Before we begin, i want to apologise for the delay of this chapter. I took the time to rewrite chapter 12 a bit because i had grown dissatisfied with the street fight scene. So i rewrote it and made it more dramatic.
With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 31: The Assault Begins
Infiltrating the mansion from behind was nothing.
The two crows that guarded the back entrance didn't even have time to blink as Sirene swiftly slashed them apart with her talons. However much to her surprise, the back of the stronghold was more heavily guarded than she believed and after finding herself in one of the many 7 meter tall half-lit corridors with a dark pink floor, light yellow walls, adorned with many wooden columns that held the many cornerstones of the grey ceiling, four of Lilith's servants emerged from the shadows and with a roar promptly charged towards her.
But the darkness meant little to a demon or a beast, whose night vision vastly outclassed that of a normal human. The Demon Bird grinned wickedly before stretching her wings and propelling herself towards those fools who stood in her way. And in the span of 10 seconds it was over.
As the first grey demon of the wide mouth variant bore down on her, reading its claws, Sirene swiftly sliced its neck wide open, causing blood to gush out from both the newly inflicted wound and from the grotesque demon's mouth before it fell on the ground and let out its dying breath, muffled in blood.
In less than two seconds, Sirene closed the gap between the first demon and the second, a servant with a flower in the place of its head, before slashing the left side of its body open, causing its entrails to fall on the ground, followed by the rest of the slain demon's body.
Immediately afterwards, in an uppercut motion, Sirene gruesomely sliced the head of the third demon, one with an ant-like head with large black pincers, in three pieces with her eagle-like talons and the slain monster fell backwards on the ground, hitting it with a sickening thud, its head now reduced to a bloody mess of flesh, bone, brain and eye matter.
Finally, as the fourth demon of the same design as the first she cut down, bore down towards her in flight with its purple bat-like wings deployed, the Demon Bird, having launched herself in the air with her previous attack, placed her left hand on the demon's second face on its chest, after ducking from one of its swipes. With her grin growing even more and with the demon's face chest's eyes shooting wide open at the realisation that it was doomed, Sirene's fingertips pulsed with energy before she shot a telekinetic bolt at point blank range, blowing the demon in half, effectively erasing its lower chest from existence.
She then landed gracefully on the floor as the two halves of the slain demon fell on the ground behind her. She then sensually licked the blood on her fingers, revelling in its taste before glancing back at the corpses of the four demons she had slain.
"How utterly pathetic. Did Lilith really think that such trash would have been enough to stop me?" she mused in contempt and ridicule at how pathetically weak those so called "Servants" of hers were, at least in small numbers or on their own. Then again, they were not true demons, but humans forcibly converted into demons. As such while they could be mass produced by the dozens or even by the hundres, their overall strength was much less than that of a natural born demon, let alone a high ranking warrior such as the Demon Bird.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by a sinister and cold feminine voice "I woudn't get too cocky just yet if i were you, Demon Bird."
Sirene turned her gaze forward, spotting the Crusader of Ice half-hidden in between the shadows, taking her glasses off and tossing them away. The black wavy haired woman then declared "But i must admit, that was very impressive. I can see now why Higa was the one better suited to fighting you among us all. The rest of my colleagues would have fared much worse against you."
Immediately recognizing her as a beast due to her scent, Sirene narrowed her light blue eyes at the woman who stood in front of her, half covered by the shadows and with a smirk on her lips, she remarked "Eager to die, i see. You sure are a bold one, coming here all alone to fight me." not impressed by her threat. She then asked "Who are you, beast?" putting emphasis on the last word just to taunt the one in front of her.
In response, a sinister smile made its way on Izumi's lips before her eyes turned red. With a chuckle she began to walk out of the shadows and as she did, she began to assume her true form, with her skin turning white, her whole body and muscles doubling in size, tearing apart all of her human clothes, wings sprouting from her back and finally with her hair hardening into her two beak like horns.
And as she finally came out of the shadows, in the final stages of her transformation, she declared "I am the one who rules over death." now with a much deeper voice "You have done well, coming this far. However this is where your path ends. The only thing that awaits you now, is death's cold embrace." complimenting the Demon Bird for having managed to find their hideout and having succesfully made her way through the forces sent to deal with her.
Sirene, however was still not impressed by the Crusader of Ice's true appearance, let alone her declaration. On the contrary, she was amused by this beast's preposterous claim. She then relaxed her stance and with an amused scoff, she taunted "Mmph. The one who rules over death? What a joke. There is no such thing as immortality. Everything, no matter how longevous, eventually meets its end. Or could it be that in becoming what you are, in transcending your humanity, you became so vain as to believe yourself to be beyond the reach of the one force you claim to rule over?"
The Demon Bird's taunt only served to make Izumi's smile even wider. The swan beast then chuckled evily and mockingly replied "Fufufufu…...As if you're entitled to speak of such things, let alone find fault in us. I can see now why your kind brought its end upon itself. You believed yourselves to be above everything. And what did that bring you? Nothing, not one thing except your extinction. Your own pride turned out to be your undoing." deriding the demon race for the way it brought its end upon itself.
Amused even more, Sirene spat back "And what would you know about pride? What would someone like you, who lived for most of its life as a mere frail human, who never had to fight just to survive, know about it?" wiping off the smile on Izumi's lips, replacing it with a hateful frown. But what really sent her over the edge was Sirene's next statement "Hehehehe… i thought as much. You know nothing of it. Of what it truly means to survive against even the most impossible of odds. That is the pride of us, the demon race. The pride of having survived for countless eons in a world where death lurked around every single corner. You, my friend will never understand that. After all it was not the world you were born in."
Having heard enough, Izumi narrowed her red eyes towards the Demon Bird, clenched her teeth and spread her white feathered wings before she launched herself towards the Demon Bird while roaring "Don't think you're better than me just because you've lived longer than i have! I'll make you regret ever getting in our way, YOU ARROGANT DEMONESS!
The Demon Bird in return, spread her arms and readied her claws before declaring "Come, Beast! I will teach you the true meaning of pride!" and with that, she spread her wings, took off and launched herself towards the Swan Beast intending to cut her down with her talons, hoping that this conceited and arrogant woman would at least put up a better fight than all those worthless crow beasts.
Meanwhile, in the mansion's courtyard
(OST: "Planet Burning" = Darkstalkers OVA Soundtrack = watch?v=VQFbtQAXzJo )
With a mighty bellow, Kaim launched himself at the nefarious horde that stood before him, with Akira and Jun charging towards the enemies on their right and left respectively. Like a rampaging rhino, the pachyderm demon swatted away, trampled and crushed many grey demons and crow-beasts before goring two of them with his horns while at the same time lashing out with his tail in impunity at all those foolish enough to believe that they would have a better chance at attacking him from behind. As it turned out, Kaim's whip-like tail broke many of those demons and beasts's bones as it whipped them, proving that it was much more powerful than what it looked.
Likewise Akira soon found himself facing his fair share of grotesque grey hulking monstrosities and black feathered fiends. He ducked and uppercutted a grey demon, sending it flying in the air before he dodged another one's swipe by swiftly sidestepping on the left before smashing its head apart by bringing his right fist down on it.
Then he spotted a trio of crows descending upon him, intending to stab him with their sharp beaks and slash him with his claws. He then jumped backwards, distancing himself from them by a few dozen meters before crossing his hands on his upper chest, blue energy gathering in front of his forehead. Then, he fired two Devil Arrows at the first two crows, the first shot disintegrating the first crow's head and the second blowing a gaping hole in the second crow's chest, erasing its heart.
With the first two crows dealt with and almost immediately killed, the third one cawed monstrously before sweeping down at top speed like a peregrine falcon towards the spitting image of Amon. With no other option, Akira jumped in the air towards the crow and crossed his path with it in the air. As it turned out, Akira was faster than it and with a mighty roar, he struck it in the right side of its head with the back of his right clenched fist, with so much force that it decapitated it in mid-air.
On the other hand, Jun soon found herself surrounded by seven of those demons and avian beasts after cutting a few of them down with her sharp Cutters. Gritting her teeth in frustration and quickly noticing the many grey, hulking demons with those faces on their torsos, drooling heavily in anticipation at their next meal, she was left with only one choice. Hoping for the best, she closed her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest, bent down slightly and began to focus electricity all around her body as all the enemies that surrounded her roared monstrously and charged towards her. Then, at just the right moment, she reopened her golden eyes and with a roar, released all the electricity she had gathered in a large area of effect attack that electrocuted all the demons and beasts that were about to pounce on her to death.
Except for one, who somehow managed to realise what was going on and promptly unfolded its purple bat-like wings from its back and took off to the air, avoiding the bolts of electricity that would have surely fried it alive.
Jun didn't even have time to recover from her last attack as the demon landed back on the ground and charged towards her. It was exactly what she feared: that last attack she used, while very effective against multiple enemies, would often consume a lot of her stamina and require quite a bit of energy to be focused in order to charge it.
Seeing that there was no other way, she growled and charged towards it, intercepting its hands equipped with sharp claws with her own, halting it in its tracks, essentially locking herself with it in a test of strength, that lasted for a few dozen seconds, during which none of the two managed to overpower the other due to Jun having been worn out by that last attack she had to use. The demon took advantage of this by spitting a projectile of green acid at point-blank range, aimed at Jun's face, that she only managed to avoid at the last second by cocking her head to the left, courtesy of her enhanced reflexes. Nonetheless, a bit of acid grazed the right side of her neck, as well as her right cheek. She grunted in pain as it began to dissolve her flesh before she tapped into more into her inner beastly strength and tightened her grip, crushing the demon's hands and causing it to scream in pain. Then she tightened her arm and upper body muscles before with all of her might, she wrestled the demon onto the ground before finally, without giving it even the chance to recover, she lifted her right furred foot and slammed it with all of her primal strength onto the demon's chest face with so much force that it pratically made a 16 inch hole in its chest, nearly tearing it in half and killing the demon instantly. The only thing that now held the slain demon's upper and lower halves were two thin strips of skin and muscle .
She then clutched her right cheek and neck with her right hand, grunting heavily as she forcibly took the acid off her skin before focusing and trying to heal it. However their enemies still kept coming by the dozens, no matter how many of them were being felled and before Jun could even begin to heal the melted skin on her right cheek and neck several monstrous crow caws came. She opened her eyes and spotted two crow beasts swooping down towards her. But before she could try to get away from them, in spite of her fatigued state, the two crows were struck by Kaim's purple beams of lightning, frying them to death.
Gasping in surprise at the crows's sudden demise, she spotted the pachyderm demon on her left a dozen meters away who spoke "Stay focused, Jun! I can sense powerful presences coming out of the stronghold! Two of them!" causing her golden eyes to widen in shock and gasp even more as soon as she began to feel those presences as well. Turning her gaze towards the roof of the mansion, she spotted the same humanoid heavily built vulture beast that held power over lightning as well as the owl-like beast with a second face engraved into its chest that could manipulate wind at will.
Soon after decapitating, the last crow and after noticing the rest of the grey demons and humanoid crow-beast stopping momentarily, Akira sensed the two Crusaders of Lightning and Wind and promptly gasped in shock upon seeing them land on the roof of the building in front of him.
As Kotura landed on the roof, he folded his muscular arms over his chest upon spotting Akira while Kitano spoke "So that's Amon, heh? He looks just like that woman!" making no attempt to hide his surprise and astonishment as well as his interest, as he landed on the left of his more heavily built comrade.
At first Kotura didn't reply and merely mused to himself in his mind "Something's wrong. There's only three of them." wondering where the one who had fought Higa was. Nonetheless a maniacal grin formed on his lips and he ordered to his comrade "Leave him to me. You go ahead and play with that woman." before spreading his arms as well as the wings that sprouted from his shoulders, earning a nod from the humanoid owl-beast as well as an equally vicious grin from the face on its chest. Then the two bird-like beasts launched themselves in the air with a mighty flap of their wings, swooping down to meet their respective opponents in battle.
Fixing his red eyes on the spitting image of the Demon Hero, Kotura declared as he swooped down towards him "Amon! I've heard just about enough of your tall tales for one lifetime! It's time to see if you measure up!" while bringing his right arm back and balling his hand into a fist, before he brought it down towards Akira.
Caught completely by surprise by the vulture beast's speed, Akira only managed to avoid the punch at the last second by jumping backwards a dozen meters as it struck the ground. The attack was so powerful that it created a giant cloud of dust and hurled pieces of ground flying in all directions for dozens of meters away. As the cloud dissipated it revealed a five meter wide crater around Kotura and indeed Akira had to shield his face with his arms to protect himself from even the shockwave of the attack.
And after landing ten meters away and having recognised that voice, Akira bared his teeth in fury and narrowed his eyes towards the Crusader of Lightning before he balled his hands into fists and bellowed in pure anger "YOU! You're the one who kidnapped Takeshi!"
In response, Kotura smiled deviously as he stood up before replying casually and tauntingly "Guilty as charged. And like a moth to a flame, you came here to rescue him. How achingly predictable." enraging Akira even more.
"What have you bastards done to him?!" he demanded furiously, only for Kotura to spread his arms, daring the half-devil to come at him while replying "You'll have to get past me if you want to find out. And please, put up more of a fight than he did." putting more emphasis on the last words just to taunt him.
Having heard enough, Akira let out a mighty roar and charged towards the vulture beast, unleashing a barrage of punches with the occasional kick but much to his dismay and surprise, Kotura managed to block and avoid all of them with a speed that matched his own.
Chuckling darkly, he taunted "Hehehehehe! Is that all you've got?" before catching Akira's right fist in his left hand, causing his eyes to widen in shock. Holding him still, he pulled his right arm backwards before planting his right fist on Akira's face sending him flying backwards for a good 20 meters. The Devilman however managed to stop himself by planting his left foot on the ground to slow himself down followed by him putting his right hand on the ground, halting himself completely.
Focusing his eyes back on his opponent as a bit of blood started to fall from his mouth, Akira mused to himself in his mind "Shit…. He's just as fast as he is powerful. Alright, new plan." before pulling out his bat-like wings from his back and propelling himself high in the air before he swooped down towards Kotura again intending to strike him from above.
The vulture beast, however, having anticipated his opponent's next move and with his grin growing even more extended both of his arms forwards, joining his palms together before he fired a barrage of blue lightning bolts at his opponent.
Gasping in shock, Akira tried to avoid as many of those bolts as he could, but several of them struck his wings, punching many holes in the thin leather membrane that connected the bones, thus removing his ability to fly while others struck him in the torso and abdomen. Luckily, despite being electrocuted by them, he wasn't hurt too much and thus, in spite of having his wings disabled, he managed to safely land on the ground before charging back towards Kotura again with much greater speed than before.
This time he managed to land a punch on the grey feathered vulture beast's head, causing him to skid backwards on the ground for a few meters before he quickly stopped himself. Then as Akira quickly closed the distance both of them threw a punch at each other and both of them managed to intercept each other's attack but then linked the fingers of both of their hands together, locking each other in a test of strength.
"So, he's the one who controls lightning." mused Akira in his mind as he tried with all of his might to overpower Kotura, but the slightly taller vulture beast's physical strength matched his own and no matter how much he tried, Akira failed to move him even by an inch.
As Akira bore his sharp teeth towards him in a mix of anger and frustration, Kotura grinned even more and remarked "Impressive! You're just as powerful as our new allies said." and as he tightened his grip, crushing Akira's fingers slightly, forcing him on his knees and causing him to grunt in pain slightly, he declared "But you'll have to try a lot more than that if you want to get past me!" before he released his hands and slammed one of his own knees on Akira's chin, snapping his entire body back on his feet before decking the half-devil in the face again with another punch, sending him flying straight into the brick wall of the courtyard.
In the meantime, as Kitano propelled himself towards the Devil Lady, who had just finished healing the flesh on her cheek and neck that had been melted by that lesser demon's acid, he commanded to the crow beasts and grey demons "All of you! Leave that woman to me! And make sure that four-legged freak doesn't interfere!"
Kaim cursed under his breath as all the remaining crows and demons turned towards him and attacked him at the same time. As they closed in onto him, panic filled every inch of Jun's face and she called out in angst "KAIM!" but before she could rush to his aid, the owl beast swooped down on her with great speed, closing the distance and causing her to gasp in shock, taken completely aback by the Crusader of Wind's speed.
In the span of just two seconds Kitano swiftly brought his left dark blue scaled arm backwards, wind crackling all around it, and as he stated mischieviously "Not so fast, traitor!" he slashed Jun in her left cheek with his right claws in an uppercut motion, drawing blood from the three newly inflicted cuts. At the same time he released all the wind that he had channeled in his right arm, creating a miniaturised tornado that hurled the demonic amazon hundreds of meters high in the sky.
"JUN!" Called out Kaim in worry as he tried to no avail to force his way out of the enemies that encircled him in order to come to her aid, only to have his way blocked by three gray demons of the ant-head variant who spit their acid towards him, forcing him to back down in order to avoid the deadly projectiles, ultimately cutting him off from his allies.
Jun found herself spinning uncontrollably in the air for many seconds, before somehow managing to pull herself out of the vorted of wind by sprouting her wings. But as soon as she did so, Kitano immediately appeared in front of her, surrounded by a white aura that had the properties of wind.
Cackling madly, he swung down his left arm towards Jun, but the Devil Lady managed to catch it with her right furred hand before his three claws could reach her body. With his grin growing even more he swung his right arm down too, only for Jun to catch it as well.
Her golden eyes then widened in shock upon realising that he had planned for her to do this. And sure enough, Kitano laughed madly and declared "YOU FELL FOR IT!" before his owl head's mouth opened up and wind began to gather inside his mouth as he prepared to fire his most powerful attack thinking that at such distance – basically point-blank range – she would have never been able to avoid it.
He was proven wrong when Jun, quick on her thinking, tightened her grip on his skinny arms which caused him to grunt in pain and stop the charging of his attack, dissipating all the wind he had gathered in his mouth before, with the help of a flap of her wings, she delivered a somersault kick on the Crusader of Wind's owl head which sent him flying upwards. As she flipped herself over she was greeted by the owl beast having immediately recovered just two seconds later and diving down towards her again at incredible speeds, thanks to his aura of wind that enhanced his speed.
"Such speed….. How can he be so fast?!" she spoke in surprise and anxiety. He was even faster than her and that was saying something considering that she was capable of keeping up with a fighter jet's mach 2 speed, in other words twice the speed of sound.
This time however, she was prepared. She manifested her cutters on her forearms again and propelled herself with her wings towards the owl beast, intending to cut it apart in one swift attack.
Only to once again be shocked as they were about to cross paths in the air. As she swung her left arm blade towards her opponent, Kitano grinned wickedly and at the last second, his white aura spiked and by increasing his speed, he ducked at the very last moment before slashing Jun's left side with his claws, causing her to scream in pain as blood began to fall out of the newly inflicted deep cuts.
As she clutched her side, she heard the owl beast speaking from behind "Why do you keep running away from what you are? For what reason are you still fighting for those weak rats?" she then turned around, baring her teeth towards Kitano, who had his back turned towards her, as he then declared tauntingly while turning around "It's useless. Put as much distance between you and the truth as you want. It changes nothing. It doesn't matter how much you pretend to be what you are not, you are and will always be like us. So why are y-"
He coudn't finish.
"SHUT UP! I'M NOT LIKE YOU!" she roared in fury and outrage before extending her right arm forward, putting her pointer and middle fingers together and firing her Devil Beam at the Crusader of Wind.
Interrupted mid-speech, Kitano managed to avoid a direct hit from the beam that would have inflicted significant damage or even outright killed him by raising his altitude with a swift flap of his black feathered wings. Still the beam was much faster than what he had anticipated and it managed to strike the outside of his left thigh, erasing it and causing much blood to splurt out of the partially obliterated upper leg.
Shrieking in pain, he then spotted Jun flying upwards towards him, hell bent on tearing him apart. Enraged by her insolence, the face on his chest, bared its teeth towards her in anger and the owl head let out a monstrous shriek before he roared "THEN DIE LIKE THE ANTS YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR!" he then began to spin his whole body at an insanely high speed, actually creating a small tornado that blew Jun away and sent her falling downwards back onto the ground.
Kitano wasn't done however. As soon as Jun was blown away, he stopped spinning and, faster than a peregrine falcon he came down towards her and slammed one his feet armed with three recurved owl talons on her abdomen while she was still in the process of plummeting towards the ground, causing the Devil Lady to cry out in immense pain and her golden eyelids to snap wide open as the talons sank deeply into her flesh and abdominal muscles, nearly reaching her internal organs.
As they both plummeted down towards the earth, her strength slowly began to waver and with copious amounts of crimson blood coming out from both her abdomen and mouth, she clamped her hands around the owl-beast's foot and tried in vain to remove the talons from her abdomen. With his grin growing even more, Kitano inched the face on his chest closer to Jun's own and stated with hatred and depravity in his voice "I won't kill you just yet, traitor. No, you deserve to suffer for all the people of our kind that you murdered! I'm gonna have my way with you, just like i almost had it with that filthy human girl!" causing her golden eyes to widen in shock, figuring out immediately who the foul creature was referring to.
Immediately afterwards, her shock turned into uncontrollable, homicidal fury and suddenly, unexpected power began to surge throught all of her body. Power awakened by the hatred and rage towards those who had taken away the one she cared about the most from her. And now the one who held her at his mercy even had the nerve to insult her.
"Monster…...She had a name…." she began, her voice getting even deeper and almost losing all of its sanity, replaced by animalistic fury as a blue aura of energy began to surround her body. Thanks to the newfound power attained through her raging wrath, she crushed the foot whose claws had pierced her abdomen with all of her might until it broke gruesomely, causing the owl-beast to grunt in pain before she removed her right hand from it and brought her right arm, armed with the deadly and sharp cutter backwards.
"Her name…. WAS KAZUMIIIIIIII!" She roared in wild, unrestrained rage while an enraged Kitano tried to finish her off with a swipe of his left arm's recurved talons but Jun was faster. She swifly sliced his left lower leg as well as his left arm and left feathered wing off his body with her right cutter in an upwards motion. The owl-beast could only screech in pain with its owl head while the face on its chest let out a half human, half demonic wail as three of its appendages were sliced off at the same time in a single motion. The only reason his whole body wasn't cut in half vertically was only due to somehow managing to dodge at the last second but that was only thanks to his enhanced speed.
"Damn….. You…." was all he could feebly let out, as the rest of his mutilated body detached itself from Jun's own and fell outside the courtyard, hitting the ground hard and creating a cloud of dust. followed soon after by his sliced off limbs.
(Soundtrack Ends)
In the meantime, Kaim was busy fending off all of the crow beasts and grey demons who had surrounded him and Akira had just gotten out of the wall that surrounded the courtyard after having recovered from Kotura's last attack when the pained scream of Kitano reached their ears causing the three of them, along with the crows and demons that were attacking Kaim to stop in their tracks.
All of their eyes widened upon seeing the stricken Devil Lady plummet down to the earth, crashing into the courtyard in a huge cloud of smoke and dust while her opponent, sliced apart in four pieces fell outside of it.
Akira at first was left in awe by how Jun had managed to cut down one of Satoru's four henchmen all by herself. But his amazement turned into apprehension and horror after seeing the blood that was coming out of Jun's abdomen and left side as she plummeted down from the sky and violently crashed into the ground. As soon as his mind fully processed what his black eyes had witnessed, he screamed in panic and dread "JUUUNNNN!" before quickly rushing to her aid. Kaim was also about to do the same thing only for the various crows and grey demons to resume their assault against him, cutting him off once again from his allies.
As the dust cleared away, it revealed Jun's injured body lying limp on the ground. Akira hurriedly came towards her, knelt before her and put his right hand on the back of her head and wrapped his left arm around her body, resting his left hand under her back and pulling her close to him while calling out "Jun, are you alright? Please, talk to me!" as he noticed the wounds on her abdomen as well as the torn flesh on her left side.
He began to assume the worst as her eyes at first remained shut and her breathing seemed to get weaker and weaker with each passing second, while he gently shook her body in an attempt to get a response from her. Much to his relief however, soon afterwards Jun coughed out a bit of blood from her mouth and after letting her go, she weakly managed "D… Don't worry…. I've had…. Worse…..." as she used her right hand to support herself and assume a sideways semi-upright position.
In the meantime, after witnessed what had happened to Kitano and after sensing that his comrade had passed away, a cold and apprehensive look formed on Kotura's face before he mused in his mind "That fool. He should have finished her off when he had the chance instead of prolonging her suffering." he then turned towards the two devilmen, narrowed his red eyes towards them and declared to himself with a nefarious smile "No matter, i'll finish them off myself. Then Izumi will take her time reviving him when all of this is said and done." confident of the swan beast's power over the dead.
He then raised his right arm upwards with his palm pointing towards the cloudy sky. As the occasional sounds of thunder created by the various lightning bolts that rampaged through the clouds became louder and more frequent, suddenly a yellow bolt of lightning came down towards Kotura and appeared to engulf him, catching Akira and Jun's attention.
The two Devilmen, lying on the ground two dozen meters away, gaped in shock at what they were seeing. Despite being engulfed by lightning as in, the same natural phenomenon capable of reaching temperatures more than five times hotter than those of the surface of the sun itself, not only was Kotura completely unaffected by it, but a sphere of blue and yellow energy with the properties of lightning formed itself on the palm of his hand.
"You've gotta be kidding me…. Is his power over lightning that powerful?!" he cursed in his mind before he regained his composure, turned towards Jun and asked her in concern "Jun, can you stand?" earning a nod from her as she had almost finished healing her injuries.
As the lightning around him dissipated and a yellow aura of energy surrounded his body, Kotura brought his hand before him with the palm still facing upwards, sphere of energy held in it with bolts of lightning crackling all around it. He then mused in his mind, sinister smile still on his lips "At this range he'll manage to avoid it if he's lucky, but the lady doesn't stand a chance, weakened as she is." assured that even if he will miss the spitting image of Amon, there was no way that woman was going to avoid this. As Akira helped Jun back on her feet, Kotura brought his right hand backwards and declared "Let's see if you two can avoid this!"
But before he could unleash his attack, the deafening sound of an explosion that came from behind interrupted him. Turning around, he saw to his shock, a beam of yellow energy erupting from within the mansion, blasting through the roof, destroying a large portion of it before it travelled towards the sky, eventually dissappearing in it.
(OST: Yu Yu Hakusho unreleased triumphant track = watch?v=ZhwUSu9SQ70 )
"WHAT?!" he exclaimed in shock and once again the crow beasts and grey demons who surrounded Kaim stopped their assault upon hearing the explosion and spotting the beam of energy erupting from within their hideout.
A satisfied smile made its way on both Kaim and Akira's lips as they realised who was behind it. The former declared in triumph "She is in." knowing full well that the yellow blast of energy that tore through part of the roof of the building was her doing.
"Heh, bet they didn't see that coming." added Akira, while a slight satisfied smile formed on Jun's lips the moment she realised that their plan had worked and in the meantime, that distraction gave her the time she needed to finish healing her injuries and recover almost completely.
Gritting his teeth in frustration and realisation, Kotura mused in his mind "Dammit, it was their plan all along. That's why there were only three of them!" and now Kitano had also been defeated. On top of that, all of the remaining grey demons suddenly stopped and raised their heads as, umberknownst to the vulture beast, they were being ordered by their mistress, Lilith to reenter the mansion in order to deal with the one who had managed to sneak in and prevent the Demon Bird from further interfering with their plans.
And so, much to his dismay, the grey demons turned away and sprinted back into the mansion through the main door with some of them unfolding their wings and flying above the rest of their siblings as they dissappeared back into the haven.
Seizing an opportunity and fully aware that one of the four Crusaders had been taken out, Kaim, no longer surrounded by as many enemies and before turned towards the two devilmen and bellowed "Akira! Jun! Go after them! You must not let them reach Sirene! To have been forced to resort to such an attack means that someone must have forced her hand!"
Akira's eyes widened at Kaim's words. He was right. If more enemies were to come to the help of whoever was fighting the Demon Bird, even though more than two dozen of those demons and humanoid crow beasts had been slain, there were still almost 30 of those hulking grey monstrosities still alive. If so many of them were to gang up on Sirene, even Akira doubted she would survive.
But before he could voice his consent, Jun, now fully recovered, broke free of his lover's arms before turning towards the pachyderm demon and calling out in concern "But what about you, Kaim? We can't just leave you here on your own!"
As Kaim swatted more crows away with his horns, he commanded again "You must not worry about me! Find Sirene and lend her a hand! She is our only hope if we want to find all those people!" before more crows made their move towards him.
"Kaim!" she called out again and began to go to his aid, only to be stopped by Akira, who placed his right hand on her left shoulder, causing her to turn towards him, meeting his black eyes with her golden ones. He then declared "You don't need to worry about him, Jun. He can take care of himself just fine." in an effort to reassure her.
As much as she wanted to help her new friend, Akira was right. They had come here to rescue all those people. And as much as she hated to leave Kaim behind, due to her desire of not wanting to see more people dying after all those she had lost, they had no other choice. If those hulking grey demons were allowed to join the battle against the one who was now battling the Demon Bird, she woudn't stand a chance, given that aside from their great physical strength, they also possessed the ability to spit a potent acid that even forced the Devil Lady on her knees, albeit only for a moment.
Finally she nodded and replied in reluctance "Alright… Let's go." while spreading her large wings. Akira nodded back and followed suit, spreading his dark red bat-like wings before both of them took off in an effort to avoid all the enemies on the ground and make a break in straight into the main entrance of the building.
But as they began to fly towards the main entrance of the mansion, Kotura tried one last time to prevent them from entering. With the sphere of blue and yellow lightning still in his hand, he switftly positioned himself in front of the hideout's main entrance with surprising speed and as he brought his right arm backwards, he declared "YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" before extending his arm towards them, roaring "STORM OF TORMENT!" and finally unleashing his attack, a blue and yellow beam of lightning and energy that would have most-likely incapacitated the two devilmen, as they were only ten meters apart from him.
That is, if it weren't for the fact that a purple beam of lightning struck the grey vulture beast on his left side at the very moment he fired his attack, which not only threw off its aim and caused the beam to fly harmlessly by the two Devilmen and into the forest in front of the mansion, destroying several trees in the process, but also propelled Kotura straight into the left wall that surrounded the courtyard.
Greatly surprised by what was happening and briefly stopping themselves in mid-air with their wings, they turned to the left and, to their amazement, they saw that Kaim was the culprit. In spite of the large amount of crows that were still harassing him, he had managed to make his way through their numbers and fire a purple bolt of lightning at the one who was blocking their way.
"What are you waiting for?! GO! NOW!" he commanded, right as more crows surrounded him. Not needing to be told twice, the two devilmen resumed flying and entered the foul haven that the Crusaders had made into their base of operations, once again in debt towards the noble pachyderm demon for saving their lives.
(Soundtrack ends)
Kotura, who had only just managed to get back on his feet after being sent crashing onto the left part of the wall that surrounded the courtyard, was even more enraged upon seeing the two traitors managing to enter his master's hideout. Things had quickly gotten out of hand. More than 20 of their numbers had fallen and Kitano had been defeated. What's more, the rest of that flower demoness's minions had retreated back into the mansion and now not one, but three of their enemies had penetrated their hideout's defenses.
"No matter, Izumi is probably dealing with the fourth one and the boss is being protected by Higa. Plus there's still those two demons and their servants awaiting them inside." he mused to himself after regaining his composure before he narrowed his red eyes towards Kaim "I'll just have to deal with this damn rhino and keep him from interfering any further."
Having decided and reassured that Kitano's death was only a fleeting setback given that his colleague of Ice will take her time reviving him, he spread both his wings and his arms, balling his hands into fists before he took off and headed back into the battle. And from above, he commanded to the remaining crows "Retreat for now! Take Kitano's body back to Master Satoru and await there! I'll take care of this demon!" causing them to stop in their tracks. Not needing to be told twice, some of the crows, passed the order to each other through their screeches and one by one, they all took off and left, most of them retreating back into the hideout through the many opened windows of the building while three of them went to the Crusader of Wind's aid. Two of them proceeded to lift most of his lifeless body with their arms while the third one picked up Kitano's right leg, arm and wing that had been cut off by the Devil Lady.
Kaim watched in satisfaction as all the crows departed from the courtyard, leaving him alone with the Crusader of Lightning. Perfect. It was all going according to plan. By conducting a full frontal assault, he, Akira and Jun had forced their enemies to deploy most of their forces towards them, giving Sirene the opening she needed to infiltrate the hideout from behind. And thanks to that beam of yellow energy fired by Sirene, she had unknowingly, given the two devilmen the narrow window to also break into the gigantic mansion. And, most important of all, one of the four Crusaders had been felled.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sneering voice of the heavily built vulture beast "Well, i have to hand it to you. You've been a bigger pain in the neck than i had anticipated."
Kaim then turned around as his next opponent landed in front of him, a dozen meters away and crossed its arms over its chest. Narrowing his yellow eyes towards the Crusader of Lightning, Kaim coldly replied "One must never underestimate the enemy. Making such a mistake can cost you your life, as that ally of yours found out." lecturing his next opponent for what Kaim perceived as his carelessness.
In response, Kotura closed his eyes and chuckled darkly before stating "Hehehe…. A fleeting setback, nothing more. He'll be back real soon, trust me." taking the pachyderm demon by surprise.
"As for you, on the other hand…." he began nefariously while reopening his red eyes, filled with bloodlust and unfolding his muscular arms before he proclaimed "If you believe you're getting out of here alive, you're sadly mistaken. Even if you were to defeat me, our lord and his allies now know of your presence and they will bury you here!"
(OST: "Ooki Na Ken" = Claymore Soundtrack = watch?v=drX5OW56QW4 )
However Kaim didn't waver. His eyes brimmed with resolve and determination. After bonding with those poor girls who had been through just as much pain and sorrow as he had, after becoming friends with the one who was once his enemy in his previous life and after reuniting with his beloved Sirene, Kaim now had found his new reason to fight. To protect this world and its people and not let the sacrifices made by its people to be in vain.
Therefore, with his unyielding yellow eyes staring directly at the grey feathered vulture beast's blood red ones, he replied coldly and daringly "A pity that you will never know how it will end, foul creature." wiping Kotura's smile off his lips, replacing it with a spiteful frown, before he declared "For i will bury you, first of all." while getting into his fightning stance, lowering his body and spreading his legs to the sides, readying himself for a charge.
With a growl, Kotura bared his teeth at the pachyderm demon, spread his wings and took off, while proclaiming "FINE, HAVE IT YOUR WAY, DEMON! EITHER WAY, THIS PLACE SHALL BE YOUR GRAVE!" he then launched himself towards Kaim, eager to unleash his thunder upon him.
Earlier, at the back of the mansion
Sirene and Izumi violently clashed for the upteenth time, the Demon Bird colliding her claws with the swan beast's blade of ice that covered her left arm several times until both of them locked their deadly weapons with each other. Sirene tried to overpower her opponent with her strength to no avail and instead returned the grin that Izumi wore on her lips the entire time, ever since their battle began.
Feeling the cold of the ice on her claws and remembering Jun's words, Sirene scoffed in amusement and remarked "Mmph. I see. You are the one who controls ice. Perhaps you will indeed be more of a challenge than all the trash i have disposed of until now!"
Chuckling darkly, the swan beast taunted "Hehehehe… A challenge you say? Is the enjoyment of battle truly the only reason why you fight?" before she formed another blade of ice on her right arm and attempted to slash Sirene with it, only for the Demon Bird to anticipate that move, catch the oncoming blade with her other handand using it as a leverage to jump and stab the swan-beast in the chest with the talons on her left foot before jumping backwards and high in the air.
Izumi grunted in pain as Sirene sank her talons on her chest but immediately grinned as the Demon Bird left herself wide open after jumping backwards and into the air in the 7 meter tall corridor. She then proclaimed in contempt and derision "Foolish demoness. Even after your kind brought its end upon itself, you still believe all of this to be just a game to you."
Focusing her powers over ice, a blue aura surrounded her before her arms glowed in an ever brighter shade of blue as ice formed on them and, as she swung them in a backwards motion several times, she threw dozens and dozens of ice shards at the unsuspecting Demon Bird, who was in the process of beginning to swoop down towards her opponent to finish her off.
Caught completely offguard by the attack, Sirene gritted her teeth in a mix of shock and frustration and tried to avoid the many sharp ice shards being thrown at her but one of them found its mark on her right feathered wing, embedding itself in the center of it. As the first shard wedged itself, a second one struck her left thigh, embedding itself into it while a third one narrowly missed her left side but ended up scraping some flesh away.
With her ability to fly momentarily removed and grunting in pain, Sirene began to fall on the ground. She quickly managed to regain control of herself while falling down by forcing her wings to flap in spite of the ice shard embedded into her right one, but then her blue eyes widened as soon as she noticed the ground beneath her beginning to freeze over as something began to emerge from it. Her only warning was Izumi declaring "Someone as narrow minded as you has no right to lecture me, let alone belittle our sacred cause! while bringing her arms at her sides, fingers spreaded, blue energy with the properties of ice crackling around them. She then roared "NOW RISE, PILLARS OF COCYTUS!" rose her arms upwards and summoned several large spiky pillars of ice from the ground that Sirene only managed to avoid at the last second, by forcibly flapping her wings in spite of the shard still impaled in her right one (which brought her much pain) albeit not without injury as the last of the emerging pillars tip cut her right cheek, drawing blood.
As she was in process of landing back on the ground, her eyes widened after seeing Izumi swooping down towards her with another blade of ice formed around her left arm, having taking off after summoning the sharp pillars of ice and flying past them. The swan beast then declared in triumph "YOU'RE FINISHED!" brought its arm with the blade around it backwards, intending to deliver the final blow…
Only for a wide, toothy grin to form itself on Sirene's lips, taking Izumi completely by surprise. She had her right where she wanted her to be. The Demon Bird extended both of her arms towards her and, after yellow energy gathered in front of them into a sphere, she fired a beam of yellow energy. The Swan Beast could only scream in shock as the beam appeared to engulf her before it went by and punched through the roof of the building, travelling upwards through the sky, dividing several clouds before it faded away. Many large parts of the roof fell on the floor, destroying the pillars of ice summoned by Izumi and creating a large cloud of dust that momentarily obscured the view in front of the Demon Bird.
(Soundtrack Ends)
Afterwards, Sirene landed on the ground and then fell on her left knee. As she used her left hand to support herself, she panted heavily, trying to regain her breath due to the toll her injuries began to take on her. She then looked at the ice shard embedded in her left thigh. She grunted in pain as she grabbed it with her hands and pulled it out, leaving a large hole in her thigh that still felt cold.
"To think that such an arrogant and conceited woman could spill my blood….. " she remarked in annoyance as she tossed away the shard that she had just removed, not believing how strong that woman's power over ice was. While not as powerful as the fiery eagle, the swan beast had managed to injure her. Sirene could still not believe that these beasts once used to be nothing more than simple human beings. To have aquired such power simply due to a mere and sporadic change in their genetic code…...
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the voice of her opponent "Such power….. I have underestimated you…. Demoness….." causing Sirene's blue eyes to widen up in surprise. And indeed after the cloud of dust faded away, she spotted the swan-beast covered by a shield of ice that she had summoned at the last second by covering herself with her arms. But she didn't come out of the blast completely unscathed and as the ice shield fell apart, it revealed many scorch marks all around her white skinned body.
An amused smile made its way on Sirene's soft lips as she saw that while the Crusader of Ice had survived her attack she was now clutching her right side with her left hand and was now slightly slumped downwards with blood coming out of her mouth, her legs only barely managing to keep her from falling on her knees. She then scoffed in amusement and spoke "Mmph. As much as i dislike to admit it, you are much stronger and resilient than you look." complimenting Izumi for having survived such an attack. And as she grabbed the ice shard embedded into her left wing and pulled it out, she taunted "However, even you must realise how wide the gap between our strength is. Or are you really planning to keep fighting me with that scorched body of yours?"
Izumi gritted her teeth in frustration as Sirene healed her wounds in a matter of seconds. However she still wasn't out of this battle yet. She still had one trump card to play, one that would allow her to recover, distract her opponent and then strike her down with impunity at the same time. She then began to laugh nefariously before she lifted her head back up, narrowed her red eyes on Sirene's own and declared "Our allies were correct. Your arrogance truly knows no bounds, Demon Bird." putting emphasis on the last two words just to taunt her, wiping the smile off Sirene's lips and replacing it with a disdainful frown.
(OST: "Fade To Black B07a" = Bleach Soundtrack = watch?v=lvI_IzCeKGI)
"However, even someone as powerful as you can't kill those who have already died!" she proclaimed as her third eye situated on the right side of her face opened up and began to brightly glow yellow.
Sirene, completely unnaffected by Izumi's statement, merely closed her blue eyes and laughed before reopening them and replying "HAHAHAHA! Such an absurd and preposterous claim! You truly believe yourself to be beyond the reach of death after having already died once!" she then spread her arms, readying her claws before declaring "Then i shall greatly enjoy the look of disbelief and despair as i prove you w-" only to cut herself mid-declaration upon hearing several monstrous growls behind her which. She then turned towards where those growls came from and spotted exactly four of Lilith's servants coming out of the shadows. Two with those huge, rotund heads armed with a mouthful of sharp teeth, one with a flower head and one with an ant head.
Scoffing in amusement, she declared "Mmph! You just do not know your place, do you filth?" before extending her left arm towards the first one, spreading her fingers and firing a beam of energy that punched a hole in its torso, killing it.
But then, something unexpected happened. Mere seconds later, after it hit the ground, sounds of flesh putting itself back together could be heard. The smile on Sirene's lips dissappeared and a look of pure shock formed on her face, as the lesser demon she had just killed rose back on its feet with the hole in its chest gone entirely.
"WHAT?!" Exclaimed Sirene in disbelief as the demon she had just killed, somehow was still alive. It was as if it had just come back from the dead. How could something like this happen? There was no way these pathetic excuses for demons could regenerate from such extreme injuries and the Demon Bird knew for a fact that when her beam of energy had punched through that demon's chest, it had erased its heart and lungs, something that should have killed it instantly.
Then her eyes widened as she noticed something else. The demon with the ant-like head and pincers had several vertical scars that ran on its head, the other demon with the rotund head had a deep scar on its neck and finally, the one with the flower head had a wide scar on its left side. She realised, to her astonishment and incredulity that those four where the same demons she had cut down before she had begun her battle with the swan beast.
"N-no…. You should all be dead… What is the meaning of this?!" was all she could say, not comprehending what her two shaking blue eyes were witnessing. She got her answer right away, as the nefarious laugh of Izumi filled her ears before the Crusader of Ice proclaimed "As i told you, i am the one who rules over death. And like i said, those who have already died once will never die again. Their hatred towards you, the one who took their lives, is what drives them forward."
And as Sirene clenched her teeth in anger and turned towards the swan beast, Izumi grinned evily and as she jumped backwards, dissappearing into the shadows and leaving only the glow of her third eye as the sole indicator of her presence, she declared "You will die by their hands."
Right as the last word left Izumi's lips, the four demons roared and launched themselves towards Sirene all at once. She had no choice but to fight them. And so she charged towards them and began to cut them down repeatedly with her long and sharp talons. But no matter how much she cut them down, no matter how many times she sliced their neck apart and how many times she gutted them open, they kept coming back.
Fear began to fill Sirene's core once she decapitated the demon with the ant head with a swift slash of her right talons, only for the headless corpse to stand back up.
"It's useless. It doesn't matter how much you cut them down or how much you keep tearing them apart, they will always come back." gleefully proclaimed Izumi, hidden within the shadows as the hulking grey demon picked up its own severed ant head and placed it back on its neck, the flesh reattaching itself, as if it had never been decapitated.
Clenching her teeth in frustration and panic, Sirene turned towards the yellow glow of Izumi's third eye and began to charge towards where she presumed the swan beast to be, while roaring in anger and frustration "COWARD! WHY DO YOU HIDE BEHIND WALKING CORPSES?! LEAVE THE SHADOWS AND FACE ME!"
Only for the four hulking grey demons to rush towards her all at once, grab her from behind by her arms and wings and immobilize her. She gasped in shock as one of the demon with a rotund head and the one with the ant head, wrapped their arms around her own and outstretched them and no matter how much she tried with all of her strength, she coudn't free herself. Then the other demon with the rotund, eyeless head and the one with a pink flower in the place of its head firmly gripped her wings, outstretching them as well and immobilizing them.
She screeched in pain as the demon with the and-head went a step further and sank the pincers that sprouted from the sides of his head, into her own sides, just below her breasts, drawing blood from both her left and right side and further immobilizing her. Then Izumi's nefarious laugh came.
"You would accuse me of cowardice? Fufufufufu… You really are a fool, Demon Bird. Concepts such as honor and fairness have no place in battle." she began mockingly, while emerging from the shadows, her wounds healed, causing Sirene to clench her teeth in disgust and outrage as the swan beast insulted not only her but the ideals that defined her very being.
The Demon Bird narrowed her eyes towards the Crusader of Ice as she kept walking towards her while continuing "I have no need of such worthless ideals. All i want is to serve my master and our cause, so that our kind may take over this world once and for all." she then came to a halt, less than a dozen meters away, brought her right arm back across her chest and as it began to glow blue, followed by the rest of her body surrounded by her blue, icy aura, she declared "You were a fool to assume that you and i operated on the same level! The only thing that matters is to achieve one's goal, no matter the process and method!"
Sirene's eyes widened upon realising what her opponent was about to do but then she noticed something. The swan beast's third eye had stopped glowing as soon as she began to charge up her attack. She then realised that the four demons had come back from the dead as soon as her third eye opened up and began to glow. Could it be…. That her ability to bring back the dead…. Was being executed through her third eye? And that in order for her to activate that ability, she had to focus and stay out of harm's way?
There was only one way to find out.
Finally, Izumi grinned in triumph, roared "NOW DIE ONCE AND FOR ALL!" and swung her arm in a backwards motion, throwing dozens of her sharp ice shards towards the Demon Bird, held in place by the four demons. She had only seconds to react and while this ability of hers required quite a lot of stamina to use for a prolonged time, she had no other choice.
(Soundtrack Ends)
Focusing all of the strength she had left, her yellow aura of energy enveloped her before she teleported away, causing the ice shards to instead strike the four demons who were restraining her, all over their bodies, killing all four of them much to Izumi's shock.
"WHAT?!" she exclaimed in disbelief upon seeing Sirene dissappearing from where she used to be. And just like that, her assured victory was abrubtly denied. Izumi then gasped upon hearing Sirene's voice, coming from no particular direction in between the shadows "You are right on one thing, beast." began the Demon Bird, putting emphasis on the last word to spite the Crusader of Ice "We do not operate on the same level. Your powers may be great but you hide behind them instead of refining your natural strength. And that is your fatal flaw, for a true warrior always seeks to improve its strength, rather than stopping at a certain level of power and assuming that no one else can surpass it. "
Unnerved and angered by Sirene's taunting lecture, Izumi looked all around in order to spot the Demon Bird, but to no avail. In spite of the large hole of the ceiling created by Sirene's energy blast, the cloudy sky did little to illuminate the corridor as the sun had already set and night was only several dozen minutes away from coming. Growing even more desperate, she voiced her anger "HYPOCRITE!YOU WOULD DARE LECTURE ME WHILE HIDING IN THE SHADOWS?! YOU ARROGANT, IMPETOUS BIT-"
She coudn't finish, for in less than two seconds something sharp flew by her right at great speed, slashing the right side of her face and slicing her third eye in half, disabling it, as well as cutting the upper portion of her right wing off. It took her mind a full two more seconds to process what had happened before she screamed in pain and clutched the right side of her head with her right hand after spotting the spinning sharp object that had cut her and realising that it was a yellow eagle-like arm.
With copious amounts of blood falling out from the right side of her face, her cut third eye and the missing portion of her right wing, and immediately figuring out where it came from, Izumi turned around and clenched her teeth in utter fury and outrage upon spotting Sirene, standing a dozen meters before her with a satisfied smile on her soft lips, her yellow forehead antennae waving around and her left forearm missing.
"D-damn you…." she spat out in revulsion and outrage, her lips quivering in anger as the eagle-like forearm that cut her flew back towards her owner and reattached itself on the stump from which it came. As the Demon Bird's antennae stopped moving, she began "As i thought. Your ability to bring back the dead, no matter how powerful, is controlled by your third eye. In order for you to activate it, you must focus and stop using your powers over ice." causing Izumi to clench her teeth even more as Sirene began to walk towards her, after having figured out the limits of her power.
"Now that i know its limit, defeating you will not be difficult." stated Sirene while continuing to walk towards the stricken swan beast. Inside though, contrary to her confident voice and face, teleporting away at the last second as well as in between the shadows, keeping away from Izumi's sight in order to position herself behind her, took quite the toll on Sirene's body and her previous injuries had not yet healed. And while she had figured out the weakness of her opponent's ability and disabled it, the swan beast, still had her arsenal of ice powers at her disposal. She needed to end this quickly.
Narrowing her raging red eyes towards the Demon Bird and still clutching her slashed open third eye, Izumi declared "Don't talk as if you have already won! You were just lucky! If you think luck will favor you a second time, you're mistaken!" she then brought her arms forward, joining her palms together. Focusing her powers, a blue aura of energy formed around her body followed by a blue and white orb of energy with the properties of ice, in front of her splayed fingers. She had wasted far too much time with this presumptous relic of the past.
Not impressed by the display, Sirene smiled wicked, came to a halt and taunted "You are welcome to prove me wrong, beast." actually daring Izumi to unleash her attack.
And that was the last straw for the Crusader of Ice.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR GAMES, FILTHY DEMONESS! DISSAPPEAR FROM MY SIGHT ONCE AND FOR ALL!" roared the swan beast in a raging, animalistic fury, every last bit of composure gone as she fired her attack, a blast of ice that froze the floor beneath it as it flew by, propelled towards Sirene.
The demoness, displaying not the slightest bit of fear and hesitation simply lifted her left arm and as the blast of ice was about to hit her, she splayed her scaly fingers and stopped it in its tracks with a bolt of her telekinesis. Then, she opened her eyes fully and shot a second, much more powerful telekinetic bolt that shattered the blast of ice in thousands of pieces.
It took Izumi's mind several seconds to process what just happened. She just stood nearly motionless, her fury gone completely, replaced by shock and disbelief, her eyes wide open and her lips slightly apart. She coudn't even speak. One of her most powerful attacks shattered, gone in seconds, disintegrated. It didn't matter how much she tried to deny it, what her eyes had just seen, did in fact happen.
Then her red eyes widened even more and began to shake in fear and denial as Sirene declared stoically "I must admit, you were amusing for quite some time. But now, that time is up." chilling the swan beast to the core and causing her to gasp in utter incredulity. She had realised just how wide the gap was between their strength and that the Demon Bird had simply toyed with her the entire time, only prolonging the fight to satisfy her amusement.
Then, in less than a second, Sirene closed the distance between her and the swan beast, still petrified by fear, brought her right arm backwards and finally slashed Izumi's body with her right talons in an uppercut motion before she could even react.
Sirene's emotionless light blue eyes bore into Izumi's red ones mere microseconds after she dealt the finishing blow as purple blood began to gush out profusely from the four newly inflicted deep slashes on her chest and abdomen, the upper most nearly separating her right arm from her body, staining the swan beast's pristine white skin while few droplets of it even landing on Sirene's face.
With her red eyes becoming blank, Izumi coudn't even voice her disbelief and instead a few weak wheezes left her mouth along with some purple blood. Sirene then moved over to the right and simply watched as the Crusader of Ice's body fell on the ground on its front, landing on it with a sickening thud, a pool of purple blood soon surrounding it.
She then licked the purple blood on her talons, appreciating its taste before noticing the wounds on her sides, inflicted by that revived demon with the ant-head. She then spared one final glance at the fallen swan beast, lying still on the ground in the pool of her own blood, before remarking "Well done, beast. Despite your shortcomings and flawed logic, you were a worthy opponent indeed. It is not too often that i can find someone who can hurt me more than once. You may now die proudly, knowing that you were among the few individuals who managed to injure me more than once." complimeting her fallen opponent for the battle she had given her. In spite of how easily she had defeated her after figuring out the weakness of her ability to bring back the dead and after she stopped playing around, Sirene had to admit that the swan beast did manage to surprise her and even held her own against her for quite some time, even managing to injure her with her ice shards and that outlandish ability of hers.
But as much as she enjoyed her battle with the Crusader of Ice, it was not the reason she had come here. Having already lost too much time, she turned away and left, heading deeper and deeper into the foul haven of the Crusaders, leaving the corpse of the fallen swan beast behind to rot in the dark.
Little did the Demon Bird know that this will not be the of Izumi Kogure, the one who held power over the element of ice and the dead. For, a few minutes after she left, a yellow glow could be seen, in the dark…..