differ." Kaguya snarked, causing Kogasa to move in her hand and bop her on the head.
Rumia formed another mass of dark energy, but this time; threw it as a sphere, towards Yumemi; who just raised her device again.
"I told you it won't work!" Yumemi said; before Rumia pointed a finger at the dark energy mass.
"Moonlight Ray; Dark Grenade." she said, firing a thin beam into the mass; causing it to explode almost in front of Yumemi, before she turned, so see Chiyuri rushing towards Rika, and moved with incredible speed to intercept.
"No." she said; before she grabbed Chiyuri and threw her back into the sky like she was a doll.
"What kind of monster are you?!" Chiyuri shouted down at Rumia, before firing a thin; blue laser; aimed at Rumia's chest; that she just blocked with a wall of darkness.
"Push me more; and you might get your answer..." Rumia hissed, before a massive blast of white energy slammed into her, fired from Yumemi's device.
"Thank you for that attack previously; I'll give it back!" she said.
"Yes! There's not way anyone could survive a direct hit from that much Pure Magical Energy!" Chiyuri said.
"It is a shame that I had to use it to defend our world rather than help directly save it. If you wouldn't mind stopping Rika; Chiyuri; I will hold off the others." Yumemi said weakly.
"Yumemi... how badly hurt are you? Really?"
"Not badly enough to stop." the scientist said. "I said; I will only stop when I am dead."
Chiyuri began to fly towards Rika, before she stopped halfway. Shadows seemed to be holding her, before Rumia appeared behind her, her arm across Chiyuri's neck. She turned towards Yumemi; Chiyuri in front of her.
"Stop the machine... or I break her neck." Rumia hissed. Her voice was not her own. It was clearly different. Her body was looking more wasted; cheeks gaunt.
'What am I doing?!' Rumia thought
'That's what I would like to know! Just kill her, and then kill Yumemi when she's shocked!' the voice of the other Rumia said, clear as day.
'Get out of my head!'
'Get out of MY head, you insignificant construct of Yukari!'
Rumia sighed mentally. She had lost it. Miko; Futo; Soga; even Seiga had all warned her multiple times that she must remain calm. Anger was dangerous. She wondered if they knew something like this would happen. She figured Miko at least would have had to know.
Anger was what her true self was. Nothing but anger and hate. If she let those consume her; she would be closer to being the monster.
And that moment would be all it needed.
'BREAK... HER... NECK!'
'LET HER GO!'
Author Notes: Long chapter. Anyway; there's still a fair bit of this conflict left. Just as a warning; this isn't the end of Arc 5; there is quite a bit of aftermath after this battle.