- Death and Amaterasu -
Death had been grabbed and transported miles away from the current battle that Lucifer and his group were in. He was released by Odoroku the moment the two came up from the shadowy puddle.
Death didn't hesitate to enter his true form. He swung his scythe at Odoroku, who disappeared into a puddle once more. The being reappeared next to Amaterasu, who was in her womanly form, and a winged swordsman with a long nose.
The area Death had been brought to was an open space of dirt. It was effectively an empty plain with nothing in it. His robe tightened around his body, turning black. He saw the three enemies before him and shouted.
"Only three?" His low voice echoed.
"It's all it will take." Amaterasu sneered.
She was lying. The truth of the situation was she had a difficult time finding powerful allies for the fight. She didn't want to reveal her intentions to her siblings, and most of the powerful yokai she asked in secret refused once they learned they would have to fight Death.
Amaterasu wasn't wholly unconfident in her own abilities. She believed in her strength, just not enough to take Death on in single combat.
The two allies she had were considerably strong in their own rights. Odoroku was a shadowy man with long arms and claws. He was wearing black wrappings all over his body that almost matched his skin. He looked similar to Death, except his face was more pronounced through his dark smoke, with two white eyes peering through and black horns sticking out of his head.
The other, Taifū, was a tall man wielding a long slim blade. He had a long nose, two wings, and was carrying two additional scabbards on his left and right side. He was wearing a kamishimo, resembling the outfits of old samurai. The difference being his bare bird-like feet, and the lack of a kimono underneath, showing his chest.
Taifū spoke in a loud, screeching voice.
"You're just a monster playing hunter. You don't deserve any more than this!"
Death returned his scythe. He was running through his plan of attack. The terrain would make it difficult for him to get close, and he wasn't fully aware of the two yokai's abilities.
Amaterasu laughed. She could practically read Death's mind through his lack of movement.
"Guess I'll do you the honor of starting." She said.
Four large orange rings materialized above Amaterasu. The rings hovered over her head until she pointed her hands at Death. The rings separated and shot forward.
Death started to rush his enemies. The rings hovered around him, and from the center of each ring shot blasts of flames. He blinked to avoid the attacks, but Amaterasu was persistent. She made sure the rings were placed in such a way that they would be ready to hit him no matter where he ended up.
Death was fast, avoiding flames and making sure to blink at just the right time. He wanted to destroy the rings. He conjured his scythe and went to strike one, but it simply floated out of his reach. He suspected as much, so he used the momentum of his now turning body to throw his scythe at Amaterasu.
Taifū stepped in and blocked the scythe with his sword. Amaterasu was confident she could lock down Death's movement. Taifū and Odoroku were primarily close range support, just in case Death could somehow close the gap.
Death's side of things was at best frustrating. The rings kept floating around him and shooting flames, making it difficult to get close. If he started moving forward the rings would focus on redirecting him. The fire wasn't what worried him. He could have endured through the flames and closed the gap if Amaterasu was his only opponent.
Odoroku and Taifū stayed close to their master. They waited patiently, ready to intercept any more long-range attacks Death might try. They were pleasantly surprised to see Amaterasu's rings handling Death on their own. They both thought it seemed like an easy victory for Amaterasu.
Amaterasu, however, couldn't help a ping of anxiety creeping in. Her father used to tell her and her siblings of Death's legends. Stating that they weren't exaggerated tales meant to scare gods but in fact true stories that others have attempted to make seem fictional. The god she saw before her right now wasn't living up to her father's words, and that worried her.
Death could feel the frustration in his mind growing. He was lightly singed by the constant barrage of flames and all the while was trying to suppress a voice in his mind.
'HUNT.' The voice was loud and repetitive.
The single word grew in Death's mind, almost enveloping every thought he tried to make. He didn't want to give in to his thoughts until eventually, another image came to mind. Lucifer.
Death saw Lucifer in his mind, dying. He pictured finding the corpse of the angel as he returned to the town. Images of his past with Lucifer quickly flashed through his mind. Once the images stopped, Death's stood still, seemingly allowing the flames to consume his body.
Odoroku and Taifū were excited by their supposed victory. Amaterasu on the other hand was terrified. She could feel something among her flames. Something almost like the eldritch's frenzy. A chill ran through her body.
Death's body was steaming from the fire that had engulfed him. His robe was burnt in multiple places, and the ground around him was a large scorch mark. He conjured his scythe and tapped the bottom of it against the scorch mark.
From Death's position, a large mass of black smoke started spreading out and sinking into the surrounding area, darkening it.
Amaterasu watched the smoke infect the land and brought her rings back to her. Taifū and Odoroku went to question her decision until they noticed that Death had completely vanished.
He wasn't in the sky, or anywhere around the three. They thought he might be underneath, but that didn't seem possible.
"Get away from the blight!" Amaterasu ordered, transforming back into her wolf form and running away from the darkened ground.
Taifū and Odoroku followed her.
"What's going on? What's he doing?" Taifū asked.
Amaterasu stopped after gaining a fair bit of distance from the affected area.
"He's going to erase this land. I expected him to do this eventually." Amaterasu had hidden some of her knowledge from Taifū and Odoroku for fear that they might not have helped her if they knew everything.
The darkened ground disappeared. It seemed to quickly fade away like a leaf slowly burning into ash. The affected area was now a deep hole that one couldn't see the bottom of.
Death reappeared in front of the hole. He placed the blade of the scythe against the ground.
["Wither and die, as all things do."] He spoke.
The smoke from before was now leaking out of the blade. Death dragged the blade along the ground as he sprinted towards Amaterasu.
Death was moving much faster now. The distance Amaterasu put between her and him served well though. She transformed back into her womanly form and sent her rings out once more.
"Move with the rings. He won't be throwing his scythe anytime soon." Amaterasu ordered.
Taifū flew alongside the rings and Odoroku sank back into the ground. Taifū, using his sword, created wind blades. Death swung his scythe at the attacks, negating them.
Taifū was stunned by what he saw. He had never seen magic be outright erased before. The flames from the rings were continuous, so their attacks were still getting through, chipping at Death.
Taifū didn't let his surprise stop him. He continued to launch blade after blade at Death. The wind blades Death avoided instead of negating managed to create deep cuts in the ground.
The flames of the rings stopped for a moment. Odoroku popped up in front of Death, creating a large stone dome around the two. Death went to grab Odoroku, who managed to sink away before getting caught.
Death reared back, both hands on his scythe. At the same time, the walls of the dome turned bright red. The rings had completely surrounded the outside of the dome, and with Taifū's help, created a large vortex of flame.
Amaterasu poured mana into the attack, making the flames hot enough to melt the stone. She was confident Death wasn't going to blink away, and even if he did, it wouldn't guarantee his safety.
The flames were so hot that Taifū had to be careful not to get too close while making the twister. He could feel his clothes and skin being burnt by just errant sparks. He hoped this was enough, unsure if he would even want to continue if Death walked out of this, still capable of fighting.
A voice echoed through the flaming twister that sounded like multiple voices talking at once.
["Die!"]
All around where Death had been standing was wiped away. The ground, the rings, and Taifū's legs ceased existing. Everything except for the small piece of land Death had been standing on was now gone.
Taifū looked on in horror at the figure standing in the middle of a massive crater. He could barely feel the pain of losing his legs, his body had nearly frozen in fear.
'What in Izanagi's name did you bring us to fight?'
Odoroku was next to Amaterasu when Death's attack went off. His face didn't show emotion. He simply turned his head towards Amaterasu.
"I'm going to beg for my life. I suggest you do the same." Odoroku disappeared into the ground and reappeared by Death. He prostrated by the large crater.
"Please spare my life. I was not well aware of how truly powerful you are and regret my foolish actions."
Death jumped over to Odoroku. In one clean motion, he decapitated him. He looked up at Taifū who would have flown away if not for being paralyzed in fear.
Death pointed to the ground while looking up at him. Taifū flew down, and before he could even lower his head, was cleaved in two by Death's scythe.
Amaterasu choked down her fear. She could see that Death had clearly been injured by the previous attack and used the thought of finally defeating him as fuel. She created four more rings around her, this time standing on one and using it for flight. She wasn't giving up like her two former allies.
Death looked at the now flying Amaterasu. He jammed the bottom of the scythe into the ground and spoke in the same voice he did before.
["Spread."]
Death blinked away from his weapon as the ground all around it started turning black. The spreading darkness kept pace with him as he ran towards Amaterasu while rapidly blinking to tighten the gap.
Amaterasu flew up and placed three of her rings horizontally in front of her hand. She aimed them at Death and shot a single explosive orb through them. The attack grew and gained speed as it passed through each ring, before eventually hitting the ground and exploding into a giant tower of flames.
Amaterasu had found one key weakness among all of Death's battles that she had heard. He couldn't fly. In part, it made some of his victories all the more impressive, and him all the more terrifying to her. She focused her mind, trying to only think about victory and nothing else.
Death looked up from the scorched ground. He saw Amaterasu flying high above. He was mumbling to himself.
["The sky won't be safe for long."]
Amaterasu fired another shot through her rings at Death who was standing completely still. She thought he was simply being overconfident in his durability until she realized what he was actually doing.
Death appeared above her, his hand reaching for her face.