- Izanami, Lucifer, Peter, Yvere -
Lucifer was rushing to explain what to do. "The sky's locked down by Ryujin, most likely not a threat past that. I'll handle Izanami, you two focus on intercepting any secondaries."
"I ONLY WANT LUCIFER!" Izanami shouted over to the three.
Yvere and Peter spread out on either side of Lucifer. The only other beings the two noticed were running out of the village.
"Not seein' any assistance, Luce," Peter informed.
Lucifer locked eyes with Izanami. "DON'T DO THIS!" he started channeling orbs in his hand.
Izanami responded with a powerful dash toward the three. To the four's surprise, Yvere sprinted to meet Izanami.
"YVERE!" Peter and Lucifer both shouted.
"So cold..." Yvere said through short breaths.
'I'll knock her out first,' Izanami thought.
Izanami's fist slammed into Yvere's face, causing Yvere to fall. Izanami shifted her eyes, ready to move on to Lucifer. As Izanami ran past Yvere, she felt a tug on her arm. Yvere was holding onto Izanami's arm with one hand.
"Stay out of this," Izanami quietly warned.
Yvere yanked Izanami's arm, lifting Izanami off the ground. Izanami was surprised by Yvere's strength.
"Sorry," Izanami apologized.
Izanami launched herself down at Yvere with a burst of wind, driving her knee into Yvere's face and knocking Yvere into the ground. Yvere let go of Izanami's arm as she felt herself lose consciousness.
"Stay down," Izanami warned.
As Izanami turned to face Lucifer and Peter, her body shivered when she saw the look on Lucifer's face. Lucifer crashed into Izanami, one arm covered in blue fire, the other holding his dagger. The two were sent backward a few meters before Izanami threw Lucifer off.
"Come on!" Peter picked Yvere up.
Lucifer sent a concentrated blast of blue fire at Izanami. Izanami deflected the fire with powerful wind and dashed through the flames. As Izanami closed into striking distance of Lucifer, she ducked to avoid Peter's sword from the side. Izanami kicked Lucifer in the stomach, launching him through multiple huts.
Peter's arms went black as he swung his sword at Izanami's head. Izanami blocked the sword with her gauntlets but was caught off-guard by the lack of weight from the strike. Peter quickly shifted his sword around and aimed for Izanami's legs, landing a shallow cut on her thighs.
Izanami backstepped. 'Might have to kill this one.'
Peter rushed in, stabbing with his sword, clearly aiming for Izanami's eyes. Izanami dodged every attempt to blind her but was unable to counterattack effectively.
"AWAY!" Lucifer shouted.
Peter heard the warning and backed off of Izanami. Peter blasted himself back with fire and sharply whistled. Izanami's eyes immediately went to the ground as she saw it light up blue with fire. A giant pillar of blue flames stretched into the sky. Peter regrouped with Lucifer and Yvere. Lucifer had one hand on the ground and one channeling blue orbs.
Izanami, barely burnt, launched from the pillar of blue flame. She used a combination of her martial energy and wind to boost her speed to the point of blurring her form. Peter and Yvere made some distance from Lucifer as they got ready to provide support. Lucifer shot his explosive blue orbs at where Izanami was about to be.
'NOW!' Izanami thought, as she put her left palm out to catch the explosive orbs.
Lucifer's eyes went wide as he saw his explosive orbs disappear into Izanami's palm. The second of hesitation gave Izanami enough time to be within striking range. Izanami held out her right palm and unleashed a powerful blue explosion at Lucifer. Lucifer, now with one blackened arm, was thrown backward.
Before Yvere could move to assist, Izanami was on her. Yvere's newfound strength only bought her a few seconds against Izanami. Izanami thoroughly dismantled Yvere's form with a series of strikes that completely overwhelmed any attempted defense on Yvere's part. Within moments, Yvere was on the ground.
Izanami turned her head to Lucifer and Peter as she placed her foot on Yvere's neck.
"STOP!!!" Lucifer shouted as loud as he could manage.
As Lucifer looked into Izanami's eyes, he saw something. Lucifer saw images of Izanami and Izanagi, smiling. He could hear Izanami's voice in his head.
"I just want peace. I don't want to kill him. It's all for the sake of our family."
Everything Lucifer was hearing and seeing was happening in an instant. What Lucifer didn't notice was that Izanami had stopped moving. Izanami was seeing and hearing the same things Lucifer was, unable to fight whatever it was that was happening. Peter didn't know what was going on but took the opportunity and sprinted at Izanami.
Lucifer and Izanami snapped out of their trances. Peter swung his sword at Izanami's right arm, hitting her gauntlet and knocking her off of Yvere. Peter rushed Izanami down with a flurry of sword swipes. For a moment, it seemed as if Peter had the advantage, until Izanami's left palm caught one of Peter's swings, nullifying the inertia.
Lucifer flew to assist, desperately trying to ignore the sound of Devil laughing in his mind.
- Izanagi and Death -
Death was unleashing an onslaught of attacks on Izanagi as the two rode the landslide down the mountain. Izanagi couldn't pin down Death's movements for more than a few seconds. Death launched down on Izanagi, spinning with his scythe. Izanagi deflected the attack to the side and shifted from one falling chunk of rock to another.
"Rise the oceans," Izanagi chanted as he threw the spear into the air.
The spear's tip unleashed a torrent of water in every direction, sending a powerful monsoon in Izanagi and Death's direction.
'Water's the only thing he can't seem to destroy,' Izanagi noted.
Izanagi put his hands up to the sky. As Death closed in, Izanagi brought his hands down with great speed. The water from the spear crashed into the landslide, drilling into the rocks and mud.
'Stop, Izanagi,' Death warned in his mind. ['I can't keep holding back.']
Death had narrowly avoided the drill of water. A crater had been formed in the mountainside by the attack, giving Death and Izanagi new ground to stand on. Izanagi thought Death seemed tired, given that despite the two's closer proximity, Death wasn't attacking.
'NOW!' Izanagi thought as the green ring around his wrist glowed, and his spear flew into his hand.
["I conce-"] Death was interrupted.
"Light the world," Izanagi whispered as he threw his spear at Death.
The crater was filled with flames as the spiraling ring of fire around the spear exploded outward. Izanagi jumped down the mountainside and gathered water as he went. Izanagi made it all the way down the mountainside with two gigantic orbs of water. Izanagi recalled his spear once more but it didn't come. What Izanagi saw next flashed a memory in his mind as he dropped the orbs of water.
(Past, before Izanagi had made his decision to betray Death and Lucifer)
Izanagi was watching one of the screens in his mind. The image of Death's smoldering body walking toward him, holding his spear. A black liquid was trailing behind Death. The image made Izanagi shudder. This horrifying vision was made far worse by what Death shouted.
(Present)
["IZANAGI!"] Death shouted in a distorted voice.
Death threw Izanagi's spear with incredible force. Izanagi almost didn't stop the spear before it hit him in the chest.
"Build the mounta-" Izanagi tried to say.
With a series of rapid blinks, Death was within striking distance of Izanagi. Death's finger's ripped across Izanagi's cheek, just barely missing Izanagi's eye.
"FORM THE CLOUDS!" Izanagi shouted in fear.
An extremely powerful blast of wind emanated around Izanagi, throwing Death back and ripping up the trees from the ground. Death was only sent back a few meters before blinking into the sky. Death conjured his scythe and shouted.
["DIE!"]
Izanagi felt an immense weight on his shoulder as his arm was severed and the ground beneath him sunk down.
'So that's how it works,' Izanagi grabbed his severed arm midair and stuck it back to his stump, healing it as quickly as he could.
Death blinked down from the sky and next to Izanagi.
'It has more range?!' Izanagi questioned.
Death grabbed the handle of Izanagi's spear and started to push. Izanagi was pushed down onto an overturned tree, cracking the wood.
["SURRENDER!"] Death demanded.
"Crack the skies," Izanagi responded.
Death released the spear and jumped back. Nothing was happening except for Izanagi's body jolting with electricity. Death thought Izanagi was powering up with the electricity and moved to stop it. What Death didn't know, was that Izanagi had failed to control his ability and was facing backlash.
Time seemed to slow for Izanagi as he saw Death approach him. Izanagi's mind desperately wanted to move but his body wouldn't listen as muscles seized from the electricity. The only thing Izanagi could do, was close his eyes and wait. Death's hand ripped clean across Izanagi's closed eyes. Death grabbed Izanagi's head and slammed it through the tree.
Death's fingers were a few inches into Izanagi's chest before he realized that Izanagi wasn't fighting back.