- Izanagi and Death -
'Any moment now,' Izanagi thought as Death avoided his barrage of lightning bolts.
'He's overly reliant on the lightning,' Death thought before blinking.
The two were fighting on a sloped part of the mountain path next to a cliffside. As they continued their duel, a group of gigantic white snakes approached, slithering up from the cliffside.
Death reappeared over one of the snakes, conjuring his scythe as he fell onto the snake's head. Death slammed his scythe's blade into the head of the snake and ran while carving into the snake's body. The snake threw Death off before falling over dead.
The other two snakes in the group opened their jaws and attacked Death from both sides. Death caught the upper fang of both snakes while keeping one foot in each mouth, preventing the creatures from clamping down on him.
'Been a while since I've fought beasts,' Death thought, unconcerned with Izanagi's lack of help.
Izanagi couldn't help watching in awe at Death's quick disposal of the snakes. 'When Susano'o hunts the orochi he always keeps his distance using his magic.'
Death ripped the fangs out of both orochis' mouths before blinking away. Death reappeared over one of the orochis, conjured his scythe, and beheaded the orochi as he spun down the side of their neck. Before Death could strike the other, a powerful crack echoed throughout the mountains.
"Sorry about that!" Izanagi lowered his steaming spear. "Was trying to avoid hitting you."
The other orochi fell to the ground with a scorched hole in its head. Death walked up and swung his scythe's blade into the dead orochi's head.
"Can never be too sure," Death said as he shook the blood off his scythe's blade.
'What a horrifying opponent,' Izanagi swallowed. 'But, this is why we plan.'
Suddenly, five more orochi slithered up from the cliffside.
"Shit!" Izanagi cursed. "I think they were attracted by the sound of the others dying."
Izanagi ran over to assist Death. More orochi continued to slither up from the cliffside as the two dispatched the growing horde of white snakes. Izanagi feigned a dodge, bumping into Death and taking Death's echo.
"Sorry, about that," Izanagi apologized before engulfing one of the orochi in flames. "I think I'm just eager to shake off the rust."
"Crouch down," Death responded. "Three seconds."
Izanagi wasn't sure what Death was going to do but he obliged. Death reared his scythe back.
"DIE!"
Death's shout sent a shiver of terror down Izanagi's spine. In an instant, almost every one of the orochis that had slithered up the cliffside were cut in half. Izanagi stared in horror at the pile of flopping corpses as their blood started to soak the ground. The orochis that had avoided the attack slithered away. Izanagi nearly jumped when he felt Death's hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Death asked, leaving his hunter form.
"I-I will be," Izanagi stood up.
Death grinned. "We should keep going for now," He looked up at the mountain. "I'm sure there's a better spot for our next match."
Izanagi nodded. "Go on ahead of me while I push these off the side. Their blood can sometimes attract other beasts."
"I'll stay in line of sight," Death said before walking off.
Izanagi exhaled, hoping his fear would go with his breath. He walked up to one of the orochi's corpses and subtly tossed Death's echo into the mouth. He pushed the corpses off the cliffside with a powerful gust of wind. He walked up to the edge of the cliffside and looked down. He looked at the holes along the cliff walls, noticing the orochi that were peeking out.
'Are they afraid?' Izanagi questioned. 'In all the millennia of Susano'o hunting them, they only ever increased their aggression.'
"Something wrong?" Death yelled over.
Izanagi waved. "Just checking to make sure they won't follow us."
'It's up to you now, dear,' Izanagi closed his eyes and exhaled sharply.
- Shiri and Susano'o -
Susano'o rushed Shiri down, leaving a trail of electrical sparks as he went. His blade struck against the handle of Shiri's maul in a blurred flurry of metal. Despite the onslaught of attacks, Shiri was maintaining his ground. Shiri twisted his foot on the icy ground, sending a spike of ice toward Susano'o's arms. Susano'o dashed backward, giving Shiri a chance to be aggressive.
Susano'o didn't attempt to block Shiri's swings, instead opting to dodge while backstepping. Susano'o was aware of time being his advantage, which made it strange to him that Shiri's aggression seemed controlled. The yuki in front of him wasn't charging with reckless abandon but was clearly focused. Had it been an actual duel, he would have complimented Shiri in the middle of their combat.
Shiri heard Satan's words in his head as he continued his pursuit of Susano'o. 'Time is one of the greatest advantages one can have in a battle, and with that advantage, comes the weakness of overconfidence,' He upped his aggression. 'Forcing a mistake and hoping for one are two fatally different things.'
Shiri started integrating spikes of ice from the ground into his assault on Susano'o. The pace of Shiri's attacks kept increasing, leaving Susano'o no room to take back the offensive.
'You really think I'll let you run me down?' Susano'o growled in his mind.
'You despise being defensive, Lord Susano'o,' Shiri thought. 'It's why you continue to hunt beasts,' He swung his maul faster, 'It's how you earned the respect of the other yokai,' his swing speed increased, 'It's why you challenge other sword-using gods to duels,' his maul's swings grew even faster, 'and it's why you must be stopped here!' he feigned a look of disappointment.
"ENOUGH!" Susano'o shouted angrily as he swung his sword up, knocking Shiri back.
"That it?" Shiri insulted.
Susano'o grinned with restrained fury. "You really think that-"
Shiri threw his maul at Susano'o and increased the travel speed by controlling the ice inside of its handle. Susano'o caught the maul's head with one hand as it pushed him back. Shiri flicked his wrist and created a wall of ice behind Susano'o. Susano'o slammed into the wall, cracking it. Susano'o surged electricity through the maul before dropping it.
'That should overwrite his control of it for now,' Susano'o's breathing grew slightly ragged.
Shiri fully encased himself in ice, creating frozen armor. He skated over to Susano'o with as much speed as he could manage, surprising Susano'o. Shiri created a pillar of ice under his feet, launching himself at Susano'o. Susano'o gripped his sword with both hands.
'I'll aim for his arms,' Susano'o scowled.
As Susano'o brought his sword down on Shiri's right shoulder, his eyes widened as he felt the sword get caught in the armor. Shiri grabbed the sword with frozen hands as he and Susano'o slid across the ice. Susano'o knocked Shiri off of him with a shotgun blast of lightning. Shiri stood up, breathing heavily as he covered Susano'o's sword in a ball of ice that he then launched far into the distance.
Susano'o locked eyes with Shiri. Susano'o was certain Shiri would either turn around to grab the maul or start to barrage him with ice. When Shiri ran at him, hands up by his face in a boxer's stance, he felt a strange combination of anger and joy.
"YOU WANT A BRAWL?!" Susano'o surged electricity through his body and sprinted at Shiri, stomping cracks into the ice as he went.
Susano'o stomped one foot down, sending lines of electricity through the ice as he threw a lightning-fast punch. Shiri narrowly avoided the blow, receiving a cut on his face as he threw a right hook into Susano'o's cheek. Despite Susano'o being faster, it seemed as if he couldn't land a clean hit on Shiri.
'You never wanted to learn from your mother,' Shiri thought as he threw an uppercut into Susano'o's chin. 'None of you three siblings did,' He hit Susano'o with a left hook. 'Your mother's strength scared you.'
The adrenaline from Susano'o's anger was starting to wear off. Despite his increased speed, he was losing every exchange. His breathing got heavier as he felt Shiri's fist dig into his side.
'Lord Satan,' Shiri knocked Susano'o's head back with a jab, 'even if you won't help Lucifer,' he threw a swift low kick into Susano'o's leg, 'everything you've taught me will.'
Susano'o's legs began to buckle. 'I should ask mother for hand-to-hand training after this...'
Susano'o gritted his teeth and connected a punch with Shiri's side. He smiled before feeling Shiri's fist drill into his cheek once more. He felt his body start to fall but before he could catch himself, another punch connected. His body was being yo-yo'd by Shiri. A punch would start to knock him down and then another would lift him back up.
Shiri wasn't prolonging the fight on purpose. His respect for Susano'o made him continue his onslaught of punches past the point of necessity. He only stopped once he noticed the electricity fully leave Susano'o's body.
"Lord Susano'o," Shiri caught Susano'o's limp arm.
"Ha..." Susano'o muttered before knocking Shiri's hand away. "...Warrior's...code," He coughed up blood. "Yo...wi..." his head slumped to the side as he lost consciousness.
The ice on Shiri's body fell off as his skin turned back to its pure white color. His breathing was ragged. He pushed the pain he was feeling to the back of his mind and held out his hand to call his maul. He looked down at Susano'o briefly before catching his maul. He pulled out his echo with a sigh and started to skate away.
"Death isn't answering," Shiri started to skate faster. "Do I call Lucifer now? If I do, he might be attacked immediately. The three of them don't stand a chance against Izanami without more help. Can I call and warn him subtly? No...that would be too suspicious. Maybe Lord Satan can help with that but first I need to contact the Grim squad."
Shiri called Xiao, "They're planning on killing Lucifer, maybe Death as well. I'm working on an inconspicuous way of warning Lucifer."
- Shiri and Satan -
"What's going on?" Satan asked over the echo.
"I believe Izanami is going to try and kill Lucifer. I need to warn him over an echo call but can't risk setting off an alarm for Izanami. Death is unreachable as well."
"Mmm," Satan hummed in an irritated tone. "I'll try but I don't promise anything. Also, I'm not getting the demons stationed in Han'ei involved. This isn't their fight."
"Fine," Shiri huffed. "Please, help Lucifer."
"Yeah yeah..." Satan ended the call.
- Lucifer, Izanami, Satan, Peter, Yvere -
Lucifer was explaining, "The Church of the Riders didn't fully support the theories due to potential conflicts, however-" He stopped as he felt his echo get a call.
There was an immediate switch in Lucifer and Peter's minds. There were only two possibilities for this call in their minds, and one of them meant they would be fighting Izanami.
"Go ahead and answer the echo," Izanami sighed.
Izanami's response was casual but she was in the same state of mind as Lucifer and Peter. The unseen tension was palpable to everyone but Yvere, who was mainly focusing on not being hungry.
"Hello?" Lucifer answered while keeping his free hand ready to cast.
Peter elbowed Yvere and kept a hand on his sword's handle.
"Just me, calm down," Satan answered.
The tension left Lucifer, Peter, and Izanami's bodies.
"What do you want?" Lucifer didn't hide his irritation.
Satan burped before speaking. "I called Death to ask him to get me some orochi meat and he told me to fuck off. He said he was worried about you being in trouble or something, something to do with a check-in call?"
Lucifer sighed, "Yes, he was expecting a call from me. I don't feel like explaining the situation to you."
"Wouldn't care if you did," Satan retorted. "Still, you might want to hold off on calling him. You probably won't, paranoid little archangel that you are."
"Uh-huh," Lucifer said before ending the call. "Asshole."
Izanami leaned back. "Does he normally do that?"
"Yes..." Lucifer admitted.
'Still,' Lucifer thought to himself. 'Why would he call me after calling Death? Wait, why wouldn't Death call me to check in right after?'
"Something wrong?" Izanami asked.
Lucifer cracked his neck. "I think I'm going to have to give Death some time to calm down after his call with Satan. It means our check-in calls will be a little delayed. Waiting a little longer than we had planned shouldn't be a problem."
"If you say so," Izanami shrugged.