"Touya, look at this." = Normal speech.

'Touya, look at this.' = Thoughts/Telepathy.

(One hour later.) = Time skip.

~Yo, it's God.~ = Phone call.

"Come forth, fire!" = Chanting.

[Kingdom of Belfast] = Title/Place/Rank/Weapon Name.

{Gate} = Spell name.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(At [Oedo], a week after.)

"Today's the day, huh?" Touya mused, as he walked to Ieyasu's home, where the meeting was taking place.

"Indeed it is." Yae nodded.

A week had passed since the festival, and today was the day the two rival Clans would meet at [Oedo] to negotiate for a ceasefire and subsequently, peace if all goes well, which is why they were invited by the daimyo himself to attend the meeting since the meeting itself wouldn't be possible without the contributions of Touya and his party, so, Ieyasu invited them to oversee negotiations as a welcomed third party.

Naturally, they accepted, it wouldn't make them look good if they declined the request as that would sour relations, so the party made their way through the streets of [Oedo] on their way to Ieyasu's home where the meeting was going to take place. Though, just like before, when they first stepped foot into the capital of the Tokugawa, the atmosphere was different.

"The atmosphere seems tense…" Elze pointed out, it was a far cry from the atmosphere when the festival was ongoing, but she can guess why.

News of the imminent arrival of the Takeda convoy which housed their newly made leader along with his entourage of guards which made the people a little tense if you want to put it lightly, of course, the hidden resentment of both sides was there but no one was willing to take the first strike.

"I wouldn't blame the citizens for not trusting the Takeda." Chiyome commented, traveling with the group, while she was technically a former Takeda member, she was more or less only under Shingen's direct service, "I'm surprised no one is trying anything to be honest."

"Probably because no one's stupid enough to try." Sally smirked, "Besides, not like anyone's gonna do that anyways."

"Hope it stays that way then." Setsuna remarked, "Though, is it really a good idea for them to have the meeting here?"

"It shows that the Tokugawa is willing to let their guard down for peace, Princess." Leen interjected, "By inviting the Takeda to their capital and ensuring the safety of both heads, the meeting should go smoothly if things go as planned."

"I see." Setsuna mumbled, not arguing against Leen who had more experience in this than she does so she believed the Fairy's words.

"His name is Takeda Katsuyori, yes?" Leen asked, turning to the former Takeda kunoichi.

"Correct." Chiyome nodded.

"What do you know about Katsuyori?" Touya inquired. His cousin hummed softly, trying to remember anything about the Takeda.

"He is to say the least… Unruly, he was less inclined to help with Clan matters and more for showing off that he was the son of Shingen-dono." Chiyome shook her head, "Which is why I'm surprised that he even agreed to meet with Tokuwaga-dono in the first place."

"Is he that bad?" Elze interjected.

"I'm afraid so." Chiyome nodded, "But even with his attitude, he would be a fool to decline the offer for peace, especially with how unpopular this war is."

"Any reason why he acts like that?" Elze asked.

Chrome hummed, there were many things that she could point out about Katsuyori, but it was at an outsider's point of view, she didn't know him personally but from the interactions she had with him, she didn't have the highest opinion of him, but she figured it must be because of the attention he craved from his father, since he was Head of a Clan, he might've had little time to spend with Katsuyori and thus neglected him to some degree.

"I think it might have something to do with Shingen-dono neglecting him, he must've developed a complex." Chiyome pondered.

"So he has daddy issues?" Setsuna chimed in.

"Putting it that way, yes."

"Ugh, I just hope it doesn't affect his decision to sign the ceasefire." Elze groaned.

"We can do nothing but hope the meeting goes well." Yumina reassured, sighing in the process.

The conversation continued so they could pass the time while made there way to their destination – Though the walk thankfully didn't take too long, since they have already been there, it was just a short trip to Ieyasu's home, the guards standing at the gates greeted the party and let them in without any trouble and told them that Ieyasu and his retainers were expecting them at the meeting place. They thanked the guards and entered the daimyo's home.

After a short while of searching for the meeting place, they finally made it and entered the room, they greeted Ieyasu and he greeted them back warmly and told them to take their positions next to him, they bowed and did what they were asked to do.

Now, all that was left to be done was to wait for the Takeda Clan to join them.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(Inside of the meeting room, at [Ieyasu's Home].)

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait for too long.

The doors to the room opened, revealing the Elite Four and a young man at the forefront of the group, he wore a proud smirk on his face, Touya didn't know why, but he was a little irritated by him, next to him were Baba, Yamagata, Naito and an older man Touya hadn't seen before.

"Takeda-dono, everyone, welcome to [Oedo], Tokugawa-dono has been waiting to meet you." Jubei greeted the visitors respectfully, bowing his head, they returned the gesture and stood in front of Ieyasu.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Ieyasu inquired, everyone in the room nodded their heads, nodding to himself, he said, "Now, let this meeting commence."

"Firstly, congratulations to Takeda Katsuyori-dono for becoming the next head of the Takeda Clan." He congratulated, and a series of applause came soon after, Ieyasu held his hand and the clapping ceased, the Tokugawa Head continued, "Secondly, I can hope you know what the purpose of this meeting entails?"

"Yes, Tokugawa-dono." Katsuyori nodded.

"Then, I will cut to the chase." Ieyasu declared.

"As you all know, these past few months have been seeded with conflict from both sides, with the Takeda launching an unprecedented attack on Tokugawa territory, and after some bloody months, the two Clans were stuck in a stalemate effectively freezing the war – Until a few weeks ago, at the [Kawagoe Fortress], where me and my retainer along with his son, were trapped and outmatched by the overwhelming numbers of oni-mask troops." Ieyasu announced, eyeing Katsuyori for any facial differences, but he remained impassive, continuing on, "I foresaw that the battle was lost, and so as advised by my retainer and his son, we retreated and left the fortress, however, when I left these visitors from outside of our country arrived."

Ieyasu gestured to the group on his left side, giving attention to them, Katsuyori's eyes scanned the newly addressed group in front of him quickly and turned just as quickly back to Ieyasu. Though, Touya idly noted that Katsuyori's gaze lingered on Chiyome a little longer than the rest of them.

"And through the efforts of this young man." Ieyasu turned his hand to Touya, "He was able to single handedly defeat the fifteen-thousand strong army of the Takeda Clan."

Ieyasu smirked in his mind when he saw Katsuyori's eyes widen a bit before reverting back into an impassive expression, while most of Elite Four nodded, some of them smiling even as if they knew that it was a fact and not just some exaggeration, except for one of them who looked both impressed and flabbergasted. Seems like someone didn't get informed, oh well, that's not his problem.

"Afterwards, an assassin was sent to claim his head, only for them to fail." Ieyasu quickly glanced over to Chiyome from the corner of his eyes before speaking up again, "And then, a kunoichi, sent by one of the Takeda's Elite Four, was tasked with meeting us and held a letter from Masanobu Kousaka, detailing the death of the late Takeda Shingen-dono, and urged us to help in taking out the perpetrator of Takeda-dono's death as well as the one responsible for this whole war in the first place."

"A small team was sent to adhere with the request, they were able to get to the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle] thanks to Touya-san's magic and helped in freeing the Elite Four then they confronted Yamamoto Kansuke and soundly defeated him but he managed to escape capture." Ieyasu sighed, "As much as I wanted this meeting to be after we captured Kansuke, the underlying tension between our people is too big to ignore at this moment, thus we are here today. To discuss the negotiations for peace."

With that, Ieyasu concluded his speech, Katsuyori nodded and stepped forward, intent on speaking his mind about the subject as well as the matter at hand.

"But I must ask." Katsuyori's voice caught their attention, "I have a hard time believing that a single man was able to defeat an army let alone one belonging to the Takeda. So do forgive me if I can't believe what you're telling me."

No one at the room blamed Katsuyori for his disbelief, in fact, it was kinda refreshing to see someone try to make sense of Touya rather than just rolling with it – As for the Takeda Head, he kept his eyes on the aforementioned teenager, not believing that he held so much power despite his appearance.

Ieyasu glanced at Touya's direction, as if he was asking him if it was okay to introduce him, the man in question nodded his head slightly to which Ieyasu smiled.

"Despite the absurdity of the thing, Takeda-dono, this man, Mochizuki Touya." Nobody missed Katsuyori's eyes widening at Touya's name, especially his family name – He must've thought he was just a nobody but he thought wrong.

"Is very much capable of such an act and more, surely your Elite Four can vouch for him, no?" Ieyasu raised a brow, staring at the aforementioned group, they all glanced at each other before Baba stepped up.

"Yes, Takeda-dono. We have seen it with our own two eyes. Mochizuki-dono is capable of such acts and holds the power to do so." Baba explained.

Katsuyori turned his eyes away from Baba and landed on Touya, the Takeda Head stared deep into him, like he was trying to gaze into his soul, Touya wondered why he was staring so intensely, but he did feel a bit of resentment radiating from him for whatever reason.

"And yet, with all that power, he couldn't save my father."

Oh, so that's why.

A heavy silence fell onto the room, no one moving an inch from their position as they processed exactly what Katsuyori meant when he said those words. Was he really expecting Touya to somehow be able to save Shingen despite not even knowing he was dead or even enslaved in the first place?

From the looks of his face, it seems like he did.

Touya heard Chiyome's whisper about how ungrateful and bratty Katsuyori was, and in all honesty, he can see why. The sentiment was shared between his group and everyone in the room but they dare not say it outloud, the atmosphere was tense, no one knew how to continue off of Katsuyori's sentence.

"With all due respect, Takeda-dono. Mochizuki-dono had no idea that your father had died nor did he possess some kind of power to resurrect him, while it is a tragedy, there was nothing much he could do other than put your father to rest." Ieyasu reassured, trying to reason with the son, but he seemed like he didn't hear a single word coming out of his mouth.

Ieyasu narrowed his eyes, he was not expecting him to be this… unreasonable, but perhaps the death of his father is still a sore subject for him and it showed with how he said those words. Nevertheless, he needed to get the conversation back on track.

"Which is why we're here, to honor his death and bring peace to our clans and end a conflict that should not have happened." Ieyasu offered.

"I will sign it, but under one condition." Katsuyori spoke, he then pointed at Chiyome, "She comes back to Takeda, where she belongs."

Everyone's eyes widened, they did not expect him to make such an outrageous request, moreso against a relative of the man that saved both of their Clans, the Elite Four wanted to slam their heads against the wall, they did not anticipate for Katsuyori to do something so stupid but he did.

Meanwhile, the Tokugawa Clan was flabbergasted, especially the third party that was with them, did he really try to take Chiyome away from them, even after Ieyasu said that both Clans wouldn't exist at all if Touya and Party didn't arrive at their most crucial moment?

Said male on the other hand, was fuming.

At the request, Touya barely held himself back from running up to Katsuyori and decking him right in his face – The only reason why he wasn't doing so was because of the diplomatic consequences that would follow.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, Takeda-dono." Ieyasu denied impassively, he stared down Katsuyori who challenged him with his own. Both men did not back down, but the Takeda Head felt himself becoming smaller the longer he stared into Ieyasu's gaze until he backed down by looking away and opting to look at the former Takeda member.

"She is, by right, a part of the Takeda Clan, under my father's unit, which is now under me." Katsuyori argued, "Which is why she must return."

"I must repeat myself, I cannot do that – She is not under my direct control, it is her own decision to do so." Ieyasu narrowed his eyes, the irritation building up. Meanwhile, Katsuyori was fuming, like he was a child being denied their favorite toy and was on the verge of a meltdown.

"If you do not hand her over, I will not sign the treaty." Katsuyori threatened.

Once again, a thick silence took over the room. The tensed atmosphere resurfacing and this time, everyone was on edge, the Elite Four cursed in their heads, their idiotic leader was actively sabotaging himself and his clan for something as unimportant as this – Meanwhile, the Tokugawa Head glared dangerously at Katsuyori, his patience waning thanks to this brat, the only reason he's even entertaining this child was because of the respect Ieyasu had for his father. But that didn't mean he was gonna let Katsuyori get what he wanted.

Even if he could, Chiyome wasn't under his orders, she was Touya's, so only he or the kunoichi herself can decide whether or not she'll return to the Takeda.

But by the looks of it, from a quick glance, they seem… unlikely especially after what Katsuyori said.

Chiyome watched with an expressionless look, but her eyes bore a different story, she knew Katsuyori, mostly when she was reporting to Shingen when he was still alive, the times when he would barge in her former master's office like he owned the place and making some obscure requests and demands, only to be shot down by his father – which led to him storming out of the room while cursing.

Seems like it hasn't changed, even now he's inconsiderate of others.

Meanwhile, Touya was contemplating murder.

The only reason he decided to not act on his intrusive thoughts was because of the consequences that would come from it but then it was barely enough to hold him back. Yumina seemed to sense his thoughts and wrapped her fingers with his own, diverting his attention somewhat.

He turned to her and saw her giving him a reassuring smile, he stared for a little bit before he sighed and proceeded to calm himself down, it wouldn't make him look good if he burst out in anger. Better let Katsuyori make a fool out of himself even more than he already has.

"I don't think you fully understand what you're saying Takeda-dono." Ieyasu lectured, his voice holding no emotion. "You do not realize how petty you sound, threatening to cease talks of peace because of Mochizuki Chiyome not returning to the Takeda? Even when she clearly does not want to. If word of this gets out, you'll be facing a scandal that will destroy your reputation as well as threaten your position as Head of the Takeda Clan, and you're in that position for less than a month. What will your people say when they find out that their newest leader is nothing more than just a spoiled brat?"

As Ieyasu verbally ripped into Katsuyori, everyone watched in varying emotions, the Elite Four thought this would be a good humbling experience for their former master's son, while Touya's party was just glad the Tokugawa Head brought Katsuyori down a peg. If Katsuyori looked like he was fuming earlier, now he was downright having a meltdown.

Fortunately, before he can make himself an even bigger fool than he already is, the doors to their room were suddenly kicked open.

"Takeda-dono! Tokugawa-dono! Everyone!" Jutaro shouted, his face a little pale as his brow was full of sweat, like he ran all the way here, "We're under attack!"

Everyone's eyes widened at the news, not expecting such an event to happen, but realized that it was a high possibility. Given who was still at large.

"By who?" Ieyasu asked, but he already knew who it was.

"Yamamoto Kansuke."

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

(15 minutes prior, outside of [Oedo].)

Overlooking the capital of the Tokugawa Clan, Kansuke smirked, his plan has finally came into fruition and soon, his control over [Eashen] imminent, he had prepared for this very day since he was forced out of the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle] a month ago, ever since then, he had been building up his army in secret, going around and reviving fallen samurais from past battles, raising the dead from graveyards, and resurrecting bandits he killed to boasts his growing army.

Usually, even with his magic, it would be near impossible to get the mana needed to sustain such an army but with the idea of kidnapping villagers and using them as living mana batteries solved the issue. But with that, he needed to make distractions, which is why he dressed his puppets with bandit gear and disrupted the farmlands to divert attention away from his main target, which was [Oedo].

Of course, it wouldn't be easy, since he was still at large and how buffed up the security around the capital of the Tokugawa was, but careful planning and the exhaustion of both sides made it easier for him to stage the siege, now, after painstakingly building up, he can finally use his army and attack [Oedo], where the heads of the Takeda and Tokugawa were currently in, discussing a ceasefire for the war he created. He wasn't going to let that happen of course and the idea of taking out both leaderships in one fell swoop was too good to pass, which was why he was here. To kill them and take what is rightfully his.

He couldn't keep himself from breaking into a laugh, finally, the first step to his conquest of [Eashen] starts now.

He watched as his army marched up to the city walls, surrounding the capital and cutting it off from outside reinforcements, this would be the crucial step into his plan, he needed to corner the defenders and make sure that nobody was going to get out and seek to get backup, he was going to crush them here.

His puppets stormed the walls, charging even as a hail of arrows descended upon them. Though he noted that some of them were trying to aim at the masks of his soldiers, it seems like they learned of his puppets' weakness. No matter, he had more than enough troops to spare, and after enchanting them with the ability to resurrect anyone they kill over to his side, Kansuke was sure to win the battle of attrition.

"Fools, even if you destroy my puppets' masks, there's plenty more where they came from!" Kansuke boasted from the safety of the hill he was observing the battlefield from. Next to him were the elite samurais he revived and kept in reserve in case he was ever attacked.

Chaos ensued, despite the efforts of the Tokugawa guard and the Takeda soldiers that were there to defend the capital, the overwhelming numbers of his puppets broke their defensive lines and breached the walls, giving them a way into the capital. Kansuke smirked as he saw the rising black smoke from various houses within [Oedo]. Now all that was left was to storm Ieyasu's residence and kill him, Katsuyori, and everyone unfortunate enough to be there.

Using his magic to get a better look, he watched as his troops inched closer to the Tokugawa Head's home, but just before they could storm inside, the gates snapped open and out came a blaze of fire, burning puppets that were caught in the path of the flames. What followed soon was a black haired female in a gothic outfit stepping out of the gate, a wide smirk on her face as she stretched out her arm and manifested a scythe, she spun it before she charged into the remaining oni-mask puppets that were smart enough to avoid the path of the flames.

Kansuke raised a brow in confusion. He was not expecting that and he didn't know there was such a person within the ranks of the Tokugawa, he narrowed his eyes as he watched the lone female ripping into the army he created, but then, behind her were the Kokonoe girl and the fairy from before. They joined the gothic female and went out to deal with his army. The Kokonoe girl was able to keep up with the gothic female, as if they were in sync, slicing and dicing his puppets.

After that, out came more, two silver-haired girls, a blue wolf beastkin and a blonde girl, one of the silver-haired girls was using gauntlets while the other was using a wand, Kansuke thought maybe that they were related as they bore similarities with each other. Meanwhile the beastkin had claws made of ice wrapped around her hands and went off on his troops, ripping them apart while the blonde girl seemed to be an archer, picking off targets with pinpoint accuracy.

And she seemed like no slouch in close-combat as one of his oni-mask puppets was able to close the distance and swung its weapon, the blonde girl simply sidestepped the swing and let loose an arrow point-blank, killing his oni-mask before moving onto to the next with quick efficiency.

But Kansuke wasn't phased, he knew there would be resistance to some degree, but even with the Kokonoe and the fairy helping to defend [Oedo], they would fall to his puppets' numbers, he wasn't the least bit worried about it.

If only that was true.

He watched with wide eyes as like in the [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle], a multitude of magical circles appeared overhead of his puppets and brought down a hail of [Shining Javelins], only those that were inside of [Oedo] were destroyed, the remaining troops he had in reserve were left unscathed, when the smoke cleared, many of his puppets were slain in a single move, he panicked as that only meant that Mochizuki Touya was still within [Oedo].

He tried to turn around and move before Touya could find him, but as soon as he did, he was face to face with the male Mochizuki, he had an expressionless look on his face but his eyes held the flames of anger.

Kansuke immediately jumped back and got into a stance, drawing out his swords and his puppet bodyguards did the same, drawing out their weapons and pointing it at Touya. The younger male watched, not batting an eye despite the weapons pointed at his direction.

"You have a lot of nerve to attack [Oedo], Kansuke." Touya remarked, his stance relaxed, but in reality, he was prepared for any sudden moves.

"Who are you to stop me?" Kansuke scoffed, the sting from his last duel with Touya still fresh on his mind, but he prepared for this, he resurrected specific samurais who had experience in dealing with these types of people, and knew he wouldn't face defeat easily again, "Don't think you'll win again, I came prepared!"

"Are you sure about that?" Touya remarked, "If I recall correctly, I single-handedly destroyed your army at [Tsutsuji-Gasaki Castle], what makes you think I can't do that again?"

"If you could, you would've done it already." Kansuke scowled, "But as you can see, you haven't!"

"That's because I needed to find you, the others can handle your army, you're my priority." Touya growled.

"Your words mean nothing! I hold the advantage here!" Kansuke yelled.

"You're more of a fool than I thought if you can't see how outmatched you are, Kansuke." Touya retorted.

Kansuke's scowl deepened, his anger rising but he calmed himself down, it wouldn't do him any good if he lost control here, no, he needed to take control of the situation, he had Touya here, all by himself and with no one to help him, this was just what he wanted. "I don't think you realized but you're surrounded with nowhere to go and nowhere to hide!"

To emphasize his point, many hidden oni-mask puppets emerged, surrounding Touya with their weapon drawn. He looked around and he was indeed surrounded on all sides, despite this, Touya remained unphased and even held a small smile on his face that didn't go unnoticed by Kansuke.

"What are you smiling for!? Are you realizing how hopeless you are!?" Kansuke yelled, irritated by Touya's smug face, "It doesn't matter, even if you beg for forgiveness, you'll die here and I'll make sure of it! Get him!"

On his command, the puppets lunged, aiming to cut down Touya with their combined might, but they were immediately thwarted as those that lunged were caught suspended in the air and tangled in some invisible rope. Kansuke stepped back as he watched his puppets struggle helplessly to get out of their restraints only for them to be silenced as the things holding them in the air sliced through their flesh and dismembered them. Afterwards, kunais were thrown at their masks and scattering them.

Out of the shadows emerged Chiyome, her eyes shining with rage as she stared down Kansuke, he felt a cold shiver down his spine from her murderous gaze and unconsciously raised his guard up, he challenged Chiyome's stare with his own.

"Yamamoto Kansuke." She spat, not even hiding the venom in her voice, "You'll pay for everything you've done!"

"Fool, come and try!" Kansuke challenged, sending out his remaining puppets, and they obeyed, charging towards Chiyome with their weapons ready to strike her down.

Two shinobi puppets threw their kunais at Chiyome but she avoided them easily, she moved and sliced their mask with one swipe of her tanto. She dodged to her left, moving out the way from a slash and responded in kind, swinging her blade towards the oni-mask puppet – But it was able to react fast enough to bring his sword up and block the swing.

She frowned before she used the blade as leverage and kickflip herself away from her opponent, she threw out three kunais and sent them towards the puppet, he tried to block all of them, but one of them was able to slip through and nail him in square in the forehead, breaking the mask.

Chiyome landed on the ground and broke into a sprint, sprinting towards Kansuke, many of the oni-mask puppets tried to stop her, but she evaded their attempts and gunned straight for the man responsible for everything that destroyed her life. He scoffed as he brought up his swords and blocked the swing from Chiyome's tanto, but he quickly realized that the swing had more power behind it then he anticipated.

He was pushed back by the swing, not expecting Chiyome to possess such strength but recovered fast enough to dodge kunais thrown at him, he swung his right hand, but he hit nothing as Chiyome leapt into the air and flipped over and landed behind him, he tried to quickly turn and block but his instincts screamed at him to move and he did, narrowly avoiding a swing that would've sliced his head clean off.

Stepping backwards, Kansuke tried to assess his situation, he was now facing a duel with Chiyome and she somehow found some newfound strength to match his, he didn't expect to be pushed back by her since he was the one that trained her to some extent. Still, he frowned, just how was she matching him now?

Far from them, Touya watched the duel, before Chiyome attacked, he quietly buffed her using [Heat Riser], he was worried about her facing Kansuke but at the moment, she seems to be keeping him on his toes, he smiled as he grabbed [Gungnir] from his coat and quickly switched it to spear mode, he spun and brandished his weapon before charging towards the remaining oni-mask puppets to deny them the ability to help their master.

Kansuke jumped back, avoiding another swing from Chiyome but in doing so he was caught in some wires, he grunted as he felt them tighten up, but quickly swung his swords to cut himself free. But that left him vulnerable to Chiyome's next attack, she quickly ran up to him and sent out a kick, the heel of her shoes digging into Kansuke's stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs, he left out a pained groan only to be silenced by a follow up roundhouse kick from Chiyome.

The kick sent him flying, slamming into a nearby tree, the impact broke the tree and split it in half, Kansuke groaned, dazed from the kick but quickly recovered to roll to his side and avoid a thrusting stab. He rolled back into a standing position and attacked Chiyome just as she was reeling her tanto back – Unfortunately for Kansuke, she was too fast, even when he was about to slash her, she reacted and parried the strike away from her, she used the momentum and turned the parry into a riposte.

Kansuke barely had enough time to tilt his head to avoid the thrust but he managed – He tried to use this opportunity presented to him and swung his free arm towards her, but Chiyome dodged perfectly and used the arm as a lever to grab him into an arm bar. Kansuke's eyes widened when he realized what was going to happen and panicked, but it was too late. Chiyome used her momentum and capitalized on it, using it to assist her weight to bring down Kansuke and pulled on the arm.

He let out a pained scream, finding himself in an arm lock. He tried to swing his free arm but Chiyome kicked the sword out of his hand and then silenced him by slamming her foot on his face, breaking his nose in the process. He needed to get out of this position quickly but couldn't find a way to do so.

Fortunately for him, his prayers were answered as one of his puppets was able to slip through and assist by swinging her sword towards Chiyome, she quickly abandoned her grip on Kansuke's arm and moved out the way, avoiding the sword that was aimed for her. Chiyome rolled back to her feet and quickly retaliated, jumping over a swing and slashing mid air, breaking the oni-mask.

Chiyome landed safely but moved at the last second, narrowly avoiding a fireball from Kansuke – Though her dodging didn't end there as another puppet came around and tried to slash her while she was jumping back, Chiyome braced herself, she wouldn't be able to block the attack fast enough, fortunately, a bullet from Touya saved her as it pierced through the back of the oni-mask puppet and killed him, the body dropping to the ground before dissolving.

The dark mage was not idle, flinging magic spells towards the kunoichi, but thanks to her new found speed, was able to dodge them all with ease. Kansuke scoffed, sending more magic attacks at Chiyome but like before, she dodged them with ease – With that, she tried to close the gap between them, but that was exactly what he was hoping for, with a quick swipe of his hand, he changed the trajectory of his spell and created a fire pillar.

Chiyome frowned, halting herself and avoiding the fire pillar from erupting underneath her feet by jumping to the side. Taking the initiative, Kansuke flung more spells, keeping Chiyome at her toes as she actively avoided getting hit by them, smirking to himself, he quickly summoned some skeletons and sent them towards her.

The kunoichi scoffed, charging towards the skeletons and slashing them with her tanto, they were no match for her, less so when she was buffed by Touya's magic, she easily ripped through the undead and went straight for Kansuke. The dark mage frowned before he used his spells in quick succession – flinging around the attacks to keep the distance as well as using them for setups, just like when he flung some fireballs as distractions to set Chiyome up for a wind attack.

The spell sliced through some of her clothing, but nonetheless, wasn't enough to harm her fully, which wasn't his intention, it was another setup for the earth spell he was forming above her head. Once the boulder was large enough, Kansuke tried to slam it down onto Chiyome, the kunoichi dodged but that meant she was further away from Kansuke now. She tried to catch up, running to the side of the boulder but she quickly went back behind it, avoiding the scorching heat of a fireball.

Kansuke tried to make use of this time to run, but he was once again caught in some wires set up by Chiyome. He cursed his luck, thinking quickly, he tried to cut the wires again with his sword but the second he tried to, he let out another scream of pain, he felt a stab from the back, when he looked down he saw a blade sticking out, he turned his head and saw Chiyome was already upon him and stabbed her tanto through him.

He coughed up blood, but still tried to swing his sword only for it to be reprimanded by Chiyome putting pressure into the stab wound, getting another pained grunt out of Kansuke – He still persisted, chanting a magic spell but was silenced by a punch to the face.

"You- You Brat!-" Kansuke wheezed, his breathing rigid but nonetheless, he was still breathing despite his injuries.

"I waited for this moment." Chiyome said, keeping herself from ending his life by pouring her heart out, "I waited for so long…"

"Day by day, I dreamt of this very moment, to stare into the eyes of the one who took everything from me!" Chiyome yelled, pushing more of her blade in but not too much to puncture his chest, "And that's why I'll kill you here and now!"

With one final roar, Chiyome ripped her tanto out of Kansuke's chest, the violent act spilled out his guts as the blade made its way out, the dark mage coughed out multitudes of blood as he was still suspended in the air due to the wire trap.

The kunoichi stepped back, watching him bleed out to death, despite the fatal injuries he sustained, Kansuke was still, in some way, alive – desperately clinging on to life as he struggled to get himself out of the wire trap. Chiyome stared in silence as she heard his rigid breathing.

"Y-you- you can't kill me." Kansuke spat, even with his injuries, he still managed to get a full sentence out, "Even leaving me h-here- I'll get out one way o-or another!"

She said nothing, instead she moved closer her ripped the eyepatch Kansuke was wearing, underneath it was a glowing orb in the place of his eyes, the dark mage watched in fear as he knew exactly what Chiyome was trying to do, he tried to shake his head, but the grip she had on his head forced him to stay in one place.

"I know you can't die by conventional means." Chiyome commented, moving her hand closer to the glowing orb, "And I know the only reason you're still alive is thanks to this."

"No! NO! NO! Yo- You-! Can't!-" Kansuke tried to struggle, tried to protest, but all of his attempts were futile, Chiyome could care less about him.

He continued to plead for her to stop, but the kunoichi ignored all of it, blocking out the cries of desperation from Kansuke as her hand was slowly making its way towards his face.

"Chiyome! You can't! Not when I'm so close-!" That didn't mean she wasn't annoyed by his complaining, so she decided to shut him up by gripping into his eye.

She violently dug into the eye socket, plucking out the orb and was disgusted by the blood that came with it when she ripped it out, meanwhile, Kansuke felt the most excruciating pain he ever experienced. He was hyperventilating, his brain going on overdrive to numb the pain so he wouldn't pass out from it, the only reason he didn't was because of his desperation.

Touya stopped his swing, confused as to why the oni-mask puppet he was fighting against suddenly dissolved and stopped fighting, he raised an eyebrow and turned his head towards where he last saw Chiyome and Kansuke, he saw the latter trapped within the former's wires. He smirked as he realized that Chiyome was able to get the upperhand in their fight, he folded [Gungnir] and took a more passive role, watching over the two while he slowly approached.

"The [Jewel of Immortality]." Chiyome announced, promptly ignoring his screams of agony, playing with the orb in her hand, "You often said this was your greatest weapon, that this made you impossible to kill. It held power far beyond ordinary means, which is why you always made sure to never let others see this in fear of being killed for it."

She scoffed, thinking about all the things this cursed artifact has brought upon her and everyone else, but that ends today, once she destroys this jewel, Kansuke's life will follow soon after.

"Is that why you massacred my Clan?" Chiyome narrowed her eyes, "You knew that we had the power to kill you, even with the [Jewel of Immortality], so you killed us before we became a threat."

She then changed her grip, holding Kansuke by the neck as she squeezed as hard as she could, ignoring the blood he coughed out, not bothered by it as she stared deep into his eyes.

"I want to look you in the eye, watch as the light leaves your body." Chiyome spat, her hold on his neck tightening, "Yamamoto Kansuke, you have failed, your legacy ends here!"

With that, Chiyome dropped the [Jewel of Immortality] and smashed it to pieces under her foot; once she did, the effects were immediate. Kansuke screamed in agony as his skin started to melt, he tried to reach out to Chiyome but his hand dissolved before he could reach her, the kunoichi watched in a cold unforgiving stare. Watching him slowly rot away as his body decays.

His screams of agony not even phasing her as she kept her grip on his neck firm, even when he was dissolving at an alarming rate, she wanted to watch him die.

"You won't get away with this!- Chi- Chiyome!" He yelled her name in anger, cursing her as he slowly died in front of her, but she remained unflinching. Once she knew that half of his body was gone, she decided to end it quickly and ripped his head out, throwing it to the ground as it dissolved.

Chiyome sighed, silently praying as her life long goal has been achieved, she finally got her chance to avenge her clan – Killing the man responsible for all of it. She prayed that her Clan could find peace now that Kansuke was gone. She gave one last glance at the dissolving carcass that was Kansuke before she turned away and walked towards Touya.

He saw the entire thing, while he wanted Chiyome to quickly kill Kansuke, he understood why she wanted to prolong it, she wanted to savor the feeling of discarding the trash stain that was Yamamoto Kansuke, but know he was gone, dying by the hands of Mochizuki Chiyome.

"Are you okay?" He asked, she must be feeling a whole host of emotions right now.

"I… I don't know." Chiyome whispered, she knew she was happy to finally get rid of Kansuke, but somehow, she felt… empty, for some reason. This didn't go unnoticed by Touya and he wanted to help her, but he had no idea what to say, "I know I should be happy, but I still feel… I can't explain it."

"We should go, the others are waiting for us back in [Oedo]." Touya offered his hand which Chiyome accepted as they were about to leave and join up with the rest of the party.

But before Touya could open up a {Gate}, he instinctively pushed Chiyome to the side, narrowly avoiding a fireball that would've burnt them if it hit. He snapped his head towards the direction of where the fireball came from and widened his eyes. It was from Kansuke's body except it wasn't dissolving like it was supposed to, a thin line sprung out of the chest wound and made its way towards Kansuke's severed head.

It attached itself on the head, lifting it off from the ground and facing it towards Touya and Chiyome, showing them Kansuke's disfigured face, dissolving and rotting, yet it was staring back at them with its remaining eye.

It unhinged its jaw, a silent scream towards them before it started to twitch and expand, the two of them watched in disgust and horror as the head burst and tendril like entities erupted out of the rotting body part. Touya felt a hint of fear swell up inside of him, a sense of dread he never thought he would feel yet at the same time in his dazed state, a giant appendage was heading straight for them.

At that moment he recovered, he acted.

Grabbing Chiyome's hand, he quickly made a {Gate} spell and ran through it with his cousin, he didn't look back when he heard a terrifying screech as the spell closed behind him. He let out a sigh of relief, he was just fast enough to avoid having himself and his cousin crushed by whatever it was that was about to slam onto them.

He looked over to Chiyome, checking if she was okay and when his eyes fell on her, he saw her looking in some direction, he was wondering what she was looking at, when he followed the direction she was facing, his face paled.

Off to the distance, on the hill overlooking [Oedo], a large, imposing figure emerged – Its dark green scaly skin along with its multiple heads with red, glowing eyes, the oozing malice it held, once all of its heads appeared and formed, the monster let out a mighty roar that could be heard from miles away. It was almost deafening, both Mochizuki had to cover their ears to protect themselves from the sound wave of the roar.

Once it was over, the massive monster gazed at the two, its crimson eyes glowing with hate as if it had personal business with them. Touya tried to rack his brain at what was it that was staring them down but remembered the only mythology monster that fit the description of this thing.

"Yamata-no-Orochi…" Touya gulped, even from this distance, he could feel the massive power the creature of Japanese legend had. It was almost like Kohaku, but filled more with malice… hate… It made his stomach churn.

Yamata-no-Orochi hissed, before it somehow lunged into the air, despite its larger size, the massive monster had no problem lifting itself into a lunge. The two Mochizukis watched in silent horror as their demise personified was heading straight for them. Chiyome was the first to recover but the moment she turned her attention to Touya, he was frozen.

"Touya!" Chiyome's voice snapped him out of his stupor, the male immediately grabbed his cousin and opened another {Gate} to get themselves out of the spot Yamata-no-Orochi was gonna land on. Sure enough, he was able to narrowly avoid being squashed to death by the massive monster.

The impact of the slam shook the ground, thankfully it didn't turn into an earthquake or else things would've been even more complicated.

Touya and Chiyome safely went out of the former's null spell. They watched as Yamata-no-Orochi searched for its prey which gave both of them some time to prepare for the fight, but the question remained, how exactly were they gonna kill something so massive in such a relatively short amount of time.

"Master!"

"Master!"

The voices of Kohaku and Sally respectively caught the two's attention, they turned around and saw the aforementioned duo appearing just behind them, their eyes fixated on the mythological beast. Kohaku snarled, her fangs showing as she stared down the massive monster in front of her, even with the size difference at play, it nonetheless did little to deter the divine beast.

"Yamata-no-Orochi." Kokaku growled slowly, she could feel the malice and hate oozing off of the monster in front of her, and it made her erratic, she knew that her aura was being challenged by this newcomer and she held her ground.

"...That's one big snake." Sally remarked, brandishing her scythe as she kept her eyes on the thing, searching for any weak points she can exploit.

"Kohaku, do you have a plan?" Touya asked, he had no idea how to deal with something like this, other than the usual, hit it until its dead strategy. But he was hoping she would know a better idea to use.

"Fortunately, this is nothing more than a fragment of the real Yamata-no-Orochi." The divine beast reassured, "But make no mistake, Master, this… abomination must be eradicated!"

"And do you have an idea how?" Sally commented.

"Despite its power, it has little more than a pale imitation of the real thing, we can use our usual tactics of beating it up until it's dead. But it will prove difficult if it has even a tenth of the original's power." Kohaku explained, the imitation now having just found them and was ready to pounce once more, "As much as they have grown, I don't think the others are ready for this fight, Master, which is why Sally and I arrived to aid you and Chiyome. It will be up to the four of us to defeat this abomination!"

The four nodded, they got into fighting position as the fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi hissed, all of its heads facing them, its eyes shined dangerously, the beast roared, challenging them to fight.

Touya opened up with a hail of {Shining Javelins}, because of its massive size, it could not dodge nor move out the way of the numerous spells, yet it did not choose to, it stood there, defiant of the light spells trying to dig into its thick hide. Touya scoffed as he took out [Brunhilde] and shot all of his bullets at the fragment, yet it had no effect.

One of its heads opened its mouths and spewed out a large fireball aimed at them – The party quickly dispersed, avoiding the attack as it slammed into a nearby forest and setting it ablaze. Touya switched it up and immediately flung a {Fire Spear} directly at the head, it ducked under the path of the spell and Sally saw this and tried to capitalize on her Master's attack, she used the flames to hoist herself upwards, riding on the momentum created from the pressure of the eruption and waited until she was where she wanted to be.

When she found the spot, she swung her scythe consecutively, striking the soft underbelly she had her eyes on, the fragment screeched and retaliated, but Sally was able to avoid the offensive attack by sinking into a shadow form and sliding away from the beast. Just as it was going to get revenge, a soundwave hit one of its heads, forcing it to turn some of its attention towards the one who hit it.

One of its heads turned and saw Kohaku running towards it, it lunged, trying to catch the divine beast off guard yet she simply moved to her left and dodged, letting the head crash into the ground, Kohaku turned her head downwards and released another sonic roar.

The attack slammed into the head, and then it felt the full weight of Kohaku as she proceeded to swipe her claws on it, easily cutting through the thick skin, but she was forced to move as a fireball came from the sides. It wanted to strike while she was still in the air, but a sudden slice from Sally forced it to reposition.

The beast stopped and one of its heads shined before suddenly – A rain of ice fell from out of nowhere, its opponents shattered, trying to avoid the fall debris of ice from squishing them, when they hit the ground, they would exploded into shards that would try to lodged themselves into flesh, thankfully, it didn't happen as everyone was able to avoid them.

And that's exactly what the fragment wanted, it sent out most of its heads, further separating the group from each other and isolating them – Touya was the first one to notice as he grit his teeth, blocking a head-on collision from one of the heads that was sent after them.

He saw Chiyome from the corner of his eyes, struggling as she was hunted down by two heads. He wanted to go and help her but the one he was fighting was persistent in keeping him far away from his cousin. He moved, sprinting towards Chiyome as the head lunged for him, he dodged by leaping into the air and while he was still over the head, he stretched out his hand.

"{Explosion}!" He yelled, the spell activating soon after and slamming into the head, the ground buckling underneath the weight and impact.

Touya landed safely and rushed to Chiyome's side just as she was about to get attacked from her blindspot. Touya quickly switched [Gungnir] to scythe form and swung it. The blade connected with the fragment's head, with a yell, Touya was able to push the head away.

At the same time, Chiyome saw her chance, she ran towards the snake head Touya batted away and placed an assortment of seals all over it before she used it as a platform to flip herself away as the seals activated and exploded.

Touya followed up, a rain of boulders came crashing down onto the head, burying it, but before they could celebrate their victory, the head suddenly shot up, it roared before it let loose a rain of ice spikes forcing the two to dodge as they fell to the ground, Touya tried to use his magic to strike the head but it moved just at the last second and slammed into him.

He was flung like a ragdoll, Chiyome tried to catch him but had to protect herself as the fragment tried to take advantage of her distraction – It tried to create an ice spike to where Chiyome would land, fortunately, she was able to twist herself in the air and skid down it, she immediately moved to her right, avoiding the head as it crashed and shattered the ice spike it made.

The kunoichi tried to make use of her surroundings, baiting the fragment's head into charging only to slam into the ground once more, she tried to use her tanto but the blade merely bounced off the thick skin of the fragment, luckily, before it could counterattack, Sally came around and swatted the head like a fly. The raven-haired female gave her a quick glance and a jerk to the left.

The wordless order was received, Chiyome left and regrouped with Touya as Sally stayed behind to fight their opponents – She narrowed her eyes before crouching and dashing to the closest head of the fragment, it was surprised at her sudden burst of speed but recovered and tried to bite her.

Sally easily dodged the slow attack and jumped on top of the head, one of the other heads tried to get her off by lunging at her, but a quick swing of her weapon easily swatted it away from her.

She used the head as a platform to jump from, using the shockwave of her flames to propel herself forwards – The target was that one that tried to attack her, she aimed her strike and swung, digging the blade deep into the flesh, Sally used the handle of her scythe as a makeshift platform and pulled herself up, standing on it, she quickly jumped back off and grabbed the handle, using her body weight to dislodge the blade while simultaneously slicing the flesh.

The result was a lot of blood spilling and hitting the ground below, Sally's feet hit the ground safely, she immediately swung her scythe hard, slicing the head next to her clean off, as it fell to the earth. She sunk into the shadows, avoiding the ice spikes that tried to skewer her.

She appeared moments later, just behind the fragment that tried to burn her alive, she spun her scythe before rushing towards it in a sudden burst, the speed and momentum from her burst made her weapon easily cut through the head and severed the body part from the main body. She admired her work for a bit before going towards Kohaku and helped her out as she was fighting three of the fragment's heads.

"Touya!" He heard Chiyome's voice, he was in the process of getting up when he was tossed by the fragment – Touya turned to the source of where her voice was coming from and saw her approaching him.

"Hey, sorry about that, I didn't think it'd get me." He chuckled bitterly.

"I'm just glad you're okay." Chiyome sighed, checking for any injuries.

Touya just healed himself with {Cure Heal}, he watched as Sally and Kohaku were able to handle three of the fragment's heads – Sally ran circles around the fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi, avoiding hits and head slams as she retaliated with just as much ferocity.

She flipped over a head slam aimed for her and punished the appendage with a slash, her attack aimed at the eye, slicing it and causing the corresponding head to reel back and hiss in pain. And because they shared senses to a degree, the rest of the heads felt the pain to some extent.

Sally smirked as she avoided yet another attempt to squash her, she brought up her scythe and batted away another head trying to slam into her – afterwards, she dodged another ice spell looking to skewer her. Though the attacks were getting more and more intense, each step she made, she was almost always lined up for a pre-aimed magical attack from the fragment.

Her scythe ignited itself, white flames adorning the blade of her scythe as Sally swung it, dispersing flames meant to burn her alive, she spun her weapon so fast that it became a makeshift shield against a continuous flame headed her way – Once it was over, she swung her scythe multiple times and sent out multiple flame waves towards the fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi, each one of them connecting and harming it.

Sally's maniacal laughter could be heard as she jumped back to avoid a tail trying to slam into her, the wind generated from the attack somewhat blinded her but not enough to make her lose her head as an ice spike tried to skewer her, she swung her scythe and shattered another ice spike headed her way.

She dodged the fireball as it exploded behind her, she blocked another attempt at a snake head trying to slam her while she used her flames to propel her upwards, avoiding a continuous stream of flames on her previous position.

A head of the fragment tried to take this advantage of her being suspended in the air to slam into her, but the former assassin simply twisted her body and swung, the added momentum from the motion along with her strength easily batted away the head while Sally used it to send herself back to the ground. She maneuvered herself in the air to make sure that her feet would touch the ground.

Sally ducked immediately, avoiding a tail swipe that wanted to kill her and swinging her scythe to her left, intercepting a head, her white flames activated and exploded in a shower of fiery blaze, scarring the snake head that tried to squish her. Sally spun her weapon and assessed her next move, this wasn't going anywhere and she was just biding her time here.

She slammed her scythe into the ground, burying it deep into the earth and just as quickly ripped it out as she created a large flame and sent it towards Yamata-no-Orochi, It had no choice but to tackle the attack head on, when it connected with It, it felt the stinging pain of its flesh being burnt to a krisp, scorch marks appeared on its skin but it nonetheless endured, albeit it with light scarring and a few charred spots here and there.

And then came Kohaku who took advantage of Sally's retreat, pouncing on one of the fragment's heads and ripping into them with her claws.

"That thing sure is persistent." Sally mumbled, she watched as Kohaku dealt with her opponents, the former assassin turned spirit turned her head towards her master's location, a second later, she was right next to him thanks to her shadow powers, "What do you think we should do now?"

"Same as planned, beat it with brute force." Touya reminded her, but he himself wasn't sure if he had any spells that could effectively kill something as big as this, though he could try to pour in more mana into his spells, which seemed to enchant the attacks.

"I may have an idea."

Chiyome's voice stopped his musing, the two turned to the kunoichi and waited for her explanation.

"What do you have?" Touya asked.

"Before the massacre, when I was discovered to be this generation's cursebearer, I was trained and taught a technique that could manifest our curse as a devastating attack." Chiyome started, the ground experiencing a slight tremor as Kohaku slammed one of the heads into the earth, "I know how to do it but I haven't perfected it…"

"How sure are you that it'll work?" Sally inquired, on the fence about putting her faith on a gamble.

"I'm sure it will, I just need to get close enough to do it." Chiyome assured, the two stared each other down for a bit until Sally broke it off.

"Okay, I trust you." Sally sighed, spinning her scythe and resting the handle on her shoulder, "How close do you need to be?"

"At least within throwing range." The kunoichi answered.

The other two nodded, Touya quickly relayed the information back to Kohaku who mentally nodded and prepared for the signal. Touya pulled out a katana and handed it to his cousin, she was confused about it for a second until he told her that it was enchanted and should be able to help her harm the fragment.

She nodded and thanked him, sheathing her tanto and grabbing the sword presented to her. Silently, Touya chanted {Heat Riser} over himself as well as Chiyome and Sally, the two felt themselves get stronger, faster and lighter.

A loud roar coming from Kohaku was the signal Touya was waiting for, he immediately sprinted towards the closest head of the fragment and let loose a rain of {Shining Javelins} and {Fire Spears}, the spells peppered the snake head like it was a pincushion.

Before it could even retaliate, Sally came from behind and beheaded it, a clean swing from her scythe, she smirked as she set the wound ablaze, cauterizing the wound shut.

She moved on, trailing behind the path of destruction Chiyome and Touya left behind as they tried to close the gap between them and the fragment. It saw them rapidly approaching, the fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi narrowed its eyes before it hissed and sent out more of its heads.

However, Kohaku intervened one of them, slamming it to the ground with a swipe of her paws, she turned just in time to catch another crash into her, she held it back, her back legs skidding on the ground as she slowly stopped the fragment's push.

Kohaku growled before she changed her grip and slammed the head to the ground – She was about to end its life but another one somehow slipped past her guard and slammed into her, the force launching her into the air, but she was able to make herself upright.

"Kohaku!"

Her Master's voice called out, she turned to the direction of the voice and saw him outstretched his hand, a second later, she went through his {Gate} and on the ground once more.

Touya spoke no words as he immediately dashed towards the head that launched his divine beast, he dodged the slow fireball that was sent at him with ease, he swung his scythe and forced the head back, Kohaku joined in and jumped over him, attaching herself on the head and ripping it apart with her claws.

She easily ripped through the skin until her claws met bone, and afterwards, she let out a roar directly on the exposed skull, cracking and shattering it, the brain underneath turning to jelly.

The divine beast jumped off as the head fell to the ground in a loud 'thud' sound – The two wasted no time in leaving and catching up with Sally and Chiyome.

The aforementioned duo was busy handling the three of the five remaining heads of the fragment.

Chiyome swiftly dodged an attempt to squash her, she swung her sword and unlike with her tanto, the katana was able to at least leave a mark on it, it wasn't much but it was enough for Chiyome to know that she could at least harm it.

The kunoichi moved to the side, dodging a fireball aimed for her, she broke into a sprint towards the head that was her opponent, sword drawn as she expertly dodged each and every fireball flung towards her.

The fragment's head hissed as it built up the flames in its mouth before it opened and spewed out continuous flames, Chiyome's eyes widened as she realized that she couldn't move away fast enough to dodge – Luckily for her, Sally jumped in front of the kunoichi, using her white flames to contest with the fragment's

The two flames clashed, trying to overpower the other, but it was Sally's that prevailed.

The white flames broke and dispersed the one it faced and headed straight for the fragment, it connected and it hissed in pain as it took the full brunt of the fire, scorching its skin and blinding it. Chiyome came around and threw a kunai with an explosion seal directly into the snake's open mouth.

While its outer skin was hard and durable, the soft inner flesh was less so, thus the resulting explosion killed the head from the inside, greymatter and bone fragments flinging everywhere as Chiyome and Sally took cover to protect themselves from the discharge.

Once it was over, the two moved on, Chiyome's target was ever so close, they only needed to give her the window of opportunity.

Unfortunately, this plan was about to fall apart.

Just as the two were about to link up with Touya and Kohaku, a sudden charge behind forced them to move, barely avoiding a charge from the fragment's head as it slam into the ground hard enough to break it, flinging debris everywhere, they tried to reposition but the newly entered appendage didn't give them any breathing room.

It peppered them with its flames, unrelenting in its attacks as the two avoided them with great difficulty, Sally tried to use her flames to combat the fragment's but before she could even ignite her scythe another head made things more difficult than it already was.

It slammed into her, she was fortunate enough to react to it and brought her scythe up to block, the fragment continued to push, forcing Sally to use her strength to push her opponent back. The fragment was surprised by the strength she possessed, giving her the chance to back off and swing her scythe, the blade digging into the flesh and hitting bone.

She immediately changed her grip and position and ignited her scythe with the blade still lodged inside, the result was frying the head from the inside as it tried to reel back only to be kept in place as Sally applied more heat. One last hiss in pain before the head finally perished.

Sally's victory would be short lived as another head came from behind and slammed into her, flinging her to two trees and snapping them in half, she groaned as she groggily got back up – She saw Chiyome struggling as well, trying to evade many spells thrown at her direction, Sally pondered as they should've killed half of the heads already, so how were there more now.

Her question was answered as the one she killed moments ago had its head bursting and a new one taking its place, she let out a tired and annoyed sigh as she spun her scythe and lunged for the newly spawned head.

She was hoping her Master and Kohaku were having a better time than she was.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

Unfortunately, Touya was not having a good time.

After being able to successfully kill two heads of the fragment, he was about to leave only for them to regenerate and attack him again, this time, smarter and more precise in their attacks, which made the fight harder for Touya.

And Kohaku wasn't faring any better either, her opponents' relentless attacks kept her on her feet, trying to throw her off balance, but she would not yield.

She pounced, completely catching her opponent off-guard as it tried to back away from her but the divine beast was already upon it – Kohaku slashed the eye of the fragment, blinding its left side, she quickly moved underneath and dug her claws into the chin, she roared and ripped out her claw with a considerable amount of her opponent's flesh.

Kohaku left immediately, not giving it the chance to retaliate nor let any of the other heads back it up. She let out a sonic roar, the attack slamming into the head she wounded and crashed into the trees, destroying a large portion of them.

On Touya's side, he grit his teeth, struggling in a dreadlock with a head as it tried to overpower him, he was thankful he enchanted himself with {Boost}, {Heat Riser} and {Power Rise} or else he would've been flung away like a ragdoll. Touya decided to break the lock with {Accel}, he disappeared and reappeared on top of the head.

In a split second, Touya swung [Gungnir] downwards, in its scythe mode, the blade easily ripped through the skin, from the corner of his eye, he could spot another head rapidly approaching with its jaws wide open.

Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, Touya timed his jump, dislodging his weapon and jumping over the head that tried to bite down on him and instead, bit its comrade – Touya smirked as with one swipe of his arm, he chanted {Explosion}, the spell slammed both heads down to the ground and he took that chance and immediately brought down his weapon.

The slash, aided with the downward momentum, easily cut through them and decapitated the heads. Touya spun his scythe, getting rid of the blood from the blade and turned around.

He was greeted with the gruesome sight of his freshly killed enemies rising from the dead with new heads bursting out of the wound he inflicted – Fortunately, Touya reacted fast enough to move out the way as the previous spot he was on went up in flames.

But that attack was nothing more than a diversion, one of the newly regenerated heads went straight for him while he was backing away, his eyes widened as he braced himself and brought up his weapon.

The impact sent him flying straight into a tree, easily snapping it in half as it fell to the ground. He groaned, taking out [Brunhilde], Touya emptied the bullets in the cylinder, peppering the incoming snake heads.

While it did superficial damage, he wasn't aiming to damage it, he aimed for the eye and the bullet pierced through, he jumped out the way as it crashed into the ground behind him.

Just as he was about to turn and slash away with his scythe, Touya was forced to move as a thin but hot lazer almost grazed his back and would've sliced it if it connected, he rolled to the side and saw where it came from. One of the heads, he figured was the main one, had some sort of sigil on its forehead, it had its mouth open before closing it.

It narrowed its eyes before turning, Touya followed what it was looking at and his eyes widened – It was focusing on Chiyome as she was distracted by one of the heads, the main head opened its mouth and flames began to spew out.

Touya wasted no time in opening a {Gate} towards her, he immediately swung [Gungnir] in its spear mode and swatted the appendage the kunoichi was fighting and afterwards, chanted {Shield}.

The flames from the main head quickly charged into a thin but superheated lazerbeam and collided with Touya's magic. It held up, but it was steadily cracking, Chiyome recovered from her shock and watched as her cousin tried his best to keep {Shield} up.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the fragment was not going to let them escape out alive as it recalled all of its heads and ordered them to focus on both of them – all of the heads opened their mouths and joined in on the attack. Adding in their flames into the beam as it clashed against the shield Touya held up.

Touya gritted his teeth as he poured in more of his mana into the spell, trying to keep it from breaking, sweat falling from his forehead as he kept reinforcing the null spell. The immense pressure from all of their attacks had started to crack the {Shield}, he chanted it again, adding another layer just as the outer one broke.

He was pushed back a bit by the force but kept himself firmly planted on the ground, standing tall as he held up the null spell to stop the fragment's attack from obliterating them.

Angered by their persistence, it had two of its heads lunge at them and slammed against the shield, Touya braced himself as the massive heads impacted against his spell, it was like a building was being dropped on him. They repeatedly slammed the shield again and again, trying to crack it.

The ground beneath them started to buckle underneath the repeated slams, each one causing a tremor on the ground, Touya felt his knees become jelly, the each impact vibrating through his body, he knew he couldn't keep this up and tried to come up with a plan to escape and regroup with the others, until he felt Chiyome's hand on his shoulder.

"I think I have a way out." She said it took him a second to realize what she was talking about until he remembered their original objective.

He nodded and asked her when she's ready, and she said she could do it now. Chiyome knew that this was her chance to strike.

"Curse the blood that courses through me." Chiyome chanted. Black flames began to ignite around her and surround her body.

"Seek vengeance for my own sins." Touya stopped for a second to quickly glance behind him, he saw his cousin with her eyes closed as she chanted. Massive black portals appeared from behind them.

"No matter how much time has passed, what has been passed down from Kouga Saborou is something here that cannot be cleansed." The main head of the fragment stopped its attack and roared, it had enough of waiting and lunged for the two.

"Come!" Just then, massive pools appeared beneath her and from there and the massive portals behind her, then something rushed out of them, they were red-eyed and blacked scaled snake heads, their looks similar to the fragment they were fighting, yet this one had larger fangs and didn't radiate the same aura of hatred as the one before it.

"Great Serpent: Orochi!"

Just as Touya's shield fell, the beast Chiyome summoned beast lunged, heading straight for the fragment. It was surprised to see another one of itself and that surprise lasted long enough for the newly summoned beast to bite down on most of the fragment's heads and hold them suspended.

It was a sight to behold as both massive beasts fought against one another, a display of might but it was the one Chiyome summoned that would prevail, it bit down harder on the heads of the fragment, before ripping them apart with no mercy and threw the dismembered heads to the side.

It left a single head alive, the core of the fragment, it hissed in defiance – Even when it was backed into the corner it still chose to fight, fighting against and overwhelming force but its efforts were for naught as it was ripped apart with vicious savagery unlike that of a beast.

Afterwards, a large black orb remained where the main head used to be, Chiyome's summoned beast took it in its jaws before biting into it and crashing it. With its core no longer sustaining it, the body began to slowly dissolve, its form shattering like glass as it died.

After the one-sided slaughter ended, standing over its prey, Chiyome's summoned beast watched with a cold stare. One of the heads turned around and stared at the two below. It gave one last glance as its form rapidly disappeared until it was like it wasn't there in the first place.

And a silence washed over, the only audible sound would be the various fires burning away the trees that were caught in the crossfire. Chiyome was slightly panting for breath, this was the first time she ever used this technique, despite all of her reluctance to use it, she knew it was what they needed to kill off the fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi.

What better way to kill one than to use one?

She tried to take a step but stumbled, luckily Touya was already there, catching her before she could hit the ground.

"Easy there." Touya urged, helping his cousin back to her feet, "Looks like it took a lot out of you."

"...Yes, I'll admit I don't have much practice with this technique… Much less think it would work." Chiyome confessed, while she was taught about its specifics when she was discovered to be this generation's cursebearer, she never wanted to use it ever since her clan's death.

"That… That must've been hard." Touya lamented. Chiyome nodded, she may be reluctant to use it, but she needed it to finish off that fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi.

"Not really, I needed to do it or else more people would suffer the consequences." Chiyome shook her head, a small smile adorning her face.

"And thanks to you, none of that will happen." Kohaku chimed in, walking over to the two Mochizukis.

"Kohaku, where were you and Sally?" Touya asked, he was wondering where they were when the fragment was raining down hell on them while they were stuck under his {Shield}.

"We got flung around like ragdolls." Sally interjected just as Kohaku was about to explain herself, "I got blindsided by one of the heads, it used its flames as a distraction before it slammed into me and sent me harling towards a treeline."

"Though from the looks of it, it looks like your plan worked, Chiyome." Sally whistled as she stared at the dissolving form of the fragment, she had to admit, it was a pretty sight.

"Yes, undoubtedly so, but to think that your technique would also summon a fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi…" Kohaku said, a hint of irony in her tone as the thing that killed the fragment was another fragment, "I do believe you humans say something along the lines of 'irony' if I'm to believe."

"Yeah, something like that." Touya nodded, deciding that they had nothing else to do here, he opened a {Gate} and gestured for everyone to go through and take them back to [Oedo] to meet up with the rest. But before he told them that, he first put out the forest fires caused by the fragment's flames.

One by one, they all went through the spell until it was only Touya and Chiyome left, the male Mochizuki watched his cousin staring aimlessly at the dissolving form of the fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi and wondered what she was thinking about.

He asked her what was wrong but she just shook her head and told him that it was nothing, she said that she'll catch up, nodding slowly, Touya stepped into the {Gate} taking one last glance at Chiyome before he fully went through, leaving Chiyome by herself.

She didn't move from her position since she summoned Yamata-no-Orochi, there was something in her mind that told her to wait, she didn't know what it was until the light particles from the dissolving fragment began to take shape, silhouettes of something, something familiar to the kunoichi.

Her mind filled the gap, and tears fell from her eyes as she heard long lost voices she never thought she would hear again, whether it was from the exhaustion or what, it didn't matter as Chiyome smiled, and she could feel those silhouettes smiling at her as well.

She felt a large burden being lifted off her chest, that she had finally achieved her life long goal, and now, she was truly content.

Soon after, the wind blew them away, leaving nothing but a large crater of where the fragment used to be, Chiyome smiled one final time before she turned and stepped into the {Gate}.

There, at that field, the Mochizuki Clan had finally been put to rest with the death of Kansuke Yamamoto.

=-=-=-=-=-X-=-=-=-=-=

And that's a wrap.

Not going to lie, this chapter was supposed to be more or less around 9k+ words, but for some reason or another, I couldn't find a good way to end the fight with Yamata-no-Orochi and it kept extending past what I originally planned.

Then, afterwards, I got so unsatisfied that I had to rewrite the chapter's scenes with Yamata-no-Orochi over and over again for about 4 times to the point that it caused me a bit of a Writer's Block…

Hell! I don't know if this chapter was even satisfactory enough! But I had to go through and finish it otherwise I might forget it sooner or later because of my inability to continue something when I get bored of it…

But enough of that, why was I absent for more than a month and a half?

Well, I was preparing for a trip to the Philippines so I couldn't find the time to write this chapter and by then when I did, I didn't have any wifi so I couldn't write more than what I did before I left, after that, I was busy with going to places in the Philippines like visiting my relatives and joining festivals. Also participating in local MLBB tournaments here and there – So I apologize for not updating for so long! Thankfully the next chapter isn't too far from this one, I already wrote it in conjunction so it should be posted in a day or two.

Other than that, this marks the end of the Eashen Arc! With a finale that ended with the death of Yamamoto Kansuke and his attempt at becoming a fragment of Yamata-no-Orochi!

Look forward to the next chapter as we'll enjoy some seaside moments with Touya and his harem! The next chapter shouldn't even be that long, so expect it to be posted in the coming weekends! Hopefully…

Until next time, this is V_KJ, signing out.