Aside from a brief stop to say hello to Kisume and Parsee [Who Nue also greeted, and was sitting on her old bridge playing her Tar]; the trip Underground was made quickly.
Upon reaching the main cavern, the samurai ghost was waiting, oddly enough, she was chatting happily with Kanakuma, Suika and Yuugi.
"Introductions are in order!" she said happily. "This is Yuugi; that's Suik..."
"Rumia already knows who we are. She is responsible for getting us back together." Kanakuma said.
"Oh. Well; I'm Konngara. I used to be one of the Big Four. But I died of the most common cause of death for Oni, and Kasen took my place."
"Most common cause of death?" Marisa asked.
"Liver Failure. Even with our adapted bodies; being drunk almost all the time takes it's toll over centuries." Konngara said.
"Konngara; you're not supposed to tell people that!" Yuugi said angrily.
"Aw; if that youkai got you lot back together and got around old Kana's lung issues I consider her an Oni except in horns!" Konngara said.
"There's three others there too..." Sukia said.
"Well; anyway, Konngara was a little weird; even for us. She never fought with her hands, as you can probably tell. She worked as a smith; bringing wealth to youkai mountain and giving the Tengu the arms and equipment needed for their work. She also perfected her own martial art with a sword; the way of the Star-Sword." Kanakuma explained.
"Oh; you're too kind." Konngara said.
"She's lived down here ever since she died." Suika explained. "She just spends most of her time watching over the Blazing Hell itself. Apparently at some point Reimu fought her; thinking she was behind something when she wasn't; it was actually a natural occurrence which involved Makai."
"Yes; the purple-haired shrine maiden." Konngara said. "She was pretty good for one so young, although I held back due to her age."
"Anyway; the art of the Star-Sword was designed for a specific reason. Konngara was a dreamer; wanting to reach even the stars and the gods. She wanted to prove her art to everyone. The finest swords; and the finest sword-fighter." Suika explained. "She was even involved in the first Lunar war. Fought some young, purple-haired general who managed to beat her. She didn't go for conquest like the others Yukari roped in; she went just for the final thrill of a fight."
"Yes... I was already starting to die back when that happened. I think it was the last fight I had which made me truly feel alive. I died about twenty years afterwards." Konngara said. "Why are purple-haired girls always so strong anyway?"
"I'm guessing that was Yorihime then. Don't feel bad about losing to her. She put up a fight against even Shinki, and Shinki is a god." Rumia said.
"Oh; I never feel bad about losing a fair fight." Konngara said. "All I care about is the thrill of a close fight. I mean; since I used a weapon I couldn't even spar the other Oni to get a good brawl. I'd slice them up!"
"But yeah; there are many tales of Konngara's fights. After all; she reached for even the gods in her fights; giving her the title of 'Astral Knight'; the knight who aimed for even the stars." Kanakuma said.
"So; how would you react if I told you we were going to fight a God?" Marisa asked.
"Depends." Konngara said. "I can't kill a God by any means; but I'm more than happy to fight one. Not like I have a life to worry about."
"Well then, will you take up your sword for the greatest battle of your... death?" Alice asked.
The other three Oni looked at the fourth, who gave a hearty laugh.
"I've been itching for a good fight since the Shrine Maiden! I'll show you all the power of the Astral Knight; and the art that is the Star-Sword style." Konngara said.
"Well; we need to go and gather the Hell Crow as well. Unlike you; she has the power of the gods themselves; so might be able to actually beat her." Alice explained.
"That lovable idiot?" Konngara asked. "I speak with her every now and then in the Blazing Fires. "I don't even want to fight her. She might melt my sword. Shame; because if she wouldn't I'd certainly give her a fight with her godly powers."
Rumia shook her head. "Anyway; where's Kasen?"
"Kasen is back in her hermit realm." Suika answered. "Personally; I hope she's having a nightmare right now."
"So you're still not on good terms then." Rumia said sadly.
"We'll never be on good terms; Rumia. Not after what she did. Even if we could return to the old days; the rest of the Oni would never accept her back." Yuugi said. "But at least she is not attempting to kill us anymore. Not like there would be a window for that with us all together down here; with the rest of the Oni; and Kana actually healthy."
"Oh; and there's something I ought to tell you." Konngara said. "I kind of live on the very edge of Hell itself. I was able to sneak away from my post given the chaos going on right now; but I belong in Hell. If you're OK having someone..."
"Please; I'm basically a corrupted demonspawn from Makai." Rumia said.
"I guess you could call me Demonspawn too; although that's not what I really am; seeing as Shinki made me directly." Alice said. "And Marisa is completely nuts and on the way to Hell for her averice."
"Ye... wait what? Alllice!" Marisa protested.
"And; well; you should know what a Nue is like." Nue said.
"Anyway; we need to..." Rumia said; before noticing Satori; Utusho and Rin before them. Koishi was in Rin's wheelbarrow; convulsing and twitching, but also muttering.
"Koishi!" Rumia shouted, rushing over to the Satori.
"Koishi's link to the subconscious makes her tied to what the fallen goddess is doing." Satori explained; knowing Rumia's concern. "But she is not indisposed. It is just that what is being done to the subconscious realm; the nightmares trapping everyone, are so horrific that Koishi cannot bear them."
Koishi babbled. Some words could be made out; but others could not.
"I have figured out roughly what Koishi has been trying to tell me. The fallen Goddess is using the power of Dreams themselves; turning them into nightmares; and feeding off their powers to increase her own. But not just of our world. She has her sights set on the entire multiverse. I am unaware of exactly what she aims to do; but Koishi keeps repeating one word more than others."
Koishi blurted out the same word she had said three times before already; this time; much clearer and louder.
"Genesis!" she shouted.
"Genesis; the creation of the universe." Satori said.
"So; does she aim to create her own dimension; like Shinki created Makai?" Rumia asked.
Utusho's third eye suddenly glowed with an intense light; and Utusho shook, before she spoke with a much more... wise voice.
"I can tell you what Titania aims." Utusho said; unmoving; as if in a trance. Her two eyes were closed; only her third eye glowed brightly; as if it was a sun itself.
"Yatagarasu?" Satori asked.
"Yes; I am speaking through the one that the Sky Goddess turned into my avatar after the destruction of my mortal form." Utusho said. "Titania indeed does seek Genesis; but that is only part of what she seeks. Titania sought absolute control; and a world as she saw fit; without anyone who could contest her. She not only sought Genesis; but also Armegeddon. She sought the very re-creation of our dimension. The end of all other Gods; and life. She would then re-create the dimension as the sole Divine being, and it would all be under her control. She would be unopposed. Undefeatable. Only the Divine can kill the Divine; and Titania seeks to make herself the sole divinity of her ideal world."
Yatagarasu paused.
"Except; with the developments; it appears Titania has lost it even more. Her peering into the very dream world; the world of magic itself; the world of origin; that is shared between all universes as given her an even more disastrous goal. I can only imagine the reason she is collecting the faith, no, the fear, from every dimension is one. She wishes to re-create every single dimension; possibly even the Dream World itself. If she succeeds... nothing can stop her. Every living being in the multiverse will perish."
"If you knew how evil and twisted she had become; why didn't you and the other Gods kill her?!" Rumia asked.
"We tried. You see; there are three types of Gods. There are 'Myriad Gods'; those who ascended to Godhood due to belief that such a thing existed. Kanako and Suwako are such examples of those. Then; there are Lesser Gods. Those born from other Divinities. Sanae is such a being. Myriad Gods are the largest in number; and generally stronger than the Lesser Gods; although Lesser Gods can sometimes have great potential and can surpass Myriad Gods."
"Then what's Titania?" Alice asked.
"The third type of God is a 'True God'. A 'True God' is either the creator of a dimension; like Shinki; although these 'creator gods' only maintain their true divinity inside their own realms or; more commonly; simply a natural occurrence within one. Titania is the latter. She simply... was created along with the world. True Gods; as their names suggest; are far greater than any other type of God; but are fewest in number."
"Titania was smart; she slowly destroyed any who opposed her; including the other True Gods. Worse still; she took their essence; becoming stronger with every god she killed. Of course; gods do not get along, so in-fighting let her actions just seem like that. When we finally realised it... it was almost too late. We all united against her, and even then, we took heavy losses. But we destroyed her body. Unfortunately; it seems her spirit survived; and she possessed a young youkai girl, slumbering for tens of thousands of years. Worse still; she sabotaged nature itself during the fight. Many of the worst natural disasters since she went into slumber were a result of her sabotage, making humans sure to fear nature for years to come."
"But... Kanako and Suwako have gone to fight her alone!" Rumia said.
"Yes." Yatagarasu replied. "They have almost certainly gone to their deaths. It is bad enough that their aspects are over-ruled by Titania in the first place; but they are two Myriad Gods opposing the strongest True God. It is completely impossible for them to win. In fact; I would doubt it is possible for her to be stopped at..."
Utusho's eyes opened, and the third eye stopped glowing.
"I'm gonna have to shut you up there voice-in-my-head." Utusho said. "We can beat her. Besides; if we don't beat her we're all dead anyway. What good is giving up?"
Everyone looked at Utusho as if they had been slapped in the face by a fish. For once; Utusho said something that wasn't about Nuclear Physics that was not completely moronic.
"Well then?" Utusho said. "Can I go Satori. Pleeeeease?"
"Of course you can go Utusho. No; you have to go."
"Yay!" Utuhso said happily; jumping up and down.
Rumia grabbed one of two fireflies that were hovering nearby.
"Alright; you guys; follow that firefly to where the others are. I need to get Toyosatomimi and her crew." Rumia said.
The others nodded; and began to head off; following the second butterfly; before Rumia took a prayer stance; and focused; before warping into Senkai.
She opened her eyes and looked around; and saw Miko and Futo talking to someone who as blocked out of view. Soga floated over to Rumia.
"Where's Seiga?" she asked.
"I stopped her, and Shinki killed her for her crimes." Rumia said; somewhat remorseful at the fact that Seiga had died. She was wicked; but she didn't agree with Shinki killing her. It hadn't even settled in Rumia's mind and heart yet.
"Ah. Well... none of us liked Seiga anyway, the world is probably better without her to be completely honest." Soga said.
"Who are the others busy with?" Rumia asked.
"Miko found Reimu earlier today. She was near a sealed cave; it seemed she had exhausted herself attempting to break a seal over the cave; while fighting off many of those golems. She was on the verge of collapse. Mima was with her too; she was protecting Reimu at the time; but left after we arrived." Soga said. "She was also wounded; but still conscious."
"A seal that Reimu couldn't break? It couldn't have been Yukari who placed it. Even her strongest seals began to decay when she died. After two years; there's n way Reimu wouldn't be able to brea one of Yukari's seals."
"No; that's the thing. The seal was made by Reimu herself. It's an old seal. It seems however it be incredibly intricate. Miko listened to the seal's own desires; and found Reimu specifically designed the seal so that it could not be broken. She used the full power of the Hakurei Orbs and even called upon the Goddess. I doubt even Yukari could have undone a divine seal of that level. Whatever was behind there; Reimu wanted sealed; but she wanted to unseal it."
Miko and Futo stood aside; to reveal a ragged looking Reimu, who was eating a simple meal and drinking some tea. She looked exhausted.
"I was attempting to re-open Reimaiden. It is a passage into the Dream World. A second one. Mima once tried to use the power in Reimaiden to steal my power; and seeing the tremendous power of the Dream World I sealed the cave. This was back in the days before Hakurei left my shrine and I was still able to call upon her power. I suppose it was desperation that drove me to try and break that seal. It is impossible for me; or even ten mes; to break. Even if I could still call upon Hakurei; she wouldn't help; since she helped to make that seal."
"Wait; so you'd rather try and break a seal you designed to be unbreakable than go the other way into the Dream World?" Rumia asked. "So; where's the other way?"
Reimu sipped her tea.
"In the far north-east of Gensokyo is a lake of blood. No-one goes there, there is nothing of note there. The perfect hiding place. If one can get past the vampire guarding it; there is a magical portal in the very centre of the late; which leads to an underground chamber. Inside that chamber; is a portal into the Dream World. Except; it leads to two subdimensions."
"Subdimensions?" Rumia asked.
"Worlds inbetween here and the Dream World. While the Reimaiden passage is a direct route; there are two small dimensions between that gate and the Dream World; where Titania is. But the thing is; one of those two dimensions is Mugenkan."
"Mugenkan?"
"The home of the real Yuuka. And Elly guards the gate to the Dream World. She was pretty strong even out of practise. And if that is not bad enough; on my way back after meeting Yuuka for the first time; I entered a second strange dimension with a great crescent moon in the sky, where two extremely powerful devils lived. They were just playing; but their powers were great."
"Ah; so you'd rather take the direct path; rather than fight Elly and risk entering this other dimension." Rumia said.
Reimu nodded. "But it appears that it is impossible to take the Reimaiden passage. So; I guess the Lake of Blood it is."
"Well; that's where I've been gathering everyone. I came here to take the Taoists there to help; actually. I'm sure Miko; being a Saint and brought back by Divine Spirits; can harm a god."
"I must admit; that is most likely the case. As big-headed as it sounds; I am probably as divine as a Celestial; if not more." Miko admitted. "I would not be surprised if Futo and Soga can do so with their Taoist arts as well. Attacks of divine origin. Just like Reimu can use her powers to harm the divine."
"Right then." Reimu said. "I guess we should be going."
Reimu got up; but staggered a little. She clearly was still tired and injured.
"Are you sure you are in a condition to fight?" Rumia asked.
"You think I'd stay down with a situation like this?" Reimu asked. "Gensokyo is in grave danger."
"More than Gensokyo; according to Yatagarasu; the entire multiverse is in peril." Rumia said.
"Even more reason to proceed with haste." Reimu said.
"Very well. If the issue is that pressing; we don't have time to wait for you to fully recover Reimu." Miko said; opening a portal to what seemed like a desolate wasteland. "We shall meet with everyone out here; I opened a passage to the Lake of Blood."
Rumia nodded; and the five went through the portal; to find themselves near the crimson lake; surrounded by dark wastes where nothing grew. It was not difficult to see where everyone else had gathered.
"So... here we go." Rumia said; as she arrived with everyone else. "I'll warn you; if you have no connection to the Divine; you won't be able to fight Titania. We can't stop you coming along to help in other ways; like covering fire or such; but this is going to be very dangerous. She won't hesitate to kill us."
"You're directing this mainly at us; aren't you?" Mystia asked.
"Well; uh; yeah." Rumia said. "There's no way you guys can help fight her."
Wriggle puffed up. "We can help. You're not the only one who got stronger. And besides; Cirno and Dai might be able to even hurt her; if she made them; they're connected to the divine; like you said."
"And there is no way I'm allowing you to go without my assistance." Maribel said. "I might not be able to hurt her; but I can protect all of you."
"And I'm not letting Mary go alone." Renko said.
"No-one is allowed to kill you other than me." Rika said. "If we're marching to our deaths; I'm at least gonna be the one who kills you. I won't give Titania the pleasure!"
"I don't like fighting; but if it's to protect everyone; I'll even fight the one who created me." Daiyousei remarked.
"I have to prove I'm the strongest somehow!" Cirno protested.
"I don't want to see everything end. I've not even got good at surprising people yet! How can I surprise people if Titania kills everyone?" Kogasa asked. "Besides; maybe I can surprise her!"
"You guys..." Rumia said; looking at her friends. She could see the others that were regarded as leaders; such as Byakuren and Remilia; getting a similar treatment of loyalty from their friends and followers. Even Tenma; the only one of the major youkai who would be unable to harm the Goddess; was determined; rallying the Tengu. Even Mokou and Kaguya were tolerating each other; in fact; they seemed to be actively working together; albeit; with Eirin and Reisen between them coming up with plans for the pair to fight together.
Ran appeared next to Reimu; as did the Gensokyo-Yuuka., brought through Ran's gap.
"Well; if this is to be our last stand; it would be a mistake for me; as Yukari's Shinigami; to not help in any way I can." Ran said.
"I personally owe Titania a lot. Using my body as she pleases." Yuuka said.
"So; the first issue is getting past the vampire who guards the lake." Byakuren said. "Vampires are not the type to.. well.. die or stand aside."
"Leave her to me." Remilia said; with a sly smile.